Doctorow unboxes Unbox, Springheeled Jack’s boots, stealth barcodes…

• 1 – Amazon Unbox to customers: Eat shit and die
  “Amazon’s new video-on-demand store may sound like a good idea, but once you take a look at the “agreement” you enter into by giving them your money, that changes.” Sir Cory of Doctorow shreds a very nasty EULA in front of the whole blogosphere.
  (tags: privacy movies download shopping internet DRM control agreement licence EULA Unbox Amazon)
• 2 – Finding Biomarkers in an Alien Atmosphere
  “When the day comes that we have spectroscopic data from exoplanets as small as Earth, we’ll be able to study the signatures of the gases there to learn something about conditions on the surface.” Centauri Dreams comes up with the quality space news, ev
  (tags: planets alien biosphere life evolution development atmosphere planetary cosmology astronomy space)
• 3 – Cyber Crime Getting Organized
  “Cyber scams are increasingly being committed by organized crime syndicates out to profit from sophisticated ruses rather than hackers keen to make an online name for themselves, according to a top U.S. official.” Gee, d’you think?
  (tags: scammers theft ID spam email phishing syndicates mafia crime organised hacking cybercrime)
• 4 – » Instruction For Painful Death #1,232: Wear Power Boots
  “The Power Boots use biofuels, such as biodiesel, vegetable oil, SVO, waste vegetable oil (WVO) and 12 inch pistons to propel their wearer up to 25mph and take strides of up to 12 feet.” Charlie Stross, I’m looking at you *right now*!
  (tags: Accelerando Stross Charles fiction science technology boost physical exoskeleton footwear cybernetic motorised boots power Russia)
• 5 – Bionic Arm and Medical Makers
  “Jesse Sullivan has two prosthetic arms that are connected to his shoulder and controlled via electrical impulses. Besides being handy, they look awesome!” More bionic shenanigans, over at MAKEblog.
  (tags: technology control neural device amputee cybernetic robotic prosthesis arm limb bionic)
• 6 – Architecural Tricks To Control Users
  “Ever wandered into a shop looking to buy a few things on your list, only to find yourself coming out with twice as much? [...] The retail industry spends hard time and money into creating all sorts of devious little means to make you shop that bit extra.
  (tags: techniques perception manipulation architecture design retail shopping psychology marketing)
• 7 – Oldest writing in the New World discovered
  “A slab inscribed with the oldest writing yet discovered in the New World has been discovered in the Veracruz lowlands in Mexico.” Does what it says on the tin, er, slab.
  (tags: cultures ancient history hieroglyphs Mexico Veracruz Olmec mesoamerica archaeology)
• 8 – Fujitsu develops “invisible” barcode
  “FP code consists of a series of faint yellow lines — said to be invisible to the naked eye — which are overlaid on the photograph during the printing process.” Object hyperlinking on the sly. Nice idea, but, like, why?
  (tags: Fujitsu graphics pictures concealed invisible scanning device phone mobile barcodes Japan)
• 9 – Buran, The First Russian Shuttle
  “Did you know that there was a space shuttle built in Russia, which has made a few successful flights but then the research project was closed due to lack of funding after the collapse of Soviet Union?” I didn’t, as it happens. Intriguing stuff, with pict
  (tags: orbiter Buran design performance superior specifications images pictures Russia shuttle space)
• 10 – U.N. Inspectors Dispute Iran Report By House Panel – washingtonpost.com
  “U.N. inspectors [...] angrily complained to the Bush administration [...] about a recent House committee report on Iran’s capabilities, calling parts of the document “outrageous and dishonest” and offering evidence to refute its central claims.” Deja vu,
  (tags: lies document capability nuclear Iran administration US Bush dispute inspectors UN)

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