While I was goofing off in high school in the early 1980’s, Scott Savage was busy building what may well have been the world’s first checker playing robot: “Lefty.” Lefty was an Armdroid robot arm run by an Atari 800 computer that debuted at the Oklahoma City Omniplex (now the […]
Yearly Archives: 2010
345 posts
By law, 2.5% of all Federal extramural research funds are set aside for contracts or grants under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program – approximately $2 billion each year. SBIR contracts are typically $100k for a Phase I proof-of-concept. If the Phase I is sufficiently promising, an agency might […]
I don’t even have a T-shirt to show for it! The very first Bluetooth Headset I had (a Motorola HS280) was so quiet that even with the volume turned way up I couldn’t always hear it. I solved that problem by buying a Plantronics Voyager 510. It turns out that […]
Responding to complaints from AT&T mobility regarding interference, the Dallas Office of the FCC discovered a 5W cell phone jammer in operation at the Cosmetology Career Center in Carrollton, TX. Judging by the enforcement letter, there appears to be no indication that the folks at the Cosmetology Career Center received […]
Canadian climatologist Andrew Weaver is suing the National Post for libel based on its continuing reporting on Weaver’s climate advocacy. Ars Technica has details. Interestingly, Weaver also seeks copyright to the material in question so he can force bloggers to remove it from the internet. This will be a fascinating […]
You may have followed the saga of the Apple engineer who “lost” a prototype of the next generation iPhone in a bar? A prototype that just happened to end up with technology blog Gizmodo? Of course, there was skepticism about how accidental that might have been, largely dispelled by Gizmodo. […]
You may recall the case of Richard Jewell, the security guard whose keen eye and quick thinking saved lives in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996. Jewell was hounded as a suspect for several months in the investigation that ultimately led to the conviction of Eric Rudolph in 2005. […]
John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed this day, April 26, 1865, ending the most comprehensive manhunt in U.S. history. James Swanson tells the story of Booth’s preparation and planning, the assassination of Lincoln, Booth’s escape from Ford theater, and his nearly two weeks on the run. Swanson dispels the […]
This interesting article from the NYT compares and contrasts the safety and business practices of the Upper Big Branch Mine with those of the nearby E3-1 Mine, run by TECO Coal Corporation. While the details on the culture and practice of mine safety are of technical interest, of greater interest […]