Humor

Online classified advertising giant Craigslist is a handy tool for circumventing the lengthy delivery time that comes with other online purchasing sites like Ebay. However, unlike other sites that offer the security of knowing exactly who the seller ... is, Craigslist allows users to post items anonymously, which can lead to all sorts of devious behavior. An Oregon man recently returned home after spending a weekend away only to find up to 30 people rummaging through his personal belongings. Apparently, someone had posted a message on Craigslist announcing that all of the man's possessions were " ... (view more)

The Supreme Court has ruled that Microsoft must defend itself against allegations it unfairly tried to undermine rivals as far back as the mid-1990s. The case stems from a 2004 lawsuit by software firm Novell, which claimed Microsoft "deliberately ... targeted and destroyed" its word processor WordPerfect and spreadsheet Quattro Pro. Novell alleges that Microsoft targeted the programs because they could run on non-Windows PCs. By making these programs less popular, Microsoft allegedly tried to make Windows a more attractive operating system. This week's case is the result of the 2004 lawsuit, ... (view more)

Are you a 'laggard'? Do you typically wait years before being forced to upgrade to the newest hardware, software, or heck, soda pop? Everett M. Rogers, a communications scholar and pioneer, developed the theory of 'innovation diffusion'. Simply put, ... it described how new innovations become assimilated by the general populace. His theory was that adoption of new innovations followed a bell curve where 2.5% of the population were so-called "Innovators", 13.5% were labeled as "early adopters", and categories were followed by the "early majority, the late majority, and the 'laggards'. Ever since ... (view more)

Have you recently watched your son or daughter rock their way through "Anarchy in the U.K.", all the while wishing they'd just spend their time playing a real instrument? Well, here's the ultimate head-shaker for those who simply don't understand ... Guitar Hero: A Rochester teen has been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records exclusively for his pseudo-guitar skills. At just sixteen, young Chris Chike, of Rochester, Minnesota, is now officially the most prolific Guitar Hero player in the world. It's hard to argue with that, given his recent entry into Guinness' book on account of his ... (view more)

Hackers have often carried hidden agendas ranging from self-satisfaction to illegal monetary gain through identity theft. A new research project recently conducted in the U.S. shows that hackers have the power to cause much more damage to everyday ... people...including murder. Oh my gosh! How so? It's because many people walk around with heart defibrillators and pacemakers. If hackers really wanted to, they could gain wireless access to both of these devices. The research team was successful in reprogramming a combination defibrillator/pacemaker to shut down and deliver jolts of electricity that ... (view more)

After acknowledging the recent surge in popularity of O.L.E.D. technology and experimenting with several new ideas, General Electric has stumbled onto something that (if successful) will undoubtedly become the way future generations light their ... rooms. In recent weeks, the company has run numerous tests using a 'roll-to-roll' process to print out continuous organic light-emitting diodes (O.L.E.D.s) at a fraction of the current cost. Basically, the company has found a way to literally print off a set of miniature working lights from a printing press. All experiments performed thus far were ... (view more)

The head of Facebook is recovering from a disastrous on-stage conference appearance and the irony is that rival service Twitter made things far worse. Mark Zuckerburg was speaking at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Festival, an ... annual event that recently added technology to its music and film remit. His appearance took the form of an interview conducted by technology journalist Sarah Lacy, a columnist for Business Week. She repeatedly interrupted Zuckerburg, asked 'softball' questions and even gave away news that Facebook is planning a French launch, an announcement he'd ... (view more)

It all started with a car crash victim. The nerve sensations in the right part of his body were completely incapacitated, rendering the patient's entire right side useless. After a number of years passed by, with no signs of recovery, the patient ... willingly succumbed to amputation and finally gave up on his hopes of ever regaining the mobility that was lost so many years ago. Fortunately, the entire episode was monitored by Dr. Doug Zochodne, a Calgary-based doctor who felt enough empathy for the young man's situation that he lobbied the Government of Canada for financial assistance in ... (view more)

Who's watching Facebook? More than just your World of Warcraft pals and drinking mates, it seems. A Toronto university student recently found out the hard way that the way you network in the virtual world can have very real consequences in the ... physical. Chris Avenir, 18, is facing severe punishment -- perhaps even expulsion -- for creating a Facebook group designed to help students at Ryerson University exchange answers for how to fool an online testing system. Called "Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions", the group racked up about 147 members, most from the school's first year chemistry ... (view more)

In recent news that seems more science fiction than applied science, Japanese researchers have unveiled exciting new research that could change the way we create and use computers in years to come. Japanese professor Tetsuro Majima of Osaka ... University has demonstrated that proteins -- once the concern of chemists and biologists -- could now have impressive potential in the world of computer science. (Source: livescience.com ) Majima's research has indicated that proteins isolated from select bacteria species are able to store computer data, and that this type of storage could exceed the ... (view more)