My coworkers made me use Mac OS 9 for their (and your) amusement
jonathan: perhaps AndrewC should have to use OS 9 for a day or two ;) LeeH: omg LeeH: that's actually a great idea The above is a lightly edited conversation between Senior Reviews Editor Lee Hutchinson and Automotive Editor Jonathan Gitlin in the Ars staff IRC channel on July 22. Using Mac OS 9 did not initially seem like such a "great idea" to me, however. I'm not one for misplaced nostalgia; I have fond memories of installing MS-DOS 6.2.2 on some old hand-me-down PC with a 20MB hard drive at the tender age of 11 or 12, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in trying to do it again. I roll with whatever new software companies push out, even if it requires small changes to my workflow. I have fuzzy, vaguely fond memories of running the Mac version of Oregon Trail, playing with After Dark screensavers, and using SimpleText to make the computer swear, but that was never a world I truly lived in. So why accept the assignment? The laptop I decided to go with was the titanium PowerBook G4.
Fire-Resistant Underwear Made From Fake Spider Silk Could Soon Be a Thing | Danger Room
Monster Silk moths are genetically engineered to produce spider silk. They have been engineered with red eyes so scientists can tell them apart from conventional moths. Kraig Labs Spider silk is widely considered a superfiber, a near magical material with potential medical and military applications. The problem is that cost-effective mass production has eluded scientists for years. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, based in Michigan, announced today that it has found a way to double the production rate of its commercial product, called Monster Silk. Spider silk is stronger and lighter than most other fabrics, so it could be used in things like body armor, medical sutures and, oddly, underwear. “Our production system is the only commercially viable technology for producing spider silk,” says Kim Thompson, Kraig’s founder and CEO. Kraig Labs’ spider silk is produced by inserting specific spider genes into silkworm chromosomes.
David Sedaris: Living the Fitbit Life
I was at an Italian restaurant in Melbourne, listening as a woman named Lesley talked about her housekeeper, an immigrant to Australia who earlier that day had cleaned the bathroom countertops with a bottle of very expensive acne medication: “She’s afraid of the vacuum cleaner and can’t read or write a word of English, but other than that she’s marvellous.” Lesley works for a company that goes into developing countries and trains doctors to remove cataracts. “It’s incredibly rewarding,” she said as our antipasto plate arrived. “These are people who’ve been blind for years, and suddenly, miraculously, they can see again.” She brought up a man who’d been operated on in a remote area of China. Lesley pushed back her shirtsleeve, and as she reached for an olive I noticed a rubber bracelet on her left wrist. “No,” she told me. I leaned closer, and as she tapped the thickest part of it a number of glowing dots rose to the surface and danced back and forth. I forked some salami into my mouth.
Care2
Do you remember preparing for your school’s science fair as a kid? Or maybe you’ve recently helped your son or daughter with their science fair entry (exploding volcano anyone?). Well, personally I’ll never forget my middle school science fair project. I tested different types of soap to see which was the most effective. My dad is a microbiologist so I grew germs on petri dishes and everything. Not anymore. After figuring out that the cost of printer ink was the most costly part of the printing process, Suvir examined four different types of fonts and the most commonly used characters from teachers’ handouts to see which used the most ink. Suvir repeated this process with the federal government, which has an annual printing expenditure of $1.8 billion, and found that if the government used Garamond exclusively it could save $136 million per year. Talk about a winning science fair project! Suvir isn’t the only young person out there changing the world with his genius ideas. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Motorola invente la pilule pour retenir ses mots de passe
Vous avez du mal à retenir tous vos mots de passe? Motorola a la solution : la « vitamine d'authentification », une pilule à avaler qui contient vos informations. La chef du groupe de projets en technologie avancée de la firme, Regina Dugan, a dévoilé le tout dernier concept de la marque à la conférence All Things Digital en Californie. La pilule en question contient en fait une minuscule puce, et ne nécessite pas de batterie : elle puise son énergie à partir des acides contenus dans l'estomac. Le projet n'est encore qu'à l'état de prototype, mais pourrait prochainement voir le jour. La société, qui appartient désormais à Google, a présenté un autre projet semblable au précédent. Voir la vidéo explicative sur Slate (en anglais)
