Month: January 2012

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From Engadget: Google upgrades Earth with better rendering, teaches it to sing in perfect harmony

Google’s bringing a number of changes to its Earth service courtesy of version 6.2, including Google+ integration and improvements to search. Most notable here, however, is a new method of rendering that stitches aerial photos together in a manner less patchy than before, making for “the most beautiful Google Earth yet,” according to the company. The new version is available now for download — more info in the source link below.

Google upgrades Earth with better rendering, teaches it to sing in perfect harmony originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from Engadget

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From Ars Technica: Apple CEO calls Times supplier report “patently false and offensive”


Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly called recent reports on Apple’s attitude toward its supply chain “patently false and offensive” in a new e-mail sent internally to Apple employees. Cook’s remarks came the same day The New York Times published a lengthy feature about the “human cost” of our iPads, iPhones, and other gadgets. That report, based on sources and interviews conducted by the Times, made the assertion that many of Apple’s executives are willing to look the other way when it comes to unsafe conditions and worker abuse because of the pressure to keep gadget costs down. Apple declined to comment for the Times story.

In Cook’s e-mail, which is published in full at 9to5Mac, Cook indirectly referenced the Times report by opening with, “some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly.” He went on to describe any accident that happens with Apple’s suppliers as “deeply troubling,” and addressed Apple’s employees who work at supplier sites around the world by saying they’re “as outraged by this as I am.” The remainder of the letter describes Apple’s supplier inspection initiatives and its recent relationship with the Fair Labor Association.

“Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us,” Cook wrote. “As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”

The Times report in question is worth reading in full; it’s full of quotes sourced from former and current Apple executives about the company’s view of supply chain problems in China and elsewhere. The prevailing message appears to be that Apple cares to a certain extent, but can pretend certain reports don’t exist until there’s a PR disaster to deal with (such as the aluminum dust explosion at a Foxconn plant that killed several workers in 2011). 

It’s clear that Cook feels strongly about the new story, and he claims that Apple is committed to improving worker conditions overseas. “What we will not do—and never have done—is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain,” he wrote. “On this you have my word.”

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from Ars Technica

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: How D-Dalus Flies Like Nothing Else

D-Dalus Graham Murdoch

Last year, the Austrian engineering firm IAT21 set out to construct a flying machine that floated like a hummingbird, traveled as fast as a jet, was as quiet as a hot-air balloon, and was simple enough that a car mechanic could repair it. The company’s working prototype, called D-Dalus, is roughly five feet by three feet square and can lift about 100 pounds. But the size and lift are not what’s most impressive. A flying machine with no airfoil, rotor or jet propulsion can travel where most cannot: in very tight spaces and through terrible weather.

ROTOR ASSEMBLIES

The craft’s four rotors spin at 2,200 rpm, and six blades attached to carbon-fiber disks create directional thrust. The blades act as mini airfoils, their angle of attack constantly shifting in relation to rotation. For vertical lift, a blade’s leading edge rises away from the center of the disk at the top of its rotation and toward the center of the disk at the bottom [pictured], creating a pressure differential.

FRICTIONLESS BEARINGS

Existing bearings were unable to withstand 1,000 Gs of force between the carbon-fiber disks and their blades and still deliver some degree of maneuverability. Engineers at IAT21 developed their own bearings, shaped like metal barrels, that hold up to the force better than spheres (think: arches) but can still roll enough for the blades to move.

AUTOMATIC STABILIZATION

Servo motors communicate with the rotor assemblies to automatically correct the craft’s speed, position and balance by adjusting the blades’ angle. If the pilot jerks the radio controls too hard in one direction, the craft will keep itself from pitching or yawing by increasing opposing thrust. The system can adjust for turbulence and heavy winds, too.

ADVANCED NAVIGATION

Radar, GPS and three multispectral cameras (visible, EHF-extremely high frequency- and infrared) act as the D-Dalus’s eyes. Visual information is fed into the craft’s collision-avoidance algorithm. The system is so sensitive that D-Dalus can fly within inches of power lines, hover above moving platforms (a ship’s deck in rough seas, for example), or refuel another D-Dalus in flight.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now