First, some background. They based their methodology around three groups: zombies, those susceptible to zombie attacks, and those who are unaffected (dead zombies). They based their model around zombies who infect humans with saliva via bites, and walk in slow, irregular strides. They also allowed a 24 hour incubation period from the moment of infection to complete zombification.

What did they learn? Well if left unaddressed, a zombie attack on a sizable city would wipe out the population in a matter of 4-8 hours. If you tried to quarantine the zombies, it would essentially have no effect on the outcome because the zombies would inevitably escape, or infect the humans attempting to quarantine zombies. And if you tried to generate a zombie antidote, you'd still lose a lot of people in the process of creating the antidote, and it wouldn't revert the zombies back to a dead state, which means they could possibly infect people in other areas.

The best solution? The only hope of wiping out a possible zombie invasion is to attack the undead in focused, strategic attacks that progressively increase in intensity. This will help address the growing number of undead in the process. But even then it would prove difficult to emerge victorious, as it would take 10 days worth of heavy fighting to quell the outbreak.

But luckily, you don't have to worry about any of this because some sap mathematically proved it would be impossible for zombies to exist (along with vampires). Something about how they would feast themselves into oblivion. [University of Ottawa (PDF) via io9]

From 8:00AM to 8:59 AM on an average Fall day in 2007 the NYC Subway carried 388,802 passengers into the CBD [city business district] on 370 trains over 22 tracks. In other words, a train carrying 1,050 people crossed into the CBD every 6 seconds.

Absolutely mindblowing. Now, off I go to get a bagel. [Frumination—Thanks David]

Keep in mind, the data is by no means scientific. There were no controls in the polling process, meaning that it's quite possible for the average Kindle Forum reader to be over 40 (or something exactly the opposite), while the average Kindle buyer is of a complately different age group.

Still, it's a staggering number that's tough to completely write off as fictional. Kindles are obviously successful in their niche, but for most gadgets to take over the mainstream, they need to have a level of universal appeal that, sadly, supports tweens, mid-20s jerks such as myself and all those 40-year-olds who just CLAIM to be in their 30s during anonymous online polling. [Kindle Culture via Gear Diary]

Apple, the best-ranked hardware manufacturer, ranked 23rd on the list out of 113, which is fine, but nothing to write home about. HP and Compaq took the 72nd and 74th spots, respectively, and Dell was ranked all the way down at number 93. The study's author suspects Microsoft may be at fault for the PC manufacturers' low scores, though to be fair, this seems to be drawn from the "Ease of Use" rubric, which could refer either to hardware or software.

None of the hardware manufacturers came close to the top, however. Even Apple barely made it into the "Good" category, whereas retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble easily scored "Excellent."

Wireless and internet service providers scored painfully low. Charter Communications, an ISP, ranked last out of the whole group, and both Comcast and Verizon ranked in the bottom third. On the wireless side, AT&T and Verizon were crushed by, surprise surprise, Alltel and T-Mobile. But even Alltel only hit number 48. Check out the basic list below. [CNN]

Despite this being one of the foggiest of the foggy statistics to track (quantifying a black/gray market is pretty tough), the IFPI's 2008 report (basically, they're the international RIAA) does estimate that only 5% of the music we acquire online is purchased legitimately. I mean, it makes sense to me, but it's good to put that number in perspective some time.

How about a New Year's resolution to support the bands you love by buying something from them, directly if possible? I know my music karma could use a positive jolt. [IFPI Report (PDF) via BBC, CrunchGear]

But I am not married. The figures are from CEA and Best Buy respectively, and were presented at a panel at CES on Sex and Electronics and how to design gadgets for women. Their list of how to improve gadgets for women are incidentally not all that different from a list of improvements that all gadget makers need to adhere by, regardless of the stereotypical sex their marketing team is targeting in sales.
[Fast Company]

Perhaps a little more eyebrow-raising is Singapore's place on the list, which beat out South Korea by five robots per 10K workers for the number two spot. What?

First off, Singapore is tiny and isn't really known for its manufacturing capabilities...where are these robots and what are they doing? Spying on the people to make sure they aren't chewing gum or something, I bet.

Secondly, what gives South Korea? You make all this fuss about working on robotic soldiers, deploying robotic teachers, campaigning for robot rights and even frickin' creating a robot land... and you're in a paltry third place? For shame! [Spectrum Ieee]

According to a study by the Ponemon Institute and Dell, only 30 percent or so lost laptops are ever recovered. Los Angeles' LAX airport reported having the most lost laptops out of any other airport, with 1,200 going missing every week. The most likely place for you to lose your computer is at security checkpoints and departure gates—so no matter how many beers you downed this weekend, try to be a little more alert while going through those areas, yeah? [Newlaunches]

picture credit: Mike Reger

The big N anticipates it will shift 28.0 million DS units from now till March 2009, which is a reduction in the numbers sold in the previous year, where 30.3 millions units made their way to sweaty palms everywhere. Personally, I think Nintendo have their figures wrong; it'll be 28,000,001 units, as I left my DS on a flight I took yesterday. Life sucks. [Associated Press]

So is this true? Do you see your computer more than your significant other? Do you use your computer as a stand-in for the significant other you wish you had? Fess up, patheticos. At least some of you out there are making up this majority. –Adam Frucci

Brief: Americans prefer computer to spouse, survey says [ComputerWorld]

$791 - amount each consumer is expected to spend this year
$451.34 - will be spent on family
$99.22 - spent on himself or herself
87% - Americans who believe holidays should be more about family and caring for others, not giving and receiving gifts
$85.60 - spent on friends
79% - do not believe it's necessary to spend a lot of money in order to have a fulfilling and enjoyable holiday
47% - people who say they'd toss a holiday fruitcake in the trash without delay
47% - consumers predicted to shop online this holiday season
$44.52 - spent on people like clergy, teachers, and baby sitters
$30.57 - spent on greeting cards and postage
25 - number of years that fruitcakes can age and still be enjoyed, as long as they have the right preservatives and are stored in tightly closed tins
$22.40 - spent on co-workers
17 - number of decorated trees in the White House
12 - number of drinks required to create a hangover like this one
11% - people who say they would make time to re-gift a fruitcake
4% - Americans who don't celebrate Christmas at all
1:1 - ratio of the density of the average fruitcake to the density of mahogany – Charlie White

Sources: Center for a New American Dream, BIGResearch, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Harper's Index, The Joy of Cooking, Department of Defense, Unity Marketing, National Christmas Tree Association, USDA Economic Research Service, US Census, US Department of Commerce, Charity Navigator, Giving Institute, The White House, Gallup, US Postal Service.

Counting on Christmas Statistics [Christmas Spirit]

• Best.Switch.Video.Ever
Star Wars and Steve Jobs. What's not to like? Besides Star Wars?

• Transparent OLED On the Way
Minority Report-style interfaces coming to a reality near you.

• Beer Pouring Robot, Finally!
We made a beer-pouring robot once out of meat and brawn.

• Live From CES: Atom Photo Swirl
Featuring the phrase, 'Invisible quantum dwarf.'