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Google lets you pick the problem in improved ‘Solve for X’ think tank site

2013-02-11T16:11:05-05:00

Asteroid credit NASA JPL

In the wake of Google’s 2013 Solve for X event — which encourages people to submit radical proposals to huge problems like world hunger, for example — Google is adding new features to the TED-like think tank’s site in an effort to encourage collaboration and innovation. The 2013 event received 18 “moonshot” proposals for problems like asteroid mining, renewable energy storage, early Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and others that can be viewed on the Solve for X site. Google is adding a new forum and a community section to Solve for X where users can join, create a profile, and declare a problem that they’re passionate about solving. Users can also submit their own video proposals and watch, share, and rate other submissions.

Google has partnered with other think tanks like X Prize, GE Focus Forward, TED, MIT Technology Review, Singularity University, and ASU’s Center for Science and Imagination to cross-post talks and other programs that involve solving large problems with developing technologies. The idea behind the proposals is to “aim to make something 10x better, not just 10 percent,” so if you’re going to dream, dream big.

How a comic strip gulp evolved into an online mode of communication

2013-02-11T11:52:15-05:00

dictionary (UWGB Cofrin Library Flickr)

The New York Times‘ review of Microsoft’s Surface Pro contained an unexpected irregularity — when referring the company’s less successful hardware ventures, writer David Pogue penned “*cough* Zune, Kin Phone, Spot Watch *cough*.” Though bounding asterisks have been commonly used to describe actions online since the 90s, it’s unusual to see this use of language in the online and print editions of the Times. The University of Pennsylvania’s Language Log explains the origins of bounding asterisks, which date all the way back to a 1935 Li’l Abner comic strip, and how they’ve evolved beyond simple one-word actions into complex phrases like *does the Harlem Shake.*

Google Reader broken for a large number of users (update)

2013-02-11T11:08:03-05:00

Google Reader stock

Google Reader appears to be experiencing a number of issues, displaying viewed posts as unread and not allowing users to mark posts as read. Some users are even reporting that several of their subscriptions have disappeared altogether. Judging from complaints on the Google Reader support forum, the issues began sporadically last week, worsened over the weekend, and have come to a head as users return to their daily routine and check their feeds. While some users aren’t experiencing any problems whatsoever, we were able to reproduce several of the reported issues. Google support forums contributor Matti Meikäläinen says “the Google Reader team has been notified and someone will be looking into this,” but there’s no word on how soon a fix will come. We’ve reached out to Google for comment on the ongoing issues.

Update: We’ve heard from Google, who informed us in the statement below that the problem has been solved.

“Yesterday, users began noticing issues with Google Reader, which have now been resolved. For everyone who was affected, we apologize for any inconvenience you experienced.”

Google expects its self-driving cars to be ready in three to five years

2013-02-11T10:06:31-05:00

Google self driving autonomous car stock 1024

Speaking at a Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) conference last week, product manager for autonomous driving Anthony Levandowski said that Google expects to release its self-driving car technology in the next three to five years. According to Bloomberg, however, Levandowski cautioned that “what form it gets released is still to be determined.” Even if Google has its technology polished and road-ready in that time frame, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be for sale due to a slew of complex legal issues surrounding autonomous vehicles. Currently, only three states — California, Florida, and Nevada — allow Google’s self-driving cars on the roadways, but only for testing purposes and if a human driver is present.

“It’s a legal morass right now.”

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) associate administrator for vehicle safety, Dan Smith, explained the “massive challenge” involved coming up with a government standard that would cover “so many different scenarios where failure could possibly occur.” Another question the NHTSA still needs to address is whether or not the agency should be “looking at the underlying electronics” or merely testing the vehicle’s road performance.

Aside from regulating autonomous vehicles, insurance companies will also have to develop a way to determine who’s at fault in the event of an accident. Is Google at fault? Is the driver? “It’s a legal morass right now, and unfortunately it will take court decisions to work this out,” Insurance Information Institute president Robert Hartwig said at the SAE conference. While Google expects the technology to be ready in the next five years, Hartwig thinks it will take 15 to 20 years before you’ll be allowed to drive one down a US highway.

Could Sandboxr be the solution to user-friendly 3D modeling and printing?

2013-02-08T13:12:07-05:00

sandboxr

3D printing holds the lofty promise that if you can imagine it, you can print it. Unfortunately, modeling software still requires a fairly high level of knowledge and skill, which leaves many consumers unable to bring their ideas to life. However, a new company called Sandboxr aims to reduce that knowledge gap by giving users simple, web-based tools to manipulate 3D models so they can create unique, custom-made objects without touching complicated modeling software.

“I just want people to feel like they can be Tony Stark from Iron Man.”

Unlike services like Shapeways — which only let users print directly from a pattern — Sandboxr lets users pose, scale, accessorize, and print character models uploaded by artists, animators, and game developers. Founder Berk Frei told Wired that his goal was to make users “feel like they can be Tony Stark from Iron Man. They can design something in their computer and build it.” While pricing may change before the service is launched, Frei expects 2.5-inch models will cost about $12, and 3.5-inch objects will cost $20 to $25.

Speaking to Wired, Frei said that his company had received an “overwhelming” response from video game companies. Because Sandboxr uses the same modeling files as game developers, Frei says it will be easy for companies to make already-made character models available. This could prove to be a huge boon for the service, which will likely be dependent on a wide library of content for its success. Sandboxr is currently in private beta and will be launching a Kickstarter campaign according to Wired, but there’s no word yet on when the site will be open for business. However, you can see a few details of how the web-based software will work in the video below.

Play this: ‘Real World Racing’ uses satellite maps to let you race on real streets

2013-02-08T11:14:05-05:00

real world racing

Real World Racing, a top-down PC racing game built using real satellite images, is finally available in open beta. It’s not the full, finished version of the game, but the beta will still give you a decent taste of what’s to come with six cars and three maps — Rome, Berlin, and London — in single player, time trial, and multiplayer modes. Developers promise the full game will launch with 80 cars, at least 50 tracks, and a career mode, so there’s plenty to look forward to. You can use a controller or keyboard according to your preference, and the controls are fairly simple: accelerate, brake, steer, and switch gears. And yes, you can drift. There’s no word yet on pricing or release date for the full game, but Real World Racing creators are currently working to get the game approved for Windows machines via Steam Greenlight.

Windows Blue will reportedly put most Microsoft products on a yearly upgrade cycle

2013-02-07T20:17:02-05:00

New Microsoft Logo stock

We knew that Microsoft was preparing Windows Blue in an attempt to put its flagship desktop and mobile operating systems on a yearly upgrade cycle — but now ZDNet is reporting that it is part of a company-wide initiative to update a number of different Microsoft services. According to the report, Blue may update services like Skydrive, Hotmail, and others, as well as Windows Server. The slew of updates aren’t expected to hit the same day, but will likely all launch in the summer or fall of this year.

The new initiative could make Microsoft more competitive with rivals Apple and Google, both of whom follow a yearly upgrade schedule for their products. As it currently stands, Microsoft’s upgrade schedule is erratic and slow in comparison, with various development teams releasing updates for their products every two to three years. According to ZDNet, the Windows Blue update will likely bring new versions of Internet Explorer, Bing, and other apps, as well as kernel and driver updates intended to improve battery life and performance. Other than that, there are few specifics on what features Blue will add, but ZDNet does specify that the update could be released through the Windows Store.

3DLT takes its 3D printing site down after listing pirated designs

2013-02-07T16:38:05-05:00

andreia chaves 3d printed shoes

3DLT, a 3D printing service similar to Shapeways, took its site down today after Wired reported that the site was hosting pirated designs. The company has yet to officially launch — even though the site was live and open for business for some time — but according to Wired, 3DLT listed jewelry designs that belong to Nervous System without the owner’s knowledge or consent, under different names and with new descriptions.

“We have hurt the reputation of ourselves and others.”

When Nervous System co-founder Jessica Rosencrantz purchased one of these designs for $40, she didn’t even receive the necessary STL files to print them. Instead, 3DLT sent her a folder containing a website template for mCube, and nothing that could be 3D printed. Wired also discovered copies of tables by designer Dirk Vander Kooij and 3D-printed shoes by Andreia Chaves, but all of the files were removed from the site shortly before it was taken down.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen 3D printing sites run into potential copyright issues: Ulrich Schwanitz sent Thingiverse a DMCA takedown notice after another user uploaded a pattern for a 3D Penrose Triangle he claimed to have invented. Schwanitz withdrew the claim, but the issue of design piracy in the 3D printing world remains. While 3DLT’s blunder appears to be a placeholder misstep, intellectual property issues will likely become more prevalent as 3D printing becomes increasingly accessible to the masses.

How Monster won Beats, but lost the keys to Dre’s empire

2013-02-07T11:35:37-05:00

Noel Lee Monster stock 1020

A new report from Gizmodo details the origins of Monster’s deal to make Beats headphones, revealing how the company’s partnership was dismissed so easily when HTC came knocking. According to Monster founder Noel Lee and his son Kevin, their company designed, engineered, and built the headphones. But Monster spent itself into a corner, building the product before Interscope had even agreed to a business partnership. The company had little choice but to sign a deal that gave it manufacturing rights, while ceding ownership of the entire product line to Interscope. Despite the bad deal, Monster hasn’t given up on the market — just yesterday the company announced a partnership with rapper Swizz Beats to create a whole new line of headphones called “Diamond Tears.”

Federal Reserve confirms Anonymous banking hack that leaked personal info of thousands

2013-02-06T12:43:07-05:00

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The Federal Reserve has confirmed that it was hacked and that attackers gained access to government contact information, according to The Hill. On Sunday, hacktivist group Anonymous released a file containing what appeared to be public and private phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, and password hashes of some 4,000 members of the banking industry in an ongoing protest against the US Department of Justice’s treatment of Aaron Swartz.

In a statement to The Hill, a Federal Reserve spokesperson says that the agency is “aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product. The exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue,” adding that the attack did not impact the Federal Reserve’s “critical operations.” Speaking with the Huffington Post, a spokesperson also confirmed that contact information was taken, but denied to elaborate further on the compromised data beyond asserting that Anonymous’ claims on Sunday were “overstated.” Anonymous’ Operation Last Resort Twitter account referred to this hack and subsequent data release a “distraction,” hinting that the conglomerate may have more hacks up its sleeve in the coming weeks.