Dutch ISPs Refuse To Block Pirate Bay

Dutch ISPs Refuse To Block Pirate Bay:

judgecorp writes "Two Dutch ISPs have complied with a demand to block the Pirate Bay, but KPN and T-Mobile are refusing to block the site."

Torrent Freak has a bit more info. T-Mobile at least seems to imply they would respond to a court order, and are merely refusing to take down sites at the request of a private entity.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

LEGO Universe enjoys its last few hours

LEGO Universe enjoys its last few hours: Sad days, my friends. LEGO Universe is preparing to pack up the bricks one last time, with the game officially closing its doors at midnight EST tonight. (That's 9pm Pacific, 5am GMT, 4pm Sydney.)

BOXX electric bike: two wheels, four corners, all-electric transport for one

BOXX electric bike: two wheels, four corners, all-electric transport for one:

Has bicycle design reached its pinnacle? Or are electric bike manufacturers just not trying hard enough? The YikeBike begs to differ, and here joining it is BOXX Corporation's diminutive BOXX. Coming in at just under a meter (or 36-inch inches) long, the 120 pound aluminum "bike" has a top speed of 35 miles per hour and can even haul up to 300 pounds of heft. Yet, despite that compact footprint, the company hasn't skimped on tech, as it boasts traction control, anti-lock brakes and yes, even LED lights. Available in one of ten colors, $3,995 nets you a base 40-mile range model, which can optionally be doubled to 80 by ticking the $599 CORE 2 box. And for those willing to spruce even further, there's a $149 heated seat and $349 1-hour charger on offer. Ready to literally hunker down on electric mobility? Go on, peep the source links below -- do it, we've even linked the configurator.

BOXX electric bike: two wheels, four corners, all-electric transport for one originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Unbreakable

Project Unbreakable:

Grace Brown created "Project Unbreakable" in October, 2011, and the tumblog appears to really be gathering momentum. The idea: "Use photography to help heal those who were sexually abused by asking them to write a quote from their attacker on a poster and photographing them holding the poster."

So many stories from so many different people. Men, too, not only women. I was so moved by this post, which includes both a photograph and an audio narrative by an elderly woman who was sexually abused as a 12-year-old girl during World War II in Germany. Do listen to her story.

"You can never forget it. It is in your brain, marked like a stamp," she says. "I still suffer from it."

(via Jay Rosen)

Nanotech-enhanced 'smart paint' promises to detect structural damage

Nanotech-enhanced 'smart paint' promises to detect structural damage:

We've seen scientists explore a number of ways to make paint "smarter" over the years, and now a team of researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow have devised a method that they say could do nothing short of "revolutionize structural safety." The key to that is some novel nanotechnology that effectively turns the paint into a sensor network that's able to detect minor structural faults before they become a severe problem. More specifically, the paint consists of a mix of highly aligned carbon nanotubes and a recycled waste material known as fly ash -- when the nanotubes bend, the conductivity changes, indicating that there could be a structural problem developing. What's more, the fly ash is also said to give the paint a cement-like structure, which the researchers say could let it be used in harsh conditions where traditional structural monitoring can prove difficult (and expensive).

Continue reading Nanotech-enhanced 'smart paint' promises to detect structural damage

Nanotech-enhanced 'smart paint' promises to detect structural damage originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did a UK fashion marketer rip off logo for iconic punk band CRASS?

Did a UK fashion marketer rip off logo for iconic punk band CRASS?:

At left, the CRASS logo, first seen in the mid-1970s. Center and right, a recent design for the UK garment retailer "Hardware," which appears to have repurposed the CRASS logo after 35 years of prior use, and crassly so. Punk News says the band and their label are aware of it. More at exclaim.ca, and Cult Punk. As an aside: I used to own the vinyl 45 for the Crass release shown above. Almost got a tattoo for it. (via Doctor Popular)

Stereogranimator: transform historical stereographs from NYPL archives into animated gifs and 3d images

Stereogranimator: transform historical stereographs from NYPL archives into animated gifs and 3d images:

Above, "Dixon crossing Niagara below the Great Cantilever Bridge," U.S.A., 1895-1903. And you can make your own, with Stereogranimator, a new project from
NYPL Labs. Stereogranimator is " a tool for transforming historical stereographs from The New York Public Library's vast collections into shareable 3D web formats."

(thanks, Mikael Jorgensen!)

Retail Chains To Strike Back Against Online Vendors

Retail Chains To Strike Back Against Online Vendors:

Hugh Pickens writes "Marissa Taylor says the retail chains' worst nightmare are consumers who come in to take a look at merchandise in-store, but use smartphone apps to shop for cheaper prices online. But now stores like low-end retail chain Target plan to fight 'showrooming' by scaling up their business models and asking vendors to create Target-exclusive products that can't be found online. 'The bottom line is that the more commoditized the product is, the more people are going to look for the cheapest price,' says Morningstar analyst Michael Keara. 'If there's a significant price difference [among retailers] and you're using it on a regular basis, you're going to go to Amazon.' Target recently sent an 'urgent' letter to vendors, asking them to 'create special products that would set it apart from competitors.' Target's letter insisted that it would not 'let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices without making investments, as we do, to proudly display your brands.' Target also announced that it had teamed up with a handful of unique specialty shops that will offer limited edition merchandise on a rotating basis within Target stores in hopes of creating an evolving shopping experience for customers. Target is 'exercising leverage over its vendors to achieve the same pricing that smaller, online-only retailers receive,' says Weinswig. 'This strategy would help Target compete with retailers like Amazon on like-for-like products.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sinclair ZX81 Made Out of Lego

Sinclair ZX81 Made Out of Lego:

An anonymous reader writes "I used Lego's Digital Designer software to build a model of a Sinclair ZX81 — the computer that kicked me off on my interest in such matters way back in 1981. Until very recently, the software allowed you to upload your model, buy it and get a boxed set with all the pieces to build it (as well as instructions). The ZX81 model is as close to the shape of the original as I could make it, considering that Lego is quite a lo-resolution modelling tool. I even made it so that you can lift off the lid and see a representation of the PCB in side. I have also posted the model to Lego's Cuusoo site — a place where you can post ideas, and if they gain enough support they will be considered for production."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D

APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D:

And here you thought Microsoft bringing Windows 8 to ARM was big news. Turns out, a member of the xda-developers forum has managed to make an APK that puts a variety of Redmond's x86 operating systems on the HTC EVO 3D and its 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon -- Windows 95, 98, XP and even your favorite flavor of Linux are all available for the three dee-equipped handset. All you need to do is install the Bochs Pentium emulator APK and the OS disk image of your choice, modify a couple files, and you'll be doing yesteryear's desktop computing on a handheld in no time. Feeling nostalgic? Detailed instructions how to do it yourself and the necessary files can be found at the source link below, but all we want to know is: does it do the blue screen of death or the force close dance when things go awry?

APK puts Windows 95, 98 and XP, plus Linux on the EVO 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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