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Aug 7, 2012 3:56 PM   NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter just snapped the scene of the crime: all the pieces of the EDL (Entry Descent Landing) system that worked flawlessly together to safely put Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The image was taken by MRO's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, 24 hours after the landing. You can see it all: the heat shield, the back shell, the parachute and, finally, the sky crane, which crashed hard after the umbilical cords were cut with guillotines fired by pyrotechnic devices. View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Aug 2, 2012 4:40 PM   People across the globe are Instagramming right now. In Tokyo, a face, cat's legs, breakfast sandwich, and another face were just uploaded. How can you tell? This site lets you watch it all happen, instantaneously. This Is Now documents the unceasing, visually nauseating torrent of Instagram pics taken in New York, London, Sao Paolo, Tokyo, and Sydney—all of the geotagged, filtered snaps are plopped out in sequence, like some nostalgic conveyer belt. Faces, beaches, food, building, sky, sky, sky building, food, face—it's pretty much the same, regardless of continent. England is a little Olympics-centric for some reason right now, and Tokyo denizens seem to have a special proclivity for their own mugs, but hey—underneath it all, we're all predictable when it comes to digital photography. That's either affirming in a humanistic way, or kind of lame. Turn it on and stare. [Thanks, Breanna Hughes] View the original article here This post was made usi...

A gun safe's purpose is obvious in its name, but many readily available models fail to deliver, as this 3-year-old safe-cracker is quick to demonstrate. A number of consumer-grade safes already proven to be dangerously insecure are now due to be hacked apart at DefCon. One of the worst offenders includes the Amsec EST916 which has been shown to open with just a jostle or two. It's not exactly clear from the video below whether the safe is re-locked after being closed, but even so, its inability to stay shut after just a drop or two makes it bad even for a cabinet. Of the other safes up for DefCon scrutiny none are bad enough that they can be fumbled open, but many are vulnerable to even the most crude attempts at access. One model of Stack-On bio-metric safes, for instance, can be opened simply by placing a paperclip or key-blank in the key hole. Yet another safe can be bypassed by prodding at the latch with a flattened straw. Not all of these safes are marketed as being gun ...

Jul 26, 2012 6:00 PM   What is that there? I can't see anything. Oh wait it's a clock . Just like the reptile it's named for, Chameleon Clock captures the scenery behind your screen and overlays the time on top. Uses your iPhone or iPad's camera to stylishly tell the time. It's an awesome idea, and though there are a ton of time-keeping apps to choose from, there isn't anything like this. Change the numbers from black or white with a simple tap. Mess with the transparency with swipes. Choose chameleon mode, where the app is matching the color of what's behind it. Or try live camera mode, where there's a feed of what's going on in the background. Chameleon Clock Download this app for: The Best: chameleon mode The Worst: Can't freeze the frame View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Jul 26, 2012 10:00 PM   Although I know there's probably no danger involved with this house—which has a bonafide, funnel-shaped opening in the middle of it—there is something ominous about this Nobuhiro Tsukada-designed Earth House, which is connected directly to the terrain below it. The inspiration for the concrete house design comes from the client, who, looking for privacy in his exurban Tokyo home, wanted all the rooms to open into a courtyard. But the courtyard would have been too small, so instead, they filled the tunnel-like space with earth and created the courtyard on the second-story, enclosing it on all sides with graceful, swooping walls. The generous use of skylights still allows for plenty of natural illumination, and more importantly, privacy from the outside world. But still, I'd probably have nightmares about that funnel sucking everything down into the Earth's core. [Architonic via Architizer] View the original article here This post was made using th...

A gun safe's purpose is obvious in its name, but many readily available models fail to deliver, as this 3-year-old safe-cracker is quick to demonstrate. A number of consumer-grade safes already proven to be dangerously insecure are now due to be hacked apart at DefCon. One of the worst offenders includes the Amsec EST916 which has been shown to open with just a jostle or two. It's not exactly clear from the video below whether the safe is re-locked after being closed, but even so, its inability to stay shut after just a drop or two makes it bad even for a cabinet. Of the other safes up for DefCon scrutiny none are bad enough that they can be fumbled open, but many are vulnerable to even the most crude attempts at access. One model of Stack-On bio-metric safes, for instance, can be opened simply by placing a paperclip or key-blank in the key hole. Yet another safe can be bypassed by prodding at the latch with a flattened straw. Not all of these safes are marketed as being gun ...

Jul 26, 2012 6:00 PM   What is that there? I can't see anything. Oh wait it's a clock . Just like the reptile it's named for, Chameleon Clock captures the scenery behind your screen and overlays the time on top. Uses your iPhone or iPad's camera to stylishly tell the time. It's an awesome idea, and though there are a ton of time-keeping apps to choose from, there isn't anything like this. Change the numbers from black or white with a simple tap. Mess with the transparency with swipes. Choose chameleon mode, where the app is matching the color of what's behind it. Or try live camera mode, where there's a feed of what's going on in the background. Chameleon Clock Download this app for: The Best: chameleon mode The Worst: Can't freeze the frame View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Jul 23, 2012 2:40 PM   When it comes to robo-locomotion, you've got your wheels, your treads, your jointed legs. Now, you can add whip-like mechanical tentacles to the list, and they're way more effective—and freaky—than you might think. The Metallic Vaio 2012, with its custom-built tentacle legs, was built for the 6th KONDO LAND Multi-Legged Robot Obstacle Race where it managed to somersault away with not only the second place prize, but the one for MVP as well, doubtlessly leaving some of the less decorated contestants feeling jilted and insecure. The Metallic Vaio's caterpillar-esque tentacle appendages boast 18 degrees of freedom which allows them to rotate, flex, pinch, and unfurl in various combinations. That's a lot, considering your average robotic leg has around 6. All these axes mean the Vaio has a whole bunch of ways to get around, from rolling, to crawling, to things that come a little more close to skittering. Even with that so options, turning seems to ...

Ron Johnson is best known for creating Apple's retail empire. He's now CEO of retailer JCPenney. This week, he detailed his amazing vision for turning JCPenney into a techno wonderland in Apple's image. And he's turning to Oracle for help. Apple's store design gets almost all the attention. Not as flashy but just as important is the software that does everything from tracking inventory to letting salespeople ring up purchases with iPhones. Like a lot of retailers, JCPenney has old, proprietary code. Johnson is yanking out about 500 applications, nearly all of them custom applications created over the years, and having Oracle be its one-stop shop. This is a big win for Oracle, since its archrival IBM has been entrenched with retailers for decades. (Look at this 1976 article about JCPenney installing IBM cash registers, for example.) Neither company disclosed the size of this deal for Oracle, but it's easy to see that it's big. JCPenney already used quite a b...