Trekkies rejoice! Real live tricorder invented

All right, maybe it isn't quite a tricorder, but it's darn close. UC Berkeley profs have figured out a way to attach a medical scanner to an ordinary cell phone. The scanner sends raw data over the cell network to a high-powered computer back in the lab. The set will allow people living in rural areas without access to sophisticated medical equipment to get more high-tech care. ...read more

CSI: Viking Age - Homicide charges dropped against ancient Norse

For years, archaeologists have believed that one of two women found on board a perfectly preserved Viking ship was a human sacrifice. But now scientists say that the collarbone injury that was thought to have killed her had actually been healing for weeks, and that her death may have been of natural causes. ...read more

Road Kill Record Book Club

Hunters have long boasted of the size of the animals they've successfully shot and killed. But what of those who hunt accidentally, with the front bumpers of their car? Or those who just find enormous animal corpses on the side of the road? Now their records too are made public to the world, thanks to this exciting new Website. ...read more

Computer languages and facial hair

The weirdo-beardo Unix admin is a longstanding IT cliche. But one Israeli Microsoft blogger has set out to prove, in profusely illustrated fashion, that facial hair and programming brilliance are definitely related. ...read more

Italian salaries go online

You've probably heard urban legends about people e-mailing salary lists to everyone in their company, causing chaos and dissent as people discover what their co-workers make. But what if that list was of the salaries of everyone in the entire country? That really happened in Italy, when the tax authority briefly posted every Italian citizen's taxable income on the Internet. ...read more

Geek comic of the week: Kate Beaton

Kate Beaton has applied her deceptively simple style to a number of interesting comic projects. From a history-themed comic series, to a comic journal, to funny strips about Canada's Maritime provinces, this series has something for most. ...read more

20 things you can do in 20 minutes to be more successful at work

Want to add to your work cred and cachet, fast? Any of these tips can help catapult you up the ladder. ...read more

The 10 most important technologies you never think about

Take a peek inside the magician's hat at ten technologies that are keys to our digital age. Without realizing it, you've probably used at least one of them already today--if not all. But whether you're aware of them or not, without these technologies our world would be a very different place. ...read more

Poll: Do you read comments to posts on sites like Digg and Slashdot?

- I don't read comments. They're worthless.
- I look for comments, but I don't read them.
- I read them sometimes.
- I get sucked right in. There's great stuff in there.

Vote now!


LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Have you ever been fired?

11.4% - Nope - I've been at the same job my whole working life
41.1% - Nope - I've always left on my terms
15.8% - Well, I've been part of mass layoffs, but I've never been singled out
13.9% - Yes, but I've grown as an employee since then
12.4% - Yes, due to personality conflicts with the boss
5.4% - I am unemployable

Answer another poll