Tethys from Cassini

Another spectacular view of Saturn's moons, this time Thetis, photographed from the Cassini spacecraft as it approached in 2005

Via APOD

Public Beta of Google Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux

Google finally decided to launch a public beta of its browser, Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux. Many things work the PC version, as each tab is a separate process, the themes to change the look of the browser, but things like extensions yet.

Chrome is free and can be downloaded now.

Steve Ballmer in BSOD

Probably I wonder who did not use Windows 95 or 98 ever crossed the famous Blue Screen of Death all going to raise my hand at that time because it was something normal.

a user decided to use images of this blue screen randomly selected to create a mosaic of the famous picture of where CEO Steve Ballmer of Microsoft is sticking his tongue.

The Heart Nebula Bleeds

The so-called Heart Nebula lives up to its name, in this lush new image that an amateur astrophotographer posted on a new Flickr account. We've never seen nebula pictures this rich-looking. And just wait until you see the Rosette Nebula.

Check out more of these incredible space pictures over at the photographer's Flickr stream.

Repository Makes Newer Ubuntu Apps Easily Available

GetDeb's web site has long been the go-to spot for Ubuntu (and Debian, and Mint) users to grab the latest copies of software not yet released by their official repositories. Now GetDeb makes it even easier with a repository.

By adding GetDeb's repository to your Linux system, you'll get access to pre-compiled .deb packages as soon as they're available on GetDeb's site. That means apps like the GIMP graphics editor, Songbird, and other software that hits a major release between Ubuntu's six-month release cycle are available to you just as soon as someone's nice enough to compile the newest code.

GetDeb's repository is free to use and install. Hit the link for instructions on adding it to your 9.04 or 9.10 Ubuntu system; users of older Ubuntu systems can still grab packages at GetDeb's legacy web site.

Source: Nancib

Man 'finishes' World of Warcraft!

Taiwanese man has been recognized as the first player to "finish" World of Warcraft. His character is called Little Gray and was the first to add all the achievements of the game: 986.

To achieve this, this player has killed 390,895 creatures have accumulated 7,255,528,878 points of damage, completed 5906 missions (involving quests 14.62 half day), has exceeded 405 and sponsored dungeons to 11 players.

That yes, the most passionate fans have already jumped on him, then did not score an achievement, entitled BB King, tied to a specific achievement, and what this player has done is take advantage of a programming failure to accumulate additional extra achievement .

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game world's most famous just turned five and still has a huge community of players, topping 11 million worldwide. In 2010 we will launch the new game expansion Cataclysm.

Source: Computer and Videogames

In the infinity of space

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is seen from the International Space Station Expedition 21, after their separation on November 25.

Atlantis and the STS-129 landed without incident on 27 November.

Source: Nasa Image of the Day

The tax becomes effective technology in Argentina

The new tax became effective technology today throughout Argentina.

While for months being discussed, and it was during November that 26,539 law became official, the new governing amendments from today, according to Article 4 of the Act.

What changes introduced by this law? The effect varies from product to product. In the worst case, there will be teams that will lose its promotional aliquot of VAT (10.5% to pay now pay 21%) and shall be taxed at the Internal Revenue by 17%. This applies to all electronic products not manufactured in the province of Tierra del Fuego.

What this law will achieve? Since the government say will result in import substitution process that will achieve increased use of Argentina. According to critics, the increase will meet the end user will be between 30 and 37%.

Many electronic equipment sold in Argentina and were more expensive than elsewhere in the region. From today, the gap increased. This will mean less access to technology for end users, educational institutions and businesses. It is very striking that such a law has been adopted with 126 votes positive, 7 negative and 54 abstentions.

The Haiseiden for Matsuo Basho

Traveling to Japan? If you’re in Iga Ueno, between Osaka and Nagoya in Mie prefecture, visit the The Haiseiden (Poet’s Memorial Hall), a Hakkakudo (an octagonal circular hall) and shrine constructed in 1942 commemorating the 300th anniversary of the haiku poet Matsuo Basho.

Basho, born in 1644, is famous for having established the highly artistic Japanese poetry (haiku) and traveling around whole country. An Igayaki life-size seated figure of the Basho is enshrined in the hall and is open to public only on Basho Festival which has been held yearly on October 12, Basho’s death anniversary.

Pidgin 2.6.4

A couple of days, Pidgin has released a new version (2.6.4) of its popular instant messaging software.

Today thanks to the work of people getdeb, we have packages available for install Karmic.

For a list of changes in this version you can visit this link.

Thunderbird 3

Its Web-browsing vulpine sibling may get all the attention, but Mozilla's other product, the Thunderbird open-source e-mail client, has its own devout following, and has now taken flight with a new version. Thunderbird 2 was strictly for power users, but version 3 changes all that. It's as simple as pie, having cut down on the number of toolbar options and simplified mail account setup. It also adds tabs and archiving. Based on the same code platform as Firefox, Thunderbird also boasts a wealth of add-ins to customize and extend its capabilities. Unfortunately, it still leaves business users out in the cold, as it lacks Exchange support—something that even Apple's new OS, Snow Leopard, offers.

Nvidia Ion-powered Asus EEE PC 1201N

Although it’s not set to go on sale in the UK until early next year, Electric Pig managed to get their hands on the higly-anticipated Asus Eee PC 1201N.

As Electric Pig notes, the 1201N is somewhat of a beefed-up 1005HA. It sports a larger 6 cell, 5200mAh battery, HDMI output, and a 12″ 1366×768 display. In their initial handling, the 1201N didn’t disappoint – not surprising with the dual-core Atom 330 and Nvidia ION internals.

Check out the full unboxing photos at Electric Pig!