Evan Blass
Articles by Evan Blass
FBI rolling out digital billboards in 20 cities
Employing public signage in the pursuit of suspects is probably about as old as criminology itself, so it's no surprise to see the FBI leveraging the latest technology to erect some of the largest, most versatile wanted posters in history. Thanks to a partnership with advertising giant Clear Channel Outdoor, the G-men will deploy some 150 digital billboards -- capable of displaying fugitives, missing children, or public safety info in real-time -- to 20 major cities around the country, following a successful trial launched in Philadelphia in September. So if you're planning on committing a felony in Des Moines, Iowa or Akron, Ohio soon, better get it done quick, lest your ugly mug become the talk of the car pool during your morning commute. List of all the lucky cities after the break.[Via Slashdot]
sQuba, the driving, diving concept car from Rinspeed
Our old friends at Swiss tuning, restoration, and general ride-pimping expert Rinspeed are back with perhaps their most ambitious project to date: a fully-submersible concept car dubbed the sQuba that's equally at home on the road or under the sea. Set to be unveiled next March at the Geneva Motor Show, the multi-faceted, electric motor-powered vehicle reminds us somewhat of the Gibbs Aquada and Hydra Spyder, except the sQuba is actually able to dive and navigate up to ten meters underwater thanks to jet drives in the bow and propellers in the stern. A self-contained, on-board system inside the carbon nanotube-based body structure provides occupants with fresh air while submerged, although the engineers probably let down more than a few folks by omitting a weapons system of any kind. No release date yet -- or even production plans -- for this one-off supercar, which, might we be so bold to suggest, would make a hell of a better-looking crime-fighter than you, Mr. Knight Industries Three Thousand. Bigger pics in the gallery below... %Gallery-12262% [Via gizmag]
Reminder: Phosphor E Ink watch giveaways almost closed!
We know you want to be the envy of all your friends and colleagues by sporting one of the trio of Phosphor e-ink watches we're giving away, so if you haven't entered already, consider this a friendly reminder that the clock is ticking on all three contests. Entering is as easy as leaving a comment, so just make sure to read the rules and then throw your hat into the ring. Reminder: You can only enter once per giveaway (up to three times total).Read - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 1), closes tonightRead - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 2), closes Thursday nightRead - Phosphor E Ink watch giveaway (part 3), closes Friday night
Wii bowler beats real bowler in senior videogame tourney
Proving once again that athleticism and real-world experience have little bearing on the outcome of Wii Sports matches, a 79-year-old bowler was defeated by an 84-year-old who'd only recently picked up the game -- virtually -- in their retirement community's latest Nintendo tournament. Obviously a popular pastime among the senior crowd, playing Wii has gotten so big at the 3000-resident Riderwood complex in Montgomery County, Maryland that semi-regular tournies are held in the various events, with underdog Nancy Davies (not pictured) upsetting previous champ Hal Winters (also not pictured) in the most recent excitement-filled Bowling final. When asked to comment on the 202 to 182 stunner, the few other folks who were both awake at the time and able to remember the action agreed that the match was surely one for the record books.[Via TG Daily]
Russian GPS alternative near completion, Putin and dog celebrate
Russia has announced the successful launch of three additional GLONASS navigation satellites on Christmas Day, bringing the total number of functional units to 18, and reportedly scaring the beejezus out of Santa and his reindeer during liftoff. The GPS competitor -- first begun in the Soviet era and only recently revived after years of post-collapse neglect -- is now theoretically capable of providing coverage to the entire Russian territory, with First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov claiming that the first compatible consumer devices will be available in the middle of next year. By 2010 Russia plans to open the system up to outside nations as well, contributing to an eventual three- or even four-system global market, and ensuring that President and Man of the Year Vladimir Putin will finally achieve his stated goal of being able to pinpoint his treasured black lab Koni anywhere in the world.
JVC gives HP-FX500 earbuds the classy wooden touch
So you like wooden headphones, and you're down with JVC's offerings, but you don't have a thousand bucks to spend on the company's swanky HP-DX1000 over-the-ear cans. Before, you might have had a problem. However thanks to the new HP-FX500s earbuds, you can proudly sport the dead tree look and have your Victor sound for only ¥15,000 ($131). These buds tout a sensitivity of 100dB/1mW and frequency response of 8Hz to 25kHz and , which is not quite as good as their bulkier big brother, but what can you expect for around ten percent of the price, right?
iPhone marriage proposal warms even the cynical heart
Maybe we just turn a bit sentimental during the holiday season, but damn it, we'll admit to getting a little choked up over reader Claude M's well-planned, uber-geeky proposal to his girlfriend -- even if his method of choice did happen to employ the totally overexposed iPhone. Being the romantic fellow that he is, Claude spent what must have been numerous hours producing a video proposal in the style of those ubiquitous commercials -- as you can see after the break -- and then screened it for his sweetheart (probably on his or her you-know-what) while they were strolling around the area where they'd first met in college. We'd like to congratulate the happy couple -- she said yes, duh -- and encourage them to race over to our Christmas contest post, where they have decent odds of scoring a pair of round trip tickets for the honeymoon.
iPhone marriage proposal warms even the cynical heart
Maybe we just turn a bit sentimental during the holiday season, but damn it, we'll admit to getting a little choked up over reader Claude M's well-planned, uber-geeky proposal to his girlfriend -- even if his method of choice did happen to employ the totally overexposed iPhone. Being the romantic fellow that he is, Claude spent what must have been numerous hours producing a video proposal in the style of those ubiquitous commercials -- as you can see after the break -- and then screened it for his sweetheart (probably on his or her you-know-what) while they were strolling around the area where they'd first met in college. We'd like to congratulate the happy couple -- she said yes, duh -- and encourage them to race over to our Christmas contest post, where they could score a pair of round trip tickets for the honeymoon.
Caption contest, Xmas edition: AIBO Claus
Ho, ho, h-- er, woof, woof, woof! Even though AIBO has been spayed, so to speak, that doesn't mean the little guy can't dress up and get into the Christmas spirit just like the rest of his fellow Roombas and Robosapiens. Plus, we have to say, our old pal looks quite dashing in red.[Image courtesy of Impress]Evan: "Robot Santa, perhaps overly confident aboard his Sony-made sleigh, swore that this year his was gonna bite Bender right on his shiny metal ass."Josh: "The scale only revealed what AIBO had known all along: a moment on the lips really was a lifetime on the hips."Chris: "Still distraught over its discontinuation, AIBO shows up every Christmas morning at Sony headquarters, drunk, belligerent, and with a sad little Santa outfit that gets a little dingier every year."Ryan: "All I want for Christmas is to be put back in production / to be put back into production / to be put back into production. End holiday song."
NYPD to trial all-electric scooters next month
New York's finest will also be some of New York's greenest next month, when the NYPD begins field testing four all-electric scooters from Rhode Island-based Vectrix USA. Although twice as expensive as the gas-powered Piaggio scooters that the department currently uses -- and with a fraction of their range -- the Vectrix offers police three attractive benefits: reduced fuel costs, lowered vehicle emissions, and, more practically, the element of surprise -- the scooters' nearly-silent engines should allow two-wheeled cops to approach suspects with more discretion. Sounds like a winner to us, as long as officers don't try pulling some eminent domain crap on our outlet at Starbucks when they need to juice up.[Via Autoblog Green]
Body-scanning chair to show UK prisoners who's BOSS
Not nearly as intrusive as it first sounds, the Body Orifice Security Scanner (BOSS) is a chair-shaped mobile metal detector that officials are considering installing in every prison in England and Wales. Designed mainly to weed out one of the most popular forms of contraband -- cellphones -- the new BOSS II is said to be sensitive enough to detect even a single SIM card being smuggled somewhere inside an individual. So far the two £6,500 ($12,900) chairs that have been used at the Woodhill jail in Milton Keynes since April have helped authorities seize 21 handsets, with inmates who trigger an alert segregated and swiped down by a metal detector every time they leave their cells until the metal object has been, um, passed. While this system does humanely do away with uncomfortable cavity searches, those poor souls with a knee replacement, a bit of shrapnel embedded in their hip, or the like seem destined to toil away in solitary confinement for eternity.[Via SlashGear]
Knight Industries Three Thousand specs revealed
While you may or may not agree with NBC's decision to make KITT a Ford Mustang in the new Knight Rider series, we're pretty sure that you're gonna tune in next February nonetheless if for no other reason then to see what modern technology can do to a talking, crime-fighting car. Well luckily Popular Mechanics has what is reportedly an exclusive spec sheet detailing all of the Knight Industries Three Thousand's many capabilities, including much of the in-vehicle biometric and genetic testing you'd expect, along with such military features as laser weapons, a missile defense system, and even a targeted electromagnetic pulse for frying an enemy's gadgets or pulling off the odd casino heist. One cutting-edge device that has been left out is a breathalyzer-based ignition system, which was allegedly scrapped at the last minute after designers learned that David Hasselhoff would not in fact be getting behind the wheel this time around.[Thanks, cant0r]
First African satellite launched
In a landmark launch that will supposedly "contribute to bridging the digital divide within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world," the continent's first satellite successfully made it into orbit aboard a French-made rocket last night. The so-called RASCOM-QAF1 -- named after the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization which is funding the venture -- lifted off from the European space base in Kourou, French Guiana stowed inside an Ariane 5, the sixth such launch this year and 36th overall of that particular model, manufactured by Paris-based Arianespace. The new 3.2-tonne (7,055-pound) satellite is set to serve the large African rural market neglected by traditional cellphone carriers, and will allegedly save hundred of millions of dollars a year currently being paid to foreign operators.[Via PhysOrg]
Caption contest: the harmonigadget
A gentleman named Robert was spotted wearing this contraption at a Starbucks in the East Village. Apparently he calls it a Portable Gadget Center. We call it hilarious. Close up after the break...Ryan: "The Dylan of his generation, Bobby could type AND dial a call with his tongue at the very same time."Evan: "Why yes, this IS the first date I've ever been on; how did you know?"Chris: "Years of latte-infused spittle had rendered Robert's array of devices useless, but a longstanding disinterest in using his arms -- indeed, the inspiration for the contraption itself -- had prevented him from wiping them with a damp cloth."Dante: "I thought it made you look cool until I spotted the baby blue G-Shock."Ross: "I don't CARE if it doubles as your retainer!"
Bill Gates: philanthropist, nerd, beer baron
Being the shrewd businessman that he is, Bill Gates has just invested a significant amount of money in one of the few products consumed during both good times and bad: alcohol. Actually Femsa, the Mexican brewery in which Gates now owns a $392 million stake through his Cascade Investment LLC fund, does a lot more than just brew booze: according to Reuters, it's also the world's second-largest Coke bottler as well as operator of Oxxo, Latin America's largest convenience store chain. When asked how he felt about the Microsoft founder moving in on his home turf, fellow billionaire Carlos Slim reportedly shrugged off the threat, boasting, "Not only am I a wealthier man than Mr. Gates, but he couldn't even make it through half a Power Hour with his nueva cerveza."
Purdue tire design can sense damage, warn driver
Usually you can't tell that there's a problem with one of your tires until you've already swerved off the road and crashed into something stationary, but thanks to a group of scientists from Purdue University, the next generation of wheel wraps may be able to detect problems before you're face-to-face with the base of a telephone pole. Led by Gary Krutz of the school's Electrohydraulic Center, the team was able to produce a multi-layer design that can sense damage or defects anywhere on the tire, and which immediately alerts the driver to danger via an embedded chip. First up to adopt the new tech will likely be race car sponsors, who have a high incentive to protect their expensive investments against flats; unfortunately, this safety improvement for drivers will come at the expense of the nation's rabid NASCAR fans, as the likely decline in crashes will only serve to direct their blood-lust at fellow spectators. [Image courtesy of Purdue University]
Presidential candidates finally address important issue: their gadgets
Sure, it's important to know Candidate A's position on the environment or how Candidate B plans to handle our international affairs, but when it comes to the issue of character, we'll suggest that there is no single attribute more telling than a presidential hopeful's electronic devices of choice. For instance, an Xbox-lover might engage the country even more deeply in the gears of war, while a Roomba owner would likely work to ensure the cleanliness of our national roads and parks. So what, then, does the AP's poll of the 2008 presidential candidates' favorite gadgets say about this current crop of potential world leaders? Unfortunately, that they're a pretty boring bunch: six of the nine respondents could only manage to come up with run-of-mill iPods and BlackBerries (and couldn't anyone at least give us some model names to work with -- we can't live without knowing if Hillary prefers the 3G nano to the 2G). Only Republicans Giuliani, Huckabee, and McCain strayed from the pack here, although America's Mayor seems a little behind the times with his "CD player," and Senator McCain certainly won't be getting much work done with one hand on his cherished TV remote. Anyway, all of this has got us wondering: what do you think that some of today's popular gadgets might indicate about their owner's character?[Thanks, Mike T.]
Mio releases its C620 and C620t PNDs with 3D maps
Mio's been generating some buzz with its new C620 series of personal navigation devices, thanks to their innovative digital elevation mapping and preloaded landmarks which allow for a 3D experience that trumps most other products on the market. Well the 4.3-inch C620 and TMC-equipped C620t are finally available for purchase, although pricing wasn't set in the announcement, probably because these split-screen Bluetooth units are being sold in a number of European countries but not where we want them most, right here in the good old US of A. [Via Slippery Brick]
Is this the mylo 2?
So we were doing some followup research on yesterday's post about the upcoming mylo 2 Personal Communicator, when we happened to stumble upon the picture you see above, first posted in the beginning of October by qj.net. Part of an article sourcing someone claimed to be "close to Sony." this supposed mockup of the second-generation mylo immediately struck us as having an almost identical form factor to the FCC render that we just saw. And sure enough, as you can see after the break, a little resizing magic does indeed show the two outlines lining up pretty closely -- although not perfectly. Hmm...if this is in fact the production version of the mylo 2, what does that PlayStation-style typeface on the keyboard say about the device's features, we wonder?[Image courtesy of qj.net]
Sony's cookin' up a mylo 2
Well hello there, never-before-seen-device bearing the mylo name, nice to meet you. We can only assume by your camera-equipped backside (and your designation as the "COM-2") that you're the mylo 2 we'd heard rumors about -- but no thanks to the tight-lipped FCC, we don't know much more than the fact that you'll be one-upping your predecessor by tacking 802.11g onto its b. Still, now that we've got you in our sights, the rest of your specs can't remain secret for long.