Gizmodo

That's a Bad Cough, Let's Examine Your Genome [This Cyborg Life]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:20:00 -0500

In 2003, we mapped the human genome, the 20,000-ish genes we all share. It cost $3 billion. Today, you can literally spit in a cup, place the saliva in the mail and get a peek at your own genome.

Services like 23andMe (proponents of the above-mentioned "spit parties") and Navigenics both examine specific snippets of your genome for known severe genetic conditions like diabetes, bipolar disorder and certain types of cancers (as well as goofier stuff like freckling and "food preference").

Meanwhile, a boutique genome mapping company named Knome maps not just snippets of DNA but your entire genome, using a blood sample. When it's ready, they sit you down with a doctor to explain their findings.

This thoroughness comes at a cost, of course. Knome's service will run you the price of a Porsche, while their competitors bill up to only a thousand dollars, often less. And while we can technically map the entire genome, we certainly can't understand everything we see.

Ari Kiirikki, a VP at Knome, decodes the future of genomics in this brief Q&A:

Where's genomics now?

The first human genome, completed in 2003, took 13 years and nearly $3 billion to decode. Today, we can sequence and interpret an entire human genome in a matter of weeks for less than $70,000 (our current price is $68,000). New software and other analytical tools have put decades of accumulated scientific research at our fingertips, enabling us to analyze an individual's DNA in order to identify risk for thousands of diseases and other inherited traits and conditions.

What will we be doing in 5 years?

Within 5 years, the cost of sequencing an entire human genome is expected to plummet below $1,000, which will dramatically increase the demand for genetic sequence interpretation. The resulting increase in raw data will enable scientists to make new and important discoveries linking our DNA to health and disease, thereby further increasing the clinical utility of DNA analysis. This will enable us to finally deliver on the promise of personalized medicine by allowing scientists to begin the development medicines and individualized "cocktails" of therapeutics tailored to individual genetic profiles.

In 10?

Ten years from now, sequencing a human genome will cost less than $100. Within the decade, scientists are likely to have unraveled precisely how DNA interacts with our environment to impact our risk for developing disease. Expect DNA sequencing to become a regular part of your annual check-up along with the introduction of new therapeutics that can be prescribed to help delay or completely avoid getting specific diseases that you may be predisposed to.

And now we're stretching it, what about 20?

Every medicine you take will be tailored specifically to your genome. Every newborn child will be sequenced at birth, enabling future generations to use their DNA to guide the management of their health over their entire lifetime. Perhaps most amazingly, your DNA will be fully integrated into your everyday life. Genetics will move beyond the clinic, into a broad range of consumer products—snacks, vitamins, mouthwash, skin creams, dating services, etc., all optimized for your unique genetic profile.

I can't speak for everyone here, but I could certainly go for a stick of gum that, instead of being labeled "grape" or "spearmint," simply stated, "You'll enjoy DNA-certified flavor, fatty."

[Image: Human chromosomes "painted" by flourescent dyes to detect abnormal exchange of genetic material frequently present in cancer. Chromosome paints also serve as valuable resources for other clinical and research applications.

Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome Program Report, 1997.]

I Wear My Suncontacts at Night [Vision]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:20:00 -0500

Photochromic lenses that allow you to walk from inside to outside without putting on UV-filtering lenses have been around for decades. But the technology is just making its way to contacts.

Traditionally, these light-to-dark lenses have been constructed by coating a normal lens with a photochromic dye. When UV light hits the dye, the individual molecules expand, darkening the lens and absorbing light. Coating contacts, however, doesn't work so well.

So researchers in Singapore have laced contacts with a matrix on nano tunnels filled with these photochromic dyes. Not only has the team been successful in producing transition contacts; these contacts darken in the presence of UV light faster than standard lenses (just 10 to 20 seconds).

Researchers are now working on isolating the photochromic material to just corneal region of your eye, granting you all of the UV filtering without turning your entire iris black.

But until they graft the timeless style of a Wayfarer onto my eyeball, I'll pass. [Technology Review and image]

The Sponge Than Can Absorb 180 Times Its Own Weight In Toxic Sludge [Nantech]

John Herrman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:19:10 -0500

That tiny, plastic-looking black cube up there can absorb up to 180 times its own weight in toxic waste without absorbing any water. How? As with just about every amazing and/or inexplicable scientific breakthrough nowadays, the answer is spelled N-A-N-O.

Researchers at the Peking and Tsinghua Universities have adapted carbon nanotubes into a sponge-like material which can be squeezed dry, which sounds like extremely exciting news for the infomercial cleaning product industry. One minor detail:

since carbon nanotubes are hydrophobic, there's no modification required to make them not absorb water.

For the record, that includes mysteriously blue infomercial demo water, so there goes that. If not ABSORBING 20 TIMES AS MUCH WATER AS ITS LEADING COMPETITOR, what exactly is this new type of sponge good for? Environmental cleanup, evidently. See, instead of just dropping dispersants into the middle of an oil or chemical spill—which forces the spill to simply absorb into the water—these nanosponges could be used to sop up the spill, after which they could theoretically be wrung dry and reused, like so:

It's an amazing idea, but I get the feeling that carbon nanotube sponges, riskily abbreviated as CNT sponges, aren't exactly cheap. [Materials View via Treehugger]

Tales of Human Upgrades: Jerry Jalava's USB Finger [This Cyborg Life]

Adam Frucci — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:11:20 -0500

Jerry Jalava was riding his motorcycle home from work one day, when a deer ran in front of him. Long story short, he lost half his index finger. So, of course, he replaced it with a USB flash drive.

The USB drive isn't permanently fused to his finger, unfortunately. Instead, it's inside a rubber tip that he fits onto the nub of his finger. Eventually, however, he's hoping to upgrade it to a more truly bionic upgrade. Until then, he still gets to carry around a Linux distribution in the tip of his finger, and you don't. Maybe someday, friends.

Gadget Deals of the Day [Dealzmodo]

Kyle VanHemert — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Sleeping fitfully because you can't decide which laptop to buy? Save nearly $200 on the Sony VGN-FW590 in today's Deals. If that doesn't cure you, pick up your free copy of Harvard Medical School's Guide To A Good Night's Sleep.

Top Deals:
• Moxi 2 Tuner 500 GB HD DVR for $500 (used to be $800).
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (360/PS3) for $39.99 plus free shipping (normally $57.94).
• Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for $0 ( use this form).

Personal Portables and Peripherals:
• Sennheiser PMX80ECO Eco Friendly Sport Headphones for $34.20 plus free shipping (normally $55 - use coupon code: AFL5)
• Microsoft LifeCam Cinema High Definition Webcam for $46.99 (normally $59)
• Mini Flexible Tripod for Digital Cameras for $0.89 plus free shipping (normally $3.50 - use coupon code:MLC188986111064A).

Hobomodo:
• 50 Photo Cards for $0 (normally $24.5 - use coupon code freebies4mom-1109).
• Besieged! (iPhone) for $0 (normally $.99).
• 1 Year Subscription Wine Spectator Magazine for $0 (use this form).
• Free Book: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for $0 ( use this form).
• MP3 Download Annie Little/Fly Me Away from Amazon for $0 ( use this form).
• Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night's Sleep for $0 ( use this form).

If a deal looks too good to be true, investigate the store and see if it's a good, reputable place to buy. Safe shopping!

[Thanks TechDealDigger, Dealzon, Fat Wallet, GamerHotline, Cheap College Gamers, CheapStingyBargains and TechBargains.]

Nick Bilton the Lead Blogger at NYT Bits [Media]

Brian Lam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:59:55 -0500

My good friend Nick Bilton is going to the NYTimes Bits blog as their lead writer. Nick was Design Integration Editor in the NYT newsroom and a UI specialist in their R&D labs for quite awhile before that, but took a break to work on his book, I Live in the Future: & Here's How It Works. [Nick Bilton]

Yeti USB Mic Is "The World's First THX Certified Microphone" [USB]

Sean Fallon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:59:50 -0500

At $150, Blue Microphone's new THX certified Yeti might not be the best investment for something as simple as Skype, but if you are doing podcasts, music recordings, or old-timey variety shows, it might be worth the extra cash.

Apparently, the Yeti is the first microphone to earn a THX certified distinction—something Blue Microphone views as a validation of its "incredibly low distortion, high fidelity, and balanced frequency response." Features include: a triple capsule array that allows you to record in stereo, cardioid, omnidirectional, and bidirectional, an analog to digital converter and a built-in headphone amp for zero-latency monitoring. And the whole thing is ready to plug in to a USB port and use on your PC or Mac right out of the box.

Blue Microphones Announces World's First THX Certified Microphone, the Yeti USB Condenser Mic

Featuring condenser capsules in a triple array, Yeti is the latest, most advanced addition to Blue's line of premium USB microphones

(Westlake Village, California –November 10, 2009) – Blue Microphones (www.bluemic.com), a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, announces Yeti, the first THX® Certified microphone. The latest addition to Blue's new consumer line, the Yeti is the ultimate USB microphone for professional recording. The Yeti features:
· The first USB mic to offer Blue's premium condenser capsules in a proprietary triple capsule array for the highest quality, most versatile audio recording capability
· After rigorous lab testing, THX certification affirms the ultimate in recording and playback fidelity thanks to superior design and quality
· Four patterns (Omni, Cardioid, Stereo, Bidirectional) for incredible versatility and superior results in any situation
· Studio quality performance and features, with zero latency, amplified headphone monitoring, microphone mute, and hardware-based gain adjustment

Yeti is the first microphone to offer the quality and range of versatility to produce the best quality recordings in a wide range of situations, including podcasts, vocals, live or event recording, interviews, broadcasts, instruments, bands and more.

"Blue Microphones recognizes THX as a benchmark within the industry for professional audio production and playback. We, are honored to be recognized as their first partner for audio input," says John Maier, CEO of Blue Microphones. "Blue strives to provide the highest quality sound for both professionals and consumers alike and we are proud to provide such recognized quality with the new Yeti, the world's first THX Certified microphone."

Building upon the technology foundation established by the award-winning Snowball USB microphone, Yeti adds four distinct pattern modes, a zero-latency headphone output with volume control for direct monitoring, adjustable microphone gain control and a mute button. The Yeti's angle can be adjusted on its custom-designed desk stand. Following suit with the rest of Blue's desktop products, the Yeti features driverless installation and works with both PC and Mac.

"The THX Certified Yeti from Blue Microphones provides aspiring artists a recording solution that combines quality, usability and convenience for a wide range of audio applications," explains Matthew Chrispen, director of certification at THX. "THX testing and certification ensures the fidelity of the recording always remains true to its source, allowing artists to accurately capture voice-overs, interviews and other sound elements with confidence."

The Yeti, MSRP $149.99, will be available beginning December 2009, at Apple, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, Guitar Center, other fine pro-audio and consumer electronics retailers and online at Amazon.com. For complete details, visitwww.bluemic.com.

[Blue Microphones]

Carl Sagan Deep Space Ship to Go to the Living Room and Beyond [Lego]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:40:19 -0500

When I was 12, Cosmos was one of my favorite TV shows. The other was Benny Hill. Clearly, planetary exploration and semi-neekeed girls go together like William Shatner and Elton John songs, whiskey and glass, or Lego and awesome spaceships.

This is the Carl Sagan deep exploration vessel, created by Ed Diment and Ralph Savelsberg—an expert in all things aircrafty and Lego. And while it's not big enough to hold a team of astronauts in search of alien civilizations, it's larger than its creators. And it just plain kick ass, even without auto-tuning. [Flickr via Brothers Brick]

VESA Officially Adopts Apple's Mini DisplayPort [Displays]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:38:52 -0500

It was bound to happen: Apple's Mini DisplayPort is now officially part of the Video Electronics Standards Association's DisplayPort 1.1a standard. [VESA]

15 Improbable Bionic Upgrades to the Human Body [Photoshop Contest]

Adam Frucci — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

For this week's Photoshop Contest, I asked you to imagine some bionic upgrades for the human body. And it's safe to say that I am not interested in having any of you perform unnecessary surgery on me. Yikes.

First Place—Doc Brown
Second Place—Shaun Legacy
Third Place— Jon McGrath

Google Maps Shows You the Way to Your Swine Flu Vaccine [Maps]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:54:00 -0500

The Pandemic That Was Going to Kill Us All But Didn't is still alive, lurking to take you in a one-way trip across the Styx. Or a two-way trip to Snotland. Google Maps points the way to the nearest vaccine.

The search engine has collaborated with the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services to add a Google Maps' service that will locate the nearest seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccine programs. Just go to this site and enter your city or postal code. Google says that the project has just started, so there are still locations with no information:

At the moment we have data for locations of flu vaccine directly from 20 states and counting. We are also continuing to add information from chain pharmacies and other providers in all 50 states; today, you'll find results from chains such as Walgreens, CVS and PDX participants, such as Kmart, Duane Reade, WinnDixie and Giant Eagle.

After reading about the many problems with the vaccine in countries like Sweden—where they have top notch healthcare—I think I will pass on this round, thank you very much.

Vitruvian Voltron [Fashion]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:40:00 -0500

If only Leonardo da Vinci had 1980s cartoons as his muse, it would be Voltron representing Man's innate tie to geometry and architecture. Live in that better world by purchasing this $18 t-shirt, or sniffing more Crayola. [ThinkGeek via RedFerret]

World's Largest Bathtub. Just that: World's Largest Bathtub [Bathtubs]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500

I wanted so badly to have a large, English-style, only-nose-out, soak-like-a-hippo bathtub in my new apartment. I settled for a large shower, but at 72 by 12 feet, maybe I should have rented the world's largest bathtub instead.

This 4-food deep naffness is indeed the world's largest and tackiest bathtub, needing 6,340 gallons (24,000 liters) of water. It has sauna boxes—whatever that means—LCD screens, jacuzzi area, and built-in showers. All that is fine, but can I lift it up to the top of the Mont Blanc? I didn't think so. [Luxury Launches]

Google to Murdoch: Whatever, Dude [Google]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:58:18 -0500

Rupert Murdoch—owner of some of the finest and fairest news organizations in the world, true beacons of journalism—is thinking about retiring all his content from Google. Well, Señor Ruperto, apparently Google doesn't give a goddamn about it:

News organizations are in complete control over whether and how much of their content appears in search results. Publishers put their content on the web because they want it to be found, so very few choose not to include their material in Google News and web search. But if they tell us not to include it, we don't. If publishers want their content to be removed from Google News specifically all they need to do it tell us.

How can they say that? I really can't begin to imagine the despair and sadness that will engulf me the day Fox News and The New York Post disappear from Google. Just. Can't. [AFP]

Is Choosing a Prosthesis So Different than Picking a Pair of Glasses? [Aimee Mullins]

Aimee Mullins — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

I think technology has evolved enough to let us be earnest about the fact that a consumer of a prosthetic is the same consumer buying an iPod or glasses or a couch for their house. You want options.

Obviously, the role of a prosthetic is one far more intimate than that of a couch, and being fitted for a prosthetic is much more labor intensive than just picking out eyeglasses, and but the ideas aren't so dissimilar. From the 1930s to as late as the 1970s, the UK National Health Service mandated only one "choice" for their eyeglasses—considered solely as "medical appliances"—and the standard was a plastic frame formed in a rather horrid pinkish color, an attempt at "flesh tone," already problematic in that description: Whose flesh tone, exactly?

The NHS believed that people would want discretion in their vision correction—the social humiliation generally thought to be incurred by wearing glasses meant that no one would want their glasses to stand out. So there was one form of glasses made for everyone. Today, that sounds ludicrous.

Meanwhile, no one has yet to build a leg that does it all—I have to change legs when I want to wear high heels; I have to change legs when I want to wear different height high heels; I have to change legs when I want to swim, take a boxing class at the gym, or sprint on the track. I have 12 pair in all (though many are housed in museums).

Until that functionality is matched with one single prosthetic, you want to be able to have the fullest quality of life as deemed by you. For some people, it will never be important to swim, or wear a pair of high heels, or to have a prosthetic limb with a cosmesis that really replicates humanness. But for others, those things could be very important. For some people, like me, some of those things are important only some of the time.

In my functional daily arsenal, I have a general rotation between what I call the "Robocop" legs (Re-Flex VSP Legs made by Ossur) and my cosmetic, very life-like legs (by Dorset Orthopaedic).

As if we weren't already aware of the dire state of the American healthcare system, the lack of prosthetic opportunity and choice for most people is due to very limited coverage by insurance companies. To be frank, since my teenage years, I have pursued each and every opportunity to be a guinea pig, trading the use of my body as a testing ground for new technologies for the privilege of using them. Not one pair of my legs is covered by insurance; not one pair of my legs is considered "medically necessary."

What is considered medically necessary for the American insurance standard is whatever gets you from the bed to the toilet. I am not kidding. No other aspect of daily living other than using the bathroom is considered "necessary," which means your basic prosthetic given to most amputees—a stick with a rubber foot as a leg, or a stick with a hook on the end as an arm, has fundamentally not changed since WWII.

My Ossur legs are constructed of woven carbon fiber. They've got a shock absorber, springs, and a split-toe foot so I can navigate uneven terrain with a bit better balance-and basically there's nothing human-looking about that leg. I don't mind this aspect. I'm quite happy with this amazing construction looking like what it is: a good prosthetic that enables me to move around very well. I've embraced the sci-fi aesthetic of the sleek black carbon fiber, the WD-40 glistening on the shock absorber, and I feel rather cool wearing them. They're the prosthetic leg version of a motorcycle jacket. However, I am very aware that there are some vets—mostly female, but some male as well—currently coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who aren't exactly thrilled about looking like the Terminator, and their consumer desire for choice should be respected.

My Dorset legs are designed more for style than utility. Far lighter than the VSPs, the skeleton or internal frame is made from a hollow carbon fiber custom made tube, and like my sports legs, the sockets are shaped to match my residual limbs exactly so I am able to wear the prostheses all day without discomfort. The carbon is used because it has tremendous strength and weighs very little, approx 300gms. The frame is then covered with a polyurethane foam that is then sculpted both to my specific requests and the aesthetic imagination of the prosthetist Bob Watts, who will ask me how I want them to look. (My last pair got a super flexed calf muscle; it serves as a reminder to get the rest of my body to the gym.) Finally, the prosthesis is sheathed in a 2mm custom-made silicone cosmesis. The cosmesis is a truly astounding work of art: a Kevlar-backed and vulcanized silicone sleeve is built up of many thin layers of differently colored silicones that matches my exact skin tone by combing through nearly 500 color swatches of silicone. You won't find any standardized pinky-beige hues here. Dorset will even map hairs or just hair follicles (I prefer mine smooth, thank you), capillaries, veins, moles, and yes… tattoos. The Cosmesis takes a technician 2 weeks to build and sculpt. The result, incredible.

When traveling, I try to always wear my Robocop legs mainly because the shock absorber makes traversing the airport halls more comfortable. I can also easily lift the legs of my yoga pants and pop them off easily on a plane, making air travel much more tolerable when sitting trapped in a confined space for a few hours. An additional travel hazard I face is with airport security metal detectors: wearing legs that look so perfectly human, like the cosmetic pair I have, is not ideal because generally people in airports hear the word "prosthetic" without registering what it means. Being laced with bits of metal, I set off the bells and whistles and it isn't obvious why, and it leads to a more complicated, lengthier interrogation and inspection for me. Anyone who has ever raced to make a connection in Charles de Gaulle airport knows that every minute counts!

I once wore my cosmetic legs while transiting in Portugal and (predictably) set off the metal detector. They waived me aside—this was right after 9/11—and in a pathetically muddled hybrid of Spanish and Italian, I was like "no, no, yo tengo…" and "ho due…," struggling to complete the sentence with the Latin root word of "prosthetic." I said what I thought sounded like a good approximation, and I immediately got hauled off to one of those strip search rooms replete with search dogs, because the whole time I was actually saying "leave me alone, I'm with two prostitutes."

Not eager to revisit my lost-in-translation experience, I've learned to keep the cosmetic legs in the suitcase. I wear the Robocop legs, and when I set the metal detectors off, I just show my carbon fiber limbs at the ankle, and it's automatic: we commence with the wanding, the bomb swab, the pat down—if at JFK they have an additional X-ray box with a battery of 10 scans I have to pass—they actually know me by name now.

So I guess that means when traveling, I do anything but try to look like everyone else—which is a bit different from what the UK National Health Service would have ever predicted in 1950. [Image by Nick Knight]

Aimee Mullins is an athlete, speaker, actress and model. She's also the guest editor for our theme week This Cyborg Life. Read her bio here.

Google Search Is About to Get a Lot Better [Google]

John Herrman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:51:15 -0500

For the last couple of months, Google's been testing a new search architecture called Caffeine—a back-end upgrade, but one that changes the results in virtually any search. Today, Lifehacker gets word that Caffeine is ready to go live in Google proper.

So what does this mean, exactly? Well, if you believe roughly 75% of Lifehacker's polled readers, it means that Google search is about to get more accurate, relevant and useful. Or that we're about to feel like Google search has gotten more accurate, relevant and useful, because we read an article about it somewhere. Win/win! [Lifehacker]

Hahahaha! Blockbuster Renting Movies on SD Cards! Hahahahaha! From Kiosks! [Movies]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:20:00 -0500

Oh, I hope whatever exec came up with this idea scores a huge bonus. Blockbuster is piloting a new program that will load a DRM'd movie rentals onto an SD card from a kiosk. The future!

So say you're at the airport. You want to rent, I dunno, some movie that wasn't good enough to see in the theater. You just format a spare SD card filled with vacation photos you'd forgotten to back up (it doesn't appear they give you a card, but I could be mistaken), pop it in the machine, select a movie, pay $4 or so, and then have the film loaded on your card, a la ticking time bomb, with DRM.

And what can't you do with an SD card? I mean, it plays in my iPhone...wait...I mean my Blackberry...wait...

Mini SD and Micro SD—those are the cards that most of our mobile devices will take (if they take any at all)! In case no one told you, Blockbuster, we can't play this shit back on our digital cameras.

(Granted, netbook owners and some laptop owners will be able to utilize the standard.)

Ah Blockbuster, you've arrived just in time to ignore the growing popularity of iTunes/Zune Marketplace syncing, 3G streaming and in-flight Wi-Fi all while offering your service on a medium less convenient than DVD. But don't worry, I'm not angry. You're just hurting yourself. [Fast Company]

Razer's No-Frills Abyssus Gaming Mouse Needs More Frills [Mice]

matt buchanan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:03:52 -0500

I'm a minimalist when it comes to mouse bling, but for $50, Razer's Abyssus is a little too lean—there aren't even any thumb buttons—just raw 3500DPI tracking and a 1ms response time with on-the-fly adjustment.

SteelSeries' Kinzu pulls off the bargain gaming mouse gambit way better, at $35. Or you can get more aggressively armed gaming mice at Amazon for about the same price, even from Razer.

RAZER ABYSSUS™ GIVES GAMERS THE COMPETITIVE EDGE BY FOCUSING ON THE FUNDAMENTALS

Carlsbad, Calif. – Nov. 10, 2009 - Razer™, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, today launched the Razer Abyssus™ gaming mouse. By combining simplicity with a state-of-the-art 3.5G 3500dpi infrared sensor, the Razer Abyssus stands ready to frag.

"Less is more," said Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, president, Razer. "We've taken our ambidextrous three-button mouse design and loaded it with our industry-leading technology without the added cost of too many bells and whistles. Our goal with the Razer Abyssus is to give competitive gamers access to gaming grade hardware without breaking the bank."

About the Razer Abyssus
The Razer Abyssus mouse is designed for gamers that demand reliability and functionality under the fiercest gameplay conditions. The Razer Abyssus is armed with two large non-slip buttons tuned for maximum tactile feedback and features Razer's built-in Hyperesponse™ technology. Underneath, Razer has placed two easily accessible mechanical switches — one on-the-fly dpi switch giving the user their choice of 450, 1800, or 3500dpi; and one polling rate switch allowing instant adjustment from a standard 125hz to 1000hz Ultrapolling™.

Razer Abyssus
COST: US $49.99, Europe €39.99

AVAILABILITY:
Razerzone.com – Available Now
China – In Stores Now
Worldwide –Late December 2009

Product Features:
3500dpi Razer Precision™ 3.5G infrared sensor
1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response time
Mechanical dpi/polling rate switches
On-The-Fly Sensitivity™ adjustment
Always-On™ mode
Ultra-large non-slip buttons
16-bit ultra-wide data path
60-120 inches per second and 15g of acceleration
Three independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons
Ambidextrous design
Scroll wheel with 24 individual click positions
Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ Teflon feet
Seven-foot, lightweight, non-tangle cord
Approx. size in mm 115(L) x 63(W) x 40(H)

[Razer]

Droid Does Higher Res Video Streaming With New Qik App [Droid]

matt buchanan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:46:58 -0500

Droid records video at an impressive 720x480 resolution—it's certainly more impressive than its photo prowess anyway—and streaming service Qik's the first take advantage of that higher resolution, allowing full res streams later tonight with a beta release. [MobileCrunch]

New Spacecraft Uses Starlight to Propel its Sails [Space]

Adam Frucci — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:40:00 -0500

A new spacecraft is being launched in about a year, one designed to travel across the solar system. But instead of using rockets to propel itself, it uses sails. Sails pushed by light.

Starlight carries not only energy but momentum. Comet tails, for example, are the result of light blowing dust off the comet's core. It's not a lot of juice, but it's enough.

The force on a solar sail is gentle, if not feeble, but unlike a rocket, which fires for a few minutes at most, it is constant. Over days and years a big enough sail, say a mile on a side, could reach speeds of hundreds of thousands of miles an hour, fast enough to traverse the solar system in 5 years. Riding the beam from a powerful laser, a sail could even make the journey to another star system in 100 years, that is to say, a human lifespan.

We're pretty damned far off from a person riding the light to whatever planet Avatar is set on, but it's still a pretty neat idea. [NY Times]

Why Did Samsung Just Announce Another Mobile OS? [Samsung]

John Herrman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:36:03 -0500

They're calling it "Bada," which means ocean in Korean. And it's got an SDK! After sifting through hundreds of words of deliberately vague press release, this is all we really know about Samsung's new mobile OS. Well, almost.

Samsung is as aware as any company of just how many smartphones OSes there are in the world, since they license almost all of them, from Windows Mobile to Symbian to Android. Throwing another OS into the mix seems like it might confuse things, but at first glance, that's exactly what it looks like they're doing:

In order to build a rich smartphone experience accessible to a wider range of consumers across the world, Samsung brings bada, a new platform with a variety of mobile applications and content.

So, a new OS with an emphasis on apps. But why the awkward language about "smartphone experiences" and "accessibility?" On the project's website, Samsung's a little more clear:

More and more people want rich and connected application-experiences that are currently available only for smartphone consumers. Samsung has developed bada to make these exclusive smartphone experiences available to everyone.

Ah! So it's probably not a full-fledged smartphone OS, but a feature phone OS with an SDK. Samsung is a huge company, so this can't be ignored, but it doesn't mean that smartphones are about the get more confusing. If anything, it means that feature phones are about to get better.

Or not at all! We won't know for sure until Samsung stop being cryptic for sport, or whatever it is they're doing here. [Samsung]

Samsung Launches Open Mobile Platform:
Samsung bada – The Next Wave Of The Mobile Industry
Developers get the chance to create mobile applications
for millions of new Samsung handsets

November 10th, 2009, Seoul, Korea – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of its own open mobile platform, Samsung bada [bada] in December. This new addition to Samsung's mobile ecosystem enables developers to create applications for millions of new Samsung mobile phones, and consumers to enjoy a fun and diverse mobile experience.
In order to build a rich smartphone experience accessible to a wider range of consumers across the world, Samsung brings bada, a new platform with a variety of mobile applications and content. The name ‘bada', which means ‘ocean' in Korean, was chosen to convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform. It also alludes to Samsung's commitment to a variety of open platforms in the mobile industry. Samsung bada also represents the fresh challenges and opportunities available to developers, as well as the entertainment which consumers will enjoy once the new platform is open.
Based on Samsung's experience in developing previous proprietary platforms on Samsung mobile phones, Samsung can create the new platform and provide opportunities for developers. Samsung bada is also simple for developers to use, meaning it's one of the most developer-friendly environments available, particularly in the area of applications using Web services. Lastly, bada's ground-breaking User Interface (UI) can be transferred into a sophisticated and attractive UI design for developers.
Samsung will be able to expand the range of choices for mobile phone users to enjoy the smartphone experiences. By adopting Samsung bada, users will be able to easily enjoy various applications on their mobile.
Samsung bada also offers an easy-to-integrate platform for mobile operators so that mobile operators can provide unique and differentiated services to their customers. Samsung established its mobile application ecosystem through the launch of Samsung Mobile Innovator in 2008 and the Samsung Application Seller Site followed by Samsung Application Store as another key element of this offering.
Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics said, "By opening Samsung's mobileplatforms we will be able to provide rich mobile experiences on an increasing number of accessible smartphones." He added, "bada will be Samsung's landmark, iconic new platform that brings an unprecedented opportunity for operators, developers and Samsung mobile phone users around the world."
The official website (www.bada.com) will open on November 10th and will feature a range of information on bada including updates onproduct launches, features, and event notices. Samsung will also host an official launch event for bada in London, UK in December and will also unveil its bada software development kit (SDK) to developers for the first time on this date.

Canon 7D Review [Review]

matt buchanan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

For a long time with Canon, if you weren't dropping nearly three grand on a 5D, you were stuck with a vastly lesser DSLR. The $1700 7D is Canon's first semi-pro DSLR, and actually it's my favorite yet.

What's New and Dandy

What makes it my favorite Canon so far is actually everything that's completely new to Canon—DP Review has a nice summary here, in pictures. But in short, while this might sound weird, it shoots more like a Nikon than any Canon DSLR I've used. This is primarily because of the new 19-point autofocus system and the color metering system that goes with it. You're able to select AF zones—clusters of AF points—while in the past with Canon you've been limited to a full AF blast or picking out a single point. The system is also more customizable, so it can be locked with different default focus points depending on whether you're holding the camera horizontally and vertically orientations. Against Nikon's D300s, Canon's new AF system mostly kept up, and definitely performs better than autofocus on the 5D Mark II.

The new viewfinder now provides 100 percent coverage, unlike previous Canons in this range, and it uses a new polymer LCD network for the graphical overlay to display AF points, grids and other displays, so it's more flexible and feels more fluid. (It also just looks swankier, and again, more Nikon-like.) Your other viewfinder (when you're shooting video, anyway), the LCD screen, is a 3-inch, 920k dot display like the 5D Mark II and it's still excellent, with a wide viewing angle, nice color and the right amount of crispness.

Sensor and Image Quality

Truthfully, I've been mildly surprised at the quality of photos that've come out of the 7D, which uses an absolutely stuffed 18-megapixel, APS-C sized sensor. (So, there is a 1.6x crop factor.) For comparison, the D300s has a 12MP sensor that's the same physical size (Update: For nitpickers, yes, Nikon's DX format is marginally larger than Canon's APS-C sensor, with the D300s's sensor coming in at 23.6 x 15.8 mm to the 7D's 22.3 x 14.9 mm.) The the D3 only goes for 12 megapixels on its bigger full-frame (35mm-equivalent) sensor. The 5D Mark II has a 21MP full-frame sensor. And typically, the more pixels you try to cram on a sensor of a given size, the more the image quality degrades, especially when it comes to low light, high ISO shots.

I was expecting a noisefest, or at best, seriously noticeable noise reduction employed by the camera's software. It is clear that Canon's using incredibly sophisticated noise reduction algorithms with the dual Digic IV processors onboard, though the effects are less drastic than I expected. It's most apparent, actually, when you directly compare photos taken with the D300s. Looking at photos taken with the 7D and D300s at 100 percent crops, the D300s's images are noisier, but they also preserve more detail. For web-sized images, the 7D's images look better, with less noise and more smoothness.

I've got two sample galleries—an array of sample shots, and then another directly comparing the 7D with the D300s in low light situations, using identical settings for photos. 100 percent zooms follow photos in both galleries. Or you can download full size photos from Flickr here and here.

Video

You can get sense of Canon and Nikon's philosophical differences with the difference in their buttons for video: Canon makes a distinction between Live View and video mode, while Nikon is ready to start shooting video as soon you tap the live view button on the D300s. Creating video is a separate, dedicated event for Canon, in other words, and there is a semi-serious video camera that happens to be built into a DSLR. Nikon's D300s, on the other hand, is a DSLR that happens to shoot video.

With video, the 7D simply has the upper hand—video is very much a legitimized use of this camera, not a secondary one like the D300s. (As expected from a company with an entire wing dedicated to camcorders for pros and consumers.) Not only does it have full manual controls, I find that it's slightly easier to use that the D300s while shooting video—not to mention the whole shooting in a real video codec at 1080p, yadda yadda. Three clips here: A melange of video above, and then by two videos, one from the 7D, one of the D300s, that mirror each other. Both were shot at ISO 6400, and you should be able to catch them at full res if you click over to Vimeo.

Build and Controls

The 7D is heavy, heavier than the 5D, but it's also slightly sturdier, with a build quality and weatherproofing that that's slightly in between the 5D and Canon's definitely pro 1D. It feels about the same in your hand, though. And it's roughly comparable to the D300s.

Controls aren't radically different from other Canon DSLRs of this caliber—that is, it's what you'd mostly expect from a DSLR that sits in between the lower end 50D and the higher end 5DMkII, though it's a bit closer to the latter. While the menu system feels completely unchanged—leaving more advanced features, like the orientation autofocus a bit inscrutable—a few things are new on the outside: The power switch is up on the top left, under the mode dial; there's a dedicated button for switching to RAW/JPEG; a quick action button; and a new toggle switch for Live View and video, which you engage by pressing a start button in the center.

You Already Know If You're Going to Buy This

The real question for Canon users who want something more than the lower end 50D is whether they go for the 7D, at $1700, or full bore to full-frame with the $2700 5D Mark II. The 7D has a 1.6x crop factor which is useful for sports, a better autofocusing system, shoots faster, is slightly more rugged, and is $1000 cheaper. The 5D is full frame—which I suspect is the real consideration for folks—and takes slightly better photos at higher resolutions.

Obviously, if you're locked into Nikon, with thousands of dollars in lenses, you're not going to jump to Canon, or vice versa. But Canon's dedication to DSLR video is proving formidable in carving out a new kind of market that Nikon might have some trouble competing in, since they're a dedicated still camera company, not a video company, too, like Canon. Really, both the D300s and 7D deliver for the money, though I think the 7D delivers more, since it's packed full of newer technology and for the people who want it, the video component is truly killer. Either way, it's proof that competition is good—it clearly wouldn't exist without the D300, and the D400 will be that much better because of it.

New 19-point autofocus and metering systems plus the new viewfinder rock

Excellent 1080p video with full manual controls

Not full-frame, which might put off some people

I'd like a secondary SD card slot, like the D300s

Noise reduction can get pretty aggressive at higher ISO speeds, obscuring detail

Ecomodo - The Best of Treehugger [Roundups]

Jaymi Heimbuch — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:59:00 -0500

This week on TreeHugger, motorcycles that run on Linux, sneakers only a geek could love, a design project that lets you text fish (and get responses), growing bacteria into packaging, and more.

Sneakers for Geeks and Hackers Are Made form Recycled Computer Chips
Gabriel Dishaw, junk-metal artist extraordinaire, fashioned these incredible shoes out of pieces of computers and typewriters, with only glue and metal bending techniques to keep the pieces held together.

Mavizen's 130 MPH TTX02 Electric Motorcycle Runs on Linux
This crazy motorcycle is called a "laptop on wheels" because of all the electronics it packs on top of what is strictly required to control the electric motor - including a dash-mounted computer that runs Linux, has wifi connectivity and a web-server.

Amphibious Architecture Gets People to Interact with River System, Includes Texting Fish
A new design project offers an interesting, techy way for fish and people to interact, including humans sending text messages fish. Yes, text messages...and getting a response.

Futuristic Manhole Cover Harvests Rainwater Power and Tells You Where to Catch a Bus
The covers, called "eco signs," harvest power from rainfall in order to tell you, just by tapping your foot on its right or left side, information such as where to find the closest subway station or bus stop.

Hand-Held Printer Only Needs You to Wave It Over The Paper (Video)
Printers can be big, clunky machines that spit out more pages than you intended to print. So what if you had a tiny hand-held printer that only put down ink where you waved your hand? Now you can.

Foresters Use GPS to Save Ants' Nests from Thousands of Falling Trees
Just how good has GPS technology gotten? Good enough that it can be used to pinpoint the exact location of a handful of tiny ants in a massive forest.

A Solar Powered Blanket Creates Cell Phone-Powered Health Care for Africans
Sounds like a strange mix, but a blanket that sports solar power could help improve health care in Africa by allowing those people without electricity to charge cell phones used for getting health care information.

The 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Argues for Decentralization
The Insitute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released a second version of its study that pushes for local power - in other words, how you can run what's in your house off of what's on top of your house.

Harnessing Bacteria to Grow Custom Packaging
This ambitious concept called Bacs harnesses the bacterium acetobacter xylinum to self-assemble around an object, encasing it in a biodegradable paper-like shell. No kidding - bacteria into packaging...

Take Up Less Space With A Vertical Bed
Sleep standing up. It's the ultimate nerd bed.

TreeHugger's EcoModo column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.

Droid Opening Weekend: 100,000 Sold [Droid]

matt buchanan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:58:34 -0500

Not a bad opening weekend for Droid, with estimates that Verizon and Moto pushed out 100,000 of 'em. To compare, that's about how many Pres were sold on opening weekend, give or take. [Bloomberg]

New iControlPad Prototype Controls the iPhone with Dual Analog Nubs [IPhone]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:33:46 -0500

The iPhone gamepad case is back with an overhauled design that brings controls to the front, and adds dual analog nubs (the same as the Pandora gaming handheld). There's also an internal battery that charges the iPhone while playing.

The previous design was a lot sleeker, and placed the controls on the side. But it didn't have those awesome nubs. A test run of those units were shipped to selected people in February, and early feedback, plus a "sleepless night", lead to the updated, bigger look.

You'll need to Jailbreak your iPhone, but the iControlPad is supported by some of the biggest iPhone devs (including ZodTTD's PSX and GBA emulators). If you're interested in placing a pre-order, sign up for the newsletter over at: [iControlPad]

Spy Toothbrush Hopes to Capture Erotic Moments, Will Probably End with Embarrassing Ones [Spy Camera]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:30:51 -0500

Chinese manufacturers keep working hard to push the world forward into a hole of crappy amateur porn, one spy pinhole camera at a time. But when they add one to an Oral-B electric toothbrush, you know things won't end well.

I like how they justify it:

There is time date stamp for the record, you can get the most authentic evidence for a variety of illegal behaviour. Ideal for CIA agents, police, detector, and spy agency.

That sounds about right, because we all know that CIA agents shop in Chinese crapware sites. The $243 Pinhole Spy Toothbrush Hidden Camera DVR records 640x480 video in AVI format, using its internal 8GB flash memory. According to their product site, it looks exactly like a real electric toothbrush. It also looks like a whole bag of hurt to me. [Omejo]

Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless N Networking Adaptor Arrives for $100 [Xbox 360]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:29:53 -0500

This may be the millionth unofficial launch of the new 360 Wireless N Adapter, but Newegg has the device listed for $100 and on sale...NOW! And it doesn't look like they're frantically pulling it. [Newegg via Kotaku]

Nikon's Twitter-Inspired Digital Film Festival Will Feature Ashton Kutcher and Dwight Schrute [Film]

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:27:47 -0500

Twitter is so hot right now, you guys. It's so hot it influences things totally unrelated to Twitter, like the Nikon Festival—a digital film fest that challenges micro-auteurs to create 140-seconds-or-less digital videos. Obviously, Ashton Kutcher is involved.

The Nikon Festival has the theme "A Day Through Your Lens," and asks budding filmmakers to upload digital films with that theme, of length less than 140 seconds, to their website. The contest is six weeks long, starting right now. Festival judges include Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute of The Office fame), photographer Chase Jarvis, and some girl unfortunately described as an "Internet Personality" with the even more unfortunate name of iJustine. But guys, Rainn Wilson!

Oh yeah, and Ashton Kutcher will be sharing his own entry, partly because he has an advertising deal with Nikon and partly because this contest is tangentially related to Twitter. That '70s Show was a long time ago, you know, and now Twitter is his job—and Ashton Kutcher is nothing if not dedicated to his job.

The winning filmmaker will get $100,000 and some sweet Nikon gear, and there'll also be an audience favorite award worth $25,000, in case iJustine is out of touch with modern independent filmmaking. [Nikon Festival]

Freedom Leg Looks About 1,000,000x Better than Crutches [This Cyborg Life]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:59:39 -0500

Crutches. In a thousand years, their design hasn't fundamentally changed. And for something as minor as a sprained ankle or broken foot, the Freedom Leg looks like a welcome alternative.

A light, 2.5lb exoskeleton, the Freedom Leg moves all of your body weight from your injured foot to the prosthesis frame and your upper leg, meaning that you can walk pretty much like your used to while you heal up. And while I welcome resident doctors to list all of this product's flaws in the comments, to my pea brain, the idea seems so obvious and simple that it just might work. [Forward Mobility via medGadget via OhGizmo!]

Why Firmware Updates for Verizon's Droids Would Be Good News [Droid]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:28:52 -0500

Verizon's Moto Droid and HTC Droid Eris phones have only just landed in people's hands, but what look to be leaked Verizon documents suggest the carrier is tracking a long list of bugs for a potential December 11 over-the-air fix.

The apparent internal bulletins were leaked to Android fan site, Phandroid, and total 5 pages for the Motorola, and 7 for the HTC. They look legit, and if they are, the info is useful for a number of reasons. If you're thinking about buying a Droid, it's good to see some of the problems you may face.

But even better, the meticulous list seems to show that Verizon/Motorola/HTC actually care about supporting their devices post launch. [Phandroid: Motorola Droid | HTC Droid Eris]

Apple Shipping Beefier Core i5 and i7 iMacs [IMac]

Mark Wilson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:12:12 -0500

We were impressed by the new Core 2 Duo iMac, but advised that you might want to hold off for the Core i5/i7 versions to ship. AppleInsider is reporting that, well, they're shipping from Shanghai as we speak. [AppleInsider]

Nvidia CEO Reveals Tablet, Declares His Love for Apple [Tablet]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:06:48 -0500

In an interview yesterday, Nvidia CEO revealed two things: First, their sleek tablet prototype, which looks just like my wet dream Apple Tablet concept: Simple, thin, and omfgIwantone. Then, he declared his enraptured love for all things Apple:

[In my home we are] all Apple. Apple uses the best technology for their [computers]. Apple says to their customers: if you buy a computer from us you can be sure we have selected the best technology inside for you. That is their promise to consumers. Their promise to consumers isn't we've selected the best technology for you with the exception of what Intel allows us to use. That's not their promise. And that's why Apple uses the best technology where they want whenever they want. And that's why I'm all Apple! At home it's just Macs everywhere. It's Nvidia's technology in all of them but I use Macs. My son has two Macs, my daughter has a Mac, there's an extra Mac just in case and my wife has a Mac. It's just Mac, Mac, Mac! Because I know it's got the best stuff inside.

That's quite an enthusiastic endorsement. So enthusiastic that he crosses the ultra-fanboy territory and gets into the "I've my hockey knee pads here and I'm ready to perform iphonelingus on you if you pick me as your tablet provider, Apple" danger zone. [Shufflegazine—Thanks Ron]

Presented By:

National Geographic Channel - Expedition Week

Search for the Amazon Headshrinkers
Sunday 9P e/p

They say that shrinking heads is no longer practiced. We’re going to ask the experts. Premieres Sunday at 9P e/p on Nat Geo. Learn more at
www.natgeotv.com/expeditionweek

Ads by Pheedo

Lego Minifig Macbook Decal: Too Cute to Let Go [Apple]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:49:00 -0500

Like that Snow White Macbook cover, I love how this Minifig interacts with the logo, instead of just covering it. MacSlap's shop on Etsy says it's sold-out right now—maybe enough interest would inspire more. [Etsy via iPhone Savior]

Presented By:

National Geographic Channel - Expedition Week

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The Intel Reader Photographs Text and Reads it Back to You [EReaders]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:29:55 -0500

Intel's Reader for the visually impaired isn't a concept; it goes on sale today. Using an Atom processor, 5-megapixel camera, and Intel's Linux-based Moblin OS, it turns book pages into digital text and MP3s…then reads aloud in a synthesized voice.

Ben Foss, Director of Access Technology at Intel's Digital Health group said the device is also intended to assist those with severe Dyslexia, an impairment he himself grew up with. "We want people to experience the independence of being able to read on their own in a public place or anywhere they want to."

Prototypes of the paper-back sized device were tested with more than 400 visually-impaired users, including some who were completely blind. The reader can adjust the speed of reading, and it's 2GB of storage can hold about 500,000 pages of text; roughly 600 pages of scanned books.

At $1500, it's not cheap. But compared to even more expensive Braille readers, it has a shot as a specialty device. [Intel via VentureBeat]

Presented By:

National Geographic Channel - Expedition Week

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Kindle For PC Beta Now Available to Download [Kindle]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:39:43 -0500

Now you don't need a Kindle eReader to buy and read the 360,000+ books Amazon sells in its annoyingly proprietary Kindle format. The desktop app supports color photos, multi-touch pinch-zooms, and displays notes/highlights marked on Kindles and the iPhone.

As for the Mac version? We're still told that's coming soon. [Beta Download | Press Release]

Kindle For PC Features:
• Purchase, download and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
• Read the beginning of any book for free before you buy
• Access your library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon's servers for free
• Read books in full color including children's books, cookbooks, travel books, textbooks and graphic novels
• Choose from more than 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
• Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
• View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, and iPod touch
• Zoom in and out of text with a pinch of the fingers (Windows 7 users only)
• Turn pages with a finger swipe (available in a future release for Windows 7 users)

Presented By:

National Geographic Channel - Expedition Week

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Google Serves Up Free Wi-Fi at 47 Airports for the Holidays [Wi-Fi]

Danny Allen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:08:14 -0500

Holiday season air travel just got a little less crappy—freebie access starts today, and runs through to January 15. Read on for the full list of airports, and info on free Wi-Fi promos from Yahoo and Microsoft, too.

You may also remember that Google already said it would foot the bill for Virgin America Wi-Fi during the same period.

The catch? Once you log into the network, you'll be pestered if you want to set Google to your homepage or try Google Chrome. But that's it. I can deal with that. You'll also have the option to make a donation to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy Corporation or the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

Meanwhile, Yahoo is providing free Wi-Fi for an entire year in Times Square, and Microsoft and JiWire will give free Wi-Fi at airports and hotels if you make one search on Bing. I like free stuff! [Google]

Airports for Google-Sponsored Free Wi-Fi:

• Austin (AUS)
• Baltimore (BWI)
• Billings (BIL)
• Boston (BOS)
• Bozeman (BZN)
• Buffalo (BUF)
• Burbank (BUR)
• Central Wisconsin (CWA)
• Charlotte (CLT)
• Des Moines (DSM)
• El Paso (ELP)
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
• Fort Myers/SW (RSW)
• Greensboro (GSO)
• Houston (HOU)
• Houston Bush (IAH)
• Indianapolis (IND)
• Jacksonville (JIA)
• Kalamazoo (AZO)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Louisville (SDF)
• Madison (MSN)
• Memphis (MEM)
• Miami (MIA)
• Milwaukee (MKE)
• Monterey (MRY)
• Nashville (BNA)
• Newport News (PHF)
• Norfolk (ORF)
• Oklahoma City (OKC)
• Omaha (OMA)
• Orlando (MCO)
• Panama City (PFN)
• Pittsburgh (PIT)
• Portland (PWM)
• Sacramento (SMF)
• San Antonio (SAT)
• San Diego (SAN)
• San Jose (SJC)
• Seattle (SEA)
• South Bend (SBN)
• Spokane (GEG)
• St. Louis (STL)
• State College (SCE)
• Toledo (TOL)
• Traverse City (TVC)

Presented By:

National Geographic Channel - Expedition Week

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Google Buys AdMob, Secures Strength in Mobile Advertising [Google]

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:30:40 -0500

Today, Google purchased AdMob for $750 million. AdMob provides mobile advertisements in places Google doesn't, like in apps or while web-browsing, but what it really means is that Google is staking its claim in the mobile ad world.

AdMob is one of the most dominant players in the mobile advertising arena—you've probably seen their ads in iPhone apps and things like that, as a bar on the top or bottom of the screen. AdMob isn't restricted to one platform; they're on pretty much all of the major consumer mobile OSes, including both iPhone and Android. What does this mean for you? Nothing, yet, since it's going to take at least a few months for the deal to go through. But it means that Google will have a huge influence in mobile advertising, way beyond Android. [Google]

Space Invaders Autopsy T-Shirt [Fashion]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:40:00 -0500

Mark showed you how Space Invaders really look like from the outside. Now it's time to get the scalpel and look for the three stomachs. For $18, you can play doctor too. [Threadless via Likecool]

Scoop High Chair for Future Space Cadets and Dorky Parents [Furniture]

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0500

If I ever have kids, I won't get them the $470 Scoop High Chair. I don't care it has a foot pedal-driven pneumatic lift or that is easy to clean: It's just a ridiculous piece of high tech furniture.

Now, if I can get one for myself, then I will get one for each of us. Warp nine, Sonny Boy. [Brother Max Dexigner via Core77]