First images of baby squid care Scientists have captured the first
images of a mother squid caring for its young, carrying eggs in a
giant sac. Using a remote control submarine, researchers saw the tiny
squid Gonatus onyx carrying its eggs in a sac almost the same size as
its body. Writing in the journal Nature, they say this helps the
baby squid to survive after they hatch. But care comes at a price,
as months of holding the eggs in its arms weakens the adult and may
make it easy prey.
Squid generally place fertilised eggs on the ocean floor and leave
the young to fend for themselves.
http://tinyurl.com/cexg3
A novelist turned gaming innovator DAVIS, Calif.--Sean Stewart leans
over his laptop in the little garage he's converted to a home office
and joins an online poker match, posing as legendary gunslinger Wild
Bill Hickok. He's in the game to win virtual chips, of course. But
the other gamblers want more. This "Last Call Poker" Web site he has
just entered hides a complicated story that players have to figure
out in stages, and they've guessed the Hickok character that Stewart
is playing might help. But the 40-year-old novelist turned virtual
game maker can't resist teasing them a little first. "We can't ever
know a man's heart," he answers one player's probing question, a sly
grin on his face as he types, "until we put a bullet through it."
http://tinyurl.com/7tfo2
Aging computers hobble Homeland Security Thousands of airline
passengers unexpectedly found themselves stranded in line at U.S.
border checkpoints in August, after a Department of Homeland Security
computer crashed. At Miami International, some 4,500 frustrated
travelers waited in cramped conditions. Airport staff handed out
bottles of water and coloring books with crayons for children during
the wait for the computer, which checks identities, to come back up.
"This incident was extraordinary," said Greg Chin, an airport
spokesman. "In other cases when the computers have been down, it has
only been for less than half an hour."
http://tinyurl.com/dbvtp
Philips spinoff iRex plans ebook reader The latest ebook reader that
won’t take the world by storm is apparently coming soon from a
Philips spinoff called iRex Technologies. The Dutch company showed
off a prototype earlier this month, and plans a launch for early next
year. According to reports, the iRex will use E-ink technology (not
surprising, since Philips helped develop and fund E-ink), and has
also been put together by some of the same developers who worked on
Sony’s mega-successful Librie. No info yet on pricing or specs. We
like E-ink, and would certainly like to see ebooks take off in a real
way. But face it, until readers are cheap, easy to use, have color
displays, and have a common platform for software and DRM (not to
mention a critical mass of available books), they’re going to remain
expensive novelty items.
http://tinyurl.com/ajrz3
Space Spiders to Assemble Satellites in Orbit
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 14, @11:24PM from the
ziggy-stardust dept. Grubby Games writes "New Scientist reports that
a JAXA mission to determine whether spider-like robots could
construct complex structures in space is set to launch in January
2006. The spider bots could build large structures by crawling over a
'web' released from a larger spacecraft. The engineers behind the
project hope the robots will eventually be used to construct colossal
solar panels for satellites that will transmit solar energy back to
Earth."
http://tinyurl.com/bnwnk
Computer model predicts bestseller titles Try your luck FROM SOFTWARE
predicting movie success to a model analysis of the best chances of
landing a bestseller, is there nothing beyond the reach of
technology? Lulu.com, a publishing web site set up by Red Hat co-
founder Bob Young, says that Agatha Christie’s “Sleeping Murder”
is the perfect title for a bestseller but that strangely, The Da
Vinci Code isn’t. The firm says that it built a computer model to
analyse the New York Times bestseller list from the last 50 years by
checking on the most successful titles. If you fancy yourself as the
next John Grisham go to http://www.lulu.com/titlescorer and gauge
your chances of success.
http://tinyurl.com/8h794
Networked gaming to show the way for networked economy (link to this
article) December 15, 2005 With two billion plus cell phone users
and a billion internet connections, the global networked economy is
beginning to emerge globally as an immensely powerful medium. Not
surprisingly, some markets are showing more promise than others and
networked gaming looks like one of the most likely to succeed.
Revenues from U.S. online gaming services will increase from $1.1
billion in 2005 to more than $3.5 billion in 2009, according to
"Networked Gaming Driving the Future," a new report from Parks
Associates. Networked gaming services, including online console
gaming, massively multiplayer online gaming (MMOG), multiplayer
Internet gaming, and mobile multiplayer gaming, will account for
almost 50% of online gaming revenues in 2009, followed by digital
downloads at 23%. Over the next four years, the gaming industry will
no longer depend solely on retail sales but will see more balanced
and diversified business models.
http://tinyurl.com/agsov
Can anyone say SNOW CRASH:
The airbag jacket for motorcycling, horseriding and power sports.
December 14, 2005 Motorcyclists have long been the most vulnerable
road users because they do not have an effective barrier between
themselves and other objects in an accident. A flurry of activity in
motorcycle protective gear could change things. Honda recently showed
its first air-bag on a motorcycle and manufacturers are developing a
cross between the airbag and a protective jacket designed to protect
the motorcycle rider's neck and spine in the event of an accident.
One of the first to market with the new design is Airprotek which
sells a range of jackets and vests featuring airbag technology
designed to keep riders safe and comfortable in a wide range of
driving and climatic conditions. The jackets are already in use by
police departments in Brazil, Italy, Japan and Spain and appear to
offer significantly greater protection than a normal jacket. The
inflatable vests are finding application in many other potentially
dangerous activities such as horseriding and power sports.
http://tinyurl.com/axf4g
Tiny R/C helicopters

Alexander Van de Rostyne's Pixelito is a 6.9 gram helicopter that's
remote controllable via an infrared link. Six-years in development,
it's the latest and smallest in his family of Pixel Radio Controlled
Helicopters. Link
http://tinyurl.com/78g86
Neural network sorts the blockbusters from the flops
Will the 3-hour special-effects-loaded remake of King Kong be a box
office smash or a complete turkey? For movie producers, getting such
questions right can be worth millions, and now they have a computer
system to help them work it out before a film is even made. The idea
comes from Ramesh Sharda, an information scientist at Oklahoma State
University in Stillwater, who has trained an artificial neural
network to recognise what makes a successful movie (Expert Systems
with Applications, vol 30, p 243). Using data on 834 movies released
between 1998 and 2002, Sharda found that the neural network can judge
a film based on seven key parameters: the "star value" of the cast,
the movie's age rating, the time of release against that of
competitive movies, the film's genre, the degree of special effects
used, whether it is a sequel or not, and the number of screens it is
expected to open in. This allowed it to place a movie in one of nine
categories, ranging from "flop" (total takings less than $1 million)
to "blockbuster" (over $200 million).
http://tinyurl.com/ahaqe
Swoop on hospitals finds many 'unacceptably dirty' Mental health
institutions come bottom in survey Report follows rise in MRSA
infections Sarah Boseley Health editor Thursday December 15, 2005
The Guardian
A snap inspection of hospitals found many were unacceptably dirty,
including one where investigators discovered stains from bodily
fluids left on a hoist chair, a report said yesterday. It concluded
that most hospitals were not as clean as they should be and it was
especially critical of some NHS mental health hospitals. The
Healthcare Commission sent inspectors into 98 hospitals around the
country without warning to look at the dirt, dust, decor and state of
the toilets. While 33 did well, "too many hospitals failed to perform
as well as they could", the commission said in its report yesterday,
and in 22 there was "clear evidence of poor standards of
cleanliness", which suggested systemic problems.
http://tinyurl.com/d4y8j
Speed Laces
Quick-tie shoelaces

It was while training for a triathlon that I first heard about quick-
tie shoelaces. When transitioning from biking to running you want to
get your Nikes on fast. So I went to the running store and bought a
pair of elastic laces with a spring-loaded plastic thingy like you
find on a cinch sack. It worked well enough for my first race. But
then a funny thing happened. I kept using the shoes for my regular
runs and found I lost nothing in support and gained a few welcome
moments each time I put on, or took off, my shoes. Why would I ever
want to go back to regular laces? Later I googled and found Speed
Laces. They've taken the idea up a notch with low-friction eyelets
you can screw into your shoe's eyelets, plus neater cinch mechanisms.
I bought half a dozen and began retrofitting my family's running shoes.
http://tinyurl.com/93r6w
Shelter in a Cart: New Designboom Competition December 15, 2005
07:37 AM - Lloyd Alter, TorontoWe love Designboom's competitions-
thousands of people submit so many wonderful ideas. The current
competition is less cheerful than others but much more important:
Shelter in a Cart Design a cart that can provide shelter and
storage. Urban homeless use carts to carry their possessions and to
collect goods (like bottles, cardboard, etc.) that they then return
to various recyclers in exchange for cash. This provides a small and
valuable income. It is essential that your cart design not only
accommodates all these functions but that it is affordable (for
production and for private parties or charity organisations who wish
to donate them). Read more and enter by February 28 at ::Designboom
http://tinyurl.com/9ep9k
(TAKE WITH HOUSE SIZED GRAIN OF SALT)
14-Day Plan Improves Memory There is a research shows on a two week
program can improve participant’s memories effectiveness. It
involves some physical, and mental training. After the participant
has gone through the 14 days training, it shows the efficiency of
working memory and other cognitive functions. Here’s the program:
Memory Training: Brainteasers, crossword puzzles and memory exercises
that emphasized verbal skills throughout the day. Healthy Diet: Five
meals daily included a balanced diet rich in omega-3 fats, whole
grains and antioxidants. Eating frequent meals prevents dips in blood
glucose, the primary energy source for the brain. Physical Fitness:
Brisk daily walks and stretching. Physical fitness has been found in
other research to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Stress
Reduction: Stretching and relaxation exercises. Stress causes the
body to release cortisol, which can impair memory and has been found
to shrink the memory centers in the brain.
http://tinyurl.com/dqrgr
Panel on Investing Opportunities in Digital Media This morning, I
have attended an AlwaysOn/KPMG event featuring a panel of venture
capitalists investing in the digital media space, co-moderated by
Tony Perkins and KPMG's Packy Kelly. VCs participating to this panel
were:
Tim Draper from Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Tim and his firm have
invested in Skype, Akimbo, Divx, Technorati and Revver.
John Jarve from Menlo Venture. His firm invested in CinemaNow and
MobiTV.
Brad Feld from Mobius VC - and author of Feld Thoughts (one of the
best VC blogs). Brad and his firm have invested in Technorati,
NewsGator, FeedBurner and SlingMedia.
Tony kicked off the session by stating that he saw Hollywood and
Silicon Valley “getting in bed”, which was quite different from
“Web 1.0”, and asked his panelists to comment on trends
underpinning the investment strategy of their respective firms. Tim
saw a major revolution happening in the media space enabled by new
technology: production, distribution and consumption - on TVs,
computers and cell phones. John related to three trends Menlo
Ventures has been tracking over the past 5 years: raw bandwidth
availability going up, storage costs dropping and the new efficient H.
264 compression enabling a wide range distribution of video. Brad
explained that current trends resulted from constructs which are 10
years old and have now reached maturity - and user adoption.
http://tinyurl.com/7o7ng
Introducing the DivX® 6.1 codec
Today, we're excited to announce that the DivX 6.1 codec is finally
here! It sports a ton of new features and enhancements, perhaps the
most impressive being a massive improvement in encoding speed.
According to our benchmarks, even a modest single CPU will run
anywhere from 14 to 80% faster than the 6.0 codec depending on the
quality mode selected. At the same time, brand new support for HT,
SMP, Dual Core, and Dual Core + HT CPUs allows for gains of up to 300%!
http://tinyurl.com/d7kw5
The Story of a Cabinet Built in 24 Hours Okay, so now I've got your
attention - it's true - the cabinet construction was completed in 24
hours, but it took about three months to get around to the last few
bits (like decorating the unit), so don't complain if after one day
you don't get something that looks like the unit on the left!
Please browse through the links at the top and bottom of each page.
They will cover the construction diary (in blow-by-blow detail), the
finishing of the unit together with a shopping list, prices and then
information on the PC inside the unit. Finally you will be able to
download some plans we created after building the device, together
with some of the graphics that are on the unit.
http://tinyurl.com/dyfks
The Hydrogen Gold Rush Is On Move over, Ben Franklin. Todd
Livingstone has a plan to solve the energy crisis by capturing huge
amounts of energy from lightning. The idea itself is not new. But
Livingstone, an inventor and electronics technician from Boston --
the town where Benjamin Franklin was born 300 years ago next month --
has added a unique twist. Using lasers to capture lightning bolts, he
wants to channel them through a large tank of water, producing near-
limitless amounts of hydrogen.
http://tinyurl.com/9d3os
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