News

"The Starbucks ‘Get a Coffee, Give a Coffee’ Social Experiment"

By Rob Winters - Published on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 21:02

"The “take a penny, leave a penny” concept works pretty well at diners and convenience stores. But what if, instead of pennies, the currency being shared was digital, and the payments were made by mobile phone? That’s what one mobile app consultant wondered, and he’s now inviting anyone and everyone to use the barcode scanner of his personal Starbucks card to get coffee without opening their wallets. The app consultant’s name is Jonathan Stark, and he describes the enterprise known as “Jonathan’s Card” as “an experiment in social sharing of physical goods using digital currency.” Stark is not affiliated with Starbucks in any way, though the experiment is giving the coffee chain giant plenty of free publicity (at CNN, for example). "

"Meat Theft Is on the Rise—Is Vegetarianism the Answer?"

By Rob Winters - Published on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 20:53

"The cost of meat has ballooned as growing demand worldwide has combined with skyrocketing costs for fuel and feed grain. In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that Americans should anticipate meat prices to rise 6 to 7 percent this year, with beef prices expected to climb 7 to 8 percent. Two months later, in the United Nations' food and agriculture outlook report, researchers said the cost of meat will increase by as much as 30 percent over the next decade.

For some folks, these price hikes are too much to bear: Police in Texas recently enacted "Operation Meat Locker" to catch a team of supermarket meat thieves who were selling their booty to local restaurants. Silly as it may sound, meat theft is a growing problem."

"Wrist sensor turns back of hand into touch interface"

By Rob Winters - Published on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 20:46

"Did you ever stop to think that your body has built-in haptic feedback? Kei Nakatsuma a PhD student at the University of Tokyo Department of Information Physics and Computing is well aware of that fact and is using it to his advantage by converting a patch of skin into a touch controller for a computer. Specifically, Nakatsuma is using the area of skin on the back of the hand as a touchpad in his new computer-human interface.

The new touch interface uses infrared sensors to follow your finger as it moves over the back of your hand. Right now, it’s built into a wristwatch-like device and transforms your finger into a digital stylus or mouse."

"Actor Matt Damon to run for US president?"

By Rob Winters - Published on Wednesday, 10 August 2011 20:41

"Filmmaker Michael Moore has publicly called on Hollywood actor Matt Damon to run for US president in 2012, after praising him for taking a 'courageous' stand on key political issues.

The 'Bourne Identity' star has recently voiced his disgust at the way politicians stalled on a deal to raise the US national debt ceiling.

He also joined a teachers' protest in Washington, last month to rally against standardized testing."

"The 10 most bizarre and annoying causes of a failed internet connection"

By Rob Winters - Published on Tuesday, 09 August 2011 20:05

"When asked to name one of the great things about our network, I have to say it’s our fiber footprint. With over 57,000 miles of intercity and 27,000 miles of metro fiber, our footprint is a grand design of both buried and aerial paths. It makes us unique, but with that also comes one of the worst things about our network, and that is the different types of damage we see to our fiber plant. From errant excavators to crazed squirrels, there are so many different ways to wreak havoc on our network, it boggles the imagination!"

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