Monthly Archives: July 2008

California said Thursday it planned to sue the US government for failing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from ships, aircraft, construction and agricultural equipment. In the latest legal threat from the state against the Environmental Protection Agency, California’s Attorney General … Continue reading →

Scientists working to help astronauts regain balance after extended flights in zero gravity say they’ve found a way to use the research to help elderly people avoid catastrophic falls. An “iShoe” insole contains sensors that read how well a person … Continue reading →

Hangar One, the onetime airship station that has long symbolized California’s Silicon Valley, won’t be destroyed after all. The US Navy will allow it to stand – without its clothing. More than two years ago, the Navy designated Hangar One … Continue reading →

A hardware reseller from New York state has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for passing off cheap Chinese networking gear as genuine Cisco products. Charles Lacy-Thompson, 52, of Briarcliff Manor, New York, was also ordered to pay $2.2m … Continue reading →

Posters to Apple’s support forums are complaining of what appears to be a defect in the iPhone 3Gs casing, which is causing hairline cracks. It appears from a search of the initial thread in question that the cracks are most … Continue reading →

Japanese parts manufacturer Shimano is launching an electronic shifting system for high-end road bikes that it claims will vastly improve performance and reduce maintenance. By replacing the conventional levers that pull wound-steel cables through protective housings with solid-state switches and … Continue reading →

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine. More

A House of Representatives committee threw another hurdle into the path of in-flight cell phone use Thursday, when it voted to ban the use permanently. By a voice vote, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Halting Airplane Noise … Continue reading →

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 working group behind the development of FireWire in both its 400Mbps and 800Mbps configurations has formally approved the next-generation S1600 and S3200 standards. These two standards build on the already established … Continue reading →

The good: The Ion Desk Rocker speaker system offers a direct USB audio connection to your PC or Mac. The system has line-input recording, a headphone output, volume control, bass boost, and RCA and minijack auxiliary inputs, as well as … Continue reading →

Stage 8H is best known as the place where Saturday Night Live is filmed. This week, though, it’s been turned into an ad-hoc data center as part of NBC’s efforts to stream thousands of hours of live Olympic coverage over … Continue reading →

NASA’s planning to spend another month and $2 million on its Mars robotic lander mission to obtain more icy soil samples, study the weather, and size up the planet’s suitability for human life. In a press conference Thursday, NASA scientists … Continue reading →

Sheathing something as slick and pocketable as the iPhone in a holster feels wrong to me for many reasons, but this particular holster adds the handy ability to charge your drained batteries with its own rechargeable Li-ion battery back. More

Every year when back-to-school time rolls around, hoards of laptops are released and prices drop to try to lure shoppers to purchase. A new business-focused notebook from Dell called the Vostro 2510 has surfaced in an ad inside a Dell … Continue reading →

The new Special Forces combat assault rifle (SCAR) meant to replace a hodgepodge of weapons currently used by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is undergoing its field assessment phase, the last step before full-production and battlefield deployment. Available as the … Continue reading →