This Week in Home Living: Hemp, Boats, and Lights

A HEMP HOUSE

A House you can Smoke?

THE ULTIMATE BOAT HOUSE

 

THE ULTIMATE Eco BBQ LIGHTING

Sources: [TreeHugger] [Inhabitat] [Inhabitat Gadgets]

What Technology Can Fix this... ?

Global Warming is melting the Himalayan Glaciers

(US Geological Survey)

"Mount Sinabung spews volcanic materials in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 30, 2010. The volcano that had been dormant for more than four centuries erupted for the second day in a row Monday, spewing out towering clouds of ash and forcing the evacuation of more than 21,000 people." 

(AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Sources: [TreeHugger] [Business Insider]

This Week in Spy Gear: Dress Phones and Submarines

Sexy Black Dress / Cell Phone

French Pedal Powered Submarine: For Deep Sea Missions

Sources: [Inhabitat] [Inhabitat Gadgets]

Statistics you need to know...

Android Users have less Sex than iPhone and Blackberry Users:

The Internet is surpassing paid TV for the FIRST TIME EVER...

As cable and satellite TV subscriptions are reducing....

And online media content begins to catch-up with Live TV

Sources: [Business Insider] [Silicon Alley Insider] [TechCrunch]

Green Today: Canada to Mexico on 14 Gallons

Can you say Flux Capacitor..?

1984 - Bill Green and Craig Henderson built the "Avion," which had 113 mpg


1986 - Henderson set the world record in fuel efficiency by driving from Mexico to Canada with an average of 103.7 mpg


2008 - Henderson beat that record when he drove from Bellingham, WA to the Oregon border with a fuel efficiency of  113.7


2010 - With a new aerodynamic shell, Henderson hopes to drive from Blaine, WA to the Mexican border on 14 gallons of fuel [follow the journey on Twitter)




Source: [Inhabitat] [Official Avion Website]

The $35 Dollar Laptop

Umm... I'l take 3 please.


Source: [Engadget]

Google TV vs. Apple's New iTV

Four years ago I asked the best web and graphics designer I know to help create a box that only had three external plugs [a power outlet, an ethernet cord, and VGA/DVI out port]. This box, once plugged in, would allow people to access the many movies stored on the Wesleyan University movie hub, as well as some of my personal collection. At the time, while only a freshman in college, I had nor the capital or resources to invest in such a project. Nor were there any legal digital movie files or streaming files that I could use that would not break copyright protection laws.

With the success of Netflix, Google offering pay-per-view movies via YouTube this fall, and the failure of Apple TV have all made the net top box game very interesting. Now most new flatscreen TV's come with ethernet ports for instant access to photos, YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, and many other online items, these TV's do not allow you to play your personal movies [itunes movies, wma, m4a, avi, or mkv].


Google TV

Google TV seems to be a more advanced version of TiVo with close web integration allowing you to record tv programs, watch our favorite tv shows off broadcasting company websites, as well as eventually the option to order clothing, books, and every other item in your favorite tv show right from your screen.

The box also includes integration with MLB.com, NBA.com, and other major sports networks giving you full sports package access and up to date scores.


Apple  -  iTV

Most of the interface and software features of iTV have remained hidden from the public, though iTV is expected to launch this September, 2010. The product will not support 1080p movies, will have a price tag of around $99, and it will not have an internal hard drive.

This device will feature TV based apps that have close integration with iPhones and iPads. So I am assuming if you download the Slingbox app you would be able to watch tv on your iTV. The loss of 1080p and and lack of TiVo like integration makes this item seem like another Apple TV failure, but we will see in the middle of this month.

If you like Apple's interface I would recommend buying a new MacMini [$699+] and downloading the free program called Plex. This will allow you to download most of the NBA.com and MLB.com programs Google TV offers, while allowing you to play any movie file you want with your mac remote [including 1080p mkv files]. The price is 7 times greater, but the iTV seems at first glance like a waste of money. We'll see in a few months.


Source: [Silicon Alley Insider] [Engadget]

CIA + Google: Invest in Web-Monitoring Company

With countries like Dubai and Saudi Arabia banning Blackberry's within their nations since the Blackberry encryption cannot be monitored, web-monitoring has become an international topic. Critics of Blackberry argue that their encryption "... hinders efforts to fight terrorism and criminal activity." [BBC]


The United States is very invested in web-monitoring. The company called Recorded Future is a new company that focuses on searching the internet and coming up with all the invisible connections between people and creating information timelines to predict the future. The company works by:

1. Scouring the Internet

Scan thousands [closer to millions most likely] of news publications, blogs, nich sources, trade publications, government websites, financial databases, and more..."

2. Extracts, ranks, and organizes

Extract information from text and html to develop accurate timelines of information that is measured against "momentum for each item in [the] index.

3. Organize the information

Using "powerful visualization tools" allows the user to see "temporal patterns" and links between multiple networks while exploring the past and present to predict the future.

Other companies such as Visible Technologies provide similar search capabilities, as they search 500,000 web 2.0 sites per day. But Recorded Future is gaining the most hype and both the CIA and Google are investing in the company.

CIA Director General Michael Hayden said in 2008 that, "in fact, there's a real satisfication in solving a problem or answering a tough question with infomration that somone was dumb enough to leave out in the open. [Danger Room]

"Recorded Future certainly has the potential to spot events and trends early. Take the case of Hezbollah’s long-range missiles. On March 21, Israeli President Shimon Peres leveled the allegation that the terror group had Scud-like weapons. Scouring Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s past statements, Recorded Future found corroborating evidence from a month prior that appeared to back up Peres’ accusations."

A few things that seem somewhat obvious that no one has talked about. First, the NSA clearly has the capabilities to not only crack the Blackberry encryption, but perform the same services as Recorded Futures. Second, Americans looking to not have their freedom of speech and privacy violated should not worry as under Obama, none of the information obtained via illegal wiretaps or electronic communications is admissible in court.

Sources: [Danger Room] [BBC] [Recorded Futures]

Step 1 - in Designing Spaceship Reflector Shields

According to the British science firm Appleton Lab, a tiny magnet can be used to protect a spaceship from cosmic rays that the sun produces:

Because the solar wind is a plasma made up of charged particles, it too carries a magnetic field. When the solar wind's field meets the rocks' mini-magnetosphere, the two fields clash, exerting a force on each other. Something has to give. Because the solar wind's field is created by free-moving particles, it is the one that yields, altering its orientation to minimise conflict with the mini-magnetosphere's field.

Some parts of the solar wind shift more easily than others. The positively charged protons have nearly 2000 times the mass of the negatively charged electrons, so the latter are much more easily deflected. The electrons stay at the surface of the magnetic bubble, while the positive charges penetrate further in.

This separation of positive and negative charges generates intense electric fields up to a million times stronger than the magnetic fields that created them. Subsequent solar wind particles hit these electric fields and are strongly deflected. The result is a shielding effect far more powerful than the magnetic field alone might be expected to provide.

The firm is currently working with NASA to test their theory.


Source: [Gizmodo]

OE-Technology 2.0: With a Vengance

We're Back B****es!

Don't call it a come back, we've been here for a year!

We went on a short 6 month break in order to graduate from Wesleyan University and then find a job. But your favorite technology blog is back.

The best part about taking a leave of absence is seeing what business and technology predictions came true.  More fuel efficient cars have been produced, the iPad is leading the way in touch screen handheld computers, and most important the war for movie boxes is about to explode this week.