Author: kenmay

New Technique For Optical Storage Claims 1 Petabyte On a Single DVD

melios writes “Using a two-light-beam method a company claims to have overcome Abbe’s Law to dramatically increase the storage density for optical media, to the 9 nm scale. From the article: ‘The technique is also cost-effective and portable, as only conventional optical and laser elements are used, and allows for the development of optical data storage with long life and low energy consumption, which could be an ideal platform for a Big Data centre.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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New Technique For Optical Storage Claims 1 Petabyte On a Single DVD

A New Drug Could End Chronic Pain Forever

Treating pain is a tricky business—especially when it comes to the chronic, perpetually debilitating type. For things like back injuries, osteoarthritis, and bone cancer, you’re really only left with two options: deal with the often dangerous, unpredictable side-effects of prescription painkillers or suffer through it. But all that might change soon thanks to a Moroccan “cactuslike plant” and its toxin’s potential to kill localized pain—forever. Read more…        

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A New Drug Could End Chronic Pain Forever

Facebook announces Video on Instagram to take on Vine

With recent moves to add hashtag support, verified Pages , comments with inline photo embeds and more, it appears that Facebook is ready to take on competing social networks. It should come as no surprise to us, then, that it’s putting its acquisition of Instagram to good use by introducing a service — aptly called Video on Instagram –that rivals Vine , a similar service now owned by Twitter. Instagram’s version will be accessed by an icon on the bottom right corner of the app, and you’ll be able to record up to 15 seconds of video, using your choice of 13 new filters exclusively for the service. Contrary to its major competitor, this particular service (which will be available on iOS and Android versions from day one, and can be viewed on the web as well) won’t loop the video on an endless basis — rather, you’ll see it pop up in your feed and the video will run just once. In addition to filters, Instagram has introduced a stabilization feature called Cinema. Instagram’s blog post and video showing the new service can be found after the break, and the iOS version is already live on the App Store . Sadly, Instagram had no news about when we can expect to see the app on Windows Phone, but the team has been “talking with [Microsoft] and learning.” And folks, please promise you won’t go crazy on the cat videos. Update: Both iOS and Android apps are now available in their respective stores. Gallery: Facebook Instagram Video screenshots Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , Facebook Comments

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Facebook announces Video on Instagram to take on Vine

IRS to issue $70M in employee bonuses, says lawmaker

The Internal Revenue Service is planning to pay out about $70 million in employee bonuses, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa , a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the IRS. That oughta go over real well.        

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IRS to issue $70M in employee bonuses, says lawmaker

Nationwide Snooping System Launched In India

knwny writes “The Times of India reports that ‘India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or parliament, several sources said.'” Adds an anonymous reader: “What’s chilling is the comments from senior officials indicating that parts of the program are already live, without absolutely any discussion in public about it.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Nationwide Snooping System Launched In India

LIDAR reveals ancient city remnants beneath Cambodian jungle

LIDAR scanning has recently become cost-effective enough for archaeologists to use on large historical sites, and they’re taking full advantage. A helicopter jaunt last year has revealed a massive urban site below the jungles near Angkor Wat in Cambodia that likely housed thousands of people. New canals, temples and other man-made structures were discovered during a two-day scan, which emitted up to 200,000 laser pulses per second and would have taken years if done by traditional excavation methods. The technique can scope out features as small as a footprint, and is also being used in cities around the Egyptian pyramids and other archaeologically interesting regions — marking another way that Indy-style archeologists are becoming obsolete . Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Source: MIT Technology Review

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LIDAR reveals ancient city remnants beneath Cambodian jungle

Adobe’s Creative Cloud Has Already Been Pirated

Adobe’s shift to cloud-based software provision for its new Creative Cloud design suite was partly motivated by anti-piracy concerns. Which, of course, means… it’s already been pirated. Read more…        

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Adobe’s Creative Cloud Has Already Been Pirated

We Got a Narrator Over Here: Neil Tyson to Voice Planetarium Show

We are thrilled to announce Neil deGrasse Tyson will narrate the Museum’s newest Space Show, premiering this fall at the Hayden Planetarium. Read more…        

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We Got a Narrator Over Here: Neil Tyson to Voice Planetarium Show

MakerBot Merging With Stratasys

MakerBot Industries, creators of the popular Thing-O-Matic and Replicator line of 3-D printers, is being acquired by Stratasys, a company that’s been working on 3-D printing and production systems since 1989. ‘[Stratasys] facilitates the printing of prototypes, concepts, components, parts and more on an industrial scale and for commercial applications. … Stratasys has demonstrated it’s going to be aggressive about owning the 3D printing space, and the MakerBot buy is the consumer-focused piece in that puzzle. For MakerBot, it gives the startup access to Stratasys’ wealth of industry experience.’ According to the official news release, ‘MakerBot will operate as a separate subsidiary of Stratasys, maintaining its own identity, products and go-to-market strategy.’ MakerBot has sold 11,000 of its Replicator 2 devices in the past 9 months, accounting for half of all its 3-D printer sales since 2009. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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MakerBot Merging With Stratasys