Open Sourced: Google Engineer Builds Page-Turning Scanner Out of Sheet Metal and a Vacuum
November 15th, 2012Via: The Verge:
For the past eight years, Google has been working on digitizing the world’s 130 million or so unique books. While the pace of new additions to the Google Books initiative has been slowing down, members of the team have come up with a new automated scanner design that could both make the project much more cost efficient and give everyone with $1,500 and a little know-how access to a page-turning scanner of their very own.
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But what makes the project really intriguing is that all of the plans have been open sourced with open patents, meaning you’re free to experiment, build on Qumsiyeh’s design, and even sell derivative scanners without worrying about Google’s army of lawyers swooping down on you.
Bloated College Bureaucracies, Absurd Salaries, Higher Fees
November 15th, 2012Via: Bloomberg:
J. Paul Robinson, chairman of Purdue University’s faculty senate, strode through the halls of a 10- story concrete-and-glass administrative tower.
“I have no idea what these people do,” said Robinson, waving his hand across a row of offices, his voice rising.
The 59-year-old professor of biomedical engineering is leading a faculty revolt against bureaucratic bloat at the public university in Indiana. In the past decade, the number of administrative employees jumped 54 percent, almost eight times the growth of tenured and tenure-track faculty.
Purdue has a $313,000-a-year acting provost and six vice and associate vice provosts, including a $198,000 chief diversity officer. It employs 16 deans and 11 vice presidents, among them a $253,000 marketing officer and a $433,000 business school chief.
Administrative costs on college campuses are soaring, crowding out instruction at a time of skyrocketing tuition and $1 trillion in outstanding student loans. At Purdue and other U.S. college campuses, bureaucratic growth is pitting professors against administrators and sparking complaints that tight budgets could be spent more efficiently.
Euro Zone in Second Recession Since 2009
November 15th, 2012Via: Reuters:
The debt crisis dragged the euro zone into its second recession since 2009 in the third quarter despite modest growth in Germany and France, data showed on Thursday.
The two leading economies both managed 0.2 percent growth in the July-to-September period.
But the resilience could not save the austerity-hit 17-nation bloc from overall contraction as the likes of The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Austria shrank.
Man Tasered by Police for Trying to Prevent His House from Burning Down
November 15th, 2012Via: WSTP:
Daniel Jensen wasn’t running from the law, he was trying to protect his home from burning up. Yet, Pinellas Park Police tasered him in the process. Jensen and his attorney say it’s an excessive use of force.
Jensen was still shaken and visibly emotional as he retold what happened last Thursday evening. He said being tasered by police has not only impacted him, but it also impacted his children, who saw it all happen.
He described the Pinellas Park Police officers actions as “brutal.” He said they showed “no compassion.”
LTE Networks Vulnerable to Simple, Inexpensive Attack
November 15th, 2012Via: MIT Technology Review:
High-speed wireless data networks are vulnerable to a simple jamming technique that could block service across much of a city, according to research findings provided to a federal agency last week.
The high-bandwidth mobile network technology LTE (long-term evolution) is rapidly spreading around the world. But researchers show that just one cheap, battery-operated transmitter aimed at tiny portions of the LTE signal could knock out a large LTE base station serving thousands of people. “Picture a jammer that fits in a small briefcase that takes out miles of LTE signals—whether commercial or public safety,” says Jeff Reed, director of the wireless research group at Virginia Tech.
“This can be relatively easy to do,” and it would not be easy to defend against, Reed adds. If a hacker added an inexpensive power amplifier to his malicious rig, he could take down an LTE network in an even larger region.
If LTE networks were to be compromised, existing 3G and 2G networks would still operate—but those older networks are gradually being phased out.
Salt Lake City: Police to Wear Video Cameras
November 15th, 2012Can they turn the cameras off as they’re about to beat the shit out of someone or kill them for no reason?
Via: KSL:
Mounted on the side of a pair of sunglasses is what Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank says is the future of police work.
The body cameras work like dash cameras already in police cars — they they’ll provide an eye-level view of an officers one on one interaction with the public. Burbank says the body cameras are the “wave of the future” when it comes to police work and transparency.
“What better way to document the entire event then an officer wear a camera that sees what the officer sees?” Burbank said.
If Chief Burbank gets his way, these tiny, weightless cameras will soon be on every police officer in the state.
“If Salt Lake City goes this direction, if any agency goes this direction, the expectation is going to be in my mind, that everyone move in this direction,” Burbank said.
Florida Twins Courted Generals and Racked Up Millions in Debt
November 14th, 2012[???]
Via: Telegraph:
Twin Florida socialites who are at the centre of the David Petraeus affair gained intimate access to America’s military and political elite through their high-rolling lifestyles even as they quietly racked up millions of dollars in debts and credit card bills.
Jill Kelley, whose complaint over threatening emails prompted the FBI inquiry that has ensnared two top generals, is mired in lawsuits from a string of banks totalling $4 million (£2.5 million), court filings obtained by The Daily Telegraph in Florida show.
Meanwhile Mrs Kelley’s identical twin Natalie Khawam – who obtained testimonies to her good character from both Gen Petraeus and Gen John Allen during her own separate legal battle – declared herself bankrupt earlier this year with liabilities of $3.6 million, filings show.
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They also have direct links to Florida’s highest political circles, The Daily Telegraph has learned. Miss Khawam once dated Charlie Crist, the state’s former governor, a Republican source said, while Pam Bondi, its Attorney General and a close ally of Mitt Romney, attended a function at Mrs Kelley’s home.
Vegetative Patient Communicates with Scientists Via fMRI
November 14th, 2012Via: BBC:
A Canadian man who was believed to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade, has been able to tell scientists that he is not in any pain.
It’s the first time an uncommunicative, severely brain-injured patient has been able to give answers clinically relevant to their care.
Scott Routley, 39, was asked questions while having his brain activity scanned in an fMRI machine.
His doctor says the discovery means medical textbooks will need rewriting.
Hamas Military Chief Killed in Gaza Air Strike
November 14th, 2012Via: Telegraph:
Hamas has said an Israeli air strike in Gaza killed Ahmed Jabari, the head of its military wing, in an attack on a vehicle on Wednesday.
No Evidence Tamiflu Can Actually Stop the Flu
November 14th, 2012Yeah, but it’s effective for giving children nausea, insomnia and nightmares.
Via: AP:
A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.
The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.
“I suggest we boycott Roche’s products until they publish missing Tamiflu data,” wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was “needlessly” spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.
Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of “essential medicines” by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.
Research Credit: Rosa Nutkana
