Gamestop to launch OnLive Competitor “Spawn”

courtesy of www.penny-arcade.com

Looks like Gamestop’s smelling the dying days of its abilities as a retail store. The company’s announced its newest spin-off cloud gaming service that intends to compete with streaming services like OnLive: “Spawn.” Here’s the catch for “Spawn” though–unlike OnLive, which is currently restricted to PC gaming titles (That can admittedly be played on more than PCs)–”Spawn” plans to stream Xbox games, PS3 games, AND PC games. Continue reading “Gamestop to launch OnLive Competitor “Spawn”” »

13-Year Old Geek Improves Solar Cells by way of Fibonacci Sequence

Geeks win again!

13-year old Aidan Dwyer has been awarded a provisional U.S Patent for his astonishingly groundbreaking design for solar cells that can increase their output and help us reach a solar future. Continue reading “13-Year Old Geek Improves Solar Cells by way of Fibonacci Sequence” »

Rant: There is already a LinkedIn for College Students Chegg: It’s called Facebook

By R. Bryant Francis

Sometimes, I really hate what social media has done for business.

Chegg is a pretty cool company. They’ve managed to help thousands of students afford textbooks for college by creating a renting system that works really well. And, on top of that, they help protect the environment by planting trees for each book bought. But for the love of god guys, please do not say stupid shit like this. Continue reading “Rant: There is already a LinkedIn for College Students Chegg: It’s called Facebook” »

Holograms to Greet Travelers at European Airports; Star Wars Has Arrived

Paris Airports began implementing its holographic gate attendants at its airports today with Orly airport, a small airport whose flights mostly head south to Costa Rica. Continue reading “Holograms to Greet Travelers at European Airports; Star Wars Has Arrived” »

Artificial DJ To Take Over San Antonio Radio Station?

Making Sense of Google Plus: How and Why You Should Be Using It

And so it begins…Another social network?

Well, technically, Google Plus hasn’t just begun, it’s been around for a fair amount of time, but still many are wondering what’s it and google plus is any different than facebook?

At first glance, Google plus is pretty confusing, there’s all kinds of circles and white space, you’d think you were in a dive bar for people that didn’t drink or an empty bakery that probably looks nice when there’s actually stuff in it.

Google plus looks like facebook just without the color or nostalgia, in other words, it looks kind of boring.

But there’s a reason you should be on Google plus, and it has nothing to do with the battle between whether facebook or google plus is better Continue reading “Making Sense of Google Plus: How and Why You Should Be Using It” »

Scientists Planning to Re-Enact “Armageddon,” Hit Satellites With Asteroids

A lot of people are comparing this to Michael Bay’s Armageddon, but they’re failing to see the real glory to be earned here: We are at a point as a species where we can do this just for the hell of it–no Earth-saving objectives required. (And no Aerosmith power ballads either)

While one satellite will collide at 6 miles/second (do the math, that’s 21600 mph I fail at math) another satellite will wait from a Continue reading “Scientists Planning to Re-Enact “Armageddon,” Hit Satellites With Asteroids” »

Formula One helps British Teen get Bionic Hand

Google moves to acquire Motorola–for Patents

The Human Singularity approaches! Electronic circuit can be embedded in the skin

Yesterday io9 posted probably the most fascinating article about human-machine hybrids to date–the creation of an epidermal electronic system, or EES. In other words, it turns your skin into a circuit. how freaking cool is that?

The scientists who made the breakthrough have been using their newfound android kingmaking abilities for good–I mean, for science. I mean–well they’re just using it to monitor biofeedback data from their patients.

But they admit the potential is HUGE, and could even include gaming, medical, or even spy-based possibilities:

[This technology] provides a huge conceptual advance in wedding the biological world to the cyber world in a manner that is very natural. In some sense, the boundary between the electronics world and the biological world is becoming increasingly amorphous. The ramifications of this are mind-blowing, to say the least.

I envision endless applications that extend beyond biomedical applications. For example, we could use the exact same technology – and specifically its discrete tattoo-like appearance – to perform covert military operations where an agent could communicate to the command station with these electric signals without ever speaking a word.

Like the scientists who created it also state: The key thing here is the blurring of electronics and biology in a way that’s never been seen before–this EES can be applied to the skin like a temporary tattoo. Imagine a world where if you suddenly needed to jack into the internet, you could purchase an access tattoo and scan yourself in neurologically–no computer, no smartphone, no nothing.

But what else could this thing do? What would YOU do with a circuit in your skin?

<via io9> 

We’re going back to Space! With Spaceports! (Sort…of)

Moviebob may have had a point before that it was sad that the corporate spacecraft were going to probably be the future of space flight—buut you know what, who cares, WE’RE GOING BACK TO SPACE!

The US government today announced it had signed conracts with Virgin Galactic and XCOR–the two companies pursuing the first commercial flights to space–or, actually, a really REALLY low orbit that technically qualifies as space. The contract is to aid NASA scientists in the pursuit of further research, and help them continue the projects that were scrubbed with the end of the shuttle program.

This could be bigger though–if Virgin and XCOR keep improving their tech, it could see the return fo the United States to its own way to space–heck, you can go right NOW with these companies for a $102,000 ticket. (which Katy Perry and Russell Brand will be doing…)

And since it’s the commercial companies, we’ll be seeing the first government-approved use of Spaceports–like airports but for…oh you get it. While it won’t  be like the fictionalized ones we’ve seen in movies like Avatar or Treasure Planet…it’s a Spaceport. The word alone is awesome.

<via Engadget>

Ugly London News: David Cameron Considering Tech Crackdown

Are we going Digital? Reports show people just aren’t signing up for Cable

The Associated Press came out with an article today reporting that the decline of American cable subscribers has expanded in the last year, going from what they’ve described as a “trickle” to “a flowing stream.” As the unemployment rate goes up, it looks like people’s disposable income for cable is going down. Continue reading “Are we going Digital? Reports show people just aren’t signing up for Cable” »

Anonymous Roundup, goes after Syria and Facebook.

Way to prioritize your targets guys! ‘Cause taking down a social networking site is exactly the same as attacking a nation brutalizing its citizens. Continue reading “Anonymous Roundup, goes after Syria and Facebook.” »

DNA Found on Meteorites Came from Space!?

No, we did not find evidence of extraterrestrial life. But we MAY have figured out how the first life forms originated on Earth. (May. It’s a pretty big “may” when it comes to this kind of science.) Continue reading “DNA Found on Meteorites Came from Space!?” »

Blackberry’s Outsmart London Police, Time to Hand the Phones Over?

According to some Londoners, rioters are using Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Messenger service, along with social networks such as Twitter, to organize the recent London attacks.

It is clear that technology is being used, including in demonstrations, to direct people and undermine the police.

London’s deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told Bloomberg Continue reading “Blackberry’s Outsmart London Police, Time to Hand the Phones Over?” »

London Riots Roundup: The weird, the stupid, and the Sony.

Teh stupid. It hurts.

As the London Riots potentially head into a fourth night, weird bits of news have leaked into the gaming and technology sectors, showing how even a local event like this can affect us across the globe. The actual riots themselves warrant their own news posts by other, more on-the-ground organizations, so if you want more information on that please follow the links.

That said, here’s the stuff we can comment on. Continue reading “London Riots Roundup: The weird, the stupid, and the Sony.” »

Kim-Jong Il hires MMO G4M1NG Hacker Army. YOU MAKE THE PUNCHLINE

Can’t make this stuff up folks. Legendary dictator Kimg-Jung Il is soooooo ronry, he’s gone and hired himself a gaming hacker army to help bring revenue into North Korea. I’d suggest we do something similar in the US but someone would probably try and subsidize it. Continue reading “Kim-Jong Il hires MMO G4M1NG Hacker Army. YOU MAKE THE PUNCHLINE” »

Li’l Hackers–DefCon Kids teaches 8-year old geeks how to hack.

Yes, it’s as awesome as it sounds. No, you can’t go unless you’re a kid. Yes, you can bribe the kids into teaching you their tricks.

Warning: They’re probably smarter than you and will jack up the price. (No, I’m not speaking from personal experience…why?)

This weekend, DEF CON hosted its first ever educational event for children–mostly children who attended with their parents, who originally taught them some fundamental basics of hacking. If you’re between the ages of 8 and 16, you can attend sessions with names like “Secrets Revealed,” “Meet the Feds,” and “Google Hacking.” (No, the last one does not teach you how to hack Google.) Continue reading “Li’l Hackers–DefCon Kids teaches 8-year old geeks how to hack.” »

The Official Watch the Throne Trailer Officially Sucks

…it’s a good thing the album is out tomorrow. Plenty of people are psyched about the thing finally dropping, but it makes The Dark Knight trailer seem exciting. Hopefully Watch the Throne’s Music Lives up to all the hype being heaped upon it. There’s really not much to say about this, other than that, finally, the long-awaited collaboration album with Kanye and Jay-Z is already getting some rave reviews. It doesn’t hurt that Beyonc, La Roux, and Hit-Boy are amongst the list of vocal contributors.

On the bright side, it shows that all making a trailer takes is a dark basement and some strobe lights and maybe After Effects. Though a lot of the music was released a while ago, (“New Day,”, the brilliant “Murder of Excellence,” and “Made in America”, amongst others), it might have been nice to hear some more.