Doodle 4 Google winner cashes in with ‘Pirate Times’ drawing, finds a Chromebook in the treasure chest

May 18, 2012

Avast ye! Google has announced the national winner of its fifth annual Doodle 4 Google competition, and we’d like to congratulate second grader Dylan Hoffman of Caledonia, Wisconsin for his fine work. As a response to this year’s theme, “If I could travel in time, I’d visit…,” Dylan created a pirate scene doodle that features [...]

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AUDIO: Taxman targets online traders

May 18, 2012

HMRC is targetting people who use sites such as eBay and Amazon to sell items online at a profit. BBC News – Technology

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iHome iP76 LED color-changing speaker indulges your love for pretty colors

May 17, 2012

Music just isn’t the same without a host of flashing colors to go with it, right? iHome, at least, seems to think so. Its first Glowtunes speaker tower, the new iP76, comes packed with LEDs in seven different hues that can fade, pulse or strobe as your playlist requires. The three-foot iP76 sports a dock [...]

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Pentax K-30 leaks out in French catalog, teases us with weather resistance and 1080p video

May 17, 2012

It’s been more than a year and a half since Pentax first put out the K-r as its entry DSLR, so it’s about time that a sequel roll along to keep the company in the game. If we believe a French catalog, the K-30 should soon one-up its 2010-era brother with a new 16-megapixel sensor [...]

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VIDEO: Ad boss on Facebook’s power

May 17, 2012

Sir Martin Sorrell explains to Rory Cellan-Jones the strengths and weaknesses of Facebook when it comes to advertising, as the company prepares to float on the stock exchange. BBC News – Technology

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Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o’ joe (video)

May 17, 2012

Researchers at the Braingate2 consortium have made a breakthrough that allows people with spinal cord or stroke injuries to control robotic limbs with their minds. The original project allowed subjects with motor cortex-implanted chips to move cursors on a screen with their minds, but they can now command DEKA and DLR mechanical arms to grasp [...]

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Chiba University’s one-armed robot juggles balls, is not a Juggalo (video)

May 17, 2012

Two balls, one hand? In this case, that’s a definite yes, although the end result is much more appropriate for all ages. Furthering our slow creep towards engineering’s Uncanny Valley, comes a cybernetic effort out of Japan’s Chiba University that’s made to mock our most precious clown-past time: juggling. The one-armed, three-fingered robot, shown off [...]

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Rogers and CIBC make joint deal for NFC mobile payments in Canada, let you check out with your BlackBerry

May 17, 2012

Canadians sometimes can’t catch a break: while NFC payments have been relatively common for Americans, Europeans and certainly the Japanese, Canucks have had to largely make do paying with ye olde credit carde. Rogers and national bank CIBC want to put an end to these antediluvian ways: starting later this year, CIBC card holders will [...]

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VIDEO: Ivy League education free on the web

May 17, 2012

Click’s Sumi Das reports on the Udacity project which is already causing ripples around the globe as it is making a top class education available to anyone, anywhere and for free. BBC News – Technology

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NTT DoCoMo’s Galaxy S III to ship with 2GB RAM?

May 17, 2012

Ah, Japan. That far east country what begot Mario most always gets to profit from the industry’s more delightful excesses. This time, however, the spoils have less to do with gaming flash and more to do with smartphone specs. In a document recently released by NTT DoCoMo, the carrier’s upcoming dual-core Galaxy S III variant [...]

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