The Australian government has announced it wants cross media ownership laws and restrictions on foreign ownership removed by 2007
Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered that under certain conditions, some very common bacteria can form nanowires. These bacteria were able to produce nanowires as small as 10 nanometers in diameter, but which can reach hundreds of microns in length. What is interesting here is that these nanowires are electrically conductive ones. This means that bacteria could be used to build microbial fuel cells or bacteria-powered batteries. As one researcher said, Earth appears to be hard-wired
European regulators have hit Microsoft with a $357.3 million fine, citing the software giant’s continued noncompliance with its landmark 2004 antitrust ruling
The British music industry has stepped up its campaign against illegal file-sharing, demanding that two ISPs suspend 59 accounts it believes are being used to swap copyrighted songs
Vodaphone has quietly disabled the DRM on the mobile episodes of 24 it sells; now those videos can be copied to iPods and PCs — via Boing Boing
Citing irreparable injury to the creative artistic expression in the copyrighted movies
, an appeals judge has ruled that producing, selling or renting edited versions of motion pictures violates US copyright law — via Boing Boing
Microsoft will no longer issue security updates or provide support for Windows 98 and Windows ME, which could lead users to trying alternative operating systems such as Linux. Especially with Microsoft’s plan to release software that turns older PCs into more modern and secure systems, but in the process also makes them less than full-fledged computers
Ah, the delightful, if terrifying Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is upon us again. This year’s winner, Jim Guigli, cited his sixty submissions to this year’s contest as a constructive outlet for his dementia. Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you’ve had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean
Tony Blair’s flagship identity cards scheme is set to fail and may not be introduced for a generation, according to leaked Whitehall e-mails from the senior officials responsible for the multi-billion-pound project — via Charlie’s Diary
A Swiss scientist says magnets may one day drag genes around the body in a novel form of gene therapy. The magnets would be attracted to iron oxide nanoparticles attached to the genes, a concept that has been tested in sheep
China launched a Web site, www.linese.com, offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of the language abroad
Kyle MacDonald, the guy trying to trade a red paperclip for a house, has succeeded in his quest. His recently traded a KISS Snowglobe in exchange for one afternoon with Alice Cooper. He in turn traded the snowglobe to an enthusiastic snowglobe collector, for a role in a movie. Now, the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan in Canada, located about two hours east of Regina with a population of 1,100, has offered MacDonald a farmhouse in exchange for the role in the movie
Claims that China harvests organs from live Falun Gong prisoners without consent — then destroys their remains — are real, according to a report from a human rights lawyer and a former MP in Canada. The document cites an organ price published online for a transplant centre in Shenyang City, China. Corneas are $30,000 US, kidneys $62,000 US, livers $130,000 US and lungs up to $170,000 US, which would make this a most profitable trade — via Boing Boing
Ricoh claims they have developed an optical component that reads and writes all disk formats — Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD, as well as DVD and CD — with one pickup and one objective lens. The component is a 3.5-mm diameter, 1-mm thick round diffraction plate with minute concentric groves on both sides which function as a diffraction grating. Based on disc information the drive can identify which format disk is loaded, Ricoh’s optical diffraction component adjusts the laser beam with its diffraction grating for each format and passes it to the objective lens
For the new Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats, Hollywood implemented a complete copy protection scheme; almost everything has to be encrypted and authenticated. Despite the crypto-stuff in Advanced Access Content System and High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection, they left the backdoor wide open — they forgot about the PrintScreen button. Using this function you can create exact digital copies of a film picture-by-picture and reassemble them into a stream
Microsoft announced Wednesday the creation of the Open XML Translator project, so its Office suite will support the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard. The move comes in response to government requests for Microsoft products to be compatible with ODF, such as the national governments of Belgium and Denmark, and the state government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Dr Patrick Power SC, a NSW deputy senior crown prosecutor, has stood down after being charged with child pornography offences
A few Mac users are concerned about a feature in the latest update to Mac OS that directs their computers to check in with Apple Computer’s servers on a regular basis without the user’s knowledge or permission
Toronto researchers have discovered a method to utilise bone marrow cells in the repair of a damaged heart after a heart attack. While it has long been known that bone marrow cells have the ability to clear the dead tissue after a heart attack, what has not been known until now is the critically important role of bone marrow adult stem cells in repairing a damaged heart, restoring its function and enhancing the growth of new blood vessels
Paris wants blanket wireless internet cover by the end of 2007, helping to make it the most connected capital city in the world. Under a new plan, the city hopes to set up 400 free Wi-Fi access points next year and allow internet service providers to install antennae on strategically-located public property
RSS – Posts