Bionic humans are about to get an upgrade, thanks to monkey cyborgs

In a big step towards making humans more bionic, scientists have trained monkeys to control not just one, but two virtual arms by thoughts alone. The work could someday be a boon to double amputees or quadriplegics. Read more…        

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Bionic humans are about to get an upgrade, thanks to monkey cyborgs

Cisco-threatening open switch coming from Facebook, Intel, and Broadcom

Cisco Nexus switches. pchow98 Six months ago, Facebook announced that its Open Compute Project (OCP) would develop a top-of-rack switch that could boot nearly any type of networking software. With the help of Intel, Broadcom, and others, the consortium devoted to open hardware specifications would develop a rival to Cisco’s network hardware. Today, Facebook and friends described the first tangible steps they’ve taken toward reaching that goal. Intel, Broadcom, Mellanox, and Cumulus Networks have contributed specs and software that bring the Open Compute Project closer to a finished switch design. Frank Frankovsky, VP of hardware design and supply chain operations at Facebook and head of the Open Compute Project, announced the latest developments in a blog post and conference call with reporters today. Frankovsky says the project is on track to “help software-defined networking continue to evolve and flourish,” since open source software-defined networking systems could be installed on Open Compute switches. Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments        

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Cisco-threatening open switch coming from Facebook, Intel, and Broadcom

This Technicolor Dream Cloth Is Woven From Optical Fibers

We live in a magical age filled with robot maids, flying cars ( sorta ), and mechanical guard dogs . And now, finally , that list includes color-changing home furnishings, like this fiber optic throw pillow. This is the 21st Century for crying out loud. Read more…        

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This Technicolor Dream Cloth Is Woven From Optical Fibers

Seiki brings a $1,500 55-inch 4K set to Sears stores

It’s not quite an impulse buy, but it’s getting close. And hey, who’s to say we wouldn’t swing by the electronics section after picking up a couple of power tools? Just in time for the holidays, Seiki’s rolling out a 55-inch 4K set for the nice price of $1, 499 — a followup to the $700 39-incher we saw back in June . And look, the company’s even tossing in a USB port and an HDMI 1.4 cable in for good measure. Can’t beat that. Interested parties will have pop into a Sears or visit the store’s site to take Seiki up on its offer. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments

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Seiki brings a $1,500 55-inch 4K set to Sears stores

Google Chrome now lets you see which tab that unwanted music is coming from

Sometimes you just want to look up a restaurant menu at work without your coworkers knowing you’re slacking off. (‘Sup, Marc ?) Thanks to a new Google Chrome feature, if you click on a site that auto-plays music or maybe a video ad, you can at least silence it quickly. If you download the Chrome 32 beta release, you’ll see indicators on tabs that are playing audio. Likewise, it also lets you know which tabs are using your webcam, or streaming to your TV over Chromecast . Additionally, the Safe Browsing features now automatically blocks malware files, instead of advising you to merely proceed with caution. Finally, the Windows 8 Chrome app has gotten a makeover so that the Metro Modern version looks more similar to the experience you’d get on a Chromebook. Curious? The download page is the third site we link to in our sources list below. Filed under: Internet , Software , Google Comments Source: Google (1) , (2) , (3)

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Google Chrome now lets you see which tab that unwanted music is coming from

Glowing 3D printed squid filled with bioluminescent soup

Rebecca Klee and Siouxsie Wiles’s “Living Light” is a 3D printed hollow squid filled with bioluminescent bacteria. They’ve thoroughly documented their build-process, and the project is really shaping up to be gorgeous. From the lab to the park ( via O’Reilly Radar )        

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Glowing 3D printed squid filled with bioluminescent soup

Amazon begins delivering Prime orders to US customers on a Sunday

If you can’t wait for the working week to begin again in order to receive your latest Prime delivery, Amazon has some good news for you. The company says it has teamed up with the US Postal Service (USPS) to deliver packages to Prime customers on Sundays, starting in New York and Los Angeles. Amazon’s so excited that “now every day is an Amazon delivery day” it’ll expand its service to include customers in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix and other US cities over the course of the next year. There’s no word on whether the company intends to bring extended weekend deliveries to other countries, so for now, Prime members in Amazon’s first two test cities will be the only customers seeing the new Sunday delivery promise when they go to checkout. Filed under: Internet , Amazon Comments Source: Amazon Press Room

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Amazon begins delivering Prime orders to US customers on a Sunday

China installed more than 60 security cameras on one street light

Paranoid much, China? Cause it sure as hell looks like it when you have more than sixty security cameras strapped onto a single street light. This photograph, taken at an intersection in Shanghai by NetEase , hilariously captures the personal privacy be damned, big brother monster attitude that everyone imagines China to have. It’s perfect, really. Read more…        

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China installed more than 60 security cameras on one street light

Apple Reportedly Developing Large Curved Screen iPhones For Late 2014, Better Touchscreen Sensors

Apple is said to be working on two curved display iPhone models for the “second half of next year,” according to a source speaking to Bloomberg , with a likely released planned for the third quarter, and building better touchscreen sensors that introduce fine pressure sensitivity for later devices to be introduced after that. These new iPhones for 2014 would come in 4.7 and 5.5-inch flavors, according to the report, meaning that Apple would be introducing not one, but two different models at the same time, in theory. We’ve seen reports of Apple working on different models of large-screen devices in the past, including one from the Wall Street Journal that suggests it’s been working on different tests of devices with screen sizes between 4.8 and 6 inches. This is the first time we’ve really heard firm information about a possible release date for said devices, from a source as generally reliable as Bloomberg. A Japanese iOS rumor site claimed a September launch for a large-screen iPhone late in October, however, and two reliable analyst sources predict a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 bound for stores in late 2014. Apple also introduced precedent for doing two models of new iPhone at once this year with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, so the idea that it could do so again in the future makes some sense. But two new larger-screened devices at once does seem like a stretch – thought if Apple retained an iPhone 5c as its third, budget device and added two more to the mid-tier and high-end range, that might allow it to do so without adding crazy complexity to its product lineup. The sensor developments are potentially more interesting to those who find the current screen size of the iPhone adequate; true pressure sensitivity (currently, some crude extent of that is possible via the iPhone’s accelerometer) would make drawing and handwriting applications on the iPhone and iPad much, much better. Apple could sell the devices as professional-level artistic devices if it introduces those kinds of features, in addition to just making things better for everyday users who want to jot notes and doodle, for example, or perform minor photo touch-ups. It’s very early days to make any kind of judgement about the likely accuracy of these claims, but the source gives it some weight. Apple’s iPhone joining the ranks of bigger-screened devices definitely makes sense as a next move for the lineup, but curved glass manufacturing also seems quite expensive at this point for Apple to be considering launching two new devices with that feature at once. Via 9to5Mac . Photo courtesy MyVoucherCodes.co.uk .

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Apple Reportedly Developing Large Curved Screen iPhones For Late 2014, Better Touchscreen Sensors

British Operator EE Offers £8 Million Petabyte 4G Data Bundle

judgecorp writes “British mobile operator EE is offering a massive 1 Petabyte data bundle to businesses spread across multiple phones, .It’s more than a gimmick to promote the 4G data service — it’s aimed at heavy data users such as media companies who use data networks to upload content. This deal charges £8 per gigabyte, which is less than half the cost of the satellite uplinks they currently use. So the £8 million cost of this package might even result in savings for some organizations.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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British Operator EE Offers £8 Million Petabyte 4G Data Bundle