Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Boeing Gets $89 Million to Build Unmanned Aircraft that Can Stay Aloft for 5 Years
September 18th, 2010Here’s another one for your “Unblinking Eye” file folder. Via: Network World: One of the more unique unmanned aircraft took a giant step toward reality this week when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) inked an agreement with Boeing to build the SolarEagle, a plane capable of remaining at heights over 60,000ft for over […]
Implanted Fuel Cell Powered by Rat’s Body Fluids
September 17th, 2010Via: National Geographic: A new fuel cell is putting a twist on alternative energy from biofuels: The implanted device draws power from chemicals in living animals. Dubbed a glucose biofuel cell, the implant gets its juice from glucose—aka blood sugar—and oxygen, both of which are naturally present in the fluids between a body’s cells. In […]
Modern Cargo Ships Slow to Speed of Sailing Clippers
September 17th, 2010Related: SkySails: Via: Guardian: The world’s largest cargo ships are travelling at lower speeds today than sailing clippers such as the Cutty Sark did more than 130 years ago. A combination of the recession and growing awareness in the shipping industry about climate change emissions encouraged many ship owners to adopt “slow steaming” to save […]
Privacy Tool for Iranian Activists Disabled After Security Holes Exposed
September 15th, 2010Via: Wired: A highly lauded privacy tool designed to help Iranian activists circumvent state spying and censorship has been disabled after an independent researcher discovered security vulnerabilities in the system that could potentially expose the identities of anonymous users. Users have been instructed to destroy all copies of the software, known as Haystack, and the […]
‘About 90% of Americans are walking around with a portable tracking device all the time, and they have no idea’
September 15th, 2010Via: Time: As long as you don’t leave home without your phone, that handy gadget keeps a record of everywhere you go — a record the government can then get from your telephone company. … It is not hard to imagine that the government could also one day use cell-phone data to stifle dissent. Cell-phone […]
The Technological Disobedience Of Ernesto Oroza
September 15th, 2010Via: VBS TV: In 1991, Cuba’s economy began to implode. “The Special Period in the Time of Peace” was the government’s euphemism for what was a culmination of 30 years worth of isolation. It began in the 60s, with engineers leaving Cuba for the Unites States. Ernesto Oroza, designer and artist, studied the innovations created […]
Chase.com Down in Lengthy Crash
September 15th, 2010Update: Down Again Via: Bloomberg: JPMorgan Chase & Co., whose website failed today for the second time this week, will refund late fees and help fix other problems for the 16.6 million online customers unable to access their accounts. —End Update— It’s back up. Via: CNN: Chase’s online banking website has been offline for most […]
‘There’s a joke among executives whose livelihoods depend on Foxconn: In 20 years, there will be only two companies. Everything will be made by Foxconn and sold by Wal-Mart.’
September 13th, 2010As I read this breathtaking account of Foxconn and its founder, Terry Gou, it kept reminding me of Hunter S. Thompson’s drug addled evening at the Circus-Circus casino in Las Vegas. Here’s an excerpt from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to help put you into the right frame of mind to read about Gou’s […]
Zynga’s Secret Dealer for High Value Farmville Addicts
September 13th, 2010Via: Valleywag: The company behind Mafia Wars and Farmville doesn’t like to talk about the sad addicts who fuel its profits. But it does quietly run a special store for them, where imaginary credits are bought with very real bank transfers. The minimum purchase in Zynga’s underground “Platinum Purchase Program” is $500, payable by wire […]
Japan Developing Alternatives to Rare Earth Metals
September 10th, 2010Via: Forbes: If China is trying to give its manufacturers a leg up by restricting exports of rare earth metals, it may find the advantage temporary. With prices spiking following the latest in a series of annual export quota reductions by Beijing earlier this summer, miners have been scrambling to develop deposits of the essential […]
