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Tech News9/11 Twin Tower Collapse Provides Data For Building Better Fusion Reactors
Don’t be afraid. You can read that headline again. I’ll wait for you… Aaaand, okay: With cold fusion nowhere in sight, hot fusion looks to be the cleanest way to whip up some atomic energy. However, the steel needed to line the reactor may not be able to take the heat. UK scientists said that … Continued
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Tech News
RIM Bringing AOL Mail, AIM and ICQ to All BlackBerry Smartphones
I know all of you BlackBerry fans have been waiting forever for the true AOL Mail experience on your cellphone right? Right? Yeahhhhhh! Seriously though, if you would prefer true AIM and ICQ as opposed to third-party IM clients, now is your chance to get a deeply integrated, feature-rich AOL experience on the go. Hit … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
SlingNerds Rejoice: Slingbox Pro-HD and SlingCatcher Finally Available for Pre-Order
The Slingers are giddy today: After a long wait, many good things are happening with their favorite placeshifter. The Slingbox Pro-HD, which lets you sling 1080i content around a local area network, and the SlingCatcher, a set-top box intended to receive content from other Slingboxes, are both available for pre-order, $300 a pop, and better … Continued
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Tech News
Google and Friends to Bring Satellite Internets To 3 Billion People in Africa and Other Developing Markets
Today Google, along with HSBC and a few other investors, helped place an order for 16 low-orbit Thales Alenia satellites to begin the push for a massive broadband deployment in Africa and beyond that it hopes will help connect the 3 billion people in the world who are currently webless. It’s a noble plan, with … Continued
By John Mahoney -
Tech News
“Staring” Sculpture Depicts Laser Cats In Duel to Death by Exploding Head
I’m no curator, but these two air-dry clay cat sculptures, merged by mere fluorescent tubing and wired up to glow like the heavens, make me want to start a museum entirely filled with sci-fi animals locked in deadly combat. Sure, artist Steve Bishop was going for a more metaphoric approach, indicated by the name he … Continued
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Tech News
Verizon Tech Busted for Using Customer Lines to Make $220K in Sex Calls
Add Joseph Vaccarelli, of Nutley, NJ to the long list of employees busted for engaging in sex-related activities on the job. A former Verizon technician, Vaccarelli stands accused of making $220,000 in sex calls using the landlines of some 950 customers. The math works out like this: 900 chat lines, 5,000 calls and a hand-numbing … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Leica’s $11,000 Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 Lens Is a Nightvision Owl Eye For Your Camera
Yeah, you read that right: f/ zero point nine five. As in less than f/1, which was where Leica’s legendary Noctilux was positioned before and as low as Canon goes with their 50mm f/1.0L glass, making it the world’s fastest major consumer lens on the market today (f-numbers are logarithmic, so that’s over a full … Continued
By John Mahoney -
Tech News
TEAM 0.5 Microsope Takes Closest Look Ever at Graphene, the World’s Strongest Known Material
Graphene is getting a lot of publicity these days. It is being hailed as the future of the electronics industry—the material that will eventually replace silicon. It has also recently been confirmed as the world’s strongest known material. Now, researchers at the Berkeley Lab have thrust graphene into the spotlight once again thanks to the … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
iPod Classic May Get Genius Playlists
After the dust settled on Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event yesterday, it seemed as though the poor iPod classic was getting kicked to the curb—so to speak. However, Crave UK claims that Apple reps at the event told them that Genius playlists would come to the device via a free software upgrade. It’s a glimmer of … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech NewsGadgets
Sprint’s LG Lotus and Samsung HighNote: Fat Flip vs. Slim Slider
It’s fitting that the two new Sprint phones from arch enemies LG and Samsung are so totally opposite in form. The $150 LG Lotus is a chunky purple paisley QWERTY-keyed flip phone (also in black). As you can see in the gallery below, the $100 HighNote from Samsung is a slider that elongates—emphasizing thinness—in two … Continued
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Tech News
NYPD Sued Over Terrorist Spycam Operation in Manhattan: Which Side Are You On?
As you probably already know, the NYPD has been planning to blanket lower Manhattan with over 3000 security cameras as a preventative measure against future terrorist attacks. Not surprisingly, the New York City Liberties Union (NYCLU) has a different opinion on the matter, saying that “A plan of this scope, expense [$106 million] and intrusiveness … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Rumor: Apple MacBook Event on Oct. 14
Yesterday’s new iPods were lovely and all, but if you’re like me, you wanted something more. Like some notebooks. Not to worry, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber says according to the standard “sources familiar with Apple’s hardware plans” that its “Let’s MacBook” event will happen on Oct. 14. While he doesn’t get specific what the new … Continued
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Tech News
Di-Cycle: A Bike That Travels Over Land and Water
Right off the bat the Di-Cycle design is eye-catching. Imagine the looks you would get pedaling this down the road, smashing into cars and bumping old ladies off the sidewalk. Now imagine the looks you would get when you turn sharply toward the neighborhood pool, ride in and mow down all of the swimmers flailing … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
AT&T Changes Terms of Service, Fastest U-Verse Subscribers Will See Slowdowns
AT&T’s just updated its terms of service for broadband customers, and starting next month, if you’re a heavy downloader, get ready to have your connection squeezed to a trickle. While they haven’t implemented usage caps a la Comcast (yet) they are using a similar traffic management technique starting on Oct. 18 you will see throughput … Continued
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Tech News
17 Classic Car User Interfaces, Otherwise Known as Dashboards
Sure, your car dashboard may have a lot of cool buttons and computer displays, but chances are it lacks something that many classic cars have in abundance. A little something I like to call “style.” OObject has put together a list of 17 classic cars (and even one new classic in the Audi TT) that … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Slim Chips: A Zero Calorie Snack Made From Tasty Paper
Like the infamous Canburger before it, this snack food seems totally unnatural. I mean, chips made from “edible” paper? The creators claim that it is a zero calorie alternative to regular chips that offers a dining experience akin to “eating tasty air.” First of all, what kind of paper is it? Rice paper has calories, … Continued
By Sean Fallon -
Tech News
Giz Explains: Why HD Video Downloads Aren’t Very High Def
Yesterday Apple introduced HD TV downloads to the iTunes store, meaning you can watch Peter be super emo on Heroes at a crispy 720p resolution. That’s a higher resolution than DVD, and technically, yup, that’s HD. There’s a catch though. Like every other video download service touting HD videos, it’s all actually lower quality than … Continued
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Tech News
Red Confirms DSLR, Says It’s Bigger “Revolution” Than Red One
Red, makers of the famous Red One camera, have confirmed their upcoming DSLR while dropping breadcrumbs of specs for us to gobble up. First things first, don’t call it at SLR—it’s a “replacement for DSLRs” going internally by the name DSMC (Digital Still and Motion Camera). And if we’re reading between the lines correctly, they’re … Continued
By Mark Wilson