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hypnometal

Technology

Mourning the Death of the Meta Media Experience

By Tom Conlon Posted on 11.20.2009 12 Comments
I tend to think of my cable bill kind of like my health insurance premium. Every month, I begrudgingly pony up the funds necessary to continue this so-called “service” wondering the what the heck it is I’m actually paying for--especially since most of what I regularly watch can be found online in some form--all the while deathly afraid of the consequences should I ever stop wiring in my money. Every month, I consider amputating cable from my bottom line once and for all. But what’s holding me back is that I think I might actually miss it.

11.24.2009 at 01:00pm - Comment by hypnometal

I actually stopped watching TV on a regular basis when I went to college - in 1996. I didn't have a TV in college, but I did have the internet. I didn't have TV again until 2003, when I moved into my own place in Philadelphia, and to get cable internet, I had to get some cable TV package, so I got the cheapest one, which only had local channels. That's when I first started watching 24, and even then, I taped it with a VCR. When I discovered I could download episodes of 24 through BitTorrent, I didn't bother with the TV anymore. And then I watched The Nine, Bionic Woman, and most prominently, Heroes, from downloaded BitTorrent episodes. Then I discovered hulu, and I didn't have to wait for BitTorrent anymore, nor did I have to find space for everything on my computer, or an external hard drive, or what have you. So I'm already off the TV broadcast schedule. And if the rumors of an iTunes subscription service are true, I can just get an AppleTV, hook it up to a television, and then broadcast TV is completely done for.
Science

IEA Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Downplayed Looming Oil Shortage

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.11.2009 12 Comments
A senior official at the International Energy Agency turned whistleblower just prior to the release of a major IEA report, and claimed that the international organization has downplayed a looming oil shortage to appease the U.S. and prevent panic buying. The anonymous whistleblower apparently told his story to The Guardian on the eve of the new World Energy Outlook report that went public Tuesday. He alleged that the international watchdog has bowed to U.S. pressure to underplay the decline of existing oil fields and overplay the possibility of tapping new fields.

11.18.2009 at 09:43am - Comment by hypnometal

@whatwereyouthinking Even if Big Oil got us where we are today, it is becoming increasingly clear that Big Oil will take us no further, and it will eventually (if it hasn't already) reach a point of diminishing returns if we continue to depend on it. We shouldn't continue to perpetuate the status quo just based on how many jobs it will provide - if we really are a nation of entrepreneurs, then what we should do is, when we move past the era of Big Oil (which we should do sooner rather than later), then we should be able to use that human capital in the new renewable industry, and if that doesn't provide enough jobs for everyone, then new entrepreneurs should use their intellect and innovation to develop new industries, and use the balance of that human capital to provide them jobs and advance those new technologies. It's the same thing with defense contractors - we only perpetuate a massive military-industrial complex so that congressmen can deliver jobs to their districts (watch "Why We Fight" for an explanation of this), but it's not necessary. We could certainly use those dollars, those manufacturing resources, and the human capital towards other means. Move forward, let old industries die, create new ones, and create new jobs!
Technology

Rumor Mill: Apple Pitching $30 TV Subscription Service Via iTunes to Networks

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.2.2009 5 Comments
The death of television and the advent of online-only programming has been upon us every week going back at least as far as the first Hulu stream, and perhaps much further depending on which rumor-monger blogs you subscribe to.

11.4.2009 at 02:33pm - Comment by hypnometal

I would think the cable companies would want to embrace this, because as has been stated, the cable companies can still offer broadband internet service for people to access iTunes and get their content. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't bother even considering DSL, because for that, you need a landline phone. But I have a cell phone, and I'm a household unto myself - what do I need a landline for? So I get my internet through the cable company.
Technology

Happy 40th Birthday, Internet! Five Milestones in the Ever-Evolving History of the Web

By Stuart Fox Posted on 10.29.2009 8 Comments
Yes, hard to believe, but it was 40 years ago today that the first two nodes of what would become Arpanet connected, thus beginning the Internet As We Know It. In the ensuing four decades, the Internet would change our world as profoundly as radio and the printing press had before it. So to celebrate, we’ve compiled five milestones in the Internet's young life.

10.30.2009 at 09:43am - Comment by hypnometal

What? No mention of advances in broadband technology? Or wi-fi networks? Or the "cloud?" Certainly there are more major milestones than just these!
Technology

Coming Soon: Non-Latin Character URLs

By Stuart Fox Posted on 10.27.2009 1 Comments
Since its inception, the World Wide Web has been dominated by English. Even websites that use a different language still use the Latin-character "www" format, with a URL spelled out with the English alphabet. Well, that domination will soon come to an end, as Icann, the committee that regulates the Internet, has begun finalizing steps towards approving web addresses in non-Latin characters.

10.28.2009 at 08:18am - Comment by hypnometal

This brings up a good question - how do those of us who are native English speakers type in oriental characters? If there's a site that's based out of Japan, or Russia, even if they include English content, will they use the Roman alphabet for the URL, or their own language?
Technology

Inventor of "Green Bricks" Wants To Build Series of Underground Tubes

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.27.2009 9 Comments
Forget about carrying cargo by truck, and instead imagine shuttling goods around inside a series of underground tubes. That's the hope of Henry Liu, a 73-year-old retired civil engineer and a past winner of PopSci's Inventions Awards for his environmentally safe green bricks.

10.27.2009 at 09:02am - Comment by hypnometal

This seems like it would be a tremendous undertaking, to get tubes criss-crossing the United States, and then how do you get them to the specific locations? Will they just build the tubes to connect central collection facilities (like, take all the packages going from New York to Chicago and put them in one tube) and then have smaller trucks to distribute them to the individual locations, or will it be more involved than that?
Technology

Bolivia Is the Saudi Arabia Of Our Battery-Powered Future

By Posted on 10.23.2009 13 Comments
Bolivia is primarily known for two things: being the poorest country in South America, and having a president with a terrible haircut. However, it might soon be known for a third thing: lithium. Turns out Bolivia has the world's largest reserves of the light metal, and according to Foreign Policy, that positions Bolivia as the Saudi Arabia of our carbon-less, battery-powered future.

10.26.2009 at 09:21am - Comment by hypnometal

If the lithium can be recycled, then that would be ideal, because we wouldn't be depleting resources, or at least not as quickly. The other alternative would be to continue research into new battery technologies that are both more efficient and more easily recycled. These might prevent the problems indicated in this article.
Science

WWF: We Have Until 2014 To Stop Global Warming

By Clay Dillow Posted on 10.23.2009 29 Comments
It’s no secret that the world is warming, but a new report published by the World Wildlife Fund suggests we may not have as much time to mull solutions as we think. If the world doesn’t commit to green technologies by 2014, the report says, runaway global warming and economic meltdown are all but unstoppable.

10.23.2009 at 08:50am - Comment by hypnometal

No doubt there will be skeptics of global warming that will try to debunk this report. But you know what? There are plenty of other valid reasons to switch to renewables. After the initial investment, renewables are just that - renewable, meaning that's that much cost you can save (just need to cover the costs of maintenance), and saving the electricity consumer and the automobile owner money will increase people's disposable income and help the economy. Furthermore, that can save us the need to get embroiled in geopolitical turmoil with petroleum producing nations, which can allow us to spend less money on the defense establishment and more money on things like universal health care, education, and scientific research. Never mind about renewable energy combatting climate change - renewable energy is simply the key to a saner society.
Cars

Next-Wave Mexico City Taxi Concept May See Daylight

By Posted on 10.20.2009 7 Comments
Industrial designer Alberto Villareal had an idea for a zero-emissions taxicab to replace the copious cabs of his home domicile: smog-choked Mexico City. He named the fuel-cell-powered taxi, which maximizes space while reducing weight and uses solar power to supplement its electrical system, MX-Libris. Officials at Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany thought MX-Libris was such a novel solution to the city's car-for-hire ills that they gave Villareal their coveted Red Dot design award in 2008. Now, Villareal says two Mexico-based companies -- a taxi distribution and management firm and a car body maker -- could be ready to build a prototype of MX-Libris, and maybe even put it into production.

10.21.2009 at 03:06pm - Comment by hypnometal

I looked at the images on the link, and it looks like this is just a cutaway to see what the inside looks like - the roof is actually solar panels. Plus the partition around the driver's seat is transparent, so it doesn't obstruct their vision.
Gadgets

MegaGoods 2009 Gallery: The Year's Hottest Products In One Place

By Posted on 9.22.2009 15 Comments

10.6.2009 at 08:20am - Comment by hypnometal

I am definitely agreed that all of these products are powerfully innovative, but how many of them are still in production? I think the OQO 2+ is a masterpiece of computer technology, but unfortunately now, the company is out of business, so no more of them will be produced. How many other items on this list is that true for?