Thursday, July 29, 2010
Autistic Girl Expresses Profound Intelligence
Monday, July 26, 2010
Autistic Girl Expresses Profound Intelligence
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Saturday, July 24, 2010
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At least 18 people have been trampled to death on their way to the Loveparade techno music festival in Duisburg, Germany. The festival-goers were crushed in a tunnel on their way to festival grounds, according to police.
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At least 18 people have been trampled to death on their way to attend the Loveparade techno music festival in the western German city of Duisburg on Saturday. |
The tragedy occurred in a tunnel on the way to the festival grounds as police were trying to prevent people from entering the overcrowded site. Thousands of fans had been walking along a hundred-meter pathway toward the festival for several hours, many of them intoxicated. Read more at www.dw-world.de |
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 Perfectly matching snapshots-in-progress with a photo taken in the same spot a hundred years ago is an awesome idea. Turns out, it's kind of hard. But Adobe and MIT have figured out a way to make it happen more accurately.
Read more at gizmodo.com |
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HD2 Android Development Section Now Available! |
Recently, Android development for the HTC HD2 has increased by leaps and bounds. At the beginning of this month, the first Android packages were released, and now it runs almost stable and fluid on the HD2. Because of the increase in Android development, we decided to add a new forum that specifically targets any subjects related to Android for the HD2. A lot of threads have already been moved to this new section, like the major discussion thread and the ‘Definitive Guide to Android on HD2‘. |
FreeBSD 8.1 is available
FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE Announcement |
The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the availability of
FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE. This is the second release from the 8-STABLE branch which improves
on the functionality of FreeBSD 8.0 and introduces some new features. Some of the
highlights: |
zfsloader added
zpool version of ZFS subsystem updated to version 14
NFSv4 ACL support in UFS and ZFS; support added to cp(1), find(1), getfacl(1), mv(1),
and setfacl(1) utilities
UltraSPARC IV/IV+, SPARC64 V support
SMP support in PowerPC G5
BIND 9.6.2-P2
sendmail updated to 8.14.4
OpenSSH updated to 5.4p1
GNOME 2.30.1, KDE 4.4.5
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For a complete list of new features and known problems, please see the online release
notes and errata list available at: |
Firefox Tab Candy!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Mugen Battery Pack Doubles Evo 4G Battery Life
The 3,200mAh capacity HLI-A9292XL battery pack gives you twice the juice the 1,500mAh the Evo 4G ships with. It adds a bit of bulk, but what's an extra 20mm of thickness when you're already rocking one of the largest handsets out there? |
The battery pack won't ship until August 13th, but the $97 price tag seems like a bargain for the peace of mind that comes with knowing your phone won't quit on you by lunchtime. [Mugen via Electronista] Read more at gizmodo.com |
I love growing things
Potatoes:
Nearly A Half-Bushel Per Foot |
Welcome through
Fred's Garden Gate! Well, it's too late
for this season—at least in Central Maine—but there's still time to
prepare and plan a very different way to grow potatoes next
season. |
Early this Spring (2000), I ordered my Dark Red Norland
potatoes from Johnny's and decided I'd had enough of rows and rows of spuds taking up most of the
prime space in our veggie patch. So....I borrowed a concept from a distant
friend, highly refined it, and now grow them vertically! The up-side:
where 5 pounds of spud "seed" formerly planted about 40 feet of
row, now the same plants occupy a circular space 2-1/2 feet across by 36" tall. And considering the harvest rate, that cooks down to just
short of a bushel and a half for the space used! The only down-side
that I can see: the planting tends to dry out quicker than if
planted directly in the ground. Here's the deal: |
Find yourself about ten feet of
36" wide "hog wire" that has wire spacing of 1" by 2",
then roll it into a vertical "cylinder" (now 3-feet tall) and
lace it together with either wire or synthetic cord. |
Once laced securely, it's time to cut the openings
through which your potato "seed" will be inserted.
Each hole will be approximately 3" by 4" - just large enough to
push the "seed" through, and for the plant to grow through. I
arranged mine so there were four openings tall on the cylinder, and 10
openings on
each of the four tiers. |
Stand this now completed cylinder on one end in the
full sun, and drive a stout stake outside on each side (at "9
O'clock" and "3 O'clock") to keep it standing on end. |
The next step involves a wheelbarrow and some
elbow-grease: fill this wire enclosure right to the top with the freshest
compost or very high organic matter soil— not the usual stuff
("dirt") you usually grow your potatoes in!—you can get your
hands on, and slightly shake the cage a little to settle it down. I used
100% compost—a biologically hot-rot product using my own 21-day, no-turn
composting method (see the article in archives: Read more at www.hillgardens.com |
Aftermath of the oil spill in the gulf
Experts: Health Hazards in Gulf Warrant Evacuations |
When Louisiana residents ask marine toxicologist and community activist Riki Ott what she would do if she lived in the Gulf with children, she tells them she would leave immediately. "It's that bad. We need to start talking about who's going to pay for evacuations." |
In 1989, Ott, who lives in Cordova, Alaska, experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the Exxon Valdex oil disaster. For the past two months, she's been traveling back and forth between Louisiana and Florida to gather information about what's really happening and share the lessons she learned about long-term illnesses and deaths of cleanup workers and residents. In late May, she began meeting people in the Gulf with symptoms like headaches, dizziness, sore throats, burning eyes, rashes and blisters that are so deep, they're leaving scars. People are asking, "What's happening to me?" |
She says the culprit is almost two million gallons of Corexit, the dispersant BP is using to break up and hide the oil below the ocean's surface. "It's an industrial solvent. It's a degreaser. It's chewing up boat engines off-shore. It's chewing up dive gear on-shore. Of course it's chewing up people's skin. The doctors are saying the solvents are making the oil worse." Read more at www.truth-out.org |
many many Earth type planets in our Galaxy
| Dimitar Sasselov: How we found hundreds of Earth-like planets |
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Texans wonder if they executed an innocent man |
(CNN) -- A Texas state board is set Friday to revisit questions surrounding a controversial 2004 execution, with supporters of the man's family warning the panel is trying to bury its own critical review of the case. |
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze -- but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. |
The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic Sciences Commission, which has been looking into Willingham's execution since 2008. But a September 2009 shake-up by Texas Gov. Rick Perry has kept that panel from reviewing the report, and the commission's new chairman has ordered a review of its operating rules. Critics say that may kill the probe. |
"They are attempting permanently to keep the investigation from continuing and moving on, and I do believe it's because they don't like the direction the evidence is leading," Willingham's cousin, Pat Cox, said Thursday. Read more at www.cnn.com |
Too rich for me
The American people are hurting. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and their ability to get a higher education. Today, some 22 percent of our children live in poverty, and millions more have become dependent on food stamps for their food. |
And while the Great Wall Street Recession has devastated the middle class, the truth is that working families have been experiencing a decline for decades. During the Bush years alone, from 2000-2008, median family income dropped by nearly $2,200 and millions lost their health insurance. Today, because of stagnating wages and higher costs for basic necessities, the average two-wage-earner family has less disposable income than a one-wage-earner family did a generation ago. The average American today is underpaid, overworked and stressed out as to what the future will bring for his or her children. For many, the American dream has become a nightmare. Read more at www.thenation.com |
all MS employees to get Free WinMo 7 handsets
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Microsoft Will Give a Free Windows Phone 7 Device to Every Employee |
 Even before we hear the first sales estimates, we can safely say that a Windows Phone 7 device will be in the hands of a rather large user base. How do I know that? Well, Microsoft announced it will be giving a free Phone 7 device to every employee – all 90,000+ of them.
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Although this gesture will come at quite a cost for Microsoft, I always believe that all companies should try to make evangelists out of their employees, and what better way to do that than to hand them a free, bleeding-edge device to use? |
Of course, Microsoft might want to make sure that edge isn’t bleeding too heavily, because not even their own employees will want to use a buggy device. However, from what we’ve heard about Windows Phone 7 lately, it’s definitely usable. |
For now, though, judging by their tweets (above), the folks from Microsoft are definitely excited about their new phone. If you’re working at Microsoft and haven’t heard the news, you might want to read this internal email from Microsoft’s Andy Lees, which explains that the “process will vary based on your market, your carrier, and your launch date” and promises “more information closer to launch.” Read more at mashable.com |
Nexus One to be Gone by August
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
We knew Nexus One was going to be leaving; but given the slow sales history, I was honestly expecting the phone to be around for another month at the earliest. According to Google, if you want a Nexus One, you better buy now. |
A Google spokeswoman told The Times on Tuesday that the Mountain View, Calif., company expects to sell out of its remaining supply by the end of the month but wouldn’t say how many units it received.
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After that, she is history. Well, for the American general public that is. Nexus One will still be available in other countries. Developers of all nationalities will also be able to purchase the device through their Android Market developer account. Read more at androidspin.com |
Motorola Droid X And HTC Incredible To Ship In August
| Motorola Droid X And HTC Incredible To Ship In August |
Verizon seems to be having some bittersweet moments recently. While the Droid Incredible and the recently-released Droid X have been met with much demand, the bad news is that the carrier has been having trouble keeping up with demand for the devices (which is a nice problem to have, actually). According to Verizon's website, folks who want to get hold of the HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid X will have to wait until August 3rd. Considering the Droid Incredible's track record of being delayed, this probably isn't too surprising to most folks, but the delay to the Droid X will probably put a frown to many faces out there. Hopefully the shortage won't happen again in the future. Read more at www.ubergizmo.com |
The Sprint Evo 4G does a lot of things brilliantly, but endurance is not one of them. Until this Mugen battery pack came along, granting Evo owners' wish of a full day's use on one charge.
