Month: November 2013

Art Culture Design

Weird Nanophotonic Materials Bend and Trap Light to Make Crazy Colors

By admin | by admin

As reported on Wired. BY NADIA DRAKE Normally, the colors we perceive are determined by the wavelengths of light reflected by objects in the world around us. But not all surfaces reflect light the same way. Picture an iridescent butterfly, for example. It might look drab from one direction, but explode into bright yellows or purples from another. That’s because of microscopic structures that alter the way light bounces off the butterfly’s wings.At the NanoPhotonics Centre at the…

Continue reading

Engineering Military

Christening the USS Gerald Ford: inside the most advanced, most expensive warship ever built

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Matt Stroud Is the $13 billion price tag worth it? This weekend, the United States Navy christened what many claim is its greatest engineering achievement: the USS Gerald Ford supercarrier, the first in a completely new line of warships called the Ford class. The ship, seated in a huge dock on the James River near the southern district of Newport News, Virginia, is the most technologically advanced, the most expensive,…

Continue reading

Government Security

The edge of the abyss: exposing the NSA’s all-seeing machine

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. by T.C. SOTTEK “I know the capability that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.” Senator Frank Church on Meet The Press, 1975 On November 4th, 1952, a new…

Continue reading

Android Application Culture

Cyanogen Launches Installer App To Bring Aftermarket Android To The Masses

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Chris Velazco Cyanogen Inc. revealed a few months back that it closed a $7 million seed investment from Benchmark Capital. The vision it laid out at the time was no small one: it wants its cooked version of Android to become the third most-used mobile OS behind iOS and Android proper. Naturally, that involves getting CyanogenMod onto as many devices as it can, and today the company took one giant leap in…

Continue reading

Apple History

Apple II’s 35-year-old operating system is now open to the public

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Matt Brian In a world of super-fast OS X and Windows machines, it’s easy to forget that early desktop computers were a lot more basic. That was the case for the Apple II, Cupertino’s first mass-market computer that utilized a cassette tape for data storage and just 4K of memory. Now, more than 35 years after its release, the Computer History Museum is making the original DOS source code for the iconic computer…

Continue reading

Application

Out in the Open: How to Get Google Maps Directions Without Google

By admin | by admin

As reported on Wired. BY KLINT FINLEY Open Source Routing Machine creator Dennis Luxen. Photo: Mapbox   One of the best things about Google Maps is that you can get directions from one place to another almost instantly. But what if you want to build your own website or application that does much the same thing? Sure, Google Maps offers an API that lets developers integrate some of its tools into their applications, but if you do that,…

Continue reading

Random Science Tech

Some drones can kill you, this one could save your life

By admin | by admin

As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris An Iranian research lab has created a drone to save people drowning at sea. Developed by Tehran-based RTS Lab, Pars is a multirotor drone that is designed to carry and drop floatation aids to people in trouble. First conceptualized only a year ago, Pars is now a functioning prototype that recently underwent testing in the Caspian Sea. Located around 100 miles from Tehran, the Caspian has bore witness to a…

Continue reading

Apple Art Design

This Is Apple’s New Mothership Of An HQ

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Jordan Crook The most realistic and detailed images yet of Apple’s new spaceship headquarters have just been published in an awesome piece on Wired. The latest images of the 2.8 million square-foot campus show an expansive cafeteria, an underground parking garage, and a subterranean auditorium where forthcoming Apple products will be unveiled to the media. The office will sit on a 176-acre plot of land, most of which will be dedicated to…

Continue reading

Apple Tablet

Retina iPad mini is now available, prices start at $399

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Sure the iPad Air is thin, light and has amazing battery life, but the arrival of its smaller cousin is about to make your choice more difficult. Apple’s upgraded 8-inch slate, the Retina iPad mini, is now available, popping up in Apple’s online stores around the globe. According to an internal Apple document posted by MacRumors, while some countries are getting both WiFi and cellular models, mainland China will have to make do…

Continue reading

Environmental Mobile

Upp is a $199 hydrogen fuel cell for USB devices that lets you fill up instead of plugging in

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. By Sharif Sakr Hydrogen fuel cells have been helping astronauts for nearly half a century already, so it’s about time they became small enough — and cheap enough — to be of use to everyone else. That’s exactly what Intelligent Energy claims to have achieved with its the latest fuel cell system, called the “Upp.” At 500 grams and with a retail price of $199, it’s not meant to compete with regular lithium ion…

Continue reading