THE STALIN-BERIA AWARD ZONE

MUSIC LOBBY: WE'LL TARGET HOME WiFi

If the RIAA has its way, you could be prosecuted if hackers use your home wireless network for things such as downloading copyrighted music or sending spam. Once again, the entertainment industry needs to be stopped.

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/1298453/1423585/52729/2/

CYBERZONE

MEETING MAKE US DUMBER, STUDY SHOWS

Brainstorming sessions backfire when group thinking clouds decisions People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. Scientists exposed study participants to one brand of soft drink then asked them to think of alternative brands. Alone, they came up with significantly more products than when they were grouped with two others.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17279961/

NEW TV SETS MUST BE DIGITAL ON MARCH 1

Tuners already in large-screens; new rule covers those smaller than 25 inches Americans who don't know the difference between high-definition television and digital television are about to learn, thanks to a federal mandate that kicks in this week. Starting March 1st, all new television sets...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/02/27/BUGP1OBI8F1.DTL

DARPA CHIEF SPEAKS

Tony Tether has headed up the Pentagon's way-out research arm, Darpa, since 2001. That makes him the longest-serving director in the agency's nearly 50-year history. He sat down with me for an interview in his office, on the top floor of a blandly menacing Northern Virginia office building, last December. For my story in the March issue of Wired (online next Tuesday), Tether and I talked about everything from bio-terrorists to zombie rodents to thinking machines to the golf courses in Iraq. Here's the transcript.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/02/tony_tether_has_1.html

LEARN CHINESE ON LINE IN NORTH CAROLINA

Levi Harder's friends think he's crazy. After all, learning a foreign language is difficult enough. But Chinese? The sophomore at Enloe High School in Raleigh says he's only thinking ahead: Levi sees himself as an engineer, but he's also betting that China will be a part of that future. "China is becoming a very important country," the 15-year-old said.

North Carolina's educators agree, which is why the state is pioneering online instruction in Chinese so it will no longer be the most exotic of foreign languages taught in the state's schools.  Numerous questions about the class must still be resolved, including the best way to hold useful conversations as part of an online class. Its scheduled debut this fall will be small, with maybe two dozen students. But state officials hope the online courses eventually will open Chinese to more students. Underwritten by the federal government with $300,000 over three years, the program could eventually be offered to other states that want to boost Chinese language classes.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/542385.html

BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES--UPDATE

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011985&source=NLT_PM&nlid=8

SCIENCE ZONE

XEROX INKLESS PRINTING

Xerox is developing a new printing technology which does not require ink of any kind. The new technology includes reusable paper which can be printed and erased dozens of times and has the potential to revolutionize printing. Although the technology is still in the early stages of development, it has the potential to cut printing costs and reduce office paper usage dramatically. New details on this upcoming technology are revealed here for the first time.

http://www.tfot.info/content/view/115/58/

HUGE POLAR STUDY READY TO BEGIN

The largest polar research programme for 50 years gets under way this week. International Polar Year (IPY) will see thousands of scientists, from more than 60 nations, working together on 220 projects at high latitudes. Scientists hope to improve their understanding of how changes to the polar regions affect the planet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/6389857.stm

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1849445.htm?tech

AUSTRALIA'S COAST BATTERED BY TSUNAMIS

Australia's coastline has felt the impact of almost 50 tsunamis in the past 150 years, according to the first catalogue of all such events.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1853035.htm?enviro

A PRACTICAL USE FOR WASTE METHANE

A direct method of converting methane into useful chemical compounds could reduce the release of the potent greenhouse gas at isolated oil fields.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18234/

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS GETTING SMARTER

The never-blinking surveillance cameras, rapidly becoming a part of daily life in public and even private places, may be sizing you up as well. And they may soon get a lot smarter.

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=122003ZCSBGC&nl=2

NZ COMPANY DEVELOPS SHOCKING RODENT KILLER It's like an electric chair for rats, but no-one need suffer a guilty conscience from flicking the "kill" switch.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,104084~3973959a13~,00.html

PROTOTYPE SWALLOWABLE SURGICAL ROBOT

The Chogoku Shimbum Online and Pink Tentacle are reporting that researchers at Ritsumeikan and Shiga Universities have developed a two-centimeter metal and plastic robot that can be swallowed or inserted via a tiny incision and then controlled electromagnetically from outside the body.

In addition to taking internal photographs and delivering medicines, this "micro internal robot" could, eventually, perform surgeries inside the body, It's unclear if all this will happen via remote control or through a pre-preprogrammed set of instructions.

Information can be delivered to external computers via a 2 mm cable that remains attached to the robot.

http://www.gearlog.com/robots_and_robotics/

ASIA PACIFIC ZONE

NZ CAPITAL BROADBAND PLAN LIKELY TO GO-AHEAD A Wellington City Council proposal to deliver high-speed broadband to every household is expected to get the thumbs-up from councillors.

>> http://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,104084~3977342a28~,00.html

WIRELESS ZONE

ONE-THIRD OF NET USERS GO WIRELESS

According to a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, about one-third of Internet users in the U.S. have used a wireless connection to surf the Web or check e-mail.

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/203/report_display.asp

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12200BZVOMQI&nl=2

SITE CITE

SKEPTIC: (Can't Get No) Satisfaction

The new science of happiness needs some historical perspective.

http://cl.exct.net/?ffcb10-fe39157277650774751771-fdfb15737467027b72147874-ff3310707762-fef61c7471640d-fe2615717c670174701272