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Monmouthpedia: Wikipedia's very own QR-coated Welsh town (video)

Joseph Volpe — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:27:00 EST

Wikipedia's credence as a fount of reliable knowledge is indubitably dubious. That said, its penchant for community contribution is what's snowballed the site into a go-to digital destination for most online denizens. But forebear of a QR-indexed, former principality? Surely, there's a limit to the social web's reach. Well, come May 19th, that odd, but apt distinction will officially encapsulate Monmouthpedia, née Monmouth, Wales -- an experiment in informational graffiti. The project, originally born from a Bristol-based TEDx talk, has taken half a year for founder John Cummings to execute given the need for County Council and local business support, the installation of a pervasive, free WiFi network and additional article contributions from site volunteers. And thanks to QRpedia, curious mobile-wielding tourists that chance upon the quaint Welsh town will need only to scan the omnipresent codes for an easy redirect to a corresponding language-appropriate article. Lest you think this web-to-real world experiment is merely a one-off, bear in mind those code-bearing ceramic plates are built to last. Hop on past the break for a French-subbed informational video tour.

Continue reading Monmouthpedia: Wikipedia's very own QR-coated Welsh town (video)

Monmouthpedia: Wikipedia's very own QR-coated Welsh town (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK courts to introduce tablets, vow to cut back on tree killing ways

Lydia Leavitt — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:13:00 EST

It may not be retiring the powdered wigs just yet, but according to The Guardian, the British government is ready to replace traditional paper documents with tablets in UK courtrooms. Starting in April, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will give slates to Welsh and English prosecutors to store all forms and evidentiary items, later extending the offer to judges, jurors and defense lawyers. To start, administrators will give 35 Hewlett-Packard tablets to prosecutors in Norfolk as a test for the bigger roll out, which is estimated to save around £50 million (or around $78 million) in dead trees across the UK. There's no word yet which tablet HP has in mind, but chances are it will not be the discount rack TouchPad -- perhaps a Windows tablet is more in order in this court.

UK courts to introduce tablets, vow to cut back on tree killing ways originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Galaxy shocker: laws of physics may vary throughout the universe

Darren Murph — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:03:00 EST

Oh, brother. Just when you thought you had everything figured out, along comes a team of astrophysicists based in Australia and England to turn your world upside-down. As the story goes, a new "report describes how one of the supposed fundamental constants of nature appears not to be constant after all," with the fine-structure constant actually varying throughout testing. The crew measured the number, dubbed "alpha," in about 300 faraway galaxies, and they consistently found that it measured differently than on Earth. Professor John Webb from the University of New South Wales even stated that it "seemed to vary continuously along a preferred axis through the universe," which effectively means we're back to square one on figuring just about everything out. Burn the books, kids.

Galaxy shocker: laws of physics may vary throughout the universe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving

Laura June — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:59:00 EST

Alright, texting while driving? Obviously stupid -- but that doesn't stop tons and tons of people from doing it. The Gwent Police department in Wales hopes that its newest PSA film will help deter this bad behavior. In much the same spirit as the drunk driving on prom night films we ourselves had to sit thorough in high school, this film is pretty graphic. Okay, it's actually shockingly graphic -- but we're pretty sure that's the idea. Video is after the break.

[Via Gizmodo]

Continue reading Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving

Filed under: Culture

Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving

Laura June — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:59:00 EST

Continue reading Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

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Welsh nab their first native-tongued phone and iPhone app in one month's time -- Cymru am byth!

Laura June — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:04:00 EST

Native speakers of Welsh, take heed! Orange has announced that a Welsh-language version of the Samsung S5600 will be made available in September. This would make it the first cellphone to handle the language, which has some 600,000 native speakers in Wales. The phone will contain 44,000 Welsh words, and was recently unveiled in Bala, Gwynedd. Also unveiled simultaneously was the first Welsh iPhone app, developed with English-speakers learning the language in mind, and will have a companion "Learn Welsh" phrasebook available in the iTunes store. Iechyd Da!

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung

Welsh nab their first native-tongued phone and iPhone app in one month's time -- Cymru am byth! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welsh nab their first native-tongued phone and iPhone app in one month's time -- Cymru am byth!

Laura June — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:04:00 EST

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

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Artificial Intelligence solves boring science experiments, makes interns obsolete

Joseph L. Flatley — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:47:00 EST

Researchers at Aberystwyth University in Wales have developed a robot that is being heralded as the first machine to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of a human operator. Named Adam, the device has already identified the role of several genes in yeast cells, and has the ability to plan further experiments to test its own hypotheses. Ross King, from the university's computer science department, remarked that the robot is meant to take care of the tedious aspects of the scientific method, freeing up human scientists for "more advanced experiments." Across the pond at Cornell, researchers have developed a computer that can find established laws in the natural world -- without any prior scientific knowledge. According to PhysOrg, they've tested the AI on "simple mechanical systems" and plan on applying it to more complex problems in areas such as biology to cosmology where there are mountains of data to be poured through. It sure is nice to hear about robots doing something helpful for a change.

[Thanks, bo3of]

Read: Robo-scientist's first findings
Read: Being Isaac Newton: Computer derives natural laws from raw data

Filed under: Robots, Science

Artificial Intelligence solves boring science experiments, makes interns obsolete originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane

Darren Murph — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:36:00 EST

At first glance, we seriously assumed that we had mentioned this exact same story before. Turns out, one particular Maxi Haulage driver doesn't tune into Engadget, as he pulled the exact same trick in (almost) the same circumstances. Reportedly, this timber haul was cut short as the driver followed his personal GPS system down a "farm lane" suitable only for (presumably small) tractors, and needless to say, the 45-foot vehicle has been wedged ever since. Additionally, the owner of the property is quite irate, as the mishap is forcing her to drive an extra two miles until rescue arrives. Still, the motorist did cruise right by a sign noting that the upcoming road was unfit for heavy goods vehicles, so at least the sat nav can't take all of the blame this go 'round.

[Thanks, Carl H.]

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welsh village under attack by GPS-blind drivers

Darren Murph — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:45:00 EST

We tend to shed a tear or two for humanity each time one of these stories crosses our radar, and unfortunately, this one had us bawling. Apparently, residents in Llangadog have been frustrated time and time again as drivers of large trucks came rumbling through blindly following directions spat out by navigation systems. Wide vehicles have now failed to successfully traverse a very narrow road and not destroy any property in the process not once, not even twice, but three times, leaving a previously restored building in the community damaged (thrice) by recklessness. Reportedly, around £1.5 million ($3.12 million) is being spent to beautify landmark properties in Llangadog and Llandovery, but there's mounting concern that GPS-reliant motorists could reverse any progress by striking buildings as they attempt to squeeze through. It sounds as if signs are being erected to inform drivers of their navigator's cluelessness, but who knows if folks will actually take their eyes off of the LCD long enough to notice.

[Thanks, Josh]

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Welsh village under attack by GPS-blind drivers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welsh get incomprehensible anti-GPS signs

Donald Melanson — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:17:00 EST

Apparently looking to avoid unfortunate incidents like this (or this, or this), the Welsh Assembly recently agreed to put up signs warning drivers not to use their GPS along narrow lanes. Problem is, the drivers may end up spending more time trying to figure out the meaning of the signs than they ever did staring at their GPS. According to Sky News, the signs are aimed specifically at lorry drivers, who seem to have been particularly prone to getting stuck along roadways around St. Hilary in the Vale of Glamorgan -- a problem one local resident described as a "nightmare." Despite those potential issues of comprehension, that region has now gotten four of the signs as part of a one-year trial period, although there doesn't appear have to been any word on their effectiveness (or lack thereof) just yet.

[Thanks, Barry T]

Filed under: GPS

Welsh get incomprehensible anti-GPS signs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Greenbox converts carbon emissions into biofuel

Darren Murph — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:30:00 EST

A breakthrough technology developed by three engineering lads in Wales could hold the key to converting carbon emissions into beneficial substances such as biodiesel, methane gas, and fertilizer. The cleverly-dubbed Greenbox was designed to be fixed underneath one's vehicle where it could gobble up carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide until the next fill up, at which point the box would be switched out for a new one while the filled canister headed to a bioreactor for processing. Sounds complicated, we know, but strapping these bad boys beneath every gasoline-powered vehicle in a given nation could boost its biofuel production exponentially -- all without spending another penny (or pence) on research. Unsurprisingly, the trio of inventors are staying mum until they (hopefully) convince the government or a private company to grab ahold, but unless these boxes learn to swap themselves, we can't imagine too many individuals bustin' out the creeper for underbody work at each fuel stop.

[Thanks, Jamie]

Filed under: Transportation

Greenbox converts carbon emissions into biofuel originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alan Cox's ThinkPad battery explodes

Cyrus Farivar — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:22:00 EST

It appears that the exploding IBM ThinkPad that we spotted last week at LAX may not have been a fluke after all. Telsa Gwynne, wife of famed Linux kernel programmer Alan Cox, describes on her website how her husband's ThinkPad battery suddenly exploded last night (see the photo on the next page), after which "a couple of fires started where the (presumably) boiling battery landed," with one of the fragments taking out a nearby LCD monitor. Alan sustained a few minor burns, but other than the laptop itself there were no serious injuries, thankfully. Telsa does note, however, that the battery was third-party and was bought on eBay, so it may not be an authentic IBM pack at all. Still, somebody needs to get to the bottom of this, like, now -- after the Apple, Dell, Panasonic, and Toshiba recalls, the public demands and deserves complete and rapid disclosure.

Update: We traded emails with Alan Cox and have posted some of our questions and answers with him on the next page.

Continue reading Alan Cox's ThinkPad battery explodes

Filed under: Laptops

Alan Cox's ThinkPad battery explodes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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