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A unit of Intellectual Ventures—the patent firm started by ex-Microsoft chief tech dude Nathan Myhrvold and funded partly by Bill Gates—called TerraPower is talking with Toshiba about using its nuclear reactor tech to build underground reactors. Their reactor tech supposedly can “run for decades on depleted uranium without refueling or removing spent fuel from the…
Imagined back story: Tokyo Flash designer had one too many sakes, attempted to screw a Labyrinth maze game onto the face of an ordinary watch, got fired, moved to Project Designs, and is now flogging the watches for $100. [Yanko]
Genius: a cup sleeve that expands via endothermic reaction when the cup is filled with hot liquid, insulating your hot coffee and keeping your hand from getting roasted. Utterly horrifying: the end of this video. [Heatswell]
I was playing the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo after turning my Xbox on for the first time in a month, and thought, “man, it’s easy to stealthily snap necks.” JETProtect‘s CS300K Long Range Counter Surveillance Camera would’ve gotten me killed. That’s ’cause the CS300K, combined with their surDET system, turns the same the phenomenon that…
Mozilla’s officially abandoning development of Firefox Mobile for Windows Mobile in the wake of the shiny—er, matte—future of Windows Phone 7. Which they’re not latching onto, either, because there’s no native SDK. The event’s worth noting because they’re among the first high profile devs to officially flee Windows Mobile, which has no future, even if…
“Why,” you’re probably asking, “would I want another browser on my iPhone, when mobile Safari’s the best one around?” Because Opera Mini on the iPhone makes pokey EDGE feel like 3G. Check it out. This whole demo’s taking place on EDGE, and as you can see, it’s pretty damn quick—especially considering it took place in…
Wanna wear your own windmill? Share all your energy consumption data on Google? Network your lights so they know when you’re in the room and how much light you need? Gadget news on these questions and more! Google PowerMeter’s Adds Info Sharing – Is it Just What We Need, or TMI? Google has latched on…
A 12MP Nokia handset has been on the cards, and if IT168 is right, the above blurrypic could be it—the N8-00, Nokia’s newest flagship. Good to see that Nokia’s ditched the resistive touchscreen in favor of the (rumored) 3.5-inch capacitive, and like with previous Nokia models the 12MP camera will have a Carl Zeiss lens…
Is it too early to say that augmented reality has jumped the shark? Probably, but now that UK laydee’s mag Grazia has done a “3D issue” with pop-twiglet Florence and the Machine dancing across the cover, we’re officially On Watch. The AR codes are on the cover and throughout the magazine, and can be activated…
Obviously you’re going to need some space to flail your arms and legs about, but 4m? Seems like quite a bit just to play video games—even if Project Natal is the most anticipated gaming add-on this year. Techflash.com spoke to Craig Mundie, Xbox 360‘s chief research and strategy officer, who said Natal gamers will need…
Measuring just 44m sq., this Tokyo house offers slightly more space than the typical capsule living space, but as you can see from the numerous photos inside (at the bottom of this post), it’s still best-suited for diminutive human beings. https://gizmodo.com/read-about-capsule-living-and-feel-better-about-your-di-5438791 Dubbed the Reflection of Mineral house, it was designed by Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita,…
Last week we said the HTC Supersonic would be announced next week, and as it’s now “next week,” it figures that select Sprint Premier customers are being told about a “groundbreaking new device” due to be announced today. https://gizmodo.com/rumor-htc-incredible-launching-on-verizon-in-a-fortnig-5496240 These Are The Droids got the above screenshot from a Sprint Premier customer which shows an…
The BBC Wildlife magazine archives have been uploaded to the internet library, so if you’ve been wanting to nail your macro, landscape, and of course animal photography, definitely take a peek. [BBC Wildlife via Lifehacker] https://lifehacker.com/learn-a-new-photography-trick-or-two-entire-bbc-photo-5498633
Samsung’s Omnia II handset was the first phone to feature Swype, the super-fast input method for texting. It’s now officially the world’s fastest way to text, breaking the Guinness World Record with five seconds to spare. https://gizmodo.com/swype-vs-qwerty-fight-5411779 Check it out in the video below, where Swype’s intern Franklin Page set the new record for the…
Nintendo Japan has announced that they will present the newest portable console, the Nintendo 3DS, in June. The new handheld will offer 3D viewing without glasses. Here’s all the information we have gathered so far: https://kotaku.com/nintendo-announces-new-hardware-the-nintendo-3ds-5499697 • With the announcement slated for E3 in June, Nintendo’s shooting a bit early in their Japanese press release…
Saying hello to Spring is always bittersweet for me. I enjoy Winter immensely. Mostly because it’s surprising how fast you can get lost snowshoeing in a white out. Even only a few hilltops away from my back yard. Night was falling and my brain said go left. But my GPS said go right. Generally, I’d…
With Robert McCall‘s recent death at the age of 90 it seems fitting we take a look at the artist’s statement he wrote for his 1981 show at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, A Vision of the Future: The Art of Robert McCall. You’ll notice that he uses the word “artist” quite often. Apparently…
Walt Mosspuppet‘s in a poetic mood and he’s got an ode to all the iPad haters of the world. Behold his “literary majesty!” [Mosspuppet]
Home audio company Definitive Technology thought that it’s a crime to put huge, thick, ugly speakers next to a slim wall-mounted TV. So they made the ultra-thin 1.5-inch Mythos XTR-50 home theater speakers to prevent decorating disasters. The Mythos XTR-50 speakers are available for $700 (per speaker) from Amazon and Crutchfield right now and will…
Newly upgraded robot journalist, improvement from previous versions, including ambient anomaly detection ability for seeking of stories. Upgrade robot abilities including subject photographing and subject interviewing automatically. Further including abilities to publish stories to internet instantly. People will become worried: robot journalist is overturning professions. Old robot journalist previously existed LINK. Now numerous improvements for…
