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Linux Takes A Bite Out Of Microsoft In Server Market

Linux Takes A Bite Out Of Microsoft In Server Market

Oct 12 2010 | comment(s)

I'll be honest, this article came as a surprise to me.   Not that Linux was making inroads against Microsoft, but that anyone actually used Microsoft to run a server.   I never have.  I never would.  It seems absolutely maddening to even try.

The NY Times has the scoop and says there is a cost issue:
Aaron Sorkin responds to criticisms about trampy women portrayed in

Aaron Sorkin responds to criticisms about trampy women portrayed in "The Social Network"

Oct 12 2010 | comment(s)

Aaron Sorkin responded to a commenter on the blog of Ken Levine who basically blamed Sorkin for the groupie-esque portrayal of women in the film - as if that was Sorkin rather than his take on what he saw in the origins of Facebook.
Facebook was born during a night of incredibly misogyny. The idea of comparing women to farm animals, and then to each other, based on their looks and then publicly ranking them. It was a revenge stunt, aimed first at the woman who'd most recently broke his heart (who should get some kind of medal for not breaking his head) and then at the entire female population of Harvard.
New Magnetic Switch Can Reduce Electricity Up To 39%

New Magnetic Switch Can Reduce Electricity Up To 39%

Oct 12 2010 | comment(s)

Researchers from Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global), MERSTech, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, say they have designed a switch that can recycle electric power. The switch called the Magnetic Energy Recovery Switch, can save 39% of electricity at peak power, according to recent tests.
 
How To Rule the Sea: A Guide for Privateers 1500 – 1800s

How To Rule the Sea: A Guide for Privateers 1500 – 1800s

Oct 12 2010 | comment(s)

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has unveiled their Real Pirates exhibition.    You can also see privateer models Tuesday through Saturday from 9 am – 4:30 pm at the Houston Maritime Museum.

But to get you in the right piratitude, their site has a discussion on how nations without large navies got some work done against their enemies - by legalizing piracy and creating what are called privateers or privately owned ships that are willing to fight for you.

Sometimes it takes a pirate to defeat a pirate.
Supreme Court To Hear Vaccine Lawsuits Case Tomorrow

Supreme Court To Hear Vaccine Lawsuits Case Tomorrow

Oct 12 2010 | comment(s)

Since the 1980s, when lawsuits nearly drove drug companies out of business, a special 'Vaccine Court' has been the route parents of children have to go if they suspect a vaccine was involved in their child's situation.

Is there truly due process if a plaintiff must go through a no-fault, no-jury court before being allowed to go to court?   Some parts of American society are exempt from civilian courts, such as the military but does the Constitution protect drug companies the same way?
"We very much wanted to make sure vaccine manufacturers are out of the line of lawsuits," said Dr. O. Marion Burton, president of the AAP. "Otherwise, we end up with nobody producing vaccines, and nobody making new vaccines."
Jerry Coyne: Science and religion aren't friends

Jerry Coyne: Science and religion aren't friends

Oct 11 2010 | comment(s)

America's fastest-growing brand of belief is non-belief, says biologist (and guest columnist here) Jerry Coyne in a USA Today editorial.
The religious approach to understanding inevitably results in different faiths holding incompatible "truths" about the world...Because there's no way to decide, religions have duked it out for centuries, spawning humanity's miserable history of religious warfare and persecution.
If you read the

If you read the "Star Wars" script, you'd do cocaine too

Oct 11 2010 | comment(s)

Harrison Ford is reported to have said to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, referring to the dialogue in "Star Wars", "George, you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."

It was that bad.

Carrie Fisher says that she did cocaine on the set of "The Empire Strikes Back" so it must have gotten to her also.   All that snow on Hoth apparently wasn't just set design.
Arianna Huffington's $250K Bus to Jon Stewart Rally a 'Shock' Only to Those at HuffPo HQ

Arianna Huffington's $250K Bus to Jon Stewart Rally a 'Shock' Only to Those at HuffPo HQ

Oct 11 2010 | comment(s)

Arianna Huffington made a grand gesture - a fleet of buses for people to attend Jon Stewart's rally to D.C. to protest...well, apparently they are protesting the protesting by right wing people against Obama in 2010 that was a 'hallmark of democracy' when leftwing people in 2005 did it against Bush.
Super vision: How the deaf have it

Super vision: How the deaf have it

Oct 10 2010 | comment(s)

Deaf or blind people often report enhanced abilities in their remaining senses, but  no one has explained how and why that could be. Researchers say they have discovered there is a causal link between enhanced visual abilities and reorganization of the part of the brain that usually handles auditory input in congenitally deaf cats.

The findings provide insight into the plasticity that may occur in the brains of deaf people.

Another question for those considering cochlear implants; if the brain has rewired itself to compensate for the loss of hearing, what happens when hearing is restored?
Evidence-based advocacy: California grossly overstates emissions to get mandates passed

Evidence-based advocacy: California grossly overstates emissions to get mandates passed

Oct 10 2010 | comment(s)

You may not be able to trust Exxon for objective data on emissions and our planet but you sure can't trust advocacy-based political groups in a highly-charged political state like California either.
California grossly miscalculated pollution levels in a scientific analysis used to toughen the state's clean-air standards, and scientists have spent the past several months revising data and planning a significant weakening of the landmark regulation... 
writes the San Francisco Chronicle.
With No-Choice Groups, Facebook May Have Gone Too Far

With No-Choice Groups, Facebook May Have Gone Too Far

Oct 08 2010 | comment(s)

Facebook recently implemented a system where you can be added to groups without any choice in the matter.  Result: technology blogger Michael Arrington, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis all found themselves added to a group called North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). 

Adding Zuckerberg without his permission would seem to make the point privacy groups are concerned about rather clear, but it didn't.  
Chinese democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize - China blocks out news

Chinese democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize - China blocks out news

Oct 08 2010 | comment(s)

One of the funniest things I read as a young man was a minister in the newly Communist state of Nicaragua explaining why they shut down the newspapers; 'They said we suppressed freedom of expression.  This was a lie and we could not allow them to publish it.'
Rhode Island team forfeits due to opposing football team size

Rhode Island team forfeits due to opposing football team size

Oct 07 2010 | comment(s)

If you are one of those nostalgic types, you might insist football players were better when you were young.  You are wrong.   Kids today are bigger and faster.   When my local football team, Folsom, played Grant for the first game of the season this year, I predicted a loss of 35 points despite the fact that Folsom wins most of its games by 40 - and that would be a good showing.   My reasoning?  Two kids on the other team could bench press 400 lbs and weighed over 300, 5 would go to top schools on scholarships.     When I went to college, it was a big deal to bench press 300 lbs. for a football player.
Does size matter? Paris japonica has the biggest genome ever

Does size matter? Paris japonica has the biggest genome ever

Oct 07 2010 | comment(s)

Like dinosaurs, being huge is not an advantage throughout history and Paris japonica stands a greater chance of extinction because of its large genome, say researchers.

Paris japonica has 152.23 picograms (pg) of DNA, 50 times bigger than the human genome, which is 3.0 picograms. A picogram is one trillionth of a gram.

Why does that matter?  The more DNA there is in a genome, the longer it takes for a cell to copy all of its DNA and divide, thus a key reason why plants living in deserts which must grow quickly after rains have small genomes enabling them to grow rapidly.
Sure, Science 2.0 has occasional issues, but nothing like these sites with big financing

Sure, Science 2.0 has occasional issues, but nothing like these sites with big financing

Oct 06 2010 | comment(s)

Databases are tough.   Unless you want to spend a million dollars on Oracle you are stuck with sporadic performance, testy optimization and occasional baffling behavior over a product you didn't build and can't control.

But without databases, it is hard to run.   If you look in our footer avatar bar there are always a few hundred people reading and then contributors online writing or chatting.   Even that takes a dedicated server that sometimes wheezes under the load.
Mystery of 1700s-Era Sloop Buried Under World Trade Center Wreckage Gets Clues

Mystery of 1700s-Era Sloop Buried Under World Trade Center Wreckage Gets Clues

Oct 06 2010 | comment(s)

In July, the remains of a wooden ship were unearthed at the World Trade Center construction site.  Since then, researchers have sought clues as to why 'the Ground Zero ship' was there and how to preserve it.

Did it sink or was it junked to make a foundation for Manhattan?  No one is sure.  The 32-foot-long piece is the back end and bottom quarter of what researchers believe was a two-masted sloop, many of which traveled the Hudson River and perhaps the Atlantic coast taking goods to and from the Caribbean or colonies north.
Archaeologists Dive to Blackbeard's Pirate Ship

Archaeologists Dive to Blackbeard's Pirate Ship

Oct 06 2010 | comment(s)

Surrender your booty!   There be archaeologists on them thar seas!

Just off the coast of North Carolina the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, is believed to have sank in 1718.

But the archaeologists diving to the wreck there aren't trying to find gold doubloons or something cool, they instead want to save the cannons ship's from saltwater corrosion.
Oldest dinosaurs footprints found in Poland - Science Codex

Oldest dinosaurs footprints found in Poland - Science Codex

Oct 05 2010 | comment(s)

The oldest evidence of the dinosaur lineage—fossilized tracks—is described this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.    This fossilized trackway places the very closest relatives of dinosaurs on Earth about 250 million years ago—5 to 9 million years earlier than previously described fossilized skeletal material has indicated. The paper also described the 246-million-year-old Sphingopus footprints, the oldest evidence of a bipedal and large-bodied dinosaur.


Russia: Coldest winter in 1,000 years on its way

Russia: Coldest winter in 1,000 years on its way

Oct 05 2010 | comment(s)

Let's be honest, Russian winters are the kiss of death in the best of circumstances - just ask Napoleon and Hitler how things would change if they had a do-over.

But this year could be even worse.  If you believe the somewhat suspect record-keeping that is currently used to make temperature claims before the last 30 years, you'll want to avoid Russia during the coldest winter Europe has seen in the last 1,000 years.

Luckily, like most temperature forecasts even today, that one is only 70% accurate.

But it's best to be sure so, Russians, make sure you remove all that summer smog from your air vents.
Cheerleaders protest skimpy uniforms

Cheerleaders protest skimpy uniforms

Oct 05 2010 | comment(s)

There is a perception that modern generations want to sex up their culture, and cheerleader dance routines are no exception - but at least one school squad has protested being forced to wear outfits they think are too skimpy and went to the School Board to ask for help.

"It really hurts our self esteem," said Ariana Mesaros, another senior on the team, in a voice hoarse from cheering the night before. "I am embarrassed to stand up here dressed like this. Is this really how you want Bridgeport to be represented?"