Alzheimer’s may be detectable earlier than thought

By
7 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Health, Science
730 views

Researchers say they have seen the earliest ever warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease among a high-risk group of 20-somethings in the ongoing quest for early detection and prevention.

A major problem in the search for a cure for this debilitating form of dementia is that symptoms appear years after irreversible brain decay has already set in.

For the study, a team of scientists from the United States and Colombia tested 18- to 26-year-old members of an extended Colombian family that share a common ancestor and a genetic predisposition to develop an inherited form of Alzheimer’s — via redwolf.newsvine.com

ballon stratosphérique / victorine müller

By
7 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Art, Wildlife
819 views

swiss artist victorine mu?ller has combined the disciplines of performance, sculpture, painting and sound for the last fourteen years — with an upcoming exhibition at the zone contemporaine oliver fahrni in bern, switzerland entitled wild at heart showing her current work of a PVC squid entitled ballon stratosphérique. müller’s work can be considered palpably immersive experiences to her audience — each artwork characterised by the artist herself encased in a seemingly weightless PVC structure, often depicting that of an animal. her presentations are very much oriented around a spiritual or emotional dynamism where her presence inside the air-filled creature often emits a tangible aura — breathing animistic energy into the beast she inhabits. this unusual medium fosters a thorough and almost halcyon contemplation for her viewers, each piece created to impart abstract ideas and somewhat invisible forces — via designboom

Wright House historic designation could be delayed

By
7 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Design, History, Politics
920 views

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio has applauded the likely $2.38 million-sale of the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Phoenix to an anonymous buyer, saying the transaction is the first of many more steps to come in order to permanently protect the property.

However, a planned city vote on designating the property as historic is likely to moved back because of the pending sale.

In a letter to his supporters Thursday, the day after the announcement of the Wright-home’s sale, DiCiccio said the property was one of the most important treasures in Phoenix and the anonymous buyer’s intent to preserve the iconic home was fantastic news — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Moto Guzzi Le Mans / Revival Cycles

By
6 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Design
881 views

Stulberg is a pure-bred Guzzisti and usually has at least four Mandello products in his garage at any given time. But he sold his treasured 1975 T3 to pay for the Le Mans. And the original intention of a complex build evaporated when the Revival Cycles crew decided to take the bike to the Barber Vintage Motorcycle rally. This gave us about two weeks to build a custom bike that needed to run. That’s something we could never do with a client bike—we simply can’t make decisions fast enough with a client in-tow — via Bike EXIF

OSX Keyboard Shortcut Cheat Sheets / Lifehacker

By
6 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Technology
705 views

Lifehacker readers and writers are a tech-savvy bunch, and many of us can’t imagine living without our keyboard shortcuts that save us so much time every day. They’re so useful that it’s often hard to watch a less-knowledgeable friend or family member point and click their way to everything. If you want to get them on board with keyboard shortcuts, print out this handy cheat sheet so they always have it around for quick reference.

Most of the shortcuts on this page are pretty simple, but they’re the basics a novice ought to know. Remember, the cheat sheet is just a starting point. Don’t forget to teach your friend or family member how to find new ones themselves. Once they get the hang of the basics, hopefully they’ll be hooked — via Lifehacker

Hesperian Health Guides

By
6 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Health
828 views

This reference, published by the Hesperian Foundation, is used the whole world over. It’s distributed by the Peace Corps, and while its emphasis is largely on the third world, it contains information on treating a number of diseases and ailments without medical expertise. If you need to set a fracture or deliver a baby, this is the reference for you. Hesperian also offers a number of other health-related titles, including Where There is No Dentist, Where Women Have No Doctor, Water for Life, and Cleanliness and Sanitation, all of which are available for purchase or as free downloads

Ched Evans: Nine admit naming rape victim on social media

By
6 November 2012
54 second read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
819 views

Nine people have each been told to pay £624 to a woman raped by footballer Ched Evans after they admitted naming her on Twitter and Facebook.

The former Sheffield United and Wales striker was jailed for five years in April for raping the 19-year-old.

Seven men and three women, aged between 18 and 27 from north Wales and Sheffield, have been accused of revealing the victim’s identity.

The law grants victims and alleged victims of rape lifelong anonymit — via redwolf.newsvine.com

South House / Charles Rennie Mackintosh

By
6 November 2012
56 second read
Leave a comment
In Design
1589 views

Interesting property that looks like a period build at first glance. But this is actually fairly recent, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired two-bedroom property in Farr, Inverness-shire.

The house is called South House, which is set in woodland on the outskirts of the village of Farr, near Inverness City centre. It was built in 1992 to a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, the copyright of which is owned by the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow. So a classic design, but with the convenience of modern construction — via WowHaus

My Last Column About the Presidential Election (Really)

By
6 November 2012
4 min read
Leave a comment
In Politics
867 views

I write this about eight days before voting day in America. US Presidential politics is a favourite spectator sport of mine, and I’m sad to see the cycle end, even though this one hasn’t really been a good game. President Obama’s fairly grim, toothless, meandering and perfunctory presidency gained excellent contrast from an assemblage of GOP candidates so demented and corrupt that even to so describe them would be an insult to the many hard-working demented and corrupt politicians extant today. It was an array of desperate, shambling criminals (and Jon Huntsman, who presumably was there on a bet) that may have been unprecedented, even in the stinking cesspool of American politics, in its lunatic evil. The “winner” of the GOP race was always going to be the one who didn’t shit themselves on stage. But the GOP itself couldn’t win, because, of the bunch running, the best you could hope forwas a candidate who didn’t shit themselves on stage.

Which is exactly what the Republican party got. A man who’s only coherent when he’s lying. Any solid political points he might have made have been washed away in a tide of dissembling, flipflopping and outright bullshitting. Broad swathes of the party fail to summon enthusiasm for him. The Koch brothers, who could surely have amassed mighty forces to Romney’s advantage, have provided only perfunctory support. And his mealymouthing about Big Government have put him on the wrong side of not only New York but also New Jersey, whose well-liked Republican governor Chris Christie has been effusive in his praise of the President even as Romney was being pelted with his own words about disbanding the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

My concern is this. The radical elements in the GOP will be able to claim that Romney was never their guy, and will take the next four years to place some genuine nutters, with serious backing, in line for the 2016 candidacy. Not the scrag-ends and barrel-scrapings they slapped on to the stage for this year’s farce. The idea of the Democrats being conscious and organised enough to have a real player in place for 2016 — because there’s no way in hell they can run Joe Biden — is kind of funny. There will be a real temptation to throw 2016 to the GOP, to give the people a reminder of what that’s like, to buy themselves a whole new four years to get their shit together in — via redwolf.newsvine.com

First commercial vertical farm opens in Singapore

By
6 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Business, Food
1299 views

Singapore now has its first commercial vertical farm, which means more local options for vegetables.

The technique uses aluminium towers that are as tall as nine metres, and vegetables are grown in troughs at multiple levels.

The technique utilises space better — an advantage for land-scarce Singapore.

Sky Greens farm first started working on the prototype in 2009, and has opened a 3.65-hectare farm in Lim Chu Kang.

It produces three types of vegetables which are currently available only at FairPrice Finest supermarkets.

They cost 10 to 20 cents more than vegetables from other sources.

Despite the higher prices, the greens have been flying off supermarket shelves — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Shorten Metal Zippers / Nest Full of Eggs

By
6 November 2012
45 second read
Leave a comment
In Craft
1106 views

We’ve all been there. You’ve been sewing like crazy to get a project done, and now the only thing left is the zipper. The problem is, all the zippers you have on hand are just a little too long. Sound familiar? Learn how to shorten metal zippers — and quite possibly save your sanity — with this helpful tutorial from Rachel at Nest Full of Eggs — via MAKE

Green and White Tentacle Earrings / nappyhappy

By
6 November 2012
33 second read
Leave a comment
In Craft, Wildlife
883 views

The earrings are made from green and white polymer clay. Each earring measures approximately 2″ in length, and have been arranged so the suckers are forward facing. The jewellery findings are silver plated fishhook-style earrings at the very top of each tentacle, leaving these lightweight earrings to dangle about — via Etsy

Skype hands 16-year-old’s personal information to IT company

By
6 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
696 views

Skype illegally distributed a user’s personal information to a private company during a police investigation into Anonymous-sanctioned cyberattacks on PayPal.

It and several other payment companies were attacked out of retribution for blocking donations to Wikileaks in 2011.

Skype handed over the personal information of a 16-year-old to an IT firm, which later informed Dutch authorities.

The police file for Operation Talang, which has been seen by NU.nl, focussed on two persons. They are alleged to have played a role in attacks on websites belonging to Mastercard, VISA and Paypal by hacker collective Anonymous. They dubbed the attacks Operation Payback — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Telstra offers opt-in customer internet tracking

By
5 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
720 views

After getting caught tracking customer web browsing in June this year, Telstra has brought back the controversial cybersafety program Smart Controls, only this time customers must opt in to the project.

In June, Telstra was caught out tracking its Next G customers’ web browsing, and sending that data to US-based filtering company Netsweeper to build a database of sites for a new cybersafety tool called Smart Controls. Smart Controls is designed to block certain categories of sites from appearing on Telstra mobiles whose owners have signed up for the service.

The company ceased the tracking when it was caught, but claimed that it had been removing customer information from the URL before sending that data to the United States.

Today, the company announced that it has redesigned Smart Controls as an opt-in product for internet browsing to be tracked for the service — via redwolf.newsvine.com

JPGN House / Macedo, Gomes & Sobreira

By
5 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Design
5936 views

The owner of this house [Macedo, Gomes & Sobreira], at the South Lake residential district in Brasilia, had grown up on that same street. The window of his bedroom was opened to the view of the Paranoá Lake towards northwest, with the monumental zone of Brasília right at the opposite bank. He had witnessed the evolution of that landscape, and intended to keep living together with it. The house was almost fully elevated on piloti, on the edge of the height allowed by urban regulations, opening the view above the neighbours’ roofs — via ArchDaily

Human rights activists taught online tactics

By
5 November 2012
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
713 views

An international training institute to teach online tactics for human rights campaigners is being set up in the Italian city of Florence.

The first students, starting in the new year, will be drawn from human rights activists around the world — with the aim of arming them with the latest tools for digital dissent.

As the Arab spring showed, protests are as likely to be about individuals using social networking as much as public demonstrations. Street protests have become Tweet protests.

And repressive regimes are as likely to be hunting through Facebook as they are raiding underground meetings.

There is a dangerous, high-stakes, hi-tech game of cat and mouse being played — with protesters needing to balance their secrecy and safety with their need to achieve the maximum public impact.

This training centre, being set up by the European wing of the US-based Robert Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, wants to combine academic study with practical skills and training — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Files aren’t property, says US government

By
5 November 2012
2 min read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
773 views

While serial self-publicist Kim Dotcom was re-igniting the submarine cable debate in New Zealand, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation’s (EFF’s) case trying to recover files on behalf of a former Megaupload user Kyle Goodwin took a new twist.

The EFF has been in court trying to gain access to the servers seized by the Feds last year, when the Megaupload saga began. Access to the servers, they have argued, is necessary to help establish Goodwin’s case that his files should be returned.

In a filing that the EFF says should terrify users of any cloud service, the government is arguing that Goodwin’s property rights aren’t sufficient to demand access to the servers.

The government arguments are that Goodwin cannot demonstrate any ownership over the servers, since he merely paid for a service. Moreover, while conceding that Goodwin might have the right to assert his copyright, that is not sufficient to establish that he has an ownership interest in the property that is the subject of his motion — the copies of his data, if any, which remain on Carpathia’s servers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Baby White Rhino / Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

By
5 November 2012
52 second read
Leave a comment
In Wildlife
864 views

On 23 October Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomed a baby White Rhinoceros. The female Rhino, who has yet to be named, was born at the 26-acre White Rhino habitat on Busch Gardens’ Serengeti Plain. This is the second calf born to mother Kisiri and the seventh for father Tambo. She weighed an estimated 140 pounds at the time of the birth, and will gain approximately four pounds each day until she reaches an adult weight of approximately 3,500 to 4,000 pounds — via ZooBorns

Previous 259 260 261262 263 Next