Archive for December, 2010

Geeky Restaurant Puts Their Menu Inside a Periodic Table [Periodictable]

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

What's more nerdy? The fact that the restaurant is called the Miracle of Science Bar & Grill or that their menu is re-fashioned into a Periodic Table or that I really want to take a road trip to eat there? More »


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How would you change webOS 2.0?

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

Earlier this year, we asked how you'd change Palm's Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, both of which were launched with webOS 1.x. Needless to say, a lot can happen in three calendar quarters. Since, HP has swallowed Palm up, and webOS 2.0 has hit the wilds of our wondrous planet. The Pre 2 wasn't exactly the most enthralling device to launch the OS on, but it is what it is. And now, we're curious to know how you'd overhaul it if given the seat that Mark Hurd once resided in. Have you grown annoyed by any specific thing within webOS 2.0? Would you have tweaked the distribution process? Are you satisfied with developer participation? Would you alter certain things knowing that a nondescript webOS tablet was on the horizon? Go ahead and spend your last moments of 2010 in comments below -- who knows what the next year holds for this gem of a mobile OS.

How would you change webOS 2.0? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sushi Restaurant Uses Sushi Robots and Control Centers to Cut Costs [Restaurant]

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

Kura, a sushi chain, focuses on efficiency and turning a profit. So much so that they've eschewed traditional sushi chefs for sushi robots, a large staff of waiters for conveyor belts and restaurant managers for a control center with video link. More »


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The Weirdest Things That Get Dropped on New Years Eve [NewYearsEve]

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

If you thought dropping Snooki was weird, you haven't seen the rest of America. Some cities drop really weird things on New Years Eve. How weird? How about bologna, sausage, a drag queen, a bag of chips and a possum? More »


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Netflix and VUDU not hitting Boxee Box till January… as if you couldn’t have guessed

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

According to a post that's just gone live on Boxee's blog, users the Boxee Box won't see VUDU or Netflix content on their TVs until January. We know, the wait will be painful. According to the Boxee team, VUDU offerings should hit the platform as soon as next week, but Netflix won't be made available until the end of the month. The company claims that both services are up and running in its offices, but more time was needed to "test each application to make sure they are ready for launch." It's nice to know where we stand, though it would have been even nicer to get more frequent updates on the status of these apps, instead of a last-minute blog post on New Year's Eve.

Still, the post has equal touches of hopefulness for the bright future Boxee sees for home entertainment, and acknowledgment of the massive challenges the startup faces in the coming year. In their words, "As we get ready for the New Year tomorrow and CES next week, it's clear that in 2011 we will be competing with companies that spend more feeding their employees that we have to pay ours. We're confident though that our small team will continue to push the envelop of what people expect from their TVs." Here at Engadget, we're eager to see how it all plays out, but we're definitely rooting for underdogs like Boxee who have pioneered so much of what the world is just waking up to. 2011 is going to be a crazy year!

Netflix and VUDU not hitting Boxee Box till January... as if you couldn't have guessed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: iPhone alarms not working come New Year’s Day 2011

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

We're not exactly sure of the cause of this fancy new issue affecting Apple's super cool iPhone line of cellphones, but apparently you've got trouble come 1/1/2011. According to an explosive stream of frustration-filled tweets on the Twitter microblogging service, when the clock strikes midnight, one off alarms will cease to sing out. The issue sounds eerily similar to recent Daylight Savings Time trouble we witnessed back in November, although we saw both repeating alarm and single alarm failures.

So how can you fix this potentially life-ruining problem? Well until Apple patches its OS -- and it's currently unclear if this is just iOS 4.2.1 or earlier versions as well -- you can simply create a recurring alarm at the time you need to be woken up, and then disable it once your dreams are completely ruined. We're taking a deeper look into the issue and have contacted Apple -- if we get more news, you guys will be the first to know. In the meantime, feel free to commiserate in comments, and... happy new year?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PSA: iPhone alarms not working come New Year's Day 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Airport Security Officers Compete Against Each Other to Earn Cash Bonuses [Security]

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

The Washington Post wrote an interesting article regarding the TSA and the private security firms seeking to replace them. The Post found that workers of the private firms compete against each other in airport security-related games to win cash. More »


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This is your brain. This is your brain on video games

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

Sure, you've probably seen countless scientific studies involving video games -- but have you have you ever wondered what your brain actually looked like while your playing video games? Well, feast your eyes on the image above. That's an MRI scan of New York Times writer Matt Richtel's brain that was captured while he played a simple driving game -- all in the name of science (and journalism), of course. As Richtel notes, however, that's just one example of the ways researchers are using such technology to "map the ethereal concept of attention," and scientists have turned up some other interesting findings as of late. Researchers at the University of Utah, for instance, have found that people's ability to juggle two tasks begins to drop off in their 30s and then sharply drops in their 40s, which contradicts earlier suspicions that people's ability to multitask only began to degrade when they're much older. Some other researchers are still suspicious of those findings, however, and Dr. Gazzaley of the University of California at San Diego is quick to point out that all of this research is still in the earliest stages -- he's expecting some more detailed findings next year when his team expands their tests and begin to incorporate EEG monitoring as well.

This is your brain. This is your brain on video games originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What Tron Needed Was More Pussy… [Image Cache]

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

Olivia Wilde was good 'n all, but how much better would Tron: Legacy have been with this Catron? I think 698 per cent, on average. [Buzzfeed via Make] More »


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Via Motors E-REV hybrid trucks power your commute and the job site too (video)

Posted by Ry on Dec 31 2010 | Technology

Via Motors E-REV hybrid trucks power your commute and the job site too
Hybrid cars have officially jumped the shark, boring drivers from coast to coast as they smugly hypermile wherever they're going. Meanwhile, those with big trucks have been relatively out of luck, having to stop frequently for gas -- and to scrape the remains of those little hybrids out of their fender wells. That's changing soon, with Via Motors taking its rebranded Chevy trucks (dig that flying V on the grille) and offering them to fleets in 2011, with sales to individuals coming two years later (you can get in line now for $1,000 down). Big companies like, apparently, PG&E will be able to roll in these so-called E-REV trucks that offer either 20 or 40 miles of electric range, augmented by an onboard generator. Yes, it's a series hybrid layout similar in theory to the Volt, with the internal combustion engine charging the batteries which, in turn, send juice to the 268hp motor. Interestingly, though, that generator can power other things as well, providing 120 or 240V to tools, lights, maybe even hot tubs if you're a super cool contractor. No word on anticipated vehicle cost nor efficiency, but we're not expecting miracles on either front.

Continue reading Via Motors E-REV hybrid trucks power your commute and the job site too (video)

Via Motors E-REV hybrid trucks power your commute and the job site too (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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