US Military Discharges Part of Robot Army Over Budget Issues [Military]

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It's rough for robots in the armed services lately. Lack of funding is forcing the United States military to end the Army's Future Combat Systems program and eliminate many robotic soldiers, including autonomous helicopters and mine-sniffing transport vehicles.

The good news is that some of the remaining funds are being used to upgrade existing programs in an attempt to integrate the technology "in a fiscally responsible manner." I say we just plain need to start working on a way to call some Autobots in for help. [The Hill via Wired via PopSci]



The Xbox 360 Storage Locker Is Charmingly Horrible [Xbox]

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Nice try PCgadgets, but I know a plain old storage locker when I see one. I'm sure that branding it for the Xbox 360 is the difference between a $40 price tag and $15 price tag.

Are those Playstation games in there? That's right—don't be fooled. This locker isn't just for the 360. And nothing spells "security" like a tiny brass padlock and a compact, easy to carry form factor. [PCgadgets via Joystiq]



Will France Become Lebanon?

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LYON, FRANCE -- France, which regards itself as the cradle of human rights, is moving to impose legal restrictions on Muslim women who wear Afghan-style burqas or other full-face veils.

The restrictions, likely to apply to many public places, come in response to resentment in France and other European countries over the growing visibility of Muslims -- immigrants or locally born -- on a continent with ancient Christian roots. The tensions have long run through European societies but increasingly are coming to the surface as the number of Muslims grows and symbols of their faith, including mosques, are seen as a challenge to European traditions.

Beyond the fact that these restrictions are inconsistent with any notion of free expression, they are counterproductive: by isolating Mulsims they generate resentment, rather than encourage assimilation.

Bolden on Risk: Quit Treating American Citizens "As if They are Children"

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Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases Annual Report

"The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, or ASAP, a congressionally mandated group of independent experts established after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire, has released its 2009 annual report."

ASAP Public Meeting First Quarter 2009, page 5-6: "Acknowledging that General Bolden raised an important point, Admiral Dyer commented that the ASAP would recommend almost a new communications genesis. The ASAP suggested that the new Administration and the in-bound Administrator take time to consider a new approach that would explain not only the level and range of risk associated with space exploration, but also the importance of the work, the reward that justifies the risk, and the acceptance of that risk by willing and knowledgeable astronauts. The public discourse thus would be more direct and clearer, with less interpretation required. General Bolden agreed, contending that American citizens can handle difficult issues, so NASA should quit treating them as if they are children who do not understand, instead bringing them in as partners."

Keith's note: Wow. If Bolden means to attempt to do this as Administrator, this would be quite an astonishing accomplishment i.e. treating "American citizens as partners" in what NASA does - and how it does it. Go for it Charlie.

Is a Firmware Update Killing PS3 Blu-Ray Drives? [PS3]

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This lengthy thread at the Playstation forums suggests that some combination of the 3.10 firmware and Modern Warfare 2 is killing PS3 Blu-ray drives. Maybe it's true, or maybe they're all just drinking the kool-aid.

Forum members have reportedly pinpointed several reproducible freezes in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which they claim began only after installing the 3.10 firmware (the most recent release is 3.15). After experiencing this freezing, many members reported problems in other games, leading them to conclude that the firmware update adversely affected their Blu-ray drives.

Blu-ray diodes do have a finite life span, and it's hard to say if in these cases the drives have just run their course or if there is in fact something amiss with the new firmware. It's tricky. Sometimes, when an individual settles on an explanation for something, other people force themselves to find "evidence" corroborating that explanation. Sort of like how everyone started finding references to 2pac faking his own death in his music (those are real, though).

It could all just be a coincidence, or the Blu-ray diodes could be dying of old age, or there really could be some issue with the new firmware that is causing drives to crap out. If you have any insight, share it in the comments. [Playstation]



Enter the "Not" DTC Genomics Rep

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An attractive male/female (depending on doctor) walks into the office.


"Hi I would like to talk with Dr X"

Receptionist "Who are you, sweetie?"

Rep "I want to talk with the doctor about the FUTURE OF MEDICINE"

Receptionist "Huh?"

Rep "Just let him know that I am offering DNA testing"

Receptionist "Hold On........."

Doctor comes out.

Rep "Hi doctor I am with...."

Cut off by Doctor "I know, I know, Myriad right? You have been coming around here for a couple of years now" "Ya know, I know nothing about DNA"

Rep "No doctor, I am not with Myriad. I am with naviGENICS"

Doctor "Who? Eugenics?"

Rep "No Navigenics, would you like to come to our open bar where we will talk about the FUTURE OF MEDICINE?"

Doctor "Hmmmmm......"

Rep "Don't worry doctor, we will have a report you can show your consumers (Law 1 broken) and we will let you customize it for your practice (Law 2 broken)"


Doctor "Ok I will see you there."

That's the future of naviGENICS strategy in NYC.......

But what I really want to know is:

1. Do the limitations of Pharma gifts also count for Labs. Can you say trips to the Bahamas?

2. Do the minuscule amount of MDVIP docs matter that much as a market? Prob not.

3. Will Navigenics now pursue the GENE Store idea that I pitched to Dietrich Stephan in 2007?

Listen, if the rep strategy worked for Myriad, why won't it work for naviGENICS? This is a good path for them. I envision a whole slew of lab reps in the future. Now if they could only have a test that is worth some clinical utility.........

In order to gain the state license, Navigenics had to meet several requirements, including hire a doctoral-level scientist with expertise in genetic molecular testing, pay a $1,100 fee, and respond to deficiencies cited by inspectors with a plan of correction.

Most important, however, was Navigenics' conceding to not market its services directly to consumers, as clinical labs are forbidden from doing under state regulations. "They have acknowledged that DTC will not work for them" in New York, Kusel said. "They can only operate through physicians' orders."


The Sherpa Says: Imagine TV ads in NYC that say "If you want to know your future, ask your Doctor.....naviGENICS doctor that is. IMHO, a test with little clinical value doesn't get tested for unless you spend millions on marketing and advertising the way MYRIAD has. Oh, and they have a very clinically relevant test........

Hey, That’s Not How You Build a Log Cabin [Architecture]

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Your ordinary log cabin is laid out with lengthwise logs stacked to make its outer walls. Piet Hein Eek, charged with building a cozy recording studio for friend and musician Hans Liberg, did not make any ordinary log cabin.

This log cabin isn't even really that: the log facade just covers a plastic and steel frame. It isn't what you'd expect on the inside, either. Instead of dark, dingy room with a stove in the corner, Hein Eek's cabin conceals a clean, bright, and quiet modern recording studio.

Passers by might mistake the structure for a pile of logs, but they'll know something's up when Liberg props open all the unique, top-hinged windows on the sides of the pile. If they're still nonplussed, they won't be when the shack rolls away; it has wheels and can be hitched to an automobile for relocation, if Liberg ever gets tired of the view.

Check out a huge set of photos at the Thomas Mayer Archive. [Thomas Mayer Archive via Tree Hugger]



Radial load vs. deflection in pressurized hose?

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Hello Hosers!

I'm looking for a numerical method to estimate the radial deflection vs. applied radial load of a (short) bellows metal hose (with over-braids) when one end is fixed and the other is free to move. I am trying to estimate the case for a 2-inch diameter hose with 14 inches of liv

No, Cold Snaps Don’t Disprove Climate Change

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Heat is on its way.

Your friendly Futurism Now writer is not a scientist so I’m not qualified to fully interpret the latest paper from James Hansen, but maybe you are. He is asking for comments on the following, If It’s That Warm, How Come It’s So Damned Cold?, which you can download in full from his Columbia University web site here.   He says,  “Criticisms are welcome.  This is a draft essay that I wanted to get out because we are releasing our December and annual surface temperature analysis on the GISS web site.  We will prepare a write-up on 2009 temperatures for the GISS web site next week.”   Some of the findings include:  The warmest recent year was 2005, not 1998!  And he also kills a few other wrong conclusions of the skeptics, such as that there has been a decade-long cooling trend, which most certainly is not the case.  One thing is clear: James Hansen (or someone he knows) surfs the internet for comments on climate change. Here’s a bit of an excerpt:

“Why are some people so readily convinced of a false conclusion, that the world is really experiencing a cooling trend? That gullibility probably has a lot to do with regional short?term temperature fluctuations, which are an order of magnitude larger than global average annual anomalies. Yet many lay people do understand the distinction between regional short?term anomalies and global trends. For example, here is comment posted by “frogbandit” at 8:38 p.m. 1/6/2010 on City Bright blog:

“I wonder about the people who use cold weather to say that the globe is cooling. It forgets that global warming has a global component and that its a trend, not an everyday thing. I hear people down in the lower 48 say its really cold this winter. That ain’t true so far up here in Alaska. Bethel, Alaska, had a brown Christmas. Here in Anchorage, the temperature today is 31. I can’t say based on the fact Anchorage and Bethel are warm so far this winter that we have global warming. That would be a really dumb argument to think my weather pattern is being experienced even in the rest of the United States, much less globally.”

I wonder about those people too.  It’s the usual USA-centric viewpoint of Americans though — what we think and experience is universal, or at least, the desired norm and if not, you’re weird. Of course, that’s not true.  There’s a big world out there that isn’t like us, and doesn’t experience our cold snaps from Canada or the Arctic.

Hansen is not the only person fighting the perception of the Cold Snap versus Global Warming. One thing global warming skeptics don’t seem to get is the difference between winter and a global warming trend (which lasts longer than two months). In fact, where I live we had a very cold December and January, but it wasn’t record-setting cold by a long shot, as it wasn’t in [...]

Replacement Kits for Plug-Sleeve type valves

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I require Replacement Kits for Plug-Sleeve type valves of different makes - not necessarily OEM make. Any economical branded or non-branded repalcement kits of standard quality will do. Please guide how I shd go about sourcing them. Whether such manufacturers are traceable ? Is it legal to buy &

Nokia Moves To Ban Apple Imports, Apple Moves To Ban Nokia Imports [Lawsuits]

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First Nokia sued Apple. Then Apple sued Nokia. Last week, Nokia went to the International Trade Commission and requested a ban on the import of infringing Apple products. Today, Apple asked ITC to ban the import of infringing Nokia products.

This game of patent-infringement ping pong dates back to October, when Nokia first sued Apple for violating 10 patents, including holdings related to GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN. About a month and a half later, Apple countersued, claiming that Nokia was attempting to steal their technology. Since then, both sides have filed further lawsuits claiming further patent violations of various sorts.

This week, the squabble's stage has moved to the International Trade Commission. A few days ago, Nokia requested that the ITC ban the importing of any and all Apple products, from MacBooks to iPhones, that make use of the patents in question. Today, Apple fired back, requesting the same ban on Nokia's mobile phone imports.

The ITC's evaluation process takes 15 months, so don't worry about these companies' products disappearing from shelves anytime soon. But Apple's latest filing reminds us that we shouldn't expect this this legal game of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better to go away anytime soon. [Bloomberg]



The Motorola Shadow: a Droid For the Light Side? [Shadow]

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There's not a whole lot that's certain about these images, which popped up at Mobile01, showing Motorola's Shadow as a friendlier-looking Droid. But they're interesting.

These aren't the first rumors that have trickled out about the Motorola Shadow. One leak, a few weeks ago, pegged it as having a super-thin body and a 4.3-inch, 800 x 484 screen. These renders, of admittedly dubious provenance, suggest a more Droid-like form factor, except with a white keyboard and wrist strap.

Mobile01 also suggests that the Shadow could be a candidate for the next official Google Phone and thus the designation of Nexus Two. Maybe, but it seems a little too early for Google to be picking the Nexus One successor. And what of HTC? [Mobile01 via Engadget]



"American Pixels" Series Makes Art of Artifacts [Compression]

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Jörg M. Colberg, an accomplished astrophysicist and photographer, created a series of images entitled "American Pixels" in which he applied a self-made compression algorithm to photographs, turning them into artworks of the digital age.

But Colberg's works aren't just commentaries on the state of images in an age of lossy file types. He designed his own compression algorithm that responds uniquely to the contents of each photograph.

For Colberg, the compression becomes part of the creative progress. He explains:

A computer that creates a jpeg does not know anything about the contents of the image: It does what it is told, in a uniform manner across the image.

My idea was to create a variant that followed in the footsteps of what jpegs do, but to have the final result depend on the original image...adaptive compression (acomp) is a new image algorithm where the focus is not on making its compression efficient but, rather, on making its result interesting...As computer technology has evolved to make artificial images look ever more real - so that the latest generation of shooter and war games will look as realistic as possible - acomp is intended to go the opposite way: Instead of creating an image artificially with the intent of making it look as photo-realistic as possible, it takes an image captured from life and transforms it into something that looks real and not real at the same time.

The American Pixel renders are intended for hanging on walls, allowing the viewer to study the different layers of pixelated detail by move closer and farther away from the work.

To see the whole set of these fascinating works, head over to Colberg's collection. [Jörg M. Colberg via Kottke]



Kva reduction

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If I install power factor correction on an Industrial site it will reduce the Kva Demand but not the Kwh consumed.

My undertanding is that electrcity is generated in Kva. By reducting the Kva on site, will this reduce the energy required to power this site?

Would this reduce the CO2 emissi