Posted on 31 March 2007 by
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
MIT’s brainiacs aren’t exactly new to the world of partying, and now scientists at the MIT Media Lab have invented a way to “reversibly silence brain cells using pulses of yellow light.” The presumably rave-inspired pulsing design offers up the prospect of “controlling the haywire neuron activity that occurs in diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease,” which could theoretically lead to the creation of “optical brain prosthetics to control neurons, eliminating the need for irreversible surgery.” Aside from being thrilled that this stuff could help us avoid dodgy robot-led surgeries, it could also help gamers who tend to suffer from epileptic fits when dealing with those head-mounted displays. Additionally, the team is also looking at utilizing the new system to more effectively study neural circuits, but considering that this technology has the ability to “exert exquisite control” over individual neurons within you dome, we certainly hope Big Brother doesn’t get ahold of this.
[Via Slashdot]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Darren Murph
Posted on 31 March 2007 by
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
First designed by airline pilot Fredrik Johansson all the way back in 2004, the newly-named and self-descriptive Centerfold guitar is now finally seeing the light of day courtesy of DeVillian Guitar Co., with the company now accepting orders for the flip-and-fold axe. According to the company, that portability doesn’t come at the expense of quality, with the guitar supposedly staying in tune throughout the whole contortion process, and high-end components used to ensure you’ll get your money’s worth. We certainly hope that’s the case, as you’ll have to drop a full $3,370 for the pleasure of tossing one of these in your backpack.
[Via Wired: Gadget Lab]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Donald Melanson
Posted on 31 March 2007 by knologies
Filed under: Gaming
The Nintendo DS may currently have the better reputation for educational-related activities, with Brain Age and similar titles molding minds young and old alike, but a school in England looks to be doing its best to sway things in the PlayStation Portable‘s favor, announcing that’s it’ll soon begin employing some of the handheld’s non-gaming functions to take the place of old school textbooks. According to The Daily Mail, some 30 students will be given PSPs as part of the pilot program, which apparently could be expanded nationwide if it proves to be successful (one sure way to boost sales). While we’re all for putting the PSP to some non-intended uses, we can’t help but think that the school is overlooking some of the educational benefits of the PSP’s gaming options. After all, you never know when the life skills learned from guiding all those LocoRocos to safety may come in handy.
[Via The Inquirer]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Donald Melanson
Posted on 31 March 2007 by
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
While most of the world simply takes what everyone else says at face value, there’s always been a dark market for inconspicuous lie-detecting gadgetry for the overly paranoid, but researchers at Cornell University are hoping to take lie-detection to the next level by carefully analyzing emails and SMS messages for fibs. In a three-year effort to “compile a list of indicators of written deception,” the team drew from some “40 years of research in linguistics and lies, including recent work in the context of computer media and reviews of Enron emails.” By carefully inspecting word choices, verb tenses, and a variety of other textual factors, the software can purportedly use “contextual parameters” to spot lies, and they hope to market the goods to police agencies, upset spouses, and of course, corporate ethics committees.So if you’re ever-so-suspicious significant other (or mischievous youngster) has just recently put down the Skype headset in favor of pounding out emails, rest assured, help is on the way.
[Via TechDirt, image via Cornell]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Darren Murph
Posted on 31 March 2007 by
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming
Once again, we’re a far cry from PS3-Linux-easy, but those 360 kids seem rather hard to dissuade. The latest development on the XeLL bootloader front is that you no longer need a serial cable hooked up for executing the boot loader, all you need is a 360 set up for running burned DVDs, a modified version of the King Kong disc — you’ll want the original game, Windows and a DVD burner to get that together — and of course a Live CD with XeLL and your Linux distro all prepped to go. By now we’re sure we don’t need to tell you that this is limited to those lucky 4532 and 4548 kernels, but if you’ve got all of the above ingredients, plus a little bit of patience and complete disregard for warranty voidance, it looks like Linux on the 360 is within your reach at last. Peep a video after the break of the previous version of XeLL doing its thing.
Continue reading Hacking Linux onto your 360 just got a wee bit easier
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Paul Miller
Posted on 30 March 2007 by knologies
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals
We know, energy without wires has always seemed like one of those novel concepts that sounds terrific in theory, but remains a tad difficult to imagine hitting the commercial scene for some time to come. Apparently, all that is about to become nonsense, as a Pennsylvania-based startup is set to capture the wireless-loving hearts of, um, everyone when it tackles contactless power products. Powercast has already “signed nondisclosure agreements to develop products with more than 100 companies (Philips, for instance), including major manufacturers of cellphones, MP3 players, automotive parts, temperature sensors, hearing aids, and medical implants.” The firm’s radio-wave-receiving miracle device trumps existing attempts by “adjusting to variations in load and field strength while maintaining a constant DC voltage,” essentially ensuring that only low wattages (read: the stuff that garners FCC admiration) are flung around. The system basically consists of two parts — a wall-plug transmitter and a “dime-sized receiver” that handles the real magic — and energy is instantly transmitted whenever that disc comes within a yard or so of its tag-team partner. Incredibly, the receiver only costs “about $5″ to produce, yet the outfit has already secured upwards of $10 million in private funding, which translates into one less American that desperately needs to win the lottery. Get ready folks, if all goes well, Powercast will be shipping “many millions of units” by the end of 2008 — and maybe even sooner.
[Via TWW]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Darren Murph
Posted on 30 March 2007 by knologies
Filed under: Cellphones, Features, Gaming, Podcasts
Sure, the Xbox 360 Elite was finally announced, but we’ve got a fair bit of interesting cellphone news this week, too. Check out Samsung’s UpStage, finally launched; or the long-awaited Helio Ocean dual-slider QWERTY featurephone — not bad eh? And then HTC had a whole slew of gear, too, from their first UMPC to the Advantage’s US launch. We won’t only be talking about cellphones this week, but if you’re not down with mobile gadgets then you might want to snag our enhanced RSS and skip some chapters, because we’ve got some CTIA stuff to catch up on.
Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[RSS OGG] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in OGG) to your RSS aggregator.
Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Solvent – Instructograph (Ghostly International)
Program:
00:50 – Xbox 360 Elite and 120GB drive now official
07:22 – The Helio Ocean
12:31 – Sprint announces Samsung UpStage, 99 cent songs over the air
17:15 – HTC Shift — the cellphone company finally goes UMPC
19:46 – HTC Advantage coming to US… under the HTC brand
23:29 – HTC 6800 / Titan hands-on
25:36 – HTC S720 vs Vox and TyTn hands-on
26:02 – Hands-on with the Samsung Ubicell
34:15 – How-to: Upgrade the drive in your Apple TV
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Trent Wolbe
Posted on 30 March 2007 by knologies
Filed under: Gaming
If you’ve been attempting to break into your local multiplex after hours ever since you saw that original Wii-in-a-theater video, here’s something that could help put on the right side of the law, while still satisfying those big screen urges. Norwegian Cruise Line has outfitted its newest ship and its whole NCL America fleet with Wii systems galore, including setups for the kids, various public rooms, and that uber-screen in the atrium pictured above. The cruise line will offer up tournaments and other activities, and also says that “Cheering, yelling and high-fives will be highly encouraged.” Pah, as if we needed the company of others to enjoy all that glorious square footage.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Original post by Paul Miller
