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English DJ Claims Wi-Fi Allergy 515

Posted by samzenpus from the TV-gives-me-hives dept.
path0$ writes "British Ex-DJ Steve Miller claims that his Wi-Fi allergy is making his life one big misery , forcing him to live in an iron-clad home far from any neighbors. According to the article, more and more people are suffering from an allergy like his. The only positive side to this is that at least Miller didn't think of suing anybody yet, like these people did, who claim to suffer from the same condition and were mentioned in a Slashdot article in 2008."

Microsoft's "Source Fource" Action Figures 363

Posted by CmdrTaco from the is-frequent-rebooting-a-power dept.
RCanine writes "Microsoft is attempting to curry mind share with the 3-12 age bracket with their new event, the Source Fource, a series of developer-based action figures. Windows Vista Sensei, SQL Server Gal and some lame gender stereotypes presumably seek to rid the world of bearded, katana-wielding evil-doers. From the article: 'Between March 15th and April 15th 2007, the new super dudette will be offered and will be sent to developers who get their act together and attend at least two live MSDN Webcasts or two MSDN Virtual Labs, or one of each.'" I just can't figure out what to make of this, except that I hope someone can tell me if it blends. Or melts. Or burns.
The Military

Hearing Voices? Could Be the Lasers 225

Posted by kdawson from the or-maybe-the-sharks dept.
An anonymous reader sends us to Wired for a piece about some declassified Pentagon research from 1998 that has been revealed in a freedom-of-information filing. Apparently the Pentagon has investigated lasers that put voices in your head, among other non-lethal technologies such as microwave heating. The report suggests the techniques could be useful for controlling crowds or in negotiations. There is no context for the research or any indication whether it has continued, although the microwave heating bit sounds rather like the Active Denial System we have discussed recently.
It's funny. Laugh.

Inventor to Launch Pop Bottle Rocket into Space 285

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the next-comes-the-lawn-chair-with-balloons dept.
DrButts writes "An inventor in British Columbia wants to be the first to launch a pop bottle rocket into space. 'This could be impossible, but the CEO of AntiGravity Research already holds the altitude record for boosting an elongated plastic pop bottle — propelled by a bicycle pump, water and a bit of soap — into the air. Firing the ubiquitous, two-litre plastic container usually consigned to the recycle bin into space might create a whole new definition for space junk, but the dream keeps Schellenberg going.'"
Games

Spore Hands-On Preview 192

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the frothing-at-the-mouth dept.
cardjoe writes "The release date for Spore has just been announced and what better way to celebrate than to check out the latest build of the game? That's just what bit-tech.net did, spending hours with the full version of the game. The article covers all the different editors and stages in the game as well as providing a brief on the pollinated content and how it may well introduce an entire new genre to PC gaming — that of the Massively Online Singleplayer. The article is in-depth and has a whole load of brand new screenshots too, showing the various stages that the player will go through as they play the game and move their creature from single cells to galaxy-hopping space freaks."
User Journal

Journal SPAM: Lookout, Gooks and Ragheads!

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

Romney is out!:

"In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror"

Look out peoples.

Goodbye to bad rubbish - meanwhile, McCaine is plotting with the Generals for perpetual, limited nuclear war on the Gooks and Coolies.
Portables

Best Laptop for Going Around the World? 479

Posted by Zonk from the little-glowing-different dept.
mitbeaver writes "I'm planning a round-the-world trip. 6+ months in developing countries, including Everest base camps 1 & 2, the deserts of Namibia and lots of places in between. I want to bring something to write (blogs or the Great American Novel) and burn DVD photo backups to mail home. I don't really need much in the way of power, but I do need it to survive the altitude, dust, moisture of tropical locations, and being hauled around non-stop for the better part of a year. I will be carrying my life in my backpack, so every pound counts. It looks like some 'semi-rugged' ultraportables exist, but the truly 'rugged' are all pretty heavy. These are pricey, and the risk of theft is non trivial. A smaller laptop is easier to keep on my person more often, which is safer (in most countries) than leaving it in the hostel/hotel. Still, the rugged guys are 2x the price — almost worth buying a cheap one and planning an on the road replacement purchase. I know we've talked about gadgets to carry around the world before, but any advice would be greatly appreciated." We also discussed laptop travel cases a little more than a year ago.

Feed Engadget: Yet another perpetual motion machine fails to prove anything (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We want to believe, we really do, but these failed attempts and poorly-lit basement videos aren't exactly confidence inducing. Nevertheless, Thane Heins' Perepiteia generator has reportedly made its way down to a number of universities and labs across America, and while some onlookers have went so far as to admit that "it works," none have been able to support any underlying theories. No need to keep dashing your dreams -- click on through for one more mind-numbing video of something akin to (but sadly, not) "perpetual motion."

[Thanks, Mihir]

Continue reading Yet another perpetual motion machine fails to prove anything

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Medicine

Tainted Pills Hit US Mainland 162

Posted by kdawson from the time-for-some-yellow-journalism dept.
Tech.Luver notes an AP story on tainted pills that have arrived in the US from — not China this time — Puerto Rico. The article details a disturbing number of incidents of contamination investigated by the FDA over the last few years. "The first warning sign came when a sharp-eyed worker sorting pills noticed that the odd blue flecks dotting the finished drug capsules matched the paint on the factory doors. After the flecks were spotted again on the capsules, a blood-pressure medication called Diltiazem, the plant began placing covers over drugs in carts in its manufacturing areas. But the factory owner, Canadian drug maker Biovail Corp., never tried to find out whether past shipments of the drug were contaminated — or prevent future contamination, according to US regulators... FDA officials say the problems in Puerto Rico are proportionate with the large number of pharmaceutical plants here and generally no worse than those on the US mainland."
The Courts

Dell Suit Reveals Lucrative Domain Name Trade 147

Posted by kdawson from the pennies-times-millions dept.
alphadogg writes "A civil suit filed in Florida by Dell and its Alienware subsidiary is giving insight into the enormous sums of money that can be made by creating Web pages full of advertising links. In October, Dell sued a group of domain registrars, alleging the companies bought more than 1,100 domain names with trademark-infringing characteristics, such as 'dellbatterrogram.com' in order to put advertising links on the pages. The practice, known as typosquatting, is illegal. Dell alleges that the group of defendants, mostly registered offshore, control over a million domain names and have used over 64 million." The article also mentions Google's love-hate relationship with such shady advertising practices.
Hardware Hacking

Femtosecond Lasers Used To Color Metals 166

Posted by kdawson from the gold-ring-to-match-her-eyes dept.
Maximum Prophet writes "An optics professor and a postgrad have developed a way to use ultra-short pulses of laser light to etch nano features into the surface of metals so that they can absorb or reflect specific wavelengths of light. This is very similar to the way that butterflies get the color in their wings."
It's funny. Laugh.

How To Lose $7.2B With Just a Few Basic Skills 234

Posted by kdawson from the l33t-skillz-not-required dept.
Cityslacker recommends a Register piece speculating on how a lowly trader at the French bank SocGen was able to lose billions using only Excel VB. The author freely admits that his story is not based on hard sources, but his experience in the banking industry lends plausibility.
The Almighty Buck

SecondLife Bans Unregistered In-World Banks 353

Posted by timothy from the it-all-seems-a-bit-fictional dept.
GuruBuckaroo writes "Virtual Ponzi schemes — pardon, "Banks" — have finally been given the boot by the policymakers at Linden Lab's Second Life. According to the company's latest blog post: 'As of January 22, 2008, it will be prohibited to offer interest or any direct return on an investment (whether in L$ or other currency) from any object, such as an ATM, located in Second Life, without proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter. We're implementing this policy after reviewing Resident complaints, banking activities, and the law, and we're doing it to protect our Residents and the integrity of our economy.'"

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