Algebra, Biology, Geometry—these have never been particularly exciting words when it comes to textbooks, but that could change today. Apples attempt at reinventing learning is officially online and ready for download—with each title offered at only 15 bucks.
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Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.
Nissan on Monday announced the company’s new Scratch Shield case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The case is made of ABS plastic that is designed to create a rigid, robust and tighter-fitting case. Perhaps the most exciting news is the case’s unique ability to heal itself. Nissan’s Scratch Shield paint is the world’s first paint technology that allows fine scratches to quickly mend themselves. The paint is the same that is featured on numerous Nissan and Infiniti automobiles throughout the world. When damage occurs to the coating, the chemical structure is able to react to change back to its original shape and fill the gap, thus “healing” the blemish. The healing process takes between an hour and a week depending on the damage. The Scratch Shield is currently being beta tested in Europe, with the technology also being licensed to NTT Docomo for use on mobile phones. If Nissan is satisfied with the results from the beta test, we can expect to see the case released to the general public later this year. Read on for Nissan’s press release.
via Nissan announces the worlds first self-healing iPhone case.
It’ll be a bad day to be a pirate if Juliet Marine finds any takers for their “Ghost” high-speed attack boat. It’s got jet engines, a heavy weapons payload, and it can somehow raise itself up out of the water to pounce on unwary buccaneers.
Ghost was designed from the water up to zip around shallow coastlines at high speed, taking on pirates in a commerce and fleet protection role. It’s powered by high-performance jet engines and has “supercavitating technology,” which refers to the use of air bubbles to reduce hull friction to enable faster, more efficient cruising. And apparently, it can lift itself up on its wings or pontoons or whatever you want to call them and get its hull entirely out of the water to navigate in extreme shallows.
As far as weaponry goes, Ghost can hold several thousand pounds worth of whatever evilness you can imagine hidden inside concealed weapons bays to reduce its radar cross-section. This includes everything from Gatling guns to full-blown Mark 48 torpedoes, and perhaps even those lasers you’ve always wanted.
via Jet-powered aquatic space fighter designed to take on pirates | DVICE.
Lately, the film Minority Report seems so passé. How quickly we take amazing tech for granted. For example, Samsung has just unveiled something many of us probably unfairly feel is overdue, the equivalent of an iPad on every window in your home.The Transparent Smart Window is a working prototype that allows you to use a myriad of applications via touch screen on a window surface in your home. In addition to iPad-style computing, the 46-inch LCD display includes an HDMI and USB interface and even allows you to watch television. Theres also a slick feature that lets you to block out the outside light by triggering virtual blinds. You can see the Transparent Smart Window in action in the video below.
via Smart Window puts a tablet computer on every window in your home | DVICE.
Lift and restick. Lift and restick. You’ve been trying to get that screen protector on for over an hour now only to be repeatedly foiled by an errant speck of dust or pernicious air bubble. Bugger that. This new roll-on cover promises to apply it right, the first time.
Called the PureTek Roll-On, this ingenious system’s packaging doubles as an installation bed. After wiping down the screen, place the phone in the bed and pull the film from the top of the box to the bottom. The film automatically aligns with the edges of the screen and rolls down the face, preventing the formation of bubbles. The system currently is only available for the iPhone 4/S models, so Android and WP7 users will have to keep protecting their phones manually.
The PureTek Roll-On retails for $20 from the PureTek website. It even includes a free replacement if you somehow manage to screw up the first time. [CultofMac]
via How to Apply a Dust-Free Screen Protector Even if You Don’t Have a Clean Room.
If you are depressed, or schizophrenic or have Alzheimers, scientists say you probably have a shrunken hippocampus. The good news: a drug that just entered human trials promises to re-grow that part of the brain.Its an entirely new approach to treating clinical depression, which is the first of several diseases scientists at biotech company Neuralstem are hoping to address with their experimental oral drug. Most antidepressants work on brain chemistry, tweaking levels of neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. This is the first drug that aims to re-grow patients atrophied brains.
via The Pill That Could Cure Depression by Growing Your Brain.
The X PRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm are partnering to try to make the Tricorder—Star Treks famous health-diagnosing gadget—a reality. They are offering up $10 million in purse money. This may be the most practical X PRIZE yet.The gadget that takes the X Prize must enable a person to accurately diagnose themselves without going to a doctor or hospital and it has to be “easy and fun to use”. This is one piece of sci-fi that I cant wait to have as a reality, and I think the rest of the 99% are with me on that. Get to it, geeks!
via The New X PRIZE Wants to Save Your Life, Star Trek Style.
Most of the time when you click on a Facebook link that a friend has posted, you get something nice. An amusing photo of a man embarrassed by his decisions. A video of Maru jumping into a box. But, if your friend has been infected with the Ramnit worm, youll end up losing something.Security company Seculert had been tracking the Ramnit worm when it discovered that the little beast jumped from committing financial fraud to stealing Facebook login credentials. Discovered in April of 2010, the worm is a multi-component malware that infects Windows executables, Office files, and HTML files. Once infected, it uses those files to steal authentication and transaction signing systems according to Microsoft.
via Worm Infects 45,000 Facebook Users, Then Goes After Their Friends.
Keep your cords clean and concealed with Plug Hub, an under-desk cord management station that hides your power strip and cords in one discreet unit.Features:- Three openings on the top of the unit direct your cords neatly to your power strip.- Three integrated cord anchors let you wrap up and hide longer cords.- Sit Plug Hub on its rubber bottom or on its back, or mount it to a wall.- Made from rigid plastic with a rubber “foot” on the bottom.- Charcoal, with a light blue base.
It's my life, you're just along for the ride! 