Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Writer Urges Internet Junkies to ‘Switch Off’ and Think
May 30th, 2011The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr Via: AFP: Like tens of millions of others, US technology writer Nicholas Carr found the lure of the worldwide web hard to resist — until he noticed it was getting harder and harder to concentrate. He set out his concerns in a […]
Robot Juggles Five Billiard Balls at Once
May 30th, 2011The audio is the chilling part. Via: io9: This a robotic juggler built by the Department of Control Engineering at Prague’s Czech Technical University. Researchers have taught this machine to lob and catch five billiard balls all on its own. It’ll someday do the same with our skulls.
Get Lamp: A Documentary About Adventures in Text
May 29th, 2011Via: Get Lamp: Trailer: Film: In the early years of the microcomputer, a special kind of game was being played. With limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of […]
Lockheed Network Hit by Major Disruption
May 29th, 2011Via: Reuters: Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s No. 1 supplier, is experiencing a major disruption to its computer systems that could be related to a problem with network security, a defense official and two sources familiar with the issue said on Thursday. Lockheed, the biggest provider of information technology to the U.S. government, is grappling with […]
Facebook Hires Former Bush Aides as Washington Lobbyists
May 28th, 2011Via: Los Angeles Times: Facebook just made two more friends in D.C. It’s hiring two aides of former President George W. Bush as lobbyists. Joel Kaplan, previously deputy chief of staff in the Bush White House, is joining Facebook as vice president of U.S. public policy, a new position in which he will oversee the […]
Presidential Signature for Patriot Act Extension Carried Out by Robot
May 28th, 2011I couldn’t make it up if I tried.
Skylon Spaceplane Finally Gets Approval
May 28th, 2011Via: Discovery News: After 30 years of development, the UK and European space agencies have given the go-ahead for the Skylon Spaceplane. The Skylon, which is being developed at the UK’s Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines Ltd., is an unpiloted and reusable spacecraft that can launch into low-Earth orbit after taking off from a conventional runway. Looking […]
Terrorist ‘Pre-Crime’ Detector Field Tested in United States
May 28th, 2011This is the most hilariously unworkable Magic 8 Ball boondoggle that I’ve ever heard about. In the annals of grant swindling, this one has to take the cake. Via: Nature: Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security programme that can supposedly ‘sense’ whether you […]
Why Are Spy Researchers Building a ‘Metaphor Program’?
May 26th, 2011Via: The Atlantic: A small research arm of the U.S. government’s intelligence establishment wants to understand how speakers of Farsi, Russian, English, and Spanish see the world by building software that automatically evaluates their use of metaphors. That’s right, metaphors, like Shakespeare’s famous line, “All the world’s a stage,” or more subtly, “The darkness pressed […]
LAPD Chevy Caprice PPV
May 26th, 2011Via: AOL Autos: Taking a ride in a police squad car is typically an unenviable experience, but not today. Bradley teams up with our friends at the LAPD to check the tech on the all new Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle). From an infrared night vision camera to an automated license plate scanner, this […]
