eldavojohn writes "It's no secret what capsaicin, the fiery molecule of peppers, does to cell walls. In fact, it's now being used to open cells up to local anesthetics. Combine it with a new drug that works only from the insides of cells and you have a great system for relieving pain. From the article, 'QX-314 is known to reduce the activity of pain-sensing neurons in the nervous system and theoretically heighten pain thresholds. But there's a catch: Researchers found that "it wouldn't work from outside a nerve cell but it would work if you could get it inside," says Bruce Bean, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the new study."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Back in the day, when you were sick, you would call the doctor, and they make a house call to diagnose your condition and provide care. In this modern age of managed care, where doctors are evaluated on the volume of patients that they are able to process, house calls are now but a distant memory. Now, Dr. Jay Parkinson, a Brooklyn doctor, brought the house call back -- but it's been updated for the times. Parkinson has started a new medical practice that centers around instant messenger, email and house calls. During regular business hours, he is available to his patients for online medical consultations. Dr. Parkinson then pays the patient a house call only if it is really necessary (you get two included house calls in the fee), but most issues can be addressed virtually. This is not surprising since studies confirm that online chat with your doctor is nearly as effective as an in-person visit. Specializing in young adults age 18 to 40 without traditional health insurance, this approach could teach a few things to the health care industry. Of course, what he's doing is really similar to what many nurse practitioners do, so you could see him scaling his practice by employing a staff of nurse practitioners who answer IMs and emails, and then escalating qualifying issues to doctors and specialists. A second interesting point about Parkinson's plan is that since all of his clients are very price conscious (since they're paying out of pocket), he actively shops around for the best value specialists to send his clients to. In the age of copayments and insurance, you very rarely see much price comparison shopping in health care. As we've discussed here before, the current health care system is beset with problems, so it's encouraging to see a differentiated spur some excitement (and competition) in a very homogeneous marketplace.

I wonder if it would make news if The New Yorker article by Sy Hersh was the most pointed to page on the web.

An anonymous reader writes "In the summer of 2008, teams from a host of countries will compete in The Microtransat Challenge with the hope of gaining the honor of having built the first autonomous sailboat to cross the Atlantic. The results of Microtransat 2007, a smaller scale preliminary race, were recently announced. The winner was the team from Austria; team RoBoat, for having completed 24 hours of autonomous sailing. I am strongly considering joining this competition before the year is out, and would appreciate any insight from the Slashdot community. The boats can be up to 4 meters in length, and therefore capable of carrying a full-sized onboard computer (operating system of your choice). Time is limited however, so I would like to avoid as many hardware issues as possible and get straight to the difficult problem of writing the AI. So how would you design a seamless interface between sensors and actuators to the high-level code?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New York Times reporter John Schwartz has an amazing piece online today, I understand he's been working on it for a half a year or so. The story is about guy who owns his own Sputnik -- or, more precisely, one of the spares built before the initial launch. He bought it during the 1990's post-Soviet fire sale. There's a nice multimedia slideshowmajig along with the article.

So, OMG you'll never guess who the Sputnik owner is. Oh that's right, I put it in the headline for this post. Dude. It's Richard Garriott, the creator of Ultima and a very serious space-stuff collector.

Link to "Texas Man Linked to Past and Future of Space Exploration by Sputnik and Soyuz."

The story by Schwartz comes out in the same week as Sputnik's 50th anniversary, and on the same day as a related piece from Robert Pearlman, at CollectSpace.com. Don't miss the entire "10-famous-Sputniks countdown" feature on that site: Link. Image by Will Van Overbeek for the NYT.

The debate over white space spectrum has gone on for quite some time. Basically, the FCC handed out a ton of spectrum (for free, mind you) to TV broadcasters years ago. In order to prevent against interference, there's always been a requirement for some "buffer" space. However, as technology has improved, the need for this buffer space has decreased, and plenty of tech companies would be interested in making use of some of that basically unused spectrum by having it set aside as open spectrum. Earlier this year, some of those companies, led by Microsoft and Google, delivered a device to the FCC to test. Unfortunately, the device had some problems. However, the concept is sound -- and with some tweaking, it's quite reasonable that such a device could work without interfering with TV signals. But you wouldn't know that from broadcasters, who love to hoard their spectrum. Matthew Lasar writes in to note that in responding to the device, the broadcasters have gone way over the top in describing the horrible things that will happen if the white space is made available:

"Why would the FCC consider allowing millions and millions of these interference causing devices, like 'germs,' to spread throughout America with the ability to attack the TV receivers in people's homes, apartments, hotel rooms, hospital rooms, dormitories, etc., with no way for the owner of the TV set (the 'victim') to determine who was causing the 'illness' to his or her TV set?"

They also suggest that allowing this white space to be used would "risk the outrage of America's citizenry." Of course, it's important to remember that only a small percentage of TV watchers actually run this risk. The vast majority of TV owners in the US have cable or satellite TV -- meaning that they don't use the over-the-air broadcasts that use the spectrum in question. So, the "outrage" would be limited to the small group of people who still use over-the-air systems to watch broadcast TV and are close enough to a device that uses this white space in the unlikely situation when that device might temporarily interfere with their TV signals. But, apparently, with that tiny probability out there, opening up that white space is like a "germ" that will "attack" people's TVs, raising the "outrage of America's citizenry."

owlgorithm writes "Washington, D.C. area commuters are going to be "scanned like groceries at the supermarket" in order to catch single-occupant vehicles who are illegally using carpool lanes. The article, from the Washington Post, says that infrared cameras capable of detecting human skin will be installed, rather than the visible-spectrum cameras in use today. So much for using dummies in the front seat."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When John Furrier started Podtech I told him to open a permanent blogger's space with great production facilities South of Market in San Francisco near Moscone. The press room for SF tech bloggers (professional press would be welcome too). He did a strange rendition of the idea, not at all what I had in mind at CES, called Bloghaus. I mention it now, because Loic is doing almost exactly what I asked Furrier for. His place isn't close to Moscone, it's in Potrero Hill, not close enough to BART into the city to visit. But there is parking, and what Loic lacks in location he makes up in charm. There's much more to his story, I hope to get some stock, so I guess I should disclaim that up front.

Sy Hersh's New Yorker article on America's plans for war in Iran. Scary shit. Must read.

The Older link is back in Twitter, along with a surprise, the UI has been spruced up and made to work in Firefox. We are reluctant to complain about Twitter, so it's very nice when they fix problems we never complained about. I'm having lunch next Tuesday in NYC with Fred Wilson, and plan to talk a bit about Twitter then. Fred is the VC with the arrows in his back. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The playoffs have started. The Mets are resting. I get work done when the Mets aren't in post-season play. The old silver lining thing. Wait till next year!

This post is a quick note from the foreman down at the FeedBurner ironworks and custom tools depot. If you're a new or longtime user of FeedBurner FeedSmith — our plugin for WordPress that helps ensure you count all of your blog's feed traffic through FeedBurner — there is a recommended security-related update to this plugin for you to download. Here are the details:

Potential security vulnerability
Some WordPress plugins that permit the entry of user-entered values, such as older versions of FeedSmith, can be vulnerable to what is called a "cross-site request forgery." Without getting overly technical, this permits someone to change WordPress plugin settings on your system without you noticing during the time you are signed into your WordPress control panel. And no one wants that.

How to protect your feed
Protect your feed by downloading FeedSmith v2.3, available; download it now. This newest release ensures that the only person who may change FeedSmith settings is the administrative account that is signed into your WordPress control panel. If you are following our WordPress QuickStart guide to get started with FeedBurner, the link to download FeedSmith provided in that QuickStart has already been updated to point to v2.3. To verify the version of the plugin you have, you can visit the "Plugins" tab within the WordPress control panel and look for FeedSmith's entry; the version number is displayed in that entry.

If you currently use FeedSmith on your WordPress-powered site, follow these instructions to update this plugin.

1. Download version 2.3 of the plugin.
2. Sign in to your WordPress admin control panel.
3. Under Plugins, locate the current FeedSmith plugin, and click "Deactivate."
4. Copy the plugin file, FeedBurner_FeedSmith_Plugin.php into your default WordPress plugin directory, wp-content/plugins/
5. Reactivate the plugin by logging in to your WordPress administration area, clicking Plugins, then clicking Activate at the end of the "FeedBurner FeedSmith" row.

At the end of this process, v2.3 will be active and will use your existing feed redirection settings; there is no need to re-enter them. You will also be protected against any potential request forgery attack.

We'd like to thank Blog Security for their recent writeup of this potential exploit. Software is fun!

Not only do molecules in birds's eyes enable them to sense the Earth's magnetic field, but the nerve fibers lead to a region of the brain responsible for processing visual information, scientists report. According to University of Oldenburg biologist Dominik Heyers, "birds may see the magnetic field" to orient themselves. The new study suggests that this magnetic "vision" is a key part of how migratory birds move from place to place. Other researchers posit that birds use other magnetic senses or even the stars to determine their present location. From National Geographic:

"The magnetic field or magnetic direction may be perceived as a dark or light spot which lies upon the normal visual field of the bird," Heyers said, "and which, of course, changes when the bird turns its head..."

"An animal that has to migrate over great distances needs to have both a compass and a map," said Cordula Mora, a biologist who recently completed her postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Mora's work suggests that birds may use magnetic crystals in their beaks to sense the intensity of the magnetic field and thus glean information on their physical location.

Link

Previously on BB:
• Implant gives man the sense of "magnetic vision" Link

An anonymous reader writes "A Network World reader whose brother works for a California state agency forwarded me an e-mail alert that his brother received: "The Department of Technology Services (DTS) has notified us that the Federal Government inadvertently deleted the CA.GOV domain. As the evening progresses you may experience an impact in your ability to access some Web sites and exchange e-mail. DTS is working with their federal counterparts to restore service as quickly as possible but service may not be restored until tomorrow morning.""

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It will come as no surprise to air travelers that this year has been the worst on record for flight delays and cancellations. Since technology failures played a role in some of the year's worst headaches, it's a fair question to ask whether better technology might fix what's broken with air travel. There's little debate that the nation's air traffic control system needs updating; contentions arise over who will take responsibility for it. Yet, while the FAA and the airline industry might spend another decade hashing out major infrastructure upgrades, the airlines should be investing now in technology that can provide relief to their customers in the short term. Investments to improve areas such as crew management, gate management, and flight scheduling, would take compounding bites out of the problem of delays. Yield management systems, technology in which airlines already invest substantial sums, could be tweaked to account for goodwill lost to cancellations and delays. Most significantly, more information given to air travelers, both at the time they purchase tickets and at the time they fly, will arm them to make better decisions about when, where, and whether or not to get on an airplane. Airlines would do well to consider how technology innovation could improve their customers' experience. Much as JetBlue distinguished itself early on by offering superior service, passengers will reward an airline that provides an overall better travel experience. Airlines need not fear the costs of making these investments, because the cost of not making them could be much higher. Witness, again, JetBlue, whose reputation and stock price have still not recovered from customer relations missteps made earlier this year. Instead, airlines that employ new tech to take some of the pain out of air travel may join the growing number of companies who find themselves rewarded by shareholders for providing better service to their customers.

Dan DiPasquo is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Dan DiPasquo and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.

avirrey writes "The Technology Review has an interesting article on a Gibson Self-Tuning Guitar. Purist argue that you shouldn't need a guitar that self-tunes. Others argue that this will allow an artist to change tuning with one 'favorite' guitar, instead of having to swap out between songs." Ok I know what I think- freakin' sweet. Only technology will guarantee my sucking on the electric will at least be reasonably in-tune suckiness. Dear Gibson, Slashdot really needs to review your guitar. We'll need several review units and we lost your return address.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

You may recall that, over the summer, the Business Software Alliance, got a lot of press for supposedly offering $1 million to folks who reported their employers to the BSA for using unauthorized software. A $1 million reward seems like a big deal -- the type likely to generate lots of press and (the BSA hoped) get more people to snitch on their bosses. Except, when you looked at the fine print, you realized that the BSA had all sorts of conditions, and the reward was really "up to" $1 million, pretty much entirely at the discretion of the BSA. So they could claim a $1 million award, and then pay out a lot less. In fact, when a CNET reporter went searching for how much the BSA had actually paid out, she could only find awards of about $5,000. So, that prompted us to promise "up to" $1 million to anyone who could prove the BSA gave a single person a $1 million reward -- with how much we actually pay out entirely up to our own discretion. Anyway, it would appear that the original announcement didn't get the BSA enough attention (or enough snitching), so it's now announced that it's extending the (not really) $1 million reward program that supposedly had an end date. And, of course, the press dutifully report this news. So, in response, we'd like to announce that we're also extending our "up to $1 million" reward to anyone who can show that the BSA actually has paid an individual $1 million for snitching on his boss for using unauthorized software. Given how much press attention the BSA announcement got, we're surprised no one's reporting on our offer as well.

Billosaur writes "ARS Technica is reporting on a study release by McAfee and the National Cyber Security Alliance (as part of the beginning of National Cyber Security Awareness Month) that suggests when it comes to PC security, the problem between the keyboard and the chair is even worse. PEBKAC has always been a problem, but the study highlights just how prevalent it has become. 87 percent of the users contacted said they used anti-virus software, while 70 percent use anti-spyware software. Fewer (64 percent) reported having their firewalls turned on, and only 27 percent use software designed to stop phishing attempts. Researchers were allowed to scan the computers of a subset of the users, and while 70 percent claimed to be using anti-spyware software, only 55 percent of the machines of those users scanned showed evidence of the software."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dan from Silicon Valley's Hijinx Comics writes,

I own and operate a comic book shop in San Jose, CA which was recently voted best comic shop in Silicon Valley. I write free comic retailing software and I also run an online graphic novel store called ComicBookShelf.com .

The recent teacher ousting over Eightball #22 was a real wakeup call that there is a lot of work to do on making the public understand what a vital and important artform comics can be. A world where an educator loses their job for recommending Dan Clowes is a world I don't want to live in!

That's just one of the reasons I'm proud to announce that ComicBookShelf.com will donate 5% of every online sale to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which supports comics-related first amendment cases.

We're also donating an additional 5% to the Hero Initiative which helps get financial help to golden age comic artists who never made any royalties from their priceless creations.

Furthermore, until the end of October 2007 we will double the donation to both organizations, meaning 20% of every sale will go to these worthy organizations.

Shipping is always free anywhere in the US and we support Google checkout for safe and secure payment processing. We carry a wide array of books and our open source bookstore recommendation algorithms let you rate books and get recommendations. Kind of like Netflix does, but for graphic novels.

Link (Thanks, Dan!)