Headlines for The Ages

Headlines for The Ages: "

Maybe some headline writers at Reuters have a little too much time on their hands?

Reuters - Arts - United States - New York Times - Economist

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Microsoft's InstaLoad Tech May Revolutionize Battery Use

Microsoft's InstaLoad Tech May Revolutionize Battery Use: "Microsoft has demonstrated remarkable ingenuity in a truly unexpected place. The company's latest and arguably most useful advancement of the year is not a motion-control system for the Xbox 360 or a new, streamlined design for Internet Explorer, but a simple redesign of the battery holders we've all taken for granted.

Most battery compartments have a single contact on either side: one positive and one negative. For any device to work, you must insert the batteries in very specific directions, so the positive ends of the batteries face the positive contacts and the negative ends face the negative contacts. Making sure the batteries are properly aligned is an inconvenience that has plagued us for decades.

Microsoft's new InstaLoad technology changes that.

Instead of one contact at either end, InstaLoad compartments have two contacts: a flat contact for the negative end of the battery and a recessed contact for the positive end. If the positive end of a battery is inserted against the contact, its narrower, protruding end only touches the positive contact. If the negative end is inserted, its flat end only touches the negative contact. It's a remarkably simple design that forces us to ask why nobody has thought of it before.

According to Microsoft's documentation, InstaLoad technology is new but could show up in wireless mice and other Microsoft-made devices in the near future. However, thanks to several announced licensing deals, InstaLoad might show up in a number of non-Microsoft products. Eleven firms have announced partnerships with Microsoft to use InstaLoad in their products, including Duracell and Spectrum Brands (the company that owns the Rayovac battery brand). While Wired is skeptical about InstaLoad appearing in non-Microsoft products due to Microsoft's licensing policies, the already impressive list of partners indicates that we could see InstaLoad flashlights and remote controls available in every convenience store in the near future."

How Network Cables Will Replace HDMI, DisplayPort

How Network Cables Will Replace HDMI, DisplayPort: "Planning on wiring your house with Cat-6 cabling? As if you needed another reason why, a new audio/video standard might finally convince you.

This week, a consortium of manufacturers from Samsung to LG finalized the specification for what they call HDBaseT, a new ethernet-based standard that aims to be the future of connectivity for our digital devices. While current offerings from HDMI and DisplayPort do a great job at sending audio and video to our HDTVs, the new standard goes where today's cables fail to tread, pushing internet connectivity, uncompressed content and even power over a single, unified cable — with a familiar connection we already know and love.

Although still in its infancy, HDBaseT's has huge potential, and when it does come to market, you'll wonder how we ever survived without it.

What makes HDBaseT so attractive is its use of standard Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cabling — the very same wires you use with your router or HTPC. However, the main difference is the data being sent. Instead of vanilla network traffic, the finalized spec envisions enough bandwidth for uncompressed, high-definition audio and video, in addition to 3D content, and even future 4K formats. And to top things off, there's room for standard internet connectivity too, 'making it possible for a single-connector TV to receive power, video/audio, Internet and control signals from the same cable.'

Some of HDBaseT's initial partners and features.

Compared to HDMI, that's a huge leap. While it's already possible to send HDMI video over a Cat-6 cable, the audio/video signals remain unchanged, meaning such a setup is incompatible with regular IP traffic. HDBaseT, however, combines the two, allowing both to coexist on the same cable. And while DisplayPort can provide connectivity for USB devices, HDBaseT manages to take that philosophy even further.

Routers like this could be used to cheaply route HD signals through your house. Awesome!

Because the standard is based on traditional network technology, the HDBaseT alliance envisions it will become trivial to carry audio and video seamlessly through the home. For example, a single DVR could send content to any television in a household, and remotely controlled at the same time. And unlike HDMI, cables up to 100m in length are supported here too, making such a high-speed, large-area network truly possible. The end result, says the alliance, 'could mean that TV sets [would] only need one single input cable to receive video from a multitude of devices.'

But what's most impressive is how soon we're expected to see HDBaseT reach the market, with the first devices planned for release by the end of the year, and widespread adoption by 2011. And with 3D content finally picking up steam, and internet connectivity becoming a must-have feature for home theater connoisseurs, the timing couldn't have been better for the framework of the future to invade our homes.

In fact, it already has — with the cables in place, all we need now is the technology to use it.

Images via Flickr users splorp and vonKinder."

Aerial photos of the oil slick

Aerial photos of the oil slick: "

James Duncan Davidson, TED's conference photographer, is among a crew of five photographers and videographers reporting on the Gulf of Mexico for the TEDxOilSpill Expedition. His photos, taken aboard a plane above the Deepwater Horizon accident site, reveal the staggering extent of the oil slick. See the full photo set >>

Burning oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

The first major oil slick we saw on the way to the Deepwater Horizon site.

Burning oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Deepwater Horizon accident site.

Oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Discoverer Enterprise at the Deepwater Explorer disaster site.

Gas is flared in a controlled burn at the Deepwater Horizon disaster site.

The Discoverer Enterprise at the Deepwater Explorer disaster site.

Gas is flared in a controlled burn at the Deepwater Horizon disaster site.

The Discoverer Enterprise at the Deepwater Explorer disaster site.

Deepwater Driller II at the Deepwater Horizon disaster site. This is one of two drilling rigs drilling the relief wells.

Oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

Burning oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

All photos in this set credit: James Duncan Davidson. June 17th, 2010.

For more information:

Help Support the TEDxOilSpill Expedition Team

Follow @TEDxOilSpill on Twitter

TEDxOilSpill event

Static Photography heads down to the Gulf with TEDxOilSpill Expedition

TEDxOilSpill Expedition photos by Kris Krüg

TEDxOilSpill photos by Duncan Davidson

TEDxOilSpill photos by Pinar Ozger

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tredicielupo: because every stylish guy needs an easier way to...

tredicielupo:

because every stylish guy needs an easier way to...: "

tredicielupo:

because every stylish guy needs an easier way to carry their axe.

Gilt.

This whole fashion axe thing is totally out of control. Pure insanity. I’m all for rugged, outdoorsy clothing, particularly when it has the classic aesthetic values of the mid 20th century. I love that shit.

BUT AXES? SERIOUSLY? FUCKING AXES?

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