David Lidsky's Blog, page 3263
May 13, 2014
Segway Inventor Creates Revolutionary Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Arm
The FDA has cleared the way for DEKA, Segway inventor Dean Kamen's company, to market a realistic, robotic limb that enables fine motor skills with just a thought.
Segway inventor Dean Kamen and his company DEKA have just secured FDA approval for a mind-controlled prosthetic arm that enables tasks as finely tuned as operating a zipper, opening locks, and wrapping a present.
This Creepy Gchat Clone Lets You Take Secret Webcam Photos Of Your Chatting Partner
Spyke is a curious hybrid--part social experiment, part art project--designed to make you conscious of what you look like while you're typing.
As ugly as Gchat is sometimes, it is still a wonderful way to share links with coworkers, test dumb jokes out before you tweet them, or even get a quick read on the state of your current friendships. But there is a thin veil of mystique attached to one-on-one chats, especially since, quite often, you can have no idea where the person currently is. Are they sitting in a cafe somewhere surrounded by other time-wasting freelancers? Or are they at home, curled up in bed in their underwear?
See What Your City Will Look Like Under Six Feet of Water
World Under Water, a Google Maps plug-in, shows you what your life could look like when sea levels rise.
We're all going to die. And so will our progeny, and our progeny's progeny, until the day that someone titrates the elixir of life in a billionaire's petri dish. Until then, though, we should probably keep an eye out for what's happening with sea level rise, which a recent White House report noted could increase six feet by the year 2100--and quite a bit during our lifetimes.
How The NSA Spies: A New Theory
An excerpt from Glenn Greenwald's new book details how the security agency infiltrates hardware to spy on threats overseas.
Sleuthing journalist Glenn Greenwald has a new book out today, and in it he brings new accusations about how the National Security Agency siphons up information on foreign targets. An excerpt published by his former employer the Guardian suggests, according to documents obtained by former cyberspy Edward Snowden, that the NSA "routinely receives" and "intercepts" routers, servers, "and other computer network devices being exported from the U.S." before they are delivered to international customers. Per the excerpt:
"Drones Watching": What Signs Will Look Like In The Not-So-Distant Future
The Signs of the Near Future Tumblr forecasts a dark future.
It's easy to look at today's technology through rose-colored glasses. The promises are tantalizing: Driverless cars are safer! Contact lenses could help diabetics! Drones deliver tacos!
13 Of The World's Coolest Treehouses
Pete Nelson, the world's premier treehouse designer/builder, takes you on a tour of the best treehouses and details his tricks of the trade so you can build your own.
Pete Nelson has one of those careers you might have fantasized about at age eight but never realized is really possible: he's the world's best-known treehouse designer and builder.
May 12, 2014
This Is What Happens When You Combine A Parrot Quadcopter With Oculus Rift
Bebop, Parrot's latest drone, can be controlled using an Oculus Rift headset.
Telepathically invading the consciousness of a flying crow, the way Bran Stark does to snoop on his enemies, may exist only in the realm of fantasy. But consumer drone maker Parrot has invented the next best thing: Over the weekend the company unveiled the Bebop, which can be tethered to an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
May 9, 2014
How This Startup's "Micro-School" Network Could Change The Way We Educate Now
With $33 million in the bank, AltSchool is looking to scale its "full-stack" approach--and the technology platform behind it.
Behold, on stage: a study in contrasts.
Plan G Helps A New Generation Of Young Philanthropists Measure Their Impact
Ordinary Americans give hundreds of billions to charity--it's up there with our spending on food and clothes. Now there's a better way to track it all.
Marti Beller spent 16 years running the largest loyalty company in the U.S.--it handled the programs of everyone from Chase to MasterCard--but by 2010, she was looking to try something different. That's when a friend in the nonprofit world said, "Why don't you take what you know about customer engagement and loyalty and apply it to the donor instead of the consumer?"
Foursquare Is Freezing All Mayorships To Prepare For Swarm
Nothing gold can stay.
Empires crumble and the sands of time sweep all away. And so it is that Foursquare is freezing all of its current mayorships and eliminating ousting, starting today. This means you may never get to hold Brenda H.'s throne atop your local laundromat.
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