Month: June 2014

Government Military Politics

There may be nothing America can do to save Iraq

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As reported on The Verge. By Verge Staff  Growing ISIS insurgency threatens to pull Obama back into Iraq, but his options are limited Less than four years after the withdrawal of American troops, Iraq is once again descending into chaos and violence. Islamist insurgents from an al-Qaeda breakaway group have seized large swaths of northern Iraq, and are marchingtoward Baghdad. The unrest has inflamed deep-seated sectarian divides between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Iraq, resulting in…

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Application Automotive

With A Series Of Upgrades, Dash Becomes A Viable Competitor Among Smart Driving Apps

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Sarah Perez Dash, a smart driving app that’s something of a “Fitbit for you car,” is now rolling out a series of updates, including integration with notifications platform IFTTT, as well as an API for third-party developers, and more. The company has also beaten competitors to an international launch, which is a notable milestone for apps like this. According to CEO Jamyn Edis, Dash has now been downloaded in over 100 countries, where Dash has…

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Culture Education Engineering

University library starts ‘drone loan’ program for students

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As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT  There’s good news if you’re a broke University of South Florida student who’d like to take an $1,195 DJI Phantom 2 Vision UAV for a spin: you can now sign one out from the library. Before you start preparing some kind of water balloon-dropping scheme, however, there are a few caveats. First off, all use will be supervised by library staff and you’ll have to take a course in drone operation…

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Culture Hardware Dev Tech

Soundhawk’s smart earpiece tunes out noise to augment your hearing

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As reported on Engadget. BY CHRIS VELAZCO We’ve all been there. You’re standing around, trying to have a conversation — meaningful or otherwise — but that wretched, raucous noise means all you can do is cock your head and mouth “I can’t hear you!” to your friend. San Francisco-based startup Soundhawk doesn’t want that to ever happen again. The team can’t boost your hearing to Superman-esque levels, but with a new $299 gadget they can at least augment…

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Space

Ten years ago, SpaceShipOne completed the first private flight into space

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As reported on The Verge. By Dante D’Orazio Ten years ago today, SpaceShipOne and pilot Mike Melvill blasted just past the Earth’s atmosphere into space, marking beginning of commercial spaceflight. The Paul Allen-funded project successfully became the first privately-financed human spaceflight, and after its success it seemed that commercial space travel was just around the corner. However, after just a couple more flights later in 2004, the SpaceShipOne was retired. There hasn’t been another commercial, suborbital…

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Google

Google Glass Frames By Diane Von Furstenberg Now On Sale In The U.S.

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Darrell Etherington Google has new frames available for Glass buyers, and they’re specially designed by Diane von Furstenberg. These are the chicest Google Glass frames you can buy, for the time being, and they come in multiple sunglass tints, plus a single pair of optical frames in different colors. The designs are all Glass compatible, but you can also get Glass in a bundle with one pair of the sunglasses and one…

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Application

BrewDrop Brings Sweet Booze Right To Your Home

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As reported on TechCrunch. by John Biggs Rakuten’s Video Service Wuaki Confirms UltraViolet And European Rollouts It’s 11pm: do you know where your microbrews are? Matt and Andrew Bell know. As thecreators of BrewDrop, they want to make it easy to order booze using a simple app. The service, which just launched in Austin, Texas, allows you to send an instant order to local booze purveyors using an Uber-like interface. In fact, you can think of it…

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Government Hardware Dev Legal

Backscatter X-ray gun will help police hunt contraband

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As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT  Though “strip-search” backscatter X-ray machines were pulled from US airports for privacy reasons, the tech has found a new home in the MINI Z portable scanner. Made by American Science and Engineering (AS&E), it displays see-through images on a Windows tablet PC from low-intensity backscatter X-rays that don’t penetrate deeply into organic tissue. The company said it took seven years of research to shrink the X-ray tubes enough to create a handheld device that uses…

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Application Cloud Culture

Wink wants to simplify the smart home with a universal app and $80 hub

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As reported on Engadget. BY SHARIF SAKR You’ve probably never heard of Wink, but you may soon encounter its logo (“Wink app ready”) or its smart home router (the “Wink Hub”) the next time you go shopping at Home Depot. The logo will appear on a range of WiFi-connected devices from different manufacturers, including air conditioners from GE and thermostats from Honeywell, signifying that they can all be controlled via the Wink app for Android and iOS. The hub…

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Automotive Business Culture

This is Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle

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As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris Meet Project LiveWire America’s foremost bike manufacturer is leaving a century of tradition behind with the all-electric Project LiveWire, and it’s inviting the public to help test it. While the company is being coy with details on the bike, it says LiveWire offers “tire-shredding acceleration and an unmissable new sound,” and is capable of hitting 0-60 in less than four seconds. LiveWire is not for sale, and is instead…

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