Link Collection

While waiting for a meeting to start I was able to get the LOTD done early today.

Immunologists devised a Trojan horse to help defeat ovarian cancer, reprogramming a cell that ovarian cancers have corrupted to feed their grown and turning the cells back from tumor friend to foe. The cells that have been feeding the cancer end up killing the tumor cells:
Article link


Robots are increasingly being used to rescue people trapped due to avalanches, earthquakes, etc.,so Japanese researchers developed an adjustable wheel for robots to be able to adapt to different snow conditions:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327176.600-robowheels-go-where-caterpillars-fear-to-tread.html


Somali pirate attacks more than doubled (240 attacks vs. 114 last year) during the first half of this year:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0716/1224250761916.html


Florida State scientists have developed a computer model that they hope will predict with unprecedented accuracy how many hurricanes will occur in a season. Their model predicts a below-average hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean, with 8 named storms and 4 hurricanes:
http://www.fsu.edu/news/2009/07/15/hurricane.model/


Israel dismissed Hamas claims that Israeli intelligence is sending aphrodisiac chewing gum to the Gaza Strip to destabilize the Palestinian territory by corrupting Gaza Strip youth:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/single.php?id=8347


The Texas Governor's border web camera program ran run out of money (the Gov. gave the program a $2 mil grant last year) and in its first full year of operation failed to meet nearly every law enforcement goal it had. Even though the program generated 11 arrests instead of their target of 1200 arrests, the Gov. wants to give the program another $2 million...the program was supposed to have already become self-sustaining through web site ads, but the company that operates the cameras hasn't had the time or money to try to sell web site ads:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_12819545


DHS has been working with Mexican federal authorities to prevent the ongoing drug-related violence in Mexico from spreading to the US:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4JHrdmTRNDvH6TTspzZ6EPFKVWwD99F5RR80


Israel's IMAX-like flight simulators are a key for their continued edge in their air despite having so little airspace to train. I found it interesting and unique that their flight simulators are run entirely by women. Smart girls are sent straight from high school to a tough 10-month course, and are working to train pilots by the time they are 18 or 19 years old:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/inside-israels-straight-outta-imax-fighter-sim/


Network of modular floating docks have been designed that can harness clean energy for NY City. Unlike windmills, underwater turbines cannot be seen or heard:
Article link


Virginia Tech students created a vehicle that enables the blind to be able to drive. Blind drivers actually did better than sighted drivers in the drive test:
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2009&itemno=542


Google Voice was released yesterday to BlackBerry and Android users, which allows users to use their phones to make calls anywhere in the world--free calls in the country and users can make international calls with their phones and pay Google's rates instead of pay their cell phone provider. All calls can be routed through a Google Voice number, which effectively gives users unlimited calling even if they do not pay for it!
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/google-voice-calling-will-wireless-carriers-answer/2009-07-16?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal


Apple updated its iTunes software and eliminated the Palm Pre's ability to sync with iTunes:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/07/apple_to_palm_i.html


Another group conducted 3G speed tests around the country found that Verizon had the fastest 3G network and AT&T had the slowest (less than half of Verizon's data rate!). This test was not conducted scientifically like the PC World test, but it is interesting that the results are consistent:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/3g-speed-test


The recession has slowed the growth of WiMAX, which is really bad because being early to market was supposed to be the main advantage WiMAX had over LTE:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135489/WiMax_growth_slowing_amid_recession?taxonomyId=15


Confidential document shows that Twitter expects their first revenue to come in Q3 of this year ($400k revenue in that quarter) and that Twitter projects to have 1 billion users by 2013:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/15/twitters-financial-forecast-shows-first-revenue-in-q3-1-billion-users-in-2013/


High school senior in Wisconsin pretended to be a flirtatious female student online and convinced dozens of his classmates into e-mailing him sexually explicit images of themselves. He then blackmailed his classmates into having sex with him, but he was eventually caught and will be in prison for a long time. He did this blackmail scheme after some of the kids in his school turned him into an outcast after a nasty prank was pulled on him:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_10178


UK teenagers are being given an updated sex education handout with the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away":
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531777,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.249575:b26370938:z0


A "temporary programming error" caused Visa Debit card users around the country to be hit with a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31920273/ns/us_news-weird_news/