Netbeans 6.8 Install Problems?

Installing the Netbeans program on our Windows machines required a couple of steps as the installer complained over-and-over about the absence of a compatible Java runtime.

Java SE Development Kit (JDK) was not found on this computer
JDK 6 or JDK 5 is required for installing the Netbeans IDE. Make sure that the JDK is properly installed and run installer again. You can specify valid JDK location using -javahome installer argument.

This is a known issue and filed as a bug under Netbeans' tracker but there is a solution.


The workaround is to manually extract the exe and execute the bundle.jar installer.
From the commnand prompt execute the following two commands:

netbeans-6.5.1-windows.exe –-extract

java -jar bundle.jar

The first one extracts the installer from the exe while the other executes the installer.

World's smallest Revolver doesn't have the world's smallest price

The SwissMiniGun C1ST is a double-action .09 caliber six-shooter that's just over two inches (5.5 cm) long weighing 0.7 oz (19.8 g). And the price? We think you ought to sit down first ...





The first product of the SwissMiniGun company of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the C1ST is a miniature double-action (shoots each time you pull the trigger – no cocking of the gun required before shooting) six-shot revolver.

The level of detail on such a small gun is amazing – the Swiss gunsmiths are experienced in jewelry and watchmaking crafts, and have orders to produce works of art that happen to be fully functioning guns. (Photos of the gold and diamond versions appear in the image gallery.)


The C1ST has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's smallest working revolver. (Full disclosure - the Xythos double-action six-shot revolver is smaller and uses 2 mm pinfire cartridges, but it is only designed for firing blanks.)


The SwissMiniGun is similar to, although about 23 percent of the size of, the .357 Magnum Colt Python. Most of the dimensions scale properly with size:

• Revolver ..................Colt Python ...............SwissMiniGun
• Caliber .....................357 Magnum .............09 rimfire
• Length .....................9.25 in (23.5 cm) .......2.16 in (5.5 cm)
• Weight .....................2.65 lb (1.2 kg) ..........0.0044 lb (0.0198 kg)
• Barrel .......................3 in (7.6 cm) ..............0.7 in (1.8 cm)
• Cartridge length .......1.58 in (4.0 cm) .........0.36 in (0.91 cm)
• Bullet weight ............130 gr (8.4 g) .............2 gr (0.13 g)
• Muzzle velocity ........1400 fps (427 mps) ....400 fps (122 mps)
• Energy .....................580 ft-lbs (785 J) ........0.72 ft-lbs (0.97 J)

The C1ST revolver comes with a fine leather holster for unconcealed carry. If nothing else, it keeps the revolver from getting lost in your pocket change.

The C1ST SwissMiniGun revolver comes with a fitted holster for unconcealed carry - here seen dangling from a belt loop (Photo: SwissMiniGun)

"Since the product's launch three years ago, the firm had sold around 300 of the guns, mainly to collectors in the Middle and Far East," says Paul Erard, owner of SwissMiniGuns. "We are producing in very small quantities – perhaps 25 gold guns and 100 steel guns a year, and there is a six month waiting list to get one."

 
SwissMiniGuns will customize the pint-sized shooter to customer wishes. The options to date include guns made of gold (save for the chamber, spring, and barrel), ebony grips, diamonds in pave, colored precious stones, and the like. Photographs of such ornamented guns appear in the image gallery.
Ammunition? The C1ST is sold with 24 live 2.34 mm rimfire cartridges, costing a bit over $10 per round. This makes target shooting an expensive outing – oddly enough, only slightly less expensive than buying 600 Nitro Express rounds for the world's largest revolver, the Pfeifer-Zaliska 600 Nitro. This revolver weighs over 13 pounds (6.0 kg) and is 22 inches (55 cm) in length. At 3 1/2 inches in length, the 600 Nitro cartridge is about 60 percent longer than the entire C1ST, and weighs almost six times more.

Platypus,(Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

The platypus is among nature's most unlikely animals. In fact, the first scientists to examine a specimen believed they were the victims of a hoax. The animal is best described as a hodgepodge of more familiar species: the duck (bill and webbed feet), beaver (tail), and otter (body and fur). Males are also venomous. They have sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe.

 



Platypuses hunt underwater, where they swim gracefully by paddling with their front webbed feet and steering with their hind feet and beaverlike tail. Folds of skin cover their eyes and ears to prevent water from entering, and the nostrils close with a watertight seal. In this posture, a platypus can remain submerged for a minute or two and employ its sensitive bill to find food.


These Australian mammals are bottom feeders. They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill along with bits of gravel and mud from the bottom. All this material is stored in cheek pouches and, at the surface, mashed for consumption. Platypuses do not have teeth, so the bits of gravel help them to "chew" their meal.

On land, platypuses move a bit more awkwardly. However, the webbing on their feet retracts to expose individual nails and allow the creatures to run. Platypuses use their nails and feet to construct dirt burrows at the water's edge.

Platypus reproduction is nearly unique. It is one of only two mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs.







Females seal themselves inside one of the burrow's chambers to lay their eggs. A mother typically produces one or two eggs and keeps them warm by holding them between her body and her tail. The eggs hatch in about ten days, but platypus infants are the size of lima beans and totally helpless. Females nurse their young for three to four months until the babies can swim on their own.

Human-Chimp Genetic Differences: New Insights Into Why Humans Are More Susceptible to Cancer and Other Diseases

Ninety-six percent of a chimpanzee's genome is the same as a human's. It's the other 4 percent, and the vast differences, that pique the interest of Georgia Tech's Soojin Yi. For instance, why do humans have a high risk of cancer, even though chimps rarely develop the disease?

 
 
                         In research published in September's American Journal of Human Genetics, Yi looked at brain samples of each species. She found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, may contribute to phenotypic changes. The results also hint that DNA methylation plays an important role for some disease-related phenotypes in humans, including cancer and autism.

                       "Our study indicates that certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins," says Yi, a faculty member in the School of Biology. "Such findings, in the long term, may help to develop better therapeutic targets or means for some human diseases. "

                        DNA methylation modifies gene expression but doesn't change a cell's genetic information. To understand how it differs between the two species, Yi and her research team generated genome-wide methylation maps of the prefrontal cortex of multiple humans and chimps. They found hundreds of genes that exhibit significantly lower levels of methylation in the human brain than in the chimpanzee brain. Most of them were promoters involved with protein binding and cellular metabolic processes.

                      "This list of genes includes disproportionately high numbers of those related to diseases," said Yi. "They are linked to autism, neural-tube defects and alcohol and other chemical dependencies. This suggests that methylation differences between the species might have significant functional consequences. They also might be linked to the evolution of our vulnerability to certain diseases, including cancer."

Dyslexia-Learnig Disorder

Many children and adults have difficulties reading and writing, and the reason is not always obvious. Those who suffer from dyslexia can exhibit a variety of symptoms.

The research carried out by Begoña Díaz and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, a major step forward has been made in understanding the cause of dyslexia.

The scientists have discovered an important neural mechanism underlying dyslexia and shown that many difficulties associated with dyslexia can potentially be traced back to a malfunction of the medial geniculate body in the thalamus. The results provide an important basis for developing potential treatments.

People who suffer from dyslexia have difficulties with identifying speech sounds in spoken language. For example, while most children are able to recognise whether two words rhyme even before they go to school, dyslexic children often cannot do this until late primary school age. Those affected suffer from dyslexia their whole lives. However, there are also always cases where people can compensate for their dyslexia. "This suggests that dyslexia can be treated. We are therefore trying to find the neural causes of this learning disability in order to create a basis for improved treatment options," says Díaz.
 
Between five and ten percent of the world's children suffer from dyslexia, yet very little is known about its causes. Even though those affected do not lack intelligence or schooling, they have difficulties in reading, understanding and explaining individual words or entire texts. The researchers showed that dyslexic adults have a malfunction in a structure that transfers auditory information from the ear to the cortex is a major cause of the impairment: the medial geniculate body in the auditory thalamus does not process speech sounds correctly. "This malfunction at a low level of language processing could percolate through the entire system. This explains why the symptoms of dyslexia are so varied," says Díaz.
 
Under the direction of Katharina von Kriegstein, the researchers conducted two experiments in which several volunteers had to perform various speech comprehension tasks. When affected individuals performed tasks that required the recognition of speech sounds, as compared to recognize the voices that pronounced the same speech, magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) recordings showed abnormal responses in the area around the medial geniculate body. In contrast, no differences were apparent between controls and dyslexic participants if the tasks involved only listening to the speech sounds without having to perform a specific task. "The problem, therefore, has nothing to do with sensory processing itself, but with the processing involved in speech recognition," says Díaz. No differences could be ascertained between the two test groups in other areas of the auditory signalling path.

The findings of the Leipzig scientists combine various theoretical approaches, which deal with the cause of dyslexia and, for the first time, bring together several of these theories to form an overall picture. "Recognising the cause of a problem is always the first step on the way to a successful treatment," says Díaz. The researchers' next project is now to study whether current treatment programmes can influence the medial geniculate body in order to make learning to read easier for everyone in the long term.

Marine Cloud Brightening to avoid Global Warming

Even though it sounds like science fiction, researchers are taking a second look at a controversial idea that uses futuristic ships to shoot salt water high into the sky over the oceans, creating clouds that reflect sunlight and thus counter global warming.





University of Washington atmospheric physicist Rob Wood describes a possible way to run an experiment to test the concept on a small scale 

The theory behind so-called marine cloud brightening is that adding particles, in this case sea salt, to the sky over the ocean would form large, long-lived clouds. Clouds appear when water forms around particles. Since there is a limited amount of water in the air, adding more particles creates more, but smaller, droplets.

"It turns out that a greater number of smaller drops has a greater surface area, so it means the clouds reflect a greater amount of light back into space," Wood said. That creates a cooling effect on Earth.
Marine cloud brightening is part of a broader concept known as geoengineering which encompasses efforts to use technology to manipulate the environment. 
Wood and his colleagues propose trying a small-scale experiment to test feasibility and begin to study effects. The test should start by deploying sprayers on a ship or barge to ensure that they can inject enough particles of the targeted size to the appropriate elevation, Wood and a colleague wrote in the report. An airplane equipped with sensors would study the physical and chemical characteristics of the particles and how they disperse.

The next step would be to use additional airplanes to study how the cloud develops and how long it remains. The final phase of the experiment would send out five to 10 ships spread out across a 100 kilometer, or 62 mile, stretch. The resulting clouds would be large enough so that scientists could use satellites to examine them and their ability to reflect light.


Wood said there is very little chance of long-term effects from such an experiment. Based on studies of pollutants, which emit particles that cause a similar reaction in clouds, scientists know that the impact of adding particles to clouds lasts only a few days.

Still, such an experiment would be unusual in the world of climate science, where scientists observe rather than actually try to change the atmosphere.

Wood notes that running the experiment would advance knowledge around how particles like pollutants impact the climate, although the main reason to do it would be to test the geoengineering idea.
A phenomenon that inspired marine cloud brightening is ship trails: clouds that form behind the paths of ships crossing the ocean, similar to the trails that airplanes leave across the sky. Ship trails form around particles released from burning fuel.

But in some cases ship trails make clouds darker. "We don't really know why that is," Wood said.
Despite increasing interest from scientists like Wood, there is still strong resistance to cloud brightening.

"It's a quick-fix idea when really what we need to do is move toward a low-carbon emission economy, which is turning out to be a long process.

10 Absurd Laws From Around the World

the rules which govern all nations universally (exempting an interesting few). They protect ordinary citizens and provide consequences to those who break them, providing order so that the country may be stable and not anarchic. There are, however, an abundant amount of countries with laws that are just downright ridiculous, ranging from the United States to Swaziland. I present to you the top ten lists of absurdly ridiculous laws, in no precise order, from ten different countries.

10. China

One Child Policy

I am fairly certain that this will be the most well-known law on this list, for it has received much controversy. Put into effect in 1987, the law hoped to slow and even decrease China’s vast population of more than 1.3 billion. The law places a heavy tax on couples who choose to have more than one child. Debate rages on the ethnics of the law, supporters stating that China has taken a great step in targeting the overpopulation issue in, not only its own country, but in the world. Detractors, however, believe that restricting couples ability to raise a family of less than what they would like is morally wrong, and that abortion has increased because of parents wanting to have male offspring. Numerous groups have fought for its repeal, and only time will tell what the future brings.

9.Greece

 

Banning of Electronic Games

This law was first passed on September 3, 2002, and at first only illustrated the banning of video games in Internet Cafes as a way to combat illegal gambling, but as of December 8, 2003, it has been “revised” to include the banning of all electronic games. The reason was that lawmakers concluded that it would be too difficult to distinguish illicit gambling games from other harmless games, like online chess. I couldn’t imagine this law being implemented in my home of the United States, in which teenagers are infected with the “first-person shooter epidemic,” in which franchises like Halo and Call of Duty have sold millions of copies. However, other people have formed groups like the Mothers Against Video Game Addiction and Violence (MAVAV), which aim to have electronic games banned in countries, like the United States, believing that the increased violence in modern games increases instability and crime among young kids and adolescents.

8.France

No pig may be called Napoleon by its Owner

Yes, the great French general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, responsible for conquering most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), before finally being bested at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington. The French had the utmost respect for him, and it is thought that George Orwell’s famous short story, Animal Farm, in which the pig representing Stalin was named Napoleon, launched the laws publication. Even in France, the pig is often referred to as “Caesar” rather than “Napoleon” in the book, but this is more due to Napoleon being represented as Stalin rather than being represented as a pig. Today, however, many people consider the law a joke and hardly anyone respects it, let alone know it exists.

7.Germany 

Pillows are Labeled as “Passive Weapons”

Hmmm, if attacked by a thug, would you rather be assaulted with a knife or a pillow? As for myself, I would choose a pillow, yet in Germany they seem to think otherwise, in which pillows are labeled “passive weapons.” Perhaps if filled with rocks or used for suffocation maybe? In the meantime, however, I prefer to choose a gun as self-defense rather than a fluffy sack.

6.Israel

Picking your nose is Prohibited on the Sabbath

Ah yes, the nation of Israel, formed shortly after WWII, in 1948, as a place where Jews could reside without being persecuted. The country is internationally famous as being tough and resilient, fighting near constant war with its neighbors for nearly its entire existence. It is centered around key issues such as the rights of the Palestinians, and is the source of much controversy. Well, back to the law, a rabbi is legally allowed to, and often does, prohibit church-goers from picking their noses during the Sabbath. This law exists, not so much because of it being disgusting (although that is obviously a contributing factor), but also in that it is believed that the potential bleeding caused by the loss of nasal hair may result in violation of the religious code of sanctity. Thus, the law is only directed to believers of the Jewish faith, exempting ordinary citizens.

5.Swaziland

Forbidding Girls to Wear Pants

Swaziland is listed as one of the world’s absolute poorest and most poverty stricken countries, in which the average lifespan is between 30-35 years old. The people are suppressed by corrupt governmental control and a tyrannical and power hungry “king” (dictator), the current one being King Mswati III, who has passed a number of bizarre laws in an attempt to reestablish “traditional values” (aka patriarchic society), in which girls are unequal and considered inferior to their male counterparts. Thus, women are forbidden to wear clothing resembling menswear, and if one is caught in public displaying pants, they are subject to having them forcibly ripped off of them by soldiers, and humiliated.

4.USA/California

Animals Publicly Mating

That’s right, animals are prohibited from publicly mating with each other within 1,500 feet of any tavern, school or church. I selected a strange law from California because it happens to be the state I live in. What I wonder is how this law is enforced, and why this would be a concern with our citizens or local school children. I have never yet had the sudden urge to view animals mating during church, and I have yet to see any kind of “guards” or “regulators” who would be responsible for keeping animal couples from engaging within 1,500 feet of a school. As a resident of California, I can say that this law is, overall, just ridiculous and ignored by the people.

3.Philippines

License Plates Law

This law is very interesting in that it is so absurdly specific. It states that Cars whose license plates end with a 1 or 2 are not allowed on the roads on Monday, 3 or 4 on Tuesday, 5 or 6 on Wednesday, 7 or 8 on Thursday, and 9 or 0 on Friday. I can’t possibly understand what would be the goal behind the makings of this law, and how it would be implemented and enforced. Its logic has to do with some kind of identification and status procedure, but the law is so subtle and irrelevant it was difficult to do in-depth research on.

2.Japan

Honor Law of Marriage

This law isn’t so much “absurdly ridiculous” in the sense of others on this list, but it is surely considered very strange by most readers (especially American) and truly depicts the intense respect and honor Japanese people give to their family. This law illustrates that an elder brother, by law and honor, can formally ask for his younger brother’s girlfriend’s hand in marriage, and both must agree to it. Surprisingly, there are many laws similar to this in other Asian countries and displays how the Asian people still have not let go of the thousand-year tradition of respecting your elders.

1.United Kingdom

Death In parliament

Great Britain is famous throughout Europe for its number of ridiculous laws and taxes, dating back hundreds of years. Over 2,000 laws have been repealed since its long history. Justice Secretary Jack Straw has been on a crusade to get rid of all of Britain’s most absurd laws, and one of his top priorities was this one, in which it was illegal to die in Parliament. This law, which as of now is no longer in affect (wonder why) was internationally criticized and laughed at for being pointless, as there could obviously be no punishment, and if a government official were to abruptly collapse from a heart attack far from the exit and need urgent help, the paramedics would first move him outside before operating on him? In case he died in the building? God Save the Queen, it is no longer in affect now.

Motion Induced Blindness (Car Drivers Beware of it)

Motion Induced Blindness

In a motor accident, wherein a speeding car hits a slower moving vehicle coming from the side, the speeding car drivers often swear that they just didn’t see the vehicle coming from the left or right.

Well, they aren’t lying. They really don’t see the vehicle coming from the side, in spite... of broad daylight. This phenomenon on the car drivers’ part is known as “Motion

 Induced Blindness”. It is unbelievable but it is true, and it is definitely frightening. Armed forces pilots are taught about motion induced blindness during training, because it happens faster at high speeds; and to some extent it is applicable to car drivers also, especially the fast ones. So, if
you drive a car, please read this carefully.

Once airborne, pilots are taught to alternate their gaze between scanning the horizon and scanning their instrument panel, and never to fix their gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. They are taught to continually keep their heads on a swivel and their eyes always moving. Because, if you fix your gaze on one object long enough while you yourself are in motion, your peripheral vision goes blind. That’s why it is called motion induced blindness. For fighter pilots, this is the only way to survive in air; not only during aerial combat, but from peacetime hazards like mid-air collisions as well.

Till about three decades ago, this “heads on swivel & eyes moving” technique was the only way to spot other aircraft in the skies around.

Now-a-days they have on-board radars, but the old technique still holds good.
Let me give you a small demonstration of motion induced blindness. This is the same demonstration that is used for trainee pilots in classrooms before they even go near an aircraft. Just click on the link below. You will see a revolving array of blue crosses on a black background. There is a flashing green dot in the center and three fixed yellow dots around it. If you fix your gaze on the green dot for more than a few seconds, the yellow dots will disappear at random…, either singly, or in pairs, or all three together. In reality, the yellow dots are always there. Just watch the yellow dots for some time to ensure that they don’t go anywhere!

http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

(You can alter the background color or the rpm of the array by clicking the appropriate buttons.

So, if you are driving at a high speed on a highway and if you fix your gaze on the road straight ahead, you will not see a car, a scooter, a buggy, a bicycle, a buffalo or even a human being approaching from the side. Now reverse the picture. If you are crossing a road on foot and you see a speeding car approaching…, there’s a 90% chance that the driver isn’t seeing you, because his/her peripheral vision may be blind! And you may be in that blind zone!

Giant Rat-Eating Plant Discovered in the Philippines

A carnivorous pitcher plant that eats rats and insects has been discovered in the Philippines and named after Sir David Attenborough.

 

Rat-eating plant: The team of botanists, led by British experts Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, found the plant on Mount Victoria in the Philippines.

The plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is believed to be the largest meat-eating shrub, dissolving rats with acid-like enzymes.

The team of botanists, led by British experts Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robinson, found the plant on Mount Victoria in the Philippines.

They were inspired to search for the plant after word that it is existed came from two Christian missionaries who described seeing a large carnivorous pitcher in 2000 after they climbed the mountain.

Mr McPherson, of Poole Dorset, said: "The plant produces spectacular traps which catch not only insects, but also rodents. It is remarkable that it remained undiscovered until the 21st century."

The team, which found the plant in 2007 following a two-month expedition, published details of their discovery in the Botanical Journal of Linnean Society earlier this year following a three-year study of all 120 species of pitcher plant.

Awesome Paper Art.

Jeff Nishinaka is greatly known for his stunning paper sculptures. Living in sunny California LA, Jeff has 28 years of professional experience. Nishinaka attended UCLA and graduated from the prestigious Art Center College of Design, there he discovered paper sculpture art. Ever since, Jeff has worked with companies suck as Sprint, Visa, Matel, Coca Cola, Paramount Pictures, and many more. Having a high client profile like that you can bet that Nishinaka is the go to guy whenever you need a paper sculpture done.“Paper to me is a living breathing thing that has a life of its own. I just try to redirect that energy into something that feels animated and alive” said Nishinaka. Check out these stunning sculptures!

Facts about Human Brain

Human brain if the most interesting and complicated organ. And these facts only prove this statement.