Tuesday, February 28, 2006

eWeek - Origami: Microsoft's 'OrPod' Alternative to the iPod?

eWeek - Origami: Microsoft's 'OrPod' Alternative to the iPod?:
"Microsoft has registered a Web site for something called 'The Origami Project.' From the rather cryptic video clip there, you can't tell much about what Origami is or what it will do. Guesses about Origami's origins have been all over the map."
LINKS: Origami Project

Techworld - IBM and Novell back open source project

Techworld - IBM and Novell back open source project:
"IBM and Novell have announced their support for an open-source project aimed at giving users more control over how information such as passwords and financial details are shared across multiple websites."
LINKS: Eclipse - Higgins Project
LINKS: Higgins - spwiki

Monday, February 27, 2006

informitv - Cyprus claims first for internet television service

informitv - Cyprus claims first for internet television service:
"Cyprus is claimed to be the first country in the world to have its own television channel on the internet, launched at a fraction of the cost of a conventional terrestrial or satellite television station."
LINKS: Cyprus ITV
LINKS: Narrowstep

BizReport - Ted Turner to leave Time Warner board

BizReport - Ted Turner to leave Time Warner board:
"Time Warner Inc. on Friday said Ted Turner will leave the board after its upcoming annual meeting, exiting a media empire he helped create, sometimes criticized and, more recently, played a diminished role in directing."

Sunday, February 26, 2006

The Motleyt Fool - DirecTV's Video Vault

The Motley Fool - DirecTV's Video Vault:
"Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has put the video store no further away than your mailbox, but are digital video recorders about to bring the video store even closer, even faster? Perhaps so: DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) says that it plans a broadband video service that ups the ante in video content distribution."

Saturday, February 25, 2006

RED HERRING - Googling the National Archives

RED HERRING - Googling the National Archives:
"Search giant Google’s efforts to become a major supplier of video content over the Internet got a big boost Friday when it announced a pilot program with the U.S. National Archives to make historic movies and documentaries available online for free."

International Herald Tribune - Dubai company gives Bush breathing room

International Herald Tribune - Dubai company gives Bush breathing room:
"The Dubai company at the center of a political furor over its plans to take over some terminal operations at six U.S. ports said that it planned to close the deal in the week ahead, but that it would 'not exercise control' over its new operations in the United States while the Bush administration tried to calm opposition in Congress."

Scotsman.com News - Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip

Scotsman.com News - Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip:
"An extraordinary 'hyperspace' engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government."
Via KurzweilAI.net

EducationGuardian.co.uk - Digging for data that can change our world

EducationGuardian.co.uk - Digging for data that can change our world:
"Scientific research is being added to at an alarming rate: the Human Genome Project alone is generating enough documentation to 'sink battleships'. So it's not surprising that academics seeking data to support a new hypothesis are getting swamped with information overload. As data banks build up worldwide, and access gets easier through technology, it has become easier to overlook vital facts and figures that could bring about groundbreaking discoveries."
Via KurzweilAI.net

BusinessWeek - Toward the Chips of Tomorrow

BusinessWeek - Toward the Chips of Tomorrow:
"It takes a ton of money and brainpower to keep the tech industry chugging along -- which explains a Jan. 12 announcement by heavyweights Sony (SNE ), Toshiba (TOSBF ), and IBM (IBM ) that they'll jointly develop the next generation of semiconductor technology."
Via KurzweilAI.net

Wired News - Spin Doctors Create Quantum Chip

Wired News - Spin Doctors Create Quantum Chip:
"University of Michigan scientists have created the first quantum microchip, which could be a giant stride in the race to produce a new generation of brawny, super-fast computers."
Via KurzweilAI.net

New York Times - Across the Megaverse

New York Times - Across the Megaverse:
"Physicists are not like ordinary people, and string theorists are not like ordinary physicists. Even compared with their peers, crafters of the arcane model of reality that is string theory think in terms of sweeping explanations of nature's design. Leonard Susskind, a founder of the theory and one of its leading practitioners, brazenly lays out this no-boundaries attitude on the first page of his new book. His research, he declares, 'touches not only on current paradigm shifts in physics and cosmology, but also on the profound cultural questions that are rocking our social and political landscape: can science explain the extraordinary fact that the universe appears to be uncannily, nay, spectacularly, well designed for our own existence?'"
Via KurzweilAI.net

KurzweilAI.net - Sandia Labs developing nanobattery implant

KurzweilAI.net - Sandia Labs developing nanobattery implant:
"Sandia National Laboratories researchers are developing a nano-size battery that one day could be implanted in the eye to power an artificial retina. The artificial retina and accompanying nanobattery will be used to correct certain types of macular degeneration."
LINKS: Sandia National Laboratories

Nanotechweb.org - Nanostructured gel muscles in on the action

Nanotechweb.org - Nanostructured gel muscles in on the action:
"Researchers from the University of Sheffield, UK, Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) Daresbury Laboratory, UK, and DUBBLE CRG, France, have created a nanostructured gel that can act as a synthetic muscle. The material reacts to chemical changes in its environment by expanding or contracting."
Via KurzweilAI.net

AngolaPress - China to build world`s first "artificial sun" experimental device

AngolaPress - China to build world`s first "artificial sun" experimental device:
"Experiments with the advanced new device will start in July or August. If the experiments prove successful, China will become the first country in the world to build a full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, nicknamed 'artificial sun', experts here said."
Via KurzweilAI.net