Hasta La Gadget!

Few engineering projects have the scope, costs or risks involved in building a new bridge.

San Francisco Bay Area residents got a peek at what’s involved Wednesday, when builders set in place the first segment of a tower that will soon hold up a brand-new span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

Wired captured photos of the event, as well as many inside photos of the new bridge that we shot on a recent tour of the massive construction project.

More than 250,000 vehicles pass over this bridge every day, carrying people and freight between San Francisco and the east side of the bay. You can’t exactly ask that much traffic to wait patiently while you tear down the existing bridge and replace it with a new one.

Complicating matters is the fact that the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most seismically active regions of the United States. Any bridge built here has to be able to withstand a massive quake — since some big shaker is almost certain to hit sometime during the bridge’s expected 150-year lifespan.

In fact, engineers are designing the new Bay Bridge segments to withstand the largest earth movements predicted for the next 1,500 years. The specifications call for the bridge to be open to traffic within hours after such a massive quake, with minimal repairs required.

No wonder it has taken two decades to come up with a replacement for the Bay Bridge’s damaged eastern span.

This page: What locals call the Bay Bridge is actually three bridges: a pair of suspension bridges leading from San Francisco in the west to Yerba Buena island in the middle of San Francisco Bay; and an eastern section made out of steel girders, leading from the island to Oakland, on the east side of the bay. Connecting the two is a 76-foot wide, 58-foot high tunnel — the largest bore tunnel in the world — going through the heart of the island.

It’s the eastern span, shown here, that took a hit during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A section of the upper roadway collapsed in that quake.

Photo: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com

A wallpaper app that steals your personal info, piracy controls coming to the Android Marketplace, and a look into the world of Android gaming. Plus, Jeff Bakalar shares an awesome tip on creating itineraries for Google Maps Navigation, and Jessica Dolcourt helps us pronounce the death of the Android phone that started it all.

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Originally posted at Android Atlas

It’s hard out there for a prez, you know? Hardly anyone knows better than one Barack Obama, who sat down this morning on ABC’s The View in order to talk smack with a few ladies who undoubtedly helped put him in office. If you’ll recall, Obama fought hard early on for the privilege of maintaining his prized BlackBerry, and while he eventually won out, we learned today that a grand total of ten individuals are authorized to ping it. Yeah, ten. Needless to say, he described that depressing fact as “no fun,” and even the folks that are cleared to make contact with it won’t send over anything juicy. Why? They know that messages sent to it “will probably be subject to the presidential records act,” so those lucky enough to have the digits are also smart enough to divert their ramblings to Texts From Last Night. But hey, at least hanging in there despite the limitations grants you early access to BlackBerry OS 6, right? Right?

Obama says presidential BlackBerry ownership is ‘no fun,’ should’ve gone with the Sectera Edge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone 4 may be launching on all the major Canadian carriers tomorrow, but we’re only just now starting to get the actual details on what they’ll be offering. Rogers is the first out of the gate and, for a change, it looks like folks in the US may just be a tad jealous of their northern neighbors. It’s not only offering the iPhone 4 for a further discounted price — $159 for the 16GB and $269 for the 32GB on a three-year contract (for both new and existing customers eligible for a hardware upgrade) — but it’s bringing back its 6GB data plan for $30 a month as well. On top of that, Rogers is also offering a new iPad sharing plan that will let you share those 6GB between the two devices for an extra $20 a month. Still no official word from the other carriers, but MobileSyrup has turned up a leak that suggests Bell will be offering 6GB for $30 as well, and iPad sharing for just $10 a month — although that’s yet to be confirmed. We’ll keep you posted as more plans are announced.

Update: Bell just flipped the switch, and their numbers are largely the same with one notable exception — iPad data sharing is an additional $10 a month instead of $20, just as had been rumored. Thanks, everyone!

Canadian iPhone 4 launch details emerge: Rogers offers 6GB for $30, iPad sharing for $20 (update: Bell’s iPad deal cheaper) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again — the Engadget Show is back in a big way on Wednesday, August 4th at 8pm! This time around, we’ll have the inimitable Peter Molyneux, one of the world’s most forward-thinking game designers and creator of “Black & White” and the “Fable” franchise. What’s more, we’ll have a rousing roundtable with Josh, Paul, and Nilay, some fine, fine music from Zen Albatross, mind-bending visuals from invaderbacca, and a few other big surprises. As usual, we’ll be doing tons of giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. If you’re geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream at right here on Engadget.

The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are — as always — free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served… so get there early! Here’s all the info you need:

• There is no admission fee — tickets are completely free
• The event is all ages
• Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 5:30PM on Wednesday, doors will open for seating at 7:30PM, and the show begins at 8PM. It’s probably going to be hot, so if you want to come early to wait for tickets, bring some water! Again, we won’t be doing any ticketing prior to 5:30PM.
• You cannot collect tickets for friends or family — anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
• Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we’re full, we’re full
• The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break)
• The show length is around an hour

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Sprint is also offering 50 guaranteed tickets to the Engadget Show taping to the first 50 entrants who text “ENGADGET” to 467467 or enter online! Standard text messaging rates apply. Click for the Official Rules and see how to enter online.

Subscribe to the Show:

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Continue reading The Engadget Show returns Wednesday, August 4th with game designer Peter Molyneux, Windows Phone 7, and much more!

The Engadget Show returns Wednesday, August 4th with game designer Peter Molyneux, Windows Phone 7, and much more! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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