Falcon9 looses engine and still makes it to orbit, the government is listening in on your phone calls, and can keep doing so, Verizon sells your data, Amazon lists the flaws in it’s Kindle, DNA half-life = no Jurassic Park, more Geek News and calls from listeners.
Last night (Sunday October 7), SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule full of supplies on a mission to the International Space Station. The Dragon was deployed successfully (as were its solar panels to give it power) and it
The space shuttle Endeavour has left the grounds of the Los Angeles International Airport and is now on city streets, heading east toward Inglewood.
The massive spacecraft, rolling at under 2 mph, left the airport at 2 a.m. exactly. “Right on time, it just cleared the gates,” said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.
The weathered shuttle — its blemishes easy to see — took up two of the four lanes of the road as it rolled down Northside Parkway, and a handful of vehicles led the procession, including a truck that had a U.S. flag fluttering behind it.
CubeSats are small satellites about 10 cm (4 inches) on a side and having a mass up to a little over a kilo. Even though they
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos doesn’t like to reveal much about the Kindle hardware business. When he was asked in an interview with All Things D whether Amazon made money on the new Kindle hardware, ranging from $69 to $499, introduced September 6, he responded, “We don’t disclose the exact bill and materials, so I can’t answer that. But we don’t want to lose a lot of money on the device because then we’d really hate it if you put it in the desk drawer. On the other hand, if you make a lot of money on the device, I believe you haven’t earned your money on it yet, and then you’ve incentivized them [the customers] to stay on the upgrade treadmill that I mentioned today.”
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Bezos came clean on the Kindle hardware question, disclosing that the Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite sales don’t render any direct profit to Amazon. “Basically, we sell the hardware at our cost, so it’s break-even on hardware,” he said. For contrast, Apple reportedly makes around a 40 percent margin on its WiFi-based iPad, which is priced higher than a similarly configured and less feature-rich Amazon Kindle.
Amazon preemptively discloses some potential shortcomings in its latest Kindle e-reader compared with previous models, most likely to get out in front of user complaints.
“Few researchers have given credence to claims that samples of dinosaur DNA have survived to the present day, but no one knew just how long it would take for genetic material to fall apart. Now, a study of fossils found in New Zealand is laying the matter to rest
“The US Supreme Court let stand Tuesday an immunity law on wiretapping viewed by government as a useful anti-terror tool but criticized by rights activists as a flagrant abuse of executive power.”
“In a case decided on Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that accessing someone
Amazingly good book for programers to understand JavaScript.
Lyle recommends Chris Yonge’s classes at Makers Factory for people to get into computers.
