It’s amazing what you can do with a latex weather balloon, helium, and a Nikon camera. In fact, what four teenage spanish students were able to do is take photos of the Earth from its stratosphere.
At its greatest height, the teens from IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia had their balloon reach 20 miles above the ground. With some accurate measurements for their experiment, and a little luck the group of students were able to take pictures that have many in the astronomy field a buzzing.
The students were able to track their experiment using Google Earth. At around 100,000 feet the balloon began deflating and the students travelled 10km to retrieve their experiment. Luckily, everything needed to view their results was intact.
This is a pretty cool video showing off what technologies we could see in a decade. I think it’s a bit more advanced then what we’ll actually see. Atleast everything is going to be based on touch.
During Obama’s campaign, he led a charge for the expansion of open source technology. There have been some mentions of it from some officials, but nothing substantial. However, over in the UK there looks to be a huge push for open source technology. Here’s the surprise, from the Tom Watson , the minister for digital engagement.
I love Watson’s common sense explanation of the open source initiative, “when it delivers best value for money”
There are other reasons mentioned for going open source, beyond the obvious financial savings an open source infrastructure could bring. First, open source isn’t bound by proprietary software, or hardware. It’s fully customizable, and can be made to fit the tech needs of the government instead of the other way around.
It seems to me that all of this is pretty common sense. Open source should definitely be the wave of the future for governments, in terms of software and networking. There’s no telling how many billions of dollars are spent by our government trying to keep up with advances in computing technology. With open source, so much money could be saved. Along with letting experts inside the government customize, and code the software to better fit the infrastructure.
Hopefully, we’ll learn a lesson from the UK, if the plan goes through.
As great as the internet is (porn and Youtube), it isn’t without its problems. As the world becomes more connected, security continues to hassle the wonderfully open nature of the world wide web. Experts are always working hard to beef up security of the internet, but it always seems the criminals are a step ahead.
So, if we’re always behind on security, what could be a potential solution to the problem? According to Stanford researchers, an ‘internet reboot’ could be the answer. In fact they are working on what is called, The Stanford Clean Slate project.
Nick McKeown, a Stanford engineer talks about the initiative behind the project, “Unless we’re willing to rethink today’s Internet… we’re just waiting for a series of public catastrophesâ€
According to the researchers, the idea of internet security continues to worsen instead of getting better. More types of malware are thrown onto the internet everyday. And it’s a struggle just to keep head above water.
With a complete restart, the internet could be made safe again. Of course, it’s easier said than done, and many questions have to be answered when going forward with such a project.
First, with a new internet, how could security be more improved than what it is now? Would anonymity take a back seat to safety? How would content adapt to new coding, or could sites just instantly show up on the new internet?
Stanford hopes to answer these questions and more as they continue their well funded project. By the end of the summer, the new system will be available across eight campuses worldwide. Here’s hoping it turns out well, and hopefully ‘Internet 2.0′ will be our savior.
If you’ve ever conducted a meeting, or conference over a webcam then you know some of the problems that can arise. If you’re trying to run a meeting, and Ted has distracting pictures up behind him it can get in the way of business. The WebAround is a device that looks to solve that problem, with a very simple design.
If you want to check out more, you can visit WebAround’s website. The WebAround will cost you $29.99, and comes in an assortment of colors (grey, blue, and green).
There are some stories that fall directly in your lap, and leave a smile on your face. Kind of sounded wrong. Anyway, this sad/funny but true story comes out of Colorado Springs.
I’m guessing it was like any other evening for two dudes working at 7-Eleven. Arguing about who actress they’d rather get with, Megan Fox, or Jessica Alba. Then an event would occur that could perhaps scar these two gentlemen for quite some time.
A white male, in his 20’s, wearing a black mask, black jacket, and blue jeans entered the premises. Anyone with a mask is generally a red flag when you work at a convenient store. If they pull out a Klingon blade then you can start to panic.
The two guys working at the convenient store, instantly recognized the Klingon weapon as what is called a “Batleth”. All the masked Klingon warrior wanted was cash out of the register.
This Is The Weapon The Assailant Used To Rob A 7-Eleven
Funny, I always assumed Klingons were about the thrill of battle, and taking the fight to your opponent. Not snatching money out of a register, and probably making off with a bag of Corn Nuts. Sad indeed.
