Month: October 2013

Environmental

CLEANING UP ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST POLLUTED CITIES

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Matt Stroud A Pittsburgh-area steel town fights for clear skies In 1995, the Monongahela River Valley’s air was among the most polluted in the United States. This collection of municipalities, about 10 miles southeast of downtown Pittsburgh, sat downwind from the Clairton Coke Works, which is a giant factory engaged in one of the dirtiest industrial processes known to civilization. It had been established decades earlier that people who grew up close…

Continue reading

Application Business Cloud Entertainment

Amazon’s Instant Video apps for iOS improve AirPlay support, let users multitask

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Amazon added AirPlay support to its Instant Video (US) and Lovefilm (Europe, iPad only) apps for iOS devices in September, and now it’s pushed simultaneous updates to make it better. Both apps now support multitasking (the Instant Video app notes iOS 6+ is required, with AirPlay Mirroring disabled). That should make streaming to Apple TV boxes even easier, although Amazon’s lack of a generic app for Android and/or Chromecast support from the Kindle…

Continue reading

Business Hardware Dev

Freeformer industrial 3D printer creates complex items in batches, can combine soft and hard parts

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Regular 3D printers (from pens to desktop models) debut quite frequently these days, but a new machine named Freeformer was created with industrial-grade manufacturing in mind. The device was designed by German company ARBURG and employs a proprietary process called ARBURG Plastic Freeforming or — we swear this acronym’s not a typo — AKF. It takes 3D CAD data and uses it to make functional parts out of liquid plastic without the…

Continue reading

Culture Education

How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

By admin | by admin

As reported on Wired. BY JOSHUA DAVIS These students in Matamoros, Mexico, didn’t have reliable Internet access, steady electricity, or much hope—until a radical new teaching method unlocked their potential.  Peter Yang José Urbina López Primary School sits next to a dump just across the US border in Mexico. The school serves residents of Matamoros, a dusty, sunbaked city of 489,000 that is a flash point in the war on drugs. There are regular shoot-outs, and it’s not…

Continue reading

Automotive Culture Environmental

Two-way street: electric cars of the future could give power back to the grid

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Sean Hollister The batteries inside EVs might pay dividends On September 23rd, the city of Palo Alto, California decided to embrace the electric car. Inspired by one resident who fought to install a public charging station, the city councilvoted to mandate that every new single-family home be wired to support EV chargers. That might be good news for Palo Alto’s wealthy, environmentally conscious populace — not to mention Tesla Motors,…

Continue reading

Business Cloud Culture

The Cloud Washers Will Lose

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Alex William There are two camps in the cloud world. There are the cloud washers, which are the ones who put a cloud sticker on everything. They say, “Oh, yes, it’s a private cloud for big data.” Then they throw in a few dozen other buzz words for the new look on their legacy technology. The other camp, the cloud services providers, enable customers to innovate in less time than it…

Continue reading

Entertainment

Gittler’s all-titanium guitar has no neck or body, demands more than the intro to ‘Stairway’

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith     “An out of this world guitar playing experience.” That’s what Gittler promises from its aircraft-grade titanium axem and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund production. Based on Alan Gittler’s original 1978 design, which is now housed at MoMA, it maintains the same simplified structure, coming from the mantra to strip away “all that is unnecessary and redundant.” That’s resulted in a guitar body that lacks both a…

Continue reading

Retail Sales

Walmart starts grocery delivery service in Denver, makes it easier to never leave home again.

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Oh, boy. Local mom-and-pop shops in Denver aren’t going to like this: Walmart’slooking to increase pressure on local businesses by delivering groceries straight to your waiting arms. Yes, that includes fresh produce, as well as dry and frozen items, which will surely make workaholics (and shut-ins) out there happy. The Walmart To Go service has been shuttling perishable goods to people’s doorsteps in San Francisco and San Jose for the…

Continue reading

Art

Banksy hits New York City, but the city hits back

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Verge Staff Acclaimed street artist Banksy has crossed the pond from his native UK, and is now leaving his marks all around New York City. Since October 1st, he’s created upwards of 10 pieces as part of his month-long “residency” (to borrow a term from the professional art world), titled “Better Out Than In.” Banksy’s playful work often offers social or political commentary, and he hasn’t limited himself to sidewalks…

Continue reading

Entertainment Film

Watch Pixar get spooky in its ‘Toy Story OF TERROR!’ trailer

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Rich McCormick Pixar showed a trailer for its first ever TV special back in August. Now The Wall Street Journal has a new clip of the Halloween-themed feature in action. Toy Story OF TERROR! is a 22 minute mini-movie that tracks a bagful of the Toy Story toys as they’re carted to Grandma’s house. En route, they’re forced through a decidedly spooky gauntlet as car trouble forces the group into a shady motel. The Wall Street Journal‘s…

Continue reading