Monthly Archives: June 2013

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: cardboard bicycle, robo raven and a steampunk Lego ship

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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.

DNP Inhabitat's Week in Green

Summer is finally upon us, and polluting companies are feeling the heat as President Barack Obama announced a groundbreaking climate action plan this week that calls for cutting CO2 emissions and building more resilient communities in the face of climate change. Meanwhile, innovators around the world are continuing to tackle some of our biggest challenges. Rust-Oleum launched NeverWet - an incredible new spray that can completely waterproof any surface or object. IKEA unveiled a new solar-powered flat-pack shelter that could be easily deployed as emergency housing. Cardboard Technologies announced plans to mass-produce a $10 bicycle made almost entirely from recycled cardboard. And in one of the week's most exciting green transportation developments, England's Drayson Racing set a new land speed record for electric cars this week, shattering the previous mark by nearly 30 MPH.

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Dalek Planter: Germinate! Germinate!

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Nothing takes the steam out of a Dalek like taking his dead carcass and putting it in your garden to use as a planter. Daleks don’t look menacing at all with flowers coming out of them.
dalek planter
This “Ex-Germinate” Dalek flower pot was made by photographer and Doctor Who collector Chris Balcombe, who obviously knows how to handle an evil Dalek. Even the Doctor himself has never exiled a Dalek into a garden. Let’s just hope this doesn’t lead to a new Dalek race that is just as deadly, but looks prettier.

Now all we need is a Cyberman and K-9 and this could be an amazing Doctor Who robotic garden tourist attraction.

[via Nerd Approved]

This Is Why We’re Fat: Whopper Hands-Free Eating Device

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A Man Uses The Hands-Free Whopper Holder At The BeachA hands-free Whopper holder? Really? Strange, yes, but true. Burger King created the device as part of a promotional gimmick to celebrate their 50th anniversary in Puerto Rico. For the promotion at total of 50 of the holders were produced to be given away. It is reminiscent of the feed bags that working horses wear so that they can keep going without stopping for a nosh.

University of Michigan activates antimatter ‘gun,’ cartoon supervillians twirl moustaches anew

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Scientists create tabletop antimatter 'gun,' cartoon supervillians twirl mustaches anew
At the University of Michigan, an international team of physicists has begun experimenting with its tabletop-sized super laser, modding it into an antimatter "gun." It's not quite a black hole-firing pistol, but we're slightly terrified nonetheless. Up until now, machines capable of creating positrons -- coupled with electrons, they comprise the energy similar to what's emitted by black holes and pulsars -- have needed to be as large as they are expensive. Creating these antimatter beams on a small scale will hopefully give astrophysicists greater insight into the "enigmatic features" of gamma ray bursts that are "virtually impossible to address by relying on direct observations," according to a paper published at arXiv. While the blasts only last fractions of a second each, the researchers report each firing produces a particle-density output level comparable to the accelerator at CERN. Just like that, the Longhorns/Wolverines super-laser arms-race begins again.

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Via: Gizmodo, PhysOrg

Source: arXiv

Washington Post reveals new PRISM slides, offers greater clarity into the US’ surveillance operation

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Washington Post reveals new PRISM slides, offers greater clarity into the US surveillance operation

PRISM: The surveillance story that started with four leaked slides from the Washington Post, today gets a bit clearer. The publication has revealed four more annotated slides about the once-secret NSA operation, along with detailing the various levels of scrutiny from the FBI and NSA that happen before, during and after approved wiretaps take place. It seems that many of the measures make sure the warrantless data mining of US citizens occurs to the smallest extent possible and that FISA rules are followed -- still unsettling, nonetheless.

Detailing the process further, NSA analysts perform checks with supervisors to be certain intended targets are foreign nationals who aren't on US soil; approval is provided by way of "51-percent confidence" in assessments. During a "tasking process" search terms are entered, dubbed "selectors," which can tap into FBI gear installed within the private properties of participating companies -- so much for those denials. For live communications, this data goes straight to the NSA's PRINTAURA filtering system, while both the FBI and NSA scan pre-recorded data independently. Notably, live surveillance is indeed possible for the likes of text, voice and and instant message-based conversations, according to a slide that details how cases are notated. It's also worth mentioning that much of the collected metadata comes from programs outside of PRISM, as WP points out.

PRINTAURA is an overall filter for others, like NUCLEON for voice communications and MAINWAY for records of phone calls. Another two layers beyond that, called CONVEYANCE and FALLOUT, provide further filtering. Again, all of these checks apparently fine-tune results and help make sure they don't match up with US citizens. Results that return info about those in the US get scrapped, while those that have info about foreign targets mixed with US citizens get stored for up to five years. A total number of 117,675 active targets were listed as of April 5th, but the paper notes this doesn't reflect the amount of data that may also have been collected on American citizens. If you haven't already, now might be a great time to catch up on this whole PRISM fiasco to learn about how it might affect you. You'll find all the new slides and more detailed analysis at the source links.

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Source: The Washington Post (1), (2)

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Ask Engadget: best (cheap!) video recording goggles?

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Ask Engadget best cheap! video recording goggles

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from James, who wants to experiment with life-logging on the cheap. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"I like the idea of being able to record stuff with your glasses, but not spending $1,500 on Google Glass to do it. Can you and the folks suggest a pair of glasses or goggles that will do the same job for a tiny fraction of the price?"

In our limited experience, Pivothead's Durango is available for $349, but beyond that, the field's a bit limited. ZionEyez Zeyez still doesn't have an ETA for its products and SunnyCam's ultra-low cost recording goggles won't make it to the US until later this year. Let's turn this question over to our audience, who, we're sure will have some better and cheaper suggestions.

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Pocket Chainsaw Massacre

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Pocket ChainsawWhether you are gearing up for a bit of yard work, a backpacking trip, or doomsday survival, a Pocket Chainsaw could come in really handy. This chainsaw is also greener than the usual kind because it doesn't require any fuel other than you own muscles. The compact design means that you can take it with you just about anywhere and you always have the power source with you.

Mobile Miscellany: week of June 24th, 2013

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Mobile Miscellany week of June 24th, 2013

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, the Galaxy S 4 was spotted in purple garb, a new Windows Phone was outed for AT&T and US Cellular officially welcomed a budget handset from ZTE into its ranks. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of June 24th, 2013.

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