Quote:Draft of Declaration of Independence named subjects, not citizens

Hyperspectral images of a draft of the Declaration of Independence reveal that it originally used the word 'subjects' instead of 'citizens' at a critical juncture. After writing "our fellow subjects," author Thomas Jefferson scrubbed it out and replaced it with the familiar alternative.

To the Library of Congress, whose Preservation Research and Testing Division analyzed the document with the latest high-resolution camera equipment, it illustrates an important moment: "when [Jefferson] reconsidered his choice of words and articulated the recognition that the people of the fledgling United States of America were no longer subjects of any nation, but citizens of an emerging democracy."

Quote:For me, there is no feeling of admiration or no excitement whatsoever," Miyazaki said about the iPad. "It's disgusting. On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying."

Miyazaki also noted that he also got "fed up" when everyone on the trains started reading manga and then later when everyone began using cell phones on the trains to presumably send text messages.

Quote: “It may seem like I am ignoring your human rights to say this, but you can’t research any of that. Why? Because you have no way of knowing what it’s like to be on an old trireme, or having empathy with the men on board, covered in sweat as they labour at their oars.

You go out into the world without enriching your imagination. You are merely grasping the iWhatever as a skimming tool you use to stroke yourself.

I’m sure there are many people who want to become omnipotent by getting their hands on this iWhatever. I’ll tell you sir, there were once a bunch of people who wore radio cassette players (those bulky things) wherever they went in the sixties. They wore it like a priceless emblem.

They’re mostly probably living off of pension funds now, but you and them are the same. You jump at the newest gadgets, and all you do is relish the pride in owning one as some consumer.

You must not become a consumer. You must become someone that creates.”

Quote:You can rip your own DVDs, and nobody will stop you.

...

You can jailbreak your phone.

...

The fourth exemption is narrower than the first three, granting the right to crack video or computer game DRM (such as SecuROM) for the purposes of research or "investigation." The language here is broad enough to give a little wiggle room (after all, anyone who's curious can investigate).

...

What about music? Or ripping video games?
No dice this time around—the act makes no exemption for copying DRM-protected music or games, so breaking the encryption on a song or Blu-ray you rightfully own is still illegal.

Quote:VIRUS-BUILT WEARABLE BATTERIES COULD POWER MILITARY

Batteries, built by viruses, could someday be sprayed onto military uniforms as wearable power sources.

Teams of researchers, one from MIT, one from the University of Maryland, have used two different viruses to create the cathode and anode for a lithium ion battery.

If the Maryland research pans out, the parts for lithium ion batteries could be grown in and harvested from tobacco plants. The MIT research, meanwhile, could produce lithium ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power a wide range of electronic devices, from unmanned aerial vehicles to cell phones.

(08-27-2010, 10:09 AM)Grim Wrote: Good use for viruses: make them into batteries.

Quote:VIRUS-BUILT WEARABLE BATTERIES COULD POWER MILITARY

Batteries, built by viruses, could someday be sprayed onto military uniforms as wearable power sources.

Teams of researchers, one from MIT, one from the University of Maryland, have used two different viruses to create the cathode and anode for a lithium ion battery.

If the Maryland research pans out, the parts for lithium ion batteries could be grown in and harvested from tobacco plants. The MIT research, meanwhile, could produce lithium ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power a wide range of electronic devices, from unmanned aerial vehicles to cell phones.

Quote:Problem-solving skills used in one of -- if not the most -- popular real-time strategy games of all time are not unlike those used in the 21st Century real world. At least that is the song that the University of Florida is singing.

The school, located in Gainesville, Florida, is offering a two-credit honors couse titled, "21st century Skills in Starcaft." The eight-week class "does not teach about Starcraft," but combines weekly gameplay, analysis of recorded matches and "synthesis of real/game-world concepts," to develop workplace skills.

Quote:Those cheap earphones you keep buying year after year? The ones with the cool designs? They all kinda sound the same, huh? There's a pretty good reason for that: They actually are all the same earphones.

In the world of gadgets, earphones occupy a decidedly weird space. Few categories can boast mind-numbing variety (both in price and quality) that headphones offer. Every year, companies like Sony trot out a phalanx of multi-colored ear candy at CES, each with various frequency responses and designs. You can pay as little as $10 for a standard pair earbuds, or drop as much as $2,000 for a pair of custom molded in-ear monitors. The space in between these extremes is even becoming crowded, with offerings designed specifically for running, yoga, juggling chainsaws—basically any activity you can conjure up that can be done while listening to music. And that's not even getting into traditional over-the-ear (or on-ear) cans.

(09-24-2010, 03:38 PM)Twin-Skies Wrote: RIP, Blockbuster

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2010/09/blockbuster-officially-going-bankrupt-for-really-real-this-time.ars