PhysOrg.com

Some Web sites remain blocked at Beijing Olympics
(AP) -- Some Web sites remained inaccessible to reporters as competition got under way Saturday at the Beijing Olympics.

---

Barbadians slam discovery, naming of tiny snake
(AP) -- A small snake has sparked a big debate in Barbados. Residents of the wealthy Caribbean nation have been heating up blogs and clogging radio airwaves to vent their anger at a U.S. scientist, who earlier this week announced his "discovery" of the world's smallest snake and named it "Leptotyphlops carlae," after his wife Carla.

---

IOC being grilled on Internet censorship
(AP) -- IOC president Jacques Rogge was accused of backtracking on promises of press freedoms Saturday and some Internet sites remained blocked less than a week before the Beijing Games begin.

---

With automated tagging, Web links can surprise
(AP) -- It wasn't what anyone expected to see while perusing a news article. But there, in the final paragraph of an online story about the call girl involved in the Eliot Spitzer scandal, Yahoo's automated system was inviting readers to browse through photos of underage girls.

---

Internet-savvy voters shake up US presidential election
Videos shared on YouTube and blogs scrutinizing candidates are part of an Internet-age revolution shaking up the US presidential election and sweeping in a new political era.

---

Experimental phone network uses virtual sticky notes
The rapid convergence of social networks, mobile phones and global positioning technology has given Duke University engineers the ability to create something they call "virtual sticky notes," site-specific messages that people can leave for others to pick up on their mobile phones.

---

The Nearest Thing to Mind Reading
Instead of focusing on personal Web sites and blogs, UA psychology researchers used stream of consciousness writings in their research to determine a more accurate measure of individual personlity traits.

---

Probing question: Are print newspapers dying?
It's a morning routine repeated across the country: Before heading off to work, you sit down at the table with a cup of coffee, a bowl of cereal and the local paper spread out in front of you. But as the Internet becomes a leading source for news, what are the chances that the newsprint on your fingers will be replaced by the feel of the laptop keys?

---

Make Ethanol in Your Own Backyard
A Silicon Valley start-up called E-Fuel is showing exactly how ethanol can live up to its name as "the people´s fuel." The company recently announced that it will soon start selling a home ethanol system, the E-Fuel 100 MicoFueler, which will allow anyone to make ethanol from sugar, water, yeast, and electricity in their own backyard.

---

Instant messaging -- a new language?
For many adults over the age of 30, the former groupings of letters would seem incoherent, but for a newer generation of technologically-savvy young adults it can say a lot.

---

...