Technology – Page 1008 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Amazon.com Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Print Books

*Kindle with Special Offers for only $114 is already the bestselling member of the Kindle family*

SEATTLE, May 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books – hardcover and paperback – combined. (more…)

Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars

PASADENA, Calif. — Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.

The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007, revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the mass of Jupiter. The isolated orbs, also known as orphan planets, are difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The newfound planets are located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth. (more…)

Lichens May Aid in Combating Deadly Chronic Wasting Disease in Wildlife

MADISON, Wis. – Certain lichens can break down the infectious proteins responsible for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a troubling neurological disease fatal to wild deer and elk and spreading throughout the United States and Canada, according to U.S. Geological Survey research published today in the journal PLoS ONE. (more…)

Scientists Discover Animal-like Urea Cycle in Tiny Diatoms in the Ocean

*Cycle enables marine phytoplankton to use carbon and nitrogen from their environment*

Scientists have discovered that marine diatoms, tiny phytoplankton abundant in the sea, have an animal-like urea cycle, and that this cycle enables the diatoms to efficiently use carbon and nitrogen from their environment. (more…)

Yahoo! to Acquire 5to1; Extends Advertising Leadership and Publisher Relationships

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)-– Yahoo! Inc., the premier digital media company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 5to1 Holding Corp. (OTC BB: FTOH). 5to1 is an online advertising alliance consisting exclusively of major media publishers. Built on a proprietary publisher-controlled platform, 5to1 offers top brand advertisers premium inventory at mass scale. The acquisition of 5to1 will enable Yahoo! to build upon its publisher partnerships and expand its premium inventory. (more…)

NASA Mission Will Observe Earth’s Salty Seas

PASADENA, Calif. – Final preparations are under way for the June 9 launch of the international Aquarius/SAC-D observatory. The mission’s primary instrument, Aquarius, will study interactions between ocean circulation, the water cycle and climate by measuring ocean surface salinity.

Engineers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are performing final tests before mating Aquarius/SAC-D to its Delta II rocket. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina’s space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. SAC stands for Satelite de Applicaciones Cientificas. Aquarius was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. (more…)

Persuasive Speech: The Way We, Um, Talk Sways Our Listeners

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Want to convince someone to do something? A new University of Michigan study has some intriguing insights drawn from how we speak.

The study, presented May 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, examines how various speech characteristics influence people’s decisions to participate in telephone surveys. But its findings have implications for many other situations, from closing sales to swaying voters and getting stubborn spouses to see things your way. (more…)

Global IBM CIO Study reveals today’s CEOs and CIOs strongly aligned on future challenges and complexity

*Significant increase in the focus CIOs place on Cloud Computing since 2009*

Sydney, Australia – 18 May 2011: Results from a global study of more than 3,000 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) released by IBM today, reveal that for the first time, CEOs and CIOs are strategically aligned in their thinking around future challenges and complexity, with both groups focusing on insight and intelligence, client intimacy and people skills to drive organisational strategy.

The CIO Study shows that 57 per cent of CIOs anticipate more change and complexity in the next five years while 55 per cent of CEOs anticipate the same, according to the IBM’s 2010 Global CEO study. (more…)