Lion will only be available in the App store, meaning you can’t install it with a disc. That also means that it’s easy to upgrade and update. Much like Snow Leopard, it’s only going to be $29.99. Unlike Snow Leopard, it’ll only take up 4 gb of hard drive space. Not bad. Some of our favorite new features:
» This is what we call progress: Back in November, it was kind of a big thing when scientists managed to trap antimatter at all — even for .17 seconds! Now we’ve gotten past viral video length and we’re almost at the length of an episode of “The Office.” The lifespan of the antimatter is a big deal because usually when antimatter is made, it disappears instantly. But the process that CERN (known as the European Organization for Nuclear Research) uses basically holds the antimatter in place using really strong magnets. The longer lifetimes offer scientists the opportunity to study it in greater detail, which is kind of neat, and to possibly figure out longer-term uses for this pretty cool technology. This research totally matters, guys.
Intel has plans to release a computer to compete with the Macbook Air and the iPad. The new computer — called an Ultrabook — would be extremely thin and have tablet-like features. It’d also be less than $1,000. The Ultrabook is a lot like the Macbook Air, so it’ll be interesting to see how well it can compete. It’s interesting to note that Intel hasn’t been so lucky with things like this in the past, though. A few years ago they tried something similar called an Ultra-Low Voltage notebook and it failed to catch on. But if Mac can do it, why can’t they? source
Jetpacks won’t be a thing of the future for much longer. Some people at the Martin Aircraft Company have been working on a jetpack that could be yours for the low, low price of $100,000. In this video, they’re working out a very important problem in the design - what happens if the engine fails 5,000 feet above the ground? Now there’s a parachute that can save you. From the looks of things, we’ll be living like the Jetsons in no time at all and traffic jams will be a thing of the past. Or you’ll run into your neighbor a lot more — and it might hurt a lot. One of the two. source
The World Health Organization has a new study out that says cell phones are possibly carcinogenic to humans — they’re in the same class as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. They based their findings on a number of peer-reviewed studies on cell-phone safety. Long-term effects from cell phone radiation remain unknown, but research suggests that cell phone radiation is non-ionizing — similar to a very low-powered microwave. “What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain,” notes Dr. Keith Black, who leads the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He notes that beyond brain cancer, this could also cause memory problems because we hold cell phones close to the memory temporal lobes. Looks like it’s time to break out the earbuds. (photo via ElvertBarnes’ Flickr page) source
» Not unless they pay it out to a computer, anyway. U.S. officials are saying that no one directly gave the U.S. information that lead to Osama bin Laden’s capture, but instead attribute it to technology. They tracked Bin Laden’s most trusted courier through his cell phone, they found his compound by using stealth drones, and they’ll be keeping their money, thank you very much. If computers had feelings, they’d be devastated.
PSN hacked again…kind of. PlayStation Network was down again today, but not for the familiar reason of widespread hacks. A newly discovered exploit allows people to change account passwords armed with nothing but an email address associated with the account and the owner’s date of birth — both of which hackers obtained in the larger exploit earlier this month. Gaming Nyleveia.com discovered the newest flaw and contacted Sony about the problem. The network then went down again, apparently so Sony could fix it before it got out of hand. It’s important to know that the network wasn’t actually hacked again — hackers stole no new information, but instead discovered a new exploit that’s now being fixed. Sony is going to have a rough time recovering from all of this. source
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
» A leaked memo from the CEO is to blame: The memo by Leo Apotheker caused the company’s stocks to fall. He cited the Japanese earthquake and weak PC sales as reasons to reduce hiring and prepare for another rough quarter. Even though their stocks are up from last year, they aren’t meeting market predictions, causing people to sell their shares in the company. Apparently, it’s causing the stock market to slow down overall. Yikes.
Researchers at Canada’s Queen’s University have created a flexible, super-thin phone made out of electronic paper. The 3.7-inch screen uses an e-ink display similar to the Amazon Kindle. “Everything is going to look and feel like this within five years,” says the phone’s creator. Just imagine: “Tablet computers you can roll up like a newspaper.”
It looks cool, but as the clip shows, the process is going to need some usability tweaks before it’s ready for the market. Still, there’s a lot of potential.
ROBERT GIBBS isn’t going to Facebook. A friend says: “It blew up.” The deal - a potential goldmine when Facebook goes public — was originally described to us by Obamans as a chance for Gibbs to be “Mark Zuckerberg’s guy.” But when the Facebook side leaked precise details to NYT’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about the layers that would separate Gibbs from the top, it was pretty clear that Gibbs - who used to report to the president of the United States - wasn’t going. Gibbs’ defenders point out that Facebook has been trying to fill this job for a long time.
Today in things that didn’t happen but would’ve been amazing if they did.
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