Art

Panoramic Wall Photos Examine the World’s Most Volatile Borders

As reported on Wired. BY REBECCA HORNE Construction of the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico between Naco and Douglas, Arizona. April 2008. Photo: From Confrontier by Kai Wiedenhöfer published by Steidl. A section of the biggest peace line of West Belfast in Waterville Street, which was reinforced with concrete and extended with a fence on the top in 2008. Belfast, Northern Ireland, September 2008. Photo: From Confrontier by Kai Wiedenhöfer published by Steidl. A section of the biggest peace line…

Continue reading

Google

Google is now ferrying its workers around San Francisco in a private catamaran

As reported on The Verge. By Carl Franzen As criticism of Google’s private shuttle bus service for employees living in San Francisco has reached new heights, the company quietly turned its eyes to the sea. CBS is reporting that Google has contracted a private catamaran called “The Triumphant” that ferries workers from San Francisco bay to Redwood City, California, about halfway to the company’s global headquarters in Mountain View, California. Presumably, then Google employees hop out and take a bus…

Continue reading

Business Culture

Blaze Seeks To Save Cyclist Lives With A Laser Projection Bike Light

As reported on TechCrunch. by Ryan Lawler More and more urban commuters are embracing cycling as a way to get to and from work and around the city, and more and more cities are embracing cyclists by adding bike lanes and making commutes safer and more fun. But bicycle safety is still a huge issue in even the most bike-friendly cities. A new startup called Blaze hopes to improve rider safety by reimagining the classic bike light. Blaze’s…

Continue reading

Security

Simplicam watches your house while you’re away, uses facial recognition to tell you who’s home

As reported on Engadget. BY SEAN BUCKLEY WiFi cameras are a handy tool to keep tabs on your home, but they’re really only useful if you’re looking at them. Checking up on your family means pulling up an app, logging in and manually scanning your living room for occupants. ArcSoft says it has an easier way: facial recognition. By equipping its Simplicam WiFi camera with motion, sound and facial detection software, the firm says it can notify you when your…

Continue reading

Application iPhone

This case turns your iPhone into a night vision camera

As reported on Engadget. BY DANIEL COOPER Thermal cameras are expensive, which is why they’re mostly used by firefighters, contractors and psychotic aliens. Fortunately, that’s all about to change thanks to theFLIR One, which is an iPhone case with a tiny thermal camera stuck on the back. All you have to do is strap your iPhone 5 or 5s into the dock and, once you’ve downloaded the app, you’re ready to go. Using multi-spectral dynamic imaging, it can…

Continue reading

Government Security

The NSA Is Building a Quantum Computer? We Already Knew That

As reported on Wired. BY ROBERT MCMILLAN NSA Director Keith Alexander speaking at the 2009 Cyberspace Symposium. Photo DoD/Dan Rohan   The internet is abuzz over revelations that the NSA is building its own quantum computer, a machine that could crack the computer encryption codes exponentially faster than any machine available today. But this should come as no surprise. “It’s an interesting topic,” says Scott Aaronson, a theoretical computer scientist at MIT who has followed quantum computing efforts…

Continue reading

Story Travel

Hidden camera in a bathroom forces plane to make emergency landing

As reported on The Verge. By Rich McCormick An American Airlines flight between San Francisco and New York was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas City on Sunday after a device was found “ominously taped” to a bathroom wall. The device was initially thought to be a flash drive, but after investigation, appears to be “a camera disguised as a flash drive.” The 215 passengers on board American Airlines flight 24 were reportedly told an issue with the plane’s…

Continue reading

TV

H&M Super Bowl commercial will let you buy Beckham’s clothes through your Samsung TV

As reported on The Verge. By Rich McCormick American owners of Samsung Smart TVs will be able to use their TV remotes to buy David Beckham’s clothes during the Super Bowl. Clothing retailer H&M will run a 30-second commercial for the soccer star’s Bodywear spring collection during FOX’s telecast of Super Bowl XLVIII, in which viewers with compatible TVs will be able to purchase items through their television using a “t-commerce platform.” That platform is provided by Delivery…

Continue reading

Games Hardware Dev

Parrot Shows Off New MiniDrone And Leaping Sumo Rolling Bot

As reported on TechCrunch. by Darrell Etherington French Bluetooth company turned drone-maker Parrot has some new hardware for CES 2014, including two brand new smartphone-controlled bots. One is the rolling, jumping Sumo and the other is the MiniDrone, a super small version of its popular AR Drone that flies, rolls and hugs the ceiling and the walls. The MiniDrone is remarkably small, coming in at about a tenth of the size of the full version, which…

Continue reading

Culture

When Growth Hacking Goes Bad

As reported on TechCrunch. by Sarah Perez Andreessen Horowitz-backed music lyrics and annotations Rap Genius was the latest to stray over to the darker side of so-called “growth hacking,” with its spammy SEO tactics disguised as an affiliate program. Called out, exposed and now punished by Google, the site’s traffic has tanked. But Rap Genius, thanks in part to that $15 million investment, will probably recover. They’ll clean up their links, make amends, and maybe even get back into Google’s good graces.…

Continue reading