From: Stewart Brand Subject: [SALT] Making plastic even better (Susan Freinkel talk) Date: May 24, 2012 "Plastic is so new, Freinkel began, that among all the objects preserved in the sunken Titanic, none are synthetic plastic, because there was hardly any available in 1912. Natural plastic, however, was a familiar material. Amber was popular. ...
Read More...

*A visit to Orhan Pamuk's new museum -- among other things. http://observatory.designobserver.com/rickpoynor/feature/the-strange-afterlife-of-common-objects/34238/ (...) "After my lecture, as I was about to set out in search of The Works, a French student approached me to mention a nearby museum called The Museum of Innocence, founded by the Turkish novelist and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk. It sounded marvelous and ...
Read More...

It's only been three months since the Pentagon's latest robot, one able to staple paperwork and answer phone calls with a single autonomous arm, showed off some of those amazing skills. Now, the freaky humanoid 'bot is back. And this time, he has two arms. And a name.
Read More...

The Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa had a surprise guest on Wednesday -- one that had some people scratching their heads. At a black-tie dinner following the day's panel discussions, product displays and tech demos, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived behind a phalanx of State Department and Special Operations Command security.
Read More...

Daniel Clowes may not be quite as cranky as the vinyl-loving fan of old-time music in the film adaptation of his Ghost World comic book, but the artist and writer shares the character's jaundiced view of newfangled technologies.
Read More...

When you think of mobile gaming, you probably imagine a game of Cut the Rope or Angry Birds -- tapping, flicking, touching your device's capacitive screen. But now there's a new way to play: with your mind, using the Mindwave Mobile headset.
Read More...

Wired Opinion: The flood of celebrity sexting has prompted folks to wonder, Why are so many famous people exhibitionists? The source of all this au naturel flaunting lies not in the culture of fame, but in the design of our sexual brains. Computational neuroscientist Ogi Ogas takes a look at our primal urge to expose ourselves.
Read More...

At the moment it's just an idea, but the Socialmatic camera proposes to turn the clocks back on the digital Instagram revolution by making a device that takes those cool, retro looking photos and actually prints them on paper instantly.
Read More...

Dennis Woodside is a loyal Google soldier -- and now he's been selected by the search company to run its new hardware arm, Motorola Mobility. The rationale? Woodside knows advertising, and mobile advertising is a Google weak point.
Read More...

 
Read More...

After 13 years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge opens.
Read More...

As automakers continue to load vehicles with the features and functionality people expect from their portable devices, the in-dash user interface has become a branding battleground ? and the Achilles? heel of the increasingly connected car.
Read More...

*You'd think that the really fascinating race here would be to come up with some quantum communication method that the Chinese can't hack with advanced persistent spearphishing. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27864/ "Just a couple of weeks ago, we discussed a Chinese experiment in which physicists teleported photons over a distance of almost 100 kilometres. That's almost an order of magnitude ...
Read More...

Now in its seventh year, the Woodstock of DIY continues to blow minds (and flames), with exhibits and presentations that range from silk screening to autonomous aerial vehicles to bio-fuels. We went to the Bay Area Maker Faire on Saturday in search of standout projects. Here's the best of what we found.
Read More...

*I'm leaving the mash-up implications as an exercise for the reader. http://senseye.net/ "The image captured by the front-facing camera of the smartphone or tablet is analyzed using computer-vision algorithms. Our software can then determine the location of the eyes and estimate where you're looking on the screen with an accuracy good enough to know which icon you're ...
Read More...

Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.
Read More...

My son had to build a trebuchet for a school science project. It turned into a case of trial and error -- and error. -- Adam Savage
Read More...

When Jamie Hyneman and I build hovercrafts for Mythbusters, I realized that these floating on-air vehicles were easy to make, not too expensive, and fun. So I built one with my kids. -- Adam Savage
Read More...

For five years, we at the GeekDad blog have been coming up with projects that dads (and moms!) can do with their families. For National GeekDad Day, we've culled a bunch of tips, tricks, and projects to help turn your offspring into GeekKids. Whatever your children's age, whatever your level of technical expertise, you'll find something here that will inspire you to have fun with them, educate them about geek values, and do your part to build a better future.
Read More...

Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman announced the layoff of 27,000 employees Wednesday, or 8 percent of the company?s workforce. The painful move is part of Whitman?s strategy to refocus the hardware and software giant to take advantage of what Whitman describes as, ?some of the biggest shifts in technology that I have seen in my career.?
Read More...

Yahoo introduces a visual search results iOS app and browser extension. Will it replace Safari as your iOS browser?
Read More...

When designer Briana Bolger-Schuth took a break from advertising work, she wanted to make art. She had no art studio, but she did have access to a new Epson inkjet. Working on a project one night, she says, "I suddenly thought, 'Hey, I wonder what would happen if I set these up as separations and ran the paper through each time for different colors?'"
Read More...

If keeping dairy products separate from meat sounds like a pain, try cultivating a "morally kosher atmosphere" on the internet. That's the challenge faced by Orthodox Jews, who recognize the internet's place in the business world but shudder at the "filth" found online.
Read More...

This is a live feed of SpaceX?s Dragon capsule in low Earth orbit approaching the International Space Station. The tactic is a crucial second step as SpaceX works to become the first private U.S. company to dock with the station.
Read More...

The current Google Doodle, a fully functioning web-based synthesizer in tribute to the late Robert Moog, prominently features a record button. Hundreds of cover songs are being recorded by users around the world using the Moog doodle -- here's a sampling of the best.
Read More...