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Google Wrap Dresses - The Ooogle Sari (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Slowly but surely, Google has become so much a part of our lives that we often find we are "wrapped" up with their services. So why not a Google wrap like this sari or saree? This one...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 5:00 pm Super Sized Motorcycles - The Gunbus 410 by Clemens Leonhart (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The oversized Gunbus motorcycle is complete. Despite the seemingly overwhelming engineering challenges of putting a 410 cubic inch V Twin engine on a frame that wouldnt crumble, Clemens...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 3:40 pm Falling at Miss Universe - Miss USA 2008 Stumbles, Miss Venezuela Wins (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) While Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza won the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant title, it is Miss USA Crystle Stewart whos buzzing around the web with her fall. Stewart followed in last years...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:21 pm Sprint Treo 800w Now Available!Palm and Sprint Introduce the Treo 800w Smartphone the first Windows Mobile 6.1 Treo smartphone offering a slimmer and lighter body, fast 3G EvDO Rev. A data speeds, built-in WiFi and GPS, 2.0 Megapixel...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:06 pm Control Freek Air Conditioned Tennis RacquetsBy Andrew Liszewski When it comes to tennis, or any racquet-based sport for that matter, it doesn’t matter how polished or perfect your swing is if you can’t keep a grip on the racquet itself...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:04 pm Virtual Dress Auctioned To Benefit American Cancer Society Sells For USD$1,700An evening gown that could never exist outside the virtual world has been sold to fight a disease that's all too real: metaverse artist Eshi Otawara donated her spectacular, gravity-defying fishook dress...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:03 pm Doing the Laptop Drive of Shamenetbuzz writes "If you bring your work computer home with any regularity, chances are good that you've done the Laptop Drive of Shame. (Oh, c'mon, admit it.) It's happening more than ever ... and costing more than ever, too, what with the price of gas and all." I'll spoil it for you- they mean leaving your laptop at home. Yay monday news cycle.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:58 pm Handset market growth slows as economy contracts (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:46 pm Review: Palm Treo 800w with integrated WiFi and GPS - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:34 pm Reblogging MusicI've tried most every web music service there is and right now, almost all of my web-based listening is hapening on the hype machine and tumblr. The Hype Machine and Tumblr are two different takes on...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:22 pm New Map to Help Tap Ocean WindsNew global satellite maps reveal wind energy hot spots in ocean areas.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:20 pm New Service Tracks Missing Laptops for Free (PC World)PC World - Researchers have developed a free open-source laptop tracking system for laptops called Adeona.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:20 pm Amazonian Tribe Has No Word To Express NumbersIn 2004 we discussed the Piraha, a tribe in the Amazon, when a study appeared characterizing their language as a "one, two, many" language. Now reader mu22le informs us of a new study of the Piraha pointing to the possibility that they use no number words at all. Instead they seem to use the word formerly thought to mean "two" to represent a quantity of 5 or 6, and the "one" word for anything from 1 to 4. The language has about 300 native speakers. "The study... offers evidence that number words are a concept invented by human cultures as they are needed, and not an inherent part of language, Gibson said."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 12:08 pm New Rumors About GPhone - eFluxMedia
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:47 am Netbytes: Slashdot remains a ghetto for nerdsIn 1997, the name Slashdot was cool, because most people really weren't familiar with the idea of web addresses: we'd tell them to go to "slash slash slash-dot dot org" and their eyes would glaze over...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:15 am Small game developers get on fast track (USATODAY.com)USATODAY.com - LOS ANGELES - Movies and music from small, independent creators push the pop-culture envelope with fresh ideas. Now, game developers are set to do the same with a wave of low-priced - and often offbeat - titles on the new online video-game system networks from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:14 am Independently produced games are getting noticed (USATODAY.com)USATODAY.com - Big video games command the market share of the $21 billion video game industry, but independently produced games are getting noticed. USA TODAY introduces some notable and upcoming ones.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:14 am Foo Camp 2008: Shangri La For Geeks275 or so people congregated on the small town of Sebastopol, located 60 miles north of San Francisco in the heart of wine country, for the 2008 Foo Camp this last weekend. Attendees included technologists,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:09 am Mighty Boosh writer Roger Drew signs up to Channel 4 careers projectChannel 4 has recruited Mighty Boosh writer Roger Drew to fictionalise the professional lives of a doctor, police officer and actress as part of a careers guidance project. The Insiders, based on the real-life...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:07 am Asset Summary Report for OMV Aktiengesellschaft Oil and Chemicals Storage Operation Out NowResearch and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4f194f/omv_aktiengesellsc) has announced the addition of the "OMV Aktiengesellschaft Oil and Chemicals Storage Operation Asset Summary Report" report to their offering.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am A Breath of FRESH WATER: EPA Takes Aim at Pollution Caused By Recreational BoatsBy Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio Jul. 14--hen Thad Humphrey backed his 21-foot Bayliner Capri into the water at Alum Creek Reservoir, his biggest worry wasn't scraping the dock that flanks the boat ramp.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Swimmers Return to LakeBy Bob Stuart, The News Virginian, Waynesboro, Va. Jul. 14--SHERANDO LAKE -- Visitors flocked to Augusta County's Sherando Lake on a steamy summer day Sunday, one day after a 19-year-old man drowned in the lake's waters.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am New EPA Rules to Target Invasive Species: Invaders Have Plagued Great Lakes for YearsBy Tom Henry, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Coyotes Becoming Nuisance in CityBy Donna Swicegood, Statesville Record & Landmark, N.C. Jul. 13--In recent months, the Iredell County Animal Services Department has fielded an increasing number of calls about coyotes in this area. Many people are in a quandary about what to do if they encounter a coyote.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Scotsman Campaign: Save Our Seas: Victory for Scotsman Campaign to Safeguard Seas and Their WildlifeBy Jenny Haworth environment correspondent MINISTERS will unveil a package of tough new measures to protect Scotland's seas today - marking a significant victory for The Scotsman's "Save Our Seas" campaign.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am BRIEF: Evacuation Order Lifted in Butte CountyBy Matt Weiser, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Jul. 14--State fire officials allowed residents of Concow, Jarbo Gap and Big Bend to return to their homes Sunday afternoon as firefighting crews gained the upper hand on the Butte County wildfires.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am To Plant or Not on Set-Aside Farmland?By Leslie Reed, Omaha World-Herald, Neb. Jul. 14--LINCOLN -- Midlands farm groups are at odds over whether farmers should be allowed to till environmentally sensitive Conservation Reserve Program land to plant corn and soybeans. U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am New Orleans to Begin Citing Trailer ResidentsBy Rick Jervis NEW ORLEANS -- Residents living in FEMA trailers across the city could be cited within the next few weeks for not vacating the temporary structures.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Porter Studies Federal Land PlanBy Steve Tetreault By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Nevada wilderness advocates have launched a new drive for Congress to designate more federally protected land in Clark County, and are targeting Rep.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am EDITORIAL: Fitting Tribute for Camarillo: 101 Stretch Named After HimBy Ventura County Star, Calif. Jul. 14--For longtime residents, a trip down the Conejo Grade can stir memories of fields of lima beans, barley, corn and walnut orchards that once dotted the valley floor below.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am HP Adds Teneros Email Continuity to ProLiant ServersTeneros has won a deal from HP to provide its email continuity appliances for disaster recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2003 and 2007 on HP's ProLiant DL380 G5 servers.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Supermarket Sweep Co-Op Closes on GBP 1.6bn Somerfield TakeoverThe Co-operative Group is reportedly set to takeover grocery chain Somerfield for GBP1.6 billion this week. Sale terms were agreed on Friday subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading, according to weekend reports.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am D-Link Now Shipping Network Camera With Pan/Tilt/Zoom and PoE SupportD-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, today announced it is now shipping a full-featured network surveillance camera designed for whole-room monitoring of the home, office and small business, offering superior management over conventional closed-circuit television (CCTV) security cameras.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Japanese Opposition Party Hold Presidential Election 21 SeptemberText of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Tokyo, July 14 Kyodo - The largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan officially decided Monday to hold its presidential election on Sept. 21. The decision was made at its executive board meeting.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am EMPRESA ELECTRICA QUITO Chooses Corinex Broadband Over Powerline Technology to Bring Broadband and AMI to 700,000 HomesCorinex Communications Corp. today announces a new partnership with EMPRESA ELECTRICA QUITO (EEQ) which has selected the Consortium of TELCONET S.A., GILAUCO S.A. and BRIGHTCELL S.A.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Sure Thing: Online Bet Battle Will ContinueBy Tony Batt By TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Despite a stunning setback in his effort to roll back a ban on Internet gambling, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says the issue is not going away.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Nokia WidSets Selects MCN to Power Real-Time Mobile Search Across Its Universe of Content and WidgetsTokyo and Mountain View, CA.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Sacramento Bee, Calif., Rick Kushman Column: Great Plotlines and Network Stumbles Draw More Viewers to Cable TVBy Rick Kushman, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Jul. 14--BEVERLY HILLS -- The Oasis at the Beverly Hilton is a large outdoor courtyard surrounded by sleek hotel towers. It's decorated with a wide, flat fountain, palm trees, mood lighting.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Louisville Offering New Ways for Tipsters to Contact PoliceBy Shelley Byrne, The Paducah Sun, Ky. Jul. 14--Anonymously reporting a crime is only a phone call, a mouse click or a cell phone text message away in many places.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Google Trends Subverted Again. This Is Getting (ll) EmbarrasingLast week a Swastika appeared on Google trends as a top queried term (leading to an endless debate as to whether the symbol was offensive or not). Google removed the symbol and returned our email query...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:51 am Why Google Shouldn't Make A GPhone (GOOG) - Silicon Alley Insider
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:38 am The future is pastShould we be worried that the National Newspaper Association’s “Imagining the Future of Newspapers” blog had its last entry in May? Yes. Surprised, no.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:34 am Stringer: Wii an “Expensive Niche Game Device" - Next Generation
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:28 am Intel Launches Online Marketplace for Indian SMBs (PC World)PC World - Intel has set up an online marketplace for India where SMBs can procure software and services.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:10 am NVIDIA slashes price of GTX 260 and 280 GPUs - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:08 am Newport Folk Festival and JVC Jazz Festival Newport Team Up with OurStage.com to Select Performing ArtistsSix top-ranked OurStage bands selected to play BOSTON, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- OurStage ( href="http://www.OurStage.com">http://www.OurStage.com ), a music...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am FIS Announces Agreement to Sell Certegy Australia, Ltd. AssetsJACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS), a Fortune 500 company and a leading global provider of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic Employees Honored by ForbesLife Executive WomanChristine Petersen and Carolyn Spencer Brown Both Make 25 Most Influential Women in Travel List NEWTON, Mass., and PENNINGTON, N.J., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am Latest Software for Financial Planners and Investment Advisors - Windham Financial Planner(R)CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Windham Capital Management, a premier financial services firm, has released a new version of its acclaimed Windham Financial...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am Sikorsky Aircraft Preps for Multiple First Flights as 'Four Pillars' Continue to Pace Rapid GrowthFARNBOROUGH, England, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIR SHOW -- With busy production lines and a schedule of first flights for seven programs in 2008,Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am XsunX to Present to Financial Communities in Chicago, New York, Boston and AtlantaALISO VIEJO, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XsunX, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: XSNX), a solar technology Company engaged in the build-out of its multi-megawatt...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 10:00 am Tesla Motors Is Delivering Carsjamie found the news that Tesla Motors is delivering roadsters in California. (We've been following developments on the Tesla front for a couple of years now.) According to a letter from the CEO, "9 production Roadsters have arrived in California, another 3 arrive this weekend, and they will keep arriving at the rate of 4 per week... In fact, currently there are 27 Roadsters in various stages of assembly." The early owners must be proud, but there could be complications.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:48 am Happy Bastille Day!We've had Edith Piaf singing "La Marseillaise" since cock-crow here, so it must be Bastille Day! Go behead some aristos and tell 'em "Edith sent ya!"Link Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:42 am Fourth Annual Geoethical Nanotechnology Workshop to Explore: What Geoethical Management, If Any, is Appropriate for the Nanotechnology Necessary for Cryonic Revival and/or Downloaded Cyberconsciousness?Public Invited to Lunar Landing Anniversary Event on July 20th 1pm - 4PM est MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla., July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Terasem...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:30 am Spreed Inc. Releases iPhone Application that Lets People Rapidly Read News on the GoTORONTO, July 14 /PRNewswire/ - Toronto based Spreed Inc. has released their first version of Spreed:News, an application that enhances the way people read news on mobileSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:20 am Distance Learning Makes it Easier for Potential New Drivers to Get Behind-the-Wheel: Accredited Drivers Education Course Expanding to More StatesOAKLAND, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of teens in the U.S. about to start the school year with expectations of becoming licensed drivers are looking to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:15 am Yahoo fends off Microsoft/Icahn takeover bidYahoo rejected a joint takeover proposal from Microsoft and dissident investor Carl Icahn this weekend, saying the proposal to oust its board and break up the company's assets was "opportunistic" and "ludicrous"...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:13 am Photo: Kids Memory Wizard Can Save Kids From Failing MathSAN FRANCISCO, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A new educational development can help millions of American kids who are failing math, plus it's a perfect low cost way to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 9:12 am Japanese shares fall on US worriesJapanese shares fell Monday as investors remained skeptical over the health of the U.S. financial sector despite the U.S. Federal Reserve's steps to help troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 8:48 am Philips profits down despite good salesRoyal Philips Electronics NV said Monday its second quarter profits fell by more than half, despite resilient sales in a battered global economy.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 8:42 am E-mail public documents get erased, disappear (AP)AP - Laws in all but a handful of states give the public access to government e-mail. But what if that e-mail was intentionally deleted or routinely purged?Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Jul 2008 | 8:35 am First Movable Type is a fake? (no, not that Movable Type)Kevin Kelly blogs about the Phaistos Disc, an archeological object some believe is the oldest historic example of moveable type -- the concept, of course, not the blogging platform. Snip:Is the "First Movable Type" a Hoax? [ The Technium ] Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:36 am James Randerson discusses a landmark mission to MarsJames Randerson analyses an audacious plan to go to the Red PlanetSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:20 am What Tech Should Be Seen At TED?J0sh writes "I've been lucky enough to be asked to do tech spotting for the TED conference, one of the biggest and most exclusive technology, entertainment, and design conferences in the US. Many of the folks there are superstars in their field (like Craig Venter and Stephen Hawking), and most of them have the opportunity to take action on the technology that they see there. The problem is that I'm only one guy trying to find the most mind-blowing technology on the planet in order to inform the few people who can make an immediate impact with it. I figured if there's one place to find those kinds of advances, it's here. What unknown tech is about to completely change the world that these people need to know about? Let me know."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:20 am Persicope for Bridge KibbitzersFrom the December, 1933 issue of Modern Mechanix, a "periscope for bridge kibbitzers":Link Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:18 am That's not a Bluetooth headsetSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am As E3 kicks off, video game industry is facing growing painsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Technology stokes new Web privacy fearsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Big Lebowski summarized as one still composite image.
Inspired by Brendan Dawes' 2004 project Cinema Redux which "distills a whole film down to one single image", tshirtblogger Jason Cosper used the shareware Thumber app to crank out a similar image for The Big Lebowski. I'd love to have a large-size print of this on my wall. Oh, hey you guys, feel free to litter the comments with Lebowski quotes -- for the Boing abides. Cinema Redux - The Big Lebowski Edition [ Flickr ]
Previously: Video: He-Man versus the Big Lebowski Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 5:36 am Makemake Becomes the Newest Dwarf PlanetKligat writes "The Kuiper belt object formerly known as (136472) 2005 FY9 has been rechristened Makemake and classified as a dwarf planet and plutoid by the International Astronomical Union, according to the United States Geological Survey. The reclassification occurs just a month after the latter category was created. The object was referred to by the team of discoverers by the codename Easterbunny, and the name Makemake comes from the creation deity of Easter Island, in accordance with IAU rules on naming Kuiper belt objects."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:52 am 11 cool new apps for the iPhone - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:02 am Top 10 Wired.com Reader Food Photos, Decided by You : After two weeks of being either tantalized or disgusted by the submissions in our food photo contest, Wired.com readers have selected 10 winners. Eirikso takes home the gold with his photo of eggs on the back of a motorcycle (left). Eirikso will receive a subscription to Wired magazine and a digital picture frame for his desk. Since there were so many great photos that we thought should've received more votes, we've also compiled a gallery of the Top 10 Wired.com Food Photos, Decided by Us. Our next twice-monthly photo contest is blue. We want you to exploit this color of introspection. Check out the contest page for more information. Left: One mistake and this turns into scrambled eggs. Photographer's comment: "With the current fuel prices it's too expensive to drive twice.”  : Bannanannaana Photographer's comment: "A banana treat at the infamous Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo.”  : Late-night ramen Photographer's comment: "Late-night ramen stand in Namba, Osaka," Japan.  : Watching the pot Photographer's comment: "Street food in the walled city of Xian, China."  : How to put gyoza in the pan Photographer's comment: "My Japanese friend Sumi taught me how to place gyoza as a flower in an extremely hot greased pan. This photo shows how to make the first round in the middle of the pan, then you need to make the second and maybe the third round in the same way, going 'round and filling the holes."  : Spice is nice! Photographer's comment: "Shot from a European farmer's market. Colorful, to say the least."  : Yum! Photographer's comment: "International favorite!"  : Spice souq Photographer's comment: "Daydreaming in the spice souq. Taken in the old city of Sana'a," Yemen.  : Infused vodka Photographer's comment: "Lime, chocolate and olive vodka splash."  : Mercat de la Boqueria Photographer's comment: "Mercat de la Boqueria, Barcelona," Spain. 
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am July 14, 1850: Gorrie Demonstrates Ice-Maker1850: Florida physician John Gorrie uses his mechanical ice-maker to astonish the guests at a party. It's America's first public demonstration of ice made by refrigeration. William Cullen had demonstrated the principle of artificial refrigeration in a University of Glasgow laboratory in 1748, by allowing ethyl ether to boil into a vacuum. American Oliver Evans designed in 1805 -- but never built -- a refrigeration machine that used vapor instead of liquid. Jacob Perkins used Evans' concept for an experimental volatile-liquid, closed-cycle compressor in 1834. Nonetheless, mid-century cooling in the tropics and subtropics -- and in the temperate summer -- relied on natural ice blocks carved from frozen lakes and rivers in the North, kept in shaded sheds and cellars under layers of sawdust for insulation, and often delivered at great expense by specially fitted ice ships. Gorrie was born in the tropics, on the Caribbean island of Nevis. He received his medical education in New York state before settling in the Florida cotton-shipping port of Apalachicola. There, he served at various times as mayor, justice of the peace, postmaster and bank president, besides carrying on his medical practice. It would be another half-century before the causes of the killer diseases malaria and yellow fever were discovered, but Dr. Gorrie knew they relied on heat and moisture to propagate. He urged the draining of swamps and the enforcement of hygiene in the town's food market. Gorrie also sought to improve the survival rate of his feverish patients by cooling them down. He suspended pans of ice water high in their sickrooms, so the cooled, heavy air would flow downward. But ice was expensive in the Florida summer and often completely unavailable. Gorrie wanted to make it mechanically. He wrote:
If the air were highly compressed, it would heat up by the energy of compression. If this compressed air were run through metal pipes cooled with water, and if this air cooled to the water temperature was expanded down to atmospheric pressure again, very low temperatures could be obtained, even low enough to freeze water in pans in a refrigerator box.
Gorrie began tinkering with compressor-coolers and had a working model by the mid 1840s. The power source was irrelevant to his invention: It could be driven by wind, water, steam or the brute force of an animal. He applied for patents in 1848 and had a prototype built in Ohio by the Cincinnati Iron Works. It was described in Scientific American the following year, but Gorrie still had to attract venture capital to fight the existing ice-block industry. He arranged a dramatic demonstration of his machine for a social, rather than medical, occasion. It was a muggy July in Florida. Ice from the North had been exhausted. Gorrie attended an afternoon reception given by the French consul to honor Bastille Day. The doctor first complained about drinking warm wine in hot weather, then suddenly announced, "On Bastille Day, France gave her citizens what they wanted. [Consul] Rosan gives his guests what they want, cool wines! Even if it demands a miracle!" Then he signaled for waiters to enter with bottles of sparkling wine on trays of ice. Mechanically made ice in the sweltering Florida summer: It was a sensation. Smithsonian magazine dubbed that party the "chilly reception." Gorrie received a British patent a month later and U.S. patent 8,080 on May 6, 1851, but he failed at business. His business partner died, and Gorrie's inefficient, leaky machines were mocked in the press by the ice-shipping establishment. He died in poverty and ill health in 1855, still in his early 50s. It would take Frenchman Ferdinand P.E. Carre's closed, ammonia-absorption system (patented in 1860) to make way for practical, widespread mechanical refrigeration. Florida has honored Gorrie by placing his statue in the National Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol. (The other Florida statue is Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith.) So, have a happy Bastille Day (or joyeux Fête Nationale), chill out and lift a cold one to the father of refrigeration. You can use the very words spoken 158 years ago: "Let us drink to the man who made the ice: Dr. Gorrie." Source: Smithsonian, John Gorrie State Museum
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Top 10 Wired.com Food Photos, Decided by Us : Though Wired.com readers selected 10 excellent photos in our food photo contest, we here at the Photo Department like to fight for the underdog. Here are our 10 favorite submissions that we think deserved more attention. Our next twice-monthly photo contest is blue. We want you to exploit this infamous color of introspection. Check out the contest page for more information. Left: Bread crash Photographer's comment: "Montevideo, Uruguay 35mm.”  : Moules avec Crabes Photographer's comment: "Dining on the square in Saint Mere Eglise (of D-Day fame). A tasty dish of moules turned a bit crunchy as the mussels had all eaten tiny little crabs. It tasted very well by the way."  : Soup!!! Photographer's comment: "Mmmmm … tasty!"  : Summertime BBQ Photographer's comment: "BBQ in the park in Amsterdam, shot with my Sony Ericsson S700i mobile phone cam."  : bird food Photographer's comment: "Sometimes birds feed us, too."  : Just a tourist in Miami, enjoying cold gelato on a hot day! Photographer's comment: "Canon 5d 70-200mm L IS."  : Sugary Goodness Photographer's comment: "Froot Loops"  : washing machine Photographer's comment: "Forks, knives, spoons, dishes, pans..."  :
Tsukiji Fishmarket, Tokyo Photographer's comment: "Auction at world's biggest fish market, Tsukiji, Tokyo."  : Gloucester Old Spot Photographer's comment: "Gloucester Old Spot, rare-breed pig's head, main ingredient of Hure De Porc. See Larousse Gastronomique; Pork; Potted head."
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Wired.com Photo Contest: BlueFor our photo contest this week, we're taking it back to basics. We want you to take a cue from Miles Davis and show us your kind of blue. Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best blue photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. The 10 highest-ranked photos will appear in a gallery on the Wired.com homepage. Show us buckets of sapphires dumped into deep pools of azure. Show us your tongue turned neon blue from electric Kool-Aid. Show us what happens when you take the blue pill. The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, which may include exposure information, equipment used, etc. We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg). Please bookmark this page and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions! Also, check out the winner's galleries from our previous contests: Holga, Red, Self-Portrait, Night, Macro, Transportation and Black and White. Vote on blue photos submitted by other readers.
Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your blue photo. Submit your blue photo.(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Why iPhone Games Will Rule
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Periodic Table of Videos: elements as short YouTube episodes.Here's a new YouTube channel from Nottingham University in the UK -- here, scientist-vloggers are in the process of posting a video for each element of the periodic table. Sort of "Mythbusters" meets chemistry, with real live awesome mad scientist hair. This is one of the neatest, most clever, and most enduringly valuable things I've seen on YT in a while.
Periodic Table of Videos channel, and The "sodium" video, above, is a good place to start. Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 3:51 am Web Zen: bloggy zen.
art of rss
Permalink for this edition. Web Zen is created and curated by Frank Davis, and re-posted here on Boing Boing with his kind permission. Web Zen Home and Archives, Store (Thanks Frank!) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 3:43 am Two Powerful Blows Against Air Pollution ControlsThe NYTimes reports from Washington on two separate actions on Friday that, between them, have halted Bush administration clean-air initiatives in their tracks. The current administration is no favorite of environmental groups, but these groups sided with the administration in a court case brought by the utility companies. On Friday an appeals court threw out the EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule, established in 2005. The court ruled that the EPA had exceeded its authority when it established that rule, which set new requirements for major pollutants. According to the article, even the utilities were appalled to see the rule completely gutted; their objections had been narrower. Here is a podcast with the reporter (MP3) giving some background on the ruling. The second major blow to clean-air efforts came later in the day on Friday. Quoting: "...the EPA chief rejected any obligation to regulate heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide under existing law, saying that to do so would involve an 'unprecedented expansion' of the agency's authority that would have 'a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy,' touching 'every household in the land.'... In effect, Mr. Johnson was simultaneously publishing the policy analysis of his scientific and legal experts and repudiating its conclusions."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:57 am Happy Birthday, Woody Guthrie!Without Woody Guthrie, there would be no Pete Seeger and no Dylan, Donovan or Byrds. The trajectory of American folk music would be forever thrown off its established vector. The poor, oppressed and otherwise dispossessed would be without an acoustic champion.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:30 am Microsoft Trims Xbox Price by $50, Plans New ModelMicrosoft is cutting the price of its Xbox 360 videogame console to make way for a new model with a bigger hard drive.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 2:00 am Report: Oyster card crypto leakSnip from an item on Wikileaks:Chip company NXP Semiconductors is to sue Radboud University in an attempt to halt the publication of a paper detailing the cryptographic cracking of the Oyster smartcard, used widely on the London transport network.Well, it does appear they're leaked. Lawsuit to stop the paper publication isn't going to do a heck of a lot of good now.
Censored Milfaire Classic Oyster Card break paper 2008 Previously on Boing Boing: Source: Boing Boing | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:42 am Tensions Escalate in Battle for Control of YahooThe battle over Yahoo intensifies following the company's latest refusal of an offer by Microsoft to buy its online search engine. It spurned a joint proposal with activist investor Carl Icahn, who is leading a shareholder rebellion aimed at removing Yahoo's current board.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:30 am Antarctica Once Abutted Death ValleyScience News has a story of strange bedfellows. It seems that Antarctica was once adjacent to what is now the American Southwest, some 800 million years ago. Earth's continents then formed a supercontinent called Rodinia, predating Pangaea by some 550 million years. "...the ratios of neodymium isotopes in the ancient sediments in the Transantarctic Mountains are the same as those in what was then Laurentia, says Goodge. Also, the hafnium isotope ratios in the 1.44-billion-year-old zircons found in East Antarctica match those of the zircons found in the distinctive granites now found primarily in North America. Finally, the researchers note, the ratios of various isotopes and elements in a basketball-sized chunk of granite found in East Antarctica — a chunk ripped by a glacier from bedrock now smothered by thick ice, the team speculates — match those of granite found only in what was southwestern Laurentia, which today is the American Southwest."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:04 am Games Without Frontiers: Go Ahead, Punk, Make Your GameIf you've ever played a really horrible game, you've probably thought: Wow, the people who made this are talentless. You fume at the derivative, seen-it-before gameplay; you complain that the levels are far too monotonous, or far too unmanageable. After a while, you throw down your controller and boast: Hell, I could make a game better than this. Ah, but could you? I recently found out when I spent some time with Blast Works, a brilliant new Wii title that allows you to create your own games. What I discovered is, as you might expect, it's pretty damn hard to make a fun game. You'll probably fail. But in the process of doing so, you'll learn a ton about what makes a good game good. Or to put it another way: Designing games makes you a better connoisseur of them. On the surface, Blast Works is a side-scrolling, spaceship-blasting game with a clever twist. Much like Gradius, you drift inexorably rightward, ever beset by blocky, polygonal enemies. But when you blast them into pieces, you can -- much as with Katamari Damacy -- swoop in and scoop up any loose parts, which then stick to your spaceship. Turrets from enemy guns remain functional, so you quickly can amass a huge, unruly mess of weapons that jut out from every direction. If you did nothing else but play the single-player component, you'd have fun. But if you stopped there, you'd miss out on the philosophically rich treats to come. Because also embedded inside Blast Works is an amazingly full-featured editor that lets you create customized spaceships, bullets and levels. Almost everything, from physics to camera zoom, is tweakable. Objects can be designed down to the last pixel if you're obsessed enough. Basically, it's everything you need to craft your own side-scrolling shooter. Hot damn, I thought. I plunged into the editor and decided to try crafting a shooter with a nutty electric-guitar aesthetic. At first, it seemed really easy. In barely 10 minutes, I designed a crude Flying V-style ship. I crafted a couple of even more crude-looking enemies: Weak ones were shaped like guitar picks, and more-ferocious killers were shaped like ... well, big lumps of something or other. Hey, I'm tolerable at design, but only barely. And in any case, I was getting impatient to try out my creation. How would it play? I loaded the game, hit Start, and when the Flying V ship drifted onscreen, I was hit with a giddy jolt of pride. Dude! I'm playing my own game! But my pride quickly deflated, upon a sober realization: My game sucked. I'd clustered the enemies far too closely together, making it impossible to avoid their attacks. Hell, I didn't even leave enough breathing space. The first notes of the ominous they're-here music had barely started when the armada arrived and sliced through me like I was soft cheese. I went back in and tinkered with the attack spacings, but found I quickly tipped into the opposite problem: Now the game was too easy. Hmmm. Over the next few hours, two things happened. I got deep into the weeds of my game, tweaking and teasing the enemies and the landscape to try and balance things out. More important, I gained an amazingly rich sense of just how remarkable truly good game design is -- the talent that's necessary to reach that tightrope balance point where something's optimally challenging without being controller-chucking frustrating. I mean, if I was having this much trouble crafting a simple side-scroller -- one of the most rudimentary genres -- imagine trying to create a complex online world, an immersive shooter or a mystery game. How the hell do Blizzard, Bungie and Cyan do it? Creating a game, in other words, makes you a better consumer of games, because it forces you to think concretely about the linguistics of the craft: balance, collisions, human motivation, camera work, artwork, physics. It's like how being required to write speeches and short stories in elementary school trains you to appreciate a truly spectacular novel or bit of oratory -- or how knowing how to play an instrument, even poorly, gives you a deeper insight into true musical genius. But the fascinating thing is that there are lots of people out there who are pretty good at game design. If you go over to the Blast Works website, you can download ships, enemies, weapons and entire levels that gamers have created, and try them for yourself. The creativity is occasionally stunning. There are re-creations of famous Nintendo characters like Mario and Link; there's even a precise rendition of the original Super Mario Bros. Someone assembled a hilariously spot-on homage to Star Wars. And one gamer, amazingly, re-created the look of Space Invaders by crafting a level so narrow it doesn't scroll -- and you thus remain on one screen. I'm not suggesting that these are addictive, must-play games. No, they're more like fan fiction -- a way of thinking about what game design really is. They remind me of how new-media artists like Cory Arcangel have plundered old-school game environments as a form of cultural commentary. (Indeed, I've even now been inspired with my own quasi-artistic idea: I'm designing a Blast Works level that has no enemies at all -- just a backdrop of buildings that will slowly spell out a message in enormous letters as you scroll by. It's Gradius as a form of text messaging!) Of course, Blast Works isn't entirely new: Many previous games have offered modding and editing tools before. But I've never seen any game that mixed such flexibility with relative simplicity -- and offered such a quick way to share your design ideas with others. And at the very least, it allows you to finally answer your own windy boast: Man, I could do that. Well, sure. Just try. - - - Clive Thompson is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to Wired and New York magazines. Look for more of Clive's observations on his blog, collision detection.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:00 am Class D Amplifiers Are Shrinking and Greening Your ElectronicsClass D amplifiers, the first real advance in speaker design in decades, are showing up in everything from flat panel televisions and computers to high-end sound systems. These new energy efficient amps not only sound great, they are also smaller, lighter and greener.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Jul 2008 | 1:00 am Tensions escalating in battle for Yahoo's board (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:22 pm Michael DeBakey, Consummate Medical Geek, Dead At 99NIckGorton writes "Dr. Michael DeBakey, the father of modern heart surgery, died this week at age 99. He was integral to the development of pretty much everything in modern cardiovascular surgery: bypass (heart-lung machines that made open-heart surgery possible for the first time), coronary artery bypass surgery (he did the first one ever), carotid endarterectomey (again he performed the first one), the development of Dacron graft blood vessels, and the development of MASH units. He was a consummate geek and numerous surgical instruments bear his name. He was also the first surgeon to videotape surgeries — in the 1960s. He was considered by the NEJM to be the single greatest surgeon alive until two days ago. In his career he performed over 50,000 heart surgeries and practiced medicine (though not surgery) until the day he died. In 2005 he underwent the Debakey procedure, which he pioneered, to treat the aortic dissection he suffered."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:06 pm Heir to Murdoch empire bypasses father in media power listIt may cause some dispute at the next family dinner, but James Murdoch has overtaken his father, Rupert, for the first time in this year's MediaGuardian 100 power list. For the first time since the list...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 13 Jul 2008 | 11:05 pm Computer Optional For AOC's New HD DisplayMojoKid writes "As a 22-inch, HD flat-panel display, AOC's new 2230Fm LCD has nothing necessarily earth-shattering about its design. But what got our attention was the marketing tag for the device: 'No PC Required.' It turns out that, in addition to being a traditional flat-screen LCD with a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 (HDCP ready), the 2230Fm also includes a built-in media player, with what AOC calls its HD3 technology. The 2230Fm supports MPEG-1, 2, and 4 video formats. Supported audio formats include MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLA, and M4A. Supported photo formats include JPG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and GIF images with resolutions up to 8000 x 8000 pixels. The display also has a low 2ms response time and high 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2008 | 9:58 pm Miniaturized DNA Sewing MachinesRoland Piquepaille writes "Japanese researchers have found a way to build long threads of DNA using miniaturized hooks and bobbins. In fact, they've demonstrated how to manipulate delicate DNA chains without breaking them. They've designed these laser-directed microdevices to pick up and manipulate individual molecules of DNA. The scientists have used optical tweezers to catch and move these microdevices, which could be used in the future to detect genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome." Here's a link to the journal article.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Jul 2008 | 8:47 pm Concerns raised about lack of Mac-to-MobileMe push sync - Apple Insider
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 13 Jul 2008 | 8:25 pm Chordiant 'Listens' In On Call-Center Conversations (TechWeb)TechWeb - Intelligent Enterprise - Chordiant Recommendation Advisor 6.1 monitors call-center conversations and offers agents recommendations on what actions to take.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:29 pm Cell phone companies scramble to halt trafficking (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2008 | 7:22 pm Game characters get smarter and less predictable (AP)AP - In the upcoming video game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," the evil Stormtroopers are smart enough to keep players guessing.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 13 Jul 2008 | 6:49 pm A Worthy Upgrade: The Vaue and New Features of the iPhone 3GSource: Wired: Gadgets | 13 Jul 2008 | 5:00 pm Post-apocalypse without the militias: The OutquisitionWorldChanging's Alex Steffen and I sat down last week for a cup of coffee and got to talking about post-apocalyptic life. I noticed that while there's a whole ton of stories -- and people who emulate them -- about heavily armed survivalists bravely holding off the twilight of civilization after the Big One, there are damned few stories about super-networked post-apocalyptic Peace Corps who respond to the Great Fall by figuring out how to put it all back together. I even came up with a name for it: the Outquisition; the opposite of the Inquisition -- missionaries who come to your town to remind you of how awesome it can all be, leave behind a bunch of rad, life-improving systems and tools, and generally get on with the business of being happy, well-fed and peaceful.Alex wrote up a great post about this and 24 hours later, some WorldChanging readers created Outquisition.org. I'm not sure what they'll do there, but in my dreams, they're off building a non-secret society of emergency-preparedness Nice People who think that the response to catastrophe isn't lifeboat rules and militias, but humanitarian aid and kick-ass tools. Link to Alex's post, Link to Outquisition homepage (Thanks, Alex!) Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2008 | 12:54 pm EFF, ACLU sue over wiretapping lawYee-HAW! EFF, the ACLU and others are suing the government -- in multiple suits! -- over the new spy bill that "legalizes" warrantless bulk surveillance and immunizes the telcos from civil prosecution for their past bad deeds in cooperating with the President in wiretapping the whole nation.The ACLU contends those blanket powers to grab international communications of Americans without specific court orders violate the Fourth Amendment and would stymie journalists who often speak to confidential sources outside the country.Go, go civil libertarians! You've just earned my annual donation, and I'm upping the amount next year. Have you joined yet? These are the folks who are keeping the Constitution intact even as "our guys" in Congress tear it up in the name of political expedience and assuaging right-wing talk-show hosts who aren't going to vote for them, anyway. Link, Link to donate to EFF, Link to donate to ACLU
See also: Source: Boing Boing | 13 Jul 2008 | 12:48 pm
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What would it be like, we wondered, if folks who knew tools and innovation left the comfy bright green cities and traveled to the dead mall suburban slums, rustbelt browntowns and climate-smacked farm communities and started helping the locals get the tools they needed. We imagined that it would need an almost missionary fervor, something like the Inquisition (which largely destroyed knowledge) in reverse, a crusade of open sharing, or as Cory promptly dubbed it, the Outquisition.