] LAS VEGAS, NV -- InPhase Technologies, the leader in
] holographic data storage, announced today that it has
] successfully demonstrated a data density of 200 gigabits
] per square inch, significantly higher than any other
] optical format. InPhase achieved this breakthrough by
] using its patented polytopic recording method, which will
] be implemented in all generations of the Tapestry drive
] family. The first generation drive, targeted at a 300
] gigabytes (GB) capacity on a single disk, will be
] available in 2006. This will be followed a family of
] products ranging to 1.6 terabyte (TB) capacity in 2009.

[ The backup solution I require! Hurry! -k]

InPhase Technologies: press release: INPHASE TECHNOLOGIES ACHIEVES BENCHMARK IN DIGITAL RECORDING MEDIA DENSITY

] By the time an object, or an apartment, or a company hits
] the half-century mark, it%u2019s usually been through a
] redesign or two. Yet the standard-issue amber-cast
] pharmacy pill bottle has remained virtually unchanged
] since it was pressed into service after the second World
] War. (A child-safety cap was added in the seventies.) An
] overhaul is finally coming, courtesy of Deborah Adler, a
] 29-year-old graphic designer whose ClearRx
] prescription-packaging system debuts at Target pharmacies
] May 1.

[ Neat. -k ]

A School of Visual Arts Grad Remakes the Pill Bottle

] He has been described as a conservative, intellectual
] clone of the late pontiff, and, as the dean of the
] College of Cardinals, he was widely respected for his
] uncompromising - if ultraconservative - principles and
] his ability to be critical.
]
]
] As cardinal, he had shut the door on any discussion on
] several issues, including the ordination of women,
] celibacy of priests and homosexuality, defending his
] positions by invoking theological truth. In the name of
] orthodoxy, he is in favor of a smaller church, but one
] that is more ideologically pure.

[ I believe he'll get it. -k]

Cardinals Elect Joseph Ratzinger as New Pope

] It's not clear to me whether the Singularity is a
] technical belief system or a spiritual one.
]
]
] The Singularity - a notion that's crept into a
] lot of skiffy, and whose most articulate in-genre
] spokesmodel is Vernor Vinge-describes the black hole
] in history that will be created at the moment when human
] intelligence can be digitized. When the speed and scope
] of our cognition is hitched to the price-performance
] curve of microprocessors, our "prog-ress" will double
] every eighteen months, and then every twelve months, and
] then every ten, and eventually, every five seconds.

[ Interesting Cory Doctorow interview w/ Ray Kurzweil... -k]

Thought Experiments

] SCO Group's chief executive, Darl McBride, has launched a
] stinging attack on community legal web site Groklaw,
] insisting it is partly responsible for disappointing
] results from the company's SCOsource licensing program.

[ Is anyone surprised. Christ. Will they please die already. -k]

SCO blames Groklaw for IP licensing disappointment - Computer Business Review

] A computer interface inspired by the futuristic system
] portrayed in the movie Minority Report, starring Tom
] Cruise, could soon help real military personnel deal with
] information overload.

[ Hurry up Raytheon! I want it too! -k]

New Scientist Breaking News - 'Minority Report' interface created for US military

] A nano-operated proto type robot has been successfully
] built in Shenyang, northeast of China.
]
]
] The success has propelled China into a world leader
] in nano-operation technology.

[ Minimal data here... hopefully more to follow. I guess they're announcing a nanoscale manipulator, which *would* be damn cool -k]

Xinhua - English

] For an ad campaign that started a revolution in
] marketing, the Pepsi Challenge TV spots of the 1970s and
] '80s were almost absurdly simple. Little more than a
] series of blind taste tests, these ads showed people
] being asked to choose between Pepsi and Coke without
] knowing which one they were consuming. Not surprisingly,
] given the sponsor, Pepsi was usually the winner.
]
]
] But 30 years after the commercials debuted,
] neuroscientist Read Montague was still thinking about
] them. Something didn't make sense. If people preferred
] the taste of Pepsi, the drink should have dominated the
] market. It didn't. So in the summer of 2003, Montague
] gave himself a 'Pepsi Challenge' of a different sort: to
] figure out why people would buy a product they didn't
] particularly like.

[ Very interesting stuff... -k]

frontline: the persuaders: neuromarketing | PBS

] The problem, as the legal battle over Terri Schiavo
] demonstrated, is that whatever their politics, judges are
] unlikely to ignore the law. In that case, the law clearly
] did not authorize federal judges to order Schiavo's
] feeding tube reinserted %u2014 but some Republicans are
] outraged that the judges did not have it reinserted
] anyway. On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
] instructed the Judiciary Committee to investigate federal
] court decisions in the Schiavo case.
]
]
] The attack on the judges who refused to order the feeding
] tube reinserted may be trivial by itself. But it is of a
] piece with something much more important. In recent
] years, some conservative politicians have been insisting
] that federal judges should strike down affirmative action
] programs, protect commercial advertising, invalidate
] environmental regulations, allow the president to do
] whatever he likes in the war on terrorism, use the
] Constitution to produce tort reform, invalidate gun
] control regulation, invalidate campaign finance laws and
] much more %u2014 regardless of whether they can find
] solid justification for these steps in our founding
] document.

[ But they hate activist judges... don't they? Huh? Oh, only liberals can be activists? Ahhh, I see now. -k]

Latest Assault on Judges Threatens Rule of Law

] I hope this unfortunately suggestive angle was
] unintentional, especially considering the father-daughter
] aspect of the scene. Yecch.

[ Yai! -k]

Boing Boing: Unintentionally sexual Star Wars coloring book