] Mohanty, an assistant professor in BU%u2019s Department
] of Physics, has carved tiny switches out of silicon,
] fabricating mechanical switches that are thousands of
] times smaller than a human hair.
]
]
] When put through their paces as data storage tools, these
] nano-sized devices were capable of functioning at
] densities that far exceed the physical limitations of
] electromagnetic systems and could retrieve information at
] speeds that cruise in the megahertz and gigahertz ranges,
] millions and billions of cycles per second, respectively.
]

NEMS Switches as memory -- fast and dense

] X Prize officials said the privately funded craft reached
] 368,000 feet -- well into space -- Monday to win the $10
] million prize.

[ Huzzah! Congratulations to Scaled Composites, and all the other X Prize teams out there. I really do think this is an important step forward. -k]

SpaceShipOne captures X Prize - Oct 4, 2004

[ Well said. -k]

Op-Ed Columnist: Iraq: Politics or Policy?

] Eastman Kodak Co. will return to U.S. District Court next
] week to seek $1 billion in damages from Sun Microsystems
] Inc. now that a federal jury has ruled in its favor in a
] dispute over the Java computer language.
]
] The jury decided in Rochester on Friday that Sun
] infringed on technology belonging to Kodak when it
] developed and introduced Java more than a decade ago. The
] computer language is now used heavily by software
] developers, on the Internet and in computer schools.
]
] The patents describe a method by which a program can "ask
] for help" from another application to carry out certain
] computer-oriented functions. That's generally similar to
] the way Java operates, according to Kodak and other
] experts.

The jury say that the way the Java Runtime interpreter runs Java byte code was an instance of program "asking for help."

WTF?! How the hell could such a broad patent be granted? Programs helping another out? Wouldn't that include dynamic link libraries? They're code, and other programs use them to help do it task. What about System calls? The kernel is "helping" isn't it? Prior art for this patent? How about nearly every damn advance in Computer Science?

] Kodak in pre-trial documents indicated it would ask for $1.06
] billion in lump-sum royalties – a figure that represents half of
] Sun's operating profit from the sales of computer servers and
] storage equipment between January 1998 and June 2001

Software patents are being used to kill innovation, not foster it. There should be a rule that if you have a patent, and someone else does something really cool with the idea that was covered, something you never planned to or were even investigating, such as writing a cross-platform computer language, then they don't owe you jack. Of course, this would not work, but its a nice dream.

[ I'll have to read the decision and so on in detail before making a solid judgement, but it looks like some bullshit. -k]

Kodak gets to have its way with Sun, prison style.

] The Sinulator arrives in a discreet brown box. We include
] a Quick Start Guide that will have you up and running in
] minutes. Once you've set it up you can immediately let
] anyone you want control your toy!
]
]
] All you need is a computer that runs Windows (98, 2000,
] ME, XP) and an Internet connection. Just install the
] software on your PC, pick a name for your toy, insert
] some AA batteries and you are ready to go!

[ The storied FuFme is no longer merely a joke. You can now fuck your computer for real. -k]

Learn more about the Sinulator

] After a deluge of campaign speeches and hostile
] television ads, President Bush and challenger John Kerry
] got their chance to face each other directly Thursday
] night before an audience of tens of millions of voters in
] a high-stakes debate about terrorism, the Iraq war and
] the bloody aftermath.
]
]
] The 90-minute encounter was particularly crucial for
] Kerry, trailing slightly in the polls and struggling for
] momentum less than five weeks before the election. The
] Democratic candidate faced the challenge of presenting
] himself as a credible commander in chief after a torrent
] of Republican criticism that he was prone to changing his
] positions.

[ Bold mine. What the FUCK is with the tense in this article? I mean, I understand deadlines, but what the fuck? They wrote the whole article before a word is even spoken? Ass clowns. -k]

ABCNEWS.com : Bush, Kerry Prepare for Debate in Fla.

] As the nation prepares to watch the presidential
] candidates debate foreign policy issues, a new
] PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll finds that Americans who
] plan to vote for President Bush have many incorrect
] assumptions about his foreign policy positions. Kerry
] supporters, on the other hand, are largely accurate in
] their assessments. The uncommitted also tend to
] misperceive Bush's positions, though to a smaller
] extent than Bush supporters, and to perceive Kerry's
] positions correctly.

[ Framing, framing, framing, framing. Co-opt the language and you convince people despite facts. Luntz, Norquist and the network of conservative think tanks have worked for 30 years to set this up. These are the rewards they're reaping :

"Majorities of Bush supporters incorrectly assumed that Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements (84%), and the US being part of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the International Criminal Court (66%), the treaty banning land mines (72%), and the Kyoto Treaty on global warming (51%). "

-k]

PIPA - What's New

] Increased seismicity overnight prompted raising the alert
] level to Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2) at 10:40 A.M.,
] PDT, this morning. Throughout the day the seismic energy
] level has remained at an elevated with a rate of 3-4
] events per minute including an increase in the number of
] events between Magnitude 2 and 3.

[ Holy crap! -k]

Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon) Seismicity Press Release

] The RadioSHARK can record any AM or FM radio broadcast in
] real time. You can also program it to record a scheduled
] show, or to %u2018pause%u2019 live radio so you can
] return right where you left off moments or even hours
] before.

[ Bout time. Pretty cool gadget for radio fiends. -k]

Griffin Technology radioShark

] Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier
] currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair
] quarterback. Nor am I some politically idealistic and
] naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned
] Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my
] belt. Additionally, I am not just a soldier with a
] muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs and as
] such, it is my job to be aware of all the events
] occurring in this country and specifically in my region.
]
] I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for
] a number of reasons. Ideology and idealism will never
] trump history and reality.

[ Nothing original in these words, but they're lent credence by the source. Frivolous or unreasoned use of the military turns them against you, and this bastion of traditional conservatism is swinging away from the President. -k]

Why We Cannot Win by Al Lorentz