'Test tube' meat could slash energy use

Link: 'Test tube' meat could slash energy use

From edie.net:

Meat grown in laboratories could slash the energy used in its production, according to new research.

Beef, pork and lamb grown using tissue engineering techniques, often referred to as cultured or in vitro meat, need up to 45% less energy to produce according to scientists.

Work carried out by scientists from Oxford University and the University of Amsterdam, also estimates the artificial meat could lower greenhouse gas emissions by 96% compared to conventionally produced meat.

However, the meat is never actually part of a real animal and has been produced in laboratories on very small scale, but the high costs of the process mean it has not been taken up commercially, yet.

But do we know eating test tube meat won’t turn us into cannibalistic zombies? Hmmmm? Betcha didn’t think of that! ;P

Google to Retire Blogger/Picasa Brands in Google+ Push -- Ben Parr

Link: EXCLUSIVE: Google to Retire Blogger/Picasa Brands in Google+ Push -- Ben Parr

From stoweboyd:

Ben Parr reports — exclusively — that Picasa and Blogger will become cogs in the Google+ refactoring of Google’s social tools.

As I recently wrote, ” Google+ is currently a browser based system, but it is relatively easy to imagine the core functionality implemented in a next generation Android, and all the tools — like Circles and Hangouts — accessed as complementary apps, along with dozens or hundreds of others built by Google or a growing ecology of developers.”

And it seems that Google is moving to quickly ‘plusify’ systems that were standalone apps until the present day.

Hmmm, wish they would absorb YouTube and ditch that stupid name while they’re at it (“YouTube”—REALLY?).  Of course, sucking Blogger into g+ seems to be making it a serious competitor with… Tumblr.

Ruh-roh!

;)

Doctor Who Custom Cubeecraft Templates by CyberDrone on deviantART

Link: Doctor Who Custom Cubeecraft Templates by CyberDrone on deviantART

What with new Doctor Who episodes airing both in the UK and on BBCAmerica, I thought I should post a link to these awesome Doctor Who papercraft designs.  Check ‘em out!!

The forgotten Nuclear Accident of Tokaimura Japan in 1999

Link: Gaijin Hero: (WARNING-GRAPHIC PICs) The forgotten Nuclear Accident of Tokaimura, Japan in 1999 [photos]

silverstar22b:

 

There is a less known nuclear accident that occurred in Japan back in 1999 in Mito , Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan at the Tokaimura nuclear power plant facility.

from wikipedia:

 

The Tokaimura nuclear accident (???JCO???? T?kai-mura JCO-rinkai-jiko^?, “T?kai Village JCO…

Gah… those are some disturbing pics. But I think it’s important to know that Japan has dealt with this before and hasn’t learned its lesson. I think it’s a lesson the entire planet should learn.

Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service -- Engadget

Link: Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service -- Engadget

Imagine paying extra to visit Facebook. Imagine not being able to check your tweets with your smartphone while on the go.  Imagine wireless carriers charging us to do even more stuff that costs them little extra to do (like they already do with texting).  This is horrible and they’re thinking about considering it.

I remember back in the AOL days when AOL used to charge X amount of dollars for X amount of hours online. Ridiculous, right? Of course. Well, it seems like wireless carriers may be thinking about going backwards. In fact, in some ways, they already have with their $60/mo-for-1GB-style plans. Now they want to micromanage what they let us do on their connections.

This is ridiculous.  Please clock the link above and read more about this nightmarish scenario.

I TOTALLY want to do this: How to Install Android on an iPhone in Six Easy Steps

Link: I TOTALLY want to do this: How to Install Android on an iPhone in Six Easy Steps

And I just might!

Seeing how smoothly it works on an iPhone 2G makes me reeeeally want to see how well it works on a 3G—MY 3G.  Especially since I’ve been so SICK of iOS and iTunes giving me endless shit about what I can and can’t do.

What’s really great is that, apparently, you can dual boot—so it leaves your iOS install untouched.  Pretty cool.

If I do it, I’ll be sure to take pics and/or video…

TODAY is Carl Sagan Day: http://www.carlsaganday.com/

Link: TODAY is Carl Sagan Day: http://www.carlsaganday.com/

website666com:

Carl Sagan auto-reblog/RT!!

To celebrate his legacy at the 76th anniversary of his birth (November 9, 1934), and to increase public involvement in the excitement of astronomy and space exploration, a local coalition of science and reason-based organizations announces the SECOND ANNUAL CARL SAGAN DAY, NOV. 6 2010.

Oh and:

Live Streaming beings at 12:00PM Eastern.
Click to join us!

I want a pair of these soooo bad: a Head-Mounted Display in the form of glasses from Lumus

Link: I want a pair of these soooo bad: a Head-Mounted Display in the form of glasses from Lumus







OK, so they could use some slimming down (like maybe a belt-clipable handheld-sized device?) and I’d probably take a sharpie to that gross stripe (I may be from Jersey, but I’ve got SOME class), but still—this is the future and I can’t wait!

No more worrying about a scratched display or a cracked screen—just keep these babies on or in a hardcase and you’re in great shape.

Hell, I’d settle for one of these.

A Different Threat to Net Neutrality

Link: A Different Threat to Net Neutrality

fredericguarino:

get ready to rumble !

continuations:

The whole fight about net neutrality is about to take a turn from the abstract to the concrete but in a somewhat unexpected way. It is not ISPs or telcos that are turning out to be the immediate culprits, but rather content owners, specifically TV networks. They are blocking Google TV from…

I was thinking the exact same thing this morning.  Why is accessing their content on Google TV any different from accessing their account in Google Chrome? Or Firefox? Or…? Isn’t the easy way around this just to turn all TVs into PCs?

Regardless, it’s just more dinosauric behavior from the networks.  You’re supposed to want to be on more devices, guys! Not less!

The conscience of Google & how to opt out of Stalkery Ads

Link: The conscience of Google & how to opt out of Stalkery Ads

Apparently Sergey Brin had some issues with Googles move towards ad-targeting that relies on “stalkery” to the point where there was a shouting match in front of subordinates. Also: find out how you…

??????????: US Military Uses Manga in Attempt to Strengthen US/Japan Ties

Link: ??????????: US Military Uses Manga in Attempt to Strengthen US/Japan Ties

I posted this on my J blog earlier today but thought it would fit well here, too:

My mom emailed me today wondering what the word “manga” meant after reading an article on CNNgo.com that reported on an interesting development in US/Japan relations. I told her it basically was the word the Japanese use for “comic books.” But the story she linked to fascinated me. Turns out…

Stowe Boyd predicts the future: Social iTunes in the Cloud

Link: Stowe Boyd predicts the future: Social iTunes in the Cloud

Stowe Boyd suggests a possible reason for why Apple hasn’t done anything with LaLa yet: a whole new social network needs to be built in the cloud for media sharing—he calls it The Orchard. I think…

HTTPS Everywhere

Link: HTTPS Everywhere

thedaytheytriedtokillme:

HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension produced as a collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It encrypts your communications with a number of major websites.

I’m trying this add-on with Firefox on my Ubuntu netty. We’ll see how it goes!

Zuckerberg’s Law of Information Sharing

Link: Zuckerberg’s Law of Information Sharing

newsweek:

soupsoup:

“I would expect that next year, people will share twice as much information as they share this year, and next year, they will be sharing twice as much as they did the year before,” he said. “That means that people are using Facebook, and the applications and the ecosystem, more and more.”

Call it Zuckerberg’s Law.

We think sharing is great! Except maybe not so much when you’re being pushed to do it by large corporations whose business model depends on convincing you to not value that information you’re sharing as much as advertisers do.

Yeah, for me this has always been about control, not privacy.  I’ll share what *I* want and keep private what *I* choose.  Thanks.  Facebook has just proven that we need to question what we post to any network.  Like anyone else’s bottom line is different from Zuckerdouche’s?

"The iPad, a gorgeous device for displaying content, has become something of a metaphor for the hermetic kingdom of Apple. A seamless device that can’t be opened, it has no apertures for input and is animated mostly by purchases from Apple."

"The iPad, a gorgeous device for displaying content, has become something of a metaphor for the hermetic kingdom of Apple. A seamless device that can’t be opened, it has no apertures for input and is animated mostly by purchases from Apple."

newsweek:

gillianmae:

jennydeluxe:

As usual, @carr2n nails it.

Thing is, this isn’t just a metaphor for Apple. This is how most media companies view their ecosystem, as a closed space in which they create content and people pay to consume it. Of course, that’s not how the Web works, and while closed systems can work in the short term, or in niche applications, the long-term trend is toward openness and interaction as the place where the big audiences (and, hopefully, big profits) happen.

Meh, it’s already been Jailbroken—*now* it’s open! ;)

Still, a touchscreen netbook running Win7 with a mifi or a 3G USB stick is a more logical, economical choice for the same money.  That’s what I’m going to buy (as soon as I have the money).

UPDATE 20110823: Earlier this year I picked up myself an Asus T101MT.  It's great, I love it and only started considering an iPad 2, recently, after learning the BBC's iPlayer was going to be available for the iPad--for free.