Long-lost H.P. Lovecraft manuscrupt found

The Cancer of Superstition , a non-fiction treatise commissioned from author H.P. Lovecraft, was found in a memorabilia collection in a defunct magic shop . Magician Harry Houdini asked Lovecraft to ghostwrite the text for a book project, but died shortly thereafter. Now it goes to auction. The collection bounced around after Beatrice Houdini’s death in 1943 and was never truly catalogued or ‘mined’ in all that time. The papers were never researched or inventoried,” said Potter & Potter president Gabe Fajuri. “In all that time, no one seemed to realise the significance of the manuscript.” Fajuri said the collection was recently bought privately, and when “the new owner began sorting through the mountain of paperwork, he began putting the pieces together, and in the process discovered the manuscript and its significance” From the excerpts, it sounds exactly as you’d imagine a Lovecraft text about superstition to sound (‘superstition is an “inborn inclination” that “persists only through mental indolence”’ etc). There is some debate over the authorship, with S.T. Joshi identifying CM Eddy. If you want it, expect to pay $25,000-$40,000 for it.

See the original article here:
Long-lost H.P. Lovecraft manuscrupt found

Scans of Secret Chamber in King Tut’s Tomb Reveal Unidentified Objects

Late last year, radar scans at King Tut’s tomb revealed the possible presence of a secret chamber. A more detailed analysis of this data shows not just the presence of a hidden room—but also unidentified objects that are comprised of metal and organic materials. Read more…

See original article:
Scans of Secret Chamber in King Tut’s Tomb Reveal Unidentified Objects

5 Major Hospital Hacks: Horror Stories From the Cybersecurity Frontlines

the_newsbeagle writes: We don’t often get insider accounts of hacks against major institutions like hospitals because they immediately go into damage control mode. But at a SXSW talk, a couple of experts told tales out of school. The experts, [John Halamka, CIO of the Boston hospital Beth Israel Deaconness, and Kevin Fu, a University of Michigan engineering professor, recounted incidents in which hackers downloaded patient X-rays to China, took down entire networks, fooled Harvard doctors, and more. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read More:
5 Major Hospital Hacks: Horror Stories From the Cybersecurity Frontlines

Intel’s high-end quad-core NUC ships in May for $650

Enlarge / The “Skull Canyon” Core i7 NUC. (credit: Intel) Intel talked a little about its new high-end Core i7 NUC mini PC at CES earlier this year , but today at GDC the company revealed what the final model will look like along with its specs, release date, and cost. The new NUC6i7KYK, codenamed “Skull Canyon,” includes a 2.6GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) 45W quad-core Core i7-6770HQ —not the fastest Skylake laptop chip that Intel can sell you, but definitely one of the fastest. The other main draws are the Iris Pro 580 GPU, which includes 78 of Intel’s graphics execution units and a 128MB eDRAM cache (compared to 48EUs and 64MB of eDRAM in the standard Core i5 NUC we just reviewed ), and the Thunderbolt 3 port which also supports full USB 3.1 gen 2 transfer speeds of 10Mbps. It takes DDR4 memory, M.2 SATA and PCI Express SSDs, and comes with a built-in Intel 8260 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapter, just like the Core i5 NUC. It’s got a good port selection, including a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, a mini DisplayPort 1.2 output, four USB 3.0 ports, a headphone jack, an SD card slot, a gigabit LAN port, and an IR sensor for use with remote controls. The HDMI 2.0 port ought to make some HTPC fans happy, since the standard NUCs are still stuck on version 1.4 and can’t view HDCP 2.2-protected content. And this is all in addition to the aforementioned Thunderbolt 3 port; this will be the first NUC since the original to support Thunderbolt, which opens up possibilities for external graphics cards down the line. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View the original here:
Intel’s high-end quad-core NUC ships in May for $650

Self-lacing Nikes are real, will go on sale later this year

While we’re still waiting for the Back to the Future-styled Nike Mag , the company has unveiled its first “self-lacing” shoe in another silhouette. The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 senses the presence of the wearer’s heel, and tightens its laces accordingly. Senior Innovator Tiffany Beers led the project, and says once the shoe is on, the wearer can adjust the fit with two buttons on the side to get things perfect. Of course, Nike isn’t stopping there, as famed shoe designer Tinker Hatfield is already looking forward to versions that adjust fit on the fly, as the athlete needs more or less tension. The HyperAdapt 1.0 is set to arrive this holiday season in three colors (including that Nike Mag-like lighting), and will go on sale only to Nike+ members for an unspecified price. Speaking of Nike+ . that app is getting a redesign in June that the company says will make it almost as personal as the fit on those adaptive-laced shoes. One login will tie users to the SNKRS , Run Club and Training Club apps, and provide product recommendations that are individually tailored. Nike is going all out to push purchases with a personal touch, including a “Services” tab that will provide concierge-like access to “Nike+ Experts” to answer all your burning sportswear queries. or book a reservation at a Nike store. This is all a part of Nike Innovation 2016, and sneakerheads can check out the site for other new products on the way. That includes the Air Vapor Max that ditches its foam midsole entirely, relying only on the company’s vaunted airbag technology for cushioning, the new “engineered down to the pixel” KD9 and other products that are part of what Nike is calling an “era of innovation.” The only problem? None of those innovations can make me shoot like Steph Curry (yet), and he’s signed to Under Armour . Source: Nike

Read the article:
Self-lacing Nikes are real, will go on sale later this year

LAX to SFO flights from United Airlines move to biofuel blend

(credit: United) On Friday, United Airlines announced that its flights between Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport will now be partly powered by a biofuel mix supplied by an LA-based company called AltAir Fuels. United runs four or five flights between LAX and SFO every day, and it will fill these planes up with a combination of 30 percent biofuel and 70 percent traditional jet fuel, according to the Washington Post . The biofuel portion of the mix will be made with a range of biological source materials “from used cooking oil to algae,” the Post writes; it was developed with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The airline has agreed to purchase 15 million gallons of the mix over the next three years from AltAir. Still, the Los Angeles Times points out that United burned through 3.2 billion gallons of traditional jet fuel last year, so that 15 million gallons is just a proverbial drop in the jet fuel barrel. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read More:
LAX to SFO flights from United Airlines move to biofuel blend

MSI ships its Mac Pro-like Vortex gaming PC

Do you like the Mac Pro’s concept of stuffing a lot of computing power into a small cylinder, but wish there was a gaming PC inside instead of workstation hardware? You just got your wish. MSI has started shipping the Vortex , a riff on Apple’s formula that crams a full-on game rig into a tube that’s just 10.6 inches tall. It uses similar vertical cooling and includes Thunderbolt ports ( Thunderbolt 3 in this case), but it’s clearly aimed at a crowd that’s more interested in Far Cry Primal than Final Cut Pro. The mini desktop is billed as relatively upgradeable, and there’s even customizable lighting if you think the system isn’t attention-grabbing enough . Just be prepared to pay through the nose for the privilege. In the US, the Vortex starts at $2, 199 with a 4GHz Core i7, dual GeForce GTX 960 graphics, 16GB of RAM, twin 128GB SSDs, a 1TB hard drive and Killer-made networking. It’ll cost you $3, 999 to get a no-compromise model with dual GeForce GTX 980 video chipsets and 32GB of RAM. This PC is strictly for well-heeled enthusiasts, then, but it’s likely your best bet if you want a compact game machine that doubles as a conversation piece. Source: MSI

Read this article:
MSI ships its Mac Pro-like Vortex gaming PC

Charter/Time Warner Cable merger nearing FCC approval

Charter’s footprint after the proposed merger. (credit: Charter ) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is likely to support Charter’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC) and may circulate a proposal to approve the merger with conditions “as soon as this week,”  The Wall Street Journal reported last night, citing “people familiar with the matter.” Wheeler would be circulating a draft order to fellow commissioners, a preliminary step to approving the deal. “The order would impose a number of conditions on the transaction, many of them aimed at boosting online video as a competitor to cable,” the Journal reported. “One condition would bar Charter from including clauses in its pay-TV contracts that restrict a content company’s ability to offer its programming online or to new entrants, the people said. FCC officials worry those clauses, which are thought to be widespread in the pay-TV marketplace, could be impeding the growth of online video.” Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read more here:
Charter/Time Warner Cable merger nearing FCC approval

307-million-year-old “monster” fossil identified at last

Sean McMahon Reconstruction of the Tully Monster as it would have looked 300 million years ago, swimming in the Carboniferous seas. Notice the jointed proboscis, the multiple rows of teeth, and the dorsal eye bar. 4 more images in gallery The “Tully monster,” a mysterious animal that swam in the inland oceans of Illinois more than 300 million years ago, left behind a tantalizingly detailed map of its body in a well-preserved package of fossils. Unfortunately, nobody could figure out what the creature was for half a century—until now. Francis Tully found the remains of the tiny beast (it’s only about 10 centimeters long) in Illinois in 1958 and gave it the whimsical scientific name Tullimonstrum  (nickname: Tully monster). A long stalk extends from the front of its body, which ends in a toothy orifice called a buccal apparatus. Its body is covered in gills and narrows down into a powerful tail that it probably used for propulsion. Its eyes peer out from either end of a long, rigid bar attached to the animal’s back. The Tully monster lived during the Carboniferous period, when the North American Great Basin was an enormous inland sea. Trees were colonizing the land for the first time, transforming the soil and filling the atmosphere with higher levels of oxygen than Earth had known before or since. Giant arthropods, like the 8-foot-long millipede known as  Arthropleura , crawled through the new forests. It was a good time to be a weird animal, and the Tully monster probably fit right in. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Read More:
307-million-year-old “monster” fossil identified at last