At a press conference in New York today, IBM® introduced a blade computing system based on the Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell BE). The IBM branded Cell BE-based system is designed for businesses that need the dense computing power and unique capabilities of the Cell BE processor to tackle tasks involving graphic-intensive, numeric applications.

IBM Unveils Cell-based Blades

The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet reduces the risk of getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet has no effect.

Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds

Common wisdom holds that people have a set standard of morality that never wavers. Yet studies of people who do unpalatable things, whether by choice, or for reasons of duty or economic necessity, find that people's moral codes are more flexible than generally understood. To buffer themselves from their own consciences, people often adjust their moral judgments in a process some psychologists call moral disengagement, or moral distancing.

When Death Is on the Docket, the Moral Compass Wavers

A woman who was struck and killed by a commuter train Wednesday morning has been identified as Bonnie Heitz, 58, a Redwood City resident who apparently was crossing the tracks to catch a bus to the Kelly-Moore Paint Co. in San Carlos, where she worked in the accounts payable department.

Not a suicide, apparently.

Woman killed by commuter train was heading to work

Brick storage, anyone?

LaCie - Brick Desktop Hard Drive - Hi-Speed USB 2.0

Russian and Chinese officials flew to Tehran last night to try to defuse the burgeoning nuclear crisis after agreement was finally reached on sending Iran to the UN security council.

Iran nuclear crisis sent to security council

noteworthy wrote:
Noms are out.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday, March 5, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland® and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Also available at NYT with links to reviews, showtimes, etc.

From the AP overview:

The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations. Three films were tied with six nominations each, "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," though "Geisha" was shut out in the top categories.

"Munich," which had fallen off many awards analysts' best-picture picks after a lukewarm reception, scored well with five nominations, including director for Steven Spielberg. "King Kong," directed by "Lord of the Rings" creator Peter Jackson, earned only technical nominations, losing out in the major categories.

George Clooney picked up three nominations: as supporting actor for his role as a steadfast CIA undercover agent in "Syriana" and best director and co-writer for his Edward R. Murrow tale "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Whoa... Episode III wasn't even nominated for visual effects! I guess Hollywood really hates Lucas' guts by this point. It was nominated for makeup, however.

RE: Nominations List | 78th Annual Academy Awards | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The United States and Europe, after hours of negotiations on Iran, won support from Russia and China early Tuesday to refer Iran's nuclear activities to the United Nations Security Council this week, but with a promise that the Council would not act on the question for at least a month.

China and Russia Support Sending Iran Case to U.N.

As trees go, the pair of scraggly-looking Monterey cypresses sitting on a crest on Telegraph Hill are somewhat pitiful, even downright forlorn. But in a city where some movie stars bear wings, even ordinary trees can be transformed into a cause célèbre.

The trees are a favorite feeding spot and hawk lookout point for the now-famous wild parrots of Telegraph Hill (see the movie, read the book). In recent weeks, the removal of three adjoining trees by an absentee property owner and the resulting brouhaha — including the spectacle of the parrot author Mark Bittner throwing himself in front of a chain saw — prompted San Francisco officials to amend the city's Urban Forestry Ordinance to allow significant trees to be designated landmarks, including those on private property.

The amendment, which takes effect in February, treats trees much like historic buildings. It would place San Francisco squarely in a growing movement, from suburban Washington to Los Angeles, to protect mature urban trees — and in some communities, make it a crime to chop them down.

Wow.

New Laws Crack Down on Urban Paul Bunyans

In what might resemble a horrifying moment in a science fiction film, astronauts aboard the International Space Station will toss an empty spacesuit overboard next week.

The Russian suit will carry three batteries and a ham radio transmitter and antenna. Amateur radio operators on Earth will be able to listen to its transmissions over several days until the batteries fail.

An Orbiting Spacesuit With Transmitter