Amazon to open market in second-hand MP3s and e-books

A new market for second-hand digital downloads could let us hold virtual yard sales of our ever-growing piles of intangible possessions WHY buy second-hand? For physical goods, the appeal is in the price – you don't mind the creases in a book or rust spots on a car if it's a bargain. Although digital objects...

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Football: Berbatov's magic moment sinks Stoke

LONDON: Fulham forward Dimitar Berbatov produced a moment of magic to end his side's poor run with a 1-0 win over Stoke at Craven Cottage on Saturday.Berbatov marked his 200th Premier League appearance with his 85th goal in the English top-flight and it was one of the former Manchester United star's best as he netted a superb volley just before half-time.Martin Jol's team still needed...

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Randi Zuckerberg on what it means to be "Dot Complicated" (Q&A)

Randi Zuckerberg knows a thing or two about complications caused by the Internet. The sister of Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has seen her fair share of controversial choices or awkward missteps become fodder for attacks from those who view her as the ultimate benefactor of nepotism. After serving as Facebook's marketing director for six years, Zuckerberg struck out on her own with Zuckerberg...

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Pistorius Family: 'Law Must Run Its Course'

South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius is spending time his family today after the athlete was freed on $113,000 bail Friday."We realise that the law must run its course, and we would not have it any other way," the Olympian's uncle, Arnold Pistorius said in a statement on Saturday.The Pistorius family expressed their gratitude that the former Olympian was allowed out of jail...

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Friday Illusion: How to see the past

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->Think you're living in the moment? You could actually be experiencing another time. A brain trick called the flash-lag illusion shows how we don't always perceive the present. This version, created by Eiji Watanabe...

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WTO may not be ideal platform to deal with currency issue

BEIJING: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) may not be the ideal platform to deal with the issue of currency manipulation, according to Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez, who is in the running to be WTO Director-General.She was in Beijing to meet Chinese authorities to garner their support.As the global economy slows and countries scramble to boost exports, trade friction...

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Homeland Security to review aerial drone privacy

The Draganflyer X4-P can carry still and video cameras or thermal imaging sensors.(Credit:Dragan)A Homeland Security office says it plans to review the privacy implications of using drones to monitor U.S. citizens.The department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has created a working group that will "clarify any misunderstandings that exist" about DHS's drone program, as well as make an...

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Meet One of Mars Rover Curiosity’s Earthbound Twins

Like its twin that's busy exploring Mars aboard the rover Curiosity, the device known as SAM II spends its days as if it were 200 million miles away, in a very different environment than our own.Temperatures around the instrument plunge to minus 130ºF (-90°C), the air pressure is one percent of Earth's, and the atmosphere it sits in consists largely of carbon dioxide.But this second SAM—short...

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Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail in Murder Case

Oscar Pistorius was granted bail today in a South African court, meaning he can be released from jail for the six to eight months before his trial for the allegedly premeditated killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.Magistrate Desmond Nair, in reading his lengthy decision, said, "The issue before me is whether this accused, being who is and the assets he has [here], would...

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Flushed with success: Human manure's fertile future

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Three killed in Las Vegas 'rolling shootout'

LOS ANGELES: At least three people were killed and three others injured in a "rolling shootout" and multiple car crash on the renowned Las Vegas strip early Thursday, city police said.Two speeding cars, including a Maserati, were involved in a shootout in the neon-lit casino and hotel zone around Las Vegas Boulevard near Flamingo Road, Metro Las Vegas Police Sergeant John Sheahan told...

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Microsoft is cooler than it used to be, say half of those polled

Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet.(Credit:Best Buy)Is Microsoft a cooler company than it was in the past? Some people certainly think so. Among 853 people between the ages of 18 and 29 questioned in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, half believe the software giant is cooler than it was a year or two ago. Though 50 percent may not be a resounding endorsement, it topped the coolness factor for a couple of other tech...

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NASA's Mars Rover Makes Successful First Drill

For the first time ever, people have drilled into a rock on Mars, collecting the powdered remains from the hole for analysis.Images sent back from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Wednesday confirmed that the precious sample is being held by the rover's scoop, and will soon be delivered to two miniature chemical labs to undergo an unprecedented analysis. (Related: "Mars Rover Curiosity...

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3 Dead in Rolling Gun Battle on Vegas Strip

A drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip early this morning by the occupants of a Range Rover SUV, who shot at the occupants of a Maserati, caused a multi-car accident and car explosion that left three dead.Police said that they believe a group of men riding in a black Range Rover Sport SUV pulled up alongside a Maserati around 4:20 a.m. today and fired shots into the car, striking...

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How was Earth's life kindled under a cold sun?

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British economy moves closer to new stimulus injection

LONDON: Britain's economy, at risk of a third recession in five years despite record employment, could see a fresh injection of cash stimulus, according to minutes of a Bank of England meeting published on Wednesday.Bank of England (BoE) governor Mervyn King has called for more quantitative easing, minutes from the central bank's February meeting showed.This helped push the pound to a...

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Apple chairman Levinson: I still 'miss Steve'

Apple chairman Arthur Levinson.(Credit:Genentech)Arthur Levinson, Apple's chairman of the board, still misses Steve Jobs."I'm still not to the point where I walk into that board room and don't miss Steve," Levinson told Fortune in an interview published today. He went on to say that being Apple chairman, a position he took in 2011 after Steve Jobs' death, still feels "weird."Levinson is one of the...

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Pistorius Shots Said to Come From High Angle

At the second day of a bail hearing for Olympian Oscar Pistorius, a South African investigator who arrived at the scene of the Feb. 14 fatal shooting said that Reeva Steenkamp was shot from a high angle, which prosecutors say contradicts the runner's account that he was not wearing his prosthetics when he shot his girlfriend to death.Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs on carbon-fiber...

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Huge telescopes could spy alien oxygen

Giant telescopes like the Extremely Large Telescope now being built in Chile could hunt for alien life by detecting oxygen on exoplanets – even though they were not designed with that in mind. On Earth, plants and some bacteria are...

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Medini wellness projects expected to boost Malaysia's medical tourism sector

JOHOR BAHRU: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak unveiled two projects at Medini Iskandar Malaysia on Tuesday.The gross development value of the projects are estimated to be about RM3 billion ringgit. The Afiniti Medini urban wellness project has a total gross floor area of some 700,000 square feet and it will be completed in 2015. It is...

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Apple granted 36 patents, including for proximity detection

Apple was granted a patent for proximity detection.(Credit:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) Apple was granted 36 patents today, including one for a proximity sensor for the iPhone and iPad and another for haptic feedback to create a sort of virtual keyboard. The patents, approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, cover a wide range of technologies, as earlier reported by Patently Apple. The...

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Confirmed: Dogs Sneak Food When People Aren't Looking

Many dog owners will swear their pups are up to something when out of view of watchful eyes. Shoes go missing, couches have mysterious teeth marks, and food disappears. They seem to disregard the word "no."Now, a new study suggests dogs might understand people even better than we thought. (Related: "Animal Minds.")The research shows that domestic dogs, when told not to snatch a piece of...

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Oscar Pistorius Describes 'Sense of Terror'

Olympian Oscar Pistorius today denied that he willfully killed his girlfriend, telling a South African court that he shot the woman through his bathroom door because he believed she was an intruder.Pistorius, 26 and a double-amputee Olympian, was charged today with premeditated murder, or a Schedule 6 offense, which under South African law limits his chances for parole if convicted."I...

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One-Minute Physics: Are unknowns part of the universe?

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->What's part of the universe? You may think of it as incorporating everything that exists - both on Earth and in space - but could it also include the unknown?In this One-Minute Physics episode, film-maker Henry...

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Football: Celta Vigo replace coach Herrera with Abel Resino

MADRID: Spanish Liga outfit Celta Vigo have fired head coach Paco Herrera and replaced him with Abel Resino, the relegation-threatened club announced on Monday."Celta Vigo have signed Abel Resino as first team coach. He will replace Paco Herrera on the bench." read a statement on the club website.Herrera guided the team back into the top flight last season but has seen results slide during...

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What are Quantum Dots, and how could they help your next TV?

At CES in January, Sony announced several LCD TVs with "Triluminos," a new backlighting method that they promise offered "rich, authentic color, and excellent red and green reproduction." Digging deeper, it turns out Triluminos includes an optical component produced by QD Vision, Inc. called "Color IQ" which uses quantum dots to help create light. OK, so what are quantum dots?Quantum dots are a "semiconductor...

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