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LusionBloom: A Magnetic Vase For Your Next Weird Cocktail Party

Posted: 27 May 2011 05:56 PM PDT

In the old days, pole-shaping meant something completely different. However, now it is a technique for attaching multiple arms to each other at odd angles that allows them to remain upright with a load without falling. The LusionBloom is a nice example of pole shaping and, more important, is a freaking vase that tilts to the side while keeping flowers and water upright. Perfect for Mother’s Day at Quatto’s house.

The LusionBloom curiously remains upright, even while leaning. It appears as though the LusionBloom defies gravity. Filled with flowers and water, the LusionBloom still doesn’t topple. In addition, steel vases can be attached to one another. How does this happen? A unique arrangement of ferrous material and neodymium magnets (and a technique called “pole shaping”) make this possible and keep your friends guessing as to the method by which the LusionBloom remains upright.

You can get a small vase for $16 and a larger vase for $40 (provided the inventor’s Kickstarter project gets funded) and it’s made in Columbus, Ohio by one Jonathan Morgan of Acumen Enterprises.

Product Page


William Gibson Discovered The iPhone In 1995

Posted: 27 May 2011 01:26 PM PDT

I was just rewatching the 1995 classic Johnny Mnemonic and, nestled amid the overwrought actors and odd storyline, I heard something that stuck out: mention of a Thomson Eyephone… or iPhone. If that doesn’t mean that William Gibson isn’t on the cutting edge of future-tech, I don’t know who is and I find it charming that he once thought that Thomson would survive past the new millenium.

I also suggest that you grab the “I need a computer” audio for your ringtone. It’s a gem.

Welcome To The Future: Polymer Vision Demos SVGA Rollable Screen

Posted: 27 May 2011 12:24 PM PDT

This 6-inch screen displays black and white e-ink text and images at 800×600 pixels and can roll around a tube the circumference of a dime. If this isn’t the future of print, I don’t know what is.

Designed and manufactured by Polymer Vision, the screen can be rolled and unrolled 25,000 times. The question, obviously, is why would you need a rollable display? Well, as ereaders become ubiquitous the need for them to be almost indestructible. I could see a day when kids get their own ereaders for the nursery a la the Diamond Age. Interestingly, Polymer Vision isn’t the company of note when you think of e-ink displays so either they will license this technology or they could start taking more and more market shares from leaders like Eink.

via The Digital Reader


A Bit More On WWDC, The Mythical iPhone “4S”, and iOS 5

Posted: 27 May 2011 11:52 AM PDT

With WWDC quickly approaching, the rumor mills are heating up with what we should expect at Apple’s annual conference known for big announcements. We’ve learned a little bit more that speaks to what to expect — including a couple of big, widely-requested things.

First of all, a lot of sites seem to be working themselves into a tizzy about the so-called “iPhone 4S”. While it has already been widely reported that there will not be any major hardware announcements at WWDC this year, people seem to be letting their imaginations get the best of them anyway. This site, for example, notes that Apple is pushing for British journalists to fly out for WWDC. And today, there’s a report about Australian journalists getting the same message. Both conclude this must be for the “iPhone 4S”.

Read more…


DIY Collapsable Ninja Star Is Great For Collapsable Ninjas

Posted: 27 May 2011 11:48 AM PDT

It’s hard out there for a ninja these days. It’s difficult to find commissions and getting the right gear and training is becoming increasingly expensive. Where do you buy your katana? Your tabi shoes? And, most important, your collapsable shuriken?

Well, you’re in luck. A young man named Zach wanted to make a collapsable ninja star for his 7 year old brother. With a little plastic and some elbow grease he was able to make a unique, lucite ninja star that can flip out like a switchblade and then fly like the wind into the bushes, where it will eventually be lost, like all ninja stars of our youth.

You can download the plans here and all you need is some plastic and a laser cutter. Easy peasy!

via Make


Ballmer: Piracy Kills Chinese Market Earnings By 95%

Posted: 27 May 2011 11:15 AM PDT

Despite the fact the number of PCs in China and the U.S. are pretty similar, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claimed on Wednesday that the company sees 95 percent less revenue coming from China than the States. Why, you ask? Piracy, of course. Other tech companies have had the same problem in China, which could indicate that the Chinese government hasn't done enough to stop the acquisition of costly products for free.

Ballmer ruled out the idea that software is too expensive. "If you can [afford a PC], you could afford the software," said Ballmer, the statement clearly directed toward the Chinese government. Perhaps, if the same rampant piracy was occurring in a smaller country this issue could have been tabled a bit longer, but Microsoft stands to lose billions in the Chinese market if the same behavior continues.

Ballmer claimed that each PC sold in India generated six times the earnings than that of PCs sold in China. He said that if Chinese IP protection was as robust and enforced as India's that the market in China would be worth "billions of dollars."

The government in China has recognized that there is a piracy issue, and claims to have taken steps to cut down the level of piracy. There has been some progress, as 78 percent of software installed in China last year was pirated, compared to 86 percent in 2005. Still, an 8 percent decrease over a five-year period definitely isn't enough to abate Microsoft.

[via Ars Technica]

Some Things Never Change: TI vs. Calculator Hobbyists Version 3.0.2

Posted: 27 May 2011 10:30 AM PDT

The battle between Texas Instruments and calculator hobbyists rages on, as TI seeks to keep its OS locked away from third-party developers. After the calculator hacking community discovered the independent tool Ndless (which allows for third-party development on TI's platform), TI has spent the last year updating its OS to prevent downgrading to version 1.1, which is necessary to run Ndless. Version 2.1's anti-downgrade protection was hacked last summer, and just a month ago, calculator hobbyists broke into OS 3.0.1.

TI retaliated by immediately adding an encryption check to ensure that any third-party programs won't work with OS 3.0.2. The company has asked sites offering version 1.1 to remove it from public download in the past, but this time the company has even targeted those linking to sites with OS 1.1.

Here's the text sent to Make for merely linking to a forum post that outlines a potential way to run other OSes without additional software on the TI-83:

Re: Illegal Offering of Material to Circumvent TI Copyright Protections

It has come to our attention that the web site http://blog.makezine.com contains material and/or links to material that violate the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). This letter is to notify you, in accordance with the provisions of the DMCA, of these unlawful activities. Pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA, we request that you remove any whole or partial reproductions of and/or disable links to the following:

The discussion entitled " Fun Number Theory Facts " located at the following URL http://www.unitedti.org/index.php?showtopic=8888 and the link to the personal website of "brandonw" at http://brandonw.net/.

Texas Instruments Incorporated ("TI") owns the copyright in the TI-83 Plus operating system software. The TI-83 Plus operating system uses encryption to effectively control access to the operating system code and to protect its rights as a copyright owner in that code. Any unauthorized use of these files is strictly prohibited.

http://blog.makezine.com is distributing or providing links to information (http://www.unitedti.org/index.php?showtopic=8888 and http://brandonw.net/ found at http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/08/ti-83_plus_os_signing_key_cracked.html) that bypasses TI's anti-circumvention technology. By providing copies of or offering links to such information, http://blog.makezine.com has violated the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA at 17 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b)(1).

Please confirm to the undersigned in writing no later than noon on **/**/**** that you have complied with these demands. You may reach the undersigned by telephone at ***-***-**** or by email at **********@ti.com. TI reserves all further rights and remedies with respect to this matter.

[Make via /.]

Asus Teases Possible Tablet/Phone Combo

Posted: 27 May 2011 09:10 AM PDT

If you were a fan of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, get excited, because the company seems almost as excited to tease its upcoming products as we are to get a peak at them, which will happen next week during Computex in Taipei. Asus has already slated a June launch for its Eee Pad MeMo, and pencilled in a reminder for us on its Facebook page. But one picture promises "A Tablet That Jumps Out At You," which leads us to believe that Asus has a 3D-capable device headed our way, as well.

What's really exciting is an image of what appears to be a larger tablet next to the silhouette of a smartphone, with the tag-line, "Pad or Phone? – How About Both?" Perhaps we'll see a more sophisticated Atrix-like situation, where the laptop dock is actually a full-functioning tablet. That could be wishful thinking, but with a promise to "Break The Rules," I guess we can go ahead and dream big.

[via Engadget]

Can You Pull Off Wearing The RSW Nazca Sport Watch?

Posted: 27 May 2011 08:39 AM PDT

I love how a design like that of the RSW (Rama Swiss Watch) Nazca is bound to be so polarizing. I think that RSW themselves gets a kick out of that. I mean, from a purely business-oriented motive you’d want to make timepieces that appealed to more people, not less people right? Yet despite this RSW continues to tread forth in the design of timepieces that appeal to just some people, but certainly not all people. So what about you? What are you feelings on the Nazca collection?

Read the rest here…

Apple’s iCloud Needs To Be More Than Just An Online Locker To “Transform Music”

Posted: 27 May 2011 07:50 AM PDT

As we’ve suspected for a long time, Apple is very close to launching an online music service which may go by the name iCloud. The basic idea is that it will mirror your iTunes collection online so that it is available on any device without clunky cable syncing.

While getting rid of those cables will be a big step forward, if iCloud is nothing more than a music locker service it won’t go far towards transforming digital music, as BusinessWeek proclaims. Apple’s iCloud will be iTunes online, with a few features that make it slightly better than Google’s Music Beta—namely, I won’t have to spend hours uploading my music collection and I will get better quality audio files for some songs. That’s all great, but I am not sure it is enough for me to pay a monthly subscription. If it’s bundled with MobileMe, it certainly would make that service more appealing, but I wouldn’t pay for iCloud as a standalone service if that is all there is to it. And certainly, this could turn out to be only one part of a revamped MobileMe service. Depending on what else will be added, iCloud could help push more MobileMe subscriptions overall.

Read more…


Your Nightmares Have Arrived: Kinect-Driven Powerpoint

Posted: 27 May 2011 07:43 AM PDT

While I can’t imagine anyone would want to perform the feats demonstrated in this video, what you’re seeing is basically a hack that allows users to control PC programs – including Powerpoint – using the Kinect. Why? Because it’s there.

At IIT Delhi, a technologist named Ramaprasanna showed off his proof-of-concept demo using an unreleased Kinect SDK. Obviously you’re not going to get this on your Dell any time soon, but it’s interesting to see the direction Kinect on the PC could take.

via OnlyGizmos


Analyst Argues Against Google’s Chrome OS Security Promises

Posted: 27 May 2011 07:39 AM PDT

Google made a couple bold statements about its upcoming Chromebook, many of which have certainly excited consumers, particularly the promise of an end to security hassles. In the Chromebook launch announcement, Google claimed that "Chromebooks have many layers of security built in so there is no anti-virus software to buy and maintain. Even more importantly, you won't spend hours fighting your computer to set it up and keep it up to date." Sounds nice, right? Well, Trend Micro's security consultant Rik Ferguson vigorously disagrees, claiming that the search giant risks repeating the same security mistakes Apple made.

The Google Chrome OS, which will be featured on Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer in June, touts a number of different security features, including process sandboxing (which keeps apps from interfering with each other), automatic updating, and a reversion back to the most-recent safe state when problems are detected. Plus, every app that runs on the Chrome OS will run in the browser, with the exception of browser plug-ins. But Ferguson warns that this spotless environment can't last long, as Google has offered a Chrome OS SDK (software development kit) to create native apps, which, according to Ferguson, is the gateway to malware.

The sandboxing feature is meant to keep bad apps from infiltrating the rest of the system, but Ferguson suggests that sandboxing can't keep everything safe. "Exploits that break out of sandboxing have already been demonstrated for Internet Explorer, for Java, for Google Android, and of course for the Chrome browser, to name a few," Ferguson said. "While the Google sandbox is effective, it is not impenetrable and to rely on it for 100 percent security would be short-sighted."

Ferguson maintains that Google's engineering work is just a praise-worthy, but questions how Google could assume that a new OS would put an end to security woes. In fact, Ferguson refers to the shift to the cloud as merely "moving the goalposts" for scammers. Attackers will begin to focus on stealing authentication keys rather than data on a compromised device. "If I can infect you for one session and steal your keys, well then I'll get what I can while I'm in there and then continue accessing your stuff in the cloud; after all, I've got your keys now, I don't need your PC anymore," Ferguson writes.

This isn't to say that Google's forthcoming Chromebooks won't be wildly popular and successful, or that the OS will have more security issues than any other platform, but rather a friendly reminder that attackers innovate at the same rate as manufacturers. Security will likely always be a concern, until there are no more bad guys in the world, and to ignore such a thing is (in the words of Ferguson) "short-sighted."

[via The Register]

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The Start-Up Guys: Eerily Accurate

Posted: 27 May 2011 07:04 AM PDT

While I think a lot of start-up folk have moved away from this sort of buzzword garbage, it seems that this pair still exists in the world of web-enabled iPad-centric hashtag coding for early adopting morphologies with high topological connection value.

via Dvorak


Cydle i30 Brings Live Television To The iPhone

Posted: 27 May 2011 06:50 AM PDT

I happen to be a huge fan of television on demand. Without cable, I guess I'd have to be. In fact, If I was better at keeping up with Foursquare check-ins, I'd probably be the Mayor of Netflix, and I've had Hulu bookmarked since its launch. But every so often, I get jealous of those who can watch "real" TV, with their commercial references and obscure made-for-television movies. But apparently, people like me won't have to be jealous for long, as a new device has surfaced in FCC filings that gives users the ability to watch live broadcast digital television straight from the iPhone.

Read more…


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