Relative to most other forms of energy, windfarms have a pretty minimal environmental impact, with the deaths of birds and bats generally capturing the most attention. But as a new study of their effects points out, various studies have found that turbines can modify the “transfer of energy, momentum, mass, and moisture within the atmosphere.” [...]
Craigslist classified ads may have kneecapped the newspaper business, but they are doing wonders for amateur comedians, finders of false teeth, and fashioners of crucifix-shaped guitars played by men dressed as Funky Jesus. “I am an atheist seeking friends who are pious and who will be wisked away for the rapture that kirk cameron says [...]
The Oracle-Google copyright showdown is now in the hands of a San Francisco jury, following heated closing arguments given today to a packed courtroom. It’s the culmination of the most high-profile attack on Google’s Android mobile operating system, which Oracle lawyers say illegally ripped off Java. In closing today, Oracle lawyer Michael Jacobs said that [...]
On Monday, the United States Trade Representative published its annual “Special 301 Report,” detailing the state of intellectual property rights around the world with American trading partners. Not surprisingly, Russia and China (which got over seven pages!) sat atop the list, but Argentina, India, and Canada were also given the honor of being on the [...]
Oracle has declined to patch a critical vulnerability in its flagship database product, leaving customers vulnerable to attacks that siphon confidential information from corporate servers and execute malware on backend systems, a security researcher said. Virtually all versions of the Oracle Database Server released in the past 13 years contain a bug that allows hackers [...]
So you’ve heard of facial recognition used in user interfaces, on Facebook, and even as a law enforcement tool. But how about using it to identify 15th century works of art? Three University of California, Riverside academics recently won a $25,000 startup grant in the “digital humanities” from the National Endowment for the Humanities. They’ll [...]
SpaceX will fire all nine engines of the Falcon 9 rocket currently on the pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida today as part of a full-on dress rehearsal for the second launch of its Dragon spacecraft. Dragon will attempt a rendezvous with the International Space Station after a series of maneuvers intended to prove the craft’s [...]
A civil rights group has released a new app for Android and iPhone that it says will make it easier for airline travelers to file profiling or harassment complaints to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). On Monday, the Sikh Coalition released the FlyRights app (PDF). It’s a response to what the coalition says has been [...]
Microsoft is set to invest $300 million in Barnes and Noble’s Nook business, Microsoft announced Monday. With that investment, Microsoft will have a 17.6 percent stake in a newly formed subsidiary that will handle B&N’s digital and college bookstore businesses, and the partnership will result in a Nook application for Windows 8. B&N announced in [...]
The United Kingdom’s High Court ruled Monday that The Pirate Bay must be blocked by all local Internet services providers, thereby cutting it off from a potential user base of over 50 million people. The ruling comes after a February decision that the site was infringing copyright in the United Kingdom. The UK entertainment industry [...]