via youtube.com
Cassidy – Face 2 Face
‘Blood Cell Phones’ Fuel War, Crime and Human Rights Abuses
This month, my colleagues have been giving you a glimpse of what the end of the life cycle often looks like for electronic equipment like cell phones, mp3 players, and old hard drives and monitors. It can make for grim reading. There are e-waste recyclers who don’t actually recycle, and there’s the fact that much of this stuff ends up in the developing world, where people often risk their health (and their lives) in pursuit of a few pennies’ worth of material to sell.
07/22/2010
Apple > You
via collegehumor.com
Condescending Apple Press Conference – CollegeHumor video
Twitter Wants To Play With The Big Boys
Twitter Opening Its Own Custom Data Center In Utah Later This Year
As you may have noticed, Twitter has had some reliability issues over the past few months. Part of this was related to the World Cup, part of it is because they just continue to grow at a fast pace — 300,000 new accounts are created a day now. It has gotten to the point where Twitter needs their own warehouse for tweet storage. So they’re building one, in Salt Lake City.
07/21/2010
“Hey ‘melon, chill out!”
via engadget.com
Watermelon cooler push cart: perfect for those sultry North Carolina summers
Crazily enough, the device you’re staring at above — jaw solidly on the floor, we’re sure — is real. As in, you can purchase one for you and yours. So far as we can tell, this here watermelon cart (priced at ¥19,950, or a whopping $231) serves to keep your voluptuous fruit cool when being transported from market to mouth, but everything beyond that is lost in translation. What’s curious, however, is that this seems like a device created and sold exclusively in Japan. If we had to bet, though, we’d say it was originally dreamed up by a farmer in eastern North Carolina — you know, the home of watermelon Cook-Out milkshakes, an official watermelon license plate and roads where chop-top school buses are frequently used as watermelon hauling machines.
07/19/2010
DARPA-funded prosthetic arm reaches phase three, would-be cyborgs celebrate
via engadget.com
Last we heard from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, it wanted a neurally-controlled bionic arm by 2009. Needless to say, the school overshot that goal by a tiny bit, and have now been beaten (twice) to the punch. But DARPA sees $34.5 million worth of promise in their third and final prototype, which will enable the nine pound kit (with 22 degrees of freedom and sensory feedback) to begin clinical trials. Rechristened the Modular Prosthetic Limb, it will be grafted onto as many as five real, live persons, the first within the year. Using the targeted muscle reinnervation technique pioneered at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, patients will control these arms directly with their thoughts, and for their sakes and the fate of humanity, hopefully not the other way around. Press release after the break.
07/15/2010
Finally developing robotics for uses other than military-sponsored murder
via engadget.com
Rex, the robotic exoskeleton, aims to make wheelchairs obsolete
New Zealand isn’t exactly known for being a hotbed of tech innovation, but this set of bionic legs might just realign that perception a little bit. The product of seven years of development work, the Rex exoskeleton is capable of supporting the full weight of a person — making it suitable for paraplegics — and moving him or her around in a familiar bipedal fashion. It’s operated using a joystick and control pad and is simple enough for handicapped users to self-transfer in and out of. The best news, perhaps, is that it’s about to go on sale in its home country this year, with an international launch following in 2011. The worst news? Probably the $150,000 (US) initial asking price, but then we’d hardly say we’re qualified to judge the value of being able to walk again.
07/12/2010
Remote-controlled stealth combat fighter jets…smh…
via engadget.com
Britain’s Ministry of Defence unveils unmanned Taranis combat aircraft
Well, it looks like Boeing’s unmanned Phantom Ray stealth aircraft just got a bit of company courtesy of Britain’s Ministry of Defence. It’s now unveiled the BAE-built Taranis, which is not just an unmanned aircraft, but an unmanned combat aircraft that promises to be capable of penetrating enemy territory — as opposed to something like a Predator drone that’s only suitable for use if the airspace is under control. As you might expect, complete details on the aircraft are still being kept under wraps, but the MoD says there’s “more than a million man hours” behind it, and that its first flight trials will begin early next year. And, no, “unmanned” doesn’t mean autonomous — the MoD is quick to point out that, “should such systems enter into service, they will at all times be under the control of highly trained military crews on the ground.”
We’re so creative when developing new and more effective ways to kill each other…..can we redirect some of that intellect into solving issues of humanity? I’m just saying…
Taking a page out of the Apple playbook, eh? Not good…
Skype lawsuit prompts Fring to drop Skype from supported platforms
There isn’t really much else to say about this one. Skype has threatened multi-platform mobile chat-client maker Fring with legal action unless the company drops support for the Skype chat protocol. In a press release, Fing wrote, “Skype’s anti-competitive ambush comes in the wake of fring’s mobile video calling on iPhone 4 launch, which continues to set the standard in rich mobile internet communication.” Fring had included Skype support in its client for the past four years. Fring’s press release went onto read, “We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users.” We’ve got the full release for you after the break.
Following fring’s string of mobile video calling wins – Skype blocks fring
Skype – former crusader for open communications – bans competition after fring trail-blazes mobile communication innovation
London, United Kingdom, 12 July 2010. fring, the multi-award winning mobile over internet communication service, today announces that it is being forced to stop its 4 years of Skype interconnectivity following threat of legal action. Skype’s anti-competitive ambush comes in the wake of fring’s mobile video calling on iPhone 4 launch, which continues to set the standard in rich mobile internet communication.
Since its foundation in 2006, fring’s rich mobile communications have been available to both fring users and open 3rd party networks including GoogleTalk, SIP, Twitter and, until now, Skype. However, despite fring expanding its network capacity over the last days to serve its enlarged user base, Skype is refusing to allow fring to restore connectivity to Skype. Accordingly, fringsters will no longer be able to communicate with their Skype friends the way they want, but can invite their Skype friends to join fring and enjoy unrestricted mobile video calling from any mobile phone, chat and voice services without restriction to a user’s mobile operator and the freedom to choose internet connectivity (3G/4G/WiFi).
“We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users” said Avi Shechter, fring’s Co-Founder and CEO “We apologize to our users for the impact of Skype’s bullying and we will be happy to reconnect with Skype once Skype reverses their decision.” Avi continued, “We believe in communication openness and know that users will continue to vote with their mobile phones – opting for fring’s innovation, clarity, honesty and openness”.
fring’s newest version is now available for download from fring’s website here and from appstores.
Let freedom fring!
