Category: Techie

Posted on

From Ars Technica: Netherlands highways will glow in the dark starting in mid-2013

Studio Roosegaarde

A smart road design that features glow-in-the-dark tarmac and illuminated weather indicators will be installed in the Netherlands from mid-2013.

“One day I was sitting in my car in the Netherlands, and I was amazed by these roads we spend millions on but no one seems to care what they look like and how they behave,” the designer behind the concept, Daan Roosegaarde, told Wired.co.uk. “I started imagining this Route 66 of the future where technology jumps out of the computer screen and becomes part of us.”

The Smart Highway by Studio Roosegaarde and infrastructure management group Heijmans won Best Future Concept at the Dutch Design Awards, and has already gone beyond pure concept. The studio has developed a photo-luminising powder that will replace road markings—it charges up in sunlight, giving it up to ten hours of glow-in-the-dark time come nightfall. “It’s like the glow in the dark paint you and I had when we were children,” designer Roosegaarde explained, “but we teamed up with a paint manufacture and pushed the development. Now, it’s almost radioactive”.

from Ars Technica

Posted on

From Geeks are Sexy Technology News: Judge to Apple: Don’t get smart with me

Last week I commented that Apple’s attempts to take severe liberties when posting an official statement clearing Samsung of violating their patents were a “skillful piece of public relations writing.” It turns out the judge who ordered the statement to be published strongly disagrees.

Apple was forced to put the statement on its site after losing a court case in which it claimed Samsung’s products such as the Galaxy Tab infringed on the design of the iPad.

Once the appeals process was over and the case finally lost, Apple did so. But rather than just print the statement, it added a few choice extracts from the judge’s ruling in which he said the Tab wasn’t as cool as the iPad, along with a note that Apple had prevailed in similar cases in other countries, meaning that “… other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.”

Judge Robin Jacob didn’t see the funny side and — contrary to how I interpreted it last week — concluded that the notice didn’t meet the letter of his ruling. He said “I’m at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this. That is a plain breach of the order.”

Jacob and two fellow judges have now ordered that Apple publish the statement that Samsung was found not to have breached the patents — and nothing else. Apple must also include a link and notice on their UK homepage, in at least 11 point text, noting that the original statement has been corrected.

Apple asked for 14 days to make these changes. Jacob rejected that request and is quoted as saying “I would like to see the head of Apple make an affidavit setting out the technical difficulties which means Apple can’t [immediately] put this on their website. I just can’t believe the instructions [its lawyers] have been given. This is Apple. They cannot put something on their website?”

Crafty as its handling the original statement was, it does seem fair to say Apple is going to have to admit the game is up now and move on.

from Geeks are Sexy Technology News

Posted on

From Engadget: Hurricane Sandy has knocked out 25 percent of all cell towers, cable services in 10 states

Hurricane Sandy has knocked out 25 percent of all cell towers, cable services in 10 states

Julius Genachowski has revealed that Hurricane Sandy has knocked out a full quarter of cellphone towers and cable services in the 10 most affected states. The FCC chief believes that, as more towers expend their battery back-ups and the storm’s continued presence, the situation’s going to get worse before it gets better. He’s also reiterated that users should avoid making non-essential calls and use e-mail or social media to avoid overloading the straining networks. One point of interest in the call, was that land line phone outages were much less widespread — which might be something to remember if you’ve ever considered cutting the cord.

from Engadget

Posted on

From Droid Life: Google Now has a Built-in Pedometer – Tracks Miles Walked and Biked From Each Month

Last night, and possibly because the month of October came to a close, Google Now started showing a new card to a number of our readers. That new card is a pedometer that has been tracking their steps and miles biked over the last couple of months, behind the scenes. I say “behind the scenes” because this is a card that we have yet to see or hear about. In fact, I took a quick look through Google Now settings and could not find this feature mentioned.

Pretty cool though, right? As you can see in one of the screenshots, it actually compared September to October and split up the activities depending on activity type. There is a mention under the results that reads “Based on your device’s location which is periodically sent to Google.” A Learn more link sits below it, but doesn’t provide any useful info.

Has your Google Now pedometer card showed up? Feel free to post ‘em in the comments.

Cheers Zeas, NCSUgolfer01, cory, Stephen, Dale, Jose, Grady, Matthew, and Brian!

from Droid Life