Archive for October, 2012
Japanese Justice Minister Resigns After Revealing Organized Crime Links
October 23rd, 2012Via: AFP: Japan’s justice minister, who has admitted past links with organised crime, resigned Tuesday just three weeks into the job, citing “health problems”, the government said. Keishu Tanaka was brought into the cabinet at the start of the month as part of a reshuffle aimed at shoring up Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s shaky administration. […]
Japan: Realtime Translation App for NTT Docomo Users
October 22nd, 2012Via: BBC: An app offering real-time translations is to allow people in Japan to speak to foreigners over the phone with both parties using their native tongue. NTT Docomo – the country’s biggest mobile network – will initially convert Japanese to English, Mandarin and Korean, with other languages to follow. It is the latest in […]
Satire: Nation Tunes In To See Which Sociopath More Likable This Time
October 22nd, 2012Via: The Onion: According to reports, millions of viewers across the country are expected to tune in to tonight’s town-hall-style presidential debate at Hofstra University in order to determine which complete and utter sociopath they find more likable this time around. “I’m very curious to see which one of these two clinically sociopathic individuals will […]
With Windows 8, Microsoft Throws Regular Users ‘Under the Bus’
October 22nd, 2012Via: ComputerWorld: Plenty of people have complained about Windows 8’s interface, which is targeted more at tablets than traditional PCs. And now well-known interface guru Jakob Nielsen has charged that users of traditional PCs are “essentially being thrown under the bus” by Microsoft with the new design.
WikiHouse
October 22nd, 2012Via: WikiHouse: WikiHouse is an open source construction set. It’s aim is to allow anyone to design, download, and ‘print’ CNC-milled houses and components, which can be assembled with minimal formal skill or training. Related: WikiHouse Blog Research Credit: F
Less Boneheaded Farming
October 22nd, 2012Via: New York Times: The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. […]
Leaked Report Suggests Long-Known Flood Threat To Nuclear Plants
October 22nd, 2012Via: Huffington Post: An un-redacted version of a recently released Nuclear Regulatory Commission report highlights the threat that flooding poses to nuclear power plants located near large dams — and suggests that the NRC has misled the public for years about the severity of the threat, according to engineers and nuclear safety advocates. “The redacted […]
Italy: Court Rules Mobile Phones Can Cause Brain Tumors
October 20th, 2012Via: Telegraph: Innocente Marcolini, 60, an Italian businessman, fell ill after using a handset at work for up to six hours every day for 12 years. Now Italy’s Supreme Court in Rome has blamed his phone saying there is a “causal link” between his illness and phone use, the Sun has reported. Mr Marcolini said: […]
U.S. Meningitis Toll Up to 21 as Outbreak Widens
October 20th, 2012Via: AFP: The death toll in the United States from an unprecedented outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a contaminated drug has climbed to 21 people, health officials said Friday. The number of infections tied to the tainted steroid rose to 271 in 16 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on its […]
Survey: 40 Percent Of Americans Have $500 Or Less In Savings
October 20th, 2012Via: CBS: A survey of about 1,100 Americans finds that more than 4-in-10 respondents admit they don’t have more than $500 in readily accessible savings.
