Even though we’re losing newspapers left and right in the U.S., people ought not be afraid for the future of news, journalism, etc. So says Steven Johnson, author of, among other things, The Invention of Air. Johnson, speaking at a panel at SXSWi, tried to allay the fears of every kid in journalism school—and those of us who recently graduated, lol!—by saying that people need only look… → Read More
Louis CK, the best working comedian right now, is a bona fide Internet sensation. He was on Late Night With Conan O’Brien last fall, and he proceeded to eviscerate my stupid, spoiled generation. You know, bitching about things like “oh, my phone is too slow,” “what, this airplane doesn’t have on-bord Wi-Fi? fail!” etc. Typical First World nonsense. Louis CK’s point was that, look… → Read More
There are a dizzying number of cool new services, applications, and gadgets available to citizens of the world today. New stuff is coming out all the time and it can be hard for us Internet experts to keep up, let alone average human beings. For example, my dad — no Internet slouch — had no idea what Hulu was. How is he expected to care about the difference between Twitter or identi.ca? → Read More
One of my favorite comedians, Louis C.K., sums up how people take modern-day technology and air travel for granted. This isn’t a super-recent interview with Conan O’Brien, but it’s something to remember if you’ll be traveling for the holidays. Good stuff. → Read More
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai have once again put Google Earth in an unfavorable light. The one (“baby-faced”) terrorist that police caught has said that the terrorists used Google Earth the help plan the attacks. (That they also used everyday cellphones, GPS and other technologies appears to be lost on the ban happy Indian officials.) In order to prevent future attacks, so the line of… → Read More
Nobody is safe in their office anymore. Tokyo-based Kakuyo Office System [JP] developed Resonance Field 2.0, a technology that makes it possible to track movements and analyze human behavior in working environments. Office workers need to wear so-called “business microscopes” around the neck, name card holders with an integrated infrared sensor, a three-axis acceleration sensor and a… → Read More
Field Emission Technologies, a Sony affiliate, is preparing to mass-produce a new kind of flat panel starting 2009. Sony owns 37.8 percent of the company. The so-called FEDs (field emission displays) offer higher picture quality than LCDs. Backlighting FEDs is not necessary so that they are said to be twice as energy-efficient as LCDs. While Sony’s first OLED-TV, the XEL-1, measures 11… → Read More
Well, the secret’s out. People who are into technology and gadgets have a high tendency to be a-holes. Can you believe it? According to Reuters… “An online study evaluating the characteristics of 25,000 American adults found avid technology consumers tended to score highly in personality traits such as leadership, dynamism and assertiveness — but low in modesty.” → Read More
Apple recently filed two patents that show how they plan to use the iPhone’s wireless technologies to solve two everyday problems: dropped calls and lost keys. They way they’re going to handle dropped calls seems pretty complicated (to me anyway), but its end result is simple. If you’re about to lose your Wi-Fi connection or drop a call, it will alert you so that you can make corrective… → Read More
A joint venture project carried by a number of Japanese Tech powerhouses like Matsushita, Sharp, Toshiba and Hitachi apparently developed a technology to integrate system chips into LCD panels. Japanese media today report that researchers managed to embed the electronic circuits of chips with glass sheets used for LCD screens, resulting in a device just 0.7 mm thick. The technology is said to… → Read More
The non-profit group SRI International is designing a wall-climbing robot to be unveil it at the International Conference of Robotics and Automation. Popular Mechanics has a video of it climbing on a lot of common building materials. The robot uses electro-adhesion to stick to the wall — is the same technology robots are already using to pick up silicon wafers on assembly lines. If this… → Read More
Did American companies violate U.S. law by selling hi-tech police equipment to the Chinese? The Old Gray Lady asks this today, examining a recent Chinese police equipment trade show held in Beijing where several American companies, including Motorola and DuPont, were notably present. (An old law going back to Tiananmen Square prevents American companies from selling police equipment to China.) On… → Read More
Consumer confidence recently hit a 26-year low, with the Reuters/University of Michigan index currently at 62.6. Consumer expectations for six months from now (October) is even worse at 53.3. In other words, lots of Americans will now be a little more choosey where and what they spend they money on. How has your tech/gadget addiction been affected by the terrible economy? Holding off on big… → Read More
This company is advertising a hardware add-on that will multiply your outgoing bandwidth by 10-30x. I’m not sure how much of this is real, how much is PR, and how much is pure snake oil. Check the technology section. They say the speed increase is due to “bypassing the limitations of the TCP protocol.” I’m not sure what they mean by that and that’s about as technical… → Read More
[photopress:vcross.jpg,full,right] This lady rules. Janice Turner of The Times—they have a decent football podcast—goes into the familiar “new technology is scary and stupid and I wish the Old Days were here again when I didn’t have to know what a Web site was and how to dial a mattress” crutch in a recent column entitled “Xbox is crack for kids” and… → Read More
Police in New Carrollton, Maryland are among the first in the state to use the magic of modern technology to issue tickets to motorists. Information about the driver in question is pulled from the Maryland motor vehicle database and then printed out in the squad car. Sounds very simple, no? Before this system, "officers would write out 5 copies of each citation by hand" and about 10-15… → Read More
First, a disclaimer that I neither support nor oppose any particular candidate blah, blah, blah, here’s something interesting. Barack Obama’s technology plan includes the creation of a Chief Technology Officer position that "would ensure government officials holds open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software, wikis and open comments to… → Read More
Woot is having another one of its Woot Offs. You know the drill: keep buying until sold out, repeat. Right now it looks like you can score a SanDisk Sansa 4GB MP3 player for $60 + $5 shipping. Woot! → Read More
According to a survey by the American Management Association, you’re looking at porn at work. Yes, you. And, lo and behold, it’s because the technology we use every day makes it easier. Cellphones, laptops, and other portable devices are making it harder to crack down on habitual porn users. It’s quite shocking. In related totally obvious tech news, Apple releases products with… → Read More
Back in high school, I worked at a Banana Republic part-time. One of the most common problems was running out of a certain article of clothing and having to direct customers to other stores, which in turn lost us business, which in turn meant less hours to work. Dillard’s is looking to change all that though (or at least the whole running out of stock thing) by testing out a new RFID pilot… → Read More
Toshiba isn’t about to let Sony get the upper hand in the television market. Yesterday, Sony announced an 11-inch OLED TV that is only 0.3-inches thick, has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and costs $1745. Considered a huge leap in technology, now other companies are scrambling to get on the bandwagon. Toshiba is claiming that by 2009, a 30-inch OLED TV will be available for purchase, ready to… → Read More
http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=453_1191345802 Who needs the jumbotron at the big game when you have a ton of die hard South Koreans cheering their team on? View in amazement as an audience waiting for a soccer match produces multiple graphics and effects using only clothing. The process required the fans to wear special jackets with multiple colors in strategically… → Read More
You may be able to get a DVR with your cable box, but nothing comes close to being able to record shows and burn them to a DVD. So it makes sense that years-old DVD-recorders are going for as much as $1800 on Amazon.com and eBay. Consumers aren’t able to find boxes that can both record and burn shows without a monthly fee in stores anymore, so they’re turning to the Internet in hopes… → Read More
I swear, I have to get one of these if it kills me. For months now I’ve been watching those Visa and MasterCard commercials that showcase the RFID technology that’s in PayPass. You know, the one where the dude is running late and buys a pack of gum and a banana or something just by waving his credit card at a machine. Well now if you want to take it one step further, you should get a… → Read More
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