Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on May 30, 2011 0 comments
In the past few thousand years, the way we pay has changed just three times—from coins, to paper money, to plastic cards.
Now we’re on the brink of the next big shift.
Google Wallet is an Android app that makes your phone your wallet. It stores virtual versions of your existing plastic cards on your phone. Simply tap your phone to pay and redeem offers using near field communication, or NFC.
Google Wallet has been designed for an open commerce ecosystem. It will eventually hold many if not all of the cards you keep in your leather wallet today. And because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will be able to do more than a regular wallet ever could, like storing thousands of payment cards and Google Offers but without the bulk. Eventually your loyalty cards, gift cards, receipts, boarding passes, tickets, even your keys will be seamlessly synced to your Google Wallet. And every offer and loyalty point will be redeemed automatically with a single tap via NFC.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on May 30, 2011 0 comments
What if you could run, sprint and climb hills every day and never be sidelined by impact-related injuries? It’s like running on air! Get your fun cardio workout without the jarring impact of running or the discomfort of traditional cycling. The 3C is the perfect fitness solution for everyday fitness enthusiasts or cross-training athletes who will ride on relatively flat terrain and only require a basic range of workout resistance levels. The 8S is the premier outdoor fitness device for fitness enthusiasts or cross-training athletes who will ride on flat and hilly terrain and desire a wide range of workout resistance levels.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on May 2, 2011 0 comments
Altaeros’s blimp, technically called an “aerostat” since it is tethered to the ground rather than free-flying, is designed to hold a wind turbine in its hollow center and fly at nearly 2,000 feet, where the winds are more consistent and powerful. A thick mooring cable will carry the electricity generated by the turbine to a ground station.
. . . . .
Altaeros believes its aerostat design could produce two to five times as much power as a pole-mounted, 350-foot-tall turbine in the exact location. Initially, the company is developing what you might call “wind power in a box,” packing the balloon, helium tanks, rotor, generator, and related gear into a shipping container. The container would then be sent to a remote oil field, island, or military post that would typically rely on a diesel generator for power. Altaeros’s aim is that the aerostat will be flying after just a day of set-up and will only need to descend every three or four months for a helium top-off and a maintenance check.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on April 24, 2011 0 comments
Last summer, General Atomics and Boeing tested a high-speed sabot round to replace the “hypersonic bricks” (which tended to tumble out of control) that the company had been firing from the gun, says General Atomics’ Tom Hurn. The sabot round went seven kilometers downrange after punching through a 1/8-inch thick steel plate. General Atomics officials estimate that they could install the weapon on a DDG-51 class destroyer by the end of the decade, according to Hurn.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on March 13, 2011 0 comments
URL Hunter! is an experimental game using the URL bar as the game screen. You are the ‘O’ and you are trying to kill the ‘a’s by using the Left and Right keys to move. When you are over an ‘a’ press spacebar to kill it!
While this is more of a proof of concept than anything, it’s worth checking out.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on March 1, 2011 0 comments
Spacewar!, history’s first game on a minicomputer, has been recreated from the original code in HTML5. Re-assembled with a PDP-1 assembler written in PERL, the resulting binary runs in a PDP-1 emulator written in JavaScript. Play it here!
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on December 17, 2010 0 comments
Every December, millions of tech-savvy young people descend on their homes only to arrive to a long list of tech support issues that their parents need help with. Google thought there had to be a better way that would save us all a few hours each December…
The result of their brainstorm was TeachParentsTech.org, a site that allows you to select any number of simple tech support videos to send to mom, dad or uncle Vinnie. The site is not perfect and hardly covers all the tech support questions you may be asked, but hopefully it’s a start!
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on September 15, 2010 0 comments
Stronger than glass, various military and commercial applications for this remarkable material are already being tested. What was once used in the science-fiction Star Trek movies, see-through aluminum is now something that – through test mixing with rubies, sapphires and more – is now being tried out in all kinds of ways to create transparency where strength is also required.
For now, it is used in static-free transparent aluminum wrapping for computer parts and other electronics. It is also being tested in otherwise-conventional see-through soda cans and military shielding for vehicles where windows once were. At over ten dollars per square inch, however, it is still not cheap enough for mainstream everyday use – but may be someday soon.
Posted by Benjamin Roudenis on August 10, 2010 0 comments
Access to clean drinking water is still an uphill fight for many in the world. However, most of the water purifying techniques rely on the grid and are not suitable for regions where it’s difficult to find even the barest of necessity like clean drinking water. SteriPEN Sidewinder is a completely off-grid solution to purify water using a UV-light mechanism.
All you need to do is fill the unit’s one-liter bottle and attach the Sidewinder to it. Then, flip the bottle and Sidewinder upside down and unfold the handle. You may crank until the green LED indicates. The bottle will be available in September for $99.95.
In the past few thousand years, the way we pay has changed just three times—from coins, to paper money, to plastic cards.
