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Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

AN INQUIRER READER attending a conference in Japan was sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.

Holy crap ! And we buy all our servers from Dell, hope it’s only laptops !!!

Science bods have invented Liquid Armor

The liquid - called shear thickening fluid is actually a mixture of hard nanoparticles and nonevaporating liquid. It flows normally under low-energy conditions, but when agitated or hit with an impact it stiffens and behaves like a solid. This temporary stiffening occurs less than a millisecond after impact, and is caused by the nanoparticles forming tiny clusters inside the fluid.

It’s pretty cool science, almost getting to the stage where soldiers could go into battle in a tracksuit and a pair of nikes and still be fully protected !

“Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God. The British author, who wrote the best-seller ‘A Brief History of Time,’ said that the pope made the comments at a cosmology conference at the Vatican.”

Bloody religion, pain in the arse. It’s a wonder we’re not still in the dark ages !

tip: Slashdot

Why, oh why does Hollywood insist on remaking old films?

Now it’s the classic The Wicker Man.

Why can’t they leave well alone? These films were great the first time around, Pyscho, Planet of the Apes, etc. They can’t be improved on you’re just turning it into a vehicle for some actor to make more cash than they need.

Lib Dems unveil radical tax package

… the package would benefit “Middle England” - taking one million people out of the higher rate of tax and dropping the party’s former plans for a new top rate of 50p on incomes over £100,000. A further two million people on low incomes would be taken out of taxation altogether, while the 2p cut in the basic rate would benefit people across the spectrum.

Not one to normally discuss politics, this kind of caught my eye (I know the possibility of it happening is somewhat remote). Tax and government help is something that really gets me. Being just slightly in the higher tax bracket means we get taxed loads and also we get no help from the government in terms of benefits, etc. In this country you either have to be poor or unemployed so you get thousands in benefit, and/or have lots of kids to get support from that or be extremely wealthy and not be taxed at all.

It’s just not fair !

BBC is reporting that UK music fans can copy own tracks.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said consumers would only be penalised if they made duplicates of songs for other people.

Which is only fair I think, I’ve paid the cash for the CD, the artists has their royalties, so what difference should it make as to how and where I listen to the music?

It’s nice to see a fairer approach then those unlucky listeners stateside.