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The only thing I might love more than robots of the 1920s and 30s are robots from before the word “robot” was coined in 1922. Now, I won’t pretend to understand what’s going on in this illustration. Like most editorial cartoons that I stumble upon while searching newspaper archives, I have no idea what’s happening…
According to sleep experts, the iPad’s bright LCD display could be hampering your body’s ability to create melatonin. Translation: Insomnia. The Kindle and other e-ink devices, on the other hand, won’t disrupt your sleep cycle. The reason for this is the bright light cast into your media-consuming eyes. With the iPad, the LCD display confuses…
Details are sparse at the moment, but something is happening in India. Something wand-like and prone to waggling. Called the Swing, it’s a motion controller HP cooked up for their Pavilion PC desktops. For now this kidney bean is available only in India, will not be sold separately, and costs about $670. It does exist,…
iPad users looking to get a little extra mileage out of the $30 Camera Connection kit will be pleased to know that the USB dongle provides some limited support for certain USB keyboards and headsets. According to a report out of TUAW, typing was possible on the iPad via a USB keyboard, as was USB…
A number of previously Japan-only Pentax K-x camera colors are headed to the U.S., the company confirmed Friday. Until Pentax opened up the color palette, we Yanks only had access to red and black models in this line. Now we’ll have orange, bright blue, green and purple. [Electronista]
Marty Cooper—maybe you’ve heard of him and his little invention, the cellphone—thinks modern smartphones are way too convoluted and that future phones will live behind your ear, under your skin. You think AT&T owns your ass now… Just kidding. It wouldn’t be your ass, it’d be your ear, but more on that later. On a…
It’s the ultimate science project: 8 students, assisted by Tom Atchison and the Rocket Mavericks team, will attempt to design, launch and operate a rocket using new Sony® VAIO notebooks, which will operate GPS tracking, telemetry, avionics monitoring, video and anything else the team can imagine. This literal product launch can’t happen without the new…
Age old question: Do these amazing, sometimes magical devices we push our ears countless times per day cause cancer? Great news! I can totally answer that question for you. Just check back with me in 2040. I say 2040 because that’s about the year when cellphone usage data from 250,000 volunteers in the UK, Finland,…
For those of you who couldn’t go to Israel because you just couldn’t part with your iPad, take note. The ban Israel had in place for the device has been lifted. Get your ass to Israel! The about face comes just two weeks after an iPad ban was put in place due to the belief…
Jetyo’s HDV-T900 solar-powered camcorder is probably not suitable for any nefarious nighttime activities you might have planned for that special anniversary, and judging from how long it would take to recharge, it’s probably not good at much else either. Engadget did the math, and by their rough estimate the 120mA solar cell would require about…
Dell, ever the leaky sieve after this week’s unexpected Flash/Thunder/Smoke peepshow, has let slip a presentation that outlines a number of upcoming gadgets, including Sparta/Athens netbooks, the Looking Glass Pro and three Streak variants. https://gizmodo.com/dells-next-android-phones-flash-thunder-and-smoke-5521609 The Looking Glass Pro is the most basic update of the three, as its “Pro” moniker appears to mean “HD…
The new Bill Gates, the one with time on his hands and billions in his pockets, is busy fighting for the environment. His latest salvo, outlined in a Washington Post editorial, includes the creation of the American Energy Innovation Council. The ambitious organization, founded with help from DuPont CEO Charles Holliday, is a body that…
First there was Windows 95 on an iPad. People cringed, but apparently they did not cringe enough, as someone else has managed to get Windows XP up and running on an iPad. Macheads, avert thy eyes! https://gizmodo.com/windows-95-running-on-an-ipad-what-hath-god-wrought-5515146 The “someone” in this case is Dave Soble, CEO of Evolve Technologies. He was crowing about his “accomplishment”…
Katie and Sebastian are just two children who love to explore. They’re fascinated by creatures, plants, and their respective taxonomies. They’re charming and relatable! And then there’s the giant mechanical squid. I won’t ruin the short for you; The Anachronism is more than worth the 15 minutes you need to set aside to watch it.…
You can doubt Microsoft’s phone strategy. You can grouse about features they’ve left out of Windows Phone 7. But don’t for one second question their ability to put together an Office suite, ok? What we’ve got here is a pair of videos showing off Windows Phone 7’s Office integration into the OS’s email and calendar…
During last week’s iPhone leak saga, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, reached out to us with a story: The morning of the iPad launch, an engineer showed Woz an iPad for two minutes. For this he was fired. It’s a story that paints Apple as many people already see the company: ruthlessly secretive, and even…
Today’s casualty is Caitlin Spaan, veep for Palm’s carrier marketing. It’s a comparatively small loss compared to when their Senior VP of software bailed two weeks ago, but it amplifies an increasingly obvious message: Palm is in a death spiral. Aside from these public destaffings, the last few weeks saw Palm going through the motions…
This week, Giz saw no less than two (two!) hard drive casualties befall our staff. So, in honor of Matt and Wilson’s data, hit up Lifehacker’s definitive guide for fixing, protecting, backing up and preserving that spinning data destroyer that lives inside your computer. Heed. https://lifehacker.com/top-10-hard-drive-upgrades-and-fixes-5520822
The Nexus One’s hardware supports wireless N networks. The phone’s software, well, sort of. But! Super-fast Wi-Fi may hit the Nexus one in the next Android update—and if you’re feeling adventurous, you can have it sooner. Google and Broadcom have just released a new wireless driver, which evidently makes the Nexus One much better at…
His message: Jokes! Woz is one of about three people on the face of the planet who can wear this shirt without looking like a terrible asshole. Update: Steve Woz responds. From Woz himself, in the comments: If it were me instead of Gray and someone did this I’d be (a) pissed if it wasn’t…
