Popular Science: Officials will decide in the “coming weeks” whether all new cars in the U.S. must have the technology to communicate with other cars and warn drivers—or even brake for them—when there’s a crash impending, ABC News reports. Those same officials originally said they would make a decision about these technologies by December 31, […]
Tech
Posted inMedia
You Do Not Own Your Digital Media
If you buy your entertainment digitally, you really should read this story from Boing Boing that was published over the weekend: Bill sez, Last “December I bought some favorite Christmas specials for my kids with the idea they could watch them every year. Went tonight to watch one (‘Disney Prep and Landing 2’ if you’re […]
Posted inFashion
Are You a Smartwatch Person or a Smartring Person?
Now that everybody’s talking about—but nobody’s buying—smartwatches, it’s time for the next thing. The smaller thing. The ring thing: Forget smartwatches—smartrings are the new thing now. An Indiegogo campaign for a product called the “Smarty Ring” has hit its funding goal. Smarty Ring is a 13mm-wide stainless steel ring with an LED screen, Bluetooth 4.0, […]
Posted inTech
Wake Me When They Have a “Dislike” Button
Lucy Kinder at the Telegraph says: Facebook is developing a ‘sympathise’ button as an alternative to the ‘like’ button. If a user tags their status with a negative emotion, then his or her friends will be able to ‘sympathise’ with the post rather than press the ‘like’ button. Of course, Facebook will never have a […]
Posted inTech
I’ve Got Drones in Different Area Codes
The real question: Who filled out the form? I missed an Amazon drone delivery. pic.twitter.com/neJxYANj6p— B to A to the R R Y (@QuantumPirate) December 2, 2013 Related.
Posted inTech
Amazon Really Thinks It Can Deliver Packages by Drone?
The company’s calling the service Prime Air, and CEO Jeff Bezos says it could be a reality in four or five years. Bezos also suggested to 60 Minutes that the biggest obstacle to achieving drone delivery will be the government: The hardest challenge in making this happen is going to be demonstrating, to the standards […]
Posted inTech
It’s Been a Bad Year for Television
Business Insider‘s Jim Edwards says that television is having a bad time of it: Audience ratings have collapsed: Aside from a brief respite during the Olympics, there has been only negative ratings growth on broadcast and cable TV since September 2011, according to Citi Research. Media stock analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson recently noted, […]
Posted inBooks
Like It Or Not, the Internet Is Changing Our Language
1. “Selfie” is the word of the year, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED‘s earliest documented selfie was mentioned in an online forum in 2002. 2002 ABC Online (forum posting) 13 Sept.“Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) […]
Posted inTech
I Hope They Name It "Skynet"
CNET’s Daniel Terdiman broke the story that Google appears to be building a mysterious four-story-tall barge just off the coast of Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay: Google did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But after going through lease agreements, tracking a contact tied to the project on LinkedIn, talking to locals on […]
Posted inTech
How to Dance Your Job Away
So, this happened over the weekend: Her name is Marina V. Shifrin and somebody should hire her. But nobody should feel sorry for her, because, as The Onion explained not so long ago, by leaving the aggregation/pageview business, she avoided a terrible fate.
Posted inTech
You Don’t Need Facebook On Your Phone
The other day, I was trying to make room on my home screen for an app—One Bus Away needed better placement—and so I decided to move Facebook off the home screen. It was inadvertently the smartest thing I’ve done this month. It turns out, when Facebook isn’t on the home screen, I never think of […]
Posted inTech
Shutting Down Comments for Science
In a post at Popular Science titled “Why We’re Shutting Off Our Comments,” Suzanne LaBarre writes: Comments can be bad for science. That’s why, here at PopularScience.com, we’re shutting them off…That is not to suggest that we are the only website in the world that attracts vexing commenters. Far from it. Nor is it to […]