Month: June 2013

Apple Review

OS X 10.9 Mavericks preview: faster, smarter, and leather-free

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As reported on The Verge. By David Pierce Apple’s latest desktop OS isn’t an overhaul — it’s a tune-up The 10th version of OS X, Mavericks, felt like an afterthought in the midst ofApple’s radical overhaul of its mobile operating system. In this case, rather than completely overhaul the look and feel of the entire platform, Apple has instead picked its spots, removing and adding features in particular places while all the while tuning for performance and…

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Government Military

All the president’s hitmen: tracking Washington’s secret army

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As reported on The Verge. By Joseph L. Flatley Jeremy Scahill and Richard Rowley reveal the new face of war Additional reporting by Jesse Hicks and Joshua Kopstein In the 1960s there was a saying: “Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came?” We’ll probably never know the answer to that particular American koan, but a recent book and documentary film sets out to answer a more important question: “What if they gave a war, but didn’t…

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Politics

Danish Company Creates Software That Will Stop You From Printing A Gun

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As reported on TechCrunch. by JOHN BIGGS A Danish company called Create It Real has built a software package that recognizes digital gun part models and prevents them from being printed. The software compares each piece you are attempting to print with a database of potential firearm parts and, the company notes, “for safety reasons, there are no models of firearms stored on the user’s computer but rather a list of characteristics.” The CEO, Jeremie Pierre Gay, has…

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Application Mobile

Dropbox update for iOS adds swipe gestures, multi-file sharing

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As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith Dropbox‘s latest update for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch solves some of the minor niggles we’ve had with its iOS version. You can now share links to folders direct from the app, while the refresh also adds the ability select and share multiple files at once. Alongside the obligatory bug fixes and performance improvements, Dropbox version 2.3 also throws in a handful of new touchscreen-friendly gestures to the mix, allowing…

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Article

Infographic: An Astounding Map of Every River in America

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As reported on Wired. BY LIZ STINSON To create his All Rivers map, Nelson Minar mined open source data from the National Hydrography Dataset. All images: Courtesy Nelson Minar Minar’s All Rivers map is an in-depth look at waterways in the 48 contiguous states. He was inspired by Ben Fry’s All Streets map, which similarly depicts all the roads in the U.S. To determine how large the rivers would appear on the map, Minar extracted the Strahler number, a measure of…

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Politics Security

If The Government Can Access Our Facebook Data, What Happens When We Have Computers On Our Faces?

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As reported on TechCrunch. by SARAH PEREZ Wearables will follow a similar path as the smartphone market, Forrester analysts predicted in April 2012. ”Wearables will move mainstream,” they said. But will they? Do you believe this? Do I? Maybe? From fitness trackers to smartwatches to computers you wear on your face, this emerging market, enabled by the increasing miniaturization of hardware components and lightweight materials, has increasingly been piquing the interest of investors and early adopters alike. Futurist, artificial intelligence expert…

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Automotive

Tesla Shows Off A 90-Second Battery Swap System, Wants It At Supercharging Stations By Year’s End

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As reported on TechCrunch. by CHRIS VELAZCO Tesla teased electric motorheads earlier this week by announcing an event that would show off its curious battery-swapping system, and it wound up being even more impressive than most of us imagined. Long story short, Tesla can swap a Model S’s battery in just 90 seconds (that’s less time than it takes to fuel up a regular car), and you won’t even have to get out of your seat to…

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Mobile

Sony’s SBH52 Smart Bluetooth clip acts as your secondary handset

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As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lai HTC may have its Mini Bluetooth handset, but Sony thinks such implementation works best as a big clip without the numeric pad. Dubbed the SBH52, this splashproof device comes with FM radio, a headphone jack plus a small OLED display to show caller ID and text messages, so in a way it’s similar to its predecessors. What’s new is that you now get NFC as well as an earpiece — the…

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Games

OUYA hits retailers for $100, promptly sells out at Amazon

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As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon OUYA has unlocked a major achievement today: the teensy crowdfunded gaming console is now available at retail, after a slight delay from the June 4th date it promised earlier. That’s good news for everybody, except perhaps some of the original Kickstarter backers who’ve still not received their consoles — though founder Julie Uhrman said the firm is “working overtime” to resolve that issue. As for the retail OUYA package (which has had most…

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Mobile

Sony SmartWatch 2 unveiled: a water-resistant ‘second screen’ for Android devices

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As reported on Engadget. By Joseph Volpe Sony’s taking a second stab at the fledgling wearable category it helped pioneer with today’s announcement of the SmartWatch 2. The Android-powered wristwatch retains the familiar remote functionality of its predecessor (i.e., allowing users to answer calls, read email and texts, snap photos, etc.), albeit now from a larger, 1.6-inch (220 x 176) touch display. Sony’s packed all of this “second screen” functionality into a handsome, aluminum body design that’s crafted to be dust- and…

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