Free Republic

The old song lyrics “I need a place to hide away” traditionally have applied to the bathroom in conventional culture. It was the one comfort zone in which to be alone. Don’t count on it. The New York Times says attitudes about privacy are changing, and cutting-edge bathrooms have translucent glass or acrylic walls that make the interior visible from other rooms. Joel Sanders, an architect and professor of architecture at Yale, has designed several see-through bathrooms. The shame about the body is not a factor for many clients, he told the Times. Ideas about privacy are more relaxed. Some...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2006 – In the old Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back," Luke Skywalker gets a new, fully functional right hand after Darth Vader chops his off with a light saber. Today, thanks to work under way through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, servicemembers who have lost limbs in the line of duty could experience something almost as revolutionary in the years ahead. Among the cutting-edge technology DARPA is developing is a highly advanced, mechanical arm that works and looks just like a human one, Jan Walker, a DARPA spokesperson, told the American Forces Press Service....

BEIJING — Nineteen finalists in China's first beauty pageant for women who have had plastic surgery took to the stage Sunday in a parade of glittering gowns and plunging necklines. The contestants, heavily made up with hair expertly teased, waved and posed as they were presented to reporters before a week of preparations for the Dec. 18 final.

Cupertino’s 64-bit desktop system and Panther OS mix beauty and exceptional performance Companies large and small routinely set their expectations of computer systems according the capabilities of Intel-based x86 computers and 32-bit Windows. We’re due for a shift in standards. Enter Apple, which got the bright idea of taking a pair of 64-bit IBM PowerPC CPUs, jacking them into server-class internal buses, and squeezing the whole thing into a desk-side tower chassis. The result, the Power Mac G5, delivers on the present need for rapid computing, deep multitasking, and responsive user interfaces — as well as the future need (current...