Official support for Windows XP ends April 8th. If you had anything lower than XP Professional, it ended long before that. Anyways, here's a link that can give you a few immediate Linux replacements for that depressing operating system you're currently working on. That being said, if you work for the British or Dutch governments, don't count on an upgrade too soon. Both governments just signed a multi-million euro deal with Microsoft for the tech conglomerate to continue supporting XP, at least for them.
In yet another show of just how ironic Mother Nature enjoys being, La Trobe University researchers have discovered that the tobacco plant holds a key to the fight on cancer. The same molecule that defends the plant from fungal and bacterial invaders also has the ability to identify and destroy cancer cells.
University of California - Irvine chemists seem to have accidentally developed a gold coating that dims glares and prevents grime and moisture from sticking to surfaces. In an attempt to dull the glare of solar panels and hid the glint of military weapons, researchers used the cone-like patterns of moth's eyeballs on several non-stick surfaces, then applying a thin layer of gold. Fortunately for them, gold's cheap and easy to come by.
Sintel, a heartbreaking CGI short film created by the Blender Foundation, follows a young girl on her search for her her dragon, Scales. The fact that you should definitely take the fifteen minutes out of your day to watch it is not why it made it to Nerdom Level: News. Sony has demanded it be removed from youtube on the grounds that it infringes on Sony copyright. But Sony can't own any rights to the movie as the film is a crowdfunded open-sourced, licensed as Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, meaning is free to share with whoever, however. Leave independent creators alone.
252 million years ago, a simple act of sex almost wiped life off of our planet, succeeding in destroying ninety percent of all beings. In a very general sense of the term "intercourse", Methanosarcina microbes released copious amounts of methane into the atmosphere, suffocating most of the life on the planet, scientists believe.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
03.31.14 News
In an attempt to store unused renewable energy for later use, Harvard researchers have developed the "Rhubarb Battery". This is huge news for citizens using private solar power, who end up paying for night-time electricity.
Just in case you recently gave up on your dream of eventually having the ability to talk to dolphins, it is predicted that scientists will have a two-way "dolphin whistle" to communicate with our friends in the ocean by summer. It has already been live testing since August of last year.
Crackle reports that it is now available for use on Google Chromecast. They now join the ranks with Play, Hulu, Netflix, HBOGo, and Plex. Once I get home today, I'm going to give it a whirl again.
Scientists successfully reversed aging in mice this year, and now have plans to test on their first human subject, hopefully before year-end. This isn't like Benjamin Button, though. This process causes a jump start in communication between cell parts, giving, for example, a 60 year old subject the muscle tone and energy of their 20 year old counterpart.
In what seems like the biggest scam in Chinese history, bags of mountain are now being sold in Zhengzhou, China. Because, Spaceballs.
Just in case you recently gave up on your dream of eventually having the ability to talk to dolphins, it is predicted that scientists will have a two-way "dolphin whistle" to communicate with our friends in the ocean by summer. It has already been live testing since August of last year.
Crackle reports that it is now available for use on Google Chromecast. They now join the ranks with Play, Hulu, Netflix, HBOGo, and Plex. Once I get home today, I'm going to give it a whirl again.
Scientists successfully reversed aging in mice this year, and now have plans to test on their first human subject, hopefully before year-end. This isn't like Benjamin Button, though. This process causes a jump start in communication between cell parts, giving, for example, a 60 year old subject the muscle tone and energy of their 20 year old counterpart.
In what seems like the biggest scam in Chinese history, bags of mountain are now being sold in Zhengzhou, China. Because, Spaceballs.
Friday, March 28, 2014
03.28.14 News
Don't join a Kickstarter campaign if you would like anything more than a novelty "thank you" tshirt. This week Oculus, which gained 2.4 million dollars through a Kickstarter campaign to design and build virtual reality goggles, sold their company and design to Facebook for $2 billion in cash and stocks. The donors received nothing but a virtual reality headset. Now, as d-baggy as that sounds, especially from one of the donor's points of view, you're lying to yourself if you're saying you wouldn't have done the same thing.
Using nothing but research and math, a Pennsylvanian 14 year old discovered that the Federal and State governments of the US could save up to 400 million a year by simply switching the font of all their printed documentation from Times New Roman to Garamond.
Italian researches temporarily convinced a testing group that their hands were made out of stone by touching their hands with hammers and making metal-on-granite "chink" noises for a period of 5 minutes. One step closer to a real life Fantastic Four.
Links to public smoking bans and healthier children and healthier infant births are found around the world on a regular basis. That being said, scientists have learned that 90% of West Nile infected lab mice injected with tobacco extract "evaded death -- and eventually made a full recovery." I don't want cancer, but I don't want West Nile, either. I don't know what to do.
Kyle Wiens, founder of one of my favorite companies, iFixit, stated yesterday that Apple is doing everything in their power to put repair shops out of business by not offering public iOS device certification and making their devices more and more difficult to work with. Anyone who's ever tried to replace a screen on a iPhone 4 or higher has to agree.
Using nothing but research and math, a Pennsylvanian 14 year old discovered that the Federal and State governments of the US could save up to 400 million a year by simply switching the font of all their printed documentation from Times New Roman to Garamond.
Italian researches temporarily convinced a testing group that their hands were made out of stone by touching their hands with hammers and making metal-on-granite "chink" noises for a period of 5 minutes. One step closer to a real life Fantastic Four.
Links to public smoking bans and healthier children and healthier infant births are found around the world on a regular basis. That being said, scientists have learned that 90% of West Nile infected lab mice injected with tobacco extract "evaded death -- and eventually made a full recovery." I don't want cancer, but I don't want West Nile, either. I don't know what to do.
Kyle Wiens, founder of one of my favorite companies, iFixit, stated yesterday that Apple is doing everything in their power to put repair shops out of business by not offering public iOS device certification and making their devices more and more difficult to work with. Anyone who's ever tried to replace a screen on a iPhone 4 or higher has to agree.
Monday, March 24, 2014
03.24.14 News
A Florida judge rules that an IP address does not identify a specific person, therefore an IP address cannot be used to convict a specific person as a pirate. Take that, porn industry!
Scientists discovered that the "nasty skull fractures" found on Mayan soldiers' skulls was results of using spiked clubs during battle. This is just more proof that violence more barbaric than our modern era existed without the brainwashing help of Call of Duty, GTA, and Skyrim.
Popcorn Time, a torrent streaming app that packaged movie files with pretty corresponding artwork for live streaming, opened up it's doors to the public last week on St. Patrick's Day. Don't get all excited, though, it was immediately shut down and is now replaced with a "Thanks for the two days of awesome" message on their website. That being said, as of the 24th, there was already a clone up and operational.
Scientists have discovered yet another goldilocks planet, about 1.1 times the size of our earth. It's also orbiting an M1 red dwarf star, and is well within the zone where liquid water can exist. Lets see if our roving satellites spook some aliens out of hiding.
NASA has announced that they will begin compiling other people's concocted ideas on how to capture an asteroid, giving a grant of six million dollars to the winner(s) which will be announced on July 1st. Though the idea is to give the Moon it's own moon (with the incarcerated asteroid), I can't help but be worried about a negative outcome.
Scientists discovered that the "nasty skull fractures" found on Mayan soldiers' skulls was results of using spiked clubs during battle. This is just more proof that violence more barbaric than our modern era existed without the brainwashing help of Call of Duty, GTA, and Skyrim.
Popcorn Time, a torrent streaming app that packaged movie files with pretty corresponding artwork for live streaming, opened up it's doors to the public last week on St. Patrick's Day. Don't get all excited, though, it was immediately shut down and is now replaced with a "Thanks for the two days of awesome" message on their website. That being said, as of the 24th, there was already a clone up and operational.
Scientists have discovered yet another goldilocks planet, about 1.1 times the size of our earth. It's also orbiting an M1 red dwarf star, and is well within the zone where liquid water can exist. Lets see if our roving satellites spook some aliens out of hiding.
NASA has announced that they will begin compiling other people's concocted ideas on how to capture an asteroid, giving a grant of six million dollars to the winner(s) which will be announced on July 1st. Though the idea is to give the Moon it's own moon (with the incarcerated asteroid), I can't help but be worried about a negative outcome.
Friday, March 21, 2014
03.21.14 News
Einar Oberg, a Swedish developer, has transformed Google Street View into Jungle Street View. Basically, you can see what your neighborhood would look like in a "I am Legend" post-apocalyptic time.
The Vatican Library is digitizing what it considers it's most valuable manuscripts with the help of NNT Data Corp. If you don't care that the Catholic Church is digitizing 82,000 manuscripts from their private library, you should listen up. Upon completion, the digital library will be available to the public.
Not really geek related, but it's fun nonetheless. If you haven't heard that Fred Phelps died this week, I can't help you. But I can tell you that someone from Planting Peace bought the house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church, and painted it pretty rainbow colors.
As if it wasn't bad enough that it's the smallest planet in our solar system, Mercury is shrinking. Any well camouflaged inhabitants needn't worry though, it's lost 8.8 miles off of it's diameter over the last 3.8 billion years. I'm sure it'll be okay for a few more decades.
Star Wars Episode 7 is set to start filming in May. It's feels almost as if I have some type of Star War related story every post...
Late last week, Cubestormer 3 beat the Rubix cube world record, finishing in 3.253 seconds. No, Cubestormer 3 is not an internet handle. It's a lego robot with a Android smartphone brain, which sparks the question, "What failed diabolical project where they working on when they realized their lego robot could also play Rubix?"
The Vatican Library is digitizing what it considers it's most valuable manuscripts with the help of NNT Data Corp. If you don't care that the Catholic Church is digitizing 82,000 manuscripts from their private library, you should listen up. Upon completion, the digital library will be available to the public.
Not really geek related, but it's fun nonetheless. If you haven't heard that Fred Phelps died this week, I can't help you. But I can tell you that someone from Planting Peace bought the house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church, and painted it pretty rainbow colors.
As if it wasn't bad enough that it's the smallest planet in our solar system, Mercury is shrinking. Any well camouflaged inhabitants needn't worry though, it's lost 8.8 miles off of it's diameter over the last 3.8 billion years. I'm sure it'll be okay for a few more decades.
Star Wars Episode 7 is set to start filming in May. It's feels almost as if I have some type of Star War related story every post...
Late last week, Cubestormer 3 beat the Rubix cube world record, finishing in 3.253 seconds. No, Cubestormer 3 is not an internet handle. It's a lego robot with a Android smartphone brain, which sparks the question, "What failed diabolical project where they working on when they realized their lego robot could also play Rubix?"
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
03.19.14 News
Ivan Reitman says that though he will not be directing it, a third Ghostbusters film is on the way. Also announced is acceptance of a script, written by Etan Cohen. Not to be confused with EtHan Cohen (Fargo, Bad Santa), Etan penned MiB 3 and Tropic Thunder.
Gangnam Style is closing in on two billion views on YouTube. So, there's that.
ITT Technical Institute is being sued for allegedly misleading students regarding loans and employment post-graduation. Who would have thought that for-profit colleges would lie to students to boost enrollment?...
Disney officially announced the storyline of Star Wars: Episode VII will take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. Because none of us suspected that.
Scientists have discovered that the common sea anemone is half-animal and half-plant. So, not only is it impossible for kids to say, it'll be impossible to explain to them too.
Titan, a moon of Saturn and the only known satellite to have a dense atmosphere, had liquid waves in it's seas detected by scientists this week. This is the first discovery of liquid waves outside of Earth. Normally I'd say, "To the Titan," but the average temperature there is -292 degrees Fahrenheit, and I'm sick of the cold. Plus the snow in my yard is finally melting.
Gangnam Style is closing in on two billion views on YouTube. So, there's that.
ITT Technical Institute is being sued for allegedly misleading students regarding loans and employment post-graduation. Who would have thought that for-profit colleges would lie to students to boost enrollment?...
Disney officially announced the storyline of Star Wars: Episode VII will take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. Because none of us suspected that.
Scientists have discovered that the common sea anemone is half-animal and half-plant. So, not only is it impossible for kids to say, it'll be impossible to explain to them too.
Titan, a moon of Saturn and the only known satellite to have a dense atmosphere, had liquid waves in it's seas detected by scientists this week. This is the first discovery of liquid waves outside of Earth. Normally I'd say, "To the Titan," but the average temperature there is -292 degrees Fahrenheit, and I'm sick of the cold. Plus the snow in my yard is finally melting.
Friday, March 14, 2014
03.14.14 News
According to Yahoo, Disney is looking for actors for an unannounced live action Star Wars project. Could that television show we've been promised for the last 15 years finally becoming to fruition? Hmmm.
As much as I miss the 90s, I don't miss the risk of measles. Thank your hippy parents and their illogical fear of vaccinations for the the disease's reemergence; it had been presumed eliminated in the US since 2000. Several cases of the measles have been reported a few of New York City's boroughs, more in other major US cities.
As if there weren't enough species of spiders on the planet, researchers have discovered 5 new species of armored spiders inside caves in China. You know, because they're not already sneaky, eight-legged nightmare machines, they need teflon body plates too.
Prisoners can serve a 1,000 year sentence in the matter of hours. Sound like a Wesley Snipes film? It's not. A team of scientists have philosophized a way to trick a long-term inmate's mind into thinking he/she is serving an extremely long sentence without being frozen or costing the state an insane amount of money. Sounds like just the right amount of scifi.
I thought it'd be nice to tie in our upcoming holiday with our entertainment news's ignorance. TMZ reported that JayZ and Beyonce were able to take a stroll through a park in Ireland unbothered because either a) the two of them are black and the Irish have never seen a black person or b) the Irish are 15 years behind America in entertainment and have never heard "Single Ladies". That's reporting on par with Leah McGrath Goodman and her looking through the LA phone book for any man named Sashoti.
As much as I miss the 90s, I don't miss the risk of measles. Thank your hippy parents and their illogical fear of vaccinations for the the disease's reemergence; it had been presumed eliminated in the US since 2000. Several cases of the measles have been reported a few of New York City's boroughs, more in other major US cities.
As if there weren't enough species of spiders on the planet, researchers have discovered 5 new species of armored spiders inside caves in China. You know, because they're not already sneaky, eight-legged nightmare machines, they need teflon body plates too.
Prisoners can serve a 1,000 year sentence in the matter of hours. Sound like a Wesley Snipes film? It's not. A team of scientists have philosophized a way to trick a long-term inmate's mind into thinking he/she is serving an extremely long sentence without being frozen or costing the state an insane amount of money. Sounds like just the right amount of scifi.
I thought it'd be nice to tie in our upcoming holiday with our entertainment news's ignorance. TMZ reported that JayZ and Beyonce were able to take a stroll through a park in Ireland unbothered because either a) the two of them are black and the Irish have never seen a black person or b) the Irish are 15 years behind America in entertainment and have never heard "Single Ladies". That's reporting on par with Leah McGrath Goodman and her looking through the LA phone book for any man named Sashoti.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
04.11.14 News
In what I can only presume will be the first of many public middle fingers from the Bitcoin community to Apple, pock.io has removed Apple from its list of available gift cards purchasable on it's website. Now if only they'd add Steam cards to their arsenal, they'd make the other half of the Bitcoin population happy.
It seems that what Time Warner and Verizon thought was nothing more than a publicity stunt a year ago is now shaping up to be a nightmare for them. Google has invited 34 cities to "explore ways to bring service to their citizens." One of their tiered services is free. If I were Comcast, I'd be terrified.
Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Dianne Feinstein, pointed her angry boney finger at the CIA today in an accusation of privacy invasion. Huh... Apparently all you had to do was convince Congress that their computers had been illegally searched for them to freak out. Should have done that about 12 months ago.
In the science world, a woman has been found who's body naturally produces the antibodies to fight the HIV virus. Well, technically "naturally". Unfortunately, her body is only able to do this because she also has lupus, an equally bad yet terribly opposite disease. That's like losing your life savings on the roulette table, then winning 90% of it back on the way out of the casino by putting one penny into a slot machine; it's still unlucky, but there's worse problems, I guess.
Another fun Apple Story. A UK man is badmouthing the tech giant because, even after showing them a will and a death certificate, they still won't unlock his late mother's iPad for him. Moral of the story, Apple kills old people, or something like that.
It seems that what Time Warner and Verizon thought was nothing more than a publicity stunt a year ago is now shaping up to be a nightmare for them. Google has invited 34 cities to "explore ways to bring service to their citizens." One of their tiered services is free. If I were Comcast, I'd be terrified.
Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Dianne Feinstein, pointed her angry boney finger at the CIA today in an accusation of privacy invasion. Huh... Apparently all you had to do was convince Congress that their computers had been illegally searched for them to freak out. Should have done that about 12 months ago.
In the science world, a woman has been found who's body naturally produces the antibodies to fight the HIV virus. Well, technically "naturally". Unfortunately, her body is only able to do this because she also has lupus, an equally bad yet terribly opposite disease. That's like losing your life savings on the roulette table, then winning 90% of it back on the way out of the casino by putting one penny into a slot machine; it's still unlucky, but there's worse problems, I guess.
Another fun Apple Story. A UK man is badmouthing the tech giant because, even after showing them a will and a death certificate, they still won't unlock his late mother's iPad for him. Moral of the story, Apple kills old people, or something like that.
Friday, March 7, 2014
04.07.14 News
Just like people would yell "locust!" or "giant spiders!", elephants apparently have a special "beware" call they make in order to warn each other of humans. The sound they make, a rumble of sorts, is only used elsewhere by them while fleeing hoards of angry African bees. See, we've messed them up so much that they compare us to the only types of bees humans are scared of.
The mobile app, Vine, has officially announced on their blog that they are no longer allowing explicitly sexual videos on their service. Oh, man. Now where am I going to watch my 7 seconds of porn?
Oscar Mayer has done what man has spoken about in whispers amongst one another for centuries... created a bacon scented alarm clock. Added bonus, it's free. One problem, its a limited time offer that won't be sold in stores. Good luck.
Just when I thought people were running out of original mobile app ideas, I introduce to you LickThisApp. Designed for use with your tongue instead of your finger, this app's sole intentions revolve around getting your cunnilingus skills back up to snuff. No, I'm not joking. No, it doesn't cost anything. Yes, I've tried it.
While most 14 year olds are using the internet to Bing search Hannah Montana nipple slips, this Chilean boy used it to create an early warning earthquake system for the all too often unlucky Chilean people via twitter. Good on you, sir.
The mobile app, Vine, has officially announced on their blog that they are no longer allowing explicitly sexual videos on their service. Oh, man. Now where am I going to watch my 7 seconds of porn?
Oscar Mayer has done what man has spoken about in whispers amongst one another for centuries... created a bacon scented alarm clock. Added bonus, it's free. One problem, its a limited time offer that won't be sold in stores. Good luck.
Just when I thought people were running out of original mobile app ideas, I introduce to you LickThisApp. Designed for use with your tongue instead of your finger, this app's sole intentions revolve around getting your cunnilingus skills back up to snuff. No, I'm not joking. No, it doesn't cost anything. Yes, I've tried it.
While most 14 year olds are using the internet to Bing search Hannah Montana nipple slips, this Chilean boy used it to create an early warning earthquake system for the all too often unlucky Chilean people via twitter. Good on you, sir.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
04.04.14 News
A company called HUVr got our geek motors revved this week by releasing a viral video allegedly advertising their product, a Back to the Future 2 style hover board, using Christopher Loyd to tease us and Tony Hawk to demonstrate. Unfortunately, according their crack team of journalists, CNET seems to have debunked this as a prank by Funny or Die. Lets hope their as wrong as my use of "their", which they tend to be.
So, even after their amazingly nostalgic and self-abusing Superbowl commercial, CNNMoney reports that Radio Shack is closing around 20% of their stores this year, totaling around 1,100 locations. Seems like more people have realized how to spend three minutes Googling their problems, and even less time buying their solutions on Amazon.
In news I didn't see coming at all, F-Secure states that 97% of all mobile malware was Android based in our year of 2013. On a lighter note, only 0.1% of that is from the Play Store, which I'm pretty sure was strictly based on the fake GTA5 iFruit app that was up for 7 whole hours.
Coming off an Olympic-induced patriotic high, a new study shows 11% of Americans think HTML is a sexually transmitted disease. Maybe the Silicone Valley nerds were onto something...
Counting the days until it's brutal execution, Windows XP still has almost triple the marketshare (29%) of its 8 and 8.1 counterparts combined. Thats a bold move for IT directors. Lets see how this plan works out for them.
The fact that the Jurassic Park theme song has been stuck in my head for a few weeks now makes my last find a bit ironic. Apparently somebody wrote this website. Enjoy.
So, even after their amazingly nostalgic and self-abusing Superbowl commercial, CNNMoney reports that Radio Shack is closing around 20% of their stores this year, totaling around 1,100 locations. Seems like more people have realized how to spend three minutes Googling their problems, and even less time buying their solutions on Amazon.
In news I didn't see coming at all, F-Secure states that 97% of all mobile malware was Android based in our year of 2013. On a lighter note, only 0.1% of that is from the Play Store, which I'm pretty sure was strictly based on the fake GTA5 iFruit app that was up for 7 whole hours.
Coming off an Olympic-induced patriotic high, a new study shows 11% of Americans think HTML is a sexually transmitted disease. Maybe the Silicone Valley nerds were onto something...
Counting the days until it's brutal execution, Windows XP still has almost triple the marketshare (29%) of its 8 and 8.1 counterparts combined. Thats a bold move for IT directors. Lets see how this plan works out for them.
The fact that the Jurassic Park theme song has been stuck in my head for a few weeks now makes my last find a bit ironic. Apparently somebody wrote this website. Enjoy.
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