Know Your Type: Five Mechanical Keyboards Compared

MojoKid writes As a power user, you notice certain things that the average person might not. One of those is the difference between typing on a sweet mechanical keyboard with luxurious key action, versus pounding away on a run-of-the-mill squishy plank that relies on membrane switches to register your keystrokes. The difference may seem subtle to the uninitiated, though even casual typists can recognize that there’s something inherently superior about a mechanical keyboard. Of course, it’s the mechanical key switches that are responsible for elevating the typing experience. These are better than the rubber domes found in membrane keyboards in a number of ways, including feel, responsiveness, and durability. Mechanical keyboards are growing in popularity, as word is spreading about how good they are. In turn, keyboard manufacturers have responded by feeding more mechanical models into what was once a niche market. If you go out in search of a mechanical keyboard, you’ll now find a mountain of options. This roundup further reinforced something we’ve known for a long time, which is that mechanical keyboards are the superior choice for both gaming and daily typing chores. That doesn’t mean they’re all created equal — there are different key switches to choose from, and features vary from one plank to the next. The choice of key switch type is highly subjective but we can say that Cherry MX key switches are indeed of higher quality than knock-offs like the Kailh switch. That’s not to say Kailh switches are bad, just that you can discern a difference when going from one to the other. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Know Your Type: Five Mechanical Keyboards Compared

Time Lapse Videos Capture The True Beauty Of Space At 17,150 MPH

Watching the world go by from the window of a plane at Mach 0.8 is hard to beat, but when it comes to an expanded world view, nobody gets a better picture than the residents of the International Space Station. Check out this time-lapse compilation by Germany’s Alexander Gerst. Read more…

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Time Lapse Videos Capture The True Beauty Of Space At 17,150 MPH

Wall.e Restaurant Staffed With Robots Opens in China

Yet another new restaurant with robot servers has opened in China. And the owners seem determined to test Disney’s patience with intellectual property laws. Why? The name of the restaurant is apparently Wall.e — just like the cute little robot worker from the 2008 Pixar film. Read more…

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Wall.e Restaurant Staffed With Robots Opens in China

Russia wants to collect the DNA of every creature

Institutions have already been amassing huge DNA collections to catalog the world’s creatures, but Moscow State University might just top them all. It’s planning to build “Noah’s Ark, ” a repository for the genes of every creature, living or extinct — as long as the genes are readable, they’ll either be cryogenically frozen or stored as pure data. Not surprisingly, it’s going to be a massive undertaking in more ways than one. The Russian government is spending the equivalent of $194 million on the facility, which should occupy an enormous 166 square miles when it’s finished in 2018. The collection won’t just be about bragging rights. The university hopes to spur on a younger generation of scientists, and the Ark will connect to other genetic facilities both across Russia and (hopefully) the world. If all goes smoothly, researchers will always have a way to compare genes and even clone animals that are difficult or impossible to find in the wild. [Image credit: Alamy] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Gizmodo Source: RT News

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Russia wants to collect the DNA of every creature

California DMV will miss its deadline for driverless car regulations

This week, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced that it will miss a state Senate deadline to establish public regulations for self-driving cars by January 1, 2015. The Los Angeles Times reports safety concerns are the main motivation behind the delay. Possible regulations will now be discussed at a public workshop in Sacramento in late January, and the DMV will gather feedback from industry, academic, and consumer groups in the meantime.  The   LA Times  notes  ” there are currently no federal safety standards or independent organizations that test the safety of these vehicles.” So according to  USA Today , that leaves the state’s DMV essentially with three courses of action: follow the current US system (manufacturers self-certifying vehicles), opt for a European system (independent companies provide verification), or get into the Herculean task of providing its own testing. Despite the lack of standards for the public, 2014 was a banner year for the advancement of driverless cars. In May, Google publicly revealed the prototype for its in-house built self-driving car , which initially did not include traditional components like a steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, mirrors, or soundsystem. The cars were capped at 25mph and did not allow humans to take over piloting. (Google revealed the first genuine build of its prototype last Monday in a blog post.) Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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California DMV will miss its deadline for driverless car regulations

13,000 Passwords, Usernames Leaked For Major Commerce, Porn Sites

The Daily Dot reports that yesterday a “group claiming affiliation with the loose hacker collective Anonymous released a document containing approximately 13, 000 username-and-password combinations along with credit card numbers and expiration dates.” Most of the sites listed are distinctly NSFW, among other places, but the list includes some of the largest retailers, too, notably Amazon and Wal-Mart. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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13,000 Passwords, Usernames Leaked For Major Commerce, Porn Sites

North Korea suffers another Internet outage, hurls racial slur at Pres. Obama

With its latest response in the country’s on-going flap with the US, Agence France-Presse reports North Korea called President Barack Obama a “monkey” today. The racial slur comes after a recent double blow to North Korea: the country suffered yet another Internet outage Saturday and  Sony officially released The Interview , its fictional Kim Jong-Un assassination film, on Thursday. North Korea has fingered Washington for the outages and insists President Obama encouraged US theaters to re-embrace  The Interview.  “Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest,” a spokesman for North Korea’s National Defence Commission said in a statement published by the country’s official KCNA news agency. “If the US persists in American-style arrogant, high-handed, and gangster-like arbitrary practices despite repeated warnings, the US should bear in mind that its failed political affairs will face inescapable deadly blows.” An apparent DDoS attack knocked North Korea off the ‘net earlier this week, and it experienced another mass outage Saturday evening. This one even affected North Korea’s telecommunication networks, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency (via AFP ). Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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North Korea suffers another Internet outage, hurls racial slur at Pres. Obama

Proscutors Raid LG Offices Over Alleged Vandalism of Samsung Dishwashers

As reported by Reuters, Korean manufacturing giant LG’s Seoul headquarters have been raided over allegations that LG employees sabotaged dishwashers made by rival Samsung. The Samsung machines were “on display at two stores in September ahead of the IFA electronics show in Berlin.” From the article: On Friday, investigators searched the Seoul offices of LG Elec’s home appliance head, Jo Seong-jin, and others and secured documents and computer hard disks related to the IFA fair, Yonhap News Agency said. They also combed through LG Electronics’ home appliance factory in the southeastern city of Changwon, the report said. … Samsung sued LG Electronics employees after the incident in Germany, and LG said the company has counter-sued Samsung employees on Dec. 12. Media reports have earlier said prosecutors banned LG’s Seong-jin from leaving the country ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held January 6-9. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Proscutors Raid LG Offices Over Alleged Vandalism of Samsung Dishwashers