Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
NVIDIA completed its purchase of Icera, a wireless modem company. With this technology under its belt, NVIDIA can build a mobile processor with a cellular radio and a baseband applications processor. Icera already develops a product that combines NVIDIA’s Tegra processor with an HSPA+ radio and support for Android. The perfect combination for the next…
We’re at a stage in the internet where trolling is ubiquitous and expected. So, naturally, the Academy has decided to weigh in. Probably in the most troll-able way possible. Claire Hardaker, a lecturer at Lancaster University in the Department of Linguistics and English Language, presented her paper, Trolling in Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication, at the Linguistic…
Let’s face it: RSS is a terribly nerdy wasteland of .xml feeds and weird formatting. Reeder is the shining hope that it doesn’t have to be that way. Already our favorite RSS app on iOS, it’s finally available for Mac. What is it? Reeder, $10, Mac. The beta version of Reeder for Mac has been…
Headless hacker collective Anonymous says it plans to hit the Federal Reserve starting tomorrow as a part of Operation Empire State Rebellion, timed to coincide with, um, Flag Day. Buy Gold! Buy gold now!
Predictive Medical Technologies has developed a system that can mine the medical data of a patient—lab reports, monitors, nurse notes, etc.—and predict whether that patient will suffer from cardiac arrest or respiratory failure within 24 hours. It’s a system that can be integrated into hospitals that are “at a certain technological level” without any new…
This is a crazy figure: 50% of the iPhones brought to Genius bars have never been connected to a computer. Ever. I don’t know about you, but I can’t understand how people can live without synching between devices or backing up. Since the Genius bar is what most people use to service their iPhones, I’m…
OK Cupid’s been a source of both companionship and weird sex statistics for millions of perfectly normal lonelyhearts through the years. But, as one ambitious Tumblrer has been sharing, for a lot of major creeps! Creeps who (warning!) use a lot of NSFW sexytime words. This Is Not Okay, Cupid is the handiwork of one…
We joke now about laser sharks and laser cats, but what if they were a reality? After reading about scientists who engineered laser-emitting biological cells, I’m fully prepared to welcome a weaponized pet into my family. A research paper, published by Nature, says that the scientists took Green Fluorescent Protein (commonly found in Jellyfish), and…
Gmail added drag-and-drop image insertion last year, but they’ve pumped up their image-sharing features even more today with clipboard support. So if you’ve copied an image from somewhere, you can paste it right into Gmail’s Compose window. [Lifehacker] https://lifehacker.com/google-adds-copy-and-paste-picture-insertion-to-gmail-5811392
Everyone’s favorite Italian grandmother and likely next Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made headlines last week when he cautioned that “there’s a strong likelihood that the next Pearl Harbor we confront could be a cyber attack.” That’s fear-mongering nonsense. Look, we know cyber-security is an important issue. Stuxnet showed unequivocally that state-sponsored cyberwar is already…
National Geographic has an excellent explainer on how to improve your macro photography skills. What it boils down to is don’t be afraid to experiment, play with angles and aperture, come prepared for the unexpected, and be patient. [National Geographic, Image Credit: John Kimbler] In macro photography, your background will naturally be thrown out of…
Facebook lost 5 million active users in the U.S. last month, according to a tracking service, despite robust growth overseas. Are Facebook’s first adopters finally sick of the social network? Tracking and publishing company Inside Facebook reported that the social network’s active U.S. users fell to 149.4 million at the end of May, compared with…
TEPCO’s reported another six members of their emergency crew working in the perilous reactor room have soaked in radiation up to almost 500 millisieverts—nearly double the “allowable” amount, and the equivalent of 5,000 chest x-rays. [Kyodo News]
I love cool things that look like other cool things. These bee-yoo-tee-ful speakers by designer Michael Young look like something you’d use to light up a zeppelin. But despite the Art Deco prettiness, they’re teched-out iPhone-docking, iTunes-streaming speakers. The $1,030 EOps i24R3 system packs a 3-inch, 20-watt driver on each speaker, with a 4-inch, 40-watt…
This vintage World War II B-17 bomber crashed this morning causing explosions with fireballs shooting 50 feet in the air. Amazingly, all seven people on board survived the crash without serious injury. The pictures from WGN-TV are absolutely stunning. Drew Mundsinger, a man who lived near the crash site, echoed everyone’s thoughts, saying, “when we…
Vuzix has been playing around with augmented reality for awhile now, and the Star 1200 AR glasses are their most realized implementation of the technology yet, thanks to see-through display technology, a 1080p camera and stereoscopic 3D capabilities. https://gizmodo.com/vuzixs-camar-augmented-reality-headset-provides-a-glimp-5184665 The Star 1200s have six motion tracking sensors, adjustable earphones and a 16:9 display resolution of…
Steve Jobs recently approached the Cupertino City Council with what seemed like the crazy vision of building a spaceship-like campus for Apple HQ. It turns out he had the same dream back in 1983. And it was just as ambitious. https://gizmodo.com/steve-jobs-wants-to-a-build-a-spaceship-like-campus-in-5809788 Back in those more youthful days, Jobs approached the newly-elected mayor of San Jose,…
Apple Store employees are supposed to smartly guide your crucial, Apple related life decisions. But now some regret their own choice to take the company’s underpaid retail jobs, and their hipster existential crisis could produce the trendiest union ever. Meet Cory Moll, who just outed himself as the founder of the nascent Apple Retail Workers…
The IMF, earth’s global financial Voltron, was walloped by a huge hack over the weekend—and it’s doubtful a criminal group was behind the attack. What’s that mean? A foreign power probably backed the digital raid. Bad (diplomatic) news. The BBC quotes a variety of online security experts, including one who’s worked for the IMF, and…
Nobody wants to date anyone who doesn’t have a TV. “Oh, look at me, check it out, I don’t own a TV, I’m a rebel.” You. You! You’re gonna die alone, pal. Nobody wants to come over to your apartment and play Boggle and stare at each other and listen to the sound of paint…