scratchings: May 7, 2006

May 13, 2006

Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas

If diseases like AIDS and bird flu scare you, wait until you hear what's next. Doctors are trying to find out what is causing a bizarre and mysterious infection that's surfaced in South Texas. Morgellons disease is not yet known to kill, but if you were to get it, you might wish you were dead, as the symptoms are horrible.

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Sony PS3 - from hero to zero?

The PlayStation 3: too late, too expensive and not enough horsepower?

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OLED: the Next Thing in Monitors

What flat panel screens were to CRT, OLED monitors will be to flat panels -- and then some. Imagine a display sharper, thinner, and less expensive than you can get from a flat panel monitor. They're still over the horizon, but jkabaseball gives you the lowdown on OLED's bright future.

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Amazing Car Gets 8000 MPG

Just fill the tank once every 5 years.

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Watch rubidium and cesium react with water

Most dangerous alkali metals react with water. Something you might not have seen before.

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Writing copy for a website

Practical tips for writing short, concise, to-the-point copy for your website or web app.

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E3 2006: Best And Worst Of Show

It's a tough job, we know. But someone's gotta do it. We trekked to Los Angeles this week for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual showcase for the latest and greatest in gaming. We braved long lines and played plenty of video games to find out what's hot--and what's not. Here's our take on this year's show.

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Cancer-Causing Chemicals from Tobacco Smoke Found in Baby Urine

The finding, detailed in the May issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, supports the idea that persistent exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in childhood can contribute to the development of cancer later in life, said study team member Stephen Hecht of the Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.

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Learn CSS

This CSS Tutorial will get you started with CSS in just a few minutes. It is easy to understand and will teach you all the sophisticated techniques.

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Global Real-time Earthquake Web Monitor

This real-time seismic monitor shows earthquake epicenters for today, yesterday, past 2 weeks and past 5 years. The size of the displayed earthquake circle is proportional to its magnitude. Click the "see large screen view" button t see them happening now including one in the western U.S.

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TOP 50 Visited Web Domains '06 & '05

Which Domains had the most visits in 2005 & 2006 -

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Vonage USB SoftPhone Kit Leaked! (pic)

Our Bothan spies sent us some shots of a USB-key based Vonage SoftPhone that will be available in June. This thing consists of the USB key containing the software and a headset. You plug it into any PCâ��no Mac support, apparentlyâ��up comes your home phone and voicemail et al.

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First baby in Britain designed cancer-free

Her decision to use controversial genetic-screening technology will ensure that she does not pass on to her child the hereditary form of eye cancer from which she suffers.

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Most Dangerous Search Words Revealed

There is one phrase which, if you type into any search engine will expose your PC to shed-loads of spam, according to a new report.

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'Brazilian Stonehenge' discovered w/pics

Brazilian archaeologists have found an ancient stone structure in a remote corner of the Amazon that may cast new light on the region's past.

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Amazing photos of the Japanese storm water system!

Large gallery of incredible photos of the Japanese storm water drainage system. The look like something straight out of Myst or an FPS.

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May 12, 2006

Spry framework for AJAX by Adobe Labs

The Spry framework for Ajax is a JavaScript library for web designers that provides functionality that allows designers to build pages that provide a richer experience for their users. An AJAX framework by Adobe Labs.

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USA Today: NSA Collecting Phone Records Since At Least 2001

O'BRIEN: "All right. And as far as we know, how long has this been going on?" CAULEY: "Since at least -- since at least 2001, with the 9/11 attacks. Possibly the groundwork was laid prior to that."

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Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 - Side By Side Images

Here's what the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 look like - side - by side. If the japanese thought the 360 was big, and supposedly didnt buy because of that - what will they make of the PS3?

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Web 2.0 is just getting started

"For those who are wondering, Web 2.0 is just getting started. Yeah, I said it. Witness the frenzy at marquee venture capital firms. Given the piles of money they're deploying, we've probably got three to five more years of new deals ahead of us."

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Anti-smoking pill receives federal approval

A Pfizer drug shown to help more than one in five smokers quit the habit received federal approval on Thursday, adding another option to the limited pool of effective stop-smoking prescription medicines.

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May 11, 2006

Interviewing Web Developers - 20 Good Questions to Ask

A list of 20 good (and somewhat common) questions to ask when conducting a job interview for a web developer. The list doesn't focus on one particular development language and was intended to be useful for all spheres of web development, and benefit both interviewers and interviewees (know what to expect!)

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Wild find: Half grizzly, half polar bear

Hunter bags what expert 'never thought would happen' in wild

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Wild find: Half grizzly, half polar bear

Hunter bags what expert 'never thought would happen' in wild

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Fully automated DORM ROOM!

These guys (naturally at MIT) completely automated their dorm room. Lighting control, window blinds, security, everything! Videos and some technical info included. (found via Makezine: http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/05/midas_homemade_dorm_room_home.html)

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Tens of millions of Americans have been spied on by the NSA

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

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NSA Wiretapping Case Dropped

The Bush administration wins again. The courts cannot get clearance to investigate so the case is dropped. Apparently the government _can_ deprive you of the rights granted by the Bill of Rights.

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Rare Mirage Last for 4 Hours Off East China (Pictures)

A mirage appears off the shore of Penglai City in eastern China's Shandong Province on Sunday, May 7, 2005.Thousands of tourists and local residents witnessed a mirage of high clarity lasting for four hours off the shore of Penglai City in east China's Shandong Province on Sunday.

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In 2021 You'll Grow a New Heart

Although doctors may someday heal weakened body parts by infusing them with stem cells that develop into specialized tissues, coaxing the bodyâ��s own cells to become self-repairing would be an even bigger biological coup. What if we could simply prompt damaged organs to repair themselves?

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How Drug Binds To Neurons To Stop Drunken Symptoms Of Alcohol

UCLA researchers discovered how an experimental drug, called Ro15-4513, binds to specific receptors on brain neurons, which helps explain how this drug stops the drunken behavioral symptoms of alcohol such as impaired motor coordination, memory loss and drowsiness.

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The right way to run a Wi-Fi cafe

Tip 1: Do as little as possible. Tip 2: Do the security right. Tip 3: Preserve the ever-shrinking comfort zone. Tip 4: Be your own boss.

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Pentagon endorses space missile plan

The Pentagonâ��s top weapons buyer has endorsed a plan that could lead to a multibillion-dollar U.S. missile defense component in space and strain ties with China, Russia and other countries.

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Best looking E3 game video. And its not on PS3

This is a Xbox 360 Exclusive from Bioware using Unreal Engine. Look at the lighting, animation and atmosphere. And its not CG, its gameplay

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May 10, 2006

Hack Attack: Automatically download your favorite TV shows

Instead, of hunting for new torrents each week and firing up your bittorent client to download them, automate your downloads! Lifehacker shows you how to set up and automate BitTorrent downloads so that you can quit your weekly search for torrents.

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CSS Library Launched

DHTML has been the main focus of Dynamic Drive. Now, with ever increasing CSS capabilities, CSS needs its own showcase. Enter CSS Library...

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Autistic Brains May Daydream Less

Autistic patients may lack the ability to daydream normally, say researchers who have found that these people's brains act differently when they are taking a break. Neuroscientists know that a certain network of brain regions fires up when our minds wander, but studies have hinted that autistic patients might have abnormalities in this region.

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Can We Build It Cheaper Than Dell?

We figured out last month that Dell was quite a bit cheaper at the low end. What happened when we did the same thing for a system we would actually want?

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Over One Hundred page layouts, One CSS File: Y!UI to the rescue

The Yahoo! User Interface library has made a second release. This one now includes a CSS Grid Kit which allows you to create hundreds of css-based page layouts and it's only 1.82k

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Google Trend

New Google Labs Product, "See what the world is searching for."

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May 9, 2006

PS3 price announced.

Today at their pre-e3 press conference Sony announced the price of the PS3. It is $499 for a 20 GB HDD and $599 for a 60 GB HDD.

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Sony PS3 $499US version will NOT have HDMI port

Link is to a PDF document hosted on Sony's site. The third page lists the differences between the two versions. The cheaper version does NOT have Memory Stick, HDMI, or wireless.

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Tutorial: Make Your Own RFID Enabled Deadbolt

A tutorial describing how to make yourself an RFID enabled deadbolt door lock.

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FedEx flights dodging thunderstorms (radar time-lapse)

Radar view of FedEx flights dodging thunderstorms that are moving towards Memphis Int'l airport.

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Google News Cloud

NewsCloud is a site experiment that fetches news from Google News, tries to find tags related to each news and presents a tag cloud of the daily news. During the news process, there's no human intervention. All tags are discovered automatically from Google News by text analysis. The pages are served statically, and are generated every hour.

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Do 15 Things to Live Until Age 129

Live to 129. "Take heed: Your lifestyle choices are very significant. While there is no way to ultimately defy death, that isn't an excuse to start indulging in vices and neglecting your health. There are plenty of ways to keep the grim reaper at bay â�� and many of these "secrets" result in an improved quality of life."

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Bill Gates Unveils Live Anywhere at E3

Engadget's live coverage of the event details Bill taking the stage to introduce Live Anywhere, an Xbox Live interface for Windows Vista and cellphones

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Calling All Designers: Learn to Write!

You know all that copy that goes around your forms and in your confirmation e-mails? Whoâ��s writing it? Derek Powazek explains why itâ��s important for user-interface designers to sharpen up their writing skills.

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How to Rip DVDs to Small AVI or MPG Formatted Files

An easy to follow tutorial for those who do not know how to rip DVDs to a more "usable" file format.

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CPU Chip Power Breakthrough Reported

A typical chip would use an array of timing loops, in a grid akin to a piece of graph paper. The loops automatically synchronize their timing pulses. That feature helps address a problem called "skew" -- the slightly different arrival times of timing pulses throughout a typical chip -- that tends to limit clock precision.

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May 8, 2006

The Ultimate Web Developer's Handbook - now redesigned

The Web Developer's Handbook is an extensive resource for web site developers with information on CSS, Ajax, Web 2.0, Design, XHTML, Accessibility, SEO and related topics. Now finally redesigned.

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Put a live Digg button on your website

Here's a javascript trick you can use to put a live working Digg button on your website that actually lets people digg without leaving your page.

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Microsoft's Plan to Map the World in Real Time

Researchers are working on a system that allows sensors to track information and create up-to-date, searchable online maps.

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Dark Side of the Moon celebrates 1500th anniversary

1500 weeks on the Billboard Charts that is, making it the longest selling album of all time. Do YOU have your copy?

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Pain At The Pump: Government Gas Secrets

The government has been keeping a secret about automobiles under wraps for the past 30 years.

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May 7, 2006

Immortalize Your Scratchy Vinyl With This Inexpensive USB Turntable

Finally! A reason to pull my records out of the garage again. Great for all those obscure releases that never made it to CD.

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World Oil Production 1859-2050

Based on CampBell Study.

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Write anything you want on a LED SIGN

One day, Ian was given a LED sign. From January 2000 to May 2000, Ian and his friend Dave reverse-engineered the sign and put it on the Web. This sign allows you to write text and upload small images and get it displayed on the net through a web cam. Similar to the HP Laser Jet cam featured on digg before.

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Postal Service offers New 'lifetime stamps'

The post office is planning a "forever" stamp for letters, good no matter how many times postal rates increase. That means folks could say goodbye to those annoying 2-cent or 3-cent stamps that have to be added to letters every time rates go up. Sheets, rolls, books or loose stamps in the drawer would still be good. Forever.

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Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?

Not everyone says "um", "er" or "ah" when they hesitate while speaking. It depends upon the language.

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Redesigned PS3 Controller To Be Unveiled Monday

If you were one of the many people who didnâ��t think Sonyâ��s â��boomarangâ�� PS3 controller design was crappythen stay tuned â�� for the big S is going to take the wraps off the final design at next weekâ��s E3 games extravaganza.

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How To: Improve Your MPG By Up to 37 Percent

Edmunds.com tested a lot of lore on how to change your driving habits in order to save money on gas. Some of the results: - 65 mph instead of 75 mph saves 12 percent - smooth driving instead of aggressive driving saves 37 percent - turning your car off instead of idling when you stop at a light or the drive-thru saves 19 percent

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