Gizmodo: old

Dear Palm Treo 650 With Android: You Are Inspiring

John Herrman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:54:18 EST

One of the most exciting things about Android was the idea that it could be ported back to older handsets. This turned out to be harder than expected, except or a few HTCs and, amazingly, a Palm Treo from 2004.

The 650, which runs old-school Palm OS, must be straining to boot Google's mobile OS, working with just 32MB of RAM and a 312MHz processor—a far cry from even the G1, which isn't known for its snappy performance. But, with time and patience, she flickers to life anyway. And for its mere fact of existence, this Frankensteinian monster should be applauded. Onward and downward, brave Android hackers. [Engadget]

Dealzmodo: 1'46" of Silence By John Cage, Free Today on iTunes!

John Mahoney — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EDT

I'd like to kiss whoever at Apple decided to do this: today's free iTunes "discovery download" is the first movement of avant-garde composer John Cage's 4'33", which is to say, it's 1:46 of nothing.

More performance art/zen seance than actual music, 4'33" is intended to emphasize those critical moments of nothingness in music by being composed of only that nothingness. The piece becomes whatever background sounds are present during a performance, making it probably the truest expression of Cage's "everything is music" milieu.

And if you think downloading the piece from iTunes is more on the absurd side, check out this live performance, complete with full orchestra (turning blank pages) and audience. After each movement, the coughing, the coughing. Great stuff.

And this, clearly, is a performance John Cage would never have conceived of when he created the piece in the 1950s, but one he would enjoy very, very much, I think:

Whether Cage would be happy he was made the butt of what appears to be an April Fool's Day joke though is another matter. [iTunes via MacUser]

Grandma Got a New Mac

Jason Chen — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:20:00 EST

As seen on Married to the Sea. [Thanks Marco!]

Drawings of Early Microscopes Show Artistry in the Pursuit of Science

Elaine Chow — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:45:00 EDT

Ah, where would science be if not for the contributions of the humble microscope? Did you know that the development of the world's first microscope began in 11th century Iraq, when scientist and polymath Ibn al-Haytham recorded all sorts of data about lenses, binocular vision, mirrors and observable properties of light his The Book of Optics? That would make this pioneering technology more than a thousand years old. BibliOdyssey has amassed a great collection of drawings of pre-20th century microscopes and some of them look more like art pieces than instruments of science. Check out my favorites: [Bibliodyssey via MAKE]

Cane Map Empowers Old Man Adventurers

Jason Chen — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:15:39 EDT

When we see something like this Cane Map, all we can think of is the Sean Connery-esque Colonel Gentleman from Venture Bros., but we suspect any old dude will find it incredibly useful. You see, it's a cane, but it's also a map—the duality of which probably exploded as many minds when it was invented back in 1940 as the atomic bombs tests around the same time. Except this map (made for the American Legion National Convention) is of Boston, where the only treasure you'll find are the highways leading out. [CooperHewitt via Wired via Sci Fi]

Japanese 70's TV Actually LED Alarm Clock

Brian Lam — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:30:27 EST

Here's an alarm clock, that looks like an old TV. You know, the kind your parents had in the back of their Van, next to the waterbed. Where they made you, on the Jersey shore.

Wait...thats me I'm talking about. –Brian Lam

Old TV Alarm Clock [Tokyomango]

Mac Users Are a Bunch of Geezers

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:55:34 EST

I've never been a fan of "analyst studies." They're usually so out of touch with reality that there's no point to them. Take this one for instance. Market research firm MetaFacts did some investigative reporting and found out that almost half (46%) of Mac users are 55 or older, whereas only 25% of the Wintel crowd hits that age bracket. Who has the 18-24 demographic? Gateway. I can see the Gateway part having some credibility (I got my first Gateway Pentium II when I was that age), but the Mac part? C'mon. – Louis Ramirez

Hey, Gramps, Can I Borrow Your Mac? [via The Raw Feed via InformationWeek]

JitterBug: Cellphones for the Old

johnb — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 16:30:13 EDT

Samsung and GreatCall Inc. just announced a carrier/cellphone combo for the aged and infirm. Jitterbug costs about $10-$25 per month and includes a big fat phone with one-touch dialing, a simple interface, and a makes a dial-tone sound when opened. Now gramps will have some way to call home when he wanders into the mall while yelling about the Nazis and can't figure out his way home.

Jitterbug MVNO Targets Seniors [PhoneScoop]