Clipmarks | kelvin273's clips

Fox News posts poll numbers that add up to 120%

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:18:35 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Do you want to know how serious the "Climategate" hacked e-mail scandal is? It's so serious that, according to Rasmussen, 120 percent of Americans have an opinion on it. At least, that's what I learned from watching the December 4 edition of Fox & Friends, which featured this graphic:

Fox News' graphics department added together the "very likely" and "somewhat likely" numbers to reach 59 percent, and called that new group "somewhat likely." Then, for some reason, they threw in the 35 percent "very likely" as their own group, even though they already added that number to the "somewhat likely" percentage. Then they mashed together the "not very likely" and "not likely at all" groups, and threw the 15 percent who were unsure into the waste bin. Voila -- 120 percent.

"You may now change your relationship status on Facebook."

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:27:34 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Is this the wedding ceremony of the future?

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

It appears a man called Dana Hanna is standing at the altar on November 21. He utters those most solemn vows about how he will love and obey or whatever it is that married people claim to do these days.

The officiant pronounces that Dana and his lovely bride, Tracy, are now married. Does Dana weep? Does he kiss his bride?

Ah, no. For Dana's Twitter moniker is TheSoftwareJedi and his first loyalty is to his digital followers. So, much to his wife's surprise, he whips out his cell phone and updates his statuses on both Twitter and Facebook. Right there at the altar. He also hands his wife's cell phone over to her.

[Video]

Looking for Life on Moons

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:28:32 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

So far, the search for extraterrestrial life beyond our solar system has focused on finding Earth-like planets. And sure, planets are great, since we know at least one of them harbors life. But David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics thinks that search might be a tad too narrow. In a new paper, Kipping described how current technology can be re-tasked to search for another life-bearing body: moons.

The method suggested in the paper involves measuring changes in the orbit of large planets caused by the presence of moons. A similar technique, detecting the wobble of stars by the gravity of large planets, lead to the discovery of the first planets outside our solar system. This just refines that technique to smaller bodies. The paper identifies 25,000 stars close enough and visible enough to warrant further inspect, with a goal of finding a moon as small as 20 percent the size of Earth, and as large as our planet.

Tags: extraterrestrial, life, search

Corn genome decoded

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:29:20 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: So how long before the new Frankenfoods protests begin?

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

With its annual output of over 330 million tons a year feeding animals, running cars, and decorating South Dakota tourist attractions, maize is clearly Americas most important crop. That's why the newly published complete corn genome could drastically change the food, automotive and plastic industries. Already, scientists have identified genes that could boost yield, change the cell wall to make more biofuel, or raise the nutritional value of this vital cereal.

"What we have here is a crucial part of the instruction manual for how you breed a better corn plant," Richard Wilson, director of the Genome Center at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, and leader of the maize genome project, told Nature News.

In the Plant Physiology paper, professors from Purdue University note they they have already identified 750 cell wall genes. The cell wall of corn contains the materials that eventually become biofuel and bioplastics

Tags: corn, genetics, science

Woman goes undercover to catch pedophile husband

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:55:35 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

A 61-year-old woman from Bridgend, Wales, had been married to her husband, for almost 20 years when, according to a court report from the Telegraph, she noticed a curious message on their computer at home.

She focused and realized that the message had been sent by an underage girl to whom her husband had been sending messages in a chat room. The message was of a sexual nature and included her husband's original message to the girl.

She decided to use another computer in a different part of their house. She then entered the same chat room her husband had been using, posed as a young girl and made contact with him.

The woman didn't merely get written replies from her husband. He also used a Webcam to film himself for their supposed mutual pleasure.

Still, the court heard, she didn't confront him. Instead, she went straight to the police and the British National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

New Mass Transit Idea: Let Somebody Else Drive Your Car

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:25:25 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

The European Union has contracted an engineering firm to develop a public transportation system that doesn’t require users to leave their cars. The British consultancy Ricardo will work to develop a system that allows drivers to surrender control of their vehicles, and the company plans to test the system on public roads within the decade.

Basically, a lead car, driven by a professional driver, will travel down the highway and other cars can fall in behind and turn the driving over to the lead car. Cars would be able to enter and exit the platoon at any time by sending a signal to the lead car.

See your brain on drugs (literally)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:40:28 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Apparently, no matter the individual's specific hallucinations, the brains of people on LSD all look alike.

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

[Video]

The Star Wars Trilogy (as told by someone who hasn't seen the movies)

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:41:48 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.suvudu.com

If you’re even remotely aware of the original Star Wars trilogy, then you’re probably going to get a kick out of this one. If you aren’t, then you’ll probably still get a kick out of this video. I watched it at work and ended up with tears in my eyes, a bright red face, and an office full of co-workers who were getting pretty concerned for my well-being. It’s that funny. Star Wars: Retold is a recounting of the first three movies’ story arc by someone who hasn’t actually seen the movies. It was also the winner of the ‘George Lucas Selects’ award in the 2009 Star Wars Fan Movie contest. Enjoy!

[Video]

Tags: humor, star wars, video

Placebo effect photographed

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:15:54 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

Medicine has increasingly looked to the placebo effect's seemingly mysterious power to make people feel better in the absence of painkillers or pharmaceutical drugs. Now researchers have used fMRI scanners to pinpoint specific cells in the spinal cord that they believe are responsible for this ability to deaden pain.

A part of the spinal cord near the lower neck, called the dorsal horn, normally lights up with pain response. But no pain-related neural activity showed when researchers applied a so-called painkiller cream, which in fact was a placebo containing no active medication.

The research team applied painful heat to one arm of 13 volunteers, and then applied what they said was a painkiller cream and a control cream -- except that neither cream had active ingredients.

Tags: medicine, science

Piano Stairs in Sweden

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:38:45 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.boingboing.net

[Video]

Laptop With Two Monitors

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:44:32 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Now that is one weird visual.

Clip Source: www.maximumpc.com

Know why your next notebook might sport two displays? Because the concept is pretty rad, for one. But the real reason is because it appears manufacturers are starting to jump on the double-screen bandwagon that hasn't even left the corral just yet.

It started back in January of this year when Lenovo released its dual-screen W700ds, and then more recently Alaska-based gScreen promised to release a dual 15.4-inch screen laptop dubbed the Spacebook in time for the holidays. The latest to enter the double-wide fray is Japan-based PC maker Kohjinsha, who's been showing off a laptop with two widescreen LCDs.

Both screens measure 10.1 inches with one of them sliding out from behind the other so users can still close the unit like a typical notebook.

Tags: computers, laptops, tech

Medical malpractice reform won't save very much

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:14:03 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: The centerpiece of Republican ideas on healthcare reform apparently won't save as much money as they thought.

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Medical malpractice reform is unlikely to cut healthcare spending significantly, the Congressional Budget Office reported Friday.

Enacting a cap on pain-and-suffering and punitive damages, changing liability laws and tightening the statute of limitations on malpractice claims would lower total healthcare spending by about one-half of 1% each year -- $11 billion at the current level -- according to an estimate by the nonpartisan agency.

The figure is far lower than previous estimates by groups backing malpractice reform. On Sunday, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) blasted Democrats for blocking attempts to reform malpractice laws. "Almost everybody agrees that we can save between $100 billion and $200 billion if we had effective medical malpractice reform," he said.

Tags: healthcare, politics

Saturn has another, really big ring

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:56:02 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: blogs.discovermagazine.com

Astronomers have found an enormous and diffuse new ring of Saturn that lies far, far beyond the rest of the planet’s famous circlets. Researchers say the new ring is comprised of debris ejected from Saturn’s outlying moon Phoebe during impact. The new discovery also solves a puzzle regarding the curious two-faced appearance of Saturn’s moon Iapetus, whose leading hemisphere is much darker than its trailing side [New Scientist].

The discovery would appear to resolve a longstanding mystery in planetary science: why the walnut-shaped Iapetus has a two-tone complexion, with one side of the moon significantly darker than the other. “It has essentially a head-on collision. The particles smack Iapetus like bugs on a windshield” [BBC News], says Verbiscer. Studies of the darker material on Iapetus have shown that its composition is similar to that of Phoebe’s surface.

Tags: astronomy, planets, saturn, science

Espresso Book Machine: Fast On-Site Printing Press for Bookstores

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:50:54 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.suvudu.com

The last one, the sci-fi/fantasy expert, divulged his bookstore will be getting a very cool contraption in November, one he hopes will create not only a new revenue stream for their bookstore but one that will help countless Seattle readers in their pursuit for knowledge, entertainment and publishing.

The bookstore in question is receiving an Espresso Book Machine!

Well, what is it?

[Video]

As you can see from the video, the espresso book machine does exactly what you imagine it to. It is literally a printing press, small enough to fit in a bookstore, that allows the store to print and bind an out of print edition or print an on demand book within 10 minutes of taking an order. And on top of that it is affordable.

Tags: books, bookstores, printing

Controversial German author turned away at New York airport

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:46:29 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.dw-world.de

United States border guards detained Karl Dietrich Wolff upon his arrival in New York for several hours before ordering him to return immediately to Germany. The officials said Wolff's visa, which should have been valid until 2010, had expired in 2003. Wolff was not given a reason for his visa's early expiration.

"They had printed out a slip of paper with my picture from the visa. On top of it was printed 'Revoked, Revoked, Revoked,'" Wolff told Deutsche Welle in an interview.

In Germany, he is best known for publishing critical editions of classical writers such as Friedrich Hoelderlin or Franz Kafka. He also founded Germany's Black Panther Solidarity Committee and was a leader of the Socialist German Student Union activist group in the 60s. Wolff once publically described the American ruling class as 'criminal bandits' and 'a reincarnation of the Nazis.' The statements earned him a ban from the United States in 1969. The ban was lifted in 1987,