WOOF Clan | BF 2142 | Skyrim

Graphics-chip manufacturer Nvidia ( NVDA ) is suffering through a rough week.

The company announced Wednesday that it expected its chip sales to be weak in the second quarter, due to sluggish demand from China and Europe. Also weighing on results, Nvidia warned, were high memory costs.

Some computers come equipped with graphics chips integrated into their motherboard; these systems are less profitable for graphics processing unit companies like Nvidia and ATI - now owned by AMD. Integrated-GPU PCs may be growing in popularity and pressuring Nvidia's earnings.

Rumors about Research In Motion's iPad competitor started swirling a couple of days ago when RIM registered Blackpad.com, but now Bloomberg has received additional information from two sources said to be close to the project.
The Blackpad is expected to launch in November with specifications and prices very similar to those of the iPad, although it is thought that RIM's device will allow tethering to your BlackBerry for a 3G connection.
Several big questions remain. Most importantly whether RIM has managed to hone their touchscreen chops after the not so impressive Storm, and whether the promised new OS will be an improvement over the current one. Then there's Apples giant app store to compete with.
We'll bring you any updates as we hear about them.

Bloomberg.com, via Apple Insider

Futurists have been promising us flying cars for decades, but most of the proposals we've seen have looked pretty lame. Most are tiny aircraft with folding wings and small road wheels, making them pretty lousy both on the road and in the sky.
The Maverick from Florida based I-TEC takes a completely different approach. In place of small fixed wings with limited lift, it uses a type of powered parachute called a ram-air wing, making it much easier to fly. Based on a dune buggy like vehicle, the Maverick can be converted to flying mode in a few minutes by a single person, and can take off in as little as 300 feet at 40 mph. In road-going mode the Maverick's light weight and 140-hp Subaru engine translates to an eye-opening 3.9 second 0-60-mph sprint, and a 90-mph top speed.
I-TEC says the Maverick will be available starting some time next year, and that it can be driven with a regular driver's license, or flown with a sport pilot's license. The price was not announced.

Maverick Sport, via Gizmag.com

Researchers at the University of Columbia have figured out how to get rabbits to regrow damaged bones with artificial implants. The implants are more like scaffolds, which acted as blueprints for healing. The hope is that tech could be used to help humans to the same.
The fact that the rabbits were able to regrow their joints and move around normally in as little as four weeks boggles the mind somewhat. Joints are complex parts of the body that need to be load-bearing and be able to handle a multitude of stresses.
"I wouldn't have thought in a normal weight-bearing joint that you could [replace the newly forming] cartilage while the joint is being loaded," Howard Seeherman, a chief scientific officer on the project, said. The cells of the rabbits worked into the scaffold-like implants, filling in the blanks and creating a new joint for the rabbits.
Regrowing a joint for a rabbit and a human are very different, however, according to the Technology Review:

Rabbits, particularly young ones, are also known for their regenerative abilities. Mao says the 23 rabbits used in the study were skeletally mature, and the three control rabbits--with injuries but no surgical repair--did not regrow joints. Rabbits who received the scaffold but not the growth factor saw some new growth, but not nearly as much as the ones who got the growth factor.

Still, this is a milestone in figuring out how to artificially stimulate natural healing — one that could one day see artificial hips and joints relying less on a prosthetic and more on the body's natural processes.

Technology Review, via PopSci

Denver already enjoys the presence of a beautiful international airport. Adding a rail station to that is one tall order, then, as you can't just attach any ol' block of a structure to it and call it a day. Architect Santiago Calatrava, coming up with something that really fits.
Calatrava's airport terminal will plug into the city's growing public rail service, which goes all the way into downtown Denver and also connects to hotels, retail centers and the University of Denver. The two large "wings" above the station are part of a hotel that will serve the airport.
Check it out in all its glory in the gallery below, including a scale model of the station. LINK

Via Inhabitat

Japan's Ikaros solar sail spacecraft has certainly made itself into one to watch. After a successful launch and an equally successful deployment, the ship is now showing off how it maneuvers. High tech as the ship is, its method of steering is simple and genius.
As the Ikaros moves through space, it's constantly picking up the tiniest amounts of speed as particles of light bombards its sail. This sends it spinning, though it maintains a steady course thanks to small positioning jets that fire to automatically correct its attitude.

LAS VEGAS – Researchers have uncovered new ways that criminals can spy on Internet users even if they're using secure connections to banks, online retailers or other sensitive Web sites.
The attacks demonstrated at the Black Hat conference here show how determined hackers can sniff around the edges of encrypted Internet traffic to pick up clues about what their targets are up to.
It's like tapping a telephone conversation and hearing muffled voices that hint at the tone of the conversation.
The problem lies in the way Web browsers handle Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, encryption technology, according to Robert Hansen and Josh Sokol, who spoke to a packed room of several hundred security experts.

Remember back in early June when Steve Ballmer said the Apple iPad was "just another PC"? He'd like to amend that slightly to "just another PC that's now kicking our a**."
In a meeting with analysts yesterday, Ballmer spent a fair amount of time talking about Apple's iPad and trying to explain why there are no Microsoft-based devices that remotely compare to it.

The "blah blah blah" part included a) an admission that the iPad has sold "more than I'd like them to sell," b) "we're coming full guns" to the slate market, and c) they'll be "coming when they're ready" -- so don't bother camping in line outside any Microsoft stores just yet. (Greg Packer, this means you.)

Meanwhile, the one Windows-based slate Ballmer could dig up to demo at last January's CES -- and got virtually heckled off the stage by the blogosphere afterward -- may end up not being a Windows device after all. Now that HP has gobbled up Palm, its Slate PC may run Palm's WebOS, a much more attractive tablet interface than Windows 7. Given how badly HP got jobbed by Microsoft during the whole "Vista ready" labeling debacle, I imagine this would be sweet revenge. LINK

Apple's new Magic Trackpad is a clear sign the company is serious about multitouch and gesture as the future of personal-computer navigation. And it might be right.

Almost all modern smartphones incorporate a series of swipes and taps as their interface. MacBook users have been using multitouch on their trackpads for a few years, and the Magic Trackpad is clearly an extension of that experience. LINK

Amazon has just announced a new Kindle, which can now be ordered for just $139, if you don’t need the 3G feature, which adds $50 to the reader. It may be the first time, ereaders are truly affordable for the mass market as they move away from the $200 mark and close in on $100, what is potentially the sweetspot for e-readers. Amazon refuels the pricewar in ereaders, while it also effectively defending itself against Apple’s move into ereaders with a substantially more expensive iPad. Which could work out well for Amazon, if it does not loose track of current trends and Apple’s strategy. LINK

What happens when you pump a whopping 10,000 volts of juice into a helpless watermelon? Instant watermelon salad, that's what. You'll just need to gather up the pieces from the blast radius.

Is this a waste of both electricity and perfectly good watermelons? Maybe. But if it was done in the name of science, was it really a waste? What about if it was just done in the name of seeing fun explosions?

Twitter via Make

There are a lot of pretty great iPhone games, but none of what I really, really want: old school NES and SNES games playable with real buttons. With the GPad, that's not necessarily the case.
The case slides on over the iPhone and adds all the buttons you need to really play games. The downside? For any game to work with this, it'd need to be specifically programmed for it. But come on, couldn't someone at the very least make an SNES emulator for jailbroken iPhones that works with this? You could then load it up with ROMs and really make it a portable gaming machine. Sigh. Maybe someday.

CP Design via Gadget Lab

I've gotta give Xtraordinary Adventures credit for bringing the price of a flight to space down from the $200,000 Virgin Galactic is planning on charging. But still, $95,000 is a wee bit out of my price range.
The company is now booking flights into space, which will begin in 2012, on its Lynx reusable space vehicle. You'll need to cough up a $20,000 deposit if you want to make a reservation, and you'll need to go through a four-day training period and two-day brief before the flight. It all sounds so wild and adventurous! Cut a couple of zeros off that price and we'll have a deal.

Xtraordinary Adventures via Technabob

When I first learned the price of JH Audio's 16 PRO earphones, it was all I could do to not do a spit take. A THOUSAND DOLLARS? No, actually it was $1,149, but close enough. Could such a obscene price actually be worth it? The company was kind enough to send me a pair to find out.
First, full disclosure: Every pair of these earphones is customized to the shape of the owner's ear canals, so when I say "try out," it means JH Audio created a pair of earphones specifically for my ears. They also sent them with a rock-hard protective case emblazoned with the DVICE logo, which you can see in the gallery below. Cute. LINK

The iconic alien from the classic arcade game Space Invaders could next invade your living room as a piece of furniture.
This is the Space Invaders couch by designer Igor Chak. It's a mere concept for now, but it makes some sort of sense, I think. Not that my living room is really set up for a big centerpiece like this, but hey, maybe yours is more like a haute arcade than mine.

Igor Chak via Kotaku

That's not to say that Apple has switched sides, as the company employs Nvidia chipsets and GPUs across the entire MacBook, starting with the GeForce 320M in the 13-inch MacBooks to the GeForce 330M discrete part in the MacBook Pros.
This could be a sign, however, that Apple and AMD are forming a stronger relationship. Earlier this year, rumors did the rounds that Apple may be considering using AMD CPUs in its upcoming computers. LINK

AMD has taken heat from analysts and investors since the purchase of ATI because the graphics unit has performed poorly for the most part. At one point in 2008, AMD was forced to take an $880 million write down related to ATI. AMD executives are feeling smug today with the announcement that ATI has taken the top spot in the discrete GPU market from NVIDIA

for the first time since AMD purchased the company. LINK

Tesla is no longer the sexiest green tech sports car on the market now that the Porsche 918 Spyder is being taken from concept design to real world product.

Porsche's Spyder will allow drivers to use several fueling modes including E-Drive, Hybrid, Sport Hybrid and Race Hybrid. E-Drive mode switches on the vehicle's electric engine which can run for about 16 miles. Amazingly, the car's top speed is 198 miles per hour. Of course all this eco-friendliness will come at a very wallet-unfriendly price--a whopping $630,000 a pop.

Via EGM CarTech

A team at Tokyo University has figured out how to make holograms "touchable." When you think of holograms, you probably picture your hand sliding right through them, being a projection of light and all. Here, you won't feel anything, but you certainly can interact.
At first blush, the tech seems to be little more than a trick. After all, you aren't really touching the holograms as much as you are manipulating them by placing your hand in a certain place. The ball doesn't bounce off your palm, for example — the system registers that that's where your hand is and the virtual ball react.
But think about it for a minute: this is the beginnings of a holographic interface. Imagine if in Minority Report, instead of walking up to a display and wearing gloves, Tom Cruise's character walked into a room full of floating, 3D objects and was able to manipulate them with touches and gestures. Or hey, just like our commenters have pointed out below, this could be a Star Trek holodeck in the making! LINK

We've given the Segway a pretty rough time over the years here at Dvice, mostly because it's kind of big and clunky. A sleek slimmed down version is what we really needed, and now a German company called Nolodesign has created one.
The Ewee-pt takes the Segway concept, and puts it on a strict diet. On the Ewee, your feet stay close to the ground so you're not always a head about the crowd. That might not be so good for security patrol use, but it does make it much easier to get on and off, or to talk with people on the ground without towering over them. It's also less than half the width, and just over half the weight of a basic Segway, making it much easier to handle in tight situations.
Best of all is the price, which at €799 ($1050) is less than a quarter that of the most basic Segway.
Whether the Ewee is rugged enough for everyday use remains to be seen, and its small wheels will certainly suggest that it's better off indoors, but at first glance this looks much more promising than most of the Segway knockoffs we've seen.

Ewee-pt, via Engadget

Yesterday on Late Night, Jimmy Fallon attempted to break a record by playing ten different video game systems in 60 seconds, completing at least one play on each before moving to the next.
He got awfully close, but had a little trouble teeing off playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Nintendo Wii, leaving him too late to complete a play with Madden NFL on the Xbox 360.
The console lineup was an awesome display of historic systems and games, including classics like The Legend of Zelda on an original NES, Sonic The Hedgehog on a vintage Sega Genesis, and Donkey Kong Country on a Super NES.
Skip about 2.5 minutes into the video, unless you want to watch a guy getting slapped by pizza slices for another record.

Via Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

If you have an iPhone 3G and feel left out because there's not a big problem to complain about like iPhone 4 owners, then just upgrade your phone to the iOS 4 software, which apparently can render the device useless.
Apple just announced that it is investigating reports from users who say that after upgrading their iPhone 3G to the new software that comes built-in to the iPhone 4, their device slows down to a crawl and makes it a cumbersome process to do anything with it. LINK

Canadian archeologists have found a ship abandoned more than 150 years ago in the quest for the fabled Northwest Passage and which was lost in the search for the doomed expedition of Sir John Franklin, the head of the team said Wednesday.
Marc-Andre Bernier, Parks Canada's head of underwater archaeology, said the HMS Investigator, abandoned in the ice in 1853, was found in shallow water in Mercy Bay along the northern coast of Banks Island in Canada's western Arctic. LINK

This might look like a relatively straightforward 3D metal puzzle, but it holds a secret: if you put some of its pieces together in the right way, it'll turn into a functioning gun.

Yes, if you take about 20 of the pieces in this 125-piece puzzle and put them together properly, you'll have a fully-functional single-shot .45 caliber handgun. Uh, cool?
Luckily, the whole thing requires a special key to begin disassembling it, so the chances of some kid stumbling upon it at a toy store and ending up with a deadly weapon are slim to none.

Maxton via Neatorama

How do you increase the testosterone in a classic 1982 Porsche 928? Well, you could just shove a Hoeing turbine engine that shoots flames out of the hood in there. That'd be a start.
Just such a rarified automobile just sold on eBay for a mere $12,000 to what is almost definitely a really manly man. Other features include power steering and brakes, a CD player and a new paint job. But really, who cares about that crap when your hood shoot flames?

eBay via Random Good Stuff

We've come a long way from the bulky satellite phones of the '80s that used to come with a lunchbox-sized attachment. Still, with whoppers like the Dell Streak on the horizon, and with the HTC Evo having its own kickstand and all, it feels like we're regressing.

In a world of boring boxes and impossible-to-open clamshell packaging, this simple, brilliant design for a headphones box by Panasonic stands out.
It showcases the product. It's simple. It's clean. It's clever. And it makes sense. And it appears pretty easy to open, too, which is a nice touch. Honestly, I don't know much about the quality of Panasonic's RP-HJE 130 earbuds, but if I saw this in a store, I might just have to buy them based on the packaging alone. Nicely done, Panasonic.

Coloribus via Oh Gizmo!

The Float Table is comprised of 64 cubes, all magnetized so that they never touch each other and never touch the floor. It looks like magic.
How do the cubes stay in shape? Well, the secret to said magic is a series of steel cables inside keeping everything in position. But you can rearrange the cubes and cables to mold it into other forms, so if you want to elongate it into a coffee table shape, feel free.
Of course, if your iPod or credit cards fell between the cracks, they'd probably no longer work. But as long as you're careful, this is a pretty slick piece of furniture.

RockPaperRobot via Gizmodo

Looks like Lexus is using the South African market to rip on a few of their rivals. A new ad from the Japanese luxury automaker not-so-subtlely mocks their German counterparts for the high prices they charge for "extras."

Lexus says items like a high powered sound system, power seating, voice-controlled navigation, reverse camera, USB and Bluetooth "should come standard." Notice the design of the pie charts and Venn diagram used in the advert?

Naturally, the shapes bear a strong resemblance to the logos of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It is all part of an ad campaign around the slogan, "The Lexus Range. Where optional is standard." LINK

Does a 24-inch display seem too cramped? Does a 30-inch seem too big? If so, Apple's monitor moves this week should fit you just right. Here's how Apple's latest Cinema Display reshuffles the company's lineup, along with a look at where the new product fits into the LCD market.

On Tuesday, Apple overhauled its display lineup, introducing the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display. The arrival of the new $999 monitor means the end of the line for Apple's 24- and 30-inch models; once Apple sells the last of its supplies, those LCDs, priced at $799 and $1799, are no more. LINK

Why has Google changed their image page to resemble Bing? It is horrible, takes forever to find something and threw me into a nasty website that immediately started overloading my computer with pop-ups. I don't like it at all, and I've NEVER complained about any Google changes. CHANGE IT BACK TO THE OLD IMAGES FORMAT !!

Also, how about a REAL "contact us" area instead of this stupid community question thing?...it's YOUR search engine...deal with the questions and problems. LINK

One of our primary problems with Safari when we took an in-depth look at it last year was this: no wide-ranging plug-in support as there is with Firefox. For power users who love to browse the Web their own way, using third-party plug-ins to enhance their experience, Safari just never has lived up to Firefox. It's fast, passes the ACID test without issue and is available for both Mac and PC, but the inability to install extensions kept it from becoming one of the best browsers out. LINK

Amazon is going the way of the iPad and the Nook with a new Kindle that comes in two flavors: Wi-Fi only and more expensive 3G. More importantly, there's also a new form factor to ponder. It's smaller, lighter and oddly makes the Kindle attractive again.

It's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in.

So when Apple Inc. launched the iPhone 4 and its FaceTimevideoconference feature, it didn't take long for adult-entertainment companies to develop video-sex chat services and start hiring workers through Craigslist.

With more than 3 million of the phones already sold, the adult industry stands to make big money on this new way to reach out and touch someone — even if it puts Apple, which has always taken pains to keep its iPhone apps squeaky clean, in an awkward spot. LINK

The next level of social media-powered graffiti has arrived in the form of the SMS Slingshot, a device that lets you virtually paints city walls with text messages that are automatically sent to Twitter.

A Berlin-based group calling itself VR/Urban embedded the guts of a cell phone into a slingshot with a tiny screen for typing text messages and a laser pointer for aiming accuracy. Once your message is composed it can then be "shot" onto any surface (in conjunction with a camera and projector mechanism pointed at the target surface). The results are instantly tweeted out to the world. While this amazing creation essentially blurs the lines between local and global street graffiti, it could also raise the stakes in the realm of street promotion in ways previously unimagined.

Via DesignBoom

Cool looking PC case mods are nothing new, but few are as awesome as this man-sized BattleMech created by a Spanish gamer called Pinchillo.

Looking like something that's arrived to terrorize your world, the Warhammer 40000 Dreadnought is Pinchillo's idea of what a cool PC case mod should look like. Best of all is that it doesn't just sit there looking cool, many of the Warhammer's features are motorized including its rotating chain guns and articulated arms. LINK

BolsLounge, via TechEBlog

Anyone who has played Jenga, knows that even the tiniest mistake can bring the whole tower crashing down. So I would be kind of nervous about moving into a giant life-sized Jenga like apartment tower.

Designed by the Jenga obsessed folks at Herzog & de Meuron, the Beirut Gardens complex includes 129 apartments, each with its own outdoor garden space created by having the exterior walls recessed some 18 feet from the edge of the floor. But what's with the way those outdoor areas appear to end without any type of wall or railing?

I would get kind of nervous if my neighbor decided to move something big like a grand piano one day, but then again, perhaps Jenga isn't popular in Lebanon. LINK

Via Inhabitat

A Swedish study is trying to nail down the reason that cancer is 10% more likely to occur in the left breast over the right, on top of the steadily increasing risk of cancer over last 30 years. One theory? Your box spring could be a giant, radiation-emitting antenna.

Yardwork is no fun, so anything you can do to make it quicker and easier is obviously a good thing. Enter the "world's strongest redneck" and his homemade contraption: thelawnmower on a stick.

Yep, just as the name suggests, this is a lawnmower attached to a stick so you can hoist it up and pull it over your hedges. Easy-peasy! Clearly, this is a homemade device and not for sale, but if you've got a broomstick and a dash of bravery, you too could cut your hedge-trimming time in half.

Neatorama via Geekologie

LINK

Do you want to go out and tag an abandoned building nearby with some graffiti, but you're just stuck without the artistic talent or ability needed to create anything worthwhile? Don't fret! Just get a txtBomber.
The txtBomber is a handheld gadget that can print text on any flat surface. You simply type in your message and then roll it along a wall, no talent required. Just make sure that whatever you're writing up there is worth the effort and potential harassment by the cops.
Behance via Neatorama

The idea of a "tentacle manipulator" developed by the U.S. Army is already scary enough by name alone. Toss it that this thing can open doors, then it gets even scarier. The manipulator comes in peace, though, and it could even save lives.
With a tentacle manipulator like the one you see above, the robots already deployed by the U.S. Army that help diffuse bombs or scout buildings would have greater dexterity. They'd now be able to grasp and rotate or pinch and lift — just like if they had a hand. That'd allow them to do everything from turn the knob on a door to lift an object covering an explosive.
What's more, each tendril of the tentacle manipulator is equipped with light detection and ranging gear (or LIDAR) and a 3D imager. This is pretty key, as it allows for an operator to accurately work with the manipulator, rather than trying to move it from an external view.
Right now, the snake-like attachment is being developed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, and the future could see a tentacle manipulator that could propel itself through the water, or one that is developed on a much larger scale.

CNET, via Gizmodo

asdfad

A trio of Northern Californians is suing everybody's favorite technology company — that is, Apple — because their iPads reportedly overheat too quickly in the sun.

The complaint was filed in federal court in Oakland on July 23 by Jacob Balthazar, Claudia Keller, and John Browning. According to the filing, the iPad does not "live up to reasonable consumer's expectations created by Apple."
"The iPad does not live up to the reasonable consumer's expectations created by Apple insofar as the iPad overheats so quickly under common weather conditions that it does not function for prolonged use outdoors, or in many other warm conditions," the filing reads. LINK

From March through May of 2010, online research firm MyType surveyed more than 20,000 of its users on Facebook about Apple’s iPad to determine the personality traits, values, demographics and interests that drive differences in opinion about the high-profile tablet computer. After weighting the responses to reflect the composition of the general internet-using US population between the ages of 13 and 49, it appears iPad owners possess the qualities of sophistication, intellect, snobbery and selfishness. LINK

Apple's new 27-inch Cinema Display will mark the end of the 24- and 30-inch models once supplies run out, leaving the company with just one standalone monitor offering.

David Moody, vice president of hardware marketing, confirmed to Macworld that Apple will sell the 24-inch and 30-inch Cinema Displays only while supplies last. After that, the 27-inch screen will be the only option for customers.

Announced on Tuesday, the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display will begin shipping from Apple in September. It sports a 2,560-by-1,440 pixel resolution with 60 percent more screen real estate than the company's 24-inch LED display. It costs $999 and features a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers, powered USB 2.0 hub, and universal MagSafe connector. LINK

I wouldn't recommend anyone wear the same pair of underwear for a full month without washing them; the results would not be pretty. But a new type of nanotechnology-infused underwear that are quick-drying and odor-absorbing? Well, if they're good enough for astronauts, they should be good enough for you.

Up in the International Space Station, they don't have a laundromat, so keeping clothes clean is a bit of a challenge. That's why Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata tested out a prototype pair of special underwear that uses nanotech to keep dry and odor-free. Now, the underwear is starting to go on sale in Japan for normal, Earth-based wearers.

Interested in saving money on detergent? You can import a pair or two from Japan now for about $20 each.

Gobwin Web Store via Ecouterre

FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress on Wednesday that he doesn't know how many of his agents cheated on an important test about the limitations of the bureau's powers to conduct surveillance and open cases without evidence that a crime has been committed.

The Justice Department inspector general is investigating whether hundreds of FBI agents cheated on the test — a brewing scandal that could be further embarrassment for the FBI as it continues cleaning up after years of collecting phone records without court approval.

Asked by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., about an Associated Press report on the cheating, Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee he didn't know the exact number of agents involved. LINK

Scammers who use military photos to scam women on the internet.

I can't tell you how many times I've used Google Street View to look for a specific storefront only to spend precious time fruitlessly clicking arrows and squinting at low-res zooms. I'd much rather use Microsoft's Street Slide, a new search tool that lets you quickly and easily see everything on an entire street, for several blocks, at once.

Now, instead of navigating a street in an inefficient, strobe-like way with those arrow buttons, you can use Street Slide to zoom way out and view one side of a street as a panorama. Since the street becomes a thin strip on your screen, there's room for store logos and addresses on the top and bottom, letting you quickly zero in on what you want. Checking out the other side of the street is as simple as one click, and you can turn down side streets easily, too.

This looks like an amazing upgrade to the Google Street View experience. But don't just take my word for it — the research group challenged 20 people to find a variety of places with either Street View or Street Slide. Those who used Street Slide found what they were looking for 17 seconds faster, on average. We can only hope Microsoft fast-tracks the development and release of this research project, so we can all enjoy the benefits.

Microsoft Research, via Technology Review

Your IP address is your ticket to the greatest ride humanity has ever built: the Internet. You don't get the same one every time, and in less than a year you may not get any at all. We're running out of IP addresses to go around. So, is it time to panic?

You may have heard of the so-called Singularity — the idea that, thanks to technology, we'll soon be able to upload our minds into computers and become, for all intents and purposes, immortal. It's an exciting notion. Even The New York Times likes the idea. There's just one problem: It's a load of bull.

To be fair, the S-word has come to mean a lot of different things to different people in the 25-plus years since the concept was invented, but one of the most popular interpretations — espoused most prominently by inventor/futurist Ray Kurzweil — is that at some point in the next few decades, computers will outpace the capabilities of the human brain, and silicon chips will become the hardware of choice for hosting our minds. Instead of being trapped in biological bodies that crap out after 80 years, we'll upload ourselves into computers and live forever. LINK

Air conditioners that spray air-purifying, skin-moisturizing vitamin C? Check. Heated chairs that use NASA research to offer better blood circulation for the driver? Yep! "Friendly" speedometers? Okay, what does that even mean?

Upping the stakes in the race to automate every human into unemployment, Japan's Gourmet Navigator has just introduced a series of restaurant finder touch screen kiosks at Tokyo's major train stations.
Outfitted with two LCD screens, the kiosks allow anyone to search for local food establishments ranked by cuisine type and popularity rankings. Future versions will include cameras to analyze trending patterns by age and gender. And, just in case anyone doubts the social media I.Q. of the initiative, all the kiosks are linked to Twitter with a constantly updated stream of new restaurant discoveries.

Via GNavi

One of the big dangers of open wounds is infection — when bacteria get in and generally make a bad situation a lot worse. Now a group of Chinese scientists have figured out a way to make bandages with built-in bacteria barriers.

The key is the carbon-based wonder material graphene. Graphene is essentially thin sheets of carbon, each just an atom thick. First created in 2004, graphene could make possible everything from better batteries to low-cost lighting. In the course of their research, the scientists crafted a strip of graphene paper and tried to colonize bacteria on it. Turns out the bacteria had trouble getting a solid footing on the graphene, but human cells were pretty much unaffected.

The practical applications are obvious. Besides bandages with inherent antibacterial properties, the graphene paper could also be in food wrappers or even antibacterial clothing. Personally, I wouldn't mind putting a layer of this stuff all over my bathroom tiling.

Science Daily, via Popular Science

The House prepared Tuesday to send President Barack Obama $33 billion to pay for his troop surge in Afghanistan, unmoved by the leaking of tens of thousands of classified military documents that portray a war effort beset by Afghan shortcomings.

From Obama on down, the disclosure of the documents was condemned anew by administration officials and military leaders, but the material failed to stir new anti-war sentiment. The bad news for the White House: A pervasive weariness with the war was still there — and possibly growing. LINK

AA batteries are hardly headline grabbing products, but we need them to run a variety of electronic gizmos, including wireless mice and keyboards as well as dozens of analog devices such as flashlights, wall clocks, and portable cassette recorders. Now Apple is entering the rechargeable battery business, and it’s bringing its penchant for innovation to an industry that often seems to advance technologically at a glacial pace. LINK

Gamers who’ve been waiting for the next version of StarCraft to hit the Mac probably would agree with the observation of the blue-cad, cigar-chomping space marine who appears in a teaser trailer for the real-time strategy game: “Hell, it’s about time.” On Tuesday, Blizzard Entertainment released StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to stores worldwide. The highly anticipated real-time strategy game has been teased and previewed for months—if not years—but it’s now available for both the Mac and Windows platforms. LINK

Apple gave some healthy spec boosts to pretty much all of its desktop hardware today: iMacs, Mac Pros and Cinema Displays.

First, the iMacs: for the same price, both the 21.5" and 27" all-in-ones have boosted processors and graphics cards. They can also be configured to ship with the also-newMagic Trackpad. The base price for the smaller model is $1,199, and it goes up from there.

The new Mac Pros are now able to be juiced up to a maximum of 12 cores, which is two 6-core Xeon processors. The bottom line of this update is a processor update: from 45nm Nahalem processors to newer 32nm Westmere processors, which should provide better performance and less energy usage. Mac Pros start at $2,500.

Finally, the new Cinema Displays to go with those Mac Pros. You can now get a 27-inch model in addition to the previously-available 24-inch version. The design is familiar, basically looking like thinner iMacs without computers built into them. The 24-incher is $899 and the 27-incher is $999.

Via Apple

If you use a laptop more than a desktop computer, you're probably pretty used to using a trackpad instead of a mouse. And with newer laptops sporting trackpads with multitouch features, you might not want to go back to a mouse. Enter Apple's new Magic Trackpad.

The Magic Trackpad is an oversized trackpad designed for use with a desktop computer. It's wireless, connecting via Bluetooth, and gives you all the multitouch functionality you're used to on Apple's laptops.

Could this be the beginning of the end for the trusty old mouse? Time will tell, but you can help make that the case by picking up one of these trackpads, which are available starting today for $69.

Via Apple

It’s easy to forget that Apple, like every other hardware OEM, relies on a large number of companies to be able to build and deliver its products. When it comes to the iPad, the screen is made by Korean company LG Display - a company unable to keep up with the insatiable demand from the Cupertino giant for panels. LINK

Cloud-hosted NVIDIA Tesla GPUs offer high performance and flexibility for complex computations and video compression

LOS ANGELES, July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - PEER 1 Hosting (TSX:PIX), a global online IT hosting provider, today announced the availability of the industry's first large-scale, hosted graphics processing unit (GPU) Cloud at the 37th Annual Siggraph International Conference.

The system runs the RealityServer(R) 3D web application service platform, developed by mental images, a wholly owned subsidiary of NVIDIA. The RealityServer platform is a powerful combination of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and 3D web services software. It delivers interactive and photorealistic applications over the web using the iray(R) renderer, which enables animators, product designers, architects and consumers to easily visualize 3D scenes with remarkable realism. LINK

Comic Con may be over but that doesn't mean we could possibly bring ourselves to ignore the coolest new Iron Man costume accessory, the working (sort of) Repulsor Beam Blaster.

Assembled by Malaysian geek Chein, the very realistic looking blaster doesn't actually emit any harmful beams, but the palm-mounted light could possibly blind your would-be foes in a crunch. Constructed using a couple of old analog cameras and geek ingenuity, you can find out how to construct your own Iron Man hand blaster here.

Via Slashgear

PC makers are beginning to bear an uncanny resemblance to Apple.

Media pads will erode laptop sales, according to analysts.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

So, what does Apple look like these days? Apple is not as much about the Mac anymore (in case anyone didn't notice). And it's not just about a successful gadget sideshow, i.e., the iPod. It's about the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. So, what do you do if you're a PC maker whose business is still all about the Windows-Intel PC? You slavishly imitate as fast as you can.

If the chronically sold out iPad isn't evidence enough, analyst reports are showing that sales of the iPad and similar tablets will likely jump in 2011, with some of that growth coming at the expense of laptops.

Apple's 10-inch class media pad boasts PC-esque functionality sans Windows or Intel--bedrocks of the PC world. Enter the Hewlett-Packard PalmPad, HP's most anticipated tablet/slate device--essentially Palm's version of the iPad. No PC operating system here. LINK

Pages

Apple News

Dell NOTES | Laptop NOTES | Lenovo NOTES

Infant NOTES | Baby NOTES | Health NOTES | Parenting Advice

Outlander Sport NOTES - ASX / RVR Clubs | Tesla NOTES | BMW 2 NOTES

Gulf of Mexico - Worst Oil Spill - BP | Other US Oil Spills

Toll 800 877 to watch out for | Reverse # Lookup

Toyota RECALL | Honda RECALL | Ford RECALL | GM RECALL

YouTubers | Vimeo | Photography

Apple News 2

[H]ardOCP

Solar Energy | Survival Shelters | Lake Shore Docks | Food harvesting | Stone Brick Wall

Archery | Hunting Compound Bows | Leather Armor Making

DSL Speed Notes | Fiber Optic NOTES

Mac Forum News Sites

Blogger NOTES | Facebook NOTES | Linkedin NOTES | Tumblr NOTES | Twitter NOTES

WordPress notes & Zen Notes & Drupal Notes

Darpa Challenge | Crowdsourcing NOTES

Film, Movie, Music Production Studios

Microsoft News

Exercise 300 Workout NOTES (Spartacus Workout) Health Notes

China Hosts

Emergency NOTES

iPhone Apps Killed / REJECTED (iOS Apps Banned)

MegaStructures | MegaFactories

Hand Weapons

Programming Language & Game Engines

Linux NOTES - Open Source

HTML 5 : PHP Notes : ZEND Framework

Xcode SDK iOS NOTES

Android OS SDK NOTES | Android Forums | Samsung Galaxy S II NOTES

Apple Certification

Windows NOTES | VISTA Notes | Windows 7 NOTES | Windows 8

Spreadsheet NOTES

Musical music Instruments

Mansions | Luxury Houses : Homes | Man-Made Islands | Billionaires

Mac MODS | XBox360 NOTES | Xbox One NOTES

Barcode Gen (Barcode reader) | Iphone Barcode | Ipad Barcode

DFW Used Car Auto Dealers (DFW Car Dealerships) New Cars | DFW Dallas Business Cards

Canon NOTES | NIKON NOTES | DSLR NOTES

FREE SPACE

FAX

Samsung Galaxy S4 NOTES | Verizon iPhone News

MAC NOTES - OSX

Windows XP NOTES | Windows 8 NOTES

VPN NOTES

HVAC NOTES | Thin Shoes

Search this Site

CNC (3D printing)

Wifi NOTES | 4G & 5G | Cellphone Notes | 5G NOTES | CB Radio & HAM Radio | LiFi NOTES

Operating Systems (OS)

Battlefield 2142 Notes

Threats RSS Feed - Symantec Corp.

My NOTES

My Links

Remote Control

HDTV LED LCD | Plasma Tech | OLED TV | OLED NOTES | HDMI NOTES | Touch Screen NOTES | SmartTV

YouTube NOTES

HALO Costumes | Iron-Man Costumes | Batman Toys | Aliens Gear | 3M Vinyl NOTES | Simulators

Danger Room

DVICE

Blastr

Crave: The gadget blog

CNET - Cutting Edge

War Blogs | Airplane Crashes

Circuit Breaker

Highway Traffic Cams

Browser NOTES | email NOTES | Site Hacking | FLASH pioneers | Google NOTES

Cable & Wiring Schematics

Ancient WORLD HISTORY

China / Chinese History

Computer Crypto Chips | Teleco | VoIP

SSH

SHA1 & MD5 Verification

OpenOffice LibreOffice NOTES | Google Docs (Google Apps)

Buttcracking | JailBreak | Unlocking | Hackintosh | Smartphone NOTES

Body Armor | Knives | Swords | Hand weapons

Active Camo (Camouflage)

Arial Drones

Computer MODs Network NOTES : Virtual Servers : Cloud computing | Virtual Desktops | Mobos