Monthly Archives: April 2013

World’s first successful uterus transplant recipient is pregnant via in vitro fertilization

"The first woman ever to receive a uterus from a deceased donor, is two-weeks pregnant following a successful embryo transplant, her doctors said on Friday. The 22-year-old Derya Sert was revealed to be almost two-weeks pregnant in preliminary results after in vitro fertilisation at Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya, her doctor Mustafa Unal said in a written statement. Sert was described as a 'medical miracle' when she became the first woman in the world to have a successful womb transplant from a dead donor in August 2011 at the same Antalya hospital." Continue reading →

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WikiHouse allows people to build their own homes with 3-D printers

"WikiHouse is putting a new spin on old-time barn-raising with a free online resource that lets people put homes together the same way they might a giant jigsaw puzzle. WikiHouse.cc was designed as an open-source construction kit that lets people create and share home designs and then 'print' pieces using machines available for as little as a few thousand dollars. It is part of the effort by the WikiHouse collective of professionals who volunteer to give consumers information and tools about home design and construction. 'Two or three people working together can build a small house in about a day,' said Alastair Parvin, a British architect." Continue reading →

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3-D printer wows world’s top tech fair

"The machine, developed by German company 'fabbster', melts plastic and then builds up incredibly fine 'layer' just 88 microns (0.088 millimetres) thick, eventually producing a solid physical object with impressive detail. The system is currently being used mainly by small businesses, architects, designers and engineers, explained Fabian Grupp, project manager. 'You can really make anything you can think of,' he enthused. Coming soon is the ability to create multi-coloured objects and use different materials within the same 'print-out'." Continue reading →

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New iPad app allows users to virtually try on glasses in 3-D

"Jonathan Coon turned heads Wednesday with iPad software that lets people try on sunglasses by manipulating 3-D images of themselves from the neck up. The founder of discount prescription lens company 1-800 Contacts introduced a service intended to let shoppers see themselves in eyewear using smartphones, tablets or computers with cameras built into screens. 'One of the great ironies of glasses is that people who wear them usually can’t see themselves when they are shopping for glasses because they need to be wearing prescription lenses,' Coon said. 'For the first time, you can see yourself trying on glasses.'" Continue reading →

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New smartphone extension helps you find your lost cat or grandma

"Inventors and manufacturers at the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona showed off new inventions to make the ubiquitous mobile even dearer to owners’ hearts. You don’t have to be human to benefit. If you buy a GPS pet-tracking device from Tractive, you can attach it to your dog’s or cat’s collar and get an immediate alarm on your smartphone the moment he or she leaves from the garden, or any other area you have defined. Your pet’s hopes of escape can be quickly squashed with the help of your iPhone or Android-powered mobile. Forgetful grandparents can be traced easily, too." Continue reading →

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How Mobile Devices Are Changing Africa

"Mobile phones are kicking off a revolution in Africa, with everyone from farmers to villagers relying on apps to make electronic payments, check on expiration dates for medicine, and predict future storms or the best prices for produce. More kids in Africa have access to the Internet than consistent electricity. Nobody owns a PC or can access a fixed-line telephone, so mobile phones are a conduit for everything from email to news to making payments via SMS. Many people on the continent also own phones equipped with flashlights and radios and the percentage of the population equipped with mobile devices is primed to explode over the next few years." Continue reading →

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Government investigating whether free app games target children for commercial gains

"A watchdog has launched an investigation into whether children face 'unfair pressure' to spend money on apparently free web and app-based games, it said Friday. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is asking parents to get in touch with any examples of possible 'commercially aggressive' practices which encourage children to buy virtual currency like coins, gems or fruit, or upgraded membership. It is unlawful to make a 'direct exhortation' to children to make a purchase or persuade their parents to do so under consumer protection regulations." Continue reading →

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Yahoo buys mobile newsreader app Summly from 17-year-old London kid for a seven-figure sum

"Yahoo! announced plans Monday to buy mobile news reader app Summly from the London teenager who invented it, likely transforming him into one of the world’s youngest self-made multimillionaires. The company did not disclose the terms of the deal it struck with 17-year-old Nick D’Aloisio, but the London Evening Standard said Yahoo! would pay between £20 million and £40 million ($30 to $60 million). The Wimbledon youth, who would become one of the world’s youngest technology millionaires, claims to have created the app as a hobby. 'I didn’t realize it was possible to make money out of it,' he was quoted as saying." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYahoo buys mobile newsreader app Summly from 17-year-old London kid for a seven-figure sum

Is Apple Becoming A War Profiteer?

"Apple has some cozy relationships with the U.S. government. Last month, CEO Tim Cook had a nice seat at Obama's State of The Union Address. There's the online Apple Store for Government, where federal employees and military personnel can get special pricing (paging Laurence Vance). There's having Al 'Global Warming Climate Change' Gore on the Board of Directors. There's the 8 million iPads sold to indoctrination centers (aka "schools"). And now (1 month after Obama's speech) news comes out that the U.S. Army has an order for 650,000 iOS devices." Continue reading →

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Microsoft and Oracle ask European Union to ‘protect competition’ against Google Android

"Google was in the firing line again on Tuesday after a group of major companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, complained to the European Commission over Google’s offerings for Android-powered mobile phones. 'We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market,' said Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel for FairSearch, which groups 17 high-tech companies, including also Nokia, Expedia and TripAdvisor. FairSearch said it had filed a complaint with the Commission, charging that the Internet giant wanted Android operators to use its leading applications such as Maps or YouTube." Continue reading →

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