TechWay

Wet Circuit’s waterproof power strip feels scary. Looking at it, it makes you feel like that the outlet will blow in some gigantic explosion. But not only is the thing waterproof, it prevents a spark, controls its own temperature, has touch protection, and lasts four times as long as a normal strip (those things expire?). The strip costs a hefty $35 on sale or an outrageous $40 for normal MSRP, has only four outlets, and is short of being USB capable, despite all the safety claims.  To prove their self proclaimed point being “the safest power strip”, Wet Circuit ran a series of tests on the device, and uploaded them to YouTube for public consumption.  Video after the break. Read the rest of this entry →

Estimates of how much oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico each day range from 25,000 barrels to over 40,000 barrels. Want to know how big the low end looks like when stacked up? Check out the video above. Read the rest of this entry →

Wondering what 2009 would be like in Google Wave? Well, you’re in luck. The video by rockyourwhirled does a fantastic job of recapping all that happened this year and encourages you to talk about 2010 in Google Wave.

If you need invites to see Discuss 2010, send requests to here (maximum 25 invites) and I’ll send your’s before the new year.

Source: Discuss2010.com

This shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone keeping an eye on Apple, but the “final agreements” being made between Apple and Lala were true. The Wall Street Journal and NY Times have confirmed that Apple has closed agreements with Lala and paid for the purchase, possibly for less than 50 cents on the dollar. No one knows what exactly the purchase is for (presumably iTunes in the cloud). I personally don’t care much unless if its paid (or free) music streaming service to compete with the Zune Pass, which it will probably will be.


Source: Wall Street Journal.

21 hours ago on Twitter, CERN posted the following on Twitter:

We have captured it! First circulating beam of 2009!

The LHC is a far better understood machine than it was a year ago. We’ve learned from our experience, and engineered the technology that allows us to move on. That’s how progress is made.

That’s OK – to give a praise to the most advanced machine that man has built in history, but what do you mean it is better understood now and that you’ve learned from your experiences? Did the scientists and engineeres that put this together at first have no clue what they were doing at first?

Via Boston.com, Engadget, Gizmodo, CERN’s Twitter Profile

The combination of the restructuring program and the acquisition of S7 Software strikes an appropriate balance between profitability and investment for innovation. Together these actions will allow us to invest for future growth while aligning the Company’s cost structure to its current revenue level, which should drive higher and more consistent levels of profitability.

1. MSNBC account hacked, then banned.

AT&T has sued Verizon Wireless over their coverage map because it shows that AT&T does not cover the places it does currently covers. (That’s a fact.) Here’s what AT&T says, and I couldn’t sum it all up better. 

In essence, we believe the ads mislead consumers into believing that AT&T doesn’t offer ANY wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T’s wireless network blankets the US, reaching approximately 296M people. Additionally, our 3G service is available in over 9,600 cities and towns. Verizon’s misleading advertising tactics appear to be a response to AT&T’s strong leadership in smartphones. We have twice the number of smartphone customers… and we’ve beaten them two quarters in a row on net post-paid subscribers. We also had lower churn — a sign that customers are quite happy with the service they receive.

This argument isn’t much about anything other than the maps, but this isn’t the first time they went to court.


Via Engadget. 

• Route your calls through Google Voice – it works. If you do not have Google Voice, I can spare 5 invites. Others make theirs available through the comments. Need Google Voice? Email me here. (Link will be crossed out when invites are finished.)
• Make calls through a home phone or other phone (must be on a different phone carrier). For instance if I have AT&T home phone and T-Mobile for celluar (which I do), make calls using your home phone.
• Use email, or IM.

Doesn’t that feel relaxing? The NSA is going to store 1,000,000,000,000,000GB of your personal stuff, calls and emails for example. I do not have anything against the NSA, but that number…looks odd. And they are spending $2 billion making the facility in Utah. I don’t feel good now.

Via Gizmodo.