With the Iranian opposition staging a fresh wave of protests in the wake of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, authorities have stepped up a campaign to slow and censor the Internet to sabotage protesters’ communication, according to Reporters Without Borders . Broadband service has slowed in major cities, a phenomenon noticed…
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One of the largest studies to date on alcohol’s effects on sleep shows that drinking alcohol before bed may disrupt sleep and increase wakefulness in healthy adults — affecting women more than men — regardless of family history of alcoholism.
Continue reading …Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video)
February 15, 2011 No Comment
If a company makes as bold a statement as “we reinvented the wheel” when introducing a gadget you know we’ve gotta check ‘em out and see what the hubbub’s about. Well, at the International Toy Fair in New York, Inventist has introduced its “Solowheel” product, which is essentially a self-balancing unicycle for personal mobility. We’ve seen similar products before , but the convenient carrying handle and lack of seat make it decidedly more portable than the competition. This $1,500 Segway -esque transporter uses gyroscopes to stay balanced, but places your legs on either side of a single central wheel. It’s said to have a max speed of 12 miles per hour and a battery that should last for about 12 miles. We tried out the interesting device and found it entertaining, albeit quite a bit difficult. Getting started is the hardest part — especially if you don’t have anything to lean against — but maintaining balance and still trying to lean your body to turn takes quite a bit of practice as well. That’s right, there are no physical steering controls whatsoever and instead you use your body weight to control direction and speed. We could barely get going in our brief attempts on the device, but the rep on the floor was more skilled and made us realize we really need to build up our street cred. The whole concept is really a bit wild, and the company envisions people using these to do things like get to the train instead of on a bicycle or in a cab. We’re not quite sure your average person is ready to slim down to one wheel in life just yet, but maybe in the future they will be. Still, as a toy it’s most definitely intriguing, and you can see our horrid attempts at riding it in the video posted after the break or hit the more coverage link for another video of more skilled riders in action. Gallery: Solowheel self-balancing unicycle Continue reading Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video) Solowheel self-balancing unicycle is as easy to ride as it is to afford (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …US Immigration and Customs Enforcement says two of its agents have been shot in Mexico. An ICE statement says the agents assigned to the US Embassy in Mexico City were attacked by unknown assailants this afternoon while driving between Mexico City and the northern city of Monterrey. There were no…
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The rattling of naked cassettes in the glove box. The crunching of plastic cases in the footwell. That satisfying clunk when a tape got pulled down into the dash. For those who drove in the ’80s and ’90s those are memories of in-car audio, the ubiquitous tape deck, and it’s now dead. Well, dead as a factory option, anyway. The 2010 Lexus SC 430 was the last car to offer one, no longer available in the 2011 edition. Thank goodness we’ll always have Tape Deck Mountain The in-dash tape deck is dead, mixtape memories will live forever originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Scientists say they have seen evidence of a manmade crater in images of comet Tempel 1 taken during a Valentine’s Day flyby. The crater was created by another NASA craft that visited Tempel 1 in 2005. (Feb. 15)
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Samsung managed to impress us back at CES with its ultrathin 9 Series laptop but, as far as we knew at the time, the company was only planning to produce a 13.3-inch version of it. If a listing from online retailer Provantange is any indication though, it looks like there could also be a 11.6-inch model in the pipeline. While there’s no indication of a release date, the specs do seem to suggest that this is something more than a typo, as they include in a Core i3 processor instead of the i5 on the 13-incher, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, and the same 1,366 x 768 resolution as its larger counterpart but a lower 340 nits brightness. As you can see above, it also lists a price of just under $1,200, which would place it about $400 less than the 13.3-inch model. [Thanks, Vikram] Samsung 9 Series laptops to include 11.6-inch model? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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President Barack Obama holds a news conference where he pushes his spending plan in the face of a skeptical Republican-controlled Congress and talks about US efforts to press for political change in the Arab world. (Feb. 15)
Continue reading …While Subway waits to hear whether its bid to trademark the word “footlong” is successful, it’s been sending out cease-and-desist letters to sandwich shops that dare to use the phrase. Now Iowa-based Casey’s is fighting back (and getting some publicity to boot), notes the Consumerist , via the Des Moines Register…
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Obesity and osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee are substantially affecting the quality and duration of life in millions of older Americans, according to a new study.
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