22758788
submission
cheros writes:
A BBC article reports on work at the Berlin Institute of technology where brainwaves are used to trigger brakes. Apparently this cuts braking distance by more than 3m (10ft), but I have reservations about skull electrodes in *any* circumstances. I'll stick with radar, thanks..
22332924
submission
cheros writes:
It's now 40 years ago that the Stanford prisoner experiment went ugly so quickly it had to be aborted. Stanford has an interesting piece called The Menace Within that looks back on this momentous psychological experiment.
I think we can still learn from this — plenty of live examples around..
7320546
submission
cheros writes:
No, it's not a new game, and it's not a new Linux distro either (although it would be quite a name), it's BEER.
What's more, it's not your average new taste either, it's incredibly strong stuff with 32% alcohol.
Please do not drink too much of this, or you'll become too risky to cremate..
6240063
submission
cheros writes:
Ah, British humour..
It started all with work of the Goons (Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe) and there was somewhat of an explosion of comedy in the years of the Cambridge Footlights when people like Stephen Fry And Tony Slattery created pieces that shall forever stand tall in history (I leave you to ponder that one, grin) — do a YouTube search for "The letter, Stephen Fry" for a taste. For those that like the series "House", you may be surprised to discover that Hugh Laurie was actually a rather accomplished, multi-talented comedian as well, look for "A bit of Fry and Laurie", especially "Your name sir". A bit of a warning, here, some of it is NSFW (especially "the pre-coital agreement" discussion is only suitable for those that actually have a sense of humour).
And then the Monty Python gang got together (I think this is right chronologically, but I'm happy to be corrected). The first airing of Monty Python was on October 5th, 1969, which means today it's 40 years old. Almost everything they did is now in some form or another on YouTube, so go and enjoy it. Look for the dead parrot sketch, the argument clinic, the ministry of silly walks etc etc.
Long may it live!
5633761
submission
glow-in-the-dark writes:
The Swiss office for Data Protection has asked Google to turn off Streetview, I suspect because it doesn't meet the conditions as demanded when permission was given to go ahead.
Google answered privacy concerns with the following points (I'm translating them from German):
"Do I have to worry about being in Streetview?"
Google will publish in advance where it is going to record the images, so you can act accordingly.
Comment: WTF? So people have to hide when Google rides into town? Who exactly has the obligation here?
How is my Data Protection guaranteed when my picture has been taken?
Google has made masking the images of people and car license plates obligatory.
Comment: I think this is where trouble starts, because their permission to go ahead against concern appears to have been dependent on how well they did this. I have browsed one particular town as an experiment and was quite quickly able to unearth unmasked faces. This means that either the algorithm they use doesn't work, or that it is done manually and they're behind (in which case they should not have put up the images IMHO).
How do I get myself removed from Google Streetview?
You can tell Google where you were in the picture and they'll remove it.
Comment: same comment as above (whose obligation is this?), and, in addition, how are you going to recall where you saw a Google car (if you noticed it at all)? The images take several months to show up, and you don't need to look straight at them to be in the image.
Can I get my home removed from Google Streetview?
Although a picture of a home is generally not covered under Data Protection, Google has agreed to remove them if so asked, follow the same process as removing a person.
Comment: I think it wouldn't be half as bad if the pictures weren't taken with a high enough resolution to see inside a house.
In short, Google has not been given the easy ride it had in other countries regarding Streetview. I actually suspect there is more to come..
4476049
submission
cheros writes:
NASA reports that the Spirit Mars lander is presently stuck in soft soil. The lander's wheels are halfway sunk into the soil and they are planning simulation tests to see if they can get it out again.
I hope they can get it out of there because it's picking up enough new energy to work with, however, it only has 5 wheels left to work with — one of the wheels hasn't been working for years. Fingers crossed..
