tripleevenfall writes “Ad-targeting firm Specific Media has agreed to buy News Corp.’s struggling social-media site Myspace. The deal for $35 million is well below the $100 million News Corp. was seeking for the troubled social-media site. The deal involves considerably more equity for News Corp. than cash and they will retain a small stake in the site, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
What’s this? Looks like the Internet Archive, everyone’s favorite repository for online antiquities, has gotten its hands on a fancy new apple “petabyte” server. The new prototype device is open-source and is scalable like the PetaBox hardware that heats it. Its sliced and dried fruit output is also quite delicious, according to David Glenn Rinehart, the artist who installed the server. Though, as anyone who has followed the industry for any amount of time can tell you, there are always a few bad apples in the bunch.
Apple ‘petabyte’ server is open-source, keeps doctors away originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The game makers behind mega Facebook games Farmville, CityVille and Mafia Wars today filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to take Zynga public in hopes of raising $1 billion. More
Cybernics — it’s not a typo, it’s a completely new field that mixes cybernetics, mechatronics, and informatics with an all-human core. Pioneered by Tsukuba Univeristy designer Yoshiyuki Sankai, the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) exosuit originally created to aid Japan’s eldery has now found an even nobler mission — assisting disabled tourists. Through detection of weak muscular bioelectrical impulses in the legs, this RoboCop-like lower body suit boosts its wearer’s load-bearing abilities by a whopping 176 pounds. The exoskeleton tech first helped paralyzed Seiji Uchida nearly tackle Switzerland’s Breithorn peak in 2006 and is now getting another go at the disabled traveler’s bucket list. This time ’round, Uchida hopes his ride atop a HAL-outfitted human will successfully carry him to the top of Normandy’s rugged Mont Saint-Michel, paving the way for other similarly handicapped travelers to do the same. Although the robotics in question here is more mech suit than say, dental training real doll, it’s still a huge leg up for the nascent research industry that got its kick-start making a wish come true.
HAL exosuit takes a Cybernic approach to disabled tourism originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Scientists recently did an MRI of a tarantula. They managed to capture a video of the beating heart of the spider. Apparently it’s like no other heartbeat seen before. More
SideCLOUDload is a webapp that sends files from the Web to your Dropbox account without forcing you to download them first. The tool is useful if you’re on a computer without Dropbox installed, or that doesn’t permit downloads. More
There comes a point in every hardware cycle where the PC, thanks to its ability to be constantly updated, begins to pull ahead. Do things a console shooter can’t do. We’re now reaching that point. More
When it comes to home theater PCs, size matters — and it doesn’t get too much smaller than Sapphire’s original Edge HD mini PC, pictured above. In fact, Sapphire saw no reason to fiddle with the Edge’s diminutive form factor when designing the HD2, and instead poured itself into improving the HTPC’s specs. Not only is the updated mini-rig small enough to mount behind your HDTV, but it also packs a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom, 2GB RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. All this (and 1080p VGA / HDMI out, of course) at 30W, “20 times less power than a typical desktop PC,” according to Sapphire. No word on price (or pics, for that matter), but feel free to jump past the break for an official press release with full specifications.
Continue reading Edge HD2 Mini PC is an HTPC that hides behind your TV
Edge HD2 Mini PC is an HTPC that hides behind your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
