Google Plus forces us to discuss identity

By
31 August 2011
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Rights, Technology
639 views

Google Plus’s controversial identity policy requires all users to use their real names. Commentators have pointed to problems with this, including the implausibility of Google being able to determine correctly which names are real and which ones are fake. Other problems include the absurdity of Google’s demand for scans of government ID to accomplish this task and the fractal implausibility of Google being able to discern real from fake in all forms of government ID.

Google argues that people behave better when they use their real names. Google also states it is offering an identity service, not a social network, and therefore needs to know who you are and, thirdly, that no one is forcing you to use Google Plus.

However valid the first two points may be, they are eclipsed by the monumental intellectual dishonesty of that last one — no one’s holding a gun to your head, so shut up if you don’t like it — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Retro Alien Couch / Igor Chak

By
31 August 2011
32 second read
Leave a comment
In Design
642 views

An instant conversation starter, this unique retro gaming inspired couch will be the highlight of any room. Designed and manufactured in Los Angeles, California; to insure the highest build quality. It features and all fine leather pixelated retro design, a low profile, and memory foam cushions — via Igor Chak

Kawasaki Z1 900 / Sanctuary

By
30 August 2011
30 second read
Leave a comment
In Design
1305 views

There’s a renewed emphasis on performance—but not the clinical, metered-by-electronics performance of contemporary sportsbikes. It’s the raw, loud horsepower offered by machines such as the Kawasaki Z1, like this recent resto-modfrom the Tokyo West outlet of Sanctuary in Japan — via Bike EXIF

FolderBoy

By
30 August 2011
34 second read
Leave a comment
In Technology
664 views

To-do apps are notorious for being difficult to navigate and more time-consuming to use and manage than the tasks you may be trying to track. FolderBoy takes a different approach to helping you organise your projects, using folders to organise categories or projects and tasks that can live in multiple categories.

New body liquefaction unit unveiled in Florida funeral home

By
30 August 2011
54 second read
Leave a comment
In Business, Weird
663 views

A Glasgow-based company has installed its first commercial alkaline hydrolysis unit at a Florida funeral home.

The unit by Resomation Ltd is billed as a green alternative to cremation and works by dissolving the body in heated alkaline water.

The facility has been installed at the Anderson-McQueen funeral home in St Petersburg, and will be used for the first time in the coming weeks. It is hoped other units will follow in the US, Canada and Europe — via redwolf.newsvine.com

How to Manually Change Dock Icons in Snow Leopard

By
30 August 2011
43 second read
Leave a comment
In Technology
657 views

It isn’t like Apple cuts corners when it comes to design. But that’s never kept us from setting our own desktop backgrounds or installing skins for our favourite apps. Customising the Dock might not be quite as simple, but that shouldn’t stop you from giving a personal touch to one of the best aspects of the OS X interface — via Mac|Life

Stanford researchers invent sutureless method for joining blood vessels

By
30 August 2011
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Health, Science
711 views

Reconnecting severed blood vessels is mostly done the same way today — with sutures — as it was 100 years ago, when the French surgeon Alexis Carrel won a Nobel Prize for advancing the technique. Now, a team of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has developed a sutureless method that appears to be a faster, safer and easier alternative.

In animal studies, a team led by Stanford microsurgeon Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, used a poloxamer gel and bioadhesive rather than a needle and thread to join together blood vessels, a procedure called vascular anastomosis. Results of the research were published online 28 August in Nature Medicine. Lead authors of the study were postdoctoral scholar Edward Chang, MD, and surgery resident Michael Galvez, MD — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Snow Leopard Cubs / Twycross Zoo

By
30 August 2011
54 second read
Leave a comment
In Wildlife
704 views

A pouncing pair of Snow Leopard cubs recently appeared on the scene in their main enclosure at the Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, England. And they’ve just gotten a check up by the vets! Born in June, they are yet to be named.

Parents Suou and Irma arrived at Twycross in May 2010 as part of the international breeding program. The birth of the cubs is a significant contribution to the conservation of Snow Leopards which are currently listed as endangered — via ZooBorns

Pentagon pays $720M in late fees for storage containers

By
30 August 2011
1 min read
Leave a comment
In Politics, Weird
675 views

The Pentagon has spent more than $720 million since 2001 on fees for shipping containers that it fails to return on time, according to data and contracts obtained by USA TODAY.

Since 2001, the Pentagon has spent more than $720 million in late fees for shipping containers.

The containers –— large metal boxes stowed on ships and moved from port on trucks — are familiar sights on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan where troops use them for storage, shelter and building material. Yet each 20-foot container returned late can rack up more than $2,200 in late fees. Shipping companies charge the government daily container detention fees after the grace period ends for the box to be returned.

The $720 million represents a thin slice of the Pentagon’s $553 billion budget. Yet military spending is under intense scrutiny as the Defence Department has been ordered to trim $350 billion in spending over the next 10 years and could face steeper reductions from budget cutters — via redwolf.newsvine.com

XR1200 / Wonder Bikes

By
29 August 2011
40 second read
Leave a comment
In Design
745 views

Jason Wonder‘s Rev-2 was one of my favorite Harley customs last year. It was also a big hit with Chris Ronan of design company RD2, so Chris commissioned Jason to build a sequel. And here it is, but this time based on an XR1200 rather than a V-Rod. It’s also 120 lbs lighter than a stock XR1200 — via Bike EXIF

Previous 392 393 394395 396 Next