Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on September 21, 2007 by CyberNet.

Forbes has released their list of the 400 richest Americans where this year, even one BILLION dollars wasn’t enough to land you on the list.  As we’ve heard, the rich are getting richer with the minimum net worth on this list being $1.3 billion dollars compared to $300 million last year.

Topping the list, as expected, is Bill Gates with a net worth of over 59 Billion. Coming in 2nd place with a net worth of $52 billion is Gates’ close friend, Warren Buffet. There are a handful of other names and companies found in the top 400 that are familiar in the tech World, and within that list were four from Microsoft, five from Google, two from eBay and two from Yahoo.

Take a look below at some of those familiar names and companies. You’ll notice that both Sergey Brin and Larry Page are on the list ranked at #5. Compared to last year, their net worth increased by $4.4 billion and $4.5 billion respectively. Just with the 16 individuals below, they have a combined net worth of 184 Billion! If we were to add up the net worth of the entire Forbes 400 list, it would be $1.54 trillion. Now that’s a lot of money!

View the entire Forbes 400 Richest Americans List

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on July 27, 2006 by CyberNet.

Monopoly, the ever popular game sold in 80 countries and distributed in 26 languages, is moving with the times. Parker Brothers is phasing out the traditional cash payment method that has been used since 1935 and moving on to electronic banking. Yes, that means a Visa debit card. This whole concept came about because of a deal made between Parker Brothers and Visa. Visa designed the electronic machine that will be used during the game along with the mock debit card. The electronic machine will keep track of your funds as your earn and spend. And of course, the Visa logo is proudly displayed on the machine. Surprised? I don’t know about you, but half the fun is the paper money! Sure, a survey tells us that 70% of adults use less cash. But, why change something that’s worked for so long? I swipe my real card all too much, no need to do it in a game! Keep the cash.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

Bitcoin has gained plenty of traction in news recently, and we even covered a story on how a man threw away his old hard drive without remembering that he had $7.5 million worth of Bitcoins inside. Well, this time around, we will touch on a government’s viewpoint on Bitcoin. China’s government has allegedly prevented banks and other financial institutions in their country from trading in Bitcoin. How do analysts view this move? This could be best described to be a restrained first step when it comes to regulating the digital currency which has gained plenty of value recently, not to mentioned soared in popularity even in China.

In a statement made by the central bank alongside another quartet of agencies, it mentioned that the computer-generated currency has yet to pose a threat to China’s financial system, but needless to say, it carries with it a fair amount of risk. The statement stopped short of preventing the use of Bitcoin by individuals. After this announcement was made, the value of Bitcoins on Chinese exchanges dropped.

Generally speaking, digital currency had always been volatile, and unless you have plenty of spare cash to burn just in case it all goes south, perhaps investing your money in something more predictable might be a better idea.

China Bans Bitcoin Transactions Among Banks original content from Ubergizmo.

Oil spills are considered to be a major environmental disaster, being a slippery substance by itself whenever it is on a microscope slide or when it is leaked into the ocean. In fact, it costs a whole lot to clean up an oil spill, but what is worse would be the negative impact on the environment. Since prevention is always better than cure, how about utilizing special surfaces which were specially designed in order for it to counteract oil’s naturally low surface tension? This is exactly what the researchers over at the University of Missouri have worked on, by developing a method so that it can control the unpredictable liquid.

Known as “virtual walls”, this creation by Missouri engineers might eventually consign oil spills to history. Professor Jae Kwon Kwon and graduate student Riberet Almeida of Missouri’s school of engineering work have plenty of faith in their material which they hope would eventually lower the chances of oil spills. Kwon shared, “Our newly developed surface helped keep oil, which is normally unmanageable, in predetermined pathways making it controllable. We feel that oil-repellant surfaces can be widely utilized for many industrial applications, and virtual walls for low-surface tension liquids also have immense potential for many lab-on-a-chip devices which are crucial to current and future research technique.”

Virtual Wall Could Prevent Oil Spills original content from Ubergizmo.

You might be surprised to see this particular building when strolling down the street in Linz, Austria, especially when it resembles that of a massive Rubik’s Cube. In fact, it might even lead the more imaginative among you to figure out that this is some sort of Autobot or Decepticon in disguise come to live, but in reality, this hunk of concrete has been turned into a massive Rubik’s Cube. In fact, there is a possibility that you might be handed a tiny, all-white cube which will give you the opportunity to be a public hero – that is, by manipulating the small, all-white cube in order to solve the projected Rubik’s Cube on the building itself. The added pressure of public eyes scrutinizing your every move might be too much for some, I suppose.

This is one neat idea all in all, and it so happens to be the work of artist and designer Javier Lloret. The thing is, solving a Rubik’s Cube is not all that easy if you do not have that logical mind, although there are tutorials online which would be able to let you know how to approach the problem, and with enough practice, you would also be able to solve a Rubik’s cube in your sleep. It is a good thing that whether you can solve this puzzle in public or not, the man (and woman) on the street will still be treated to a dazzling light show.

Building Turns Into One Gigantic Rubik’s Cube original content from Ubergizmo.