ORWELLIAN ZONE
JUST TRY AND SKIP THAT COMMERCIAL
Philips is planning to prevent TV viewers from switching channels during
a commercial break. The company recently filed for a patent on "an
advertisement controller" that would do just that. From the patent
abstract:
An apparatus (270) and method is disclosed for preventing a
viewer from switching from a channel when an advertisement is being
displayed on the channel. The apparatus (270) and method comprises an
advertisement controller (270) in a video playback device (150) that (1)
prevents a viewer of a direct (non-recorded) broadcast from switching
channels when an advertisement is displayed, and (2) prevents a viewer
of a recorded program from fast forwarding the recorded program in order
to skip past advertisements that were recorded with the program. A
viewer may either watch the advertisements or pay a fee in order to be
able to change channels or fast forward when the advertisements are
being displayed.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9011&feedId=online-news_rss20
CYBERZONE
OPINION: THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET
In 10 years' time the barriers between our bodies and the Internet will
blur as will those between the real world and virtual reality. Today's
devices will disappear. Electronics will instead be embedded in our
environment, woven into our clothing, and written directly to our
retinas from eyeglasses and contact lenses, predicts Ray Kurzweil..
http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=16391#
EFF LISTS CONSEQUENCES OF DMCA
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has issued a report detailing
what it said are the unintended effects of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA). The law was enacted seven years ago to address
intellectual property issues that arose with the development of the
Internet and other technologies. Among other provisions, the law
includes a prohibition on circumventing antipiracy measures, even if
such circumvention was done for reasons that reasonable people would see
as legitimate, according to the EFF. In a number of cases, the DMCA has
been invoked to suppress information obtained by researchers about
security weaknesses. The EFF's report said that the law has been used
not so much to limit piracy as to "threaten and sue legitimate
consumers, scientists, publishers, and competitors." The Cato Institute
recently released a report on the DMCA with similar findings.
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3599026
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ARCHIVES RECORDINGS
The Library of Congress has announced this year's 50 selections to be
added to the National Recording Registry. The 2000 National Recording
Preservation Act charges the Library of Congress with choosing
recordings each year that are at least 10 years old and are "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant" to be included in the
registry. The registry dovetails with a number of other efforts to
preserve recorded material in digital format in order to sidestep a
future in which vast numbers of recordings disappear, either because
they are on volatile media that are not properly preserved or because
the technology to play them becomes obsolete and scarce. Researchers
warn that government and private efforts must begin now to ensure the
long-term accessibility of millions of tapes and records at risk. The
Library of Congress has also begun digitizing nearly 4 million sound and
video recordings it maintains, including 80,000 vinyl 45-rpm records.
http://www.fcw.com/article94066-04-13-06-
OPEN SOURCE ZONE
ASIAN FIRMS FORGE LINUX ALLIANCE
Firms from China, South Korea and Japan plan to set up a joint venture
next week to develop and sell an Asian version of Linux software
products. The joint venture, called Asianux, will be formally launched
at a news conference on April 24, according to Chase Fan, market
manager at China's Red Flag Software.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/50049.html
SCIENCE ZONE
POWERFUL NEW PAIN KILLER
A joint research team from Chiba University and Thailand's Chulalongkorn
University have announced that they have isolated and synthesized the
active ingredient from the Thai Kratom plant. In lab tests, the compound
appears to be at least 10 times more powerful than morphine in
mitigating pain. The compound is called MGM-9.
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20060413D13JSN10.htm
CANCER BLOOD TEST
Scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
and the University of California at Berkeley have developed a chemical
profiling technique that has potential for detecting the onset of cancer
at the cellular level. The technique rapidly profiles O-linked
glycoproteins in living animals. Changes in O-linked protein
glycosylation -- the attachment of sugars to proteins through an oxygen
atom on the protein -- are known to correlate with cancers and other
diseases.
"With our profiling technique, we can take pictures over time of the
sugars that coat a cell's surface or are released by the cell into the
bloodstream, and monitor any changes that occur," said Carolyn Bertozzi,
director of Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry. "We can then compare the
sugars produced by cells that become cancerous with the sugars from
normal cells. Ultimately, the idea would be to use this information to
create a simple blood test that would diagnose a patient for cancer."
http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20060417A2
DAYLIGHT IN A IN PIPE
Funnelling daylight deep inside offices, factories and even homes is a
challenge; dark corners are often too far away from the outside world
for sunlight to penetrate. Now two resourceful groups in Brisbane and
Sydney have devised ingenious methods for piping sunlight almost
anywhere in a building, replacing the need for electrical lighting.
These revolutionary inventions could save energy and reduce CO2
emissions, all courtesy of the sun.
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1610451.htm
FLUSH THE LOO, WARM YOUR HOUSE
Norwegians can now heat their homes and offices by flushing the toilet.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1612612.htm
BIO BRIEFS
Mass High Tech--Biomed Rounds: Larkin to leave council, but not for
senate race
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089212
Mass High Tech--Mass. firms focus on BIO
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089213
Atlanta--Medical Alert: Bush Sr. opens $40 million biomedical center at
UGA
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089214
San Antonio--Researcher guides team to get to the heart of the matter
in genetics
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089215
San Antonio--Moyer out to change the way vaccines are delivered
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089216
San Francisco--Hot target: Bio manufacturing: Competitors' incentives
seek to cut California's lead
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089217
San Francisco--Biotech bigwigs sweating over threat of U.S. price
controls
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089218
San Francisco--Biotech's organic growth lures 2,000 job seekers: Bay
Area firms among most aggressive recruiters at conference
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089219
Seattle--Biotech patents run into criticism from the Amazon
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/22089220
ASIA-PACIFIC ZONE
CHINESE TURN TO NET FOR COLLEGE PREP
Chinese students are increasingly turning to the Internet for
information and advice about negotiating the process of applying to
colleges abroad and obtaining approval from the Chinese government to
study abroad. Because a large portion of Chinese students pursue degrees
from U.S. institutions, much of the online chatter is on topics specific
to the United Sates, including tests such as the SAT and the Test of
English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
Admissions sites offer advice on topics including writing essays
and preparing for interviews, and some sites keep a tally of the numbers
of students who apply to and are accepted by a list of U.S. colleges and
universities. Chinese students must apply for and be given a visa to
travel abroad to study, and many Web sites provide extremely specific
tips about how to handle the visa interview with Chinese officials.
LINUS SET TO SOAR IN CHINA
China's Linux market will be generating more than US$51 million annually
by 2010, up from just $11.8 million last year, researchers predict.
Despite fierce court battles in the U.S. between litigious software
vendor SCO and major companies using Linux, banks and industry in China
are rapidly replacing older SCO Unix installations with Linux, IDC
found.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/50004.html
WIRELESS ZONE
NEW ORLEANS CIO VOWS TO KEEP FREE CITY WiFi AT HIGH SPEEDS
New Orleans CIO Greg Meffert vows to fight -- and even go to jail -- if
city's free and vital Wi-Fi service, set up after Hurricane Katrina hit
last year, is slowed to “useless” speeds as the telecom lobby wants.
http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/438279/1423585/15973/2/
SITE CITE
CAVE ART MAY HAVE BEEN TEEN GRAFFITI
Testosterone-fuelled boys created most prehistoric cave art, according
to a book by one of the world's authorities on this type of art.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1614422.htm
