technology

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And you thought your paycheck was small...

According to the ever-fantastic MIT Technology Review, Hewlett-Packard has just created a wireless chip, which is half the size of a grain of rice, that can hold up to 4 megabits of information. If you're anything like me, and numbers mean nothing to you, that's equal to a couple of minutes of audio files, short video clips, or even hundreds of pages of text. Insanity! Even crazier is the fact that the chip, dubbed the Memory Spot, has a tiny antenna to transmit the information wirelessly,... READ ON

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Tourist Remover Gets Rid of Pesky Stragglers

I was checking out the Raw Feed today, and saw a pretty fun photo tool for anyone who's ever tried to capture a popular landmark, but got stuck with random people cluttering their shots. The Tourist Remover, a free online service from FutureLAB, removes all the annoying folks who wander into your frame at the last minute. Essentially, what you do is feed the software a couple of images of the same landmark, and the Remover does the rest! It recognizes what/who shouldn't be in there, and creates a... READ ON

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Let's Go Fly a Cursor!

If you're a freak for desktop graphics and computer symbols (like I am!), then you absolutely need to get your hands on Tim Elverston's new Cursor Kite. That's right, the pics above aren't the work of a Photoshop hack, but instead an actual flyable kite fitted with "invisible fittings, quad-line control and opposed-bow tensioning to allow the asymmetrical shape" to soar with the best of "˜em. And while I have no doubt that the things could come in extremely... READ ON

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Is this how we'll take medication in the future?

According to the New Scientist Inventions Blog (which scours US patent applications for interesting finds), Hewlett-Packard is attempting to help control prescription drug abuse by creating an inhaler/printer that can be placed on a patient's tongue to deliver medications. The print head is supposedly similar in design to that of an ink jet, and the drugs are also contained in replaceable cartridges, not unlike those that contain ink. So, aside from the novel dispenser-aspect of it, what makes... READ ON

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Oodles of Googles

CNN is outing one of the Internet's best-known artists today. While the name Dennis Hwang probably doesn't mean anything to you (no offense if you happen to be Dennis Hwang's mother), you've almost certainly seen the 28-year old's artwork: Hwang's the guy that draws all those fancy Google logos celebrating everything from Michelangelo's birthday to National Library Day. And what a guy! According to the CNN piece, Hwang was actually an art major in college,... READ ON

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Idea request: About that origins book...

What do you want to be in it? If you've ever wondered who invented putt-putt or how a creature as gawky as a giraffe came to be, you're in luck -- we're working on an entire book devoted to the bizarre beginnings of stuff you might take for granted today. Right now we're making a list of topics, from "asteroids" to "zippers," we might like to include. So far we've got: * condoms (the guy who came up with them got the idea from sausage casings) * spam (the somewhat-edible kind and the e-mail kind)... READ ON

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Stupid websites that made people rich

It's amazing how many bad website ideas have made people rich. WeirdTechNewsHub has a list of the top 10. From the Million Dollar Homepage (1 million pixels of advertising space for $1/pixel) to SantaMail (pay $10 and Santa will send your child a letter from a North Pole postal address) to Doggles (goggles for dogs), people apparently have too much money to spend. The list will make you laugh and cry (because you didn't think of these terrible ideas... READ ON

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Scout's Honor

According to the New York Times, Hong Kong authorities are relying on Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and "nine other uniformed groups" to turn in anyone trading or downloading pirated songs or movies off the net. Dubbed the "Youth Ambassadors," 1,600 vigilantes age 9-25 will pledge their allegiance and willingness to reveal offenders in a giant stadium ceremony.Â Of course, there is some incentive. Not only will government ministers be in attendance, but Hong Kong film and pop... READ ON

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Big Brother Wants to Chat

According to The Times of India, the Chinese government is reverting to the same PR tactics used by dot com's in the 90's. They've enlisted a band of carefully-selected undercover operatives to go into chat rooms, and basically defend and glorify government policies on any boards where there's dissent. But what's the value in turning The Peoples' frown emoticons upside down? Posing as "ordinary netizens," the special forces are expected to guide public... READ ON

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Magic Cans

Beer drinkers have been dreaming about self-cooling cans for years now. And it looks like they're finally going to get what they've been begging for - a can that drops a beer's temperature by 30 degrees Fahrenheit in three minutes! Tempra Technology has partnered with Crown Holdings, one of the biggest beverage-can producers in the world, to make this amazing can available in the coming months.... READ ON