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Samsung hasn't yet abased itself to competing head-on with the lowest price netbooks out there, but its Samsung Go can at least vaguely keep up with the times spec-wise, notching up from the N310 to the N315 model name in the process. The $429 rubber-clad netbook has been bumped to an Atom N450 processor, along with Windows 7 Starter, 1GB of RAM and Intel GMA 1350 graphics. Just in case you were scared of getting bored, Samsung and The New York Times are keeping up with their chummy relationship, pre-installing Times Reader 2.0 on the laptop.

Samsung Go N315 grabs a Pinetrail processor originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Costing just a cent to produce and requiring just a single drop of blood to function, this paper chip, designed by chemist George Whitesides, can diagnose HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and more. What substance makes this tiny marvel possible? Comic-book ink.

The water-resistant ink pushes the blood into the different paper channels, each of which contain chemicals that react with the blood and change color to indicate the presence and severity of the various diseases.

In developing countries where technology for diagnosing diseases needs to be cheap and easy for individuals to use themselves, it's hard to imagine a test simpler than Whitesides' "zero cost diagnostics". The Harvard chemist presented his idea at a recent TED conference and summarized it in a video for CNN:

In his presentations, Whitesides explains how the paper tests could be produced cheaply in great numbers by inexpensive wax printers and proposes that individuals could send their results to doctors with cheap camera phones. Solutions for third world problems are often weighed down by their ambition and complexity, but the advantages of Whitesides' work rests in its simplicity. [CNN via PopSci via Inhabitat

It's tough to completely screw up painting a room—dump the paint on the floor maybe?—but painting a room really well isn't that easy, either. Home blog Re-Nest's guide to painting a room efficiently offers a few expert tips.

Re-Nest's guide to room-painting guide covers everything from making sure to remember to remove all the fixture and switch covers before getting into painting to the importance of edging in the areas your going to paint for nice even color and clean edges. If you've helped paint a room before but never done the cutting in part, it's worth a read:

Cutting In: This is the most time consuming, but most important step to ensure a good looking paint job. When using the brush we just dip it directly into the paint can rather than pouring into a separate container to minimize wasted paint, but never dip a brush more than 1/3 then length of the brush or else you'll risk ruining the brush because it will be very difficult to clean. When handling the brush, hold it as you would a pencil for maximum control. Press the brush lightly against the surface, then, as you move the brush, add just enough pressure to make the bristles fan away from the direction of your brushstroke. The bent bristles and the pressure will release a fine bead of paint that will spread perfectly along the edge you are creating.

Beginning at the corner of the room, use your angled brush to cut in (also known as edging), applying a thick band (2-3" wide) of paint along the perimeter where you're cutting in. Do this in 4-5" long sections to ensure precision and a sufficient coating of paint. You will need to cut-in around all trim, ceiling/wall intersections, inside corners, and anywhere there is a change in color.

Check out the link below for the full guide, and if you consider yourself a bit of an expert hand at room painting, share your expertise in the comments.

If you need to buy a new copy of Microsoft Office but don't want an instantly outdated suite when Office 2010 is released later this year, you're in luck: If you buy Office 2007 any time between March 5 and September 30 of this year, you automatically qualify for a free upgrade to Office 2010 when it's released. [Microsoft via Digital Inspiration]

This week's New York Times Magazine looks at China's human-flesh searches, a widespread practice in which "netizens" systematically track and harass individuals ranging from adulterers to corrupt local officials. But the searches tread a fine line between justice and revenge.

To anyone familiar with 4chan, its hard to imagine internet vigilantes residing anywhere besides the darkest corners of the web. In China, however, human-flesh search engines are a common occurrence, occupying a central role in the nation's internet culture.

The human-flesh searches are "not just a search by humans but also a search for humans"—humans that have in some way incurred the wrath of the anonymous bulletin board mob. One target, in an act of undeniable cruelty, killed a kitten on video (she was publicly shamed and forced out of her job). Another was singled out after criticizing the government's response to the Sichuan earthquakes (she was publicly shamed and forced out of her University).

This is where things get sticky. When, if ever, is it OK for the anonymous masses to dole out punishment for wrongdoing? What offense warrants this type of "public harassment, mass intimidation and populist revenge," as the article suggests it can quickly become. It's easy to see how a group could feel like they had the right to take retributive action after seeing a kitten killed on video, but it's much harder to make a case for searching out an anonymous dissident.

As the article points out, the rest of the world tends to fixate on issues of censorship when they consider China's internet culture. But reading about human-flesh search engines and their prominence, it seems like the internet activity that's not being censored is just as interesting. [New York Times Magazine]

Image credit Kai Hendry

Coveting a beautiful new netbook but can't quite manage the $399 for a new HP Mini 5101/5102? Maybe this knock-off would fit your budget, looking more or less indistinguishable from the real thing. The ports have a slightly different layout (with some of them looking a wee bit askew) and the red hue here doesn't have quite the same lustre of the real thing -- but it is awfully close, right down to the chrome HP logo on the lid. How much would you pay for this piece of impressioned gadgetry? How about $337? Sure, the difference is enough to cover a copy of Heavy Rain, but could you live with yourself typing your e-mail every day on a lie? Beyond that, we have a suspicion this thing wouldn't last much longer than the Origami Killer's victims.

Keepin' it real fake: HP Mini 5101 knockoff is almost as good, almost as expensive as the real thing originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is a glacier "bleeding" delicious primordial ooze (high-res shot HERE) it picked up a couple million years ago. You all know what that means, don't you? I'm gonna chug a Big Gulp-full and turn into a ninja turtle!

Roughly 2 million years ago, the Taylor Glacier sealed beneath it a small body of water which contained an ancient community of microbes. Trapped below a thick layer of ice, they have remained there ever since, isolated inside a natural time capsule. Evolving independently of the rest of the living world, these microbes exist without heat, light, or oxygen, and are essentially the definition of "primordial ooze." The trapped lake has very high salinity and is rich in iron, which gives the waterfall its red color. A fissure in the glacier allows the subglacial lake to flow out, forming the falls without contaminating the ecosystem within.

Interesting. Tell me -- you think there's any dino-juice in there? Haha, what do you mean dinosaurs died out over 65 million years ago? ....THE EARTH'S THAT OLD?! Antarctic Glacier Has Five-story Blood-red Waterfall of Primordial Ooze [good] Thanks to Katie, who agrees we should freeze the stuff and sell it as ice cubes for people who want to morph into other things.