ohouhuThat’s no artifact you’ve got your eyes fixed on there, that’s a genuine Studio Italia Design lighting fixture! Channeling the fantastic design sense of these elder-peoples Southern-Americans, Studio Italia takes this suspended light fixture and creates a geometric honeycomb shape made with a lacquered metal frame. I wonder what you think of such channelling : are you foe or are you against?
SIGHTSTICK FOR THE BLIND
This is no mere cane, all ye adventurers, this is a stick to make the blind see! Utilizing GPS technology, the “Visionplus” interacts with the user through audio and tactile means through the stick. Working with RFID Tag technology, the stick bookmarks specific locations and provides the user critical information. Visionplus is one-hand controlled, improved over its predecessors in mobility, usability, and safety.
FIREFOX APPROACHES 1 BILLION DOWNLOADS
Updated Mozilla likes big download numbers. Last year, its web browser Firefox 3 set the Guinness world record for software downloads in a single day . This year, some of the team members told me they weren’t going to chase a similar record for Firefox 3.5 , since it might “melt the Internet.” But now Firefox is approaching another milestone — 1 billion downloads overall
SMART PARKING METERS AREN’T SO HARD TO HACK
In the name of urban anarchy and intellectual stimulation, a team of three hackers has figured out how to break the security systems of a variety of parking meters. At the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas today, Joe Grand, Jacob Appelbaum and Chris Tarnovsky said they used a variety of tactics to figure out how various parking meters work and how they can be tricked into giving you free parking. While parking meters may not seem like a big deal, they generate roughly $28 billion a year in revenues for contractors and city governments around the country
ALEX COX VERSUS UNIVERSAL: FIGHT!
Yesterday in Page 2 I mentioned that the title of Universal’s Repossession Mambo had been changed to Repo Men , and wondered if fans of Alex Cox ’s awesome Repo Man might be a little irritated. Being in a bit of a rush to put that page together, I didn’t think about how Alex Cox might feel. And the answer is: a little peeved.
BLACKLIGHT POWER SIGNS SIXTH UTILITY DEAL TO PRODUCE POWER FROM WATER
BlackLight Power , one of the more controversial and mysterious cleantech solutions on the market, announced today that it has landed a commercial licensing deal with Maryland-based utility Akridge Energy . This is the sixth such contract for the company, which claims to have technology capable of generating energy using only water.
IRON MAN 2 VIRAL LAUNCHED: STARKINDUSTRIESNOW.COM
You might not have noticed, but at Comic-Con Marvel launched a viral for Iron Man 2 . For those of you who didn’t hit up the show floor, the Iron Man 2 section was set-up like Stark Industries, complete with “assistants” handing out business cards for those interested in a job
HOOTSUITE HELPS YOU MANAGE YOUR BRAND ON TWITTER (HEY, IT WORKS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE)
Twitter client HootSuite , which makes it easier for people and businesses to manage their brands on the microblogging network, opened up to public beta today. HootSuite seems well-tailored to companies that need to track conversations online and have multiple people manage a single Twitter account. It lets you add as many columns as you want for tracking search terms on Twitter and get detailed analytics on how many people have clicked on links you’ve shared
JASON REITMAN’S UP IN THE AIR TO PREMIERE AT 2009 TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL
Jason Reitman ’s new film, a big screen adaptation of Walter Kim’s novel Up in the Air , will premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. I’ve been a huge fan of Reitman’s work, ever since discovering his early short films (which I highly recommend).
MOVIE STARTUP BLOWTORCH FLAMES OUT AS IGNITION’S BAD LUCK STREAK CONTINUES
Blowtorch Entertainment is a new media movie company founded in late 2007 by CEO Kelly Rodriques , who had previously sold managed services startup Totality to Verizon in 2005. Blowtorch’s plan was to produce video content for 18-to-24-year-olds. Ignition Partners, where Rodriques had been an operating partner, invested an undisclosed amount in Blowtorch’s initial $50 million round.