David Bowie Was An Internet Pioneer

BBC: David Bowie: The internet pioneer

David Bowie is best remembered for his music - but he was also groundbreaking in his use of technology, not least his internet service, BowieNet, which launched in September 1998.

In a time before Instagram, YouTube, Twitter or even MySpace, most artists provided little if any online material to their followers.

But Bowie's platform not only offered a wide variety of exclusive content, but also several ways to interact with the singer himself.

"In my view, BowieNet had to be the most groundbreaking reachout to fans that I have ever seen any artist ever do," Craig Carrington, one of its users, says.

"He just had the attitude that if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right."

Update: BowieNet: how David Bowie's ISP foresaw the future of the internet (The Guardian).

WNU Editor: He may be gone, but his music will last for the ages.

Who Owns Antarctica?

CSN Editor: Its complicated.

This Is What Happens When You Reply To Spam Email (Video)

From TED: Suspicious emails: unclaimed insurance bonds, diamond-encrusted safe deposit boxes, close friends marooned in a foreign country. They pop up in our inboxes, and standard procedure is to delete on sight. But what happens when you reply? Follow along as writer and comedian James Veitch narrates a hilarious, weeks-long exchange with a spammer who offered to cut him in on a hot deal.

CSN Editor: Hilarious and true.

10 Mysterious Extinct Human Species (Video)

The Future Of TV

CBS: The future of TV, virtual reality on display at CES 2016

If CES 2016 is anything to go by, the future of how we enjoy home entertainment is here.

From the new wave of High Dynamic Range (HDR) televisions to the arrival of virtual reality, the floor of the consumer electronics and technology trade show in Las Vegas has been filled with examples of how home entertainment is changing. CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi was on hand to take a look at the screens of the future and the new ways people will be viewing them in their living rooms.

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CSN Editor: Bring the costs .... and they will become popular.

There Are Nine Members In The Nuclear Club

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY: The Nuclear Club: Who are the 9 members?

Nine countries are known to possess nuclear weapons.

The United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have among them approximately 15,850 nuclear weapons — 4,300 of them deployed with operational forces, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The institute, an independent organization whose research centers on global security, said 1,800 of those weapons are kept in a state of high operational alert.

The number of nuclear weapons in the world is declining, mainly because Russia and the United States are reducing their stockpiles. The two countries' arsenals make up more than 90% of nuclear weapons globally, according to the institute.

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CSN Editor: Nine today .... tomorrow .... who knows?

Do The Clintons Believe In Aliens?

Daily Mail: Hillary to open the X-Files: Clinton promises to 'get to the bottom' of Area 51 if she becomes President and stuns reporter by saying 'I think we may have been visited already'

* Hillary Clinton reportedly made the promise when speaking with The Conway Daily Sun in New Hampshire
* Clinton had previously interviewed with the same reporter in 2007
* In 2014, Bill Clinton told late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel that he wouldn't be surprised if aliens visited Earth
* Hillary Clinton appeared to agree with her husband's comments last week
* She said she would 'get to the bottom' of questions over what the government knows about UFOs and aliens

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said that if she is elected, she will 'get to the bottom' of questions over what the government knows about UFOs and aliens.

She made the promise when speaking with Daymond Steer of The Conway Daily Sun in New Hampshire. She had previously interviewed with the same reporter in 2007.

When asked if she would support UFO disclosure group efforts, she enthusiastically said 'yes'.

In 2007, Clinton said the most common freedom-of-information requests her husband Bill Clinton received at his library were about UFOs.

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CSN Editor: I guess even the Clintons like to believe.

More News On Hillary Clinton Promising To Reveal The Truth Of Area 51

Hillary Clinton plans to investigate Area 51 if she’s elected -- Red Orbit
Hillary Clinton says aliens may have paid us a visit -- CNET
Aliens May Have Visited Earth Already, Hillary Clinton Says -- Space.com
Hillary Clinton (jokingly) pledges UFO probe -- CNN
I want to believe: Hillary Clinton says aliens may have visited Earth -- RT

What Are The Most Valuable Substances By Weight?

Click on Image to Enalrge

Zero Hedge: Visualizing The Most Valuable Substances By Weight

While gold is undoubtedly one of the most traded substances on earth, it also happens to be one of the most valuable substances by weight. Although prices fluctuate, one gram of gold will cost you on average around $35. This got us thinking about how much other primarily naturally occurring substances out there cost.

This new infographic, via ValueWalk, explores how much you would pay for a gram of everything from saffron, widely recognised as the world’s most expensive spice, to platinum and rhodium. While the market for these goods can’t match the sizeable gold market, whose depth and liquidity is unparalleled, the trading prices of these substances can widely surpass that of gold; though like gold, the prices of these substances are subject to fluctuations.

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CSN Editor: For more information on Californium (the world's most expensive substance by weight), go here.

The Radical Plan To Manipulate Gravity

André Füzfa from the University of Namur has proposed a method to produce and detect gravitational fields, and says it’s achievable with current technologies.

Daily Mail: The radical plan to manipulate GRAVITY: Researcher reveals scheme to create and control gravitational fields using current technology

* Mathematical proposal aims to unlock new era of experimental gravity
* Researcher says current technologies could let humans to control gravity
* Experiment could put Einstein's theory of relativity to the ultimate test

Creating artificial gravitational fields that humans can manipulate and observe may seem like an idea from science fiction, but one researcher is now looking to turn the concept into a reality.
André Füzfa from the University of Namur has proposed a method that would allow humans to control gravity, and says it’s achievable with current technologies.
In the mathematically supported proposal, Füzfa describes the device which would take on this task, and be used to observe how magnetic fields bend space-time.

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CSN Editor: I wish them luck.

The 10 Corporations That Control The World’s Food

Revealed! The 10 Corporations that Control the World's #Food! Click for more: https://t.co/Yg4wQCcMEg pic.twitter.com/QWW3P47Zp9

— Good Shopping Guide (@EthicalCompany) January 7, 2016

The Good Shopping Guide: The 10 Corporations that Control the World’s Food

A significant amount of well-known brands are produced by just ten food companies. Between these ten largest food and drink manufacturers, which control most of the world’s food production, it is estimated that they make 1 billion US dollars per day.

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CSN Editor: A lot of junk food companies in this bunch.

The Endless Mini Is A $79 Desktop CPU (Video)

CSN Editor: Their website is here.

Reducing Brain Inflammation Shown To Be A Key For An Alzheimer's Treatment

The dots in the picture are immune cells called microglia (highlighted with a black stain), which are more prevalent in brains affected by Alzheimer’s. Photograph: Carol Colton lab, Duke Universit/PA

The Guardian: Alzheimer's treatment closer as brain inflammation shown to be key

Study shows inflammation-reducing chemical prevents memory and behavioural problems in diseased mice, raising hopes for human treatment

Scientists have fresh hopes for an Alzheimer’s treatment after experiments to reduce inflammation in diseased mouse brains prevented memory and behavioural problems in the animals.

Alzheimer’s disease has long been linked to disruption in the brain’s immune system, but the latest research adds to evidence that inflammation in the brain is not so much caused by the disease, but is a driver of the disorder.

Researchers at Southampton University studied tissues from healthy human brains and others affected by Alzheimer’s disease. They found that Alzheimer’s brains had more immune cells, known as microglia, than healthy brains.

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CSN Editor: Faster please.

See The Latest In Boating Tech Before It Hits The Water (Video From The New York Boat Show)

How Did Dinosaurs Woo Mates?

The Guardian: Dinosaurs performed dances to woo mates, according to new evidence

‘Dinosaur foreplay’ was a ritual, bird-like dance, according to paleontologists who studied huge scrape marks left behind by the animals in western Colorado

Predatory dinosaurs performed a ritual, bird-like dance to woo their mates, according to paleontologists who have studied huge scrape marks left behind by the animals in western Colorado.

Paleobiologists have long speculated that dinosaurs had mating rituals like those of their descendants, modern birds, but the scrapes would be the first physical evidence of “dinosaur foreplay”, lead scientist Martin Lockley said.

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Editor: These scrapes could have been caused by dinosaurs clipping their long nails ... bottom lone is that we do not know. But the mating ritual theory is definitely more interesting.

Study: Memories Can Be Recovered In Just A Tenth Of A Second

Using a brain scanner (stock image), scientists have found memories can be recovered in a tenth of a second - around a third of the time needed to blink. The study also found retrieval can be obstructed by the use of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), in which a magnetic coil is placed on their head

Daily Mail: Your brain recovers memories faster than the blink of an eye: Retrieval happens FIVE times quicker than thought

* Events can be recalled in 100 milliseconds, compared to 300 for a blink
* Mechanism of memory recovery starts with activation of sensory areas
* The process can be interfered with by placing magnetic coils on the head

The blink of an eye is one of the fastest reactions the human body can make - but is a slow process compared to the recovery of memory.

Using a brain scanner, scientists have discovered that memories can be recovered in just a tenth of a second - around a third of the time needed to blink.

Previous research had estimated this at around five tenths of a second.

The researchers also found retrieval can be obstructed if the person is subjected to repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), in which a magnetic coil is placed on their head.

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Editor: That is definitely fast.

This Program Can Read Emotions From Looking At A Person's Face

Daily Mail: Apple buys artificial intelligence firm that can read EMOTIONS from looking at a person's face

* Algorithm originally designed to analyse responses to ads
* Can sort through and analyse thousands of images a day to track emotion
* Has been user to spot angry drivers and disgruntled shoppers

Apple has bought an artificial intelligence firm developing software that can tell a person's emotion from their facial expression.

The software was originally developed by Emotient to help assess viewer reactions to their ads, but has also been used to look for signs of pain in patients, and even monitor shopper's facial expressions.

However, it is unclear what Apple plans to use the technology for.

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CSN Editor: The applications for this tech is unless.

VR Porn Is The Next Big Thing In Adult entertainment

Mashable: VR porn is here and it's scary how realistic it is

I've tried a lot of different virtual reality experiences. Some good, some extraordinarily amazing, and some terrible. But mostly good.

I've never, however, tried VR porn. So when Naughty America, one of the U.S.'s largest pornography production companies, invited me to try out VR porn for myself at CES, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Would I merely be a spectator in a room watching people get freaky? Or would I actually be having VR sex?

I got my answer as soon as I slipped on a Samsung Gear VR headset and hit play on a VR porn video.

As the Naughty America title screen faded away, I found myself transported into a bedroom. Kneeling before me was a female porn star who was seductively talking dirty to me. I looked down and saw some guy's muscular body. Well, that's not mine, I thought to myself. I was confused. Whose body was this? Then I realized, I was now this guy.

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CSN Editor: Here is an easy prediction .... the porn industry is probably going to make a lot of money from this, and the manufacturers of these headsets even more..

Chinese Chef's Knife Skills (Video)

CSN Editor: Wow .... I am impressed.

How Do You Train A Dog To Sniff-Out Bombs

Photo credit: Sgt. Joshua LaPere for the U.S. Army

Priceonomics: How Do You Train a Dog to Sniff Bombs?

To a well-trained dog, nothing is more exciting than finding a bomb.

When Lucca, a German shepherd–Belgian Malinois mix, smelled explosives in the Nahri Saraj District of Afghanistan in March 2012, her tail started wagging. She looked toward her handler, Marine Corporal Juan Rodriguez. He patted her side and said in a singsong voice, “Good girl, Lucca!” before alerting his unit that Lucca had found a hidden improvised explosive device.

The thirteen-year war in Afghanistan was the longest in American history. The Iraq War lasted another eight, and America’s involvement in both countries has not truly ended.

In both cases, American troops faced insurgents whose most lethal weapon was the improvised explosive device (IED): explosives rigged to radio transmitters, timers, or motion sensors (stripped from washing machines, security floodlights, and garage openers) and buried along routes taken by American patrols.

The Department of Defense spent $19 billion researching the best way to detect IEDs before settling on an old technology: dogs. Lucca was one of over 2,500 dogs trained to associate the scent of explosives with a reward, teamed up with a soldier-handler, and sent to Afghanistan or Iraq.

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CSN Editor: So typical of the Pentagon .... after spending billions they then go back to what always worked before .... in the case of finding bombs .... dogs. But having said that ... this is a fascinating read.

Bad Military Tactics In The New 'Independence Day' Movie?

Joseph Trevithick, War Is Boring: The new Independence Day is full of terrible military tactics

The original 1996 movie Independence Day pitted American pilots and troops — and eventually the entire world — against an extraterrestrial threat armed with laser cannons and energy shields. Marine aviators, including Will Smith's character Capt. Steven Hiller, watch helplessly as their missiles disintegrate.

Nimble otherworldly fighters quickly pick off the F/A-18 fighter jets, killing most of the pilots. By the dramatic climax, very little has changed. Even after Hiller and David Levinson — played by Jeff Goldblum — succeed in disrupting the alien shields in a near-suicidal mission, the invaders wield considerable firepower and inflict heavy casualties.

But according to the December trailer for the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, the American military did very little soul searching in the interceding two decades. "I spent 20 years trying to get us ready for this," Goldblum's Levinson says in the teaser as we see the first images of the new flying machines.

CSN Editor: I am still going to see the movie. :)