2006 September

Australia and South Africa have been short-listed as the countries to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a giant next-generation radio telescope being developed by scientists in 17 countries.
The decision, made by the International SKA Steering Committee, was announced today in the Netherlands. It was based on the recommendation of a special advisory committee of […]

The Malmo, Sweden, based company Polar Rose will soon be introducing a Web-based search engine that can find photographs of people by analyzing pictures and identifying faces. The search engine - which will be the first of its kind in the world - is the result of research carried out by Jan Erik Solem at […]

Michael Santo of RealTechNews writes:
I can’t decide if this reminds me more of the suits in Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (the book or cartoon, not the movie) or Iron Man. Scientists in Japan are working on a power suit that amplifies human strength. Naturally at this point, it’s not sleek or powerful-looking like Iron Man. […]

Jimmy Daniels of RealTechNews writes:
I mentioned earlier about the challenge Wayne Porter had for Carolyn Hodge of TRUSTe: Answer some in-depth questions on the Revenews blog about TRUSTe, its certification policies, delisting procedures, its policy on adware, spyware, malware, and many more stumpers.

Is life getting you down? Are you looking for new challenges in your life? Tired of that same old grind: going to work, going to school, going to church? If you are looking for a way to change your life, today’s Warped site may provide some interesting options for you.
The site is called The Association […]

Jimmy Daniels of RealTechNews writes:
Microsoft announced the pricing on the Zune media player today, as well as how much the songs from its service will cost. It is going to take a loss on selling the device, saying it’s not going to be profitable this holiday season, but the Zune project is a multi-year strategy.
Microsoft’s […]

Michael Santo of RealTechNews writes:
I must admit, when Dell bought Alienware earlier in the year I was taken aback. This one made my jaw drop. I have never equated HP with gaming, and here it goes and buys Voodoo Computers.
Hewlett-Packard Co. said on Thursday it agreed to buy privately held Voodoo Computers Inc. at undisclosed […]

Researchers have simulated what would happen to Internet reliability in the United States if terrorists were able to knock out various physical components of the network.
The good news is that it would be very difficult to cause major disruptions across the country, although destruction of some key parts could seriously degrade Internet quality. “When it […]

Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Digital Health Group, today said technology innovation is poised to help the healthcare industry deliver better healthcare at lower cost, ultimately making people’s lives better around the world. As an example of where technology is intersecting human need, Burns demonstrated a mobile point-of-care platform designed specifically […]

There is a saying attributed to Yogi Berra, that “nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.” That saying rings true where today’s Warped site is concerned. It has some interesting and unique nostalgic items that are sure to interest just about anyone.
At The Golden Age, the motto is “Strange Moments, True Stories, Fun Facts.” There […]

Strong solar flares cause Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to fail, Cornell researchers have discovered. Because solar flares - larger-than-normal radiation “burps” by the sun - are generally unpredictable, such failures could be devastating for “safety-of-life” GPS operations - such as navigating passenger jets, stabilizing floating oil rigs and locating mobile phone distress calls.
“If you’re […]

As part of a newly formed alliance of international scientists, researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will be exploring advanced technologies for wireless sensor networks in urban environments. The consortium, which is funded through the United States Army Research Laboratory and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, will receive up to $138 million over the next […]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 - Frontiers in Optics 2006 - the 90th Annual Meeting of the Optical Society of America (OSA) - will showcase a wide range of the latest research breakthroughs in optical science and engineering. The meeting will be held from Oct. 8-12 at the Rochester Convention Center in Rochester, N.Y., the city known […]

Alice Hill of RealTechNews writes:
Windows XP has a ton of hidden utilities that often go undiscovered for years. Case in point, a hidden icon creator called Eudcedit. The name is awful, but it is handy for creating desktop icons, fonts, and even logos.
To start the program go to Run in the Start Menu then type […]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the woods. Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your computer again. Just when you thought it was safe to start playing with GI Joe dolls again. What? Well, to understand what this is all about, click on to our Warped […]

MIT researchers are putting a tiny gas-turbine engine inside a silicon chip about the size of a quarter. The resulting device could run 10 times longer than a battery of the same weight can, powering laptops, cell phones, radios and other electronic devices.
It could also dramatically lighten the load for people who can’t connect to […]

Using an innovative sensor for detecting single photons, the smallest particles of light, scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Albion College (Albion, Mich.) have set two significant distance records for distributing “keys” (or codes) for quantum encryption, the most secure method known for protecting the […]

Jimmy Daniels of RealTechNews writes:
In a recent post from Ben Edelman, he details how the TRUSTe seal could be helping bad actors infect users’ PCs, because they trust these seals mean that the site is trustworthy, duh. So Ben took an empirical look at TRUSTe and compared its sites with the findings of SiteAdvisor, and […]

Jimmy Daniels of RealTechNews writes:
Holy sh*t Batman, Internet hoaxes can come true, sort of. From the Batcave, the researches at Facetime have found another instant messenger worm making the rounds, W32Heartworm.A. As anyone who has been online very long, there are lots of hoaxes out there, trying to get users to flood the internet with […]

Every Boy Scout knows how to tie knots; it is a basic part of scouting. Every sailor knows how to tie a knot; it’s part of being a sailor. But what about the rest of us who may need to attach two pieces of rope or string, but don’t know how? Well, just like Mighty […]