Jamie Condliffe

We Didn’t Learn a Thing From Microsoft’s Monopolization

People shouted and screamed and stomped their feet over the fact that Microsoft bundled a browser with an OS. Clearly, we haven’t learnt a thing. XKCD hits the nail on the head today, and the mouse-over text is too good to not reproduce: “Facebook, Apple, and Google all got away with their monopolist power grabs…

First Bloatware-Loaded Windows 8 PCs Go On Sale Early (Updated)

If you’re champing at the bit to get hold of a Windows 8 computer, you can now buy an Acer or Gateway from HSN.com—just be warned that it’s loaded with crapware and likely a poor idea. ZDNet has done some digging to discover that HSN.com has started selling—and shipping—five Windows 8 devices ahead of the…

NASA Is Engineering Space Bugs To Produce Bricks on Mars

There’s a fundamental stumbling block when it comes to building a base on Mars, and that’s getting all the building materials there in the first place. No problem, though, because NASA is busy engineering space bugs that will turn the crap on the planet into building materials to help make the hostile planet habitable. New…

Apple Remembers Steve Jobs With Moving Video Tribute

It’s a year today since former Apple CEO Steve Jobs passed. Fittingly, Apple has posted a moving video tribute on the front page of its website, which remembers his enthusiasm and determination. Kicking off with the now-famous Wayne Gretzky quote—”I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”—the video…

This Typographic Chess Set Is Too Pretty to Play

This gorgeous typographic chess set, based around the Champion font by Hoefler Frere Jones, brings elegant simplicity to the game with each piece assuming the form of its initial. It’s almost too pretty to play. Developed by Jim Sutherland of Hat-Trick Design, each piece is laser cut from 25mm acrylic, and they range in size:…

Scientists Create Healthy Mice Using Eggs Made From Stem Cells

A team of Japanese scientists has managed to turn mouse stem cells into viable eggs—that can be inseminated and go on to produce normal, healthy mouse pups. The finding has massive implications for the development of infertility treatments in the future. The team of researchers from Kyoto University has previously created fully grown adult mice…

Cloud Storage Isn’t What It Used To Be

There’s a generation of youngsters growing up who think that Cloud Storage means Dropbox or Drive, and not some crazed childhood idea to collect all those awesomely shaped plumes in the sky. [XKCD]

Math Can Make Your Batteries Charge Twice as Fast

Most battery advances concentrate on improving hardware, but researchers from the University of California San Diego have developed new algorithms that can cut lithium-ion battery charge times in half. Usually battery behavior is tracked by monitoring voltage and current, but according to the researchers relying on those measures leads to over-designed, oversized batteries that weigh…

Sony has stopped selling its Xperia Tablet S due to “water resistance issues”. Don’t use yours in the shower! [Jili]

This Machine Can Sequence a Genome in Just Two Days

Researchers at a hospital in Kansas have been using this machine to crank out entire genome sequences of just-born babies in two days—which could be fast enough to change treatment regimes and save their wonderful little lives. Usually, gene testing in neonatal intensive care units takes over a month, which means babies expect aggressive or…

Facebook Now Has One Billion Active Users

Mark Zuckerberg has just announced that there are “more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month.” That means one-in-seven people across the entire planet log on to the social network every month. When you stop and think about it, that’s kinda crazy. [Facebook] Image via AHMAD FAIZAL YAHYA / Shutterstock.com

A Piano From 1931 That Looks Like It’s From the Future

Looking at this grand piano, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a prototype for some forthcoming modern take on a classical instrument. Forgiven, but wrong, because this futuristic looking set of keys in fact dates back to 1931. It was designed by Poul Henningsen, in response to a conversation with famous Danish Jazz pianist…

What Siri Thinks of Your Favorite Movies

Siri sometimes says crazy things that don’t quite match up with what you’ve asked. But the Verge has discovered that she has some pretty strong opinions when it comes to movies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Siri has a lot to say about sci-fi, and seems to have a lot of admiration for the likes of Hal. She’s…

This Beautiful Bike Is Made From Bent Beech Wood

This bike, designed by Andy Martin for furniture manufacturer Thonet, is unlike any other we’ve ever seen. Save for its wheels and drivetrain, the whole thing is made from swooping lengths of steamed beech wood—and it looks just beautiful as a result. The contours of the frame were cut using a CNC machine, and the…

The Starbucks iOS app has been updated to support Passbook and streamline your coffee habit. [AppStore]

Soon, Office Paper Could Tell You If You’re Ill (Or Pregnant)

Researchers are developing new ways to make affordable, chemically-sensitive paper that could diagnose malaria, diabetes, pregnancy and plenty more—and it might even show up in your office. Currently, there’s one major application which uses sensitive paper: home pregnancy tests. If you’ve ever bought one, you’ll know they’re expensive, and that’s because the paper in them…

This Giant Cluster Simulates 300,000 Androids to Check They Play Nice

We’ve all been at a huge outdoor event which renders our phone useless, with no available bandwidth to make calls or check a map. That’s why Sandia Labs has built this giant cluster, to simulate large networks of phones and make sure they place nicely together. The cluster is built up of off-the-shelf PCs, which…

AT&T is apparently planning to unveil Nokia’s WinPho8-running Lumia 920 tomorrow. [Bloomberg]

Contact Lenses Could Soon Stop Nearsightedness Dead

Nearsightedness is a pain in the ass that affects over 40 percent of the US population—and it only gets worse with age. Soon, though, children that are identified as myopic will be able to wear special contact lenses that will stop the condition in its tracks. A team of researchers from the State University of…

These Goggles Film Your Daring Deeds From Right Between Your Eyes

While most adrenaline junkies love the GoPro, here’s a point-of-view camera solution that never gets in the way: a pair of goggles that shoot 1080p video and 8 megapixel photos, from right between your eyes. Made by Colorado-based Zeal, the iON goggles pack a 170-degree wide-angle camera lens to shoot… well, whatever you want to…