Yearly Archives: 2013

H.R. 193 would force farmers to pay a fee on saved seeds and register them

"H.R. 193 would change things for farmers who purchase patented seeds and then grow those seeds. After the harvest, many farmers save the seeds that they can, seeds produced from the product they already paid for. H.R. 193 would force those farmers who save their seeds to register those seeds with the Secretary of Agriculture. After they register those seeds, the farmers would then have to pay fees set aside by the Secretary of Agriculture for keeping the seeds, 'and for other purposes'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingH.R. 193 would force farmers to pay a fee on saved seeds and register them

Judge rules TX school district can make students wear locator chips

"A U.S. District Judge upheld a Texas school district’s rule requiring students to wear locator chips on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Judge Orlando Garcia overturned an injunction won by John Jay High School sophomore Andrea Hernandez requiring the school to let her continue her studies without wearing the tag. The Northside Independent School District mandated students wear the chips as part of a policy tracking attendance via radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge rules TX school district can make students wear locator chips

Palm Beach County teachers seeking gun training, permits in wake of Sandy Hook shooting

"Following last month’s fatal shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, gun ranges throughout Palm Beach County — and the country — are reporting an increase in teachers coming in for gun training and concealed weapons permits. Some may see it as an unorthodox response to the Sandy Hook tragedy, given that Florida law still bars teachers and others from carrying firearms on school grounds. But local gun shops say the uptick is a natural response." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPalm Beach County teachers seeking gun training, permits in wake of Sandy Hook shooting

A new cheating scandal: Aspiring teachers hiring ringers

"Interesting story in the AJC today on a cheating scandal involving hired ringers taking the teacher qualification exam for candidates in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The ringers used faked IDs to sit for the Praxis exam, administered by the Educational Testing Service. Praxis exams are required by 40 states and territories to measure the academic achievement and proficiency of newly minted teachers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA new cheating scandal: Aspiring teachers hiring ringers

$17,000 Linux-powered rifle brings “auto-aim” to the real world

"The Linux-powered scope produces a display that looks something like the heads-up display you'd see sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet, showing the weapon's compass orientation, cant, and incline. To shoot at something, you first 'mark' it using a button near the trigger. Marking a target illuminates it with the tracking scope's built-in laser, and the target gains a pip in the scope's display. When a target is marked, the tracking scope takes into account the range of the target, the ambient temperature and humidity, the age of the barrel, etc. It quickly reorients the display so the crosshairs in the center accurately show where the round will go." Continue reading →

Continue Reading$17,000 Linux-powered rifle brings “auto-aim” to the real world

BitPay Banks $510K In Investment To Become PayPal for Bitcoin, Already Has 2,100 Businesses On Board

"What makes Bitcoin so interesting is that it flies in the face of payment models that we’re used to today; it’s a push model rather than a pull one. When you give a website your credit card and billing information to buy something, the company is pulling money out of your account. Giving up that personal information isn’t the safest thing, and Bitcoin allows you to 'push' the money to a company to buy something. This means that no personally identifiable information goes with it, making eventual identity theft and fraud nearly impossible during the transaction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitPay Banks $510K In Investment To Become PayPal for Bitcoin, Already Has 2,100 Businesses On Board

Google chief Eric Schmidt urges North Korean leaders to adopt Internet freedom

"Schmidt said he told North Korean officials they should open up the country’s Internet 'or they will remain behind'. 'As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically,' he said. 'Once the Internet starts, citizens in a country can certainly build on top of it. The government has to do something. It has to make it possible for people to use the Internet which the government in North Korea has not yet done.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle chief Eric Schmidt urges North Korean leaders to adopt Internet freedom

New technology has touchscreens sprouting physical buttons

"A new technology shown off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas enables regular touch screens to sprout actual, physical buttons. Developed by a company called Tactus, it works by manipulating a transparent fluid inside the screen and causing it to press up against a top polymer layer, which bulges up and creates a button that can be pressed. The effects, shown in the video below, seem to promise that touch screens of the future won’t just be flat interactive displays, but dynamic devices with every bit as much tactile feedback as the keypads of old." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew technology has touchscreens sprouting physical buttons

China becomes second-largest movie market

"Moviegoers in China spent 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) on tickets last year, turning the country into the second-largest film market in the world, the state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday. Sales rose 30 percent from 2011, it said, citing the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), underscoring the rapid growth that has long attracted Hollywood despite China’s tight restrictions on foreign films. China in 2012 agreed to increase the number of films allowed in annually from the United States — which is the world’s largest movie market — from 20 to 34, whereas 893 domestic films were produced last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina becomes second-largest movie market