Viacom, YouTube air dirty laundry in legal battle

Viacom Inc. and Google Inc.'s YouTube site began airing each other's dirty laundry Thursday, providing a tantalizing peek at the wheeling and dealing that triggered a bitter battle over the copyright laws governing the Internet.

The previously confidential information came out as part of the evidence in a copyright lawsuit that Viacom filed against YouTube in 2007 for alleged copyright infringement of "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show" and other shows.

The sensitive documents were unsealed because Viacom and YouTube are both trying to persuade U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton to decide the case without a trial. [Read more...]

Lease a Lexus LFA for the low, low price of $12,400 per month

Leasing can be a viable option for those looking to keep monthly costs down, but any kind of value can be thrown out the window when it comes to the Lexus LFA. The Japanese automaker announced a leasing program for the LFA on Thursday, with the supercar’s payments equating to a Hyundai Accent per month.

With a base price of $375,000, no one expected Lexus to offer a $199/month lease for the LFA, but the real world costs of leasing the supercar is nothing short of astounding. [Read more...]

Lloyd Banks’ ’Beamer, Benz, Or Bentley’ Music Video

Toyota demands ABC retract story, issue apology over Gilbert video

ABC News is on the verge of facing a lawsuit fromToyota over a news report that it has since admitted to modifying footage in a way that was misleading. Toyota has notified ABC News that they are seeking a retraction of the story and apology for misleading the public in the report by Brian Ross.

According to a report by Gawker, Toyota’s general counsel has sent a letter to ABC News president David Westin, directly requesting for the news outlet to apologize for what Toyota believes was a misleading news report. [Read more...]

Disgruntled ex-employee disables 100+ cars, sets off alarms remotely

 you live in Austin, Texas, and have been struggling to sleep over the past few weeks due to the incessant ring of car alarms at all times of the night – Leftlane has some good news – they caught the culprit. Police arrested 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez, a disgruntled former employee at a major dealership that took it upon himself to remotely hack and set off hundreds of car alarms. [Read more...]

Braille Rubik's cube looks downright torturous

Rubik's cubes are awful, frustrating objects. Sure, if you like a challenge I'm sure there's some fun to be had there, but to me, they're just pure pain. And this Rubik's cube for the blind? Forget it.

But this wasn't made for me, it was made for the visually impaired. And if they really want to enter this world of pain and frustration, that's their prerogative. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Google, Intel and Sony team up to take over your TV

Just when you thought Google had stretched itself out to all corners of the tech world, the company finds a new arena to do battle in: the budding Internet TV industry. There are already Internet-enabled television sets and set-top boxes that allow you to access the web, but Google's approach has one massive difference in that its GoogleTV will be based off of Android and, as such, be an open platform. [Read more...]

The Commodore 64 is coming back, sort of

The classic Commodore 64 keyboard computer is coming back, albeit with some updated guts and a shiny new finish. The Commodore brand has been licensed for use making new computers, ones that will keep the keyboard-based form factor.

Just what will be inside and how much they'll cost isn't clear, but hey, new Commodores! If you were a nerd in the 80s, you've gotta be excited.

2011 McLaren MP4-12C

McLaren revealed today the first details on their first supercar, created 100% independent of their old Mercedes partners. The car seems to land directly from the Formula 1 race circuit. It comes with technologies tested by the Mclaren engineers on the race circuit, but also with a design that makes it impossible not to be noticed on the streets.

The MP4-12C name pays tribute to the legendary 1981 Formula 1 MP4/1, that during the years become a legend in the Formula 1. The McLaren MP4-12C is a high performance two-seat mid-engine model that will go on sale in early 2011 at a price ranging from £125,000 and £175,000.

The supercar is powered by a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 engine producing around 600 horsepower and 433 lb-ft of torque. The engine is coupled to a McLaren seven speed Seamless Shift dual clutch gearbox (SSG). It sprints from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3,5 seconds and can hit a top speed of more than 200mph. [Read more...]

China plans massive high-speed train network across Asia and Europe

While America is trying to figure out how to connect Disney and Vegas with a maglev train, China is going forward with plans to connect a whopping 17 nations with a high-speed rail network. The plan right now is for three major lines: one that connects Beijing to London via the Channel Tunnel (or Chunnel) and continues on to Singapore; a second line that covers Malaysia, Burma, Vietnam, and Thailand; and a third that would bridge China, Russia and Germany to other European railways. And, just when you thought it wouldn't get crazier: China wants to get this done in the next 10 years.

China already has plans to expand its already expansive rail network in the country by nearly 19,000 miles of track over the next five years. The country also boasts the fastest train in the world right now, the Harmony Express, which peaks out at around 250 miles per hour.

According to PhysOrg, work is already well underway:

Construction of the Asian network has already begun in the southern Yunnan province, and Burma is soon to start construction of its section of the network. China has offered to pay for the Burmese section in return for Burma's rich lithium reserves. Prospecting and survey work has already been done for the European network, and there is already an agreement for a high-speed rail link across Siberia.

In the end, the massive network will carry both passengers and resources from one country to another, and allow a traveler to get from London to Singapore in three days. Sure, it's not as fast as a plane that has the advantage of flying directly, but it will be cheaper, no doubt, and better for the environment — if that's your thing.

Bloom Light unfolds like a flower… run!

If your room lighting just isn't "Transformer" enough, you should look into the Bloom Light by designer Patrick Jouin. For everyday reading light, its austere bulbous form should suffice, but when it's time to party, the Bloom unfolds like a rose (or a badass space weapon, take your pick) to become an instant conversation piece. It's on display at the International Furniture Fair in Milan next month if you're anywere near.

GM's next-gen head-up display: a magic all-seeing helper

We already adore GM's head-up display in the Corvette, Cadillac STS, Buick Lacrosse and GMC Acadia, but that system is primitive compared to the magic GM has up its sleeve. This next-generation head-up display is smart. Using a compact laser reflecting off transparent phosphors embedded in the windshield, it superimposes messages and graphics that could save your life.

Think of how useful a night-vision view projected onto your windshield could be. It can indicate children running toward the car, or point out approaching vehicles that are out of your field of vision. But the system's overly helpful routine of graphically encircling speed limit signs might be overkill.

Still, this could come in handy. I'm reminded of the day I was driving around in the mountains and suddenly I was in a fog bank with zero visibility. It was unsafe to stop because someone might hit my car from behind, there was not enough shoulder on the road to pull over, so the only way I could see was to open the door and look down at the line in the middle of the road. I sure could have used a head-up display system like this.

Don't hold your breath, though. A GM R&D expert told us, "If all worked well and field testing went as planned, we could possibly see this technology in a vehicle in 2017."

Leaked motherboard hints at new, slim Xbox 360

The PlayStation 3 got a new, slim version of itself, what about the Xbox 360? Well, according to this shot leaked from China, it looks like it might be getting a slimmed-down version of its own later this year.

The good money is on a new Xbox 360 integrating the upcoming Project Natal camera and sensors so buyers won't have to pick that up as an extra add-on. But a smaller model will also hopefully be quieter, more efficient and, most importantly to Microsoft, cheaper to produce. Will it happen in time for the holidays? Time will tell.

Internet Explorer 9 adds HTML5, drops Windows XP

Good news for fans of Microsoft's in-house browser (but bad news for folks who still use XP): the next iteration of Internet Explorer adds a slew of attractive features, and gets ready for a more attractive web overall.

The good news: Internet Explorer 9 will add support for HTML5, which really is a no-brainer considering it'll be one of the new standards on the net, and allow for the browser to run more complicated video and graphical elements. IE9 is also getting hardware acceleration, meaning more resources to work with for a speedier browser overall. A new JavaScript engine will do the same, making sites such as Gmail more responsive.

The bad news: XP users are going to be left behind, as Microsoft has made it official that IE9 will not support Windows XP. [Read more...]

China without Google: 'a lose-lose scenario'

BEIJING – China without Google — a prospect that looks increasingly likely — could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China's fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.

Chinese news reports say Google Inc. is on the verge of making good on a threat to shutter its China site, Google.cn, because Beijing forces the Internet giant to censor search results. The reports indicated that Google had, in fact, already stopped censoring results, but searches Tuesday for sensitive topics like "Tiananmen massacre" appeared to still return only whitewashed results. [Read more...]

Chinese ad firms seek Google compensation talks

A group of 27 Chinese advertising agencies have sent Google a letter calling for talks over compensation for possible business losses if the Internet giant pulls out of the country.

The letter, confirmed Wednesday by Google and one of the agencies, complained that the US firm kept them in the dark about whether it plans to make good on a threat to leave China over censorship and cyberattacks. [Read more...]

Apple's Mac Mini server ideal for small office

When Apple announced the server edition of its popular Mac Mini late in October, I was excited that the company was finally offering a low-cost small-business server at a terrific price point ($999; Get best current price) for both the hardware and an unlimited license of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server.

I’m a big fan of Apple’s server platform. Mac OS X Server is based around open standards and includes a range of enterprise-grade technologies that offer a host of powerful and flexible features: Open Directory (a scalable directory service based around OpenLDAP and Kerberos); established Internet hosting platforms like Apache, BIND for DNS hosting and Dovecot-based mail service; collaboration tools based on open standards like CalDAV and CardDAV; a range of deployment and client management tools; and powerful multiplatform file and print services. Best of all, it makes these features easily available to both experienced administrators, novices who have never set up a server before and everyone in between. [Read more...]

When tweets can make you a jailbird

Maxi Sopo was having so much fun "living in paradise" in Mexico that he posted about it on Facebook so all his friends could follow his adventures. Others were watching, too: A federal prosecutor in Seattle, where Sopo was wanted on bank fraud charges.

Tracking Sopo through his public "friends" list, the prosecutor found his address and had Mexican authorities arrest him. Instead of sipping pina coladas, Sopo is awaiting extradition to the U.S. [Read more...]

Parrot AR.Drone turns your living room into a virtual battlefield

Last time we checked in with Parrot's AR.Drone quadricopter, we were told that game developers would be putting together some games to play with the drone. Parrot recently showed off what those games look like.

You've got three major flavors to choose from when it comes to playing with the AR.Drone: single player, dual mode and against a robot. The single player mode sees the drone hovering in the middle of the room while you dogfight with virtual opponents. With an attachment atop the AR.Drone, you can compete against other players using virtual rockets and guns. Finally, the robot mode has you going up against a simulated robotic foe, which in real life just looks like a board with circles printed on it.

Most of the augmented reality games play out in such a way that you're trying to keep your drone aimed at a target long enough to fire, while dodging incoming fire and avoiding lock-ons. It's all visible in the video that's streamed to your iPhone-turned-controller.

Microsoft rolls out three new 720p webcams

Microsoft just added a trio of webcams to its LifeCam line, and all three are capable of 720p HD video. The LifeCam HD-5000 and HD-5001 have slightly different styling but their innards are the same, both selling for $49.95. Microsoft's claim to fame for these two cams that will be available later this month? "They're the only two webcams with 720p HD widescreen and autofocus for under $50." [Read more...]

In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt

One fast–growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for–profit colleges and trade schools.

At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year. 

But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle–class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low–wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low–income students.

[Read more...]

Jackson estate in record deal worth up to $250 mln

Even in death, Michael Jackson is breaking new records. 

The King of Pop's estate has signed the biggest recording deal in history: a $200 million guaranteed contract with Sony Music Entertainment for 10 projects over seven years, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The record-breaking contract through 2017 could be worth up to $250 million if certain conditions are met. One of the albums will be of never-before-released Jackson recordings [Read more...]

Scientists go 'gaga' to find creatures beneath 600 feet of ice

In a surprising discovery about where higher life can thrive, scientists for the first time found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish frolicking beneath a massive Antarctic ice sheet.

Six hundred feet below the ice where no light shines, scientists had figured nothing much more than a few microbes could exist. [Read more...]

Boeing's robot helicopter almost ready to resupply tomorrow's military

Boeing's A160T "Hummingbird" robotic helicopter looks like it's almost ready for prime time, as the company tested its military vehicle in a series of mock resupply tests. The 'bird performed a variety of maneuvers over seven test flights, including hovering at 12,000 feet with a load of 1,250 pounds carried by a sling.

From CNET:

Two of those flights were round trips spanning 150 nautical miles, with the Hummingbird toting 1,250-pound sling loads in a simulated mission between forward operating bases. The aircraft completed the mission in less than the required 6 hours and, being a robo-copter and all, did so while operating autonomously (though preprogrammed-ly.) Autonomous deliveries by the A160T, Boeing said without offering specifics, were "extremely accurate."

While the A160T is perfect for recon and surveillance, it's ability to lug around heavy equipment is an invaluable service, as it'd be able to ferry supplies between bases and resupply troops in the field with a lot less danger than a ground-based vehicle.

Starship Enterprise built at one-billionth scale

Why would somebody build a scale model of the Starship Enterprise that's so teeny tiny you can only see it with an electron microscope? Because they can, that's why. We have a feeling scientists Takayuki Hoshino and Shinji Matsui of the Himeji Institute of Technology just earned the title of Billy Badass in the science/nerdy-geek community.

It takes some chops to build such a tiny Star Trek space craft, even though it does look a bit deflated from this angle. The two scientists used a focused ion beam to cut out this minuscule model, using a process called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) that uses phenanthrene gas to etch the little ship to a length of 8.8 micrometers.

Now, guys, show us the final flourish — we want to see "NCC 1701" embossed onto the top of that saucer.

Mysterious robot shuttle blasting into space next month

Just when we were thinking the United States was getting out of the space shuttle business, here comes the Air Force launching a semi-secret military space plane next month. The unmanned Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), a robotic craft otherwise known as X37B — was built at a Boeing Phantom Works facility in Southern California. The 29-foot long vehicle is set for liftoff at 10PM on April 19.

The plane's development has been underway since 1999, but the mystery revolves around what payload will be stowed inside this unmanned vehicle on a mission that could last up to 270 days. According to the Air Force, the vehicle's objectives include "space experimentation, risk reduction and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies." Thanks for making that clear, Captain PR, USAF.

The 11,000-pound vehicle will be nestled inside the nosecone atop an Atlas 5 rocket. After its classified mission is complete, it'll autonomously reenter the atmosphere and land on the 15,000 foot long runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

An unmanned space plane? Telepresence technologies are getting so good, maybe this makes more sense than a dangerous shuttle full of seven fragile human beings.

World's first mechanical cellphone to be revealed this week

Could this be version 1.0 of the mechanical cellphone? Celsius is a company determined to use the most innovative watchmaking designs to power a cellphone. It's not entirely clear whether this first iteration, called Celsius X VI II, will be completely powered by its sophisticated Tourbillon movement, but at least the clock on the front will stay wound using this intricate technology:

"Based on complex micromechanics, this innovation has its name — "Remontage Papillon" (butterfly rewinding) — spelled out on the top wing. Its presence has much to do with making this creation a favourite among enlightened enthusiasts. This ultimate appeal is an asset that opens up new horizons, as Celsius X VI II begins to explore mechanical functions that will revolutionise the world of communications, things never before seen or heard that in the future will become a major sector of the prestige market."

Dragonfly personal rocket copter: available this year?

'One of a kind children's car' is like a $25,000 Power Wheels buggy gone crazy

Well, here's something that would go perfect with that $20,000 iPad we showed you earlier — a one-of-a-kind mini-Ferrari designed just for kids. It seats two, and even has a respectable 80cc Honda engine powering it.

It's only $25,000, too, which makes it more than affordable for its target audience of knee-biters, provided they mow lawns until their hair is down to their ankles. Even if you're not a kid, the car is a genuine collector's piece.

From the dealer:

This is a one of a kind children's car built in Germany for the premiere opening of the first Ferrari Dealership in Moscow. It was designed and built by the company that does wind tunnel models for the Ferrari Factory F1 Team. To our knowledge this is the only one built. It accommodates two children and is powered by an 80 cc Honda Motor. It is correct and true to scale, therefore a fantastic addition to any Ferrari Collectors Garage. Alternatively, it quite obviously makes the greatest kids car ever! Freshly painted and serviced, ready for immediate use. $25,000

Check out two additional views of the F40 down below.

Sexiest oven ever turns your kitchen into fantasyland

Ancient European appliancist Gaggenau wanted to make its Single line of thin triple ovens sexier, so it figured, why not employ the services of Miss Switzerland 2008, Whitney Toyloy? But that's just the beginning. If you don't care for this flying-through-Manhattan-in-a-blur/Bladerunner look, you can choose the Manhattan skyline, Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum in Rome.

Gaggenau goes way beyond that. It's teamed up with the Martigny Design Group of Switzerland to bring you dramatic modern Swiss art on the front of its sleek products, turning your kitchen into a surrealistic fantasyland, pictured in the gallery below. That'll certainly freak out your guests.

FCC unveiling sweeping national broadband plan

WASHINGTON – Communications regulators are unveiling a sweeping proposal to overhaul U.S. broadband policy. Their aim: to bring affordable, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans and make access much faster for people who already have broadband.

Yet it's not certain the Federal Communications Commission can find the funding, corporate support and legal clearance to carry out the entire vision of the plan. [Read more...]

Apple sells 120,000 iPads in first 24 hours

Fortune magazine writer Philip Elmer DeWitt is reporting that Apple sold 90,000 iPad tablets in the first 6 hours of availability yesterday, with the majority purchasing the Wi-Fi-only 16GB version. By the first 24 hours, that number had swelled to almost 120,000.

The group of analysts compiling the data is asking that anyone who purchased an iPad please just email their order number to ipadsales10@gmail.com to keep the tally current.

Original estimates showed around 50,000 sales in the fist two hours, and then 75,000 in the first 4.5 hours.

The numbers are unofficial, but rest assured if they are anywhere near accurate, Apple will release a press release on Monday noting the extremely strong pre-order sales.

Aston Martin offers special customization program to prospective customers

We know that certain brands allow their customers to customize some of their products but most of these usually range from sneakers to mobile phones – or maybe even those high-end fashion bags. But customizing your own car based on your own preference doesn’t happen all too often – maybe even ever. [Read more...]

The world's most creative robot builders battle it out in NYC this weekend

This weekend in New York City dozens of high schools from across the country and abroad are sending hundreds of students to battle it out in a test of robotic skill. It's the 10th anniversary of robot competitions run by FIRST — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — an outfit started by robo-pioneer Dean Kamer (who you may remember for the Segway and the "Luke arm").
The teams hail mostly from the tri-state area, but Brazil and Great Britain have also sent students to compete. The game is a modified version of soccer, and all the teams are given similar robotic kits and six week period to build the best 'bot they can.
We'll be there all weekend to cover the action and introduce you to the creative students, in high school and younger, who make the 'bots go. Or you can check out the action yourself if you happen to be in New York City. Admission is free and the competitions run from 9 AM until later in the afternoon at the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Check out FIRST's website for detail.
Check out one of the practice competitions below — with captions to introduce you to some of the robots.

Game makers strike back at used game market

Buying and selling used video games has become a fact of life for many consumers -- but if game publishers get their way, it's about to become a lot more difficult.

One 2009 estimate puts the size of the used game business at about $2 billion, representing about one-third of all annual game sales. That's a big deal, especially for market leader Gamestop, which is thought to get over 40% of its profits from reselling traded-in games. Major retail chains like Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon have all dipped their toe in this lucrative market over the past year.

But while it's a serious earner for retailers, it's a complete bust for game publishers, who make nothing from secondhand sales of video games. They're looking for ways to get a piece of the pie -- or, failing that, to take the pie away altogether. Here's a few of the tactics they're using to make buying and selling used games harder for consumers. [Read more...]

Here's my personal opinion on this matter.  WTF! That's like a car manufacturer subjecting you the original purchaser (who happened to have paid full price for the vehicle) to some kind limitation on your car-keys. So, that you couldn't sell your car to another person, because they won't be able to start the car without paying up some extra fee to the manufacturer to get an unlock code first... Just so they can reap more profit from the second-hand sale.

Game makers made their profit from the original sale, that's why the games cost $50+ to begin with. Why would they suddenly feel they need to dip their fingers into someone else's pocket AGAIN?!

Epic Brings NVIDIA 3D Vision Support to Unreal Engine 3

GAME DEVELOPER'S CONFERENCE-- BOOTH #1702, SOUTH HALL - NVIDIA and Epic Games, Inc. today announced the addition of NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ technology support to Unreal Engine 3. Today's announcement means that licensees of the world's most successful game engine will be able to take full advantage of integrated 3D Vision™ technology support and offer an unprecedented level of immersion in their upcoming games. Epic's popular Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free version of Unreal Engine 3, will also benefit from the addition of 3D Vision support, bringing a theater-quality 3D development platform to the more than 200,000 current users worldwide. [Read more...]

3D chips to take Moore's Law past 2020?

Here's a technique that can keep processor density doubling every two years, keeping up with Moore's Law using a couple of clever techniques. IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich figured out a way to stack multiple processor cores vertically instead of next to each other as they are now.

That neat trick speeds up data transfers between the cores, making them "many times faster." With all this extra speed comes more heat, but that's covered by a cooling system using tiny tubes that are the width of a human hair, bringing cooling water or evaporating refrigerant in between the 3D cores, keeping everything frosty.

The result? Aquasaur, the first water-cooled supercomputer of its kind, using multiple nano surfaces to keep its blinding speed from generating so much heat that the whole thing melts down into a useless blob of silicon and metal. Now if they could just fit this into an iPhone....

NATO's extreme Arctic training

Around 9,000 military personnel from 14 different countries take part in NATO-sponsored exercises in extreme winter conditions north of the Arctic Circle in Norway and Sweden.

(This is Battlefield 2142 - Northern Strike, in reality!)

[Check it out]

Norway doomsday seed vault hits 1/2 million mark

Two years after receiving its first deposits, a "doomsday" seed vault on an Arctic island has amassed half a million seed samples, making it the world's most diverse repository of crop seeds, the vault's operators announced Thursday.
Cary Fowler — who heads the trust that oversees the seed collection, which is 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the North Pole, said the facility now houses at least one-third of the world's crop seeds. [Read more...]

Avatar has few fans among Mining Execs

In a case of art imitating life -- with perhaps a little poetic license -- Oscar-winning movie "Avatar" paints big mining companies as the villains of the future.

But real-life executives are not entirely amused by their fictional colleagues being cast in evil roles in what is already the biggest-grossing Hollywood movie of all time. [Read more...]

Google tests new Blogger layout design tool

The Blogger Template Designer includes ready-to-use professional designs, pre-built templates that can be further modified, a color-adjustment control to tweak the blog's color palette, stock photos for background use and an advanced interface for publishers who know HTML and CSS. [Read more...]

Toyota launches extensive incentives program to shore up sales

Toyota has just announced a slew of new incentives – dubbed the ‘March Sales Event,’ which the automaker says will be the most far-reaching sales program in its history. Toyota’s sales program includes special interest rates, low lease rates and complimentary maintenance programs. [Read more...]

Apple's business database for Windows and Mac

FileMaker Pro 11 left beta testing for general release last Tuesday, adding a host of new capabilities for better productivity in database use, faster database creation, and easy production of eye-catching charts. [Read more...]

Apple Beware: Dell (With A Little Help From Amazon and Google) is Taking on iTunes

The formidable triumvirate of Amazon, Dell, and Google is apparently poised to give iTunes the first serious run for its money just as the iPad is about to take Apple’s downloadable media megastore where no computer has gone before. [Read more...]

Cisco starts laying 'foundation for next-generation Internet'

As Google works to speed up our access to the Internet, Cisco is fighting a different war: improving the foundation of the Internet itself. In a statement on Tuesday, the networking-centric company announced its new CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (which is where the CRS comes from), which Cisco claims can handle "12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system," and triples the power of the 92 Tbps CRS-1, its predecessor.

So just how fast is the CRS-3? According to Cisco, it can handle 322 Terabits per second, "which enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes."

That's a lot of horsepower, and it's the kind of muscle we need, according to Cisco, to lay the foundation for next-generation Internet, with an eye mostly on the increasing demands of streaming media and the like.

Read the full release from Cisco here.

Comic Con 2009: Tron Legacy Part 1

Comic Con 2009: Tron Legacy Part 2

Comic Con 2009: Tron Legacy Part 3

Wearable rescue robot

Thanks to the robo-wizards at Japan's BL Autotec, small form-factor rescue robots have a new trick up their sleeves — and yes, they could even have sleeves now — in the shape of a robotic arm that can open doors. To make it easier on operators, the arm's manipulator is equipped with a camera to spot door knobs and an LED for low-light situations.

The robot the arm is being tested on also can be worn like a backpack, making it easier to deploy. Considering it weighs a whopping 75 pounds, you may need a robot suit just to wear your robot, though.

While you'll find smaller manipulators on robots such as the ones that diffuse bombs, they are designed to operate low to the ground. Autotec's arm functions on a more human scale, and would be able to search for survivors behind doors, which typically represent an obstacle that, while humans have no trouble, 'bots do. It's the same with stairs. And elevators.

Autotec wants to sell the arm and the accompanying robotic platform, pictured above, for somewhere around $110,000, starting in 2013.

WaterScrapers: habitat for the coming Waterworld

Here's one way to sidestep climate change, where every low-lying area on the planet will be underwater: Just build underwater skyscrapers! Imagine the magnificent views of undersea flora and fauna from this floating city that's completely self-sustaining.

hO2+ scraper is a design concept entered into the eVoIo Skyscraper Competition, and we're thinking it must of had a good chance of winning. We especially like those balancing tentacles that keep it from flipping over as they generate power. Sure seems like a lot less trouble than scuba diving. Sign us up.

Super listening device hears and identifies any sound

The subtle art of listening, allegedly the keystone of successful marriages, has a defensive role in the chaos of war, too. A Dutch firm is shopping to world militaries a tiny device that listens for screams, gunshots, mortars and even warplanes. It doesn't listen in the conventional sense, but instead measures the 3D movement of individual air particles in order to determine the x, y and z coordinates of whatever made the noise in question. [Read more...]

Wireless projector of the future looks like a female flying saucer

Just a we've always wanted: a carbon fiber 1080p projector that looks like it might be built To Serve Man. Designer David Riesenberg has the right idea, though — he wants his creation to be completely wireless, running long enough for a lengthy movie on lithium-ion battery power, and then charging with one measly wire. [Read more...]

Toyota disputes critic who blames electronics

Toyota gave detailed evidence Monday that it says disproves claims that electronics may cause the unwanted acceleration that led to the recall of more than 8 million cars and trucks.

Toyota was attempting to counter tests by an Illinois engineering professor who said Toyota engines could rev without a driver pressing on the gas. The automaker says mechanical problems, not electronics, are to blame. [Read more...]

Wafer-thin laptop of the future on the way this year?

Here it is, the PC we've been waiting for. Could this be the laptop of the future? The rumormongers at DigiTimes might be pulling our leg, but we hope not because this ultrathin and frameless Acer notebook with a touchscreen keyboard and all-glass display is just downright gorgeous.

Before you get too disappointed, allow us to break the news that this picture is only "a representation" (that's Fujitsu's Frame Zero concept in the graphic above), but the good news is that Acer allegedly plans to launch an ultrathin notebook that might look a lot like this in the second half of this year.

Underpants bomb not enough to take down a 747?

What if that underwear bomb nestled between that loathsome terrorist's legs would've exploded? According to the BBC, it would not have taken down a Boeing 747. Notice the remarkable flexibility of the aircraft frame, absorbing the impact without losing its integrity. From this video, it appears that the airplane would still have been able to land safely.

However, the passengers within might not fare so well. The plane in this test wasn't sealed up and pressurized. Although the Christmas-bombed plane was at a low altitude at the time of the incident, those poor passengers sitting inside the sealed-up tin can might have suffered greatly from the sudden surge in pressure. We're thinking broken eardrums, at least. Perhaps they could have survived if they were wearing a Hurt Locker bomb suit.

Too bad the daily theater that is airport security wasn't impermeable enough to stop this miscreant. And what are they doing differently now? What did we learn from this? Nothing. Just keep cooperating and being afraid, and the terrorists win.

Eneloop Lite makes battery recharging even cheaper

Join us in converting your battery fleet to rechargeables, and you could save a boatload of money while protecting the environment. Now Sanyo makes it easier with Eneloop Lite batteries that are even cheaper than their more-powerful brothers. Unlike the higher-powered Eneloop rechargeables, these are aimed at lower-power devices such as remote controls and alarm clocks. [Read more...]

Solar breakthrough: Water to hydrogen with 60% efficiency

British scientists say they've achieved a breakthrough, figuring out how to extract hydrogen from water with an unheard-of 60% efficiency using solar energy. The secret sauce is nanotechnology, in the form of nanoclusters of indium phosphide encrusted on a gold electrode. Using this, they can turn sunlight into that hotshot hydrogen fuel, clean-burning and as energetic as a swift kick in the ass.

Next trick: turning water into wine.

What's the catch? Well, gold happens to be exorbitantly expensive, and becoming more so as markets become less stable. So these guys are looking for a way to make this miraculous alchemy occur without using precious metals. In fact, the researchers say there's "no special reason to use gold or platinum," and mentioned the gold just "happened to be lying about the lab." Apparently there's tremendous amounts of money involved in hydrogen research.

Hey, this could be useful for fueling that Bloom Box, eliminating the need for propane and making it actually practical.

Toyota workers outlined safety concerns in ignored 2006 memo

According to an investigative report by the LA Times carried out in Toyota’s hometown of Toyota, Japan, six workers came together in 2006 in an attempt to warn the now ailing automaker of impending safety and quality concerns.


The six men – all union workers in Japan – had come together and agreed that the automaker [Toyota] had turned to extensive use of unpaid overtime and cuts in workforce while simultaneously increasing output in order to keep up with increased demand in the U.S. market. One statistic the workers listed in their memo was Toyota’s 5 million recalled vehicles between 2000 and 2005 – totaling 36% of everything sold during that same period – a rate higher than other automakers. [Read more...]

Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera revealed

The Superleggera is back, and it’s faster and lighter than ever before. Debuting at the Geneva Motor Show, the new variant builds upon the new LP570 Gallardo line, which was first introduced in 2008. The car is a successor to the previous Gallardo Superleggera, which was produced in 2007 for less than a year. [Read more...]

Toyota Stopped checking All their cars for Safety

“We used to test every one of our cars for safety and quality,” said Wakatsuki. “Now we do maybe 60 percent. The old 100 percent is a thing of the past.”


“Our responsibility as a labor union was to point out these problems that Toyota should have known about. People were overworked; some were committing suicide,” Wakatsuki said. “Of course, Toyota did nothing, but looking back we see how important this was. We just told them what we saw.”

2010 Mini Cooper S - Hot Chocolate Paint

Quirky, cute, zippy. There's much to like about the diminutive Mini Cooper S. It's a blast in the corners, yet still sips fuel. Its style is classic, yet also modern. And there's nary a parking spot that the Mini can't squeeze into.


But the thing about the Mini is that on the other side of every pro is an equally valid con. Its modern aesthetic makes the cabin a confusing ergonomic mess. The same taut suspension that helps the Mini to handle so well also makes every pothole feel like the Grand Canyon; and the Mini is small, but it is also pricey for its weight class.

But, the Girl didn't like it...? [Read more...]

100Mbps broadband may be closer than you think

If you're looking forward to a future of streaming movies, gargantuan Internet file exchanges, and other high-bandwidth activities, cheer up.

Broadband service providers in most of the major markets around the country will soon be able to deliver 100 Mbps broadband service with no problem. That's enough to download a music album in as little as 5 seconds, an hour-long TV show in about 30 seconds, and a high-definition movie in roughly 7 minutes 25 seconds. But it's going to cost you. [Read more...]

Toyota Workers - Worked to Death

In one case, a Japanese court ruled that a man died from karoshi, which means he worked himself to death. The man, Kenichi Uchino, was 30 years old and reportedly worked 14 hours a day leading up to his final month in which he worked 144 hours of unpaid overtime, according to his widowed wife. Uchino died of heart failure while working at his desk.

Uchino’s widow managed to sneak into a Toyota stockholder’s meeting where she questioned then-president Katsuaki Watanabe about unpaid overtime – Watanabe gave no answer and said they would “look into it.”

Japan Automobile Consumer Union

In 1970, a man by the name of Fumio Matsuda formed the Japan Automobile Consumer Union, an organization which acted as a consumer advocacy group. Matsuda is often referred to as the “Ralph Nader of Japan” for his actions. Matsuda is a former Nissan quality control engineer and says he has spent decades watching Japanese automakers – including Toyota.


Matsuda claimed that Toyota often sponsored “secret recalls” in which Toyota would ask customers to visit dealers for checkups and then they would replace known defective parts and then chargecustomers for the repairs. “Everything Toyota does is hidden, ” said Matsuda.

Ken Block Sti SnowTrax

In a world of digital watches and oscillating quartz tech, feats of mechanical wizardry are still capable of raising an eyebrow or two. Call us astonished as we look at this Mysterious Automatic Double Axis Tourbillon, a transparent watch by master craftsman Thomas Prescher. Marvel at its intricate gravity-defying movement, hanging out there in the open while the rest of it is hidden on the sides and top.

Suspended in the middle of it this transparent case is the watch's tourbillon, a delicate mechanism designed to enhance accuracy by countering the effect of gravity when the watch is rotated on a wrist. But Prescher goes a step beyond that with his "flying double axis tourbillon," further negating any gravity effects.

Suspending that mechanism on the end of a stalk and displaying only the time and date in this transparent case shows how clever the watchmaker can get. That's not the only trick this guy has up his sleeve — he's also created a triple axis tourbillon. Brilliant. Want one? Nobody's talking price, but some watches like this cost a half-million dollars.

Microsoft Courier, the mighty iPad fighter?

You didn't think Microsoft was just going to sit there and let Apple take all the tabletmania glory today, did you? New pics have surfaced of Microsoft's dual-screen Courier, and the book-like device seems to be dolled up a bit to compete directly against the iPad.

There are new details coming along with these pictures. It's less than inch thick, weighs slightly more than a pound, and its two screens are about the size of a 5 x 7 photo. There's supposedly a built-in camera. The best news? Its powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics processor will be driving a version of those gorgeous Zune HD and Windows Phone 7 interfaces of which we are so fond.

We're going to have to wait a while for this sultry temptress — its launch date is still pegged at somewhere between the third and fourth quarter of this year, selling for an as-yet-undisclosed price.

WARNING! NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card

I’m getting a steady stream of reports in from NVIDIA users that the latest 196.75 drivers can cause severe cooling problems, even possibly resulting in the death of the hardware.

The problem seems to be related to the fan controller, causing the fans to slow down, and even stop. This happening while the card is in use is a very bad thing indeed, and can cause poor performance (as the GPU tries to cool itself down by reducing power) and possibly even overheat your GPU to the point where the card stops working.

NVIDIA 196.75 drivers were released on Marc 2nd, and have now been removed from the download site. If you are running these drivers it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you uninstall this driver and immediately downgrade to the 196.21 drivers. [Read more...]

One beautiful steampunk flash drive

Now, steampunk may be a bit tired at this point, what with it essentially just slapping unnecessary brass and leather on normal products. But come on, this steampunk flash drive is just neat.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look to still be available from its Etsy seller, but I'll bet if you really wanted one you could get in touch and work something out.

Martin Jetpack

Rocketeers, rejoice! That Martin Aircraft Company jetpack we've been teasing you about for a while is going to be produced at a rate of 500 units a year and sold. For a cool $75,000, you're looking at a 200-horsepower, dual propeller flying machine, one that reaches heights of nearly 8,000 feet and cruises along at 60 miles per hour. With a range of 30 miles on one tank of fuel, it's perfect for trips to the grocery store!

Also, fun for your neighbors: weighing in at less than 254 pounds means that Martin jetpacks don't require a pilot's license to operate. Who thought that was a good idea? (That could just be for the UK, however. Any pilots out there know what the minimum is in America?)

Just in case you hit your head pretty hard and forgot how awesome jetpacks are, check out the video below. Dude's flying! Seriously, I could watch this all damn day.

Speakers that hide in an ammo box

If your home is decorated with a military theme (and whose isn't, really?), this speaker is for you. It's a set of speakers built into an ammo box, looking like it'd fit in perfectly in a Humvee outside Kabul.
The speakers are meant to be portable, coming with a rechargable battery and headphone cable for plugging in your MP3 player. It'll set you back about $479, which seems steep to me, but then again it's probably tough to find speakers that match your camo-print drapes.

Real-life Hurt Locker: how bomb-proof suits work

Say you're a professional bomb defuser, like the soldiers in Oscar-nominated The Hurt Locker — and the bomb you're working on suddenly goes off. Do you just kiss your adrenaline-addicted ass goodbye? No — odds are you're wearing an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) suit, which means you actually have a fighting chance of walking away alive.

I had to know how these blast-resistant suits worked in real life — so I called up Pravit Borkar, a ballistics engineer at HighCom Security, a firm that manufactures EOD suits for military applications, and asked him to explain. [Read more...]

256GB thumb drive lets you carry a boatload of data around

How big a USB thumb drive do you need? 1GB? 6GB, maybe? Well, the new Kingston DataTraveler can hold a whopping 256GB, larger than many laptop hard drives.

Of course, if you want to be able to carry that much data around in your pocket, it's going to cost you. The current price for one of these things is a whopping $836.38. But don't worry, eventually, the price will drop. You know, as soon as the 2TB thumb drives come out.

Passenger on cruise ship: Wave ordeal terrifying

BARCELONA, Spain – Monstrous waves that smashed into a Mediterranean cruise ship flooded people's cabins, broke windows in a restaurant and sent terrified travelers screaming for doctors, passengers said Thursday.

Claude Cremex, 73, of Marseille, France said he was in his cabin resting because of rough seas when the walls of water hit the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty, which was carrying 1,350 passengers and 580 crew members off the coast of northeastern Spain. [Read more...]

CodeOrgan turns any URL into a custom jingle

Ever wonder what your website would sound like if it turned into an organ? Sure you have, and now you don't have to wonder any longer as the "magical mechanical CodeOrgan" will take in the URLs you feed it and, like a musical Bat Computer, spit out a short, catchy jingle. [Read more...]

Best giveaway ever: Canon lens as insulated coffee mug

You're looking at the best piece of schwag ever doled out. Canon took the iconic shape of its 70-to-200mm L-series white lens and fabricated that into an insulated coffee cup. Too bad you had to be at the Olympic press center in Vancouver to get one for free — Canon bestowed them upon all who wanted one.

Good thinking, Canon! Working the Olympics is a cold proposition, and you gave everyone a chance to keep their beverages warm while literally embracing your product. In the meantime, the company's created a collector's item. Canon, hand these out somewhere else. Attention other schwagmeisters: Canon PR people got it right this time. Copy them.

DARPA wants military App Store for Android, 3G for battlefieldsDARPA wants military App Store for Android, 3G for battlefields

We've written about "war apps" before, but now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, aka DARPA, is getting down to the specifics on what it wants to see when it comes to marrying advanced consumer phones to the military. In an announcement yesterday, the agency made clear what it'd want a military app store landscape to look like:

DARPA is seeking applications to fill a diverse set of needs, including the tactical battlefield, humanitarian missions, disaster recovery, and other mission areas. Example functionalities include command and control, reporting, mission planning, intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance, real-time collaboration, geospatial visualization, analysis, language translation, training, and logistics tracking. Special attention must be paid to the apps' user interfaces and usability functions, as well as striving towards general simplicity and ease-of-use.

 [Read more...]

Control-A-Man, Control-A-Woman remotes show us our priorities

Diabolical villains and married couples alike should be able to appreciate the driving concept behind the Control-A-Man and Control-A-Woman remotes: getting your better half to stoop to your level. For women, that means being able to stop a man's bodily functions at the press of a button, have them talk about shoes and their emotions, put the lid down on the toilet, and, ultimately, propose. For a man, the most prominent button on the remote is labeled "Remove Clothes." That's pretty much all that has to be said.

The remotes are being sold by ThinkGeek for $6 apiece (so $12 for the pair). Do they work? Maybe, according to the product description: "Point at subject, press button, hope for the best."

Check out a bonus image down below, where you can read the buttons.

Porsche High-Performance 918 Spyder Concept

WD rolls out faster, cheaper solid-state drives

Solid-state drives (SSD) are steadily becoming more practical for consumers. Here's Western Digital shipping its non-spinning drives aimed at you and me, and they're calling them SiliconEdge Blue.

Why should we care? Because they don't have any moving parts, they're great for laptops because they're shock resistant, and enhance any computer with their silence and blazing speed, moving data ten times faster than ordinary spinning hard drives. For you geeks, that's 250MB per second read speed and 170MB per second write speed. Whoa.

There's got to be a catch, though. Unfortunately, solid-state drives are exorbitantly expensive. However, the prices are plummeting, as evidenced by these three 2.5-inch SiliconEdge Blue drives Western Digital is now shipping for laptops and desktops. The 64GB drive retails for $279, compared to prices about three times that a year ago. The 128GB drive is $529 and the 256GB is $999. Wait a year, and this will all be worth it.