ECAL Low-Tech Factory/Rocking-Knit from ECAL on Vimeo.
Is there anything more relaxing than the back and forth motion of a comfy rocking chair? Of course there is — rocking while sporting a stylish knit cap you made yourself, which is made all the more easy with this rocking chair knitting machine — via Gizmodo Australia
It sounds like the theoretical impossibility of perpetual motion, but engineers at the University of Michigan have created a pacemaker that is powered by the beating of your heart — no batteries required.
The technology behind this new infinite-duration pacemaker is one that we’ve discussed before at length on ExtremeTech: piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity is literally pressure electricity
, and it relates to certain materials that generate tiny amounts of electricity when deformed by an external force. Piezoelectricity is exciting because it can harvest energy from kinetic energy that is currently wasted — the vibration of machines, the straining of floorboards in public/commercial spaces, the wobbling of bridges, the soles of your feet as you walk.
A conventional pacemaker. The long electrode is embedded in the heart. The main unit must be replaced when the battery runs out.
Or, in the case of the perpetual pacemaker, the vibrations in your chest as your heart pumps blood around your body. Piezoelectric devices generate very small amounts of power — on the order of tens of milliwatts — but it turns out that pacemakers require very power, too. In testing, the researchers’ energy harvester generated 10 times the required the power to keep a pacemaker firing — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A team of scientists working out of Bangor University in Wales has developed a commercially affordable method of using Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) over fibre optic lines, which could deliver broadband ISP speeds that are 2,000 times faster than current services.
But the three-year project (OCEAN) is not the first to make use of OOFDM, which typically splits a laser down to multiple different optical frequencies. The data can then be broken up and sent in parallel streams via the different frequencies. Last year a team of Sydney University scientists found an energy-efficient way of using a single laser to transfer data down a 50km long single-mode fibre optic cable at speeds of up to 26Tbps (Terabits per second).
The key difference with OCEAN is that this work is capable of “significantly saving the network installation and maintenance cost for both [ISPs] and equipment vendors” by using low-cost off–the-shelf components and end-to-end real-time OOFDM transceivers via currently installed fibre networks (FTTH etc.). It also provides a Green” solution due to the “significant reduction in electrical power consumption
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
IT vendors, already under attack for stonewalling the Australian government’s IT pricing inquiry, have received a blunt warning from the ACCC: don’t lie about why your products are expensive in Australia.
Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims says the watchdog is already looking into vendors’ claims that the “Aussie tax” is due to the country’s 10 percent GST, high wages or transport costs.
It’s a move that will probably jolt the vendors far more than the parliamentary inquiry. There’s no practical way to legislate price parity across international markets — but the ACCC has considerable powers to crack down on companies that mislead the public (without needing any new legislation).
Sims told the AFR that while the usual bleating complaints from vendors might account for a 30 percent price differential, if the price difference is 300 percent, then it’s a different matter
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Researchers say they have seen the earliest ever warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease among a high-risk group of 20-somethings in the ongoing quest for early detection and prevention.
A major problem in the search for a cure for this debilitating form of dementia is that symptoms appear years after irreversible brain decay has already set in.
For the study, a team of scientists from the United States and Colombia tested 18- to 26-year-old members of an extended Colombian family that share a common ancestor and a genetic predisposition to develop an inherited form of Alzheimer’s — via redwolf.newsvine.com
swiss artist victorine mu?ller has combined the disciplines of performance, sculpture, painting and sound for the last fourteen years — with an upcoming exhibition at the zone contemporaine oliver fahrni in bern, switzerland entitled wild at heart
showing her current work of a PVC squid entitled ballon stratosphérique
. müller’s work can be considered palpably immersive experiences to her audience — each artwork characterised by the artist herself encased in a seemingly weightless PVC structure, often depicting that of an animal. her presentations are very much oriented around a spiritual or emotional dynamism where her presence inside the air-filled creature often emits a tangible aura — breathing animistic energy into the beast she inhabits. this unusual medium fosters a thorough and almost halcyon contemplation for her viewers, each piece created to impart abstract ideas and somewhat invisible forces — via designboom
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio has applauded the likely $2.38 million-sale of the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Phoenix to an anonymous buyer, saying the transaction is the first of many more steps to come in order to permanently protect the property.
However, a planned city vote on designating the property as historic is likely to moved back because of the pending sale.
In a letter to his supporters Thursday, the day after the announcement of the Wright-home’s sale, DiCiccio said the property was one of the most important treasures in Phoenix
and the anonymous buyer’s intent to preserve the iconic home was fantastic news
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Charity Age UK has unveiled a basic Sim-free mobile phone that lets users dial contacts directly with the touch of an oversized button.
The credit card-sized UK My Phone, jointly developed with specialist network operator CyCell, comes with a maximum of eight customised homescreen buttons, simplifying the art of speed-dial — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Stulberg is a pure-bred Guzzisti and usually has at least four Mandello products in his garage at any given time. But he sold his treasured 1975 T3 to pay for the Le Mans. And the original intention of a complex build evaporated when the Revival Cycles crew decided to take the bike to the Barber Vintage Motorcycle rally. This gave us about two weeks to build a custom bike that needed to run. That’s something we could never do with a client bike—we simply can’t make decisions fast enough with a client in-tow
— via Bike EXIF
Lifehacker readers and writers are a tech-savvy bunch, and many of us can’t imagine living without our keyboard shortcuts that save us so much time every day. They’re so useful that it’s often hard to watch a less-knowledgeable friend or family member point and click their way to everything. If you want to get them on board with keyboard shortcuts, print out this handy cheat sheet so they always have it around for quick reference.
Most of the shortcuts on this page are pretty simple, but they’re the basics a novice ought to know. Remember, the cheat sheet is just a starting point. Don’t forget to teach your friend or family member how to find new ones themselves. Once they get the hang of the basics, hopefully they’ll be hooked — via Lifehacker
This reference, published by the Hesperian Foundation, is used the whole world over. It’s distributed by the Peace Corps, and while its emphasis is largely on the third world, it contains information on treating a number of diseases and ailments without medical expertise. If you need to set a fracture or deliver a baby, this is the reference for you. Hesperian also offers a number of other health-related titles, including Where There is No Dentist, Where Women Have No Doctor, Water for Life, and Cleanliness and Sanitation, all of which are available for purchase or as free downloads
Nine people have each been told to pay £624 to a woman raped by footballer Ched Evans after they admitted naming her on Twitter and Facebook.
The former Sheffield United and Wales striker was jailed for five years in April for raping the 19-year-old.
Seven men and three women, aged between 18 and 27 from north Wales and Sheffield, have been accused of revealing the victim’s identity.
The law grants victims and alleged victims of rape lifelong anonymit — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Interesting property that looks like a period build at first glance. But this is actually fairly recent, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired two-bedroom property in Farr, Inverness-shire.
The house is called South House, which is set in woodland on the outskirts of the village of Farr, near Inverness City centre. It was built in 1992 to a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, the copyright of which is owned by the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow. So a classic design, but with the convenience of modern construction — via WowHaus
I write this about eight days before voting day in America. US Presidential politics is a favourite spectator sport of mine, and I’m sad to see the cycle end, even though this one hasn’t really been a good game. President Obama’s fairly grim, toothless, meandering and perfunctory presidency gained excellent contrast from an assemblage of GOP candidates so demented and corrupt that even to so describe them would be an insult to the many hard-working demented and corrupt politicians extant today. It was an array of desperate, shambling criminals (and Jon Huntsman, who presumably was there on a bet) that may have been unprecedented, even in the stinking cesspool of American politics, in its lunatic evil. The “winner” of the GOP race was always going to be the one who didn’t shit themselves on stage. But the GOP itself couldn’t win, because, of the bunch running, the best you could hope forwas a candidate who didn’t shit themselves on stage.
Which is exactly what the Republican party got. A man who’s only coherent when he’s lying. Any solid political points he might have made have been washed away in a tide of dissembling, flipflopping and outright bullshitting. Broad swathes of the party fail to summon enthusiasm for him. The Koch brothers, who could surely have amassed mighty forces to Romney’s advantage, have provided only perfunctory support. And his mealymouthing about Big Government have put him on the wrong side of not only New York but also New Jersey, whose well-liked Republican governor Chris Christie has been effusive in his praise of the President even as Romney was being pelted with his own words about disbanding the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
My concern is this. The radical elements in the GOP will be able to claim that Romney was never their guy, and will take the next four years to place some genuine nutters, with serious backing, in line for the 2016 candidacy. Not the scrag-ends and barrel-scrapings they slapped on to the stage for this year’s farce. The idea of the Democrats being conscious and organised enough to have a real player in place for 2016 — because there’s no way in hell they can run Joe Biden — is kind of funny. There will be a real temptation to throw 2016 to the GOP, to give the people a reminder of what that’s like, to buy themselves a whole new four years to get their shit together in — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Singapore now has its first commercial vertical farm, which means more local options for vegetables.
The technique uses aluminium towers that are as tall as nine metres, and vegetables are grown in troughs at multiple levels.
The technique utilises space better — an advantage for land-scarce Singapore.
Sky Greens farm first started working on the prototype in 2009, and has opened a 3.65-hectare farm in Lim Chu Kang.
It produces three types of vegetables which are currently available only at FairPrice Finest supermarkets.
They cost 10 to 20 cents more than vegetables from other sources.
Despite the higher prices, the greens have been flying off supermarket shelves — via redwolf.newsvine.com
We’ve all been there. You’ve been sewing like crazy to get a project done, and now the only thing left is the zipper. The problem is, all the zippers you have on hand are just a little too long. Sound familiar? Learn how to shorten metal zippers — and quite possibly save your sanity — with this helpful tutorial from Rachel at Nest Full of Eggs — via MAKE
The earrings are made from green and white polymer clay. Each earring measures approximately 2″ in length, and have been arranged so the suckers are forward facing. The jewellery findings are silver plated fishhook-style earrings at the very top of each tentacle, leaving these lightweight earrings to dangle about — via Etsy
Skype illegally distributed a user’s personal information to a private company during a police investigation into Anonymous-sanctioned cyberattacks on PayPal.
It and several other payment companies were attacked out of retribution for blocking donations to Wikileaks in 2011.
Skype handed over the personal information of a 16-year-old to an IT firm, which later informed Dutch authorities.
The police file for Operation Talang
, which has been seen by NU.nl, focussed on two persons. They are alleged to have played a role in attacks on websites belonging to Mastercard, VISA and Paypal by hacker collective Anonymous. They dubbed the attacks Operation Payback
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
After getting caught tracking customer web browsing in June this year, Telstra has brought back the controversial cybersafety program Smart Controls, only this time customers must opt in to the project.
In June, Telstra was caught out tracking its Next G customers’ web browsing, and sending that data to US-based filtering company Netsweeper to build a database of sites for a new cybersafety tool called Smart Controls. Smart Controls is designed to block certain categories of sites from appearing on Telstra mobiles whose owners have signed up for the service.
The company ceased the tracking when it was caught, but claimed that it had been removing customer information from the URL before sending that data to the United States.
Today, the company announced that it has redesigned Smart Controls as an opt-in
product for internet browsing to be tracked for the service — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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