STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MIKA27]

How To Clean Out Your Overflowing Hard Drive And Get Your Space Back

Hard drives get messy. You save files and forget them, download huge chunks of data that pile up, and change your naming schemes a hundred times. It’s time to do a little tidying up.

To make things simpler, we’re going to look at this from the perspective of cleaning up a secondary drive that doesn’t have an OS installed on it. You can use these same tactics for any drive, but there are other ways to save space on a system drive including clearing caches and eliminating old temp folders. Right now, however, we just want to focus on your junk.

Find the Really Big Files

When you need to clear up hard drive space in a hurry, the first thing you want to do is find out just what’s taking up all that space. WinDirStat is a crowd favourite for scanning a drive and finding out what you can get rid of to get a little extra leg room in a hurry. The results are even color-coded to let you know what are important, system files that you shouldn’t delete, and what’s cat GIFs and videos of your friend’s wedding. If you’re on a Mac, Disk Inventory X, has a lot of the same features for the same price (free!).

Get Rid of Duplicate Files

Whether they’re big or small, duplicate files take up unnecessary space. Windows, Mac and Linux users can all use the handy Duplicate File Searcher to track down any files that you’ve downloaded more than once. Windows users can also use Duplicate Commander to remove the extra copies and replace them with hard links. This clears up the space while still making sure that any apps referencing the files are able to continue to operate without interruptions. Duplicate Cleaner Free also offers a nice, three-tabbed interface for finding duplicate files without all the mess.

Find the Really Old Files

Finding the big stuff isn’t always helpful. After all, you probably downloaded those giant videos for a reason. If you’d rather just find the old stuff, you can do that with simple search operators in the search box for Windows 7 and up. You can search for the last date modified, accessed, or when a file was created, and further sub-filter by size or type. Unfortunately, this method lacks the nice visualisation of file size that WinDirStat has, but it can go a long way in whittling down the stuff you don’t need or use anymore. There are bunch more search operators you can use to narrow down your searches here.

Rename Your Files

OK, so you definitely want to keep those 12,462 wedding photos, but wouldn’t it be nice if they were named something better than IMG01827.jpg? Batch rename apps allow you to bring a more uniform sorting scheme to your collections. Apps like Name Dropper (Windows) or NameChanger (Mac) are straightforward utilities for doing simple renaming tasks. However, if you want to crank it up a notch or 10, Bulk Rename Utility for windows has more options than you could ever use. On OS X, you can use the built-in Automator tool to accomplish many of these same tasks as well.

Move Your Files

Now that all your files have meaningful names, put them somewhere equally meaningful. Apps like TeraCopy will allow you to quickly move a bunch of files around and set batch settings for overwriting or renaming duplicate files. Ultra-copier is a cross-platform solution that works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It’s frequently much faster than the built-in solutions you find on most operating systems.

Keep Your Private Files Really Hidden

Most of us have something that we’d rather not share with the world. You can hide files in both Windows and OS X, but this only really makes your folders slightly nicer to look at. There’s no real security there. You can use apps like TrueCrypt to lock down files, or even simple zip applications like 7-Zip to keep a collection of files under lock and key. These only really help protect against casual access to your machine, of course. If you want more powerful protection in case your hardware is ever seized or stolen, you may want to create a hidden, encrypted partition to store sensitive files on, using your main volumes as a decoy.

If you’re like me, you probably have years and years worth of files laying around on your system that need to be cleared out, but it’s not necessary to go through them by hand to clean them up.

[MIKA27]

Emerging Technologies and the Paradigm Shifts Therein

The frequency of technological advancement, in nearly all fields, is increasing at a dauntingly rapid rate. Almost every other week, an article is featured on a prominent news website like Digg or Reddit, which details exotic, new, and potentially revolutionary technologies. And just as soon as these articles are featured, they are forgotten, often overshadowed by consumer-related technologies, such as the next iPhone, Google Glass, or simply unnoticed altogether.

One has to know where to look; to actively seek out this information in order to find it. Thus, in an effort to raise awareness to the ever-growing plethora of emerging technologies, featured below are just some paraphrased examples of prominent developers, and the significantly impacting technologies they are hastily bringing into the world:

Cyber Warfare

The Pentagon recently announced that it has been working on a program to simplify cyberwarfare in order to make it feasible for greater amounts of military personnel to operate. Headed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the program, ominously named “Plan X”, is aimed at rendering the frontier of cyberwarfare into a quasi-video game format. As it stands now, cyberwarfare is usually the result of top-government approval for groups of hackers to arduously plan and later carry out a given attack, or the work of vigilante groups like Anonymous.

DARPA’s plan is to revolutionize the current, exceedingly complex realm of hacking by creating an infrastructure that would circumvent the vast topology of global computer networks. In other words, they want to create a digital battlefield where cyber functions and effects are given a simplified representation, allowing a military operator to know exactly what weapons they are using, how to use them, and what effects they will have.

“Say you’re playing World of Warcraft, and you’ve got this type of sword, +5 or whatever. You don’t necessarily know what spells were used to create that sword, right? You just know it has these attributes and it helps you in this way. It’s the same type of concept. You don’t need the technical details.” –Dan Roelker

Tapping into the most prominent design companies of the Silicon Valley, DARPA finally settled with Frog Design. Using a Samsung SUR40 Touch Table, Frog Design created a prototype interface which effectively maps out the aforementioned vast global network topologies. Based on the detailed account of the prototype, Plan X really is nothing short of a video game-esque rendering of cyberwarfare. A mission or objective is provided (in this case “botnet take-down”), and upon the Samsung tablet, a target node appears amid the network topology, which is said to look like a map of stars. Then, the user is given a selection of weapons, accompanied by a number (projected to eventually represent the cost of cyber attacks), and battle units in the form of icons, to pre-plan an attack on the target node. Much of the specifics of the system are still undisclosed, but if this interface is as successful and accessible as it seems, cyberwarfare, and the world for that matter, will truly experience a paradigm shift.

Printable Bionic Upgrades

Most, if not all supporters of trans-humanism and the singularity have long waited for the day when they can begin to upgrade their physiology with biotechnology. Lucky for them, that day is quickly approaching. The subheading of this article reads like something right out of an Isaac Asimov article: “Scientists have created a 3D-printed cartilage ear with an antenna that extends far beyond the normal human range.”

Using hydrogel, silver nano-particles, calf cells, and other readily available 3D printing tools, scientists at Princeton University overcame the staggering challenge of reconciling soft 3D printed material, such as tissue, with hard material, such as electronics, to create the bionic ear in the image below. The successful creation of the ear has led scientists to lend further credence to the idea of not just 3D-printing organs for repair and replacement, but also potentially creating organs with capabilities that would not otherwise be available naturally. The implications of the latter are stunning, to say the least.

Google [X]

Robot workers, driver-less cars, internet-connected refrigerators, and space elevators are just a few examples on the list of ideas at the Google [X] Lab. While it has only released brief, tentative ideas, Google [x] will undoubtedly be the harbinger for much of the world’s future technologies, and the amount of secrecy surrounding it only bolsters the latter prediction. Likened by one familiarized engineer as functioning similar to the CIA, Google [X] is run primarily by two offices – one vaguely described as being for logistics, the other, in a secret location unbeknownst to most Google employees, specifically for robots.

With AI researchers, roboticists, electrical engineers from Microsoft to MIT, and Johnny Chung Lee donning the title of “rapid evaluator”, Google [X] has all the ingredients for a mad science lab. Unfortunately, it is still too new and secretive to say much more than the aforementioned, but in an effort to pique the reader’s interest, two employees briefed on a project have said that there will be a product released at the end of this year, though they were not allowed to comment on any details whatsoever.

Drones: Military and Civilian

Drone technology is one that is burgeoning, and is especially important for the public to keep tabs on. Simply speaking, drones are one of the most integral aspects of future society. The implications for their integration into not only military, but civilian life are nothing short of overwhelming… and terrifying. Most of the general public is aware that the use of drones in the military is already increasing, since not a month goes by where a high-value terrorist target is taken out by the infamous predator drone. On top of that, the United States Navy has recently confirmed the successful launching and landing of an X-47B on an aircraft carrier, the first drone to ever accomplish such a feat (pictured above). However, military drones seem to be overshadowing the rapid growth of the civilian side of drone technology, a potentially invasive and rapidly growing trend. It is important for the reader to realize that this part of the article doesn’t even cover the tip of the ice berg of what is out there in terms of drone technology.

Universal Air recently far surpassed its Kickstarter campaign goal of $15,000, earning a whopping $220,000 to fund their R10 Quadrotor System drone. UAir’s success was a clear sign that there is a hunger for personal UAVs. While the initial purpose of the R10 is to act as an unmanned version of a GoPro camera for extreme sports enthusiasts, the implications for having such a drone sparks the imagination. While it is currently reliant on WiFi-internet connection, UAir’s next project, expected to be released somewhere in 2014, is said to have the capability to be fully autonomous and maintain connectivity with its user via WiFi connection to the user’s phone, regardless of internet connection. Extreme sports enthusiasts will surely be satisfied, but UAir also expects their autonomous drones to find their way into the industrial world with upgradable sensor-packages for mining and construction jobs.

The drones from UAir seem to add a fun, lighter side to the realm of drone technology, but what about drones that can’t be distinguished from tiny insects, no larger than a penny? It seems that the most appropriate reaction to Harvard University’s “Robobees” would be fear of invasion of privacy. Rest assured (or not), this program’s purpose is, or at least was to study insect flight, but after announcing its success at hovering and then following a preset flight path, it would be naive to think the military would not be interested.

The aforementioned articles really do only scratch the surface of today and tomorrow’s innovations in technology. While it is indeed difficult to keep tabs on all that is happening, it is important to at least make an effort because like it or not, these new technologies will increasingly affect the world on a global scale. And if Moore’s Law is any indication of the rate at which new breakthroughs and developments occur, then the space between technological paradigm shifts will only shorten.

[MIKA27]

Heineken’s Lost Plan To Build Houses Out Of Beer Bottles

IN THE 1960S, HEINEKEN PROPOSED A NOVEL IDEA: RECTANGULAR “WORLD” BEER BOTTLES THAT COULD DOUBLE AS BRICKS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING. AND IT’S NOT NEARLY AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS.

Here’s a design anecdote that is sure to light up your next cocktail party. While Miller, Bud, Coors, and even Heineken are all redesigning their bottles for more shelf appeal, in the 1960s, Heineken briefly introduced a different bottle for an entirely different reason.

It was called the Heineken World Bottle (or WOBO), designed by architect John Habraken after then-CEO"Freddy" Heineken had an epiphany. While visiting the island of Curaçao, Heineken was bothered by the mass amounts of trash--including his own bottles--and the lack of housing. His solution? Make a beer bottle that could serve as a brick when it’s finished.

A beer bottle standing upright is, surprisingly, up to code, bearing 50 kg per square centimeter. But bottles are not easily vertically stacked. Laid on their side, though, they crush too easily. Habraken’s solution was to develop vertically stackable Chianti-like bottles with long necks and recessed sides that nested into and supported each other. It was a brilliant compromise, but Heineken’s marketing department rejected it as “effeminate”--a curious description considering that the bottle consisted of two bulbous compartments surmounted by a long shaft. We can only assume that Habraken did not anticipate why the men of Curaçao might not want to hold this up to their lips.

So Habraken went horizontal. His next design was for a thick rectangular bottle--much closer to Heineken’s original notion of a brick that held beer. The bottom was dimpled in a pattern identical to the bottle’s stubby neck, so that the top of one bottle would interlock with the bottom of the next. The sides had a nubbled surface, to make them both easier to hold and to apply mortar onto. Still, there were some trade-offs: the glass had to be thickened for the disadvantaged horizontal orientation, and its blockier corners made it more susceptible to chipping in shipment.

Heineken actually produced 100,000 WOBOs in a test run (or enough to build roughly 100 small houses), and even constructed a whole home out of them near Freddy Heineken’s villa in Noordwijk, but the bottle never actually made it to market, most likely because customers of the 1960s preferred the feel and look of the rounded bottle. Yet I can’t help but wonder if the WOBO was simply a product ahead of its time. 50 years later, and we’ve grown into a socially conscious country. Millennials flock to buy Tom’s (can we just say, kinda ugly?) shoes knowing that another (kinda ugly) pair will reach someone in need. We’ve grown to expect corporate social responsibility, and as consumers, we’ll go out of our way to subsidize it.

Put differently, I may be a microbrew snob, but offer me a cheap pilsner that makes the world a better place, and I’m sold.

[MIKA27]

Science vs. Fiction: 'After Earth'

What happens if the planet turns on us?

The sci-fi adventure film "After Earth," a kind of family affair starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith, is really two movies in one.

The film's bookend segments are set aboard interstellar spacecraft with high-tech gadgetry, a thousand or so years into the future.

But the film's middle passages involve conjecture on biology, ecology and a particularly intriguing premise: What would happen if the Earth, as an organism, evolved to defend itself against the harmful human species? We take a look at the film's blend of biological and technological fiction to see if there's any basis in reality.

Fiction: In several early scenes, Kitai is seen running through beautiful but deadly forest glades in which predatory plants appear to have limited movement and even locomotion.

Science: There are more than 400 known species of carnivorous plants -- or more accurately, insectovorous plants -- which consume their prey through a chemical process similar to digestion. All plants move, of course, but usually too slowly to be discerned without the help of time-lapse photography. But there are exceptions: Several underwater plant species move about visibly, in still water, and the famous Venus fly trap snaps shut in less than half a second when capturing its prey.

Fiction: In the film, Kitai discovers that the Earth's atmosphere has adapted in at least one specific way to discourage human habitation -- there's not enough oxygen to survive. So he must use a futuristic inhaler which, his father explains, will coat his lungs and boost oxygen absorption.

Science: Modern asthma inhalers don't technically increase oxygen absorption into the bloodstream, but they do facilitate lung function by way of two main types of aerosolized medication: Bronchodilators relax muscle constriction, and anti-inflammatory agents suppress inflammation.

Fiction: The alien menace in 'After Earth' is a vicious-but-blind creature that tracks its prey by smelling fear. In the image above, a young Kitai avoids detection by hiding in an airtight plastic bubble.

Science: It's true that, as the old adage goes, animals can smell fear -- by way of airborne pheromones and chemoreception. But pheromones communicate information and effect behavior among animals of the same species. There's no evidence to suggest that a predator could use pheromone secretions to track prey from an entirely different species. Or, in this case, a different planet.

Fiction: Kitai's futuristic spacesuit has chameleon-like properties that allow it to match the color and texture of its surroundings.

Science: The suit in the film is a super-advanced example of electrochromism, in which materials change color when an electric charge is applied, plus biomemetics -- technology that imitates nature. In 2012, researchers at the University of Bristol developed a material that uses artificial muscles to mimic the color-changing properties of squid.

Fiction: In one harrowing sequence early in the film, Kitai is bitten by a giant venomous leech. The poison threatens to kill him within minutes unless an antivenom is administered.

Science: There are more than 600 known species of leech, but none are known to be venomous. Most major animal phyla contain venomous species, however. The leech is part of the Annelidphylum, which does contain several venomous marine worms. Many of the planet's most deadly animals have fast-acting venoms that can indeed kill within minutes.

Fiction: Kitai uses a wrist-mounted communication and navigation device to orient himself and check in with dad.

Science: Wrist-mounted computers -- a kind of subset of the wearable computer idea -- have been around since the early 1990s. Several commercial models have been brought to market with little success. Various forms of wearable computers with wrist-mounted displays are used in military and certain industrial capacities.

Fiction: In one of the film's more implausible concepts, Earth has adapted to discourage human habitation by freezing over completely, each and every night. To survive, Kitai must find geothermal "hot spots" whenever the sun goes down.

Science: The kind of deep-freeze scenario presented in the film would seem to discourage, with extreme prejudice, all plant and animal life. Still, the meteorological record does feature some pretty wild temperature swings. In 1911, the temperature in Rapid City, S.D., dropped from 55 degrees Fahrenheit to 8 degrees in about 15 minutes. The largest 24-hour temperature change in the United States was recorded in Browning, Mont., in 1916 -- from 44 degrees to minus-56 degrees.

[MIKA27]

Samsung Australia 2013 Home Audio: Wireless Sound Bar, 7.1 Surround And Powerful Portable Speakers

It’s a strange feeling to spend the night in a hotel when you’re looking out over your own city. But there I was listening to the new digital audio line-up that Samsung first previewed at CES in January. The HT-F9750W 7.1 channel home theatre system; the HW-F751 vacuum tube Sound Bar; and the $299 DA-F61 portable Bluetooth speaker. Updated industrial design, warm sound and a distinct lack of wires are this year’s audio hooks.

Samsung invited a group of tech journos to rooms decked out with the flagship Series 9 HT-F9750W rig.

The bundled premium Blu-ray player was there. Vacuum-tube pre-amplifier and distortion-reducing Gallium Nitride hybrid power amplifier at the ready. Throw in a Blu-ray copy of Skyfall, plenty of red wine — and a wife sold at the first mention of a good excuse to skip boxing class — and you’ve got a heady recipe for an evening of audiophilia. Is that even a word? It was, at any rate, more efficient than temporarily setting it all up myself at home.

The F9750W construction includes ceramic polypropylene to further maximise its 1,330-watt sound. Its silver finish complements Series 8 and 7 Smart TVs. The tweeters swivel slightly and the rear speaker pair plus subwoofer are wireless.

Also welcomed: The Blu-ray player supports apps and multi-tasking, 3D sound, and upscales Blu-ray discs to ‘near 4K’ quality (we couldn’t test that part). Our impression on the audio: The amp setup delivers a sound that’s clean and true, while warm enough that even the pithy John Mayer concert Blu-ray Samsung left lying around got a decent workout. It could be Stockholm syndrome, but he really is kind of dreamy. [$1,499]

You really need to hear audio gear for yourself and form your own conclusions. Being Gizmodo, we wouldn’t recommend anything less. Samsung seems to get this and have developed what it calls the ‘Samsung Blue Shirt’ program: Select Australian retail staff educated in the Korean giant’s complete home audio range and trained in actually listening to the customer (versus the random factoids and options down your throat experience we’ve all experienced at one point).

Brad Wright, Samsung Australia’s director of AV, told Giz that “when you go into store and you do the ‘Pepsi challenge’, you can hear the difference.” We agree that you should get off your bum: there are worse places to start than the select metro Harvey Norman, Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi and Bing Lee stores where Samsung has recently built lounge room environments for demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the new Vacuum Tube Sound Bar is the company’s first to connect wirelessly to compatible TVs via Bluetooth.

SoundShare also lets it play tracks from your phone while AirtrackON powers on the sound bar whenever you fire up the TV — and lets you control everything using the TV remote. The aluminium-finished package also includes a wireless subwoofer.

Samsung claims the HW-F751’s gyroscope sensor lets it gauge the height, rotation, slope and orientation to optimise sound. I’m intrigued, but I’d like to see how the setup compares to the IntelliBeam automated calibration of Yamaha’s soundbar range.

I have an old series 6 Samsung LED TV. The sound is woeful. Like, make it stop bad. That’s why I’m personally interested in something like the F751. That, and because I don’t quite have the floor space for a full 7.1 surround setup. I’m also more likely to actually be able to afford: [$799].

Finally, meet the boringly-named DA-F61 portable wireless Bluetooth speaker. Though the name sucks, this thing is a beast. I can’t help but listen to old school favourites like Dave Brubeck’s Take Five through it — such is the sophisticated retro styling and surprising clear low-frequency response. The 1.1kg, 20-watt unit incorporates neodymium magnets and goes louder than you’d imagine, with minimal distortion.

Always listen for yourself, of course — but seriously — damn. Two notable extra features: NFC support (tap your NFC phone or tablet to pair audio) and SoundShare (the DA-F61 can be serve as an extra wireless Bluetooth speaker to compatible TVs). [$299]

[MIKA27]

The 1960s Office Desk Of The Future Was More NASA Than Mad Men

With its hovering videophone, modern dictation machine and space pod design, this 1961 executive desk of tomorrow would fit in better on the ISS than at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

The February 5, 1961 edition of Arthur Radebaugh‘s “Closer Than We Think” gave millions of people reading the Sunday comics a peek at the office desk of the future — complete with a console that looks like it belongs on that Hollywood set where they filmed the moon landing. Or at least Flight of the Navigator.

From the February 5, 1961 Chicago Tribune:

Advanced styling and electronic automation forecast new miracles in office procedures.

The industrial design concept of an office of tomorrow focuses on a round desk which, when opened, will give its owner far more space and convenience than is possible today. Folded shut, the unit encloses a matching chair.

Interoffice television screens will provide immediate face-to-face links with other business command posts. Rotary files will be keyed electronically for rapid reference. The switchboard — as you see at the left — will employ miniaturized connections to handle many more extension lines in less space than are provided by today’s already-advanced centrals.

A telephone switchboard in the office of the future? I suppose it doesn’t get more hilariously anachronistic than that.

[Fuzz]

DARPA’s Crazy Mind-Controlled Prosthetics Have Gotten Even Better

Fantastic bit of tech, but I had to do a double take when I saw the pic. The insert pic of the connection looked like something else...

[MIKA27]

Fantastic bit of tech, but I had to do a double take when I saw the pic. The insert pic of the connection looked like something else...

But of course YOU did....

[MIKA27]

Great thread, thanks!

You're welcome Timy - Thanks for reading and welcome to the forum.

[MIKA27]

A SlingSword Is A Sword/Slingshot Hybrid For Fighting Zombies

Joerg Sprave is expanding his horizons and moving The Slingshot Channel into a new era. He had blacksmith James Helm make him a small sword and this demo is a relaxing break for all of us. Just some good old fashioned coconut decapitation to test the blade.

Refreshing! Oh, and the hilt of the sword also has a built-in slingshot. Baby steps.

James Helm is “proud to be a Neo-Tribal Metalsmith scavenging the wreckage of civilisation.” He leaves the marks from hammering out his swords for aesthetic affect, but Joerg is quick to point out that the blades are sharp enough to “shave the hairs of any of your body parts.” Useful?

MIKA: You can tell Joerg loves what he does.

[MIKA27]

Escaped Florida Llama Brought Down By Taser

Tallahassee police reported using a taser on a six-foot llama, Scooter, after it ran around a local neighbourhood for hours yesterday and generally galavanted about. The llama was eventually subdued to avoid an accident and returned, and its owner will not face charges.

Local residents called in complaints and Scooter sightings throughout the night. Deputy Tony Drzewiecki noted:

I’ve been doing this 20 years and they said there is going to be a lot of excitement in this job, but no one ever told me I would get spit in the face by a llama and trampled by one.

It is unclear why the Sheriff’s department elected to use a tazer on the llama rather than tranquilizing it.

Run like the wind, Scooter.

[MIKA27]

Terrifying video captures moment German drone missed Afghan plane carrying 100 passengers by just two metres

http://youtu.be/WjcBey_6dzQ

Classified footage of an out-of-control drone narrowly missing an Afghan passenger plane carrying 100 people has caused outrage in Germany.

The video, filmed from onboard the unmanned German Luna drone as it flew over Afghanistan, shows it missing the plane by about two metres.

It has caused fury in Germany as debate rages about the Government's new order of drones.

Classified footage shows how the 88lb drone came to hitting the plane, risking the lives of its 100 passengers

The plane is just visible in the distance from the drone's onboard camera as it flies over Kabul

Last week German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Luna's successor would not be fitted with anti-collision technology because it is too expensive.

Critics have seized on the dramatic footage taken nine years ago as proof of the dangers of unmanned drones and called for de Maiziere to reconsider.

They say larger drones should be fitted with the technology as it could cause more damage if it crashed.

Since then the footage has gained widespread attention, despite being nine years old.

The 88lb German 'Luna' drone was caught in air turbulence created by the Ariana passenger plane, before losing control and crash landing near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The video shows the plane in the distance before it swiftly moves into shot.

The drone passes under the left wing of the engine.

The German Luna drone flies towards the Ariana passenger plane, carrying 100 people

The video was posted on YouTube despite it being strictly classified.

Wreckage from the crash in 2004 was never recovered.

German magazine Der Spiegel believe that the drone flew less than two metres away from the Airbus A300, putting 100 lives at risk.

However, Germany is still going ahead with the purchase of a possible 16 armed aircraft for military use from 2016.

The country has held talks with Israel over the Heron TO unmanned aerial vehicle and with the U.S. over the Reaper aircraft.

A defence ministry spokesman said that he did not foresee combat-ready drones being deployed over Germany, for example in anti-terrorism operations.

A Government spokesman told AFP: 'The intention is that we acquire 16 such devices in future and that the armed forces have them at their disposal from 2016, three years from now.'

The Euro Hawk (pictured) was scrapped by the German defence minister over spiralling costs

German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere standing next to a model of the Euro Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle is facing mounting pressure after scrapping the 500m Euro project

It comes as Defence Minister de Maiziere fights for his political career after abandoning a multi-million euro drone programme.

Mr de Maiziere scrapped the 'Euro Hawk' surveillance drone project two weeks ago blaming spiralling costs.

It had already cost €508 million (£432million) before Mr de Maiziere said on May 14 that he would 'pull the ripcord' on the plan to buy four more of the unmanned surveillance aircraft.

He feared aviation authorities in Europe would not certify the controversial aircraft to fly over the continent because it lacks the anti-collision system.

But he is under mounting pressure amid accusations at home that he already knew about possible problems with the anti-collision system but continued to plough money into the project.

The Defence Minister is now expected to present a report to the German media on the so-called 'drone debacle'.

Drones are controversial in Germany, both because of battlefield 'collateral damage', or civilian deaths, and because of their spying capabilities, which evoke dark memories from past fascist and communist regimes.

The Ariana airline (similar to the one pictured) was carrying 100 passengers when it narrowly missed the drone

[MIKA27]

Dominos tested delivering pizza by drone

[MIKA27]

New 13 Minute Feautrete for Man of Steel

http://youtu.be/ivlJE4Al668

[MIKA27]

Rare Pictures of the Statue of Liberty Construction

Designed by Frédéric Bartholdi in collaboration with the French engineer Gustave Eiffel (who was responsible for its frame) and dedicated on October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty is a large neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The statue was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The Statue of Liberty stands at a height of 151 feet 1 inch (46 meters). From ground to torch it is 305 feet 1 inch (93 meters) tall.

[MIKA27]

World’s Thinnest 1TB Hard Drive: Just 7mm Thick

If you’re in the market for slimline storage, Western Digital has just the hard drive for you: it’s latest offering, WD Blue, crams 1TB into a case that’s just 7mm thick.

Small enough, in fact, to make it the world’s thinnest 1TB hard drive right now. The small frame doesn’t mean it skimps on features, though: it has motor shafts at each end to reduce vibration and improve tracking, secure parking to keep the heads away from the plates during shocks, and both electromagnetic and piezo actuators for more precise movement.

For $US140 with a two year warranty, it seems like a pretty sweet deal.

[MIKA27]

Rare, nearly complete triceratops skeleton unearthed in Wyoming

Underneath the sagebrush and droves of cattle near Newcastle, Wyo., paleontologists have potentially unearthed one of the most complete skeletons of a triceratops ever found.

The scientists from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research and Naturalis Biodiversity Center began work on the dig in early May.

Despite the three-horned triceratops being one of the most well-known dinosaurs, a complete skeleton is a rare treasure, said Pete Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute.

The dig also unearthed two younger triceratops, which Larson said is also a rare occurrence. He said the three skeletons were most likely a family unit.

“The dig indicates that there was some sort of parental pair and nowhere in the literature has that ever been noted before, and that’s unprecedented,” he said.

The triceratops is an herbivore that lived in massive herds throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It lived during the late Cretaceous period, which ended approximately 65 million years ago. In the past few years, only a few partially complete triceratops skeletons have been found in the world.

“This triceratops could easily be one of the most complete in the world,” Larson said. “It only has to be 50 percent complete to be one of the top four most complete in the world.”

Larson said the find should greatly advance the study of triceratops. “We have the opportunity to really rewrite the book on triceratops,” he said.

The area where the dinosaurs were found was most likely a subtropical flatland during the Cretaceous period, a perfect environment for the triceratops, Larson said. Over time, erosion has exposed the bones to where they could be discovered.

“This site, like many of the ones we dig, was found by the rancher who owned the land,” Larson said. “He alerted us to the find this fall.”

The institute, which is a paleontological and earth science supply house in Hill City, S.D., began the dig May 9 alongside Netherlands-based company Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Larson said the site was most likely a Tyrannosaurus rex feeding ground, with which the institute is very familiar. The institute has participated in eight digs for T. rex skeletons.

Naturalis — an education, research, collection and exhibit company — partnered with the Black Hills Institute in hopes of finding a nearly complete T. rex for display in its Dinosaur Gallery in the Netherlands, set to open in 2017. The dig only produced part of a left foot and leg of a T. rex, Anne Schulp, a paleontologist with Naturalis, said in a statement.

“In paleontology, you never know exactly what you are going to find under the ground,” Schulp said. “We are now in possession of a fabulous T. rex foot and several pieces of leg. These are normally the parts that would first disappear, become lost or gnawed away.”

The center will continue to extract T. rex bones for its exhibit from another excavation site, where it has already secured part of the skull, a lower jaw, several teeth, vertebrae and ribs.

After killing a triceratops, a T. rex would normally eat the skin and bones, carrying it off, devouring it and leaving only the skull behind, Larson said. Most of the skeleton remains at the site, despite it being a T. rex feeding ground, he said.

“Apparently, the triceratops was quite tasty and one of the favorite meals of the T. rex,” he said.

The excavation of the older triceratops skeleton alongside the two younger skeletons could tell scientists a lot about the development and behavior of triceratops, Larson said.

“We should get a glimpse into these animals, especially since there was parental guidance,” Larson said. “Really there are very few triceratops skeletons that have been discovered, only three really good skeletons and many skeleton heads.”

The recent rain has hampered the excavation teams’ efforts to secure the bones from the dig site. Larson said that because it is such a unique find, the team is keeping a tight lid on the dig’s whereabouts for security purposes. He said that if the weather cooperates, the dig should be finished in about a month.

[MIKA27]

Edible Anus Chocolate Gives a New, Uncomfortable Meaning to ‘Brown-Nosing’

Meet your anus. He might not get much attention during your day-to-day, but this fancy, artisan, preservative-free Belgian chocolate from the UK totally looks like him. I mean, I’m guessing.

Dubbed the “Edible Anus,” this totally cracked-out treat is handmade and preservative free, made using a mold “crafted from the posterior” of the company’s “stunning butt model.” Which means you are literally eating out of somebody’s ass.

It’s not all bad though. Imagine giving a pack of these to your dad for Father’s day, or your favorite professor for graduation. If you’re going to be a brown-noser, you should do it shamelessly, tastefully. Go on, don’t be an arse.

Available in white, milk chocolate and dark chocolate, as well as a new special edition silver version @ edibleanus.com.

MIKA: ..No surprise the English have invented this....

[mazolaman]

Now Now, don't be racist.

This has to rank right up there with other great English inventions...vaccination, the jet engine...the edible anus...yummy.

Chocolate starfish?

[MIKA27]

Now Now, don't be racist.

This has to rank right up there with other great English inventions...vaccination, the jet engine...the edible anus...yummy.

Chocolate starfish?

You forgot Pork Scratchings!!

[MIKA27]

Set Gestures To Stun With Asus’ Futuristic Multi-Touch Mouse

Whether or not touch is the future, you’ll probably still want a mouse in the meantime. Asus’ new VivoMouse is a futuristic-looking stopgap, mixing full, multi-touch gestures with good old-fashioned point-and-click. Also it looks like it came from space.

The vaguely phaser-looking device is basically the same as Apple’s Magic Mouse, but with Windows 8 users in mind. The VivoMouse has no buttons, but presumably you can emulate your clicks with taps on either side of the circular touchpad space, where you can also perform all the gestures your little heart desires.

The (janky) Microsoft Touch Mouse has been doing this ever since a driver update last year, but if nothing else,

the VivoMouse is remarkable for looking like a phaser shacked up with a space pizza-cutter, and somehow got a wireless mouse in on the action. You know, exactly what you’re looking for in a mouse. Price and availability TBA.

[mazolaman]

You forgot Pork Scratchings!!

I have to confess, I love pork scratchings!

With those and the edible anus, we will soon be challenging France in the gourmand stakes...

[MIKA27]

I have to confess, I love pork scratchings!

With those and the edible anus, we will soon be challenging France in the gourmand stakes...

+1

[MIKA27]

Why Is There A Hole On The Sun?

To be honest, this image looks a hell of a lot more like an eyeball or a marble than the glowing fiery orange orb floating in our sky that we call the sun. But it’s our sun alright. It looks off because the image was captured through three of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s extreme ultraviolet filters. But what’s up with that gaping hole?

The hole is a coronal hole, areas of the sun that are darker and colder than normal. The ginormous dark hole is the largest coronal hole that’s been observed in over a year. We see a hole in the sun, because that’s what the SDO sees. NASA explains:

Coronal holes are the source of strong solar wind gusts that carry solar particles out to our magnetosphere and beyond. They appear darker in extreme ultraviolet light images (here, a combination of three wavelengths of UV light) because there is just less matter at the temperatures we are observing in.

It’s like changing the look of a picture with an Instagram filter, but something way more advanced than just that. NASA expects the massive coronal hole to generate auroras down on Earth.

[MIKA27]

NASA’s Magic Thermal Tiles: Hold 1200C Heat In Your Bare Hands

There’s science, and there’s magic. And, incredibly, this is the the first one. Behold the thermal tiles NASA used to protect shuttles from totally disintegrating on their way back to Earth. Awesome.

These tiles, made out of a material called LI-900, are basically sponges of highly refined quartz sand. That ability to still be cool to the touch — which looks like literal witchcraft — is actually due to the fact that each tile is 94 per cent air by volume and 99.9 per cent silica glass by composition. That combo makes it laughably bad at conducting heat, which is why those edges are cool to the touch. It’s not new tech, but it’s incredible to see in action.

And they are just begging to be juggled.