U.S. Imposes Tariffs On Chinese Solar Cells

May 18th, 2012 No comments

New submitter kimtysirt sends this excerpt from a Bloomberg report about U.S. tariffs for Chinese solar panels:
"The U.S. yesterday imposed tariffs of as much as 250 percent on Chinese-made solar cells to aid domestic manufacturers beset by foreign competition, though critics said the decision may end up raising prices and hurting the U.S. renewable energy industry. The U.S. Commerce Department ruled that Chinese manufacturers sold cells in the U.S. at prices below the cost of production and announced preliminary antidumping duties ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent, depending on the manufacturer. China criticized the action, saying the U.S. is hurting itself and cooperation between the world’s two largest economies. The decision is meant to provide a boost to the U.S. solar manufacturing industry, where four companies filed for bankruptcy in the past year."


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Diablo III Released

May 15th, 2012 No comments

Almost 12 years after the launch of its predecessor, Diablo III has now been released. The game went live last night with over 8,000 midnight launch parties across the world. 2,000,000 players showed up for the beta test prior to launch, including 300,000 concurrently during an open beta weekend, but even so, the login servers struggled for the first few hours after launch. Diablo III had been in the works for quite some time — another example of Blizzard's notoriously long development cycle — and game director Jay Wilson said it was in "polish mode" for the past two years. "One of our sayings internally is 'polish as you go.' We have a belief that when you put a feature in, you should prototype, but then after you prototype you should do the real thing, and you should polish it to shipping quality." For those of you who are familiar with this type of game, there's an official game guide in which you can browse class skills, items, and other game information. There are also YouTube videos showing how each of the classes work.


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CD Giveaway: Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (Remastered Deluxe Edition)

May 15th, 2012 No comments

Today we’re giving away the remastered deluxe edition of Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream. Since there’s no record company or promo company asking for this giveaway, I don’t have to pitch you or promote anything here. Just hit us up on tapcontests on gmail and mention Smashing Pumpkins somewhere in the title. OH and we’re feeling generous today so this giveaway is open to the U.S. AND Canada! If you’re Canadian and you win, buy us some Labatt Blue, kidding.. kind …

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Engineer Thinks We Could Build a Real Starship Enterprise In 20 Years

May 12th, 2012 No comments

Nancy_A writes "An engineer has proposed — and outlined in meticulous detail — building a full-sized, ion-powered version of the starship Enterprise. The ship would be based on current technology, and would take about 20 years to construct, at a cost of roughly $1 trillion. 'We have the technological reach to build the first generation of the spaceship known as the USS Enterprise – so let's do it,' writes the curator of the Build The Enterprise website, who goes by the name of BTE-Dan."


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Wolfenstein 3D celebrates 20 years of machine guns and flag-obscured passages with free web version

May 11th, 2012 No comments

Wolfenstein 3D: Play it for free

To commemorate the big two-oh years since its release, Bethesda has offered up the full Wolfenstein 3D experience to play for free in your web browser. Not only that, you’ll also be able to play the id original on iOS devices gratis (at least for today) and creator John Carmack has decided to offer us a director’s commentary on the game’s development while shooting his way through a few levels. Watch, nod and reminisce right after the break, then hit up the source to play for yourself.

Continue reading Wolfenstein 3D celebrates 20 years of machine guns and flag-obscured passages with free web version

Wolfenstein 3D celebrates 20 years of machine guns and flag-obscured passages with free web version originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney Research Can Turn Nearly Any Surface Into a Touch Screen

May 10th, 2012 No comments

surewouldoutlaw writes "Remember that scene in Fantasia where Mickey turns all the brooms into an army of workers? Well, Disney isn't quite there, yet. But scientists with the company's research lab at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have been able to turn virtually any surface, including liquid water and the human body, into a multi-touch interface. The new system is called Touché, and it is as awesome as it sounds."


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RIP Adam Yauch (1964 – 2012)

May 5th, 2012 No comments

(Via press release)

It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high …

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Dr. Who's Sonic Screwdriver a Step Closer To Reality

April 30th, 2012 No comments

cylonlover writes “A University of Dundee research team led by Prof. Mike MacDonald has demonstrated that both levitation and twisting forces can be applied to an object by application of ultrasonic beams. The team of physicists at the University of Dundee in Scotland (with associates at Bristol University in England) have succeeded in generating an ultrasonic vortex beam strong enough to lift and rotate a rubber disk submerged in water. This latest breakthrough is part of a wide-ranging U.K. research effort to develop a device not unlike the “sonic screwdriver” made famous by the TV series Doctor Who.” We covered the beginning of the sonic screwdriver project by Bristol University engineers a little over a year ago.


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NASA's Interactive Flood Maps

April 29th, 2012 No comments

First time accepted submitter jackandtoby writes “Whether you buy into global warming or not, you can have a go at being Charlton Heston and raise sea levels on a biblical scale thanks to NASA’s online flood maps. Click away and cause your own Sim Flooding.”


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McDonald’s supporting local health initiative on McHappy Day

April 28th, 2012 No comments

NEW GLASGOW – The New Glasgow McDonald’s will be supporting a local group next week during McHappy Day.On McHappy Day, May 2, $1 from the sale of all Big Macs, Happy Meals and any size McCafe beverage will be donated to the Aberdeen Health Foundation, with funds specifically going to the Women …

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