Dec 12

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: GM’s Dan Akerson says he ‘wouldn’t be caught dead in a Prius’

Posted in: Today's Chili, Toyota
Think GM’s CEO sees the Toyota Prius as a worthy competitor that, in many ways, paved the way for the Chevy Volt? Think again. Speaking to the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. this week, GM CEO Dan Akerson described Toyota’s hybrid as a “geek-mobile,” and flatly declared that he “wouldn’t be caught dead in a Prius.” Not surprisingly, it didn’t long for Toyota to respond to that slam, with a company spokesman telling The New York Times that “Toyota has sold more than two million Prius hybrids worldwide, and counting. Those buyers can’t all be geeks.” What’s most troubling to us about all of this, however, is the implication that a “geek-mobile” is somehow a bad thing — it sounds pretty awesome to us… geeks.

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: GM’s Dan Akerson says he ‘wouldn’t be caught dead in a Prius’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBoston.com, New York Times  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Dec 12

IDEO constructs RFID turntable, hearkens back to mixtapes of yore (video)

Posted in: arduino, Retro, Today's Chili, video

Once upon a time, you could touch your music — or at least caress a 7- or 12-inch vinyl disc — but these days the cool kids stream MP3s (and OGGs, and APEs) off the internet. However, design studio IDEO recently decided to see if they could get back in touch with their audio roots, and — taking a page right out of the industrial design treatise I Miss My Pencil — they built the above machine. To put it simply, what you’re looking at is a box filled with specially-angled Arduino Pro Mini boards constantly searching for RFID tags on top, and a set of cards each with two RFID tags, with each tag representing one song. When you drop one on the turntable, it begins playing within a second, thanks to the clever array of Arduinos underneath, and you and your High Fidelity soulmate can leave multiple cards on the table to create an impromptu mixtape, or, presumably, flip one of the “cassettes” to play Side B. It’s a good thing IDEO isn’t selling the device and packs of cards, because we’re afraid we’d be compelled to collect them all, and our poor wallet doesn’t need any more heartbreak. Don’t miss the video below!

Continue reading IDEO constructs RFID turntable, hearkens back to mixtapes of yore (video)

IDEO constructs RFID turntable, hearkens back to mixtapes of yore (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCore77  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Dec 12

Portable Firefox 1.5 RC3 Review

Posted in: Reviews, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 04, 2005 by CyberNet.

I have been an avid user of Mozilla Firefox for quite some time now. At school, however, I was unable to install Firefox because of not having the proper permissions. They do have Firefox installed, but only version Firefox 1.0.6 and I like 1.5 much better. Since I am allotted a given space at the University, I am able to put the Portable Firefox on my roaming profile so it will follow me to any computer I go to on campus.

I decided to give the Portable Firefox a shot to see how it would work with the extensions I like to use. Well, let’s just say I can’t tell a difference between Portable Firefox and the real Firefox. I currently have IE Tab, CustomizeGoogle, Foxpose, and Tab Mix Plus installed. I have no troubles with any of them. If you are looking to Download Portable Firefox then don’t hesitate, because it works great.

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:


No Comments | Tags:
Dec 12

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: electric vehicles gear up to race, Apple’s new HQ, and living architecture

Posted in: Apple, electric car, electric vehicle, ElectricCar, ElectricVehicle, Today's Chili

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.

This week we revved up Chevrolet’s Volt and hit the streets for an elusive test drive of the hotly-anticipated electric vehicle. We also saw electric aviation soar to new heights as the pint-sized Cri-Cri airplane broke the electric aircraft speed record. The world of EV racing is also picking up the pace as GreenGT unveiled an all-electric supercar for the Le Mans race and Honda’s CR-Z Hybrid beat out scores of gas-guzzling autos in a 25 hour vehicular marathon.

High-tech architecture broke new ground as Apple announced that world-renowned architect Norman Foster is designing its new headquarters, and researchers revealed work on a living skin that could one day reinforce buildings and infrastructure with a hard, coral-like armored coating. We also watched as a crop of gorgeous bubble gardens popped up in the streets of Paris, and an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn was updated with a high-tech transforming facade.

In other news, this week the energy world was buzzing about a new type of organic solar cell inspired by wasp exoskeletons, and the largest photovoltaic plant in the United States officially opened in Nevada. We also saw several eco technologies take hold on the home front: researchers developed a hot solar-piezoelectric hybrid fiber that could be used to create energy-generating clothes, and Lavish & Lime rolled out a cute set of digital shower timers that are perfect for kids.

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: electric vehicles gear up to race, Apple’s new HQ, and living architecture originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
Dec 12

Canned coffee manga for comic-loving salarymen

Posted in: MARKETING IDEAS, Today's Chili

One of Japan’s most popular FMCG is canned coffee, which typically means it is a product that can be relied upon for interesting and innovative campaigns.

Now JT’s Roots brand has collaborated with Jump Manga for the Roots x Manga Capsule campaign to give consumers something to read while they drink. With the slogan “one can = one story”, it lives up to its name by offering customers who purchase Roots coffee a QR code on the can from which they can download mini comic book episodes.

roots-coffee-manga-capsule-campaign

The available library includes 100 popular Jump titles, including One Piece, Dragon Ball, Bleach and Naruto, viewable until December 27th when the campaign finishes. The episodes are renewed every week on Tuesdays and Fridays, encouraging you to keep buying your Roots coffee to read more episodes.

To outside eyes it might seem a little incongruous to offer this kind of content with canned coffee, whose core consumer is the salaryman. However, the readership of manga in Japan is much wider than that of comic books in other countries; content that might appeal to younger — or even adolescent — males can equally be liked by young (and old) businessmen in suits.

banner-blogend-630x100-v3

No Comments
Dec 12

Motorola’s 10-inch Honeycomb tablet meets Mr. Blurrycam, shows off Verizon logo

Posted in: 10-inch, 7-inch, Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, exclusive, Google, honeycomb, motorola, tablet, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

By now you’re probably familiar with this slate, seeing as how Google’s Andy Rubin recently unveiled it on stage, but we’re willing to bet you’ve never seen the top edge — you know, the part now bearing a front-facing webcam and a conspicuous Verizon tattoo. Yes, this is Motorola’s 10-inch Honeycomb tablet, and it’s playing for Team Red just as foretold, though the tipster who obtained these images isn’t sure whether it will bear the name Stingray, Everest or even potentially “Trygon.” Spec-wise, we’re told our previous tipster was right on the money, and it’ll have a 1GHz Tegra 2 T20, a gyroscope and 32GB of storage underneath that 1280 x 800 multitouch screen, as well as 512MB of RAM and a slot for an up-to-32GB microSD card. It also sure looks like there’s a micro-USB jack, a mini-HDMI port and a 3.5mm headphone socket, as well as some contacts for a likely dock, though as always Mr. Blurrycam’s handiwork is such that we can’t quite tell. No matter — see for yourself in the gallery below.

Update: What’s that button on the back of the unit, right next to the speaker and dual LED flash? Why, it’s the power toggle, of course.

Gallery: Motorola and Verizon’s 10-inch Honeycomb tablet

[Thanks, wnrussell]

Motorola’s 10-inch Honeycomb tablet meets Mr. Blurrycam, shows off Verizon logo originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Dec 12

Making Your Own Component Cables

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on January 15, 2006 by CyberNet.

Making Your Own Component Cables

Because many component cables can be highly overpriced, HD Beat has put together a tutorial on what you will need and also how to create your own component cables. Beware though, because if you don’t already have the equipment then you may have to shell out around $100 to pick it up, so you might want to make this a hobby and market yourself to friends!

News Source: HD Beat

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:


No Comments | Tags:
Dec 12

Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone

Posted in: Android, Apple, Games, iPhone, robot, robotics, smartphone, Today's Chili, toy, video
Don’t have the airspace required for an AR.Drone? Gearing up for its CES 2011 debut, Sphero is a small, robotic toy ball made by Orbotix, and controlled remotely via Bluetooth and your smartphone’s tilt sensor. A ball that moves by itself? Call us lazy (too lazy to roll a ball even), but we think this is a toy whose time has come. Sure, the whole thing is pretty straightforward, although we hope that once iPhone and Android developers get ahold of that open API we’ll see plenty in the way of augmented reality gameplay: a maze or a racing game of some sort would make this thing quite coveted, in our opinion. Catch a video of the prototype in action after the break.

Continue reading Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone

Sphero toy ball rolls itself, you control it with your smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 18:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  sourceOrbotix  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
Dec 12

About that BlackBerry Outage…

Posted in: Gadgets, iPhone, Smartphones, Today's Chili, Wireless

This article was written on February 12, 2008 by CyberNet.

blackberry outage BlackBerry’s email service decided to go out for lunch yesterday and didn’t come back. By that we mean there was a major BlackBerry outage yesterday and thousands upon thousands of people were without access to their wireless email.  Given the crowd of people who typically use it (e.g., businessmen and other professionals), there were a lot of unhappy campers (especially given that this is the 2nd major outage in a years time).

So about that BlackBerry outage…  Remember the nickname that has been given to the Blackberry? It’s called the Crackberry because so many people become addicted do the device. What happens to addicts when they’re deprived of what they’re addicted to? They go through withdrawals and that’s exactly what happened to BlackBerry users yesterday. The Associated Press quoted one person saying that everyone was in crisis.  They said:

Everyone’s in crisis because they’re all picking away at their BlackBerrys and nothing’s happening. It’s almost like cutting the phone cables or a total collapse in telegraph lines a century ago. It just isolates people in a way that’s quite phenomenal.

Another person, a businessman named Stuart Gold was one of many that was mad about another major outage. He was quoted as saying:

I don’t know what happened, I don’t care what happened. They need to save their excuses for someone who cares.

It’s actually quite amazing what an impact one device can have on the World. This critical outage also had the opposite effect.  Besides the upset and angry customers, there were those who took the outage as a welcome break. One man who was quoted by Reuters said his life was easier without it because he didn’t have to worry about replying.

While I’m sure it did most everybody some good to step away from the BlackBerry for just a few hours, the underlying thought here is that RIM needs to make sure a major outage like this does not happen again. People want reliability and in a competitive market, people can leave BlackBerry behind for something that might be more reliable than what they’re currently getting like an iPhone or a Palm device. Oh wait, the iPhone experienced an outage not that long ago too back on January 31st! Is any service reliable these days or are we just expecting too much?

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:


No Comments
Dec 12

Toshiba’s new glasses-free 3D display tilts images and viewing angles your way (video)

Posted in: Today's Chili, Toshiba, video

Autostereoscopic (read: glasses-free) 3D screens sound like all the rage, but the narrow zones from which you can comfortably view their images have made them a dubious proposition. That’s not stopping Toshiba Mobile Display, however, which recently came up with a novel idea for a self-adjusting display. By sticking a six-axis accelerometer in this 12.1-inch slate, the company can tilt the tablet’s viewing angle as the tablet itself is tilted, letting viewers effectively look around 3D objects on screen, using software algorithms rather than the fancy lens-and-camera assembly that Microsoft’s been prototyping. Toshiba figures it’ll make a splash with e-tailers — because who doesn’t want to play with a prospective purchase in 3D space? — but is mostly talking up the tech as a way to extend the limited 3D viewing angles of these sorts of displays. But enough jabber: see it for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba’s new glasses-free 3D display tilts images and viewing angles your way (video)

Toshiba’s new glasses-free 3D display tilts images and viewing angles your way (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDigInfo TV  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,