Sex workers are suffering in the age of the Internet. Once upon a time, when the first tech boom hit in the 70s, in San Francisco, tech and sex work shared a mutually beneficial, blooming relationship. From Silicon Valley flowed cash in excess, into the pockets of sex workers of all stripes. More »
The third test flight of the Air Force’s hypersonic X-51A Waverider aircraft has failed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The X-51A was launched over the Pacific Ocean yesterday, and the Air Force was hoping that it would reach mach 6 and keep flying for five minutes afterward, but unfortunately that never happened. Instead, a problem was discovered with one of the aircraft’s control fins only 15 seconds into the flight, causing the Waverider to lose control and crash into the ocean.
This is the second Waverider test flight to end in failure. During the first test of the aircraft in 2010, everything went according to plan, but in another test last year, a flaw caused the engines to shut down prematurely, which in turn sent the aircraft into the ocean. Now there’s only one X-51A left, and the LA Times says that the Air Force hasn’t decided when this last Waverider will fly.
During this particular test, the Waverider was dropped from 50,000 feet, free-falling for four seconds before the rocket it was attached to engaged. After being propelled by the rocket, the Waverider was supposed to break away and use its own engines to fly, but the control fin failure meant this didn’t happen. Instead of flying, the Waverider simply fell into the ocean. “It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the Scramjet engine,” said Air Force Research Laboratory program manager Charlie Brink, adding that all of the Air Force’s data showed that the team had the right conditions for a successful flight.
Unfortunately, failure is something you have to get used to if you’re testing hypersonic aircraft. We’ve been attempting hypersonic flight for decades now, and the number of failures is far greater than the number of successes. There is a ray of light to be found in that first Waverider test from 2010, however, so here’s hoping that the Air Force gets the results it’s looking for if it eventually tests this fourth and final Waverider aircraft.
X-51A Waverider aircraft crashes into Pacific during test flight is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Bicycle lights generally use battery or solar-powered LEDs these days, not bike dynamos like in the 1980s. That doesn’t mean that these types of tiny power stations aren’t still useful. I’ve seen a couple of different ones allowing you to charge up your devices simply by pedaling a bit more. The BikeCharge will take this to a new level since it generates more current and is lighter than other models.
iBikeConsole’s BikeCharge Dynamo is a mounted DC power generator and it works with most smartphone brands. It’s supposed to charge up your phone in 2 to 3 hours, which isn’t bad – especially if you’re going for It’s weatherproof, and the all-in-one design is 20% lighter than other systems of this nature. There’s a quick-release clutch that will allow you to disengage the dynamo when you aren’t in need of the extra power, though it’s designed to add minimal drag to your pedaling efforts when engaged. It’s also got a front LED light and two rear red LED lights, which can stay illuminated for up to 2 hours after you stop riding.
The BikeCharge Dynamo sells for $99.99(USD) but is currently out of stock.
[via Ubergizmo]
Bike helmets. Many people don’t like to wear them because they’re big and bulky. And for the vain ones, they cause helmet hair. But to be honest, if it were up to me, I’d rather choose all of the above rather than risk my life by going out on my bike without a helmet on.
If only there were some sort of invisible helmet that’ll protect people without all of the negative stuff that comes with most bike helmets.
Oh, wait, there is already one such helmet in the market, and it’s called the Hövding. It’s the first and only one of its kind.
The Hövding starts out as a collar that cyclists are supposed to wear around their neck. There’s a folded-up airbag inside that’ll pop out automatically upon impact, with the trigger mechanism controlled by sensors in the collar that detect any abnormal movements when the bicyclist figures in an accident.
As you can see, the airbag is shaped like a helmet. It inflates in 0.1 seconds so it’s up and over your head before you hit the ground, providing a cushion of sorts to minimize the injuries you might sustain upon impact.
The Hövding took six years to develop and it’s now finally available for purchase. Priced at 3,998 SEK (~$597), it’s not cheap – but if you’re not going to wear a regular helmet, it just might be worth it.
[Hövding via Focus Forward Films]
You’ve tried all sorts of cocktails and added all kinds of fruits, vegetables and tiny umbrellas to your drink. Why not add a shot of technology to the mix? LiteCubes are freezable nontoxic plastic 1″ blocks that light up. This has to be a rave party staple.
Each LiteCube contains an FDA-approved freezable gel. You can use LiteCubes to keep your drinks cool without watering them down. But the star in each cube is the LED. LiteCubes come in single or multicolored variants. You can set the light to glow steadily, flash slowly or at a seizure-inducing pace. You can also turn the LED off, which you should do after ever party. The lithium battery inside is not user-replaceable and is only guaranteed to last up to 12 hours.
You can order LiteCubes from a variety of places. Amazon has a 9-block sampler pack for about $19 (USD), but you can also order from OnlyCubes for $1.45-$1.65 per block or DirectGlow for discounted wholesale purchases.
Wireless headphones are getting more popular, but I’ve always believed that corded ones have better sound. These premium headphones from Denon are part of their high-end wireless headset collection, and look like they are an option if you want over-ear headphones that are wireless.
The Globe Cruiser Bluetooth 3.0 Headphones feature active noise cancellation, pentagonally-shaped memory foam ear pads, and 40mm drivers. There’s an included smartphone app allowing you to customize some settings, along with an interface to play your music. The headphones hold a charge of up to 10 hours, and can be plugged in for continuous usage. They have dual microphones and a wheel situated on the outside of an ear pad to select your tunes remotely. Frequency response is rated from 5 to 37,000 Hz.
The headphones pack flat, which is always good when you travel. While they look great, and the features sound impressive, they’re not exactly cheap. The Denon Globe Cruiser headphones will set you back $499.99 (USD) for a pair. They’re available for pre-order over on Amazon.
[via designboom]
Old consoles never die, they just get digitized. The Game Boy Color is one such system. You can find emulators of it running on PCs, Macs, PSPs, smartphones and even calculators. Here’s a GBC emulator for the cloud age: a JavaScript & HTML5 emulator that you can play on your browser.
The emulator was written by Software Engineering student Grant Galitz. Like most browser games, it doesn’t need you to install anything on your computer. It even has built-in games! You can also load .gb or .gbc files, although I wasn’t able to test that. I also don’t know how the emulator handles game saves.
Technically the emulator can run even on mobile browsers, but it was slow and unplayable on my iPad 2. Perhaps newer devices will fare better. Check out the emulator on Grant’s website before Nintendo falcon punches it down. You can also check out its source code at GitHub.
[via TechCrunch]
It’s very rare that I print anything out from my digital communications today. I haven’t printed an e-mail in months and the last time I did print was because my insurance company e-mailed me new cards. One of the great things about all the digital communications we have today is we can save paper and be greener. If you’re not the green sort and you prefer to have printed versions of some your digital communications the Berg Little Printer is now available for pre-order.
The small square thermal printer will be on the market within 60 days and you can pre-order it right now for $259 (USD). We talked about this device last November when it first debuted, but the launch day and pricing details were unknown at the time. The software the device runs has been tweaked to allow users to print content and feeds from Google and Foursquare and a variety of other places.
I wonder if the thermal printer paper it uses has to be special ordered or if you can just pick it up at your typical office supply store like adding machine tape. It’s a cute concept, but I think the price is quite expensive for what amounts to a networked thermal printer.
The residence where Steve Jobs lived in Palo Alto, California, was burgled late last month, according to the Associated Press. Around $60,000 worth of computer equipment and valuables were taken from the home. Police have already arrested and charged a suspect, 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin. McFarlin is currently in jail with his bail set at $500,000, and is due to attend a court hearing for his case on August 20th.
The burglary happened on July 17th, but is only just now being reported by news sources. The police department handling the case has declined to say whether the equipment that was stolen belonged to Steve Jobs or another family member. The prosecutor in the case, however, did say that the suspect may have been unaware of the significance of the home he was robbing.
According to the report, the house was surrounded by a construction barrier during July. That may have allowed outsiders to wander onto the premises without arousing suspicion, but the details of how McFarlin undertook the burglary aren’t clear. McFarlin is being charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property.
Details of what was taken haven’t been made available, but the home of the late Apple CEO is sure to have contained expensive computer equipment along with valued possessions. It’s not clear if the police have managed to recover any of the stolen goods either, but seeing as how McFarin has been charged with selling stolen property, it might be already be too late.
[via MacRumors]
Thief steals $60k worth of valuables from Steve Jobs’ home is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Fire Ants, those scorching stinging insects, have a strange attraction to technology but no one really knows why. From tearing up wires and creating short circuits, fire ants just love to destroy technology. Watch them in action in this video from BBC Earth. More »
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