Kemiskinan ternyata tak menyurutkan seseorang dalam menggapai cita-cita. Setidaknya semangat itu tergambar dari sosok Mariance Djara Jungu. Bocah berusia tujuh tahun tersebut adalah siswa kelas satu di Sekolah Dasar Oepunu, Kupang Tengah, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Setiap hari, Mariance harus menempuh tujuh kilometer menuju ke sekolahnya.
Rumah orangtua Mariance terletak di Dusun Dendeng, Desa Noelbaki, Kupang Tengah. SCTV, baru-baru ini, menyambangi rumah itu dengan menempuh waktu 1,5 jam menggunakan mobil dan dilanjutkan berjalan kaki. Rumah itu berupa gubuk dengan dinding kayu dan atap daun lontar. Sementara sekat kamar menggunakan terpal. Di rumah itulah Mariance dilahirkan.
Setiap pagi, Mariance bangun pukul 05.00 WITA dilanjutkan dengan mencuci piring sebelum bersiap pergi ke sekolah. Mariance mengenakan seragam dengan alas sandal jepit. Dia lalu menempuh 1,5 jam ke sekolah dengan berjalan kaki. Perkiraan Mariance cukup matang karena sekolah baru dimulai pukul 07.00 WITA. Jika Mariance kesiangan bangun karena lelah, dia akan menyelingi perjalanannya dengan berlari kecil.
Meski mengaku lelah, bocah itu kembali ceria setiba di sekolah. Sekolah Mariance merupakan gedung Balai pertemuan desa tanpa fasilitas kursi. Sepanjang tiga jam pelajaran berlangsung, Mariance harus mengikutinya dengan berdiri. Tak jarang bocah ini merasakan lelah yang luar biasa.
Mariance pulang pukul 10.00 Wita. Sesampai di rumah, ia mengulang pelajaran di sekolah. Mariance memanfaatkan tempat duduk di rumahnya sebagai meja dan tetap harus berdiri karena tak memiliki kursi. Namun, segala kekurangan itu tetap dijalani Mariance dengan ketekunan. Ia terlanjur mendulang cita-cita mulia menjadi seorang Guru.
Usai belajar, Mariance lalu membantu neneknya membersihkan rumput dan menyiangi tanaman cabe. Rutinitas itu merupakan sumber kehidupan mereka. Hal itu diceritakan ibu Mariance, Linda Djara. Sang ibu juga mengatakan seolah tak ada waktu senggang bagi sang buah hati. Apalagi, Mariance juga harus memberi makan sejumlah ayam di halaman rumahnya.
Wilhemina, salah satu guru di sekolah Mariance, mengatakan, muridnya tersebut kerap terlambat tiba di sekolah. Meski begitu, prestasi Mariance tidak perlu diragukan. Mariance dan sembilan temannya terpilih mengikuti tes sampling di tingkat Kabupaten Kupang.
Kini, pihak sekolah hanya bisa berharap pemerintah setempat mau menyediakan fasilitas pendidikan bagi mereka. Hal itu demi mewujudkan cita-cita 40 siswa sekolah tersebut. Tak hanya itu, pihak sekolah juga berharap ada donatur yang mengulurkan tangan mereka untuk membangun gedung sekolah di atas lahan yang telah disiapkan. Video
The video, from Azteca America Colorado, shows an injured dog lying in the middle of a freeway after being hit by a car, while a rescue dog dodges traffic to run to its side. The rescue dog then drags the severely injured canine across lanes of traffic as cars swerve around it.
No motorists stopped to help either dog, but a highway crew arrives at the end of the video. Video
Dogs sulked and refused to "shake" paws if other dogs got treats for tricks and they did not, said
"It is a more complex feeling or emotion than what we would normally attribute to animals," said Range.
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also showed dogs licked and scratched themselves and acted stressed when they were denied rewards given to other dogs.
Other studies have shown monkeys often express resentful behaviour when a partner receives a greater reward for performing an identical task, staging strikes or ignoring what they view as inferior compensation.
It turns out dogs are able to show a similar, if less sensitive, response, said Range in a telephone interview.
In a series of experiments using different breeds of dogs, the researchers looked at how two animals sitting next to each other reacted to unequal rewards after handing a paw to a researcher.
Dogs not given a treat licked their mouths, yawned, scratched and showed other signs of stress and stopped performing the task, Range said.
To show this was not just because the animals were not getting food, the researchers then tested the dogs alone and found that in this situation the envious canines cooperated longer before stopping.
"It is really about the unequal distribution of the reward," Range said. "If it was only about frustration they would stop at the same time."
"My wife had been nagging me all week to get a ticket, so I when saw the Lotto sign ... I sprinted in to get the ticket before they closed," said the man, who asked not to be identified — normal practice among lottery winners in
"I must have been their last customer of the night," he said, adding that the young married couple had had a "rough" couple of years, reduced to one income after having children.
"I have never been so glad to listen to my wife's nagging," the man said Tuesday.
He discovered their newly won fortune Sunday thanks to his wife's request for a barbecued sausage.
Out shopping for bargains, the man said he didn't have enough money to buy his wife the sausage she'd asked him for. So he decided to check his Saturday lottery ticket in case he'd won a small prize.
"I could not believe it when they said I was actually the big winner," he said.
When he showed the printout to his wife, she initially thought they had won $4,200 (NZ$7,700).
"When she realized how much it really was, she fell to the floor, and then said: 'but all I wanted was a sausage.'"
Seperti biasa Andrew, Kepala Cabang di sebuah perusahaan swasta terkemuka di Jakarta, tiba di rumahnya pada pukul 9 malam. Tidak seperti biasanya, Sarah, putri pertamanya yang baru duduk di kelas tiga SD membukakan pintu untuknya. Nampaknya ia sudah menunggu cukup lama.
"Kok, belum tidur ?" sapa Andrew sambil mencium anaknya.
Biasanya Sarah memang sudah lelap ketika ia pulang dan baru terjaga ketika ia akan berangkat ke kantor pagi hari. Sambil membuntuti sang Papa menuju ruang keluarga, Sarah menjawab, "Aku nunggu Papa pulang. Sebab aku mau tanya berapa sih gaji Papa ?"
"Lho tumben, kok nanya gaji Papa ? Mau minta uang lagi, ya ?"
"Ah, enggak. Pengen tahu aja" ucap Sarah singkat.
"Oke. Kamu boleh hitung sendiri. Setiap hari Papa bekerja sekitar 10 jam dan dibayar Rp. 400.000,-. Setiap bulan rata-rata dihitung 22 hari kerja. Sabtu dan Minggu libur, kadang Sabtu Papa masih lembur. Jadi, gaji Papa dalam satu bulan berapa, hayo ?"
Sarah berlari mengambil kertas dan pensilnya dari meja belajar sementara Papanya melepas sepatu dan menyalakan televisi. Ketika Andrew beranjak menuju kamar untuk berganti pakaian, Sarah berlari mengikutinya.
"Kalo satu hari Papa dibayar Rp. 400.000,-untuk 10 jam, berarti satu jam Papa digaji Rp. 40.000,- dong" katanya.
"Wah, pinter kamu. Sudah, sekarang cuci kaki, tidur" perintah Andrew. Tetapi Sarah tidak beranjak. Sambil menyaksikan Papanya berganti pakaian, Sarah kembali bertanya, "Papa, aku boleh pinjam uang Rp. 5.000,- enggak ?"
"Sudah, nggak usah macam-macam lagi. Buat apa minta uang malam-malam begini? Papa capek. Dan mau mandi dulu. Tidurlah".
"Tapi Papa..."
Kesabaran Andrew pun habis. "Papa bilang tidur !" hardiknya mengejutkan Sarah. Anak kecil itu pun berbalik menuju kamarnya.
Usai mandi, Andrew nampak menyesali hardiknya. Ia pun menengok Sarah dikamar tidurnya. Anak kesayangannya itu belum tidur.. Sarah didapati sedang terisak- isak pelan sambil memegang uang Rp. 15.000,- di tangannya.
Sambil berbaring dan mengelus kepala bocah kecil itu, Andrew berkata, "Maafkan Papa, Nak, Papa sayang sama Sarah. Tapi buat apa sih minta uang malam-malam begini? Kalau mau beli mainan, besok
"Jangankan Rp.5.000,- lebih dari itu pun Papa kasih" jawab Andrew
"Papa, aku enggak minta uang. Aku hanya pinjam. Nanti aku kembalikan kalau sudah menabung lagi dari uang jajan selama minggu ini".
"lya, iya, tapi buat apa ?" tanya Andrew lembut.
"Aku menunggu Papa dari jam 8. Aku mau ajak Papa main ular tangga. Tiga puluh menit aja. Mama sering bilang kalo waktu Papa itu sangat berharga. Jadi, aku mau ganti waktu Papa.
Aku buka tabunganku, hanya ada Rp.15.000,- tapi karena Papa bilang satu jam Papa dibayar Rp. 40.000,- maka setengah jam aku harus ganti Rp. 20.000,-. Tapi duit tabunganku kurang Rp.5.000, makanya aku mau pinjam dari Papa" kata Sarah polos.
Andrew pun terdiam. ia kehilangan kata-kata. Dipeluknya bocah kecil itu erat-erat dengan perasaan haru. Dia baru menyadari, ternyata limpahan harta yang dia berikan selama ini, tidak cukup untuk "membeli" kebahagiaan anaknya.
Bagi dunia kau hanya seseorang, tapi bagi seseorang kau adalah dunianya.
When a British teacher joined an online dating agency to find a husband, she found love much closer to home than she could have ever expected - in the same street!
46-year-old Julie McIlroy, looked through thousands of pictures of eligible men on the online dating site, before finally spotting father-of-two Allan Donnelly.
Julie and Allan had no idea they were neighbors and had been living in the same street for the past 17 years!
“I thought he looked nice so I sent him a message and he emailed me back. We started emailing for a couple of weeks and I discovered that Allan was from
“Then I found out we both lived in the Rhiwbina area of the city - but even that’s a big place” she added.
e street, and had even seen each other from a distance, but never actually met face-to-face!
“I was totally stunned,” she said. “It’s an incredible co-incidence but it just goes to show that you never know where you will find love.”
The couple began dating and later went on holidays to
“I had been on the dating site for a while when I hooked up with Julie. It was an amazing co-incidence that we live so close to each other, What were the chances of that?” he said. “But it was my lucky day - we’ve got the perfect compatibility. She’s right up my street.”
Hurricanes, as we've seen, can wreak serious havoc when they strike populated areas. We've never had control over them before, but one researcher thinks they could be broken up with F-4 fighter jets.
In theory, sending in a pair of the jets to do loops around the eye of the hurricane while it's still out over the ocean, creating sonic booms, would break it up before it hits the shore.
Jet fighters flying at supersonic speeds along special trajectories with a hurricane/typhoon at various altitudes would create supersonic booms. In one such embodiment, the trajectories for the supersonic booms of the present invention are counter to the rotational component of the hurricane and/or typhoon being targeted. As such, supersonic booms can be tailored and/or designed to partially and/or fully -negate the basic rotational contribution in a hurricane by slowing down a hurricane's/typhoon's rotation. Additionally, when supersonic booms propagate downward to the surface of the ocean they also destabilize a hurricane's/typhoon's structure by increasing the pressure in the central part of a hurricane's/typhoon's eye.
It's a pretty crazy idea, but We guess it makes sense. It would be pretty amazing to be able to stop any hurricane before it hit shore, saving millions and millions of dollars and who knows how many lives. We can't wait for them to test this out.
An Egyptian court has tried and sentence a donkey to jail time for theft of corn. The donkey was caught by local police at a checkpoint set up at an agricultural research institute after the director complained that someone had been stealing corn.
The court found that the donkey was in possession of the corm and sentenced him to 24 hours in prison. The donkey’s owner copped a fine of $9 for allowing his donkey to go on its theft spree.
Unfortunately local media was unable to obtain a comment from the donkey on the courts decision.
Kitsch 80’s television show Greatest American Hero is to be made into a movie, according to io9.
For those not old enough to remember it, the series originally aired between 1981 and 1983, and revolved around a school teacher given special powers by Aliens. The series is probably better remembered for its theme song “Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)” by Joey Scarbury, embed as follows:
Series creator Stephen J. Cannell confirmed he is working on a script for the show, saying “We’ve written a screenplay, and we’ve hired a director, and we’re in the midst of putting this together for the future.”
In the ultimate Nazi-inspired exercise of destruction of the most basic human rights, Indonesian politicians are planning to tag all HIV/AIDS patients with radio frequency identification chips. Their objective is to monitor people who had shown "actively sexual behavior". John Manangsang—one of the the Indonesian Himmler-wannabes proposing the law—has no qualms in explaining it:
It's a simple technology. A signal from the microchip will track their movements and this will be received by monitoring authorities.
Then, he says they plan to punish any HIV/AIDS patient who had infected a healthy person. For some reason, this joke of a human being thinks that using RFID technology to reduce people to cattle is the best way to stop the rampant HIV/AIDS spread in his province—which is 20 times the national average in Indonesia. Because, like everyone knows, punishing an ill person is always a better method to stop an infectious disease than actually attacking the source of the problem which, according to the usual international health watchers, is the poor education about AIDS and the lack of condoms in the province, coupled with ritual swinging in Papua tribes.
We wonder if his plan B is just putting them in camps or shoot them straight away.
Boeing and the US Air Force keep advancing in their airborne high-energy laser weapon, the modified 747-
While the laser has been tested before, this was the first time they actually operated the whole thing as if they were shooting down a real target. This test fired the laser from the back-mounted generator thought the beam control system, exiting the aircraft through the nose-mounted turret and hitting a simulated ballistic missile target.
The next test—to be executed next year—will be firing and shooting down a real airborne ballistic missile.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said officers arrested Christian Popescu, 37, outside a coffee shop in
The bookmark was reportedly given as a present to Hitler by his long-term mistress in 1943 to console the German dictator after the German defeat at the hands of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, ICE said in a news release.
It was among several items that had been due to be sold off by an auction house in
Popescu made an initial appearance in court on Wednesday, charged with sale or receipt of stolen goods. He faces up to ten years in jail and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
As the season for joy nears, people are already getting ready for their Xmas lighting decoration. And if you are a store manager at the American Family Association, that means a burning cross in your doorstep. Because nothing says "Let's celebrate Jesus' birthday" better than the symbol of his dead in glowing LED glory, 210 of them. Seriously, we are suckers for weird, tacky, and wonderful lighting fixtures and lamps, but somehow this seems like a no-no. No.
Back in April, Philips announced plans to hand over its television promotion, sales and manufacturing to Funai. Now the company has expanded those plans to what sounds like all of their home theater products, including DVD players, Blu-ray players and surround sound equipment. Oh, you'll still see Philips DVD players for sure, but it won't really be Philips. So have a good time dropping that little factoid to your favorite, know-it-all salesperson next time they gush about the Philips brand name.
We have to apologize up front that you can't get this phone here because Nokia has decided [wrongly] that only people in
And would pay over the top money to get a special edition phone with Bruce stamped all over it. That doesn't mean we can't tease you horribly though because we desperately want one too.
This is the N96, Nokia's flagship multimedia phone Hong Kong-style: a Limited Edition Bruce Lee mobile with his face and signature carved on the back, and bundled with numerous accessories and a cool Bruce Lee action figure from Enterbay.
However, it does cost an estimated £800 here [Chinese]. The only consolation we can offer though is possibly the best promo video for a phone we have ever seen. BruceLeeN96adv01 and BruceLeeN96adv02
Several Verizon Wireless employees stumbled upon the Pandora's Box of personal cellphone accounts, that of President-Elect Barack Obama, and couldn't help sneaking a peek. Luckily, the account was old and out-of-use, there's no indication that email records, voicemails or call contents were monitored, and at the very most the employees only got to see billing records, according to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. Oh yeah, and the employees are now fired.
PERSONAL CELL PHONE ACCOUNT OF PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA ACCESSED BY UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam made the following statement today:
"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.
"All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.
We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day."
Since November 25th, Youtube, everybody's favorite internet video site has undergone a slight change—everything has gone widescreen! That's right, now you can watch a dog humping a baby in 16:9, rather than the original boring ol' 4:3. Though, if you'd rather stick to boring ol' 4:3, that's not going away either.
A new hydropower prototype from the
The system works by harnessing “vortex induced vibrations,” the thrumming caused by the flow of liquid or air over rounded objects. A cylinder placed underwater is subject to the current and starts to vibrate as liquid sticks and creates eddies on the object's opposite side. It's the same scientific principle that caused the collapse of the
Lately, there’s been a mess of speculation that Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon are expecting a little bundle of joy. And Mariah’s appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” is only raising the alert level on the baby-bump watch.
When asked by the talk-show host if she is pregnant, the singer gave this response, “No, that’s OK [to ask],” E! Online reported. So, the wily Ellen instead offered the pop star a glass, saying, “You don’t have to answer that. Let’s just toast with champagne.”
Mariah then gave her a whole slew of excuses, other than being pregnant, for not drinking the bubbly. “It’s just fattening!” she said. “This is peer pressure! … It’s too early for me. I only drink after
You can’t blame Ellen for trying. “No, let’s toast to you not being pregnant,” she ventured. Mariah, who only pretended to sip her champagne, wasn’t down for that sort of toast either. “I can’t believe her,” Mariah said. “Why would we toast to that? How about to the future? For both of our futures, who knows what they hold.”
Ellen again insisted that Carey was pregnant, but Mimi still resisted: “I didn’t say that. No, no, no. My mother would be at home, like, on the computer, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ We will let you know when we’re going to have a family.” Watch the video
Gov. Sarah Palin has granted the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey, but the video that shocked some viewers captured what was happening in the background.
As she answered questions Thursday at Triple D Farm & Hatchery outside Wasilla cameras from the Anchorage Daily News and others showed the bloody work of an employee slaughtering birds behind the former Republican vice presidential candidate.
On the video, Palin didn't comment about the slaughter as she answered questions, saying she's thankful that her son's Stryker brigade is relatively safe in
"This was neat," she said of the outing. "I was happy to get to be invited to participate in this. For one, you need a little bit of levity in this job, especially with so much that has gone in the last couple of months that has been so political obviously that it's nice to get out and do something to promote a local business and to just participate in something that isn't so heavy-handed politics that it invites criticism. Certainly we'll probably invite criticism for even doing this, too, but at least this was fun." Video01 and Video02
According to designer Duck Young Kong—probably the best name ever in the history of best names ever—his Lunar Baby Thermometer is great because "it eliminates the need to insert an external tool while holding them in a still position" since it uses the "common and natural behavior of putting your hand on the forehead to measure internal heat of their body". It's a good idea. Until somebody tells you that the forehead may not be the best place to measure temperatures.
For a baby less than 3 months old, the armpit is the best, while a kid older than 4 or 5 years will be better with an oral check. The unlucky babies between 3 months and 4 yours are, I'm a afraid, stuck with the thermometer up their buttocks. Technicalities aside, however, this design is, if not accurate, at least cute and fool-proof: Once it's done, the thermometer will flash a LED light and beep.
We're presented with an interesting conundrum this fine afternoon. Exhibit A: A new study says unhappy people watch more TV. Exhibit B: People dealing with the switch from analog to digital TV are probably the most unhappy TV watchers on the planet right now, next to anyone who's been hoodwinked by the HDTV department at Best Buy. There was even a NASCAR wreck this week because of digital TV.
So, if we use the powerful forces of logic on this little puzzle, we can deduce that the digital switch is making analog TV owners unhappy, which makes them want to watch more TV, which they soon will be unable to do because the signal is about to get cut off. There have been wars started for less, so we anticipate come February 2009, the world is going to end, three years earlier that predicted. Take THAT, Mayans!
The 30-year study, published by the fine folks at the
And finally, from the Duh! department, comes this gem from
"TV doesn't really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does," said Robinson, who was also the study co-author. "It's more passive and may provide escape - especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise."
Unless, of course, you're watching porn. Then we all win.
Now that we're going to have a new president, it's time for a new presidential limo—and GM is whipping up quite a doozy for the new Prez-elect. “Cadillac One” will be based off of the GMC Topkick, which you may remember as Ironhide from Transformers.
For pretty obvious reasons, details on what exactly makes up the new limo are scarce, but it will most likely include five-inch thick glass (which can stop military assault rifles), cellphone jammers and blast-proof ceramics. But will it have backseat DVDs for watching Spongebob on? Guess only Malia and Sasha will know for sure.
Believe it or not, up to November 1st many could and still were buying licenses for Windows 3.x (mainly for embedded systems like cash registers and airline entertainment systems from companies like Virgin). But on that day, Microsoft discontinued their licensing of the product. After 18 years, the iconic Windows platform is no more.
Requirements for the OS included a 8086/8088 processor with clock speed of 10MHz, 7MB of storage (better move Police Quest to a floppy) and 640KB of RAM. And when you realize that
Two decades and a half ago on November 10th, Bill Gates unveiled Microsoft's first operating systems. Oh, it wasn't for sale yet—no, no, it's still only 1983 and we wouldn't see Windows on store shelves until 1985. But that didn't stop the young heart throb Gates.
Gates wasn't at all shy when promoting his debut Windows OS at New York's Helmsley Palace Hotel that day, claiming that it, powered by a unique graphical interface, would be running 90% of IBM systems by 1984 (before missing the launch date by a year, of course). To his credit, that ridiculously lofty number is just about identical to the Windows marketshare of today.
Windows 1 wouldn't be around for long, with its Windows 2 predecessor following just two years later.
They may be rocket scientists and spend years training for things going awry in the void of space, but NASA has revealed that astronauts in the International Space Station will face the biggest, most dangerous challenge humans have ever encountered through thousand of years of history: Home remodeling. Next weekend, the ISS will get the necessary materials to do an extreme makeover in the living area of the ISS, adding new quarters, urine recycling systems, a "state of the art" space gym, and the first kitchen fridge ever:
• New rooms will be added to the living area, increase the number of bedrooms from three to five, and the numbers of baths and kitchens from one to two.
• New water recovery system will be installed. It will recycle urine and condensation into drinking water, freeing space, lugging trips and making possible to increase the number of permanent astronauts in the ISS from three to six.
• New exercise machine capable of 30 routines will be installed.
New fridge will be installed in the kitchen. This will be the first fridge ever in the space station, which will help the astronauts to keep fruit fresh for longer periods of time, as well as having cold drinks like—I guess—orange juice, Martinis and Margaritas.
NASA hasn't disclosed if Joe the Plumber will be travelling as part of the crew of seven that will take all these material in the space shuttle Endeavour this weekend. Hopefully not. Or maybe yes.
DHL, a popular shipping alternative to FedEx, UPS and the US Postal Service, has gone belly up in the ever more fun economic crisis. On November 10th the company announced that it will end all domestic shipping services starting January 30th (which means 9,500 layoffs) while only international shipping to/from the
Former-Intel employee, current-AMD employee, and probable future-Federal prison resident Biswamohan Pani is the guy who stole a whole bunch of confidential information from Intel, according to the FBI. Now, Federal prosecutors have officially charged the 33-year-old engineer for stealing more than one billion dollars in trade secrets from Intel. One billion, with B of "Bloody Hell This Dude Is Nuts".
Biswamohan spent the last two weeks at Intel copying files labeled as "Confidential," "Top secret," and "You are dumb and you are going to get so screwed, Biswamohan." That included documents of all kind, including secret plans for chips and battle stations. Intel thought something was not going well, called the FBI, and the investigation that followed leaded to his arrest. As his defense, Pani says that he copied the files for his wife, who also works at Intel. For all the feds care, he may as well have said that he stole them as a birthday present for his mom or as souvenirs to decorate his house.
The world may be moving on to CFLs, but at least one designer is still thinking about how to improve the classic incandescent bulb. Joonhuyn Kim's concept is simple: flat bulbs take up less space and make them easier (and cheaper) to store and transport. A great idea, if not a little late. Perhaps makers of soft-serve style CFLs could take a page out of this book somewhere down the line.
CNN's holographic election coverage is fancy pantsy, but how did they manage to send 3D 360 degree footage of virtual correspondent Jessica Yellin from
On the subject's side:
• 35 HD cameras pointed at the subject in a ring
• Different cameras shoot at different angles (like the matrix), to transmit the entire body image
• The cameras are hooked up to the cameras in home base in NY, synchronizing the angles so perspective is right
• The system is set up in trailers outside Obama and McCain HQ
• Not only is it mechanical tracking via camera communication, there's infrared as well
• Correspondents see a 37-inch plasma where the return feed of the combined images are fed back to them. Useful for a misplaced hair or an unseemly boogar
• Twenty "computers" are crunching this data in order to make it usable
On the HQ side:
• Only used on two out of 40-something total camera feeds that CNN has
• Wolf Blitzer really loves it (or loves Jessica Yellin)
• The delay is either minimal, or we've gotten used to satellite delay that we don't even notice now
• An array of computers takes the crunched info feed from the subject's side in order to mesh it with the video from Wolf's side.
• Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the images are actually "projected" onto the floor of the CNN studio so that Wolf can actually talk to the person, you know, in a face to face. So it's not quite Star Wars just yet. Only after computers merge the video feeds together do you get a coherent hologram + person scenario.
Hypochondriacs should be comforted to hear that scientists have developed a card-reading device that can test blood, urine and saliva for diseases and illnesses instantly. This medical card-reader uses the giant magnetoresistance principle, which means it can diagnose diseases from bodily samples just as a computer would collect data off hard disk drives.
Because it is currently the size of a desktop computer, this device will not be available for commercialization as of now. So, if you're too impatient to find out whether or not you tested positive for gonorrhea, and you just can't seem to keep it in your pants in the meantime, please use a condom. Thank you.
Get ready for some real pew pew, because Northrop Grumman has just announced that the first ever high-energy, solid-state lethal laser for actual war applications is now available for ordering. This means that you can pay now a few millions and get yours for Xmas. The new Firestrike units offer 15 kilowatts of power, but can be combined to offer 100 kilowatts of technological terror, capable of actually destroying the enemy. According to the company, this new laser "changes the game" of military engagement.
This is a big leap in laser weapons because, until now, the only effective way to get laser weapons to work with enough lethal power was using chemicals. These were extremely heavy and the whole firing process extremely hazardous. The solid-state laser in Firestrike is hard and very easy to manage, as it only requires electricity and has no by-products. It's also very rugged, according to Northrop's beam-cannon chief Dan Wildt.
After nearly three years of investigation, LG, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd have admitted to participating in a cartel between 2001 and 2006 that fixed prices of LCD screens affecting "millions of American consumers who use computers, cell phones and numerous other household electronics every day." The Justice Department has ordered the companies pony up $580 million in fines—$400 million from LG, $120 million from Sharp and $65 million from Chunghwa.
According to the Justice Department, these price fixing schemes specifically targeted TFT-LCD panels sold to Dell for their computers, Motorola for the Razr and Apple for the iPod. So, by screwing them they screwed us all.
Entertainment Weekly's got an exclusive first picture of the new
The Moshi IVR clock is one of those rare, heartwarming products that serves two marginalized demographics: the blind and the chronically rude. For blind folks the benefit is obvious, as all of the clock's major functions are controlled with simple verbal commands. This includes alarm deactivation, but not necessarily how you'd expect. "Gggugugughghghhhhh" or "SHUT UP" won't do the trick — you've got to greet Moshi to initiate voice commands, then politely ask it— uhh, her — to turn off the alarm. Sort of like if you're talking to a human, assuming that human hovers by your bed and plays a plastic recorder into your ear every morning at
As a product, the Moshi is pretty focused. There's no radio or MP3 support, and the alarm and voice command options are limited and unchangeable, though there is a pleasant "Sleep Sound" ambient noise function. The concept of an alarm clock that requires an ongoing, if simple, conversation to function properly is enough to justify its reasonable $50 price, and endorsement by the World Blind Union would seem to indicate that it's not a complete gimmick. Moshi Clock.
According to a study by the Minnesota Stroke Institute that followed more than 4,000 cat owners over 10 years, owning a cat can dramatically reduce a person's chance of dying from heart disease [source: Mundell]. Specifically, people who owned cats were 30 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack. Although those researchers cannot make the same conclusions about dogs based on the data they gathered, they suspect a dog study would provide similar results.
That study merely adds to the existing evidence that shows how animals can benefit human health. For example, psychologists have found reason to believe that owning a dog helps lower your blood pressure and your cholesterol [source: BVA]. And other research shows that pets help us feel better overall and help us to deal with stress, which can be a source of illness [sources: Laino, BBC News].
And let's not forget the benefits for the elderly. For example, one study observed neural activity in seniors while they walked or interacted with a dog [source: Motooka]. It turned out that walking with a dog gave seniors a boost in parasympathetic nervous system activity, which is good because the parasympathetic nervous system helps calm and rest the body.
For whatever reason, pets certainly can have a special effect on their owners. On the next page, find out more about pets' amazing ability to improve our health. Is it really possible for a dog to foresee its owner's seizures and even detect cancer?
Stories abound about the healing abilities of pets. For instance, one boy who did not talk for six years finally chose to start talking after a therapy dog visited his school [CBS News]. Organizations, such as the Delta Society, train dogs to help disabled people perform tasks. The Delta Society feels so strongly about the health benefits of animals to humans that it is dedicated to spreading knowledge about the issue as well as services.
The psychological benefits of pets can make a big difference in someone's life. This seems to be especially true for kids who are struggling to deal with death or illness in the family. Certain studies have concluded that children with dogs cope better with these serious situations [source: Howie]. Researchers believe this probably has to do with the obvious fact that pets provide love and with the fact that the structured routine required for taking care of a pet is a positive for the child. Kids aren't the only ones who benefit from pets during these difficult times; the spouses of cancer patients said they believed pets helped them cope as well.
