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
eBay has added Google Checkout to the list of payment options banned on eBay. A recent update to the Accepted Payments Policy includes Google Checkout: click on ‘Show’ next to ‘Some Examples’ to reveal the list
Australian scientists have developed a super-drug with potential to cure various illnesses including cancers, age-related blindness, heart disease and arthritis
Scott Adams cuts to the heart of the recent stupidity over flag burning: I was delighted to learn that American politicians are trying to make it illegal to burn the American flag. That can only mean that my dedicated public servants have finally solved the problems of crime, drugs, war, poverty, terrorism, healthcare, immigration, and the mystery of why our children are such idiots compared to Norwegians. Evidently those issues are now under control. I was starting to worry that Congress was wasting my tax dollars doing stupid shit
New landmines will soon communicate via a radio network, and move from place to place in order to be most effective. Termed the self-healing minefield, the individual mines are capable of detecting an enemy breach and then moving to seal the gap
Sticking a needle with a flaming plasma tip into your mouth may not at first strike you as much of an improvement on conventional dentistry. However, the plasma needle, which is cold and painless to the touch, could be just the panacea we have been waiting for
Recently, the FDA approved Gardasil, a vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer in women. The approval wasn’t without a fight, and even now it’s still being fought, primarily by the KKK-linked hate group, the Family
Research Council. Cervical cancer kills 4,000 women a year, and yet these people will still fight a vaccine that stops the virus that causes it. Why, you ask?
The Queensland police force has begun using the first phase of a $35 million technology system that will grow into a one-stop access point for officers
Award-winning photojournalist Martin Adler was killed in Mogadishu this week while filming a political demonstration. He was shot at close range by a single, hooded gunman. Mr Adler often covered conflict zones alone, filling the multiple roles roles of writer, cameraman, producer and correspondent — via Boing Boing
Freedb, the free music database used by tons of CD ripping software, has been shut down due to a disagreement among its developers. One of its developers used a data dump from the original freedb.org and is providing the service at freedb2.org, though, and will be adding features and posting them at his site as they become available. Unfortunately, a database dump or source code for freedb2.org is yet nowhere to be found — via Slashdot
In an attempt to explain his reasons for voting against a Net Neutrality bill recently, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens delivered a jaw-dropping attempt to explain how the Internet works. Said Stevens: They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a truck. It’s a series of tubes. And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material
Microsoft has denied that WGA will kill pirated copies of Windows. According to Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer.
Microsoft also says that WGA is a necessary part of its campaign to catch those illegally using Windows XP which leads one to think what WGA really does then — via Slashdot
The morning after
lotion is called Dimericine, which is basically an enzyme cream that repairs the skin’s damaged DNA. The body does this process naturally, but this cream would significantly speed it up — via digg
The next generation of naturalistic and touch-sensitive artificial limbs are being worn by US soldiers. Instead of the old velcro strap and cup these new models are fused directly to the bone and are controlled by controlled by the wearer’s brain. Future prosthetic arms will fuse to existing bone, eliminating the need for awkward attachment systems. These more naturalistic limbs will use bionic nerves attached to natural nerves to send and receive signals from the brain. Chips embedded in the user’s brain will help command artificial-muscle-activated, touch-sensitive, fully articulating hands
RSS – Posts