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Comment Iron Dome Accuracy. (Score 1) 861

by Surasanji (#42041331) Attached to: Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield Actually Works
I'd say, as someone living in Israel (Tel Aviv, specifically) at the moment that its been quite effective on the longer range Fajr-5 Iranian-made missiles that had been fired my way. Another thing that might be changing the over all statistic is that there are two version of the system out at the moment- The older system which had started to roll out a year or two ago, along with a new generation of hardware. Perhaps the spokesman is only referring to the 'newer' upgraded versions.

Comment What, no pictures? (Score 1) 62

by Surasanji (#32911558) Attached to: 'Weekly Episodes' Coming To <em>Star Trek Online</em>
I love Star Trek. I am also a roleplayer. The Trek universe offers an amazing opportunity for Roleplay. Brave new worlds, things that spark the imagination. I'm not sure that's possible to capture in an MMO setting. Its /too/ large. It has to many players. I, personally, get my Trek Roleplay Fix on the various Mush games that still exist out there. Good Ole' Telnet. Sure, it birthed the often awful monstrosities that MMOs have become- but the base is still there, still roleplaying and generally still using their imaginations and words to find those brave new worlds and go where only man in his mind can go.

Comment Israel's Natural Resource (Score 4, Insightful) 131

by Surasanji (#31965498) Attached to: Aral Sea May Recover; Dead Sea Needs a Lifeline
The Dead Sea is of great economic importance to Israel. Tourism, sale of products containing the salt or mud of the dead sea all bring money into a country with almost zero natural resources. But, this is a problem that comes not just from the using of the Jordan river, but a number of other rivers as well- Ein Gedi, a freshwater spring isn't far away from the Dead Sea and its water is used as drinking water (And a popular bottled water!) inside Israel. All the 'sweet water' has been diverted in Israel, as it has in most desert places. As a result, only salty water is being diverted to the Dead Sea. This means, of course, that the sea is shrinking. The Canal from the red sea is not new- I've heard talk of that since 2006, at least, when I was in Israel last. Israel, however, has some of the brightest minds in the world. I'm hoping they'll come up with a great way to make this work.
Earth

Aral Sea May Recover; Dead Sea Needs a Lifeline 131

Posted by timothy from the just-needs-feng-shui-adjustment dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It's a tale of two seas. The drying up of the Aral Sea is considered one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in history, but the northern sector of the sea, at least, is showing signs of life. A dam completed in 2005 has increased the North Aral's span by 20 percent, and birds, fish, and people are all returning to the area. Meanwhile, the Dead Sea is still in the midst of precipitous decline, since too much water is being drawn out of the Jordan River for thirsty populations and crops. To keep the sea from shrinking more, scientists are pushing an ambitious scheme called the 'Red-Dead conduit,' which would channel huge amounts of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. However, the environmental consequences of such a project may be troubling."
User Journal

Journal Journal: /blog?

Journal by Surasanji

Its like a /blog. Interesting.
Graphics

Patch Re-Enables PhysX When ATI Card Is Present 130

Posted by kdawson from the until-they-break-it-again dept.
An anonymous reader points us to a forum posting with the inevitable followup to NVIDIA's crippling of PhysX for users of any other display adapter. "Windows 7 allows two display drivers to be used at once — like in Windows XP. Therefore, it is possible to use an NVIDIA card for PhysX and ATI card for graphics rendering. Sadly, since the release of 186 graphics drivers, NVIDIA has decided to block this feature anytime a Non-NVIDIA GPU is present in the system. In addition, for some incomprehensible reasons, the latest version of PhysX System Software also prevents PPU cards from working if a Non-NVIDIA GPU is present. ... A forum member by the name of GenL has released an experimental beta patch [that] intercepts disable-PhysX-if-Radeon-is-present-code. So far, according to user comments the patch delivers successful results." The forum post has a link to the patch for Windows 7.
Transportation

Where Are the Flying Cars? 362

Posted by CowboyNeal from the not-yet-in-the-flying-garage dept.
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Complaints of the non-existence of flying cars as expressions of disappointment in the failure of the present to measure up to the glory of past predictions have long been a staple of popular culture but all that is about to change when Terrafugia introduces their $148,000 "Transition," a 19-foot, two-seater that the company describes as a roadable light-sport aircraft. The problem is that the U.S. doesn't have the infrastructure in place to make landing in front of your house a viable alternative yet and a sky filled with people who don't have pilot's licenses could also be a problem. The idea is to take advantage of the 6,000 public airports in the U.S. so a pilot can fly into a small airport (video) and instead of getting a rental car, just fold up the wings on the aircraft and drive away. Terrafugia expects the first production model to be ready in 2009 and says they've already received advanced orders for 30 to 50 Transitions."
Biotech

Adult Brains More Flexible Than Previously Thought 123

Posted by Zonk from the you-must-unlearn-what-you-have-learned dept.
stemceller passed us a link to the official site for Johns Hopkins, which is reporting on some research into cognition. Generally, doctors have understood our best learning to be done at a young age, when the brain has a 'robust flexibility'. As we get older, our brain cells become 'hard-wired' along certain paths and don't move much - if at all. Or, at least, that was the understanding. Research headed by the hospital's Dr. Linden has taken advantage of 'two-photon microscopy', a new technique, to get a new picture inside a mouse's head. "They examined neurons that extend fibers (called axons) to send signals to a brain region called the cerebellum, which helps coordinate movements and sensory information. Like a growing tree, these axons have a primary trunk that runs upward and several smaller branches that sprout out to the sides. But while the main trunk was firmly connected to other target neurons in the cerebellum, stationary as adult axons are generally thought to be, 'the side branches swayed like kite tails in the wind,' says Linden. Over the course of a few hours, individual side branches would elongate, retract and morph in a highly dynamic fashion. These side branches also failed to make conventional connections, or synapses, with adjacent neurons. Furthermore, when a drug was given that produced strong electrical currents in the axons, the motion of the side branches stalled.'"
Music

Store Says DRM Causes 3 of 4 Support Calls 155

Posted by kdawson from the cost-shifting dept.
Carter writes "Ars Technica is reporting that Musicload, one of Europe's largest movie stores, has found that 75% of its customer support problems are caused by DRM. Users have frequent problems using the music that they have purchased, which has led Musicload to try selling independent label music without DRM. Artists choosing to abandon DRM in favor of good old-fashioned MP3 have seen 40% growth in sales since December. Good to see someone in the business both 'gets it' and is willing to do something about it."

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