The Reason Why Tomatoes Are Flavorless Today

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Your Tomatoes Are Flavorless, Right? Here's Why -- Time

There are two pieces of late-breaking news on the tomato beat this week. First of all, tomatoes have shoulders. Second, tomatoes taste lousy. If you're younger than 70, you probably already know about the lousy part. The shoulders are surely more of a surprise — but these are both key parts of a new study published in Science that explains what's going on in the sorry world of supermarket tomatoes and why they taste nothing like their sweet, flavorful cousins in the wild.

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My Comment: I disagree with the assertion that tomatoes taste lousy .... they taste great when mixed with something else.

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics

Image: The giant detector for the CMS experiment, one of the main Higgs-searching experiments at the LHC. CMS collaboration/CERN

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics -- Wired Science

If gossip on various physics blogs pans out, the biggest moment for physics in nearly two decades is just days away. The possible announcement on July 4 of the long-sought Higgs boson would put the last critical piece of the Standard Model of Physics in place, a crowning achievement built on a half-century of work by thousands of scientists. A moment worthy of fireworks.

But there’s a problem: The Higgs boson is starting to look just a little too ordinary.

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My Comment: We will have to wait until Wednesday for the full results to be announced.

Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood

Blood: Injecting oxygen into the bloodstream could help keep patients who cannot breathe alive while undergoing medical treatment

Scientist Invents Way To Keep People Alive Even When They Can't Breathe By Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood -- Daily Mail

Scientists have discovered a new way of administering oxygen to the blood which could allow people to stay alive without breathing.

The amazing breakthrough could change medical science by eliminating the need to keep patients breathing during complex operations.

The procedure, which works by injecting oxygen molecules enclosed in fatty molecules directly into the bloodstream, could grant people an extra 30 minutes of life when they cannot breathe.

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My Comment: The applications are enormous .... hurry up with the R&D.

Hints Of The Higgs Boson Detected Last Year By A US "Atom Smasher"

The Tevatron was shut down at the end of last year

US Sees Stronger Hints Of Higgs -- BBC

Hints of the Higgs boson detected last year by a US "atom smasher" have become even stronger, scientists have said.

The news comes amid fevered speculation about an announcement by researchers at the Large Hadron Collider on Wednesday.

Finding the particle would fill a glaring hole in the widely accepted theory of how the Universe works.

This 30-year hunt is reaching an end, with experts confident they will soon be able to make a definitive statement about the particle's existence.

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Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers

Legal discovery: The billboard is imaginary, but the trend is real. Trial lawyers are ramping up lawsuits over online privacy breaches. Flickr Creative Commons | AdamL212 and istock/stocknroll

Why Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers -- Technology Review

Tech companies that make privacy mistakes can expect a lawsuit.

During his career as a litigator, David A. Straite has sued money-losing hedge funds and polluting solar-panel makers. These days he has a new hunting ground: the Internet.

Over the last eight months, Straite, a partner at Stewarts Law, headquartered in London, has sued AT&T, Samsung, Facebook, and Google, alleging that the companies violated U.S. wiretapping laws and committed computer fraud when they tracked users on the Web or via their smart phones in ways that broke the companies' own privacy policies.

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My Comment: Privacy issues will be one of the key legal issues in the next decade or two .... and while companies will be targeted, I suspect that the worse abusers will be government .... and they will immune themselves from the law.

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' Born

Louise Brown, pictured with her son, was the world's first test tube baby

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' -- BBC

Five million "test tube babies" have now been born around the world, according to research presented at a conference of fertility experts.

Delegates hailed it as a "remarkable milestone" for fertility treatments.

The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK in July 1978. Her mother Leslie Brown died last month.

However, delegates at the conference in Turkey warned couples not to use fertility treatment as an "insurance policy" if they delayed parenthood.

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My Comment: Someone is keeping count?

Inside A Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean

Inside Ecto88, Ernie Cline’s Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean -- Underwire

Ernie Cline is just begging for a speeding ticket in his souped-up DeLorean, a slick ’80s ride that’s loaded with sci-fi-inspired gadgets.

Like many a car enthusiast, the Ready Player One author has seen the boys in blue in his rear-view mirror once or twice. But unlike most hot-modders, he’s got a flux capacitor in his car, which is tricked-out with gear inspired by not just Back to the Future but also Ghostbusters, Knight Rider and The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension.

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My Comment: This guy (nerd) clearly loves his car .... lucky guy.

Will Wearable Computing Be The Norm?

Babak Parviz (right) demos Project Glass on stage with Sergey Brin by his side. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be The Norm’ -- Wired

Even though I followed Google’s I/O Conference from across the country, the event made it obvious that a company created with a strict focus on search has become an omnivorous factory of tech products both hard and soft. Google now regards its developers conference as a launch pad for a shotgun spread of announcements, almost like a CES springing from a single company. (Whatever happened to “more wood behind fewer arrows”?)

But the Google product that threatened to steal the entire show probably won’t be sold to the public until 2014. This is the prosthetic eye-based display computer called Project Glass, which is coming out of the company’s experimental unit, Google[x]. Announced last April, it was dropped into the conference in dramatic fashion: An extravagant demo hosted by Google co-founder Sergey Brin involved skydivers, stunt cyclists, and a death-defying Google+ hangout. It quickly attained legendary status.

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My Comment: If not Google glasses .... some other version of it.

Witness To An Evaporating Exoplanet

Two Satellites See An Evaporating Exoplanet -- Popular Mechanics

A solar flare that erupted at just the right time and direction could disrupt long-distance phone calls here on Earth, or make TV signals drops out for a while. But that’s nothing compared to the pummeling one exoplanet takes from its home star.

Thanks to a rare moment of synchronicity between the Hubble and Swift satellites, researchers at NASA recorded the first observed change in the atmosphere of a planet outside of our solar system. The planet, called HD 189733b, received a rather rude shock from its home star.

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My Comment: That must be quite a sight to see.

God Particle Is 'Found'

The particle accelerator: It is within these tubes that physicists are hunting for the 'God' particle

God Particle Is 'Found': Scientists At Cern Expected To Announce On Wednesday Higgs Boson Particle Has Been Discovered -- Daily Mail

* Scientists 'will say they are 99.99% certain' the particle has been found
* Leading physicists have been invited to event - sparking speculation that Higgs Boson particle has been found
* 'God Particle' gives particles that make up atoms their mass

Scientists at Cern will announce that the elusive Higgs boson 'God Particle' has been found at a press conference next week, it is believed.

Five leading theoretical physicists have been invited to the event on Wednesday - sparking speculation that the particle has been discovered.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are expected to say they are 99.99 per cent certain it has been found - which is known as 'four sigma' level.

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My Comment: I guess we will have to wait till Wednesday to find out.

Will 'Google Glasses Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn' ?

Extreme: The Glass demonstration was meant to prove that the device is ready for users to begin testing it and pushing its limits

'Google Glasses Will Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn': Adult Film Studio Wants To Get Mitts On Super-Specs - But Quite What Search Giant Will Think Is A Different Matter... -- Daily Mail

Google has unveiled its new Glasses projects - a pair of specs which can film your life from the point of view of your eyes.

So it is perhaps obvious why a pornography studio wants to get hold of a pair, to make a new type of adult film.

But quite what Google will think of the idea is another matter: indeed in their official unveiling on Wednesday, the search giant said the product would initially be offered to business, industrial and medical use.

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My Comment: I am looking forward to a "cheaper" version.

Computer Worm Opens A New Era Of Warfare

Stuxnet: Computer Worm Opens New Era Of Warfare -- CBS News/60 Minutes

(CBS News) The most pernicious computer virus ever known wasn't out to steal your money, identity, or passwords. So what was the intricate Stuxnet virus after? Its target appears to have been the centrifuges in a top secret Iranian nuclear facility. Stuxnet showed, for the first time, that a cyberattack could cause significant physical damage to a facility. Does this mean that future malware, modeled on Stuxnet, could target other critical infrastructure -- such as nuclear power plants or water systems? What kind of risk do we face in this country? Steve Kroft reports.

The following script is from "Stuxnet" which originally aired on March 4, 2012 and was rebroadcast on July 1, 2012. Steve Kroft is the correspondent. Graham Messick, producer.

For the past year, the nation's top military, intelligence and law enforcement officials have been warning Congress and the country about a coming cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States that could affect everything from the heat in your home to the money in your bank account. The warnings have been raised before, but never with such urgency, because this new era of warfare has already begun.

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My Comment: When it comes to cyber security, my number one worry is my money in my bank account. I always say that if one wants to focus attention to the dangers of a cyber attack .... start messing around with individual banking information .... trust me .... everyone will notice.

Church Of The Nativity Has Been Designated As An Endangered Site

A nun walks outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 28. Ammar Awad/REUTERS

UNESCO Designates Church Of The Nativity As Endangered Site -- Christian Science Monitor

Palestinian leaders consider the designation a political victory.

The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.

The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967.

The centuries-old basilica is located in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the Palestinians have self-rule. UNESCO's decision was seen by them as validation of their rights to the territory.

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My Comment: Considering how important the site is ..... any steps to protect it are welcomed on my part.

Timbuktu Islamic Shrines Destroyed By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Militants Destroy Timbuktu Islamic Shrines -- Voice of America

DAKAR -- In northern Mali, members of the Islamic militant group Ansar Dine are systematically destroying mausoleums and revered Muslim tombs in Timbuktu. UNESCO has listed the historic city as a World Heritage site for its ancient mosques and shrines.

Residents of Timbuktu told VOA that armed men from Ansar Dine began leveling the tombs early Saturday morning. The sites, including the tomb of 15th-century Muslim scholar Sidi Mahmoud, are considered sacred by the local population. Hardline Islamist groups like Ansar Dine regard such shrines as sacrilegious, but the sites are an important part of worship for Muslims around the world.

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More News On The Destruction of The Timbuktu Islamic Shrines By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Ansar Dine fighters destroy Timbuktu shrines -- Al Jazeera
Mali: Islamists destroy Timbuktu heritage sites -- AP
Islamists destroy Timbuktu religious treasures‎ -- Euronews
Mali Islamists destroy Timbuktu shrines -- AFP
Islamic militants set fire to sacred tombs in Timbuktu -- CNN
Witnesses: Islamists destroy ancient sites in Timbuktu -- MSNBC
Islamists destroy rival holy shrines in Timbuktu, a UN heritage site -- Globe And Mail/Reuters
Militants Seek to Destroy Mali Shrines -- New York Times/Reuters

A Music-Robot Companion

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. (Credit: Image courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology)

Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — Wedding DJs everywhere should be worried about job security now that a new robot is on the scene.

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled, one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive "musical buddy."

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My Comment: Wow .... they have gone a long way on enhancing our appreciation for music.

France's Minitel To 'Go Dark'

Minitels like this one are set to go dark at the end of this week.

Minitel, France's Precursor To The Web, To Go Dark On June 30 -- Ars Technica

French fans bid "adieu" to the much loved dial-up 1980s-era computer terminals.

When I was in high school in the mid-1990s, I got to spend a few weeks with my French extended family at their country house east of Paris. Nearly each night, I watched my uncle stare into a small, old, dusty computer to monitor the results of the Tour de France. The little beige box had a fold-down keyboard and a pretty old-school text-only interface, even by mid-'90s standards. This was a Minitel.

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My Comment: I was approached by my business partner's associates to do a Quebec minitel version in Canada in the late 1980s. I declined for the same reason why it never evolved from where it developed in France .... too centralized and a limited list on what to visit.

U.S. Navy Caused 'Skyquake' Along San Diego County's Coastline

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Navy Says It Caused Mysterious 'Skyquake' -- North County Times

After an initial couldn't-have-been-us denial, it turns out it was the military's fault after all.

A Navy spokesman confirmed late Friday that two Navy F/A-18 fighter jets went "supersonic," rattling doors and windows ---- and nerves ---- like an earthquake along San Diego County's coastline about 12:45 p.m. Friday.

The jets were showing off for about 2,000 family members and invited guests of sailors aboard the Carl Vinson during a daylong family cruise, said Lt. Aaron Kakiel, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Pacific, at North Island Air Station.

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My Comment: The original story is here. It must have been impressive to experience such a sonic quake .... especially for the spectators who were close.

Can A Vaccine Eliminate Nicotine's Addictive Traits?

Smoking Kills Challiyil Eswaramangalath Vipin via Wikimedia

With New Nicotine Vaccine, Cigarettes Give You No Pleasure -- Popular Science

By denaturing nicotine before it reaches the heart and brain, a new vaccine could mute the addictiveness of tobacco products

Nicotine addiction is a hard habit to break. But what if you could never get hooked in the first place? Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York report in the journal Science Translational Medicine that they have developed a potential vaccine for nicotine addiction. In mice, the vaccine inhibits the effects of nicotine before they reach the heart or brain, making it seem as though the nicotine never entered the bloodstream.

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My Comment: I wonder if this science can also be used to eliminate the addictive properties of opiates like heroin?

It's The Nexus Generation

Future: Hugo Barra, director of product management of Google, unveils the Nexus 7 tablet today

It's The Nexus Generation: Google Hits The iPad Where It Hurts With Premium Tablet For Just £159 (And For Once, UK Shoppers Are Not Getting Ripped Off!) -- Daily Mail

* More than one million Android devices are purchased every single day
* No more 'dollars = pounds': Google gives 'Rip-Off Britain' a fair price compared to U.S.

Google has taken the battle to Apple in the tablet market, introducing a premium tablet for a 'bargain bucket' rate.

The seven-inch Google Nexus tablet, which goes on sale in three weeks, will cost $199 in the U.S. and just £159 in the UK.

It is a rare example of UK shoppers not being burnt by the usual tactic of companies - which usually simply switch the dollar sign for a pound sign.

The extremely competitive pricing may well lure Apple fans away from the iPad, which starts at $399 in the U.S. and £399 in the UK.

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My Comment: I like Apple's large screen ... so i guess I am still an Apple customer.

Army To Introduce It's Battlefield Network This October

Photo from KitUp/Military.com

It Only Took The Army 16 Years And 2 Wars to Deploy This Network -- Danger Room

In October, the Army will do something it’s wanted to do for more than a decade: send a pair of combat brigades to a warzone equipped with a new data network, and the hardware to operate it. It’ll let more than a thousand troops rapidly send voice, text, imagery and data across a warzone and to a soldier on patrol. It’s a milestone, following years of aspirations, setbacks and adjustments. And it arrives pretty much too late for the wars.

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Update #1: Army Strips Down Expectations -- And Battle Network -- For Faster Fielding -- Aol Defense
Update #2: Army Battlefield Network: Winners and Losers -- National Defense

My Comment: Only 16 years?

A Laser That Shoots Lightning

Guided lightning bolt travels horizontally, then hits a car.
(Credit: U.S. Army)

Brrzzzt! U.S. Army Checks Out Laser-Based Lightning Tech -- CNet

Future weapon would seek out targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.

Earlier this spring, the U.S. Army revealed the existence of a project underway to build a device that could shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to take out a target. Now the military's boffins report success in their first tests.

The technology -- known as laser-induced plasma channel -- is designed to seek out targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them.

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More News On the U.S. Army's Laser That Shoots Lightning

US army builds lightning bolt laser weapon -- Wired
Army Developing Laser That Shoots Lightning -- CBS
The Power of Zeus, In The Hands Of The U.S Military -- Ubergizmo
U.S. Army weapon shoots lightning bolts down laser beams -- Gizmag
Army tests lightning weapon -- Salon/Global Post
Army looks to strike foes with lightning weapon -- FOX News

What Does A$168,000 Bottle Of Wine Taste Like?

The world’s most expensive wine, Penfolds 2004 Block 42, is housed in 750-ml glass ampoules. Photo: Penfolds

Record-Breaking Wine: What Does $168,000 Taste Like? -- Wired Science

Today, the Australian winery Penfolds announced the world’s most expensive wine sold directly from a winery, eloquently dubbed “2004 Block 42.” The $168,000 wine is a produced from a single vineyard, from what the winery claims are the oldest continuously producing Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the world. It will be sold in 12 glass ampoules (above), which look more like something you’d use to kill a vampire than to serve wine. Each holds the equivalent of a standard wine bottle.

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My Comment: This is overpriced wine .... but I must confess that I do like the design of the bottle.

How HyperStealth’s Algorithms Build Better Camo

A mock-up of HyperStealth’s Quantum Stealth technology. Photo: HyperStealth

Discreet by Design: How HyperStealth’s Algorithms Build Better Camo -- Danger Room

Guy Cramer was annoyed by the cost of Canada’s newest military uniform redesign. He’d been interested in camo since the ‘80s, when he wore it as a professional paintballer. He decided he could do better, so Cramer invested in a $100 design program, spent an hour retooling the pattern and posted the critique online.

This was back in 2003, when Cramer was selling plumbing supplies and working on science projects in his free time. A year later, Cramer gets a call from Jordan’s military office. The king, they said, wanted him to redesign the country’s uniforms. Within three months, Cramer whiped them up a new pattern.

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My Comment: I look forward to the day when they can be invisible.

What Did Ancient Humans Eat?

A high-tech dental analysis of a 2-million-year-old hominid from South Africa involving CU-Boulder researchers indicates it had a unique diet that included trees, bushes and fruits. (Credit: Photo courtesy Paul Sandberg, University of Colorado)

Ancient Human Ancestors Had Unique Diet -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2012) — When it came to eating, an upright, 2 million-year-old African hominid had a diet unlike virtually all other known human ancestors, says a study led by the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

The study indicated that Australopithecus sediba -- a short, gangly hominid that lived in South Africa -- ate harder foods than other early hominids, targeting trees, bushes and fruits.

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My Comment: I guess pizza was not around at the time. :)

The Power Of Chess

Chessgames.com

24 Executives Who Are Exceptional At Chess -- Business Insider

Games like bridge, poker, and chess are great for business. These games all use methods that can can be incorporated into the way you view and make business decisions. Chess in particular requires strategic decision-making, concentration, tactics, and evaluation.

Bob Rice, author of Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business, wrote: "The more you look at the business world, the more you see that successful companies and the people who run them use chess strategies routinely (whether they know it or not)."

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My Comment: My rating was 2100 when I was 13. Loved the game .... but I drifted into business to make money.

The Pentagon Wants A Reddit Knockoff

Screencaps of several milSuite services. In July, the Pentagon plans to launch Eureka, a Reddit-style forum. Illustration: Army

TIL: The Pentagon Is Building a Reddit Knockoff -- Danger Room

For years, the military has struggled over what to do about social media. One response has been to create dull, Pentagon-controlled versions of popular websites Facebook and YouTube. Now the Pentagon is preparing to launch its own version of Reddit, in another small step in the military’s quest to strip the fun out of everything on the internet.

It’s called Eureka, and it’s supposed to be a rough analogue to the ginormous social news site where users vote on which content rises to the top — or which content falls to the bottom — of user-generated feeds.

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My Comment: Reddit's military forum is here.

A Look At Facebook's Newest Data Center

Over the past seven months, the traffic moving between Facebook’s server has nearly doubled, while the traffic between the servers and the outside world has grown at a far more steady rate. Image: Facebook

Facebook Future-Proofs Data Center With Revamped Network -- Wired Enterprise

When Facebook started work on its new data center in Forest City, North Carolina, the idea was to create pretty much an exact copy of the new-age facility the company had just built in the high desert of central Oregon. “The blueprint we’d put together was pretty good,” says Jay Parikh, the man who oversees Facebook’s entire data center infrastructure. “We felt that all we needed to do was lather, rise, and repeat.”

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My Comment: Facebook is clearly betting on a long future.

The Ultimate Heatsink?

A Heatsink That Could Be 30 Times More Efficient Than Today's Setups -- Popular Science

Computers get hot. Heat is bad for computers. To whisk it away, we use a combination of heatsinks and fans to snatch heat away from the internals and blast it out of the computer's case. But Sandia has a concept that combines the two in a way that, they claim, increases heat-removing efficiency by up to 30 times.

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My Comment: Smart and innovative .... kudos to the inventors.

Google Creates A "Computer Brain"

There's a certain grim inevitability to the fact that the YouTube company's creation began watching stills from cat videos

Google Creates 'Computer Brain' - And It Immediately Starts Watching Cat Videos On YouTube -- Daily Mail

* 16,000 processors create brain-style 'neural network'
* Network learns by itself to identify cat faces
* Works with pool of 10 million images from YouTube

Google has created an 'artificial brain' from 16,000 computer processors, and sat it down with an internet connection.

There's a certain grim inevitability to the fact that the YouTube company's creation began watching stills from cat videos.

The team, led by Google's Dr Jeff Dean, used the 16,000 processor array to create a brain-style 'neural network' with more than a billion connections.

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My Comment: I am not a "cat person".

Google Expected To Announce An In-House 'Nexus' Tablet

Tomorrow Google is expected to announce an in-house 'Nexus' tablet: To date, the best Android tablets have been models like the Samsung Galaxy Tab (pictured)

Google I/O Conference 2012 Predictions: Tech Giant To Present Its Vision For The Future Of Android And Search Tomorrow -- Daily Mail

Enthusiasts look forward to...

* Google Goggles: A pair of glasses with a built-in 'heads-up' display
* Google Nexus tablet: Google's first attempt at an in-house Android tablet
* Google Assistant: Google's take on Siri voice-controls
* Android@Home: Controlling your house appliances via Android
* Jellybean: The next version of Android's operating system

Google kicks off its annual developer's conference tomorrow - and we will get a glimpse of what Google sees in our future.

The three-day 'Input/Output Conference' is Google's way of keeping developers abreast of what is happening within the company, but it is a good chance for the public to find out what products and services to expect in the year or two ahead.

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My Comment: I wish them luck.

The Man Who Makes Sure That Facebook Remains Up And Running Each Day

Photo: Jay Parikh runs Facebook's infrastructure (Credit: Facebook)

The Man Who Keeps Facebook Humming (Q&A) -- CNet

Jay Parikh is a key person responsible for making sure Facebook remains up and running each day.

Jay Parikh is happy to never get a call from Mark Zuckerberg. Why? It means he's doing his job well. As the vice president of infrastructure engineering at Facebook, Parikh is charged with the enormous task of keeping the machines that run Facebook operating with as few hiccups as possible. As Facebook now approaches 1 billion users, and continues to roll out more features that connect people every which way, that challenge grows. Which is why Parikh, who this morning gave the keynote at the Velocity conference in Silicon Valley, has been hard at work building out Facebook's back-end technology and data centers.

I met up with Parikh at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., and discussed a range of topics. Here's an edited version:

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My Comment: I suspect that he has Mark Zuckerberg's direct cell phone number .... and vice versa.

The New Crime Wave

Automatic Bank Robbers Making A Killing -- Tech Eye

Don't even need a mask or a shooter just pray to Zeus

The days of masked robbers walking into a bank with a sawn off shotgun have gone the way of the Highwayman.

According to Reuters, a new wave of automated hacking of online bank accounts has lifted $78 million in the past year from customers in Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Insecurity experts working for McAfee and Guardian Analytics said that the weapon of choice is no longer a shooter but one of two families of existing malicious software, Zeus and SpyEye.

Previous versions of the software automate the transfer of funds to money mule accounts controlled by mates.

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My Comment: $78 million may not seem much .... but I suspect that this is just the beginning and that this crime will grow exponentially with time.

MI5 Chief Issues Warnings Of Cyber Attacks

MI5 boss Jonathan Evans has warned that companies in the UK are fending off an 'astonishing' level of cyberattacks. Image credit: Security Service

MI5 Fighting 'Astonishing' Level Of Cyber-Attacks -- BBC

MI5 is battling "astonishing" levels of cyber-attacks on UK industry, the intelligence agency's chief has said.

In his first public speech for two years, Jonathan Evans warned internet "vulnerabilities" were being exploited by criminals as well as states.

The attacks were a threat to the integrity of information, he added.

Mr Evans also warned the London 2012 Olympics was an "attractive target" for terrorist groups, but said security preparations were well under way.

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More News On The MI5 Chief's Report On Cyber Attacks In The U.K.

MI5 boss: Cyber spies, web-enabled crooks threaten UK economy -- The Register
MI5 chief: Massive cybercrime wave putting businesses at risk -- ZDNet
MI5’s cyber-attack warning -- The International News
MI5 chief: Cyber terror threat to UK companies is on an 'industrial scale', as he reveals one firm lost £800m -- This Is Money
MI5 chief: Cyber attack threat is "astonishing" -- Tech Eye
MI5 Chief Warns of 'Astonishing' Levels of Cyber Attacks -- International Business Times

Another Reason Why Coffee Is Good For You

New research shows a possible benefit from coffee consumption, but like with so many other things we consume, it really depends on how much coffee you drink, the researchers say. (Credit: © RTimages / Fotolia)

Moderate Coffee Consumption Offers Protection Against Heart Failure, Study Suggests -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — While current American Heart Association heart failure prevention guidelines warn against habitual coffee consumption, some studies propose a protective benefit, and still others find no association at all. Amidst this conflicting information, research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center attempts to shift the conversation from a definitive yes or no, to a question of how much.

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My Comment: Two cups a day is what keeps me going.

Juliet Marine’s “Ghost” Ship

GHOST ship (image: Juliet Marine Systems)—Supercavitating ship from Portsmouth, NH-based Juliet Marine Systems

Juliet Marine’s “Ghost” Ship Emerges from Stealth Startup, Gears Up for War -- Xconomy

About an hour north of Boston, in a city by the sea, there’s a project underway to reinvent the marine industry. More specifically, the marine defense industry.

Imagine a boat that moves through the water differently from any other boat in existence. It uses “supercavitation”—the creation of a gaseous bubble layer around the hull to reduce friction underwater—to reach very high speeds at relatively low fuel cost. Its speed and shape means it can evade detection by sonar or ship radar. It can outrun torpedoes. Its fuel efficiency means it has greater range and can run longer missions than conventional boats and helicopters.

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My Comment: A fascinating story .... read it all.

H1N1 Death Toll May Be 15 Times Higher Than Previously Reported

An Algerian doctor prepares a vaccine dose against the H1N1 flu in 2009 in a hospital in Algiers. CNN

Swine Flu Outbreak 15 Times Deadlier Than Thought, Study Finds -- MSNBC/MyHealthNewsDaily

The number of people who died of swine flu during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic may be about 15 times higher than originally calculated, according to a new study.

Researchers now estimate that 284,500 people worldwide died of infection from the H1N1 virus, commonly called the swine flu, between April 2009 and August 2010. At the time, 18,500 deaths had been laboratory-confirmed as being due to swine flu, according to the study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was expected that the original number would be revised upward, the researchers said.

In estimating the true number of deaths, the researchers gave a range of 151,700 to 575,400.

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More News On Reports That The Swine Flu Outbreak Was 15 Times Deadlier Than Thought

2009 swine flu outbreak was 15 times deadlier: study -- Reuters
Swine Flu Deaths May Have Been 15 Times Higher Than Reported -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Global H1N1 death toll may be 15 times higher than previously reported -- CNN
Swine flu likely claimed quarter of a million lives: study -- AFP
Swine flu pandemic killed 15 times more than thought -- New Scientist
H1N1 Swine Flu May Have Killed 15 Times More Than First Said -- ABC News
Swine flu death toll could be as high as 600,000, say experts -- Scotsman

The Most Amazing Tall Buildings Of The Year

Flickr/paul_bica

Architects And Engineers Say These Are The Most Amazing Tall Buildings Of The Year -- Business Insider

In 2011, 88 new towers over 200 meters (656 ft.) high were built in the world--a record number, compared to the 32 new towers built in 2005. There are another 96 new towers slated for completion this year, with China being the biggest builder.

But with so many new additions to skylines around the world, which buildings are the best?

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My Comment: Certainly different .... and certainly distinct.

Are The Sea Levels Rising?

California Sea Levels Flickr/Qfamily

Sea Level Rising Rapidly on Both Coasts, Could Even Flood San Francisco Airport in a Decade -- Popular Science

The Northeast U.S. has been taking the brunt of rising sea levels not just in the country but in the world, with waters rising three to four times faster than the global average, according to new data. But that doesn't spare the West Coast; in a decade, rising sea levels could flood the San Francisco International Airport.

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My Comment: In other-words .... do not buy waterfront property.

Original Recipe For Jack Daniel's Found

The history of Jack Daniel's is a mystery because the distillery's early records were destroyed in a courthouse fire Photo: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Original Recipe For Jack Daniel's Found In Welsh Book Of Herbal Remedies -- The Telegraph

The original recipe for legendary American whiskey Jack Daniel's has been discovered in a book of herbal remedies in Wales, it has been claimed.

Businessman Mark Evans, 54, was researching his family history when he discovered the recipe in a book of herbal remedies.

It was written in 1853 by his great-great grandmother who was called Daniels and was a local herbalist in Llanelli, South Wales.

Her brother-in-law left the Welsh town at about the same time to move to Lynchburg Tennessee where the Jack Daniel's distillery was opened three years later.

And the Jack Daniel's website states the founder of the distillery was from Wales.

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My Comment: Ice tea spiked with Jack Daniels .... a deadly combination.

A Cure For Balding Men?

Balding Men Offered Hope Of Waking Their 'Sleeping' Hair -- The Telegraph

Scientists have discovered that hair follicles in people who are balding are trapped in a "sleeping" state and are now developing a new treatment to combat baldness.

It sounds more like an explanation that would be used by nursery children than respected scientists, but researchers have found that rather than losing their hair altogether, people who are going bald are suffering from "sleeping" hair follicles.

Trichologists have discovered that hair follicles on the scalp can become trapped in a resting state where they do not grow new hair, leading to thinning.

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My Comment: Faster please.

The Ultimate Zombie Gun

The Perfect Piece For The Zombie Apocalypse: Shop Owners Create The Perfect Rifle (With NINE 30-Round Magazines) To Take On The Undead Hordes -- Daily Mail

The Zombie Apocolypse will hit us all one day. That's basically a fact.

But whether it comes today - or 28 Days Later - these two shop owners from Jonesboro, near Atlanta, will be ready to deal with any of the area's Resident Evil when the undead finally arrives.

They have created the ultimate zombie gun - mounted with nine 30-round magazines, four flashlights, three lasers to pinpoint out their lumbering targets, and three different sightings so they can pick off their targets from 100, 200 or 300 yards away.

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My Comment: Where do I put the bayonet?

Are U.S. Drones Vulnerable To Terrorist Hijacking?

EXCLUSIVE: Drones Vulnerable To Terrorist Hijacking, Researchers Say -- FOX News

A small surveillance drone flies over an Austin stadium, diligently following a series of GPS waypoints that have been programmed into its flight computer. By all appearances, the mission is routine.

Suddenly, the drone veers dramatically off course, careering eastward from its intended flight path. A few moments later, it is clear something is seriously wrong as the drone makes a hard right turn, streaking toward the south. Then, as if some phantom has given the drone a self-destruct order, it hurtles toward the ground. Just a few feet from certain catastrophe, a safety pilot with a radio control saves the drone from crashing into the field.

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My Comment: It looks like the Iranians figured out this trick when they brought down this top secret U.S. drone last year.

A Successor To The Concorde?

Artist's impression of the new supersonic commercial passenger aircraft which will fly at speeds of 2,500 mph

The Race To Build A Successor To Concorde: Boeing, Gulfstream and Nasa Join Forces To Create A Supersonic Jet Capable Of Flying From London To Sydney In FOUR HOURS -- Daily Mail

Aircraft enthusiasts are waiting with growing anticipation for the unveiling of plans for a supersonic jet that may be able to fly London to Sydney in just four hours.

U.S. builders - helped by the Nasa space agency - will reveal the prototype successors to Concorde at the Farnborough air show next month.

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My Comment: Being cooped up in an airplane for more than 4 hours has always been a pet peeve for me. Cutting that down to a quarter of the time will get no objections from me. But .... I suspect that the ticket prices will be expensive.

The Future Of Vehicles?

Unique features: No emissions, there is storage space in both the boot and the bonnet, and the Tesla can be fully charged up for the cost of £6.40

The Future Of Vehicles? PayPal Founder Unveils 'Tesla' Electric Car Which Accelerates Faster Than A BMW And Travels 300 Miles On A Top-Up Of £6.40 -- Daily Mail

Elon Musk, the creator of the Tesla Model S electric car, has already revolutionised the world twice.

He co-founded PayPal, one of the staple payment methods on the internet, then founded the Space X rocket project, which launched last month and made him the first commercial operator in space.

Now his electric car attempts a motor revolution - packing as it does an electric engine that can do 0-60 in a silent 4.4 seconds, two 'boots' as there is no engine in the bonnet, and 300miles between charges - which, when it comes, only costs £6,40.

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My Comment: With these cars at a price range between at $49,900 (£31,500) and $84,900 (£54,000) .... they are not going to be cheap.

Will Microsoft Build It`s Own Windows Phone 8?

Microsoft May Build Own Windows Phone 8 -- Information Week

Microsoft might rile its hardware partners again by developing and bringing to market its own Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

Microsoft has had a big week. On Monday, it revealed the Surface tablet, a Windows 8 device that the company will manufacture itself. On Wednesday, Microsoft showed off the core features of Windows Phone 8, a significant leap forward for the platform that should boost its appeal to consumers, businesses, and developers alike. Both announcements enjoyed a warm welcome and demonstrated that Microsoft clearly has a long-term strategy in play that will coalesce in the coming months.

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My Comment: Microsoft certainly has the resources and means to produce a smartphone .... but will they? My gut tells me yes.

Remembering Alan Turing, The Father Of The Computer

Remembering Alan Turing At 100 -- Endgadget

Alan Turing would have turned 100 this week, an event that would have, no doubt, been greeted with all manner of pomp -- the centennial of a man whose mid-century concepts would set the stage for modern computing. Turing, of course, never made it that far, found dead at age 41 from cyanide poisoning, possibly self-inflicted. His story is that of a brilliant mind cut down in its prime for sad and ultimately baffling reasons, a man who accomplished so much in a short time and almost certainly would have had far more to give, if not for a society that couldn't accept him for who he was.

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More News On Alan Turing

Alan Turing, the father of the computer, is finally getting his due -- Washington Post
Alan Turing 100: Visionary, war winner ... game maker? -- The Register
Alan Turing: the short, brilliant life and tragic death of an enigma -- The Guardian
Centenary of the birth of WWII code breaker Alan Turing -- BBC
Happy 100th birthday, Alan Turing -- MSNBC
The Enigma of Computing's Lost Genius -- Wall Street Journal
Alan Turing: The experiment that shaped artificial intelligence -- BBC
How to Pass the Turing Artificial Intelligence Test -- Wired Science
LEGO Turing Machine Is Simple, Yet Sublime -- Underwire
What was Alan Turing's greatest contribution? -- BBC
Alan Turing: Is he really the father of computing? -- BBC

The Move To Limit Freedom On The Web Picks Up

A global concern: Protesters from the Anonymous India group in Mumbai of hackers wear Guy Fawkes masks as they protest against laws they say gives the government control over internet usage

The Battle For Internet Freedom: Russia Tells U.N. During Secret Talks That It Wants To Be Able To censor The Web To Repress Political Opposition -- Daily Mail

* Russian President Vladimir Putin 'wants there to be centralised control of the internet'
* U.S. vows to block any proposals at U.N. Internet conference involving 170 countries
* Global web treaty will be first revision to rules in 20 years
* 'Leaks' website set up to make treaty negotiations transparent

Russia wants the ability to censor the internet - but the U.S. plans to stonewall the plans at a U.N. conference later this year.

Russia says it wants wants the right to block access where it is used for 'interfering in the internal affairs, or undermining the sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity and public safety of other states, or to divulge information of a sensitive nature'.

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My Comment: This is not surprising. The last thing that an authoritarian government wants is the free flow information .... and the internet is one massive flow of information.

How Camera Tech Is Revolutionizing Surveillance

A photograph of the Seattle skyline taken with the Aware-2 camera. (Duke University Imaging and Spectroscopy Program / June 20, 2012)

New Gigapixel Camera May Revolutionize Photography, Surveillance -- L.A. Times

Say cheese: Engineers have created a new camera with the capability of capturing over a gigapixel of data, a resolution that is significantly better than normal human vision.

Pixels represent individual points of data in an image, so the more pixels in a single image, the more details can be resolved within that image. The average retail camera currently captures only about 8 to 10 megapixels. The resolution of the gigapixel camera is at least 100 times better than that, and the researchers say their design may eventually be able to capture 50 gigapixels at once.

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My Comment: How times have changed. This tech would have been treated as Top Secret a few years ago .... today .... if you have the money .... anyone can get one.

The Apple - Google War

Why Apple Is Going “Containment” Not “Thermonuclear” Against Google In iOS 6 -- Search Engine Land

I keep hearing people talking about Apple finally going “thermonuclear” on Google with the forthcoming iOS 6 mobile operating system. No, it hasn’t. In fact, there are good reasons why it can’t, though Apple is certainly exercising a much more subtle and smart containment strategy.

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My Comment: Steve Jobs is gone .... and Apple is a different company that is not looking for conflict .... but something else.