Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - Page 2

University Claims to Have Developed World’s First Flexible Touchscreen Display

ASU’s Flexibile Display Centre and military partners have developed the very first display with a flexible touchscreen. Mainly designed for military applications, the screen is made out of glass strong enough to withstand the battlefield.


This Might Be the Nicest Inhabitable Cave Ever

Some family out in Missouri decided five years ago to purchase a cave and build their house in it…literally. This 17,000 sq.ft. house not only has three bedrooms, but a secondary party room and a performing stage (!?).


Geek Out

Double-Amputee Wants to Be Part of Ariel’s World with Her Prosthetic Mermaid Tail

Nadya Vessey was a child when her legs were amputated due to an illness. When asked about them, she said that she was a once mermaid; now with her prosthetic tail, she finally is one.


Gadgets

CirculaFloor Autonomous Floor Tiles Drag the Ground from Under Your Feet in Virtual Reality

CirculaFloor—360° autonomous floor tiles—reposition themselves to make walking in virtual reality one step closer to being more realistic. However, walk a little too fast, and you’ll fall flat on your ass.


Watching the Chicago Bears While Waiting for Your Cruise: That’ll be $US28,067 Please

Wayne Burdick just wanted to watch the Chicago Bears game. Using the Slingbox he had set up, he slid in his AT&T wireless card. Two and half hours and $US28,000 later, the Bears won.


Cameras

The Government is NOT Spying on You Through Your DTV Converter Box

Last week, Spokane-based engineer Adam Chronister posted a Youtube video, where he cracked open a government-subsidised DTV converter box, only to find a hidden camera. Turns out, the whole thing was a hoax.


Mobile

‘Comes With Music’ Launching March 20 on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Gizmodo AU

We’ve known it was going to launch this quarter and feature local music from the Liberation record label, but now Nokia has unveiled the official release date for their ‘Comes With Music’ service for Australia. Starting on March 20, you’ll be able to pick up a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, and have the ability to download as much music as you want for a year that you’ll be able to keep forever.


Computing

Computer Crashes Due to an Internal Worm, Literally

When an IT technician looked inside a dying computer with malfunctioning processor fan, he discovered what had caused the machine to crash: A worm—not a bug or a virus—an actual 5-inch earthworm.


Science

Green Erg Generator: An Energy Tail That Harnesses the Power of Walking

In rural Africa, electricity is hard to come by. That’s why Dr. Cedrick Ngalande has developed the Green Erg Generator—a dynamo that produces electricity from friction generated with the ground while walking.


Gaming

Berlekamp’s Switch Game May Be Nerdiest Boardgame Ever

The game has 100 bulbs, 10×10. Each row and each column has a switch that turns off bulbs that are on, and turns on bulbs that are off. Can you turn off all the bulbs?