Yearly Archives: 2013

Pentagon approves iPhones, iPads for military use

"The Defense Department said Friday that it has approved Apple devices for use on its networks, meaning that it can issue its employees iPhones and iPads at the office. With the announcement, Apple joins Samsung and BlackBerry on a short list of commercial smartphone makers that the Pentagon says are secure enough for its workers to use. Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 meet that standard, the Defense Department said in a release. Earlier this month, the Pentagon gave its nod to new phones from Samsung that run a business-focused version of Google’s Android mobile operating system and also approved BlackBerry’s latest phones." Continue reading →

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AP chief to Obama: Spying on reporters is ‘an unconstitutional act’

"The Obama administration‘s decision to seize phone records from the Associated Press was 'unconstitutional' and sends a message that 'if you talk to the press, we are going to go after you', the news agency’s boss Gary Pruitt said Sunday. AP revealed last week that the Justice Department had obtained two months’ worth of phone records of calls made by reporters and editors without informing the organisation in advance. The move was an apparent effort by US officials to identify the source of a story about the CIA foiling an alleged terrorist plot by an al Qaida terrorist affiliate in Yemen." Continue reading →

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Yahoo prepares to buy Tumblr for up to $1.1 billion

"Marissa Mayer, the former Googler who is now chief executive of Yahoo, is poised to create yet another nothing-to-riches tale in the web industry with a rumoured $1.1bn (£720m) acquisition of the blogging site Tumblr. Tumblr was only founded in 2007, by David Karp, then 21, in his bedroom in his mother’s apartment in New York. Within a fortnight it had 75,000 users; by January 2012, there were 42m blogs on the site; today, there are around 110m, and the investors who have poured $125m into the company include Sir Richard Branson." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYahoo prepares to buy Tumblr for up to $1.1 billion

18-year-old’s breakthrough invention can recharge phones in seconds

"An 18-year-old science student has made an astonishing breakthrough that will enable mobile phones and other batteries to be charged within seconds rather than the hours it takes today’s devices to power back up. Saratoga, Calif. resident Eesha Khare made the breakthrough by creating a small supercapacitor that can fit inside a cell phone battery and enable ultra-fast electricity transfer and storage, delivering a full charge in 20-30 seconds instead of several hours. The nano-tech device Khare created can supposedly withstand up to 100,000 charges, a 100-fold increase over current technology, and it’s flexible enough to be used in clothing or displays on any non-flat surface." Continue reading →

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That 3-D Printed Gun? It’s Just the Start

"In 2009, a German hacker going by the name Ray used a 3-D printer to fabricate a plastic key to the handcuffs used by Dutch police. He created the copy using only a photograph of an actual key. Last year, Ray demonstrated how to open even high-security handcuffs. The ability to copy keys isn’t new but, as with many of these dangers, 3-D printing will make it a lot easier. Just think of all the things -- houses, cars, offices -- we still use keys to open. Professor Lee Cronin, at the University of Glasgow, has been experimenting with something he calls 'reactionware,' which he hopes will allow people to print their own medication at home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThat 3-D Printed Gun? It’s Just the Start

Documentary Film Investigates the (Alleged) Death of Books

"Who killed the printed book—or at least hastened its demise? That’s the question posed in an absorbing new documentary, Out of Print, by director Vivienne Roumani. The primary suspects are e-readers, cell phones, and other gadgets, Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), sluggishly evolving publishers, Facebook (FB)-addicted teenagers, people who pirate books, and perhaps even the susceptibility of the human brain to various distractions. Out of Print frames one of the central cultural questions of our time: If books are the foundation of society, how does their gradual evolution change the world of ideas—and how does it change us?" Continue reading →

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First-ever music video filmed in space is David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’

"In an amazing video published Sunday by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, he bids farewell to the International Space Station with the most epic cover of David Bowie’s 'Space Oddity' perhaps ever, in footage that will go down as the first music video filmed in space. The ISS commander has made a habit of publishing YouTube videos from far above Earth showing the amazing properties of zero gravity living and the difficulties it presents astronauts in doing common tasks like clipping their fingernails or wringing out a wet rag. Hadfield and two other astronauts are set to leave the ISS on May 14, after spending six months at the station." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFirst-ever music video filmed in space is David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’

Richard Branson: Space tourism won’t hurt environment

"More than 500 people have already reserved seats — and paid deposits on the $200,000 ticket price — for a minutes-long suborbital flight on the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) set to begin by the end of this year. 'We have reduced the (carbon emission) cost of somebody going into space from something like two weeks of New York’s electricity supply… to less than the cost of a economy round-trip from Singapore to London,' Branson told reporters in Singapore. The SS2′s lightweight carbon-fibre body will also 'reduce fuel burn dramatically', he said." Continue reading →

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Tesla’s Elon Musk Is No Dummy

"You have to be pretty smart to create an online payment company, an electric car company and a space exploration company in quick succession. Indeed, Elon Musk, who founded or co-founded PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has degrees in economics and physics. He started a PhD at Stanford in applied physics and materials science, but dropped out to become an entrepreneur. Smart move. Today, Musk is worth an estimated $4.3 billion after strong gains in Tesla shares, along with Solar City, where he is chairman and owns 28 percent. Proceeds from share sales will be used to pay off Tesla’s taxpayer loan under a Department of Energy program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTesla’s Elon Musk Is No Dummy

BitPremier Sells Luxury Goods For Bitcoin

"We've found a guy who claims to be putting his Trump Soho condo up for sale. And he will only take payment in Bitcoin. Later today, he will advertise the property exclusively on BitPremier, the first-ever online Bitcoin exchange exclusively for luxury goods. The site launches today. We recently spoke by phone with BitPremier founder Alan Silbert, who also serves as a VP for GE Capital, about the goals for BitPremier. He said purchasing options for people who own lots of Bitcoin have thus far been limited. Along with the choice condo, the site will also launch with a Bahamas villa, a Leroy Neiman artwork, and a high-end watch. A Ferrari and Mercedes are also imminent." Continue reading →

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