You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
So remember how officials were pretty sure that the Southwest Airlines 737 crash landing
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The Slingatron is described as ‘A railroad to space using a mechanical hypervelocity launcher.’
(Credit: Kickstarter)
If you read the endorsements from NASA scientists on Derek Tidman’s book, his idea may seem a tad less wacky than at first blush.
He thinks a massive, gyrating coil can speed up objects fast enough to give them escape velocity and send them into orbit.
The book outlined the concept. Now he’s trying to build a large prototype launcher with Kickstarter backing. It’s called the Slingatron.
From space elevators to mass drivers and floating launchpads, there have been many proposals to launch things into Earth’s orbit without chemical rockets.
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Spike Lee pans in on Kickstarter for next indie film
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WASHINGTON — The best hope for replacing a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is a white Republican lawyer from Wisconsin who supports voter ID laws, thinks the Justice Department went easy on the New Black Panther Party, played a key role in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and once said first lady Michelle Obama has a “big butt.”
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner is a key voice in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for replacing Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which determines which parts of the U.S. must have changes to their voting laws precleared by the Justice Department. Section 4 was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.
Sensenbrenner, who helped pass reauthorizations of the Voting Rights Act in 1982 and 2006, is once again a key Republican figure now that Congress is trying to fix what the Supreme Court killed. He was on the phone with Attorney General Eric Holder soon after the ruling came down and appeared before at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is leaning towards former White House Economic Adviser Larry Summers as his choice to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, according to people who have been briefed on the administration’s thinking. Liberal critics of Summers’ economic record, along with those who continue to question his ability to work with women, are waging a last-minute campaign to persuade the president to change his mind and instead choose the other frontrunner for the job, Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen.
Chatter increased Tuesday among Summers’ opponents when Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin’s name was floated as a possible deputy to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Raskin, who has been harshly critical of the Fed, is broadly popular with progressives. Liberal Fed watchers suspected the move was aimed at people pressing Obama to name a woman to the Fed, and they worried selecting Raskin for Treasury would give the president cover to name Summers Fed chairman.
“We are concerned by rumors that Larry Summers, a man known for his offensive and callous opinions on women, is currently being considered to head the Federal Reserve. Women will not soon forget if President Obama picks Mr. Summers for such an important post, a man who believes women are somehow inherently less capable than men,” Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of feminist group UltraViolet, said in a statement. “It is high time to shatter the glass ceiling at the Fed and appoint a woman to a post that impacts so many women, and Janet Yellen would be a much celebrated pick.”
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More on Ben Bernanke
It looks like John Legend’s wedding plans are coming together!
The New York Post is reporting that the R&B singer and Chrissy Teigen — his Sports Illustrated model fiancée — are planning to tie the knot in Lake Como, Italy.
Sources tell the New York Post that the pair, who got engaged in December 2011, will head abroad to say “I do” in early September 2013.
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More on Chrissy Teigen
Chris Matthews had quite the outburst after Anthony Weiner’s press conference on Tuesday.
Weiner, who is currently running for New York City mayor, spoke out that evening after allegations of a new sex chat scandal that took place after he resigned from Congress. His wife Huma Abedin surprised observers when she stepped up to the podium to make a public statement.
Matthews had some choice words for the way Weiner has treated Abedin, saying, “When you drag your spouse out before the public only for this — never before would he use her in this way, only for this, to cover his butt — to drag a very nice woman, a great public servant, very respected and drags her out to make her stand next to him… Indecency’s not the right word for it.”
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More on Chris Matthews
When day care teacher Michelle Hammack briefly left her classroom to extinguish a nearby fire, she probably did not expect her actions to lead to her own firing.
Hammack was supervising children at her Florida day care center job last week, when she smelled something burning and found a small fire in an adjacent room’s oven. Hours after successfully extinguishing that fire, she was terminated, according to local outlet WTEV-TV.
Hammack’s employer fired her on the grounds that she should not have left the room where her students were sleeping, even though she did so to investigate a potential fire. However, Hammack believes that the fire would have escalated if not for her actions.
Laparoscopic surgery lets surgeons use tiny "keyhole" incisions and micro-sized 3D cameras
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WASHINGTON — When students have wanted to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill, traditionally they’ve delivered petitions to Congress, organized a rally or started a grassroots advocacy campaign. But the University of Florida’s student government is trying to get lawmakers’ attention by means more often available only to big industries — by hiring a federal lobbyist.
The students at UF hired Cardenas Partners in 2012, and pay $1,500 a month to reach out to lawmakers about interest rates on student loans, Pell Grants, education benefits for veterans and STEM visas.
Christina Bonarrigo, student government president, said having a lobbyist to represent their interests has enhanced their influence in Washington, particularly on the issue of student aid.
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