Geeks Give Back

In the past week, there have been a number of different fundraising efforts for disaster relief in Haiti, showcasing a global outpouring of generosity. One effort in particular caught my eye, however – the Livejournal community ontd_startrek (translation: oh no they didn’t), which managed to raise $15,000 in two days. Okay, so maybe it’s not exactly a serious fansite, boasting the tagline “Space: No Uglies” and featuring posts largely consisting of macros and capslock and fangirl worship of the GQMF team of Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine – but nothing wrong with that!  And there’s 7,300 people (judging from the number of members of the community) who love Star Trek in a big CAPSLOCK way who managed to channel that into doing some good. Of course, they did get some Twitter love from Mr. Quinto himself out of it. Also, apparently they were running a friendly contest with ontd_ai (American Idol), and it looks like the Trek fans creamed them. Live long and prosper, guys.


Doomsday Officially Minutely Less Likely

Doomsday Clock

The world has become a safer place for the first time in nearly 20 years. Or at least that’s the message from the people behind the Doomsday Clock.

The clock is a project run by staff at the University of Chicago’s Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It aims to symbolize changes in world security through the metaphor of midnight being the moment of world destruction. It began in 1947 at 11:53pm and has now been adjusted 19 times. The clock image appears on the front cover of each issue of the bulletin with its current setting.

Most adjustments have been based around the availability of nuclear weapons and the state of relations between the major global powers. The latest the clock has ever reached was 11:58  in 1953 after the US and Soviet Union both tested thermonuclear devices, while the earliest was 11:43 in 1991 when, following the end of the Cold War, the two nations signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Since that time the clock has moved consistently forwards, thanks mainly to more nations developing nuclear weapons and the risk of nuclear material getting into the hands of terrorists. Three years ago, the dangers of climate change were taken into account for the first time.

The staff has now decided to move the clock back one minute to 11:54, stressing that though things were moving in the right direction, the changes were minimal. They said factors influencing the change included better international collaboration on limiting nuclear weapons and wider acceptance of the need to tackle climate change.

(And now a question for GeeksAreSexy readers: does anyone know why the clock was originally set at 11:53pm? My best guess would be that it derives from metaphors about human life’s arrival time if the history of Earth was condensed to 24 hours, but I’ve been unable to confirm this.)

OMG: 4.2-Foot Tall Robotic Baby is a Crime Against Nature

Built by researchers from the Machine Perception Laboratory at UCSD, Diego-San is a 4.2-foot tall robotic baby, and is probably the scariest thing I’ve seen so far this year. I mean, a full scale robotic representation of an adult is already creepy enough, but I think these guys are taking things a little too far here.

[Via BotJunkie]

Universities drop “discriminatory” Kindle DX

Kindle DX Blind

Universities in four states have agreed to halt schemes to use electronic reading devices until they are fully usable by blind people. The decision concludes a Justice Department investigation over the use of Amazon’s Kindle DX.

The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind had sued the universities for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The groups complained that using the devices meant blind people were not getting equal opportunities in education.

Although the Kindle DX used in the universities does have a text-to-speech facility, it only applies to the book and magazine content itself. The device’s menu system is visual only, meaning a blind person can’t actually access the text-to-speech tool without assistance.

The affected universities are Case Western (Ohio), Pace (New York), Reed College (Oregon) and Arizona State. Though all four cases involved the Kindle DX, the agreement covers all makes and models of electronic reader.

Assistant attorney general Thomas Perez said “Advancing technology is systematically changing the way universities approach education, but we must be sure that emerging technologies offer individuals with disabilities the same opportunities as other students.”

The agreement doesn’t take effect until the end of this semester. That’s to make sure ongoing projects which use the Kindle can be completed without disruption.

Amazon hasn’t commented on the deal but has previously announced it is working on an audible menu system for future models in the Kindle range. It’s also adding a large print mode to help those with visual impairment.

The voluntary agreement means there’s been no legal ruling on whether the use of such devices without full accessibility features does indeed breach discrimination laws. No damage awards have been made and each party is paying their own legal fees.

Star Trek Online Launches Open Beta

Star Trek Online

As of yesterday, the open beta period for Star Trek Online is underway. There are supposedly still beta keys available, but the list of partners that are giving them away (in batches of 1000 each) seems to be largely tapped out. If you’ve missed out but have pre-ordered the game, you’ll still get a slight headstart though – starting on January 29.

The word on the street so far is that the game might be perfect for hardcore Trek fans. But this isn’t WoW-in-Space, whether you would consider that to be a good or bad thing. Most of the action takes place from the bridge of a ship, involving long-term tactical combat (though there are apparently away team missions as well).

There seem to be no plans for a Mac version of the game, which excludes the gamers/Trek fans like myself, but if the number of open beta keys snatched up so quickly are any indication, the launch is going to be a big one. Has anyone already been playing the game? If so, what do you think?