Could lead codices prove ‘the major discovery of Christian history’?

British archaeologists are seeking to authenticate what could be a landmark discovery in the documentation of early Christianity: a trove of 70 lead codices that appear to date from the 1st century CE, which may include key clues to the last days of Jesus' life. As UK Daily Mail reporter Fiona Macrae writes, some researchers are suggesting this could be the most significant find in Christian archeology since the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947.

New census data shows which areas of America are growing, shrinking

According to newly released census data, Americans are fleeing the Great Plains for sunnier climes in record numbers, the decades-long trend only accelerating in the 21st century.

The data, as mapped by the site New Geography, shows that North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas all had more counties with total population decreases than increases between 2000 and 2010. Meanwhile, southern California, southern Nevada--especially the Las Vegas area--Arizona, Florida, and eastern Texas all saw big population gains.

Fire pits are the new restaurant must-have

DALLAS — Man's fascination with fire goes back to prehistoric times, but we always find new ways to play with it. The latest toy: the fire pit, which has slunk from the backyard patio into fine-dining restaurants.

In Dallas, you can find a grand circular pit greeting you at the entrance of Cedars Social, the new cocktail den from former New York Giants football player Brian Williams; an Olympian-flame version at Seasons 52, the new concept from Darden Restaurants; or a stunning iridescent mosaic cube on the patio at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.

'Wonder Woman' Costume Gets an Upgrade

When "Wonder Woman" announced that Adrianne Palicki had been cast in the title role, buzz on the superhero show quickly shot through the roof. But then fans got a look at the ill-advised costume. Outrage quickly ensued. And hell hath no fury like a comic fan outraged.

Untethered jailbreak for iPhone, iPad running iOS 4.3 in beta

If you are a jailbreak fan, there's finally some good news coming from the untethered jailbreak camp, led by the hackers at the Dev Team--an untethered jailbreak is running iOS 4.3 in beta.

According to iPhone Download Blog, hacker Stefan Esser (@iOn1c) has come up with a solution, posting a tweet saying: "The iphone-dev-team is already beta-testing the untether. So it is up to them to give you your tool of choice."

Holographic display table is everything 3D should be

Back in December, we saw some of Zebra Imaging's impressive full-color holographic prints. With funding from DARPA, Zebra has been able to develop and electronic version of the same technology, embodied in an actual glasses-free 3D holographic projector table.

DARPA started funding their "Urban Photonic Sandtable Display" back in 2005, and it's taken until now for the program to produce the utterly fantastical platform that it was shooting for, namely:

Color, real-time, 3D holographic displays with up to 12 inches of visual depth. The technology enables 360-degree viewing by a team of 20 people without 3D glasses or goggles.

Dell exec predicts iPad's failure in the enterprise

Dell really appreciates that Apple has successfully created a market for tablets, but is pretty sure Apple will ultimately fail when it comes to attracting enterprise customers.

That's what Dell's head of enterprise marketing Andy Lark said in an interview with CIO Australia magazine today. He had a couple choice quotes as he ripped Apple's iPad for, among other things, being "too expensive" and incompatible for business users.

"I couldn't be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm, but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price, and proprietary," Lark reportedly told the magazine. "[Apple has] done a really nice job, they've got a great product, but the challenge they've got is that already Android is outpacing them.

Verizon to install 100 gigabit network in U.S.

Verizon Communications plans to upgrade segments of its U.S. Internet backbone to 100 Gigabit Ethernet by the end of the second quarter, the carrier said today.

The upgrade to 100G will happen in three segments: Chicago to New York, Sacramento to Los Angeles, and Minneapolis to Kansas City.

The upgraded network can offer backbone speeds of 100 gigabits per second, up to 10 times faster than is generally now available. Verizon said the upgrade can benefit business customers that increasingly depend on video streaming, cloud-based applications, and other bandwidth-intensive services.

GPS mortars make Army debut in Afghanistan

The average American uses GPS to navigate a road trip or find cheap gas on the way home from work. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has long been busy coming up with ways to harness GPS for warfare. Soldiers in Afghanistan have a new, very dangerous GPS gadget in their arsenal: 120mm GPS-guided mortars.

The Army loves acronyms, of course, and as such the GPS shells are known as APMI, or Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative cartridges. Translation: Fast Accurate Bombs, but FAB wasn't going to fly as a nickname for these weapons.

The usual method for using mortars is to blast off a huge round of them and hope that a few find find the target. That all changes with the addition of GPS. A receiver in the nose works with a set of computer-controlled directional fins to keep the mortar on target.

Total Recall remake gains Bryan Cranston, but loses Mars

Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston is negotiating to play the villain in the upcoming remake of Total Recall. That's the good news.

The other news? According to Heat Vision, the new version of the story will not take place on Mars like Philip K. Dick's original story ("We Can Remember It for You Wholesale") or the 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Instead, the script for the new film involves a battle between the nation-states Euromerica and New Shanghai.

Cranston will play Vilos Cohaagen (same name as the villain in the 1990 film), who in this version is the leader of Euromerica and is planning to invade New Shanghai.

Astronomer: What's the REAL chance an asteroid will wipe out life on Earth?

Phil Plait is an astronomer and major sci-fi geek. He writes the Bad Astronomy Blogfor Discover Magazine and is also the host of the Discovery Channel's science show "Phil Plait's Bad Universe." You can follow him on Twitter at @BadAstronomer.

It begins when an amateur astronomer spots something in the sky that shouldn't be there. A hurried email, a chat over the 'net, and then confirmation from professional observatories—but a discovery kept secret from the public.

In a few weeks' time, an asteroid hundreds of miles across will hit the Earth, wiping out all life. NASA is notified, and they scramble into action. A team of astronauts hurriedly trains, launches in the Space Shuttle, and lands on the rock hours later. They plant a nuclear bomb, and just barely escape as the explosion vaporizes the killer asteroid with the Earth hanging hugely in the background.

U.S. Navy submarine sonar tech targets strokes

Retired U.S. Navy sonar experts have helped create a novel portable device to detect, diagnose, and monitor strokes. The brain-imaging system uses a simple headset and laptop--and decades of submarine technology--to home in on brain activity that signifies trouble.

The sensor-equipped headset measures skull pulsations that could indicate irregular blood flow.

(Credit: Dr. Kieran J. Murphy)

That JLA movie? Zack Snyder's Superman has nothing do with it

The rollercoaster ride that is the development of a Justice League movie just took another turn: Zack Snyder says his upcoming Superman reboot has nothing to do with it.

When Warner Brothers head honcho Jeff Robinov revealed earlier this week that he was looking to launch a Justice League movie in 2013, he also acknowledged that Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy—which will end next year with The Dark Knight Rises—would not be connected to the Justice League project and that the Batmanfranchise itself would be rebooted.

Messenger sends back first snapshots of Mercury

After over six years and five billion miles, The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe has finally entered orbit around our solar system's innermost planet. Today, NASA has released MESSENGER's first ten images, including this one, which in case you can't tell, is in full color.

Wireless iPad 2 screen sharing is much better than the wired variety

The ability of the iPad 2 to mirror its screen to a TV is a neat one, but it has a downside: it requires a cord. Not so with this hack that allowed the iPad to share its screen wirelessly.

Eric Govoruhk and Kelly McAteer took it upon themselves to create this solution, which involves a wireless HDMI transmitter and a USB battery pack. Nothing too complicated here, but it does require a bit of elbow grease. The countdown now begins for a hardware company to release their own version of this, which seems inevitable.

Augmented reality helmet controls your weather wherever you go

Being from Oregon, and living in California, I tend to get all mopey when confronted with the unrelenting good weather down here. Magic Vision Lab has designed an augmented virtual reality system that's capable of turning any nice day into the wet and dreary wretchedness that I miss so much.

Secret Space Plane Can’t Hide From Amateur Sleuths

The U.S. military likes to be a little sneaky with its robotic space planes. Unlike typical spacecraft, these vehicles can shift their orbits, frustrating the global network of skywatchers who keep track of just about every man-made object rotating the planet.

But the sleuths have their tricks, too. They’ve tracked down the X-37B on its second secret mission. And the information the skywatchers are finding says quite a bit about the classified operations of this mysterious spacecraft.

Video: Gadhafi Leaves Landmines Behind for Rebels

Watch this before considering a NATO peacekeeping force in Libya: Moammar Gadhafi’s forces are leaving anti-personnel and anti-vehicular mines in eastern Libya after vacating rebel-held areas. So much for basic contemporary standards of warfare.

Does Apple Hate Enterprise Developers?

It wasn’t that long ago that Apple courted the enterprise IT dollar with rack-mounted servers, solid and reliable RAID arrays, grid computing and storage networking. Today, that’s just a memory.

Although Apple continues to maintain and support server software, such as Xgrid and Xsan, the hardware is history. But after the first-day sellout of this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference, I’m beginning to wonder if Apple holds some kind of grudge against enterprise developers.

Apple’s move away from enterprise hardware was inevitable as it continues to evolve, from being a company that made computers, to one that sells gadgets and takes a cut from the sale of content for those gadgets. Since the enterprise never embraced Apple’s computers, it’s hard to fault founder and CEO Steve Jobs and his minions for returning the favor—if that is indeed what’s taking place. I can’t blame Apple for pulling the plug on its server-class hardware. It’s hard to make money in that market in the best of times, and the last few years have been anything but “the best” for enterprise IT.

'Suicide squads' paid huge sums amid fresh fears for nuclear site

The radioactive core in one reactor at Fukushima's beleaguered nuclear power plant appeared to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel, an expert warned yesterday, sparking fears that workers would not be able to save the reactor and that radioactive gases could soon be released into the atmosphere.

Richard Lahey, who was a head of reactor safety research at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, said the workers, who have been pumping water into the three reactors in an attempt to keep the fuel rods from melting, had effectively lost their battle. "The core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," he said.

Twin Baby Talk - Twin Boys Have a Conversation!

Google bringing ultra high-speed broadband… to Kansas City

For the past year, Google has been trying to decide what city would be the test city for its new initiative to roll out ultra high-speed broadband, delivering speeds more than 100 times faster than what we're stuck with now. The winner? Kansas City.

Google chose KC because they wanted "a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community and develop relationships with local government and community organizations." Apparently, Kansas City was that place, much to the chagrin of every other place in America. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't want to get hooked up with free future broadband? But hey, enjoy it, KC. And let us know how it is. LINK

Via Google Blog

Apple's iPhone 5 Delay Just Opened The Door For Google And Microsoft

Despite the recent wave of adoption of Google's Android, Apple's iPhone is still the gold standard in smartphones.

Every other new smartphone that is launched is compared directly with the latest iPhone, and, so far, they've all fallen short.

But Apple's delay of the next iPhone--the iPhone 5--has opened the door a crack for Android (and even Research in Motion and Microsoft) to regain some ground. And if the delay is indicative of some sort of problem at Apple, the door could swing wide open.

No threat from Japanese radiation spread across US

WASHINGTON – Traces of radioactive material from the endangered Japanese nuclear plant are being detected from coast to coast in the United States and in Iceland, but amounts continue to be far below levels that would cause health problems.

The development of super-sensitive equipment to detect radiation is both a blessing and a curse, allowing scientists to monitor materials released in nuclear accidents, but also causing unnecessary worry, said Kathryn Higley, director of the nuclear engineering and radiation health physics at Oregon State University.

Traces of radioactive cesium and iodine are being reported from Nevada to Vermont, South Carolina to Massachusetts, thanks to equipment that Higley says can detect material "many orders of magnitude below what would be hazardous."

Dell Exec: iPad Too Costly, Closed, Complex

On a recent trip Down Under, a Dell executive made an over the top slam against Apple's iPad. Head of global marketing Andy Lark apparently went on a bit of a verbal Walkabout in an interview with PCWorld's sister publication CIO Australia, calling the iPad too expensive, closed and complex to keep up with Android.

"I couldn't be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary," Lark told reporter Lisa Banks.

Lark was particularly pointed in his criticism that the popular tablet doesn't work for enterprise users.

HP, Dell Execs Lash Out at Apple as PC Makers Feel iPad Pressure

For months we’ve been reporting that iPad sales are eroding demand for traditional PCs, such as netbooks. Little wonder then top executives have begun sniping at Apple as inflexible and only for consumers with oodles of cash. The most vocal sour grapes come from the sales and marketing heads at HP and Dell.

“I can say that it really feels like they’re [Apple] holding you hostage sometimes,” said Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of HP’s Americas Solution Partners, talking in an interview about the difference between how the PC maker and the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant work.

Dell: Apple iPad Will Lose to Android, Windows Tablets

Just when you thought it was safe to pick up an iPad, Dell claims Apple's days as the tablet industry's big kahuna are numbered--and I'm sure you're totally surprised.

Meet Dell's global head of marketing, Andy Lark, who didn't mince words about Apple's prospects during a recent chat with CIO Australia. While Lark acknowledged the iPad's meteoric rise and role in catalyzing the tablet market, he says it's already doomed to fail in enterprise adoption.

What now, after the Android Market scare?

No screening process is going to be foolproof, but we can all take steps to make our devices safer.

Computerworld - I truly hate to say it, but it was inevitable that we'd see some maliciously inclined apps get introduced to the public through the Android Market or the Apple App Store.

As I described in my August 2010 column, it is exceedingly difficult to ensure the security of apps in a public store. As consumers, we seem to expect perfection, but that's just not realistic.

The recent spate of malware-infested apps found in the Android Marketillustrates the point. Mistakes are going to happen, even if our app providers undertake reasonable precautions in guarding their stores.

Nokia Sues Apple Again

The battle for supremacy in the global smart-phone market is gradually getting intense. The legal tussle between Nokia Corp.(NOK - Analyst Report) and Apple Inc. (AAPL - Analyst Report) is likely to linger for many more days. Today, Nokia filed a legal suit with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) stating that Apple violates seven of its patents in all of its converged mobile devices including mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers.

Patent litigation issues between Nokia and Apple intensified from October 2009 when Nokia sued Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware, alleging that Apple's legendary iPhone has violated as many as ten Nokia patents from 2007. Apple, in turn, also sued Nokia for its patent infringement. Just four days ago, the U.S. ITC found that Apple did not violate any Nokia patent as claimed by the latter.  

Today Cloud Drive, tomorrow a tablet - Watch out Apple, Amazon is after you!

Amazon’s launch of Cloud Drive and Cloud Player yesterday shows just how serious the company is about offering up a challenge to Apple’s media dominance.

First, let’s take a look at Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. Basically, Cloud Drive is 5GB of free storage that anyone with an Amazon.com account can get access to, and if you’ve bought an MP3 track from Amazon then you can get that upgraded to 20GB for the first year. Cloud Drive is basically a consumer front-end to Amazon’s Web Services S3 platform. If your storage needs go beyond the free 5GB then you’re paying $1 per GB per year (20GB = $20/yr, 50GB = $50/yr … up to 1,000GB for $1,000/yr).

Special Report: Japan engineers knew tsunami could overrun plant

TOKYO (Reuters) – Over the past two weeks, Japanese government officials and Tokyo Electric Power executives have repeatedly described the deadly combination of the most powerful quake in Japan's history and the massive tsunami that followed as "soteigai," or beyond expectations.

When Tokyo Electric President Masataka Shimizu apologized to the people of Japan for the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant he called the double disaster "marvels of nature that we have never experienced before".

But a review of company and regulatory records shows that Japan and its largest utility repeatedly downplayed dangers and ignored warnings -- including a 2007 tsunami study from Tokyo Electric Power Co's senior safety engineer.

Japan vows to review nuclear safety standards

TOKYO – Japan's government vowed Tuesday to overhaul nuclear safety standards once its radiation-leaking reactor complex is under control, admitting that its safeguards were insufficient to protect the plant against the March 11 tsunami.

The struggle to contain radiation at the complex has unfolded with near-constant missteps — including two workers drenched Tuesday with radioactive water despite wearing supposedly waterproof suits. The unfolding drama has drawn increasing criticism of the utility that owns the plant as well as scrutiny of Japan's preparedness for nuclear crises.

The Most Controversial iPhone Apps

Steve Jobs's micromanagement has been something of a mixed blessing for Apple. It's assured a high standard across Apple's family of products, but it has also given the majority of the company's devices a walled garden approach to content, helping to assure that you only see what Apple wants you to see. Jobs once famously interrupted an Apple earnings call to tell the world, "Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone."

The point there, of course, is that Apple vets app submissions for the App Store—Android, not so much. That means that adult content often makes its way into the Android Market. It also means, as we've seen in recent weeks, that malicious malware can make its way onto Android devices as well.

Twitter's first tweeter returns as product guru

SAN FRANCISCO – Jack Dorsey, the Twitter co-founder responsible for the messaging service's first tweet five years ago, is returning to oversee the company's products.

Twitter is tapping into its creator's ingenuity as it tries to build upon its popularity to make more money by selling more ads. The privately held company doesn't disclose its finances, but research firm eMarketer Inc. estimates Twitter will bring in advertising revenue of about $150 million this year.

Dorsey, Twitter's original CEO, announced his new role Monday on his Twitter account. He says he intends to remain CEO of a mobile payments service called Square that's located near Twitter's San Francisco headquarters.

Toxic plutonium seeping from Japan's nuclear plant

TOKYO – Highly toxic plutonium is seeping from the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan's tsunami disaster zone into the soil outside, officials said Tuesday, heightening concerns about the expanding spread of radiation.

Plutonium was detected at several spots outside the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant — the first confirmed presence of the dangerously radioactive substance, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

There are strong indications some of the radioactivity is coming from damaged nuclear fuel rods, a worrying development in the race to bring the power plant under control, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Tuesday.

Is Apple Delaying the Release of iPhone 5?

Apple could be delaying the release of its unannounced generation iPhone from its typical summer debut to sometime in the fall due to the Verizon iPhone 4.

For the last four years, Apple has released a new version of the iPhone in June or July. And for the last three years, Apple has unveiled the phone at its Wordwide Developers Conference (WWDC), held sometime in June each year.

Earlier today, Apple announced the dates for the next WWDC. The announcement was unusual though. Apple’s SVP of marketing didn’t say anything about new hardware; in fact, it was all about software. “At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS,” he said in the company’s press release, making it sound as if a new iPhone wasn’t high on the company’s agenda for WWDC.

EBay to buy GSI Commerce for $2.4 billion

SAN FRANCISCO – Online marketplace operator EBay said Monday that it will pay $2.4 billion for GSI Commerce, which operates websites for retailers like Toys R Us and Bath & Body Works.

EBay Inc., which runs its namesake site where users buy and sell items through auctions and fixed-price "Buy it Now" formats as well as online payments service PayPal, hopes the acquisition will bolster its ability to connect buyers and sellers around the world. It could also help it become more of a threat to Amazon.com Inc.

GSI runs websites, packs and ships products and offers interactive marketing services to a variety of retailers. It has long-term contracts with 180 retailers, including Radio Shack, Ace Hardware and American Eagle Outfitters.

NVIDIA PhysX Technology Adopted for Funcom's Dreamworld Engine

Game Engine Is the First to Feature Server-Side PhysX Support, Enabling Major Speedup of In-Game Physics Calculations for Massively, Multiplayer Online Games

More radioactive water spills at Japan nuke plant

TOKYO – Workers discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan's crippled nuclear complex, officials said Monday, as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tons of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.

Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater. Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the complex on Monday, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health.

Plutonium — a key ingredient in nuclear weapons — is present in the fuel at the complex, which has been leaking radiation for over two weeks, so experts had expected some to be found once crews began searching for evidence of it this week.

JAPAN Fukushima Radiation Impact - Dramatic Report!

A resident of Tokyo Japan giving their personal report and assessment as to conditions in Tokyo Japan. This is not a pleasant video as it is reality based! This person is extremely angry with the Corporations whom through their drive for profits led to poor decisions and poor implementation of controls which could have averted the situation occurring at Fukushima. There are many in Japan whose opinions differ from this person and consider this video to be extreme. I have seen reports by less emotional people in Japan whom clearly state people have left and, that Japan is hard hit by the loss of tourism and travelers as well as the exodus of many people. They would not recommend people to go to Tokyo or East of Tokyo at this time. They have indicated Western Japan is fine and safe. 

Samsung NX100

Samsung NX100 compact interchangeable lens camera

By Derrick Story, Macworld.com - March 30, 2011

The Samsung NX100 is an innovative camera, but not always a practical one. The compact interchangeable lens camera has a handsome and slim body, but you should hang on to it carefully because it doesn’t include a textured grip. Inside is a large APS-C image sensor that captures 14.6-megapixels of resolution. This means that you get the same sized sensor as in many standard DSLRs, but in a smaller overall package. Samsung designed a clever iFunction control system that lets you adjust some of the most common camera settings from controls on the lens itself. Yet, neither the 20-50mm kit zoom, nor the body, includes image stabilization. There’s a smart system for automatic exposure selection, but no built-in flash. PHOTOS

When thinking about a NX100 as the next possible camera for you, the real question is, does innovation outweigh its shortcomings?

India's 'digital divide' worst among peers: study

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Most Indians are missing out on the "digital revolution" due to dismal Internet access for the poor with the nation lagging far behind its emerging market peers, a study found Wednesday.

The study said India was at "extreme risk" from a lack of "digital inclusion" as a vast proportion of its 1.2 billion population had no access to the Internet.

"Digital inclusion has the potential to bring education to people in countries where educational infrastructure is limited and the development of cadres of teachers is still constrained," said Alyson Warhurst, head of British risk analysis firm MapleCroft, which carried out the survey.

China's Baidu removes millions of pirated works

BEIJING – Baidu Inc., which operates China's leading search engine, said Wednesday it has removed 2.8 million items from an online library after authors complained it was distributing their work without permission.

The company apologized last weekend to Chinese authors and said it would screen material on Baidu Library and remove unauthorized work.

Baidu removed 2.8 million items from the document sharing service's "literary works" section, said a company spokesman, Kaiser Kuo. He said that left about 1,000 works it believes are properly licensed.

Gunmen kill 56 in grisly Iraq hostage siege

BAGHDAD – Wearing military uniforms over explosives belts, gunmen held a local Iraqi government center hostage Tuesday in a grisly siege that ended with the deaths of at least 56 people, including three councilmen who were executed with gunshots to the head.

The five-hour standoff in Tikrit, former dictator Saddam Hussein's home town, ended only when the attackers blew themselves up in one of the bloodiest days in Iraq this year.

First they set fire to the bodies of the three slain Salahuddin province councilmen in a brutal, defiant show of how insurgents still render Iraq unstable — even if it has so far escaped the political unrest rolling across the Arab world.

Rival Tablets See Smaller as Their Biggest Chance Against Apple

Tablet manufacturers looking to compete against Apple’s iPad see small as their biggest opportunity. That’s the upshot of a Monday report indicating 7-inch tablets have more room on shelves as the Cupertino, Calif. company dismisses such tablets as unusable.