Cody Taylor

Kaliann writes “Toys that respond to brainwaves are the next generation of unique user interfaces. The Washington Post looks at the current market appeal and future uses of technology that can meaningfully respond to the thoughts of a user. Currently the toys have a fairly simple basic idea: the harder you concentrate the more the object moves. A sensor on the forehead picks up brain waves that are associated with concentration, then levitates a ball in response: basic biofeedback. While this may seem to be a rather humble beginning, progress in this field could have astounding consequences in the advancement of technologies devoted to thought-controlled devices. As the author points out, Jedi Beer Pong is within our grasp.”

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Al writes “Researchers at Boston University have developed a way to predict the behavior or different DNA segments and make synthetic biology a little bit more reliable. James Collins and colleagues have built libraries of component parts and a mathematical modeling system to help them predict the behavior of parts of a gene network. Like any self-respected bunch of grad students, they decided to demonstrate the approach by making beer. They engineered gene promoters to control when flocculation occurs in brewers yeast, which allowed them to finely control the flavor of the resulting beer.”

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theodp writes “Just three days before the Spitfire pub was to open on Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division campus, TechFlash reports that Microsoft got cold feet and pulled the plug on the project, leaving the bar’s owner and his 22 employees in the lurch. ‘I am completely stunned and disappointed by the decision,’ said now lease-less owner Jonathan Sposato, who’s stuck with space built out as a pub, complete with a giant bar, a fireplace, and eight beer taps. (He says it wouldn’t be economically viable to refit it as a restaurant.) Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos confirmed the company’s sudden change of heart: ‘The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that’s consistent with a business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub.’ The new pub had been in development for more than a year.”

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Andy_Spoo writes “Something that I’ve been trying to get an answer to: Is alcohol killing our planet? Alcohol is a byproduct of yeast, but another is CO2. As we all know (unless you’ve been asleep for years), CO2 is helping to warm our planet, sending us into destruction. So how much is the manufacture and consumption of alcohol contributing to the total world CO2 level? And don’t forget that bars and pubs force beer through to there pumps using large compressed cylinders of CO2. Does anyone know?”

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duncan bayne writes “My company is developing some software using Ruby. It’s proprietary software — decidedly not free-as-in-beer — but I don’t want to tie my customers down with the usual prohibitions on reverse engineering, modification, etc. After all, they’re licensing the product from us, so I think they should be able to use it as they see fit. Does anyone know of an existing license that could be used in this case? Something that gives the customer the freedom to modify the product as they want, but prohibits them from creating derivative works, or redistributing it in any fashion?”

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Inspired by the success of Hooters’ wings-toting female staff, restaurants such as Twin Peaks, Bone Daddy’s and other local operators with cute waitresses, cold beer and a male clientele are, well, busting out all over.

Earlier this month, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, issued a waiver allowing military to drink beer on Feb. 1 — a break from rules prohibiting alcohol that were established in light of occupying an Islamic country.

Canada’s major ISPs have all turned over to regulators information about their use of deep packet inspection to throttle file-sharing apps, and one thing is clear: Canada’s Internet, like its beer, is straight-up cold-filtered.