Wired: Top Stories (14 unread)
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Extreme Resolution Photos and Lasers Create Virtual Yosemite
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:45am EDT by Alexis Madrigal
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Geologists use a 40-foot long, 96-GB photo mosaic of Yosemite with airborne laser mapping to learn what causes rock falls. Eventually they hope to predict where slides may occur.
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Video: Stomach Stapling Without Surgery
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:12am EDT by Aaron Rowe
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A new stomach stapling technique involves sending a device through the mouth and esophagus into the stomach to seal off part of the stomach with titanium staples, avoiding surgery and some side effects.
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Wired.com Readers' Best Geeky Halloween Costumes
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Wired.com Photo Department
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: It can be scary soliciting photos from Wired.com readers and not knowing what to expect, let alone Halloween costume photos. Sure, some were creepy in all the wrong ways, but our favorite 10 submissions put our fears to rest.
Click through the gallery to see the best geeky costumes our readers have to offer, from Predator to iPod silhouette girl.
If your Halloween spirit is still not quenched, head over to our best reader pumpkin gallery.
Left:
Robotech Cyclone
Submitted by Chris LeePhotographer's comment:
"All info here: http://www.chrislee.tv/costuming/anime/cyclone/"
: Predator
Submitted by M. LawrencePhotographer's comment:
"Built over the past year, shown here at the Manitoba Comic Con."
: WWII Captain America
Submitted by MrCrumleyPhotographer's comment:
"I made this sweet version of the Ultimate Captain America's WWII uniform for my 4-year-old. Enemies of freedom beware!"
: My Facebook Page
Submitted by Brandon StrengPhotographer's comment:
"This is a 36" by 52" printout of my actual Facebook page from the end of last week. I cut out the section where my profile picture would be so I could stick my head through."
: Mario Brothers and Peach
Submitted by AnonymousPhotographer's comment:
"Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. The coins are REAL gold."
: TK-421
Submitted by Andrew LiptakPhotographer's comment:
"A classic, the Imperial Storm Trooper."
: iPod nerds
Submitted by Christy Kilgore-HadleyPhotographer's comment:
"I am dressed as an iPod commercial, my friends as a Nano and Steve Jobs. I had a lot of fun going to the liquor store like that, let me tell ya."
: "I aint gettin' on no plane, Hannibal."
Submitted by MrTheodorePhotographer's comment:
"I still get props for this costume."
: Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica
Submitted by GabriellePhotographer's comment:
"A friend painted the tattoos on with face paint, and I got my hair cut to look like Starbuck in her earlier years. It was for a work party, and everyone got a kick out of it!"
: Zombie Pet
Submitted by Tom HainesPhotographer's comment:
"A little goth girl with a pet zombie."
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Pricey 21-Pixel DSLR Captures Beaucoup Data
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Jackson Lynch
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This camera redefines the "mega" in megapixel, with a whopping 21.1. Add to that a superb user interface and Dual Digic III processors, and you've got one of our favorite high-end DSLRs.
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Oct. 31, 1951: We'll Cross That Street When We Come to It
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Randy Alfred
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1951: The first official zebra crossing starts protecting pedestrians at Slough, just west of London.
Postwar Britain had only 10 percent of its current road traffic, but fatalities were mounting. The typical pedestrian crossing was marked with nothing more than metal studs in the road: easy for pedestrians to see, but difficult for the motorist. By the time a driver felt the bumps under his tires, it was usually too late to stop or slow down.
The government's Transport Research Laboratory ran visibility experiments on new types of crossings, using model roads at 1/24 scale (half-inch to the foot). The lab then tested a variety of designs at a thousand locations starting in 1949. Broad black and white stripes had the most visual impact.
The new, striped crossings were made the legal standard in Britain and widely introduced in late 1951, starting at Slough (The name rhymes with plow, not slow, and the borough is the putative location of the original BBC version of the TV comedy, The Office.)
Pedestrian deaths dropped 11 percent in the first year.
Jim Callaghan, Member of Parliament (and later prime minister), visited the lab in 1948 and is sometimes credited with first noting the crossing's resemblance to a zebra. Despite Callaghan's saying in 1951 that he didn't remember that, no one else has ever claimed credit, and the name zebra crossing caught on.
Enamored of the moniker, Britain's Ministry of Transport has called forth animal cognates for subsequent improvements. The panda crossing used interlocking black and white triangles instead of stripes. The pelican (pedestrian light controlled) crossing combined traffic lights and conventional, rectangular stripes. The puffin (pedestrian user-friendly intelligent) crossing uses sensors to detect pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The toucan (two can cross) is shared by pedestrians and bicycles. The pegasus is a pelican crossing with a control panel high enough for horse riders to push the button. It's a bleedin' roadside zoo.
Cities around the world have been gradually adopting the crosswalk of a different stripe. The old-fashioned two-stripe crosswalk (with just its borders marked by full-length stripes perpendicular to the direction of traffic) cannot be seen by motorists from farther than 100 feet or so away. At 30 mph, that's about 2 seconds.
Zebra-striped crosswalks can be seen from greater distances. An empty crosswalk informs drivers that pedestrians might enter there. And pedestrians who are crossing the street are highly visible as they move against the striped background. (You can improve your own visibility to distant vehicles by walking on the side of a zebra crosswalk nearest to the approaching traffic: That maximizes how much of your body appears against the stripes flickering behind you.)
The Beatles brought international fame to the zebra crossing in 1969 with the album cover for Abbey Road. The much-parodied image also inspired the current logo of Abbey Road Studios, where the album was recorded. Beatles producer Sir George Martin has a heraldic badge of a zebra carrying an abbot's crozier — along with a crest of a martin holding a recorder under its left wing, a Latin motto that could be translated as "Love is all you need," and a shield with three beetles. Go figure.
Source: Various
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How Math Unraveled the 'Hard Day's Night' Mystery
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Eliot Van Buskirk
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A Canadian math professor solved a riddle that has haunted guitarists and musicologists for decades: how the Beatles played the opening chord of 'Hard Day's Night.' Evidently, the band got by with a little help from its friend and producer, George Martin.
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Google Yahoo Deal Crumbling, Report
Posted: October 31st, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Meghan Keane
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Google’s patience for the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation of its search deal with Yahoo appears to be running short. The search giant may walk away from the deal as early as next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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'Lost Skeleton' Crew Returns for 'Cadavra' Sequel
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 10:04pm EDT by John Scott Lewinski
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A sequel to the low-budget spoof The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra turns an appreciative eye on the schlocky B-movies that have become cult classics among sci-fi and horror fans.
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Wired.com Readers' Best Geek-o'-Lanterns
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 9:00pm EDT by Wired.com Photo Department
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: Wired.com readers are nothing if not crafty. No medium or surface is safe from their geek icons, no matter how pulpy or gourd-like they may be. Every year we ask you to submit your best geek-o'-lanterns and just like the denizens of the netherworld, you do our bidding -- oozing en mass from the dark corners of the web to deliver juicy photo flesh to our feet.
Feast your eyes on the offerings of your fellow readers and rejoice that their contributions have spared our considerable wrath.
If your Halloween appetite is not sated by these delicious goodies, visit our gallery of favorite reader geek Halloween costumes.
Left:
Lupin III
Submitted by Donavon Cawley
: Venom Pumpkin
Submitted by rhesuspieces00
: Simple. Geeky.
Submitted by dosequis
: Tux
Submitted by bpa
: Domo-Kun
Submitted by Hoodles
: Deus Ex
Submitted by Tawnos
: Ziggy Stardust
Submitted by Carire Andersen
: Harry Potter on the Gryphon
Submitted by Chris Soria/Maniac Pumpkin Carvers
: Karlheinz Stockolantern
Submitted by Shawn Feeney
: Happy HALOween
Submitted by DigitalKleptl
: Gourddy Lee
Submitted by gnumoon
: Pumpkin Invader
Submitted by Jamie Molaro & Ian Reasor
: Darth Vader-kin
Submitted by Gabriel
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ICANN Targeting Notorious Domain Name Seller
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 8:00pm EDT by Ryan Singel
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The net's naming authority is moving to shut down a domain name seller after learning its CEO was convicted of online credit card fraud. Security researchers say the Estonia-based EstDomains plays too friendly with online criminals, while the company defends itself by saying it already has a new CEO.
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Round Those Corners With CSS
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 7:45pm EDT by Webmonkey
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Angular, boxy designs are great for furniture and old Volvos, but not web pages. Keep your content hip by encasing it within a set of smooth, rounded corners. The easiest (and most proper) way to create rounded corners is using web standards — HTML, JavaScript and cascading style sheets.
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Retrial Date Set in RIAA v. Thomas
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 7:23pm EDT by David Kravets
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A federal judge has tentatively set March 9 for a retrial in the nation's only peer-to-peer file sharing case to go to trial. A judge declared a mistrial in the case, in which a jury ordered a Duluth, Minnesota, woman to pay $222,000 for infringing 24 music tracks. The mistrial concerned the level of proof required to find someone liable for copyright infringement.
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Review: 'Zack and Miri' Scores With Funny Porno Farce
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 7:01pm EDT by Lewis Wallace
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Kevin Smith's oddly charming flick mixes it up, spiking a surprisingly standard romantic comedy with sci-fi blasphemy and good-natured, goofball raunch.
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No Sheep Throwing Allowed on LinkedIn
Posted: October 30th, 2008, 6:00pm EDT by Adam DuVander
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Social networking site LinkedIn recently launched its application platform, but developer access will be limited to apps that fit with LinkedIn's business-centric brand. Silly stuff like sheep throwing, which is popular on Facebook, won't be accepted.
