Imagine a future. A near future where everyone has all the latest gadgets. One where iPhones fall from trees, MP3 players are rectally inserted at birth, and Disney monitors your children’s every movement via OnStar. Phones run for 12 hours at a time on a single charge and have cancer-curing batteries. American-designed hybrid cars get […]
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Google And Dropbox Change How We Think About Attached Files
The agony of having to collaborate with people using email attachments is widespread. You receive an email from someone with an Excel workbook attached and need to make edits before sending it back. Now, you have to save the file, make your edits, and then reattach it to a new email. I’ve done this and […]
Israel’s Iron Dome — Remote Controlled Defense Proves Its Value
If the military conflicts of the last decade have taught us anything, it’s that the computer is one of the most dangerous weapons in the history of warfare. Computers have proven invaluable in offensive and defensive systems, simplified the gathering of real time intelligence, and have granted militaries with the technology that has the ability […]
Shining A Light On A Shifting Paradigm
It was the middle of my family’s big October cookout/pumpkin-carving extravaganza. Some time after dark, between half-burnt hot dogs and whole-burnt marshmallows, my seven-year-old nephew Owen lost something on the ground and shouted “DOES ANYBODY HAVE A FLASHLIGHT APP?” We laughed, and so did he after we explained it to him, but it got me […]
HackRF: One Radio To Rule Them All
Many years ago, I was challenged by a coworker to come up with a way to open a garage door with a cellular phone. My proposed solution involved a computer, an internet connection and an X10 home automation device. A simple phone app could send a signal to the computer’s IP that would tell the […]
Review: PlayLater, The Internet DVR
MediaMall has long been thinking about streaming video on the internet. Back in 2004, CEO Jeff Lawrence developed the idea for PlayOn, a service that allows internet video to be viewed in an optimized way by streaming it to devices that allow you to watch it where you like, such as using a networked Wii […]
My Recent Jetpack Moment
My friends like to joke that they’re bitter because it’s the 21st century and we don’t have our jetpacks. The 21st century is damn different from how it was portrayed in the media of our childhood; The Jetsons have a lot to answer for. However, “different” doesn’t mean bad. I made a recent long […]
The Invisible Bicycle Helmet Is Here
Take a preliminary glimpse at the photos of the new invisible bike helmet and you just might believe this new invention is a hoax, a too-cool piece of technological fiction meant to taunt the simultaneously safety- and fashion-conscious. Bike enthusiasts, cycling commuters, and helmet haters everywhere rejoice – it’s real. Hövding (the official name of […]
City of Philadelphia Shoots Privacy In Foot With New App
Want to know who got turned down for a gun permit? Turns out that there’s an app for that, at least in Philadelphia. There, the Department of Licenses and Inspection decided to release a web app that shows an insane amount of detail, on a handy-dandy, easy to use map. You can use the map […]
Millions Agree: Ouya Is The Console Gaming Needs
I’m a skeptic, so I’m not going to come right out and say I love something that doesn’t even exist yet. But man, I love Ouya. I really do. At least, I love the promise of Ouya. I love Ouya’s potential. Because I love indie games. I love Steam and the Playstation Store. I love […]