StevenCarlson.org

"Intel has made progress in a technology that could lead to the wireless recharging of gadgets and..."

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:07:05 +0200

“Intel has made progress in a technology that could lead to the wireless recharging of gadgets and the end of the power-cord spaghetti behind electronic devices …. On Thursday, the chip maker plans to demonstrate the use of a magnetic field to broadcast up to 60 watts of power two to three feet. It says it can do that losing only 25 percent of the power in transmission.”

- Intel Moves to Free Gadgets of Their Recharging Cords - NYTimes.com

Just months before President Bush leaves office, his...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:17:56 +0200

Just months before President Bush leaves office, his administration is antagonizing environmentalists by proposing changes that would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether subdivisions, dams, highways and other projects have the potential to harm endangered animals and plants. The proposal, first reported by The Associated Press, would cut out the advice of government scientists who have been weighing in on such decisions for 35 years. Agencies also could not consider a project’s contribution to global warming in their analysis. (via The Associated Press: Bush wants some endangered species rules extinct

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If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you...

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:30:11 +0200

If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo Bay interrogation. A lifesize figure in a dark sweatshirt, the hood drawn low over his face, leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, his face covered by a towel and his body strapped down on a tilted surface. Feed a dollar into a slot, the lights go on, and Black Hood pours water up Orange Jumpsuit’s nose and mouth while Orange Jumpsuit convulses against his restraints for 15 seconds. O.K., kids, who wants more cotton candy! (via Coney Island Sideshow Has Guantánamo Waterboarding as Its Theme - NYTimes.com

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Much has been made of the whole “what do women want/what...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:07:56 +0200

Much has been made of the whole “what do women want/what do men want” thing. I think it’s actually pretty simple: Women want men to know what women want. And men want women not to want anything. Men and women … what they want If women must want something, men want them to want something easy to get. On the other hand, women want their men to go to great lengths for them. If a man gives a woman something he got with little effort — say, a bowling trophy he’s had since he was 20 — his woman may feel taken for granted. And he will have to buy her flowers to make up for it. (via Men and women … what they want - CNN.com

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In a landmark ruling, the Federal Communications Commission has...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:31:01 +0200

In a landmark ruling, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered Comcast to stop its controversial practice of throttling file sharing traffic. By a 3-2 vote, the commission on Friday concluded that Comcast monitored the content of its customers’ internet connections and selectively blocked peer-to-peer connections. (via Comcast Ordered to Allow Free Flow of File Sharing Traffic | Threat Level from Wired.com

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Rumors are flying this weekend that Mars Phoenix has made a...

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:58:56 +0200

Rumors are flying this weekend that Mars Phoenix has made a major discovery relating to the potential for life on Mars. Wired.com reached Sam Kounaves, the mission’s wet-chemistry lab lead, by cellphone this morning. He quickly directed us to speak with NASA’s PR representatives, but not before he said, simply, “Rumors are rumors.” (via Rumors Abound About ‘Potential for Life’ on Mars | Wired Science from Wired.com

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"The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States has risen to $8,000,..."

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:38:14 +0200

“The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States has risen to $8,000, compared with $3,000 early in the decade, according to a recent study of transportation costs. Big container ships, the pack mules of the 21st-century economy, have shaved their top speed by nearly 20 percent to save on fuel costs, substantially slowing shipping times. The study, published in May by the Canadian investment bank CIBC World Markets, calculates that the recent surge in shipping costs is on average the equivalent of a 9 percent tariff on trade. “The cost of moving goods, not the cost of tariffs, is the largest barrier to global trade today,” the report concluded, and as a result “has effectively offset all the trade liberalization efforts of the last three decades.””

- Shipping Costs Start to Crimp Globalization - NYTimes.com

From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii,...

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:35:38 +0200

From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii, jellyfish are becoming more numerous and more widespread, and they are showing up in places where they have rarely been seen before, scientists say. The faceless marauders are stinging children blithely bathing on summer vacations, forcing beaches to close and clogging fishing nets. (via Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans’ Decline - NYTimes.com

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Ronald Herberman, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:28:07 +0200

Ronald Herberman, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said users should not wait for definitive studies on the risk and should take action now. He said children should use mobiles in emergencies only and adults should try to keep the phone away from the head. No major academic study has confirmed a link to higher brain-tumour risks. (via BBC NEWS | Health | US cancer boss in mobiles warning

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1938: Douglas Corrigan claims his place in the annals of...

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:56:31 +0200

1938: Douglas Corrigan claims his place in the annals of aviation history when he “mistakenly” flies from New York to Ireland. With a single flight, Corrigan breaks the law, charms the Irish, becomes an American hero and earns an unforgettable nickname. (via July 17, 1938: ‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan Gets It Right

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"Family First Mortgage, a lender in Palm Coast, Fla., now out of business, laid people off by phone..."

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:58:26 +0200

“Family First Mortgage, a lender in Palm Coast, Fla., now out of business, laid people off by phone recording. The call began, “Thank you for calling Family First Mortgage Corp. If you have been directed to this voicemail box, your employment with Family First Mortgage Corp. has been officially terminated, effective immediately.””

- Loan Pains Turned Site Into a Hit - NYTimes.com

In gadget-head circles, one of this summer’s most buzzworthy new...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:14:55 +0200

In gadget-head circles, one of this summer’s most buzzworthy new products is the Pulse pen: a ballpoint that simultaneously records both your handwriting and the sound of the words you are transcribing. (via State of the Art - Digital Pens to Write on Any Paper - NYTimes.com

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Painfully visible are the inherent design deficiencies of a...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:23:33 +0200

Painfully visible are the inherent design deficiencies of a foundation that was never intended to support such weight. Windows seems to move an inch for every time that Mac OS X or Linux laps it. The best solution to the multiple woes of Windows is starting over. Completely. Now. (via Digital Domain - Why Windows Software Could Use a Rush of Fresh Air - NYTimes.com

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It’s a 2-gigabyte memory card ($100), compatible with most...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:47:22 +0200

It’s a 2-gigabyte memory card ($100), compatible with most digital cameras, with a twist: it has Wi-Fi networking built in. Each time you bring your camera home to your wireless network, it transmits your photos back to the computer, automatically and wirelessly. It can also upload them to Flickr, Picasa or another online photo-gallery site, automatically and wirelessly. (via State of the Art - Don’t Know Where You Are? Your Camera Can Tell You - NYTimes.com

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For centuries, in the closed-off and conservative society of...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:40:18 +0200

For centuries, in the closed-off and conservative society of rural northern Albania, swapping genders was considered a practical solution for a family with a shortage of men. Her father was killed in a blood feud, and there was no male heir. By custom, Ms. Keqi, now 78, took a vow of lifetime virginity. She lived as a man, the new patriarch, with all the swagger and trappings of male authority — including the obligation to avenge her father’s death. (via Albanian Custom Fades - Woman as Family Man - NYTimes.com

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A new wingless, saucer-shaped aircraft is scheduled to take to...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:47:46 +0200

A new wingless, saucer-shaped aircraft is scheduled to take to the skies. Just don’t call it a UFO. Subrata Roy, a scientist at the University of Florida, calls his aircraft a “wingless electromagnetic air vehicle,” or WEAV, and if it flies he says it could usher in a new age of aircraft design. (via Discovery News : Discovery Channel : Flying Saucer Craft Set to Fly

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It’s easy to be cynical about this new class of celebrity....

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:49:31 +0200

It’s easy to be cynical about this new class of celebrity. The lines between empowerment and self-promotion, between sharing and oversharing, between community and cliques, can be blurry. You can judge for yourself whether the following microcelebs represent naked ambition, talent justly discovered, or genius marketing. The point is that renown is no longer the exclusive province of a select few. Nano-celebrity is there for the taking, if you really want it. (via The Microfame Game and the New Rules of Internet Celebrity — New York Magazine

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"Chinese scientists claim some space fruit and veg are better than the original. The Vitamin C..."

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:03:28 +0200

“Chinese scientists claim some space fruit and veg are better than the original. The Vitamin C content in some vegetables is nearly three times higher and there is a marked increase in trace elements such as zinc. Yields of space rice are also 25 per cent higher. Research also shows that certain space breeds use proportionately less water than their more traditional predecessors so they could be perfect for arid areas.
To date China has bred more than 50 new species of plants and has plans to produce more than 200 new species.”

- MINA Breaking News - China grows ‘Super Vegetables’ with Seeds from Outer Space

Nokia is also positioning itself as a promoter of social...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:14:08 +0200

Nokia is also positioning itself as a promoter of social networking, with photo and video sharing and games for users of its cellphones. That is because Nokia predicts that in the next five years, mobile phone users will create 25 percent of the entertainment watched on so-called smartphones, like the iPhone and BlackBerries. (via An Unlikely Promoter Drives Nokia’s Push in Hollywood - Biography - NYTimes.com

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On Wednesday, LinkedIn will announce that it has raised $53...

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:38:32 +0200

On Wednesday, LinkedIn will announce that it has raised $53 million in capital, primarily from Bain Capital Ventures, a Boston-based private equity firm. The new financing round values the company at $1 billion. That heady valuation is more than the $580 million that the News Corporation paid for MySpace in 2005, but less than the $15 billion value assigned to Facebook last year when Microsoft bought a minority stake. (via At Social Site, Only the Businesslike Need Apply - NYTimes.com

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