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"It's better and more efficient for us all if we have a separate market where we get our connectivity, and a separate market where we get our content. Information is what I use to make all my decisions. Not just what to buy, but how to vote," Berners-Lee told journalists.

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The conundrum isn't apparently lost on the consumer electronics industry or Hollywood. According to German-language Spiegel Online, there is reportedly a behind-the-scenes, unofficial agreement between Hollywood and some consumer electronics manufacturers, including Microsoft and Sony, not to use ICT until 2010, or possibly even 2012. Without providing more details, the report suggests that Hollywood isn't exactly happy with the situation, and could very well renege on the agreement, such that it is. But the agreement is there nonetheless, presumably to help the industry transition to HDMI. This could explain why the very same studios that pushed for HDMI and ICT have recently announced that they would not use it for the time being.

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"Pito expects to prepare an outline business case for national video identification systems, define standards and link video images with facial images stored within Find, during the coming year," the report said. Pito will also develop the Ident1 biometric technology platform, which replaced the national automated fingerprint database, to capture and store multiple fingerprint sets in order to increase the percentage of identified prints from scenes of crime.

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Can the latest version of Microsoft's music software, Windows Media Player 11, be the first in many steps to dropping that underdog tag? While there's little question that Apple Computer is the company to beat in digital music, technology critics and analysts say Microsoft is starting to get its act together. Last week, a test version of WMP 11, the company's latest digital jukebox software, was compared favorably by critics to Apple's iTunes. Technology critic Paul Thurrott, for example, gushed in a review on his Web site that despite being an avid iTunes user, he found himself "drawn to Windows Media Player 11" because it "offers dramatically better performance" than iTunes.

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"People want environmental technological solutions, and they want them faster than the market can necessarily dish them out, so they take things into their own hands," said Gordon. "With hacking the Prius, a lot of it is looking at your energy consumption, and a lot of stuff in the Prius is latently available, because the Prius has such an advanced computer system, but much of it is not available to the driver until you start messing around with it."

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Researchers at General Atomics, a company based in San Diego, California, US, discovered a simple way to prevent ELMs from occurring. By using a separate magnetic coil to induce small perturbations in the reactor's main magnetic field, they found they could bleed off enough of the plasma particles to prevent the ELMs from bursting out. The solution was tested at an experimental reactor based in San Diego called the DIII-D National Fusion Facility.

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Some of the largest hardware makers in the world, including 3M, Cisco, Corning and Qualcomm, sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday firmly opposing new laws mandating Net neutrality--the concept that broadband providers must never favor some Web sites or Internet services over others. That view directly conflicts with what many software and Internet companies have been saying for the last few months. Led by Amazon.com, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, those companies have been spending millions of dollars to lobby for stiff new laws prohibiting broadband providers from rolling out two-tier networks.

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We can observe the traces of this complex history in the human genome today, says David Reich, a population geneticist at the Broad Institute and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reich and his colleagues compared the genomes of humans, chimps and gorillas using a "molecular clock" to estimate how long ago the three groups diverged. The further back two species diverged, the more differences will have accumulated between their genome sequences.

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That would mean EU suppliers would be subject to VAT even for services supplied to clients outside the EU--and they would face competition from suppliers in non-EU countries that would not be subject to the sales tax at all.

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Its concentration in the fourth thoracic spine leads some to refer to it as "T4 syndrome" because it can cause numbness to nerves in the back and arms, and radiate pain to the upper and lower back. Despite the differences in terms, all doctors and physical therapists agree: The human body was not meant for sitting or working in one position all day, and prolonged work at the computer can eventually cause the body to short-circuit.

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Laszlo's reality check comes as cable operators and telephone companies compete to offer the fastest, most expansive broadband service around. The company with the network to beat appears to be Verizon Communications, which is extending fiber directly to homes to carry a triple play of services including high-speed Internet access, television and telephone service. It currently offers three tiers in its Fios service: 5Mbps (megabits per second) downstream/2Mbps upstream for $34.95 per month; 15Mbps/2Mbps for $44.95; and 30 Mbps/5mbps for $179.95.

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"This is the way of getting the ODF standard out to a large number of users in a very short time and, since standards live or die on how many people use them, this gives it a jumpstart," Wohl said. Code-named Hannover, the new Notes version will be available with the productivity editors included to all Notes users who are current on software maintenance contacts. IBM estimates that number at 125 million users.

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In a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, Creative is seeking an injunction that would stop Apple from selling the iPod and iPod Nano in the United States. Separately, Creative said it has also sued Apple in U.S. District Court in California, seeking an injunction and damages. In both cases, Creative says that the iPod and iPod Nano infringe on a patent the company has for the interface in its Zen media player, a patent granted last August.

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Speaking to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last month, Gonzales warned of the dangers of pedophiles using the Internet anonymously and called for new laws from Congress. "At the most basic level, the Internet is used as a tool for sending and receiving large amounts of child pornography on a relatively anonymous basis," Gonzales said.

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The alternatives to command-and-control are either a property-rights/market-allocation regime, or what has come to be called the "commons" or "unlicensed" model. Under the unlicensed model, interference is controlled through the establishment of rules, such as power limits for approved devices, that effectively determine what the spectrum can be used for.

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"In an environment of no gravity, human muscles become atrophied and astronauts need to train themselves on machines," says Takehiro Tagawa, who developed the far-out footwear. The first samples, with a soft heel and flexible sole, weigh only 130 grams (4.6 ounces) each and incline slightly upward toward the toes. "By having the slant, the shoes would stretch a wearer's calf muscles even in the no-gravity environment," Tagawa says.

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Scientists have known since the 1920s that the universe is expanding. But it was only in the late 1990's that they realized it is doing so at an ever-increasing pace. Not sure how to explain this phenomenon, they concluded that some mysterious force, dark energy, is what's causing this acceleration.

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In the U.S. House of Representatives, where annual spending legislation is starting to take shape, the appropriations subcommittee that deals with NASA's budget learned in early May that it has an extra $109 million to work with thanks to a slightly bigger-than-expected budget allocation meted out by House leaders. Not only is that amount about one-tenth of the additional money NASA would like to get, the U.S. space agency is only one of more than a dozen federal agencies the House must fund in the 2007 Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill. And NASA supporters are far from alone in seeking money above and beyond the budget requests the White House sent Congress back in February.

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Basic tasks like printing, email and Internet browsing worked easily. Even though none of the Linux versions recognized my particular model of Epson color printer, the device worked fine after I designated it as a similar Epson model. Setting up email to use my account with an Internet service provider required some configuration, as does setting up Microsoft Outlook email.

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The 700p comes with 128MBs of memory, 60MBs of which is available to the user. It also features a Bluetooth chip, which allows users of Bluetooth-equipped notebooks to connect to the Internet through their Treo with networking software included on a Treo for the first time. Before this model, users needed to install the software separately.

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The overall settlement is scheduled to expire after five years with the possibility of a two-year extension. In the documents filed with the court, Microsoft agreed to extend the licensing program for an additional two years, to 2009. It pledged to offer the program for another three years, outside the terms of the settlement.

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The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it. A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.

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Similarly, iPods are not compatible with music that uses DRM from rival companies such as Microsoft. Under the Senate's new version, a company that agrees to provide these codes will receive a license fee as compensation along with guarantees that the transfer of information will not weaken its copyright protection measures. "We have to ensure that interoperability does not open the doors to abuse," a Senate representative, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters on Thursday.

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As staff reacted with shock, the university yesterday shut the top two floors of the Bourke Street building and ordered more than 100 employees to work from home for the next fortnight. The closure follows the discovery of five brain tumours in the past month and two others in 1999 and 2001. Two were malignant and five were benign.

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Legislation creating the "H-Prize," modeled after the privately funded Ansari X Prize that resulted last year in the first privately developed manned rocket to reach space twice, passed the House Wednesday on a 416-6 vote. A companion bill is to be introduced in the Senate this week. "This is an opportunity for a triple play," said bill sponsor Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., citing benefits to national security from reduced dependence on foreign oil, cleaner air from burning pollution-free hydrogen and new jobs. "If we can reinvent the car, imagine the jobs we can create."

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The goal of Apollo, which will be available as a free download early next year, is to overcome some of the limitations in today's Web applications, Lynch said. Right now, Flash programs run within a Web browser. Apollo is client-based software that will run Flash applications separately from a browser, whether online or offline, he said. Competition is heating up among companies seeking to be the preferred supplier of tools and software to run a new generation of Web applications, which feature an interactive user interface and take advantage of broadband networks.

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The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans - most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

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The final decision on whether McKinnon should be sent to the U.S. for trial rests with Home Secretary John Reid. McKinnon has admitted accessing U.S. government networks but denies causing any damage. He has claimed that he was looking for, and found, evidence of UFOs and secret military technology.

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It will be interesting to see what the BSA's whistle-blowing reward program will accomplish. Rather than wait to be busted, businesses can take steps on their own to find out if they are software-compliant. Will it work? The governing assumption is that rewards for software piracy whistle-blowing will encourage employees to come forward to report piracy. Disgruntled employees and employees who already intend to leave their place of employment likely would have little disincentive to blow the whistle, and they probably would have positive financial incentive to do so given the potential for a reward.

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Microsoft Corp. will release an HD DVD player for its Xbox 360 video game machine in time for the 2006 holiday season and will have 10 million of its next-generation consoles to market before its rivals debut their new systems, company executives said on Tuesday. Microsoft got a head start when it released the Xbox 360 in November. Rivals Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd plan to debut their new gaming machines, the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, later this year.

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Streams of stars that are being ripped to shreds as they spiral into the Milky Way have been imaged in unprecedented detail using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The so-called Field of Streams suggests the halo of dark matter that cocoons our galaxy is spherical - not squashed like an American football as previously thought.

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NASA has decided not to conduct a fuelling test in which the external tank is loaded with cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen in advance of its lift-off date. Two such tests were conducted before Discovery's last flight in 2005. One reason for the test would have been to check out the engine cut-off (ECO) sensors, which act as fuel gauges. The sensors experienced problems during preparations for Discovery's 2005 flight.

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The mirror sits in front of an interferometer and directs incoming light from either the planet itself, cold space or an internal black body used for calibration. During launch in November 2005, the mirror was pointed at the black body source. The PFS checked out fine after launch, but when mission managers tried to move the mirror they realised it was stuck.

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"Because high-performance users are increasingly embracing mobile platforms, Airgo's True MIMO technology underscores Alienware's ongoing commitment to delivering the highest performance systems," Mark Vena, Alienware's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. MIMO technology has been adopted as the core of the new IEEE 802.11n MIMO interoperability standard. MIMO is Wi-Fi certified, and can be used with any other Wi-Fi certified 802.11 device on a network, Airgo said.

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He and his London-based company SmileyWorld today own the rights to the logo in more than 80 countries around the world. The US is not included in this list, and SmileyWorld and Wal-Mart are now at loggerheads before the US Patent and Trademark Office. A final decision is expected in August.

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The Qosmio G35 is packed with high-performance features. It comes with a 2GHz Core Duo processor from Intel, two 100GB hard drives with RAID (redundant array of independent disks) support for backing up movies and music, and 1GB of DDR2 memory. It also uses Nvidia's GeForce Go 7600 with 256MB of DDR3 memory. All that performance won't come cheap. The Qosmio G35 will cost $2,999, up from the $2,399 price tag on the Qosmio G30, McFarland said. And it's not light, weighing in at 10.1 pounds. The notebook will be available on Toshiba's Web site later this week, and in retail stores next week, he said.

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The High Court in London on Monday ruled that Apple Computer is not liable for trademark infringement because the use of the Apple logo on its iTunes Music Store was not associated with the music it was selling and thus did not breach a previous settlement between the companies.

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In one experiment, Baughman used alcohol to fuel the movement of these artificial muscles. His team coated the shape memory wire with a chemical called a catalyst. When alcohol was added, it reacted with the oxygen in the air, burning up and releasing heat. The catalyst on the surface of the wire made the combustion of the alcohol proceed at a faster rate. All of that burning fuel causes the artificial muscle to heat up. "And as the shape memory wire is heated it actually contracts. Normally you think that a material heated would expand, but these shape memory materials contract," says Baughman.

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The event, held at the SRI International and produced by the Acceleration Studies Foundation (ASF), was the initial step toward what organizers and attendees alike hope will be a coherent path to the so-called metaverse--an Internet dominated by 3D technology, social spaces and economies. As such, the invite-only group spent the two days in a series of talks, small breakout discussions and group presentations--all in the pursuit of consensus about what the metaverse, or some would say 3D Web, will look like in 10 years.

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On the one hand, single-lens reflex engineers, now unleashed from the constraints of 35mm film, can match the image sensors at the heart of digital SLRs to different cost and engineering priorities. On the other hand, because the size of those sensors therefore varies, the same type of lens often produces different results when comparing one digital SLR to another--or to 35mm film SLRs. In one situation, lenses are not just different, but actually incompatible as well.

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Just as in the 1980s, when the Betamax and VHS video formats were battling it out for supremacy, the pornography industry will likely play a big role in determining which of the two blue-laser DVD formats--Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD--will be the winner in the battle to replace current DVDs for high-definition content. Ron Wagner, director of IT operations at E! Entertainment Television, in Los Angeles, said his company has already chosen the Blu-ray Disc format, in large part because of talk in the porn industry favoring it over rival HD-DVD.

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The WCIT gathers every two years to debate what it considers the most pressing technology issues that affect the entire globe. This year, it and the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) chose access to technology, IT in heath care, and privacy and security as the hot-button issues of the conference. On Thursday, the 2,000-plus delegates from 80 different countries will vote on various proposals made during the conference. The results of that vote, which will be announced Friday, will be implemented as official recommendations of the WCIT and the WITSA. Delegates can then go back to their home countries with official recommendations on what needs to be done to improve IT in their home countries.

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And while small meteoroids burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, the Moon has no such built-in shield. The Moon has an area equivalent to that of Africa, and the standard meteoroid model, based largely on Earth data, suggests between 300 and 400 impacts annually from meteoroids larger than 1 kilogram.

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Giampieri and colleagues examined data gathered over a 14-month period from Cassini’s fluxgate magnetometer. The data revealed a small periodic signal in Saturn’s magnetic field measuring 10 hours, 47 minutes. If the signal is indeed tied to the rotation of the planet’s solid core, as the Cassini team proposes, it is not clear how this can be reconciled with the earlier Voyager measurement.

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The budget includes a plan to spend $5.7 million during 2007 to "demonstrate fully compensated laser propagation to low earth orbit satellites; [and] measure beam profile and intensity on target". These early tests would involve low-power lasers rather than high-energy ones that could serve as weapons. In a preliminary mark-up of the 2007 military budget, the strategic forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee did not approve the new funding for the anti-satellite programme. But this decision could be reversed when the full committee analyses the bill.

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For all the pork pies and clotted cream the English are reputed to consume, they still face less risk of diabetes and heart disease than their US counterparts, a new study shows. While wealthy Americans enjoy better health than their poorer fellow citizens, this high status fails to confer health benefits to match even the lowliest of their trans-Atlantic cousins. The health of the richest people in the US is as poor as the worst educated, lowest paid among the English.

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Judging by readers comments, it also appears that kids all over the world are savvy to proxies and other tricks for sidestepping filters. A 15-year-old techie in Australia said that by logging on to his PC at school, he could use "Remote Desktop" to access the school Admin account. "Because they were using Windows 2003 edition, I could log in 'behind' (the teacher's) screen and I could use her computer without her even realizing it!"

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Potentially more explosive is the plaintiff's claim that Yahoo regularly uses its relationship with adware and typosquatting sites to gin up extra revenue around earnings time, alleging that the company is conspiring to boost revenue by partnering with some of the Internet's seamier characters. From the lawsuit: "Not only have Defendants turned a blind eye to abuse of their [pay-per-click] advertising system, but Defendants knowingly have manipulated that system for their own benefit, by increasing the volume of improper advertising displays during financial reporting periods when Defendants were at risk of failing to meet investor expectations." The suit was filed in federal court in New Jersey.

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Only one of four electronics boxes that could fail on Discovery and destroy the docked orbiter and the International Space Station will be replaced before the shuttle flies to the outpost in July, officials said Wednesday. The other three won't be fixed until after the mission because NASA has no additional spares and the chance of catastrophe is extremely remote - somewhere between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in one million.

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The instrument checks have also gone according to plan. The Ralph instrument, which will map the surface composition of Pluto, and REX, a radio science experiment, both performed flawlessly in their initial functional checks. The SWAP solar wind detector has also successfully turned on its detectors, Stern says. Three instruments will open their detector doors for the first time in May - Ralph, the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Investigation and Alice, an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer. This will enable the instruments to take "first light" measurements, although Ralph's door has a window, meaning initial calibrations can be done earlier.

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In its latest attempt to decrease local network filesharing at universities, the RIAA has sent letters to 40 university presidents in 25 states informing them that *gasp* filesharing occurs on their campuses. These letters are a part of the RIAA's new "systematic program to identify and curtail" LAN filesharing. Citing commonly used filesharing applications like DC++ and OurTunes, the RIAA claims that students are turning to local networks in order to avoid the risks of detection associated with using the public Internet. Apparently, local network piracy at schools is a major concern for the RIAA:

Despite the progress achieved by our collaborative efforts [with universities], this remains an ever-evolving problem. We cannot ignore the growing misuse of campus LAN systems or the toll this means of theft is taking on our industry. As we prioritize our focus on campus LAN piracy in the coming year, we hope administrators will take this opportunity to fully evaluate their systems and take action to stop theft by all means.

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Apple enjoys a dominant position in the market for online music, providing around 80 percent of legal music available online. It has sold songs at 99 cents per song since it introduced the iTunes music store in 2003, and has resisted the calls of labels to change that pricing strategy. Record labels would like to charge different prices for more popular or newer songs.

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Kick Ass Kung Fu lets players fight onscreen enemies using real kicks, punches, head-butts or by wielding any improvised weapon they choose. A video camera captures their movements from one side and superimposes a two-dimensional silhouette of them onto a computer screen. A computer then translates the silhouette's moves into real-time computerised kicks and punches, enabling a player to take on virtual opponents.

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According to sources inside Sun, an ongoing debate over whether to open-source Java is coming to a head with the JavaOne conference looming May 16. Schwartz, who led the open-sourcing of Solaris, could not be reached for comment on the matter. Nevertheless, opponents of the idea are trying "to get time with Schwartz now that he is CEO so they can get their point of view across before the JavaOne conference in May, where some speculate he may announce the open-sourcing of Java," said a source close to Sun who requested anonymity.

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High-energy jets spew from at least some cosmic explosions called short gamma-ray bursts, a new study shows, rather than radiating symmetrically in all directions. The observations will pin down the bursts' energy, helping to reveal what causes them. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are colossal volleys of very-high-energy photons that can originate from any direction in the sky and they come in two classes. "Long" bursts last from seconds to minutes and are thought to occur when massive stars explode and their cores collapse into black holes.

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Hale said the discussion about whether to alter the ice/frost ramps was so “interesting” because foam has been lost from the ramps in the past and would be expected to be lost during future flights. "It is not without risk to fly these ice/frost ramps as they exist," he told reporters. However, NASA officials think the risk is acceptable. And changing the design might add more uncertainty rather than reduce risk.

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He and at least one other person who clicked on the links were infected by what security experts call the first-ever virus for Mac OS X, the operating system that has shipped with every Mac sold since 2001 and has survived virtually unscathed from the onslaught of malware unleashed on the Internet in recent years.

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The tech industry isn't alone. Government auditors analyzing IRS data in 2004 estimated that between 1996 and 2000, 61.3 percent of large U.S. corporations with at least $50 million in gross receipts reported zero tax liability mostly because of legally permissible deductions. (Similarly, a self-employed individual who makes no money because of no profits may be able to escape paying federal income taxes that year.)

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From Aaron Wall at Thread Watch comes word that MSN Live is now powering Alexa's (update: AND A9's) search results instead of Google, the previous partner: Alexa Powered by Microsoft. Alexa results were previously Google results informed by user data from the Alexa toolbar + a number of post-search refinement buttons.

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The two other SPHERES mini-satellites will arrive on separate upcoming shuttle missions. The trio will then practice manoeuvres such as docking, which in this case means sticking together via Velcro pads. Each mini-satellite is powered by 16 AA batteries, and uses compressed carbon dioxide for propulsion, shooting out tiny puffs to propel it along at a few centimetres per second. The SPHERES will fly within the station's US Destiny laboratory and Unity node.

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Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbits the Sun every 5.4 years and was seen to brighten and separate into four large fragments in 1995. Now more than three dozen fragments have been found. Its orbit will reach its closest point to Earth on 12 May 2006, and in recent weeks, astronomers have observed more brightening events, suggesting the fragments themselves are breaking into smaller pieces.

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A Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites blasted off at 0302 PDT (1002 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US. Launches have been scrubbed daily for the past seven days due to technical or weather problems. NASA was limited in part because the mission had a very narrow 1-minute launch window.

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Neutron stars form when stars up to 40 times the mass of the Sun explode at the end of their lives and leave behind super-dense, spinning corpses. The corpses are thought to be made of neutrons, although their incredible densities have led some researchers to propose their centres contain a state of matter found nowhere else in the universe. Now, a team led by Tod Strohmayer of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, US, has begun to probe the actual structure of the stars. Using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, the researchers measured the frequencies of vibrations on a star called SGR 1806-20 during a starquake in December 2004.

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he D33 Eros B1 satellite was launched on Tuesday from a military space launch site in Russia's far eastern Amur region. The satellite blasted off aboard a Topol solid-fuel rocket booster and was successfully placed into orbit about 20 minutes after its launch. The satellite will be used to spy on Iran's nuclear programme, according to an unnamed Israeli defense official, quoted on the website of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot.

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But just 4 minutes before the countdown was completed "upper level winds exceeding launch weather criteria", causing the launch to be delayed until Wednesday at 1002 GMT. The launch has to take place at that time in order to reach the correct orbit. Friday's launch was scrubbed due to a communications malfunction, while

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In March, he presided over a High Court case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed Dan Brown plagiarised their own historical book for The Da Vinci Code. But Mr Justice Smith ruled Mr Brown did not substantially copy Mr Baigent and Mr Leigh's work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, saying it did not have a central theme in the way its authors suggested.

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Salt Lake City-based Landesk, a spin-off of Intel, provides software for desktops, servers and mobile devices that focuses on security and management of those systems and devices. Avocent develops connectivity software for branch offices and for small and midsize businesses. "Landesk will broaden our reach into additional platforms and layer added value on top of our connectivity solutions," John Cooper, Avocent's chief executive, said in a statement.

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Windows PowerShell is a new task-based command line shell and intuitive scripting language for system administration that provides comprehensive control and automation for Windows administrators. Windows PowerShell makes administrators more productive by improving the manageability of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows. Exchange Server 2007 and System Center Operations Manager 2007 (Microsoft Operations Manager “V3”) will be built upon Windows PowerShell.

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The LSB has garnered support from all major vendors in the Linux Community including AMD, Asianux, CA, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Mandriva, Novell, RealNetworks, Red Flag, Red Hat, Turbolinux, Xandros and others. This groundswell of support is significant as it promises to keep Linux from forking and going the way of proprietary systems in the past. This support is even more important for the Linux desktop since it order for it to achieve wide-spread adoption, common application runtime and install time requirements must be standardized and adopted by key Linux distributions. Otherwise, application developers will be constrained, forced to compile to multiple instances of these libraries and distributions. With this complex and costly development and support environment, ISVs may choose not to target the Linux desktop, leading to reduced choice for end users and an inability to compete with proprietary operating systems. The Linux Standard Base eases this complexity by standardizing core pieces of the Linux (including libraries and other non-binary application behaviors) and encouraging ISVs to use its guidelines when developing for Linux.

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Herrick said he couldn't justify paying for a top-quality HD camera with such little demand for content. Headquartered in Cleveland, Vital Video works mainly for hospitals that need training videos. He isn't worried if the market switches quickly. Should a customer ever request HD, that person can rent a camera from one of the professional camera shops in Los Angeles, he said. "Until Joe Public is interested, I don't know that we're going to do a thing with HD," Herrick said.

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According to GamePolitics, HB3004, which was passed unanimously in March by the House, was approved on a 47-0 vote by the Senate. Apparently, however, a slight amendment was added to the bill by the Senate, which means that it must be approved by the House again. Assuming that happens, the next stop for the legislation is Democratic Governor Brad Henry's desk, where it will await his "John Hancock."

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The team observed nine of the most massive, blob-shaped galaxies within 400 million light years of Earth. All were probably quasars at one time, but have since cut down on the amount of gas they eat and therefore do not shine brightly from their discs as quasars do. The researchers measured the brightness and temperature of the central regions of the galaxies to determine the rate at which gas was falling into the black holes. Then, they measured the size of cavities blown out by the jets as they slammed into surrounding gas. This provided an estimate of the jets' energy.

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Aside from the gain in scientific knowledge, soil excavations will provide useful experience for at least one future mission. The Phoenix Mars lander is expected arrive on Mars in May 2008. This stationary lander will use its robot arm to probe the layers of Martian ice and soil, similar to Spirit's latest task. Already, Spirit has spotted at least three types of rocks scientists hope to analyse in the coming months (pictured). The dark grey rocks with small holes in them may have come from volcanic sources. Light, thin jagged rocks are jutting out from the sand. And on the top of a drift sits a smooth light grey rock.

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Spokesman Alan Buis said the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites would not be launched at 1002 GMT Monday because of the unavailability of a refuelling aircraft needed to sustain a radar tracking plane. The launch is now scheduled for Tuesday at 1002 GMT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Problems have plagued attempts to deploy the satellites. Months of delays preceded the first launch attempt on Friday, which was scrubbed due to a communications malfunction. The take-offs planned for Saturday, Sunday and Monday were postponed because of the absence of the refuelling aircraft.