For only $20 it’s open source

tricorder project

Osmocom (Open Source Mobile Communication) is a collection of Free Software / Open Source Software projects in the area of mobile communications.Our member projects implement a variety of public and private communications systems, ranging from GSM/GPRS mobile telephony to TETRA private mobile radio, DECT cordless telephony, GMR satellite telephony and many others.The goal of those implementations is to provide free software implementations available in source code, which we believe are key aspectsto encourage research, innovation and experimentation on widespread communications systemsto help interested engineers and students with practical insight into systems they normally only read about in booksto ensure that technical and implementation details of such vital communications systems are known outside the small group of manufacturers

http://openbsc.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/OsmocomOverview

http://gizmodo.com/this-equation-can-tell-you-how-successful-a-reddit-post-1239908093?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29“>linkie

Haptix turns ANY surface into a multitouch surface. It’s a sleek bar that you can place flat or clip on something elevated to enable multitouch on any flat surface, such as a table, window, or screen. You can then control any computer by tapping, pinching to zoom, or swiping to scroll on that surface itself. It’s as intuitive and natural as a multitouch screen, just without the actual screen.

via Haptix: Multitouch Reinvented by Haptix Touch — Kickstarter.

This kickstarter project is above it’s goal. Estimated retail price will be $ 70,- and shipping $ 20,-

And they can duplicate real people’s iris’s as well! So much for biometrics…

Reverse-Engineered Irises Look So Real, They Fool Eye-Scanners | Threat Level | Wired.com.

The idea is, if it’s light enough, you don’t need a license. This guy claims to have an aeroplane that can do that:

Deliveries start Summer 2011.
Ex-factory price € 25.000 – €27.000. A transferable buy option
costs € 900. 30% payable on delivery confirmation. The rest
before delivery. Transport and storage trailer € 5.300.
All prices ex-VAT.

via Flynano.

FlyerTalk is an interactive community that provides up-to-date information on travel-related loyalty reward programs. It’s the hub that brings everyone together — from leisure travelers to mileage junkies — to converse about programs, get the latest program buzz or discuss how to maximize points or miles. You’ll even get some good general travel information!

via FlyerTalk – The world’s most popular frequent flyer community.

Shapeways is testing printing with this material and costs $48/cm3.

Shapeways | blog: Sterling Silver Now Available Until November 7th.

They’ve been awarded a patent on designing, develloping and maintaining a patent portfolio.

<sarcasm>No, the patent system isn’t getting out of hand</sarcasm>

It seems to be running around naked with its’ underwear on its’ head and staws up its’ nose, flailing arms holding mini lightsabers.

Patentkampioen IBM patenteert patenteren | Webwereld.

This thing is quite amazing – it features a heart rate meter, x, y, z-axis motion sensitivity, temperture sensor, battery voltage and altitude (based on temperature, not a barometer) and has wifi, USB, connects to stuff and is fully programmable. Best of all, it only costs $49,-

This is the press blurb: TI revolutionizes design of wireless networking applications with eZ430-Chronos, world’s first customizable development environment in a sports watch – News Room – News Center.

You can find the development tool here

A wiki with loads of information here

The register has had enough of reporting on space and the hugely expensive space programmes, and (probably following on the tail of the UK Space Cheese project) has decided to launch their own paper space program in an attempt to keep the UK space race open!

El Reg to launch space paper plane • The Register.

They’ve even got a name for it: Vulture 1

It turns out that those people who jump jams at the turn offs, change lane or pass on the wrong side are actually increasing the flow of traffic by widening the area through which traffic passes. In computer models, it turns out that the best traffic flow is reached when around 60% of the people conform to the rules.

A Cure for Traffic Jams: Rule-Breakers – ABC News.

who knew it could do this kind of stuff? A paralysed man can now walk after a botox treatment.

Still, don’t put this stuff in your face!.

This glove controller recognises 30 types of touches and is being marketed at the MMO crowd. The USB cable detaches easily if you want to leave your desk. Around $129,-

.

Yes! Invisibility cloaks (you can find loads about that kind of tech on this blog) are now old hat. The new cloak is the illusion cloak: it makes an object look like another object!

This works with metamaterials.

Last week saw the death of Fravia, the great reverser.

Fravia was known for both his technical and social skills.

He will be missed.

http://www.searchlores.org/

The UN has opened a library of texts they’ve scanned in, containing some very very old texts from all over the world. The first texts in there are from 8000 BC.

DANIEL LOVES OBJECTS! – Lion City, Singapore – AT YOUR COMMAND

In Canada, they decided they didn’t want to go the same way as the Americans did, so a large outcry went against it. This contains a good analysis of why the Canadian consumers decided to say no and what the driving forces behind the publicity were.

On February 21, 2006, […] Hubble began seeing something brighten. It continued brightening for about 100 days and peaked at 21st magnitude in two near-infrared colors. It then faded away over a similar timescale, until nothing was left in view down to 26th magnitude. The object brightened and faded by a factor of at least 120, maybe more.

Basically they have no idea whatsoever what it was or what it could have been…

SkyandTelescope.com – News Blog – Hubble Finds a Mystery Object

Known as the Nike 6.0 Ill Mobile, the monstrous fun wagon you see pictured above came from ad/design firm Hub Strategy, which the shoe company tasked with making something that would make people stop and say, “Holy crap!” The first thing Hub Strategy did? Repurpose an amphibious armor-plated war-truck from 1959 into a mobile extreme sport HQ for Mountain Dew’s Action Sports Tour.

It’s got a skate ramp at the back and rails along the sides to grind on, as well as its own wakeboard water tower and racks for BMX bicycles and surfboards. No respectable HQ would be complete without some creature comforts, though, and it’s got ’em in spades: a barbecue, sleep-in camper shell, sound options ranging from waterproof CD players and remote controlled iPods and, we imagine, an unlimited supply of Mountain Dew.

And they managed to slap it all together in under three weeks. No one is saying how much Nike spent on the project, but the viral reaction to something like this — cellphone pictures, blog posts, word of mouth — can be worth more than a regular ad on television. The Ill Mobile will be touring around the country.

URL Location

l

This is U.S. Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation’s Nano-Scale Science and Engineering Center funded and the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang claims to have manufactured materials that redirect the light around the objects.

In the past we’ve seen more of this, of course…

Invisible tanks using cameras

Light scattering invisibility sheilds

A mud / cream which makes you invisible to thermal cameras

Negative refractive index for visible light metamaterials

Which one(s) of these work(s)?

Now the EU is in the mix

Phorm is a company that has been eavesdropping on the 3 largest UK ISPs (BT Internet, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse) without a legal reason to do so or anybody’s consent.

I first got wind of it in April but the Register has been covering it very comprehensively.