High-tech Cars Replacing Driver Skill?

This will indeed be a scary day. When the computer in the car screws up, people start to get into pile-ups....not a good thing.

High-tech Cars Replacing Driver Skill?: "Nick writes 'What happens when you take a bunch of average drivers, put them in a car with no high-tech systems like anti-lock brakes and traction control, and ask them to drive on a safety test track? 360-degree spins, of course. And not only do today's drivers need ABS and traction control to keep their cars under control, it also turns out most drivers can't even name the high tech safety systems that are continually saving their butts. And to make matters worse, carmakers plan to install automatic radar-based blind-spot checkers so motorists can avoid looking over their shoulders while changing lanes. Even geeks find some of these technologies scary, including Wired's Bruce Gain, who drove Mercedes' S-Class with automatic braking.'"

Top 20 Geek Novels

Top 20 Geek Novels: "Malacca writes 'The Guardian's computer editor Jack Schofield has posted a list of the Top 20 Geek Novels in English since 1932. The polling method is unscientific, but it throws up some interesting choices. Definitions of 'Geek Novels' aside, the usual suspects like Neal Stephenson and William Gibson feature, but Terry Pratchett's 'The Colour of Magic' at #9? Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' at #17?' What would you put on that list?"

Gene Found In Black Death Survivors Stops HIV

Gene Found In Black Death Survivors Stops HIV: "WindozeSux writes 'According to research done by Dr. Stephen O'Brien, a mutated gene known as delta 32 found in Black Death survivor descendants, stops HIV in its tracks. In order to be immune both parents have to have the delta 32 gene. From the Article: 'In 1996, research showed that delta 32 prevents HIV from entering human cells and infecting the body. O'Brien thought this principle could be applied to the plague bacteria, which affects the body in a similar manner. To determine whether the Eyam plague survivors may have carried delta 32, O'Brien tested the DNA of their modern-day descendents...''"

Check out this interesting article here.

Mmmm, coffee

So it seems coffee may not be as bad for you as most think. Check out this article.

"For years coffee has endured a bad rap, but experts now say the caffeine content can actually do you some good"

US Passports To Receive RFID Chips

Give this article a read. It has same scary implications, especially towards countries such as Canada. Below is a summary found on Slashdot.

US Passports To Receive RFID Chips: "connah0047 writes 'The Washington Post reports that US passports will be getting RFID chips by October of 2006. Despite security concerns, the U.S. has now committed to putting RFID chips in the passports of all U.S. citizens. The new regulations will mean that all new and renewing U.S. passports will contain RFID chips by October 2006. While some believe this is a step forward, there are major privacy and security issues with the wireless technology.'"

Why Software Suites Suck

I came across this article and thought it might be interesting to people. Below is a small summary, read the full article here.

Why Software Suites Suck: "'With the release of StarOffice 8 and OpenOffice.org, and the rumors about MS Office 12, office suites are making their rounds in the press again. Microsoft's office suite is certainly the most popular on Windows, but there are competing suites from Corel and IBM. On GNU/Linux we have KOffice, GNOME Office, OpenOffice.org, StarOffice, and more. But no matter if they are free or proprietary, expensive or cheap, and regardless of what platforms they run on, the one thing that all software suites have in common is that they suck.'"

A Geeky Article..

Well I stumbled across a great article for all the .NET developers out there. And I suppose it would be of interest to pretty much any developer.