Monday, February 26, 2007

New Sub Dives To Crushing Depths. University of Washington Scientists are reporting that they have a new autonomous underwater vehicle that increases both the attainable depth and duration of deployment over current submersibles. Weighing in at just under 140 pounds, the "Deepglider" is able to stay out to sea for up to a year and hit depths of almost 9,000 feet. "Deepglider opens up new research possibilities for oceanographers studying global climate change. The glider's first trip revealed unexpected warming of water near the ocean floor, and scientists are interested in studying whether the temperatures are related to global warming." [Slashdot] 5:26:37 PM      Google It!.

Surveillance Cameras Get Smarter. kog777 writes to mention that the IB Times is taking a look at where surveillance camera technology is headed. Soon researchers tell us that cameras will be available that not only record, but are able to interpret what they see. "The advancements have already been put to work. For example, cameras in Chicago and Washington can detect gunshots and alert police. Baltimore installed cameras that can play a recorded message and snap pictures of graffiti sprayers or illegal dumpers. In the commercial market, the gaming industry uses camera systems that can detect facial features, according to Bordes. Casinos use their vast banks of security cameras to hunt cheating gamblers who have been flagged before."[Slashdot] 5:21:58 PM      Google It!.

Bloggers Immune From Suits Against Commenters. An anonymous reader writes "Suppose a commenter posts a libelous comment here at Slashdot. Can Slashdot and its owners be sued for defamation? A federal appeals court just held that no, they cannot. The court noted that a federal law was designed to ensure that 'within broad limits, message board operators would not be held responsible for the postings made by others on that board,' adding that, were the law otherwise, it would have an 'obvious chilling effect' on blogger speech. [Slashdot] 5:19:06 PM      Google It!.

Creative Commons v3.0 Launched. An anonymous reader writes "Creative Commons announced the release of its licenses on Friday 23 Feb 2007. Changes include "Clarifications Negotiated With Debian and MIT", CC-BY-SA "compatibility structure", endorsement control, etc."[Slashdot] 8:53:27 AM      Google It!.

BitTorrent Legit Service Launches. The launch of the BitTorrent Entertainment Network came out today; there's the AP write-up, which is decent enough but the interview with Bram about it is more interesting. Tangentially, the the education of lawmakers on video DRM is an interesting countweight to all this.[Slashdot] 8:51:24 AM      Google It!.

A Brave New Wikiworld . In just a few years, Wikipedia has become the most influential encyclopedia in the world By Cass R. Sunstein. [washingtonpost.com - Technology - Industry News, Policy, and Reviews] 8:50:29 AM      Google It!.

BitTorrent to Launch Movie, TV Downloads . LOS ANGELES -- BitTorrent Inc., makers of a technology often used to trade pirated copies of Hollywood movies, is launching a Web site that will sell downloads of films and TV shows licensed from the studios.  By GARY GENTILE. [washingtonpost.com - Technology - Industry News, Policy, and Reviews] 8:49:12 AM      Google It!.

Robot swarms 'evolve' effective communication. Robots that artificially evolve ways to communicate with one another have been demonstrated by Swiss researchers. The "genomes" of the bots that found food and avoided poison most efficiently were recombined, mimicking biological natural selectio... [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News] 8:48:12 AM      Google It!.

Xerox Inkless Printer. Xerox is developing a new printing technology which does not require ink of any kind. The new technology includes reusable paper that can be printed and erased dozens of times and has the potential to revolutionize printing.... [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News] 8:47:06 AM      Google It!.