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GamesArchive for April, 2011
This video offers a great introduction to gyrocopters: The video points out that most gyrocopters come from kits, and some “can be built in just 50 hours”. Flying a gyrocopter is fairly easy, and this video (while not the greatest quality) will take you through the steps: Part 2 Some gyrocopters come with a system [...]
In our newest Stuff Mom Never Told You episode on female spies, Molly and I mentioned history’s most famously infamous lady spy, Mata Hari*. We discussed her back story, World War I secret-swapping among the German and French militaries and her consequential execution. But we didn’t touch on the most intriguing question in the Mata Hari’s posthumous mythology: Was she framed?
This article demonstrates that a technology known as white space internet may soon arrive in the real world: Extending WiFi to one mile, thanks to empty TV channels Guerra is part of a Rice team led by professors Edward Knightly, Robert Stein, Lin Zhong, and William Reed that last year won a $1.8 million grant [...]
Today’s Inspirational Moment – Turning talent into a job
by Marshall Brain | April 27, 2011
On Reddit, a person named Joaquin Baldwin posted an animated short. In his words, “This one got over 100 awards in festivals and got me the Disney job.” In the thread he mentions: “This one took me 10 months from boards to final, I did it with Maya for all the 3D stuff, Photoshop for [...]
This week, Facebook launched a trial of a new social deals service, in competition with sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. It’s simply called Deals, and it’s currently available in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Dallas; San Diego and San Francisco. Steven Musil of CNET said there are three ways you’ll encounter the specials of the day: clicking on the Deals tab on your Facebook page, by e-mail or notification, and when one of your friends buys into the deal — or just Likes it.
Sony admits utter PSN failure: your personal data has been stolen – “Sony has finally come clean about the “external intrusion” that has caused the company to take down the PlayStation Network service, and the news is almost as bad as it can possibly get. The hackers have all your personal information, although Sony is [...]
If you’re a PlayStation Network or Qriosity customer, you’ve probably been frustrated with the recent service outage. But the news is getting worse: According to a blog post by Sony Sr. Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media Patrick Seybold, the network has been down due to a hacker attack that occurred from April 17 to 19, in which someone acquired customers’ personal information.
Scientists “Discover” 657 New Islands
by Amanda Arnold | April 26, 2011
Well, well, well. Look who used Google Earth to discover new lands.
According to a recent study by scientists Matthew Stutz and Orrin Pilkey of Meredith College and Duke University, 657 new barrier islands have been “discovered” around the world. In a 2001 study, the island count was 1,492 (which, incidentally, also was the year “Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”) The new 2011 count is 2,149.
You asked: How do we know the age of the universe? Marshall Brain Answered: Scientists currently estimate the age of the universe to be 13.75 billion years old. This is the number of years that have elapsed since the Big Bang. But how do they determine that number? They do not use a single technique. [...]
Tower of Nests: The Smelly Apartment of the Future
by Josh Clark | April 26, 2011
If you’ve ever wanted to step out on the balcony of your ¥3300-a-month high-rise apartment in downtown Shanghai and inhale deeply the smell of bird poop right next to your face and maybe get a wasp caught in your hair, then, mister, are you going to be happy with this post. As a web log posting on Design Addict tells it, the people at Swedish firm Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture have designed a green high rise that tackles the issue of balancing urban density and nature in the same spot.
Recent Postings by Category
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