According to a recent analyst study, we are on pace to lose 180,000 tech jobs this year—the most since 2003. Even without the figure, we could have assumed that things are epically bad. You can’t get through a day’s worth of news without hearing about some big tech company layoffs. In this month alone, Circuit City, AMD and Sun Microsystems are among those trying to shed costs on the payrolls. So, I’m curious—how bad are things really? For those of you who work in a tech-related company, have there been job cuts in the last year?
This looks like the beginning of a George Romero’s film, but it’s real. It seems like one of the US Army’s X-Files technologies is coming to us sooner than most skeptics expected: DARPA is developing now a portable blood farming system that could infinitely produce universal donor red cells from umbilical cord blood, right there in the battlefield. And yes, there’s exactly where things go really wrong and soldiers are transformed into mad, blood-seeking, fresh-human-biting but really lovely zombies, ready to spread some kind of weird blood disease all over the world.
The new system is being developed from a technology created at Johns Hopkins called Nanex. It uses a nano-fiber structure that replicates bone marrow, which is where red cells are manufactured. While their objective is to have a machine that could be moved to any camp and produce RBC units ready to be infused in wounded soldiers, and thus avoiding transportation and storage of blood, this research will obviously have important implications for everyone. Until then, maybe you can do a good action and donate some of your blood today. Or at least, buy a vampire a drink. [Cnet]
Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected ¥40,000 or about $427. Sold. Watch it all unfold in the video after the break.
Chalk it up to our slumping economy, the upcoming holiday season or both—but Criterion, curators of all movie things awesome, have quietly knocked another 20% off DVD prices in their online store. Since they already offer 20% off all purchases with free shipping when you spend $50 or more, this means you now get a 40% discount in total. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include their Blu-ray releases, but you take what you can get. And what I want to get right now is Slacker on DVD for $24. [Criterion Store](Thanks, Matt!)
As you’ve probably heard by now, China’s been dealing with a massive tainted milk problem. Now that hundreds of tons of milk products have been recalled, precincts are scrambling to figure out what to do with the resulting trash. One city in Southern China has decided that one great way to get rid of all that melamine-laden fluid is to bake them into bricks and cement.
Wang Fan, director of the Guangzhou food safety office, told reporters that the milk burned in a kiln produces a residue that can be used to manufacture building blocks. By disposing of it this way, the government can ensure that it doesn’t get poured into rivers (which would contaminate fish) or dumped into landfills (possibly contaminating ground water). The cost is way lower too – about 700 yuan per ton for brick making rather than 1800 yuan per ton for hazardous waste treatment.
The moral to this story: When life gives you tainted milk, make bricks. Well, hopefully that and completely overhaul your food and drug safety system to better regulate a market that’s exploded in size in the last twenty years. [China Daily]
Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected ¥40,000 or about $427. Sold. Watch it all unfold in the video after the break.
Hope you’re eager to break into that Halloween candy early, because you’ve got some (re)celebrating to do. If you’ll recall, we first heard that laptops accounted for over half of US retail computer sales back in 2003, and in June of 2005, we found that it was somehow worth getting jazzed over once more when it happened again. Here we are in the latter half of 2008 shaking our heads in disappointment, as IDC has amazingly discovered that notebook shipments into the US market have exceeded the 50% threshold for the first time evar. Go ahead and stock up on rave supplies early — we get this weird feeling that we’ll be doing this same song and dance in 2010 or so.
Normally I’d say digital photo frame, splidgital photo frame…but iGala’s one has a couple of features that make it stand out. It’s an 8-inch touchscreen, with standard 4:3 ratio 800 x 600 pixels so you get less irritating crops or letterboxing, plus its wireless and has 1GB of internal memory. But it’s actually got its own Gmail address so you can email photos to it directly from anywhere. Plus you don’t even need a PC to set it up: it has its own interface. Neat stuff, for a not-too expensive $239. [Digitalpictureframereview]
EA is going after a piece of the Wii Fit pie with a new product dubbed “EA Sports Active.” However, EA intends to differentiate it’s product from Wii Fit by delivering a more Westernized exercise experience. Instead of a balance board, Sports Active utilizes the nunchuck controller inserted into a leg strap to track lower body movements and a resistance band for upper body strength training. The package also includes a 20 sport software package, calorie counter, virtual personal trainer, customizable workouts and a 30-day weight loss program.
As a whole, I feel that EA Sports Active would give users a more well-rounded workout than Wii Fit, but the fact that it is designed to work in tandem with the balance board makes it that much more effective. The EA package will set you back another $60 when it is released next Spring—but even combined with Wii-Fit you are still spending less than most gym memberships—plus it is more convenient and, most likely, more fun. [Gamespot via Kotaku]
According to a recent analyst study, we are on pace to lose 180,000 tech jobs this year—the most since 2003. Even without the figure, we could have assumed that things are epically bad. You can’t get through a day’s worth of news without hearing about some big tech company layoffs. In this month alone, Circuit City, AMD and Sun Microsystems are among those trying to shed costs on the payrolls. So, I’m curious—how bad are things really? For those of you who work in a tech-related company, have there been job cuts in the last year?
This looks like the beginning of a George Romero’s film, but it’s real. It seems like one of the US Army’s 
Chalk it up to our slumping economy, the upcoming holiday season or both—but 
As you’ve probably heard by now, China’s been dealing with a massive tainted milk problem. Now that hundreds of tons of milk products have been recalled, precincts are scrambling to figure out what to do with the resulting trash. One city in Southern China has decided that one great way to get rid of all that melamine-laden fluid is to bake them into bricks and cement.
Normally I’d say digital photo frame, splidgital photo frame…but iGala’s one has a couple of features that make it stand out. It’s an 8-inch touchscreen, with standard 4:3 ratio 800 x 600 pixels so you get less irritating crops or letterboxing, plus its wireless and has 1GB of internal memory. But it’s actually got its own Gmail address so you can email photos to it directly from anywhere. Plus you don’t even need a PC to set it up: it has its own interface. Neat stuff, for a not-too expensive $239. [
EA is going after a piece of the Wii Fit pie with a new product dubbed “EA Sports Active.” However, EA intends to differentiate it’s product from Wii Fit by delivering a more Westernized exercise experience. Instead of a balance board, Sports Active utilizes the nunchuck controller inserted into a leg strap to track lower body movements and a resistance band for upper body strength training. The package also includes a 20 sport software package, calorie counter, virtual personal trainer, customizable workouts and a 30-day weight loss program.
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