beagle
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Read the books that inspired Darwin's theory of evolution
Charles Darwin's Galapagos expedition is one of the most famous scientific voyages in history and now you can see how he fed his mind aboard the Beagle. Darwin Online, which houses the world's largest Darwin collection, has now published (in PDF format) what it believes to be all 404 books that Darwin had access to on the ship's library. They comprise some 195,000 pages with 5,000 corresponding illustrations in French, English and Spanish from encyclopedias, history books, literature and even a racy Spanish novel. Darwin called his years aboard the Beagle a crucial a period that helped him create his seminal theory of evolution, On the Origin of Species. Though you may not have as much time as Darwin did on the infamously long trip, it's worth a look just for the spectacular hand-drawn illustrations.
Low-end Txtr Beagle e-reader coming to the US for $70, not $13
Back when Txtr first revealed its enthusiastic scheme to enter the low-end e-reader market, the idea was that it would be doing so by offering the Beagle at an extremely cheap rate. Fast forward to today, and it looks as if the Txtr Beagle will undoubtedly be hitting shelves in the US, but just not at the price we had hoped -- the e-reader itself is set to be carrying a $70 tag, making it a lot more costly than the $13 device that was originally planned. If you're still interested despite the unexpected outcome, then pay our source link a visit, where you'll find the Txtr Beagle now available for pre-order and ready to take your cash.
Txtr Beagle aims to corner low-end e-reader market for $13 (video)
We've seen some cheap e-readers in our day. Heck, even the big boys are practically giving the things away. But, we've never seen anything quite like the Txtr Beagle. The latest creation from German company Txtr is expected to sell for under €10 or about $13 when it hits the market, hopefully sometime before the holiday season. Obviously, for such a low price, you're not getting a lot of bells and whistles here. There's no touchscreen, no backlight, no 3G -- not even WiFi is baked into the impossibly thin 5mm body. The screen is only five inches but, if the promotional video (after the break) is to be believed, it offers a more enjoyable experience than reading an iPad or talking to your significant other. What is inside this barebones device is 4GB of storage and a Bluetooth radio which, when paired with your phone, can transfer ebooks from your mobile to the Beagle using the free Txtr app (available for Android 4.0 with an iOS version is in the works). Instead of an expensive rechargable cell, power is provided by a trio of AAA batteries, which the company claims will last you up to a year of regular reading. Almost as interesting as the device itself, is the model being used to keep the costs down. Txtr is positioning it not as a standalone e-reader, but as a smartphone accessory it hopes that carriers will offer with a small subsidy. The company's chief commercial officer Thomas Leliveld has said that work is underway to get AT&T and Sprint on board, but that talks are still ongoing with providers. Complete PR awaits you after the break.
Genetically modified mongrel takes drugs, glows in the dark
Labradoodles, Cockapoos and Puggles better make way, there's a new designer breed lighting up the pound -- blacklight-style. Using the same somatic cell transfer technique that birthed the first puppy clone, Korean researchers at Seoul National University created Tegon, a glow-in-the-dark female beagle. The four years in the making, 3.2 billion won ($3 million) genetically modified pup fluoresces when exposed to UV light after ingesting a doxycycline antibiotic. No doubt this Frankenweenie should have Uptown girls and Party kids scrambling for a bank loan, but a high-end canine accessory end is not what the team had in mind. Citing the 268 diseases mutt and man share, lead scientist Lee Byeong-chun believes future lab-made pooches could include "genes that trigger fatal human diseases," paving the way for life-saving treatments. If any of this is ringing your PETA alarm, we don't blame you. We'd much rather see this lambent hooch take the starring role in Tim Burton's next, great reboot. [Image credit via Reuters]
Students build self-balancing TIPI robot, plan new world order (video)
Remember this guy, the QB robot that was priced at a whopping 15 grand? Seemingly, the webcam wheeler inspired a team of young minds at the University of Waterloo, who've unleashed the DIY in themselves to build one of their own. TIPI, or Telepresence Interface by Pendulum Inversion, was designed to give humans the feeling that they're not actually talking to a six-foot tall cyclops cyborg with an LCD face and webcam eye, but rather, evoke the emotions drawn when speaking the old, conventional, face-to-face way. Thanks to this team of mechatronics engineers, the low-cost TIPI uses an accelerometer, gyro and pendulum to balance by itself and can be remotely controlled while communicating via its Beagle Board and Polulu Orangutan SVP brain. Head past the break to see the robot struttin' its stuff -- oh, and get ready to rave. You'll see what we mean.
Video: HY Research's Beagle Board-based MID
This next item is a homebrew MID loosely based on the funky and fresh Nokia N800. Sure, until Mr. HY Research gets a battery installed, the "mobile" part of this internet device will rely on an extension cord... but that said, this is one fun little project. Based on the ARM Cortex A8-based Beagle board, it features a 4.3-inch (480 x 272) display, Bluetooth, support for OpenGL ES 2.0, S-Video and HDMI outputs, USB, SD / MMC, RS-232, and audio in / out connections. As controls go, this thing sports not only a touchscreen, but a five position joystick, three position slider, and plenty of buttons as well. Not bad, not bad at all. The company is on the lookout for "consulting and designs of custom expansion boards," so if you're in the mood to do some business, hit that read link. If you're really just a fan (aren't we all?) there is an action packed video of the thing in action, after the break. [Via SlashGear]
Stargate Worlds newsletter reveals awesome new Jaffa armor
The second Stargate Worlds community newsletter has descended upon us, and with it comes what can only be described as a sweet crocodile Jaffa armor. We also get a peek at some Jaffa abilities such as Ground Blast and Kree!, an AoE knock-back and mez ability. Of course, a community newsletter wouldn't be complete without some sort of video to sink our teeth into and CME doesn't disappoint here with the YouTube insider page for Stargate Worlds. Since its launch, this page has become packed with all sorts of clips for fans to ravenously consume.We're quite curious about what other sorts of Jaffa armors are in store for this game. Our vote goes towards a Beagle armor, because who'd want to mess with a face like this? Like the saying goes, "Always let a Beagle win."
