Photo: Indyposted We all know how Glenn Beck feels about environmentalists — his standard line holds that they’re some kind of undercover socialist agents looking to overthrow the American way of life. That’s not an exaggeration, either — that is essentially the message that he sends to his audience on a daily basis. But not only are environmentalists plotting, global warming hoax-ifying radicals, but they’re … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Dr. Steven Chu Answers Questions from Citizens About Energy Conservation (Video)
October 15, 2010 No Comment
Photo: Youtube screen grab from DOE video. Casual Q&A With the Secretary of Energy Who better to answer questions about energy conservation than a Nobel-winning physicist Secretary of Energy? The Department of Energy (DOE) has asked people to submit questions about energy, and a 15 minutes video of Steven Chu giving his answers has now been posted (see below). Most questions have to do with very concrete things that you can do, not so much about high-level DOE policy…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Turkey’s $1 million humanoid SURALP robot gets a coming out party (video)
October 15, 2010 No Comment
Yet another country has a walking humanoid robot to call its own, joining the illustrious league of nations that most recently added Iran to its ranks. Turkey is the lucky ducky this time, officially unveiling the SURALP robot to the world. Yeah, that’s an acronym, “Sabanci University Robot Research Laboratory Platform,” but after seeing him in action we’ve taken to calling him SHAKY. The University has been posting videos of his progress for many moons now, an eight year project that has cost $1 million total so far, but he was only recently officially revealed to the world at a demonstration, wowing the crowd by handing someone a can and then, later, throwing that very same can into the trash. Maybe SHAKY 2.0 will learn to recycle — and to love. Continue reading Turkey’s $1 million humanoid SURALP robot gets a coming out party (video) Turkey’s $1 million humanoid SURALP robot gets a coming out party (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Chris Matthews' level of political advocacy as we approach November's elections has now crossed from being unprofessional into almost pathological.
Continue reading …
Canon’s prosumer line just got a little better, with the 18 megapixel, 1080p recording 60D hitting stores and, now, getting recommended reviews. Photo Blog and Camera Labs have weighed in so far, and both have positive conclusions, most notably regarding that movie mode. The camera will kindly record in 1080p24 in addition to 1080p30, but the autofocus while filming is panned, called “fairly useless” thanks to only happening when you half-press the shutter button, and then taking a few seconds to figure things out — but that’s just like the EOS 7D and T2i . Overall the 60D scores highly and easily bests the 50D it replaces, but the real competition is Nikon’s D7000 , which interestingly is busting out at retail already, offering a similar price point, similar capabilities, and a magnesium alloy chassis, versus the plastic one on the Canon. How will they compare? We’ll just have to wait for the next round of reviews to find out. Continue reading Canon’s 60D impresses reviewers, but a challenger approaches (video) Canon’s 60D impresses reviewers, but a challenger approaches (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg
October 15, 2010 No Comment
Yeah, it’s almost time for the holidays, and smart busy-bodies are already checking items off their shopping lists. For that special someone, consider the most outrageously overpriced plastic toy we’ve ever seen. $65,000 buys you this “Emotive Robotic Avatar” from Hammacher Schlemmer , a little servo-actuated guy that can wave its arms around and go from looking happy (above) to evil (below). It’s all controlled by a tablet PC with a 30 foot range that receives a real-time video feed, as we saw when we checked this guy out at the Toy Fair earlier this year , back when he was called Quasai. As shown in the video after the break, the “operator” can even speak through the robot, which will pitch shift his or her voice, a trick sure to give your children nightmares. If that doesn’t work, just tell ‘em you blew their college fund to buy the thing and they’ll have to get work study jobs. That ought to send the shivers up their spines. [Thanks, Evan] Continue reading Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg Hammacher Schlemmer’s tablet-controlled ‘Emotive Robotic Avatar’ captures your heart, nest egg originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Lexmark intros Genesis all-in-one printer with camera-based scanning, we go eyes-on
October 15, 2010 No Comment
You’ve probably seen quite a few flatbed scanner bars in your lifetime, but the $400 Lexmark Genesis printer doesn’t have one of those — it’s got a 10 megapixel digital camera with a fish-eye lens that produces nigh-instant images. 750 milliseconds after you close its front-facing scan bay, the CMOS sensor generates a preview on the 4.3-inch color touchscreen, and 2.2 seconds after that, it’s got a full 4800 x 1200 image saved on your USB-connected computer or winging its way across 802.11n WiFi. The company’s calling the system FlashScan, and the raw speed was definitely impressive when we saw it in San Francisco this week, even though other parts of the print system left something to be desired. The printer uses special algorithms to translate the fish-eye image back into a flat sheet and reproduces text quite well, but the twin RGB flashes it fires to reproduce color didn’t always do an accurate job, and we were disappointed to find a number of features (including some obvious oversights like image rotation for copies) weren’t accessible via the touchscreen. It does have a number of neat web apps for completely untethered use, however, including the ability to scan right to Evernote and Photobucket, and Lexmark told us it’s working with a number major photo hosting services, Twitter, Facebook and Box.net to let Genesis users directly upload. See it in action on video after the break, along with the full press release. Continue reading Lexmark intros Genesis all-in-one printer with camera-based scanning, we go eyes-on Lexmark intros Genesis all-in-one printer with camera-based scanning, we go eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The Week in Pictures: Banksy’s Simpsons Shows Dark Side of Pop Culture, Formaldehyde-Laden Brazilian Blowout, and More (Slideshow)
October 15, 2010 No Comment
If you’re a fan of The Simpsons–or Banksy , for that matter–you have undoubtedly seen this week’s intro segment, directed by the mysterious and world-renowned street artist, which attempts to show the ugly side of consumerism–watch the video, below. Making other green headlines this week, researchers based in Montréal, Canada, have found a worrying correlation between markers for air pollution and breast cancer; Google unveils its car-driving artificial intelligence project: robot cars that drive themselves; a father and son duo film outer space, DIY style, and much, much more in our photo roundup o… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Watch Private Practice S4E4: A Better Place To Be The new installment of our neonatal surgeons of Private Practice, which is entitled “A Better Place To Be” is the hospital drama hit TV show’s 4th episode of the 4th season that aired last 10/14/2010 Thursday 10:00 PM on ABC.
Continue reading …