Author: kenmay

R. A. Montgomery, Creator of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books, Dead At 78

Dave Knott writes Raymond Almiran Montgomery, original publisher and author of the incredibly popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series for children, the 4th bestselling children’s series of all time, has died at the age of 78. In 1975, Montgomery founded a small press and when, in 1977, Ed Packard submitted an innovative book for young readers, “Sugarcane Island”, Montgomery immediately saw it for what it was: a role-playing game in book form. He leapt at the chance to publish it, and launched a series, writing the second book, “Journey Under The Sea”, himself. When Montgomery went through a divorce and sold his stake in the press to his ex-wife, he took the series, renamed as “Choose Your Own Adventure”, to Bantam. The books went on to sell more than 250 million copies across 230 titles in 40 languages. Montgomery’s interests also extended to new technology, adapting the series to the Atari console in 1984. He was also responsible for the Comic Creator software on Apple’s Macintosh computers. Montgomery died on November 9th. The cause of death was not disclosed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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R. A. Montgomery, Creator of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books, Dead At 78

Firefox’s New "Forget" Button Will Erase Just Enough of Your History

There are many reasons why you might want to switch on the private browsing mode offered up by your browser, especially when you’re on a shared computer or borrowing someone else’s laptop. If you forget to activate the private mode before you go surfing then the latest version of Firefox has a feature that can help you out. Read more…

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Firefox’s New "Forget" Button Will Erase Just Enough of Your History

If you’re a Google Play Music All Access subscriber, you’ll get access to the new YouTube Music Key

If you’re a Google Play Music All Access subscriber, you’ll get access to the new YouTube Music Key service next week. If you’re not, you can sign up for the beta here . Read more…

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If you’re a Google Play Music All Access subscriber, you’ll get access to the new YouTube Music Key

Even the 19th Century Had Needy Nigerian Prince Scams

We’ve all received that email at least once before. A kind prince/princess/spambot in Nigeria has millions of dollars, and better yet, they want to split it with you . Just hand over your social security code and wait for them to arrive on American soil. As the above newspaper clipping shows, these types of scams were going on even before email came around—in this case, as early as 1876. Read more…

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Even the 19th Century Had Needy Nigerian Prince Scams

First comet drilling ever confirmed: 100% successful mission, says ESA

Against all odds, Philae has confirmed that the first ever drilling of a comet has happened! ESA has received telemetry data indicating that the drill went down and up. The probe will now analyze whatever material the drill has managed to grab. What is Philae going to find? Perhaps the buildi ng blocks of life? UPDATED 2. Read more…

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First comet drilling ever confirmed: 100% successful mission, says ESA

Beautiful, detailed photos of mechanical calculators’ guts

San Francisco photographer Kevin Twomey shot an amazing gallery of images of the inner workings of a large collection of mechanical calculating machines from the collection of Mark Glusker , stitching together multiple images to ensure that every rod, gear and linkage was vividly rendered. Read the rest

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Beautiful, detailed photos of mechanical calculators’ guts

Trendy shoes use GPS so parents can keep track of their kids

Add / Remove For a reason unknown to parents, kids are constantly doing their best to get lost or wander off into some sort of danger. In the past we’ve seen the Sync Smartband send alerts to parents if their child moves out of their sight. Created in China, Budiu are a pair of kids’ sneakers that feature embedded GPS locators so parents know where they are. Developed by Angela & Lucas , each pair features a GPS chip integrated into the tongue of the shoe, able to pinpoint their location to within 3 meters if the child is outdoors and 50 meters if they’re indoors. Within the companion app, parents or guardians can check the whereabouts of their kids on a map. They can even check the location through street view mode or quickly message them without leaving the app. Budiu also gives parents the option to set up a safe zone that alerts them if their child strays outside of it. If the child loses the sneakers or they get stolen, the app can also help locate them. Interestingly, the company is looking to offer a service as much as it is a product. The shoes can be personalized through the online store so kids can pick their own designs. For parents, the app doubles as a social network where they can communicate with other parents and share tips on how to keep kids safe. The shoes also aren’t available to buy outright. Instead, parents pay for the GPS usage at a cost of RMB 730 over 2 years. As part of this package, they get 4 free pair of shoes and 1 free chip. Considering how often active kids arrive home with a ruined pair of shoes, this could prove economical for parents. Watch the video below to see the Budiu kit in action: Cleverly marketed to appeal to today’s kids, the sneakers offer technology to provide parents with peach of mind without having to add a new item to their wardrobe. How else can wearable technology be integrated into the clothes we already wear? Website: www.ebudiu.cn Contact: www.andl.com/article.php

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Trendy shoes use GPS so parents can keep track of their kids

Feds gather phone data from the sky with aircraft-mimicking cell towers

Aleksander Markin On Thursday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal published a report saying that the US Marshals Service (USMS) was using small, fixed-wing Cessnas equipped with so-called “dirtboxes”—receivers that act like cellphone towers—to gather data from citizens’ phones below. The purpose of such collection is to target and spy on criminal suspects, but the data from any citizen’s phone is collected by such devices. Sources told the WSJ that USMS operated these planes from five major airports in the US and that the program had a flying range “covering most of the US population.” The devices on the planes can capture unique identifying information from “tens of thousands” of cellphones on the ground. Using that information, federal authorities can pinpoint a cellphone user’s location from “within three meters or within a specific room in a building,” the WSJ said. Individuals with knowledge of the matter told the news outlet that the plane flyovers were targeted at “fugitives and criminals” and that non-target phone data is “let go” as it is gathered. The dirtboxes are described as higher-grade Stingrays, which police use  on the ground to collect International Mobile Subscriber Numbers (IMSI). Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Feds gather phone data from the sky with aircraft-mimicking cell towers