Virgin Galactic’s White Knight aircraft is pretty exciting. And here’s a video that BoingBoingTV made of the aircraft’s launch event, that has some interesting words on the craft and space travel from Sir Richard Branson, Scaled Composite’s Burt Rutan and genuine spaceman and moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin himself. The best line? One that very few people in the world could say: “I wanted to go into space when I saw the moon landing. I’ve never had that opportunity, so I’ve had to build my own spacecraft!”—that’s Branson. [BBTV]
You must’ve seen at least one book titled something like “This book will teach you how to earn US$1 million.” Now, picture an iPhone application that has just two functions: a red jewel icon that “always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were able to afford this,” and, after pressing the “(i)”, a secret mantra that “may help to you stay rich, healthy and successful.” It costs US$999.99. See where I’m going with this? I’ve got a better mantra that’ll help you stay rich and healthy (by avoiding accidental spending-induced heart-attacks.) “Make sure you keep iTunes asking for your permission to buy apps before purchasing, or clicking on this app link may make you very, very sad indeed.” [Product page]
When we brought you news of Steve Jobs’ displeasure at the stumbling launch of MobileMe, we wondered what was happening in the management structure of the service. The chaps at Valleywag have worked it out, and it’s a classic. The guy now in charge of MobileMe, and all of Apple’s online services—Eddy Cue—was actually originally in charge of the iTunes Store: the place where service outages really messed up the iPhone 3G’s launch. Remember the iPocalypse? Hmmm. That now makes us wonder what happened to Cue’s former boss Sina Tamaddon (on the right in the pic) and Rob Schoeben, who was in charge of MobileMe’s launch. Did they too get punishment promotions? [Valleywag]
Here’s something to put a smile on your face on a non-descript Wednesday morning: Thanko’s new Code-Padlock USB protector. Does it use some funky encryption, or a digital keypad interface? No: it uses a physical code-padlocked lid that stops you from plugging in a thumbdrive if you can’t work out the three-digit code. Brilliant, except that a thief will just steal the whole thing and work out the code at their leisure. So it must be aimed at stopping “casual eyes” accessing files you’d rather keep to yourself. Ah… ones with lots of pink pixels—it all becomes clear. You can of course lock up other USB devices, but you’d have to be working in a really mean office environment to need to do that. Yours for about US$9. [Akhabaranews]
Stand your precious new HDTV on a simple, old-fashioned plank of wood? No, that’s way too low-tech… or at least you might think so after seeing Sony’s RHT-G500. It’s an “invisible home cinema” TV stand. “A TV stand with a product code?” you might ask. Yes. And an integrated 3.1-channel audio system with S-Force PRO Front Surround technology, HDMI inputs with pass-through, a special PMP connector, and both Bluetooth and wi-fi connectivity. And you can stand TVs on it: it’s designed for 32-inch to 40-inch sets. No word on pricing or availability. [Sony Europe via I4U]
If you’re after a pet without the need to feed it or clean up its little presents, then we have some good news for you: Pleo, the robotic dinosaur that can take on dogs, RC monster trucks and Battlebots, is making its way down to Australia, according to tipster (extraordinaire) Adam.
They’re due to land mid-September, will be distributed exclusively through Ingram Micro and it looks like they’ll cost $449. That may sound a little steep, but the little fella has outlasted the Aibo*, and it’s a dinosaur.
We’ll post more news as it comes to hand. In the meantime, take a trip down Pleo memory lane here.
[Pleo on Giz - Thanks Adam!]
* – I know it didn’t technically outlast Aibo.
Apple today received not one but six patents for a variety of items, including an iPhone/iPod Touch stand, an amplification system, a form of speech synthesis, and something it calls a “computing device” that looks a lot like a MacBook to us. Also, a new earbud/lanyard design, and a new backlighting scheme. Keep in mind, some of these patents might be for things Apple already sells, it’s a common practice and is responsible for the “patent pending” phrase on some products. Others, though, like the stand, haven’t been seen by eyes outside Apple, and it makes us curious if we ever will. [MacNN]
Here’s a perfect example of why Internet filters just don’t work. Our New Zealand cousins across the ditch living in a place called Whakatane were given a rude shock when they discovered – thanks to an interested tourist – that their town’s name was being blocked by an American internet filter.
The reason? In Maori, ‘Wh’ is pronounced like an ‘F’. So that you understand the problem, say it out loud: Fakatane. Say it again: Fakatane. Do you see the problem? It sounds like ‘Fuck-a-tarny’.
So because of some phonetics, an internet filter blocked an entire New Zealand town. Sure, it has now been sorted out, but this is still a great example (and yes, we’re talking to you, Conroy) of why internet filters just don’t work – 9 times out of 10, they filter out perfectly acceptable stuff.
[via News.com.au]
VoIP is good and stuff, but nine times out of ten it isn’t worth the effort (or the cost). Which is probably why Engin has been struggling in recent times.
To try and remedy this situation, Engin are planning on entering the Naked DSL market. Other naked DSL offerings include free VoIP services with their networks, so the move isn’t exactly surprising.
The plan is to launch the broadband services in October, according to their website, although there isn’t a lot of information on where the service will be available.
The mre companies offering the ability to get online and make cheap phone calls without line rental, the better in my opinion. Hopefully the pricing offered from Engin will be nice and competitive when it launches in a couple of months.
[via MIS Australie]
Wired got a sneak peek at one of the more fun aspects of this coming weekend’s Defcon, the hackable badge. Last year’s badge was hacked in just ten minutes, but it didn’t have an SD card slot at USB support. The new card has fewer features than last year’s but is more powerful. And it comes with a longer battery life, good news. But not everything is known, and that’s kind of the point to these fun trinkets. [Wired]
