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Google Drive will start automatically deleting Trash files after 30 days
Deleted Google Drive files will no longer live in Trash indefinitely.
IKEA's super-sized bath toys collect trash on the water
IKEA's latest effort to improve its environmental footprint has taken a decidedly aquatic bent. The company has designed a remote-controlled boat, the Good Ship IKEA, that clears trash from the water. It may look cutesy (it's modeled after the SMÅKRYP bath toy), but it's very much functional. They use environmental cleanup boat technology that can collect up to 44lbs of debris at a time -- a small fleet could keep a river relatively pristine. Like some aerial drones, the remote control provides a first-person view thanks to a camera.
ESA plans to measure ocean plastic data from space
Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) are working on a technology that would allow them to identify from space just how much plastic there is floating around in oceans. Until now, researchers have used satellite maps to simulate the accumulation of marine trash, but the new project would use direct optical measurements to provide actual data on the scale of the issue.
Smart garbage can turns trash into a game
Waste is a big concern for cities -- after all, no one likes looking at trash on the street. But it ends up there anyway for various reasons: bins overflow, sometimes they're hard to find and worst of all, some people just don't care what they do with their trash. Sencity seeks to fight this apathy by turning litter disposal into a game with its new TetraBIN, a connected trash bin that rewards you for tossing out your garbage.
328 foot-long floating barrier will collect ocean trash
There are numerous efforts underway to clean the world's oceans, but The Ocean Cleanup is testing what may be both the simplest and the most ambitious. It just launched a 328 foot-long prototype floating barrier that will collect trash floating in the North Sea. If it can survive the rough conditions of those waters, the plan is to deploy a 62 mile-long (!) barrier in the Pacific Ocean and reduce the size of the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- the hope is to halve the size of the trash field in 10 years.
Human-robot teams take the drudgery out of sorting trash
Think about all the sticky, slimy vile stuff you throw away in a given week. Now multiply that level of gross by everybody in your town. Would you want to have to rummage through all that disgusting detritus to pick out valuable recyclables? Because that's what garbage collection companies have to do every single day, often by hand. Which is why software developer Jodone has developed a robotic surrogate for today's professional trash pickers.
Recommended Reading: The problem with Record Store Day
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Record Store Day and the Ambivalent Branding of Independence by Eric Harvey Pitchfork Record Store Day celebrates the culture of independent record shops each spring. Today marks the eighth annual holiday for vinyl collectors and music lovers, but the event is becoming packed with more big names each year. Whether it's Jack White's world record or releases from Metallica or Foo Fighters, celebrities are now just as much a part of the festivities, and distributors seem to be favoring bigger shops over smaller, local spots.
Your old laptop's battery will light homes in developing countries
Don't be too quick to toss out the battery from that ancient laptop -- it might just be the key to powering homes in developing countries, and helping the environment in the process. IBM researchers have revealed UrJar, a device that turns old lithium-ion battery packs into rechargeable energy sources for low-power devices like LED light bulbs, fans and cellphones. To create the gadget, the team extracts functioning lithium-ion cells from a trashed battery and combines them with both charging dongles and safety circuitry. It sounds simple, but it's potentially very effective. According to IBM, roughly 70 percent of all discarded batteries can provide at least four hours of LED lighting every day for a year. That's enough to offer extra safety to homes in areas with little to no reliable electricity, or to keep a street vendor in business after sunset.
WoW Archivist: The classic Molten Core experience
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Are you ready to return to the Core? Last week, we learned that Blizzard is planning a 40-player LFR version of classic's Molten Core raid as part of WoW's 10th anniversary celebration. Regardless of what they have in mind, the experience is certain to be very different than it was back in 2005. Sure, you've probably solo'ed MC or cleared it with a few friends. But what was a Molten Core run like during classic WoW, when conquering Ragnaros and his fiery lieutenants was the pinnacle of endgame content? Read on to find out. Zoning in To access Molten Core at release, raids had to fight their way through the 5-player Blackrock Depths dungeon in order to access the raid. Today that would be impossible, but originally, dungeons had the same 40-player cap as raids. Those poor, poor fools in BRD didn't stand a chance with three dozen+ players carving their way through. Since clearing it offered nothing but a timesink, Blizzard changed the Molten Core discovery quest into an attunement in March 2005. You had to reach the entrance of Molten Core once, and then you could port there directly by jumping out of a small window in Blackrock Mountain. The game sometimes failed to register the instance transfer and you plummeted into a vast lake of lava. Yes, Molten Core could kill you before you even set foot in it.
A closer look at the new trash can and dock UI in OS X Yosemite
The design shift from Mavericks to Yosemite is a lot less stark than what we saw last year with the transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Nonetheless, Apple with OS X Yosemite still managed to implement a number of noticeable changes to the overall look and feel of the OS, from conspicuous new icons to more subtle UI tweaks. Min Ming Long of Pixelapse last week put up a relatively comprehensive and informative post detailing a number of the new UI changes we can look forward to once OS X Yosemite breaks free from its beta designation. The entire post is worth checking out, but we'll just highlight two examples to whet your appetite. First up, we have a close-up view of OS X's new trash can. Yeah, we know that a new trash can icon is typically nothing to write home about, but given that it's a glaring design change, why not give it its due? Besides, you might recall Apple's Craig Federighi saying that Apple spent quite a bit of time on the design. And so, without further ado, here it is in all of its glory. Behold! I can't lie; it is pretty sleek. As we covered in greater detail last week, there are a number of icon changes on OS X Yosemite's dock that, on the whole, really embody thoughtful design. The new trashcan in particular marks the end to an OS X trashcan design that more or less looked like this for the last 14 years. Trashcan business aside, there are some other changes to the OS X Yosemite dock that are worth mentioning. As evidenced in the photo below, Apple has done away with the 3D shelf for icons, a dock mainstay since OS X Leopard. Also make note of new indicator dots and lighter labels for each corresponding application. Again, make sure to digest the full entry for a more complete rundown of UI changes, from new and almost-neon blue system folders to newly designed navigation elements and a whole lot more. OS X Yosemite won't be available as a final release until this fall, but until then, interested Mac users can download a beta of the upcoming OS free of charge. Lastly, make sure to check out our handy guide which lays out which Mac models will actually able to run the OS X 10.10.
Fancy ash tray rewards smokers for not littering with a song and light show
Some places impose hefty fines to prevent cigarette littering, but a group of Dutch designers believe that the answer lies in rewarding smokers for doing the right thing instead. So, the team designed a souped up trash can called Fumo that lights up like a disco ball and plays music like a jukebox when you toss in a cigarette butt. It even starts blinking the moment you step close, just so you know it's not some boring receptacle before you even get the chance to try it out -- and no, check the calendar if you must, it's not an April Fool's joke. The designers say the trash can can also be tweaked depending on the purpose: for instance, it can incorporate interactive elements for festivals or play solemn music if it's meant to be installed in front of a hospital. According to a recent research, around 4.5 trillion cigarette remnants end up as trash every year, so it really is a big issue that might only be solved by banning filters altogether. As to whether Fumo has the potential to minimize cigarette litter or if it's just a gimmicky idea whose novelty will wear off quickly, you tell us after watching it in action after the break.
WoW Archivist: Warlords of Draenor hates The Burning Crusade
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? In many ways, The Burning Crusade was the birth of modern WoW. Most of TBC's innovations are still going strong in WoW today and have been ever since their introduction. Looking back, it's striking how many key features of WoW were absent in classic, only unveiled during the game's first expansion. Even more striking, however, is how many of these innovations Warlords of Draenor seems poised to undo. Just as Garrosh will undo the transformation of Draenor into Outland, Warlords seeks to unravel most of what Blizzard innovated during TBC. The next expansion will take us through a portal into a very different WoW. Archivist has now covered all the major patches of The Burning Crusade: patch 2.0.1, patch 2.0.3, patch 2.1, patch 2.2, patch 2.3, and patch 2.4. Now it's time to review the expansion as a whole -- and explore how Warlords will make most of TBC's innovations disappear into the nether. Dawn of the quest hub The idea seems so obvious it's hard to imagine that classic WoW actually didn't have quest hubs, at least not in the strict sense. WoW was the first MMO to promote the idea of leveling mainly through quests rather than grinding mobs. So Blizzard had no model to look at when they were designing the original quests. In classic WoW, quests were put into the game wherever the developers thought they made sense, mostly from a lore perspective. Quests didn't necessarily guide you through a zone area by area. Quests were scattered, and their objectives were, too. They weren't breadcrumbs -- they were meant to be discovered. They didn't hold your hand -- they sent you on an adventure, like it or not.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons
My interest in Final Fantasy XIV is not purely about racing to the endgame, but I am well aware there is an endgame. And while I'm easily distracted by the pursuits of other goals such as leveling Arcanist, I'd rather be on the early side to the party. There's nothing wrong with not being the first at endgame, but I'd prefer to beat the rush, if you know what I mean. So my playtime has been focused a bit more toward getting to the end of the story quick-like. This also means going through a lot of Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons. I'm not quite up to the last rush, but considering a lot of people I see are still moving into stuff I left behind a while ago, I'm still a bit ahead of the parabola. So let's take a look at the dungeons along the path from level 1 to level 50 after the initial set (which I covered back in beta).
The 15 nastiest trash clears of WoW
I was reading through some links while writing a follow-up to Robert's Not-So-Original WoW Miscellany when I happened across some discussions concerning the game's most agonizing trash. This is a popular subject for players, not least because complaining is a lot of fun, but I don't think anyone's going to argue that there haven't been some legitimately unpleasant trash clears in WoW. Fortunately, most of the really bad trash clears are a distant memory, but there was at least one recent one that almost everyone who raided Dragon Soul could agree on. I'm going to include both dungeons and raids here, mostly because Shattered Halls was among the first things to go on this list. After including that, I knew there were other, equally nightmarish 5-mans that had to be included in the interest of fairness.
UK engineers developing harpoon that could help space junk meet a fiery end
Sure, we can pull space junk out of orbit with lasers or use it to cobble together new satellites, but if engineers at space firm Astrium UK have their way, space trash could be disposed of with the help of harpoons. Currently in a conceptual stage, the system is designed to shoot defunct satellites or other debris with a harpoon mounted on a "chaser satellite" and use a tethered propulsion pack to send the rubbish in an atmospheric descent where it'll burn up. Since the projectile could shoot straight through targets and result in even more garbage, it's been fashioned with a crushable portion to reduce its speed upon impact. There's no concrete word on when the outfit's solution might be put in action, but they'll present their work on Wednesday at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress in Naples (Italy, not Florida, mind you). If you can't wait to see the harpoon at work, head past the break to catch tests of an Earth-based prototype.
Breakfast Topic: What's the worst trash pull in the game?
Ladies and gentlemen, it is official: I hate Ultraxion trash. Hate it. There's nothing I hate more. There's nothing especially fun or challenging about it. You stand around and DPS dragons. It lasts way too long, and the dragons have such low health that most of my DoT spells really don't do much of anything. I can only imagine how bad it must be for melee players, who barely have time to even get to the dragons before they're dead. And as a final insult, the damn dragons don't even drop loot. Trash pulls are never really much fun in general, but Ultraxion trash is definitely a Dragon Soul low point. That's my opinion, but how about you -- what trash pull do you think is the worst? How you define worst is up to you: most challenging, most annoying, most time-consuming, hardest to tank, hardest to heal -- whatever makes you want to defenestrate your keyboard the most.
Eco-friendly iPhone case made from trash
For those of you who are eco-conscious and are looking for an iPhone case, you may want to check out the Re-case. The Re-case is made from rice agricultural waste that is added to post-consumer thermo-plastics resulting in a case that is literally made from trash. Besides its environmentally friendly status, the Re-case also offers a slot users can keep an RFID-enabled card in, such as an Oyster card for London's tube network or a security card for work, allowing for quick use of the card without having to fumble through your wallet. The Re-case comes in six colors and is available for US$24.95 on Amazon.com.
Officers' Quarters: Secret farmers of the Firelands
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. In the Firelands, red fire and black ash rain from the sky. Meanwhile, purple axes, scalpels, scales, mysterious apparati, and even scraps of purple parchment rain from its dying denizens. Another raid has brought with it the opportunity to kill scores of trash mobs for high-ilevel loot, much like players did in tier 11 with the Bastion of Twilight's first-room trash-athon. The purple recipes hearken back to the days of the Sunwell Plateau. Yes, trash farming has a long and illustrious history in WoW. With such great opportunities for both loot and gold, it's hard to blame players for getting in there and farming away. WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley even wrote a guide about how to do it. But should your members ask permission before they use the guild's raid ID for such runs? This week, one guild leader found out that some members have been venturing in without telling anyone. Hi. The basics. I run a decently good 10-man raid guild. We have a guild-master, me, a few officers, a few semi-officers, and raiders. The semi-officers are guildmembers that are very good at their class and been in the guild for a long time. You could say very valued members or maybe classleaders and they have some areas of responsibilty in the raids and guild. We often seek their advice but they dont have decision making rights like the GM and the Officers. The background. We killed Shannox and some other bosses the first week of Firelands, and we have done so every week up to date. We recently learned that since the first week a few of the semi-officers has been going in to the guilds Firelands instance, between raid days and farmed trash. The drops [have] been used to gear themself and their alts, but the stuff they havent had any use for, odd drops recipies, has been sold on the AH for quite alot of gold.
Android trash can robot begs the question: 'Why are you hitting yourself?' (video)
We've seen robots that look like they've had one too many, but we're pretty sure this little guy needs to check into rehab. Despite its absolutely adorable appearance, this Android seems hell-bent on destruction, literally beating itself up, and eventually falling on its face. Built using the requisite Arduino, a trash can, some LEDs, and a slew of other components, this little guy was apparently created in three days on a budget just barely exceeding $100. You can see a video of the waste-bin bot hitting rock bottom at the source link below, but please refrain from laughing; Android alcoholism is a serious issue.
Speed up Empty Trash
If you've got a bunch of locked files in your Trash, the 'really delete?' warnings can be a drag. You can speed up the Empty Trash process and bypass all the warnings (use with caution!) by holding down the Option key before choosing the command from the Finder menu. Notice that the ellipsis disappears from the command name, indicating that you won't be bothered (or checked with) again.
