Technology Category
Independent news, views, opinions and reviews on the latest gadgets, games, science, technology and research from Apple and more. It’s about the technologies that change the way we live, work, love and behave.
Let’s Buy The Terrestar-1 Satellite And Give Free Internet To The Forgotten Billions
WANNA buy a satellite? The Terrestar-1 satellite is up for grabs. Maybe.
The machine was designed to provide 2-GHz mobile voice and data communications, monitoring and messaging services throughout the US. And it might be up for sale.
TerreStar Networks Inc., the company that owns it has filed for bankruptcy on October 19, 2010.
TerreStar had $1.4 billion of assets and $1.64 billion of liabilities as of June 30, according to a quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The group A Human Right wants to get enough money to buy and use it to provide free internet to some of the 5 billion people on the planet who have never used the worldwide web. They argue that the web is a universal human right.
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Posted: 26th, November 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comment
Canada’s Industry Minister Calls For More Sex On The Internet
CANADA’S Industry Minister Tony Clement thinks about sex, sex and sex when he thinks about the Government’s digital drive.
As he tells telecoms workers in Ottawa:
“Simply put, we need more Canadian sex stories.”
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Posted: 24th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Google Street View Captures Live Birth: Uncanny
GOOGLE Street View has captured a live birth on its spy cams in Germany. You can drive super fast in Germany but still Google manages to capture images so interesting that they become viral hits on the web. We’ve already had the naked man and the dead dog. Now the birth. Uncanny.
Spotter: Gizmodo
Posted: 23rd, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Paul Chambers Timeline: IAmSpartacus And The Twitter Joke Trial
PAUL Chambers, of the Twitter Joke Trial, has instructed David Allen Green, head of media law at Preiskel & Co, and Ben Emmerson QC of Matrix Chambers, to represent him at the High Court.
A review of the matter that made a criminal of Paul Chambers and saw him fined £1,000.
6th January 2010:
Paul Chambers wants to take flight to see @crazycolours. He Tweets:
“Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
11th January 2010:
The Airport Duty Manager is searching Twitter for Robin Hood Airport (RHA). He is off duty. He finds the aforesaid Tweet. He thinks it is joke, probably. He sends it in a email to the Station Manager. The Station Manager labels it a “non-credible threat”. He then tells Special Branch, who are stationed at the Airport. The matter reaches the ears of Doncaster Police.
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Posted: 22nd, November 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comment
Samsung Wave Smart Phones
Sponsored post from Samsung
Technology is the future and mobile phones are certainly giving us a good impression of where that future is heading. We have all been amazed with recent smartphone technology such as the Samsung Wave. The Samsung Wave, or Samsung S8500, was released in June this year across the world. As a new mobile phone it has plenty to offer, such as touch screen capabilities, Hummingbird CPU and a camera phone. With such cool features as these, it’s almost impossible to not want to learn more about new smart phones, while their features and benefits make it all the more fun to understand just how far technology has advanced.
After all, the first communication devices were a miracle in their time, offering ways to talk over long distances. Now we have even more capabilities when you consider email, voicemail, text messaging and the internet. The question then becomes what do mobile phones like the Samsung Wave have to offer that is so much better than a standard mobile phone?
First of all, let’s take a look at its size. The Samsung S8500 has product dimensions of 56 mm x 118 mm x 10.9 mm. While it may not be the smallest smartphone out there, it certainly packs a punch when you consider all that it has inside like a camera, video, music and entertainment package. To fully understand the smartphone and its features it’s important to look at the full specs over the basic specifications.
The Samsung Wave works with a GSM and Edge Band platform with network data in three formats; GPRS, EDGE and 3G. The Samsung S8500 operating system uses the new Bada OS, which has not been launched with any other phone, including the Samsung Galaxy S, also known as Samsung i9000.
The Samsung Wave comes with Dolfin Browser 2.0, Java MDP2.1 and a SAR value of .49. The technical information can seem a tad complicated, but it essentially means you have a powerful phone able to operate a variety of Samsung applications. To further enhance the phone, Samsung developed the full touch bar design with easy-to-work touch screen. This screen is 3.3 inches wide with .38 megapixel resolution and a 24 bit display, providing users with a super AMOLED screen. AMOLED screens enhance the brightness and the graphics, which boost the display’s overall appeal.
As part of the phone a standard battery with a life of 15 hours is provided. Battery life is imperative when one considers the amount of power it takes for various applications. The talk time can be cut down when the phone is used for online or camera functions. It should also be made apparent that 15 hours of time is with the use of 2G technology, cutting the 3G hours down to seven.
The camera feature on the Samsung Wave is five megapixels with a digital/optical zoom of x4. There is an LED flash with autofocus capabilities on the Samsung S8500. This means it has plenty of shot modes, like single, beauty, smile, continuous, sunset, indoor and autumn colour to heighten the user’s photo-taking experience. Photo effects such as black and white, negative, watercolour and sepia are provided to improve an image before it is sent.
Video capabilities add to the smart phone’s technology when you notice it has up to 720p recording capabilities, messaging, streaming video, telephony and wallpaper options. Music and sounds are part of the Smartphone’s offerings with poly ringtones, MP3 ringtones, 3D sound technology and the ability to create a music library.
Further options on the Samsung S8500 include fun and entertainment offerings such as the ten games included in the package software, wallpaper choices, mobile TV, podcasting, FM Radio, recording and FM radio RDS.
All of these features still won’t give you a full impression of the benefits the Samsung Wave has to offer. They are just a portion of what one may find useful in any smartphone, including the Samsung S8500. After all, many of us purchase new smart phones for their business and office benefits. As part of the package, the Samsung Wave comes with the Picsel Document Viewer, mobile printing, flight mode and voice memo modes. When you add in features such as email, texting, and photo messaging combined with Bluetooth technology, the benefits list just gets longer.
The Samsung Wave has only been on the market for a little while, but already stores are seeing a significant demand for this smartphone model. The benefits combined with its many features allow users to do almost everything from a phone that they would have done on a computer. In fact, they may even discover that they’re able to do more.
Posted: 18th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
George The Robot Built From A Wellington Bomber Is Alive
TONY SALE created George the Robot in 1950. He was 19. George the Robot is made from bits of a crashed Wellington Bomber (a killing machine) and scrap metal at RAF Debden.
George’s jaw moves to make it look like he is talking. Says Mr Sale:
“He went in to my garage and stayed there for 45 years.”
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Posted: 17th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
How Capitalism Ruined Net Neutrality: 4chan, Wikileaks And Pirate Bay Are Doomed
TIM Berners-Lee, Sir Tim invented the world wide web. He did not seek to own it. Net neutrality was the byword. And then corporate America appeared. Big companies created big business of trying to own the web, and set about convincing you that without them the internet would be a rubbish place. And then Google and Verizon set about creating a system whereby they can control what you see on the web.
Will 4Chan be visible? Will Wikileaks not work as fast as it should?
Do the Google approved pages load faster than others? Do the pages they don’t want to to see take an age to load?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee said in 2010:
“…there are a lot of companies who would love to be able to limit what webpages you can see, and governments would love to be able to slow down information going down to particular sites”… We can never spend enough time fighting for the neutrality of the underlying network,” said Sir Tim.
A Note to Google Users on Net Neutrality:
The Internet as we know it is facing a serious threat. There’s a debate heating up in Washington, DC on something called “net neutrality” – and it’s a debate that’s so important Google is asking you to get involved. We’re asking you to take action to protect Internet freedom.
In the next few days, the House of Representatives is going to vote on a bill that would fundamentally alter the Internet. That bill, and one that may come up for a key vote in the Senate in the next few weeks, would give the big phone and cable companies the power to pick and choose what you will be able to see and do on the Internet.
Today the Internet is an information highway where anybody – no matter how large or small, how traditional or unconventional – has equal access. But the phone and cable monopolies, who control almost all Internet access, want the power to choose who gets access to high-speed lanes and whose content gets seen first and fastest. They want to build a two-tiered system and block the on-ramps for those who can’t pay.
Creativity, innovation and a free and open marketplace are all at stake in this fight. Please call your representative (202-224-3121) and let your voice be heard.
Thanks for your time, your concern and your support.
Eric Schmidt
Posted: 17th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (2)
EDL Facebook Fans Call For Death To Muslims: Waissel And Alibhai-Brown Go Free
KATIE Waissel and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown are targeted by the internet gods: Waissel is hit by savage keystrokes from X Factor fans; Alibhai-Brown is the subject of a stoning joke by a Tory Councillor Gareth Compton.
The police investigate the Waisell threats. Compton is under investigation by the police. He has been arrested under section 127(1a) of the 2003 Communications Act for sending an offensive or indecent message. He has been bailed pending further inquiries. Compton is also suspended from the Conservative Party. He’s a barrister, so any criminal proceedings could severely damage his career.
The row began after Yasmin Alibhai-Brown appeared on a BBC radio programme and argued Britain’s politicians had no right to condemn human rights abuses such as stoning in other countries, because of the country’s record in Iraq. Coun Compton sent a message saying: “Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really.”
The TV show starlet and the media commentator make it into the news, naturally. But one internet death campaign you won’t have read about in the mainstream media is the one aimed at the Priapic Islamists who on Remembrance Day made a point of standing on London’s Exhibition Road (indeed) to yell and burn a giant poppy (in your face, Cherie Blair). The leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, was arrested in the melee.
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Posted: 16th, November 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comments (3)
Bognor Regis Man Jailed For Racist YouTube Videos
GARETH Hemingway, 29, of Bognor Regis, and not Anwar al-Awlaki, not even Erika Winchester has been jailed for posting racist videos on YouTube.
At Leeds Crown Court, Hemingway is sent down for15 months.
In his video, Hemingway called for a “racial holy war“, centred on Dewsbury.
Says the Crown’s brief Stuart Laidlaw:
“Gareth Hemingway decided to use the very public forum of YouTube to distribute videos of racist and inflammatory nature which he had edited, and which were designed to provoke violence against ethnic minorities, particularly those living in Dewsbury.
“They called for a ‘racial holy war’, described acts of violence and made supportive references to far right groups such as Combat 18 and Patriots of White European Resistance.”
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Posted: 15th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Google Sets Fire To US Flag On Veterans Day And Insults Muslims
IS Google in the thrall of a powerful – yet subtle – Muslim force that governs our minds? The Veterans’ Day Google icon shows a red crescent peeking out from beneath the US flag. (Is the flag on fire?)
It’s the bottom of the obscured letter ‘e’. But it looks a bit like the foot of a red crescent. And who loves the crescent? Yeah, those Muslims do (and the boy at the start of the Dreamworks films who fishes from a crescent moon. And -yes! – Dreamworks is run by Jews. The conspiracy deepens and deepens…)
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Posted: 12th, November 2010 | In: Key Posts, Technology | Comment (1)
The Airbus 340-600 Toulouse Crash In Photos: They Didn’t Read The Manual
DID the Airbus 340-600 crash in Toulouse because no one read the manual?
It’s from 2007. But worth repeating:
THIS brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger aeroplane ever built, sits just outside its hangar in Toulouse, France without a single hour of airtime.
Enter the flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi.
The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area.
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Posted: 11th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (5)
Make calls like your grandad did. Retro phone for your laptop/iPad
As any fool knows it is now much cheaper to use your computer (and Skype) to make long distance phone calls than it is actually ringing someone up in the time-honoured fashion. Trouble is most PC microphone/speaker combis are cheap, nasty and ugly.
Step forward then Native Union which has today launched the Moshi Moshi ‘POP’ handset for mobile phones.
Designed by French bloke David Turpin, the retro style handset is based on his interpretation of the classic 1950s Bakelite telephone and it works with pretty much anything that has a 3.5mm jack (so laptops, iPad and even mobile phones). It is available in pink, yellow, purple, blue and green.
More info here
Posted: 8th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (2)
Mini-Pigs Are New Lab Rats: Little Porkers Save Mankind
MINI-pigs are the new lab rats. You monkeys can still get your ciggies. But the pigs get first dubs on the harder drugs. The mini pigs are the EU’s preferred lab animals. Finally, a creature you can eat. Watch out of pills and injections flavoured with apple sauce…
Spotter: MyFoxNews
Posted: 8th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Brian Blessed Is The Booming Voice Of Your SatNav
ANORAK usually eschew PR driver (unless you pay), but when we heard that Brian Blessed is the new voice for Tom Tom Sat Nav we looked again.
Brian Blessed does the actor’s voice all the time. He boombs to reach the back of the room. You are stood two feet away and still he booms.
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Posted: 5th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (3)
Cayman Islands Beat Wales To .cym Domain Name
WALES has been beaten by the Cayman islands. The .cym domain name will not be used to identify Welsh sites. The Cayman Islands have secured the rights.
Cayman beats dragon. Win!
The matter went to the UN. And they ruled that because Wales is not a state – it’s is part of the UK – and the Cayman islands stand alone, the Caribbean outposts wins.
Partriotic Welsh netizens can thank the England once more…
Posted: 5th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
London Olympics: £9 Billion To Create The New Hoxton
CAN the geeks, nerds and hipsters find use for the infrastructure being erected around the Olympic site in East London? Prime Minister David Cameron looks East and sees a Silicon Valley:
“Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and energy of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic park to help make east London one of the world’s great technology centres.”
Andrew Owlowski explains:
What Cameron refers to is slightly different. The companies around Hoxton are not technology companies – they’re service companies that are parasitic upon private enterprise, and represent a cost of doing business, rather than new businesses or business sectors.
Nine billion pounds to create a New Hoxton in the windswept east. Bargain…
Posted: 4th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Metaflex Gives You The Invisibility Cloak Your Dirty Mind Craves
METAFLEX is the material that manipulates light and gives you the invisibility cloak you’ve always dreamed about owning.
Anorak has run the technology by our readers. The male spokesman writes:
I have run the possibility of this past the Lads here and not one can think of a use for it that doesn’t involve Changing Rooms, Bare naked Ladies and scaring the living shit out of people in the dark
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Posted: 4th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (2)
Formula Rossa Photos: The World’s Fastest Roller Coaster Helps Your Inner Saddo
THE worlds’ fastest roller-coaster has opened in Abu Dhabi. The150 miles per hour Formula Rossa salves the inner saddo by sitting you in a mock Ferrari chair at Ferrari World and then hurtling you forward at 7 G’s. It’s the toddler ride for grown ups.
The ride is 2.07 kms long and completed in under 90 seconds. If course, this is a glimpse of the future when we’re all in robot-cars and driving down laser tracks…
The Greatest Roller Coaster Pictures Ever
Posted: 4th, November 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Why iPad Magazine Apps Fail
KHOI Vinh looks at iPad magazine apps. Are they any good? Anorak has been offered chance to create one. Also for our Pies football site and Stylebrity, the fashion site run by a former stylist to the stars? Would it be worthwhile? (If you want to help, get in touch. Right now, I’m not sure):
My opinion about iPad-based magazines is that they run counter to how people use tablets today and, unless something changes, will remain at odds with the way people will use tablets as the medium matures. They’re bloated, user-unfriendly and map to a tired pattern of mass media brands trying vainly to establish beachheads on new platforms without really understanding the platforms at all.
The fact of the matter is that the mode of reading that a magazine represents is a mode that people are decreasingly interested in, that is making less and less sense as we forge further into this century, and that makes almost no sense on a tablet. As usual, these publishers require users to dive into environments that only negligibly acknowledge the world outside of their brand, if at all – a problem that’s abetted and exacerbated by the full-screen, single-window posture of all iPad software. In a media world that looks increasingly like the busy downtown heart of a city – with innumerable activities, events and alternative sources of distraction around you – these apps demand that you confine yourself to a remote, suburban cul-de-sac.
Posted: 31st, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment (1)
Jade Goody Facebook Troll Jailed For Mocking Mourn Porn With Necrophilia Gags
COLM Coss, 36, is the Facebook Legend who posted offensive messages on Facebook sites dedicated to dead people like Jade Goody and John Paul Massey, a Liverpool boy mauled to death by a dog. Some posts claimed he’d had sex with the dead person’s remains. Her didn’t. His lies got him an invite to Manchester Magistrates Court. After short hearing he is sentenced to 8 weeks jail for sending “malicious communications”.
He “preyed on bereaved families” for his “own pleasure“.
The BBC tells us:
Unemployed Coss was only caught when he sent residents on his street photos of himself saying he was an internet “troll”. One of the residents passed the photos to police who interviewed him before he eventually admitted to posting abusive messages.
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Posted: 29th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
James Bond’s DB5 Sells: In Photos
JAMES Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 from the films Goldfinger and Thunderball has been sold at auction for £2.6 million at Battersea Evolution in London by RM Auctions. Owner Jerry Lee kept the guns and bullets…
9686270
Posted: 28th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Teen Who Punched Cat To Death Caught On Facebook
TODAY’S animal hating Facebook legend is the 15-year-old schoolboy (we can’t name him for legal reasons) who punched a 12-year-old cat called Oliver to death in Droylsden, Greater Manchester.
The killer then went onto his Facebook page and wrote:
“How ill was tht dig when I dropped tht cat B4. Hahaha.”
“I booted 1 in the head B4.”
(Facebook is not Twitter. You have time and space to talk. Vent. Use vowels. And try not to repeat yourself – ‘tht’ can get tired.)
Well, in truth the cat slapper did not know that the cat was dead when he hit it. Oliver managed to make it back to his home where he went upstairs and died. When officers arrested the boy, he said:
“I’m sorry.”
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Posted: 27th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
Meet Charatter the cute Robot reads your tweets aloud
If you follow five million people on Twitter keeping up with their news links and updates about breakfast cereals can be mighty tricky.
Fortunately the Japanese have come to the rescue with the Charatter.
On sale for just $25 here, the Charatter speaks your tweets as they arrive, which is probably great comedy value for the first day or two but gets a little wearing after that.
You can see video of the Charatter verbalising a Japanese Twitter stream here.
Via ImpressWatch and Dvice
Posted: 26th, October 2010 | In: Reviews, Technology | Comment
Google Mortified Over Street View Data Harvest: Governments Jealous
GOOGLE Street View takes photos your stuff and sticks it on the internet. It’s the Pavement Paparazzi. And that’s not all. Google Street View can also take your passwords and emails from home computers using antennae enabled to scan for wireless networks. It has downloaded information from networks not protected by a password.
Google executive Alan Eustace says in a blog post:
“I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. We are mortified by what happened…
“We’re acutely aware that we failed badly.”
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Posted: 24th, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comments (2)
Sexy Anna Chapman Is Yours To Play With For 99 Cents (Photos)
ANNA Chapman, the femme fatale Russian spy with the looks of a mid-ranking Russian tennis player is not only posing with his arse out for Maxim but launching an iPhone app in which punters can play with her for 99cents. No – play poker with her. Tsk!
In any case, capitalism wins! AGAIN…
The Past
The Shoot
Posted: 21st, October 2010 | In: Technology | Comment
