Donors help to reboot US listening post for aliens

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14 August 2011
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A California institute plans to reboot its listening post for intelligent life in space, with private donations to replace government cutbacks.

Back in April, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute was forced to shut down its $30 million radio telescope array, designed to hear potential signals from alien life forms, for lack of funds.

But officials with the nonprofit institute in northern California’s Mountain View appealed for donations. This week, they said the total raised had surpassed their $200,000 goal.

That was due to the generosity of more than 2,400 donors, including actress Jodie Foster and Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, they said — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Ubuntu’s Shuttleworth: patents misunderstood, misused, outdated

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14 August 2011
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Patents are archaic, misunderstood and of little or no help to the entrepreneur, according to Mark Shuttleworth, who leads the Ubuntu Foundation, which is behind the open source operating system. In an interview with TechCentral, Shuttleworth was asked about the escalating patent battle in the mobile industry and he provided some choice quotes.

He said that while patents are promoted as a way to protect the innovations of small entrepreneurs trying to make something big, they’re being applied to the opposite effect. He said larger companies are using patents to keep new players from coming in and shaking up an established market. That, he said, is also playing itself out in the piling on of Android, which is the favourite target of a lot of tech companies right now — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Would you trade a house for personal dinosaur services?

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13 August 2011
2 min read
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In Weird
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Suddenly, I’m curious. Back in the days when newspaper classifieds ruled the Earth (and charged by the line), did wacky parodies like this one from Vancouver Craigslist also exist? Or is this sort of humor dependent on the Internet and the existence of a free public billboard?

This offer is not for everyone…

Do you own more than one property? Do you have so many rental homes with no mortgage payments, yet you still feel unfulfilled? Tired of your illegal tenants whining that there are rats in the walls? Have you always wanted your own dinosaur? Now is your chance my friend.

In exchange for one of your properties, I will be your personal dinosaur for one year. I will be at your beck and call, 24 hours a day, wearing a dinosaur costume. The type of dinosaur is negotiable. I can babysit your children (references upon request), scare the mailman, wash dishes, entertain and impress your guests, and much more. (No sex stuff though, sorry.) I will make realistic dinosaur sounds, eat what the particular dinosaur eats and maybe even sit on a fake dinosaur egg, if you are so inclined. I am well educated, fluent in English and French (as well as dinosaur), can play several musical instruments and have no criminal record or outstanding warrants.

All this and more. This is the only way you will ever have your pet dinosaur, and the only way I will ever be able to acquire a house in Vancouver. Serious offers only please.

— via Boing Boing

Mexico: Huichol Indian bead-dazzled Volkswagen Beetle

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13 August 2011
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In Art
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Mexico: Huichol Indian bead-dazzled Volkswagen Beetle – Boing Boing

People look at a 1990s Volkswagen Beetle named Vochol during an exhibition on Huichol culture at the Museum of Puebla, near Mexico City August 10, 2011. The name Vochol, was conceived from a combination of Vocho, a popular term for Volkswagen Beetles in Mexico, and Huichol, a Mexican indigenous group. The car was decorated by indigenous craftmen from the Huichol community living in the states of Nayarit and Jalisco, using traditional beads and fabric. According to local media, the work will be auctioned after its exhibition in Paris and Berlin next year, with funds and proceeds going to the Huichols — via Boing Boing

Review: Weave App for Craft Businesses

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13 August 2011
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In Craft, Technology
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Whether you have a full-time craft business or some part-time projects you run alongside your day job, you might want to check out Weave, Intuit’s new app for iPhone and iPod. It’s designed to track your projects, tasks, income, and expenses.

Weave is in its early stages and is actively looking for input from small craft business owners. How can this kind of tool help you better? You can download Weave for free from the iTunes App Store — via CRAFT

An Urban Jungle for the 21st Century

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12 August 2011
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In World
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The math is impressive. In the last 25 years, the population of Singapore has nearly doubled, to more than five million. Over the same period, its green cover — planted areas that appear green on satellite photos, from parks to rooftops — has increased from a little more than a third of the city-state’s area to nearly half.

But it is not enough. In Singapore’s next green road map, its 10-year development plan, the country aims to go from being a garden city to a city in a garden. The difference might sound very small, says Poon Hong Yuen, the chief executive of the country’s National Parks Board, but it’’s a bit like saying my house has a garden and my house is in the middle of a garden. What it means is having pervasive greenery, as well as biodiversity, including wildlife, all around you — via redwolf.newsvine.com

iPod aids amnesiac

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12 August 2011
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In Health, Technology
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So you think your smartphone’s your lifeline, that you couldn’t do without it?

Try talking to David Dorey.

From the minute he wakes up until the second he closes his eyes at night, his hand-held device is at his side; he doesn’t know where he’d be without it. Literally.

I wouldn’t know where to go or what to do. It would feel like I was … the Markham resident pauses, searching for the right word, floating.

That’s because Mr Dorey has amnesia. Seven years ago, he had a brain aneurysm and can remember some things, but can’t retrieve new memories — via redwolf.newsvine.com

LinkedIn Makes Marketing Shills of Its Members by Default

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12 August 2011
46 second read
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In Rights, Technology
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If you’re a member of LinkedIn — the social network with a business bent — you might want to review some changes made in the service’s privacy policy — if you can find it.

You see, about two months ago, LinkedIn made some under-the-radar amendments to the policy that allows it to use its members’ names and photos in third-party advertising that appears on the social network — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Hypersonic plane could fly Sydney to London in 49 minutes

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11 August 2011
45 second read
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In Technology
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An experimental aircraft that could fly from Sydney to London in less than an hour at blistering speeds of 20,921km/h is due to be tested this week.

The unmanned, arrowhead-shaped aircraft, dubbed Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, will test new technology that would provide the US Pentagon a lightning-fast vehicle capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in under an hour — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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