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05 Jun 2011 11:26

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Tech: What the world needs next: Solar-powered laptops

  • This needs to exist someday: As anyone with a laptop already knows, the worst possible place to use a machine like this is in the sun, because the screen is hard to see and you have to pump up the brightness to even compete, meaning that you’ll lose a ton of battery life in the process. But in this concept by designer Andrea Ponti, it actually works with the sun, using it as a source of energy thanks to its built-in solar panels. The Luce Solar Panel Powered PC, a shortlisted entry in Fujitsu’s 2011 design competition, has a battery but doesn’t include a secondary power source, meaning it’s all solar. Which is awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jun 2011 17:20

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Tech: Dear LulzSec: How about we blame you instead of Sony?

  • OK, LulzSec, we get your point — Sony should take its user security seriously. But that’s a lesson they’ve been learning repeatedly for a month — they didn’t need another group to teach it. Meanwhile, when you write tweets like, “I hear there’s been some funny scamming with jacked Sony accounts. That’s what you get for using the same password everywhere,” you earn no respect from anyone. End users — especially the elderly ones that made up the bulk of your Sony release — have something to lose with these hacks. You, however, act without respect or care for anyone. You know, say what you will about Anonymous, but they appear to at least have strong social/political reasons for what they do. (The comment above, from Dutch Anonymous, sums it up for us.) You’re just in it for the “Lulz,” as if nobody gets hurt while you guys have your fun. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 14:18

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Tech: Tennessee lawmakers pass stupid anti-password-sharing law

  • Share your password on Netflix? If you live in Tennessee, you should stop. They just passed a law that makes it illegal to share your password to sites like Netflix and Rhapsody — even with permission. They’re the first state to do this. While you don’t have to worry about sharing within the same house, you might have to worry if you have a son or daughter in college, because they just might be sharing your password with everyone on their floor in their dorm. This is because the language of the law is super-vague and punishes mostly innocuous uses of password-sharing. And the punishments are steep too — up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for $500 or less of “theft,” which the law treats as a misdemeanor. The recording industry, as you might guess, is behind this stupid law — and they hope other states will follow suit after this. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 13:57

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Tech: Meme theft drama: The Oatmeal takes on FunnyJunk

  • In one of the great battles of Memedom, this one might be remembered as the “War of Attribution.” What happens when a guy who draws a ton of memeworthy comics goes up against a site that aggregates comics just like his without any attribution whatsoever? Drama. That’s what happened when the guy behind The Oatmeal merely asked for a little credit for his work from the site FunnyJunk — after they stole all his content.
  • Many lulz, no attribution Matthew Inman, the creator of the famous webcomic The Oatmeal has a huge issue with FunnyJunk.com. Users of that site have been taking his comics, removing all forms of attribution, and posting them on the ad-laden site. He’s tried unsuccessfully to get them removed, but they keep showing up. “I realize that trying to police copyright infringement on the internet is like strolling into the Vietnamese jungle circa 1964 and politely asking everyone to use squirt guns,” Inman wrote, but he feels he needs to protect his rights.
  • Reasonable vs. immature All sorts of problems arose came from Inman just asking for FJ to link to his site — not exactly a huge thing — and the whole mess turned into a giant dramabomb that spread beyond The Oatmeal and FunnyJunk and hit Reddit and Facebook. It’s an interesting copyright battle that takes on some of the touches of YouTube vs. Viacom, except with more uses of anti-gay slurs and meme-talk. Honestly … we’re with Inman. And the guy who runs FunnyJunk is kind of an immature baby who tried to turn his entire userbase on Inman. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 11:03

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Tech: Windows 8 in action: Microsoft gives the mothership a shake-up

  • A refresh of “Start Menu” dynamics: Microsoft’s upcoming refresh of Windows is a bold reboot of an OS way-better known for its incremental updates. WIth an interface that’s closer to Windows Phone 7 than anything that the desktop OS has done, the GUI appears to be touch-first, mouse-second, but done in such a way that doesn’t necessarily turn off the mouse crowd. Honestly, this is the most-impressive GUI we’ve ever seen from Microsoft, if for no other reason than that most of their operating systems have been terrible, in our humble opinion. The ball’s in your court, Steve Jobs — whaddya got for us at WWDC? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 15:04

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Tech: Google still revolutionizing internet search — +1 at a time.

  • It’s the new “like.” Google is expanding its rollout of a way to make searching more effective — the +1 button. Basically, it allows you to recommend search results to your friends and complete strangers in the event they search for the same thing you do. Google seems to think that they can even make searching for things on the web social. Realistically, it should help you sift through the thousands of search results to quickly find the one that’ll help the most. Keep an eye out for it, because a bunch of big sites are going to start using it. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 11:27

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Tech: Google’s Eric Schmidt: We missed the boat on Facebook; it’s my fault

  • Three years ago I wrote memos talking about this general problem. I knew that I had to do something and I failed to do it. … A CEO should take responsibility. I screwed up.
  • Google Chairman (and former CEO) Eric Schmidt • Speaking at the D9 conference, put on by All Things Digital, on the topic of Facebook. Specifically, Google’s failure to do anything to stop Facebook while he was CEO, or at least work together with them. It’s just one sign of many that Google is struggling to keep up with the fast-moving rise of social networking. Another example of this: Google Buzz — which just isn’t very good. Anyway, Schmidt also noted that there is a “Gang of Four” that’s currently defining the tech industry. Which companies are on the list? Google (of course), Apple, Facebook and Amazon. See what he did there? He just slighted Microsoft. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 May 2011 15:46

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Tech: Slimdown: Intel puts laptops on diets to compete with Apple

  • Intel has plans to release a computer to compete with the Macbook Air and the iPad. The new computer — called an Ultrabook — would be extremely thin and have tablet-like features. It’d also be less than $1,000. The Ultrabook is a lot like the Macbook Air, so it’ll be interesting to see how well it can compete. It’s interesting to note that Intel hasn’t been so lucky with things like this in the past, though. A few years ago they tried something similar called an Ultra-Low Voltage notebook and it failed to catch on. But if Mac can do it, why can’t they? source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2011 14:30

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Tech: Expectations for jetpacks soar to new heights

  • Jetpacks won’t be a thing of the future for much longer. Some people at the Martin Aircraft Company have been working on a jetpack that could be yours for the low, low price of $100,000. In this video, they’re working out a very important problem in the design – what happens if the engine fails 5,000 feet above the ground? Now there’s a parachute that can save you. From the looks of things, we’ll be living like the Jetsons in no time at all and traffic jams will be a thing of the past. Or you’ll run into your neighbor a lot more — and it might hurt a lot. One of the two. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2011 13:55

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Tech: Yeah, that’s scary: WHO calls cell phones “carcinogenic hazard”

  • The World Health Organization has a new study out that says cell phones are possibly carcinogenic to humans — they’re in the same class as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. They based their findings on a number of peer-reviewed studies on cell-phone safety. Long-term effects from cell phone radiation remain unknown, but research suggests that cell phone radiation is non-ionizing — similar to a very low-powered microwave. “What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain,” notes Dr. Keith Black, who leads the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He notes that beyond brain cancer, this could also cause memory problems because we hold cell phones close to the memory temporal lobes. Looks like it’s time to break out the earbuds. (photo via ElvertBarnes‘ Flickr page) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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