• Gadgets

    R.I.P. [your gadget here]

    By Posted on 4.23.2008 4 Comments

    5.22.2008 at 06:11pm - Comment by holland6045

    i pods. yell at me all you want for being an apple hater, im damn proud of it. i pods are a fad and as all fads before they will eventually die. i phones are no exception. (if i had what i wanted apple would go the way of Enron but problly 3 years most likely more) oh and non flash hdd drives, with increasing flash technology they're inevitably going to go extinct within my lifetime. (4-5 years) next is standalone (desktop placed) mics for computers, i went to the store for one because i needed a mic with a really long cord that didn't knock out the use of my 5.1 surround and ended up having to go to 14 other stores before i even found one (1.4 years) (not done yet) drm music. enough said (not soon enough) and lastly for now, corded peripherals. i mean they're pretty much dead already. (2-3 years)

  • Technology

    DARPA's Amazing Robot Pack Mule Keeps its Balance On Ice

    By Posted on 3.17.2008 17 Comments

    Two years ago we showed you Boston Dynamics' incredible BigDog—one of the world's most ambitious legged robots—being developed for DARPA and the U.S. Army. With its advanced system of hyper-responsive hydraulic joints and a suite of sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes, the BigDog's most stunning achievement is it's ability to walk, climb and maintain its balance on diverse terrain, even after slipping on ice or receiving a kick to one side. All while carrying several hundreds of pounds of supplies on its "back."

    5.22.2008 at 05:37pm - Comment by holland6045

    one thing i have to say in response about the speed comment ealier (you know who you are) that was the main reason they added a gallop mode (speed mode in other words) if you keep an eye on the background you notice its moving a lot faster than if it were to just simply walk. and that stuff isn't light, a soldier would be slowed down to say...walking really slow if they tried carrying that hey some soldiers wouldn't even be able to walk and would collapse in about12 minutes or so (all personal estimates)

  • Technology

    Skydiving Legend to Attempt Highest Parachute Jump

    By Posted on 4.23.2008 3 Comments

    Burkhard Bilger last summer in the New Yorker wrote a fascinating profile of Michel Fournier, a retired French army parachutist who has spent quite a bit of his retirement and his savings on chasing the world record for highest parachute jump. The article is no longer online (there is an abstract) but it is well worth digging up from your local library. Fournier has attempted the jump a handful of times already, only to be foiled by last-minute snafus. As the profile explains, it is a tremendously complicated thing to hurl oneself out of a balloon basket at 130,000 feet. Quite a lot can go wrong.

    5.22.2008 at 04:49pm - Comment by holland6045

    ok personally breaking the sound barrier using nothing but gravity and your body sounds fun, my only problem ...er problems with it are : lack of air *fixable* being shattered at the cellular level if the parachute fails *not fixable* and that finding a parachute that can handle that would take forever.

  • Technology

    New Models for Moon Land-Grab

    By Posted on 5.19.2008 13 Comments

    Sure, you can sign up for a little piece of property on the Moon, but the little certificate you get in return won't mean anything. Now that the space tourism industry is starting to heat up, though, a few space lovers are calling for a plan to truly open up the lunar real estate business.

    5.22.2008 at 04:23pm - Comment by holland6045

    hey this may be a bit much but....how are you gonna deport them to earth? that would cost alot, unless say....its a death penalty.



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