Developages - Development and Technology Blog

On O’Reilly Radar, Joshua-Michele Ross has an interview with the always-original and thought-provoking Kevin Kelly. The discussion covers various topics related to biology, technology, and net-connected culture. As Josh says:

This last section (at 7mins 30 secs) is the deepest and most provocative. Kevin assumes the point of view of technology to assess its needs and wants. This line of inquiry leads to some surprising conclusions. My favorite quote from the conversation: “We are the sexual organs of technology″ Indeed.

I really like the observation that, unlike biology, technology is almost impossible to make extinct, and that it’s hard to find any technologies from the past that aren’t still being used in some fashion today. For instance, there are more human beings making arrow heads today, Kevin claims, than were making them in pre-historic times.

“Technology is the 7th Kingdom of Life” - A conversation with Kevin Kelly

More:

• Kevin Kelly reviews our home chemistry book
• Kevin Kelly on BBtv
• Kevin Kelly on “subterranean tutoring”

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Original post by Gareth Branwyn

Maker Media grand Pooh-Bah Dale Dougherty is the latest guest blogger on Boing Boing. Dale has one of the most captivating and restless intellects I know, so it’s really exciting to see him given free range to talk about whatever is on his mind. Some of his postings thus far:

Merrill Lynch Needs a Dressing Down
Merrill Lynch is bullish on snobbery and status. These snobs, wearing more expensive suits, consorted to run their company into the ground. Now they look down on the company that rescued them and the people who work there as not being worthy, not sharing their own high status. It’s another sign that failure will not humble Wall Street or cause them to change their ways. It’s also a bad sign for Bank of America of the difficulty of getting these dandies to do an honest day’s work…

Beach Dreams
I saw a nostalgic photo in the bathroom of a NY City restaurant recently, a picture of the beach at Coney Island and the ocean was absolutely filled with people from where the water met the shore to as far out as people could stand. It was such a great picture that could be interpreted two different ways: what an awful thing to go to a crowded beach OR what an amazing time you’d have in the middle of all those people enjoying the day of the beach. Think of its opposite — the island beach with white sand and nothing but you and nature, the kind of photos you find in “Travel and Leisure” magazine. It’s another setting that could be seen and experienced two different ways — I’ve found paradise because I can lie on this beautiful beach or, an hour later, I’m bored because there’s nobody here and nothing to do. One test is to ask yourself what you’d have done as a kid. The kid has to prefer the crowded beach with lots going on…

Tinker in a Collective Shop
Check out Daniel B. Smith’s article on Lewis Hyde in the New York Times Magazine: “What is Art For? Hyde is the author of “The Gift”, an influential book exploring the idea of gift economies. It’s a book that I have meant to read. Hyde seems to be a practical man as well as a man of ideas. He wrote an essay “Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking” because he was reading Berryman’s poems while working in a hospital’s drunk ward and noticed the same kind of delusional language he found in the poetry…

Hard Drives′ Dying Moans
From a repair shop comes a collection of the sounds of hard drives failing. Their last words, their dying moans…

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Original post by Gareth Branwyn

If you’ve never seen the Craftmanship Museum, either virtually or in person, prepare to have your geeky socks blown off. This video provides a tour of this astounding “model engineering″ museum and workspace in Vista, California. This is really machining as an artform. Their “virtual museum” has an extensive online collection. Prepare to get lost in the stacks.

The Internet Craftsmanship Museum [Thanks, I-Wei!]

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• The Internet Craftsmanship Museum

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Original post by Gareth Branwyn

Filed under: Portable Audio

Something about the image above makes it seem that the folks over at Greenhouse are up to more than manufacturing electronics. The Angel & Devil earbuds (1,279 yen or $12.65) follow on the heels of the company’s Pigbuds (which now that we mention it, may also have some sort of occult significance). What can we say about these things? They fit in your ear, they’re available in one of five colors (the angel is always white, just like the Tom &amp Jerry cartoons — the devil can be summoned in red, purple, pink, magenta or death-dealing black), they ship with a display stand and they’re only available in Japan. And the struggle for your immortal soul continues…

[Via Impress]

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It’s just in beta at this point, but devs and techies far and wide are now invited to take a stab at coding up some magic for RIM’s new touch-based user interface elements, orientation control, accelerometers, and virtual keyboards that are getting proudly shown off for the first time in the Storm. There’s stuff in here for regular folk without a single programming bone in their bodies, too — namely, a full-fledged emulator that appears to have all the features and functionality you′d expect the real thing to have. It’s a gas to play with — even more fun than that semi-functional G1 demo T-Mobile has up and running — and it’s a good way to test-drive the goods without laying out the cash first. Not to say you could even if you wanted to, since the phone’s not dropping for another month at a yet-to-be-determined sticker price.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Transportation

Honda’s been trying for months now to convince you that “the van is back in style,” and while we’re still not entirely sure that line isn’t just marketing hoopla (okay, it is), at least the company is working to make the thing more technologically advanced. Starting next month in Japan, the automaker will debut a multi-view camera system for its Odyssey minivan, which will utilize the same 360-degree overhead cam tech that Nissan picked up last year. The system will give drivers the ability to see more as they prepare to back out, and the biggest boon is the ability to view ninjas adhered to parking garage ceilings prior to opening the sunroof and facing The Reaper. Unfortunately, there′s no word on when it’ll be available in other corners of the globe, but we′d guess 2009 if we had a Katana put to our throat.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Voice Over IP slot car racing? Come again? Apparently, this project takes advantage of Asterisk to take in the phone data and spit that out to a Java based softphone. This softphone takes in a SIP stream and then measures the waveform amplitude data (volume). The louder you speak, the faster your VoIP-enabled slot car goes. The amplitude data is sent serially down to an Arduino board.

I remember playing slot cars in a friend’s garage, which was a lot of fun. Somehow the thought of screaming into a phone to make your slot car go faster might get a little old after awhile. Still, might be fun. Pretty amazing what fun and interesting projects you can do with open source Asterisk!

Tags: Arduino, Asterisk, open source, slot car racing, Voice Over IP, voip

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Cellphones

On Friday, ASUS announced its latest entry into the highly competitive and exciting world of tweaked Windows Mobile phones, with the introduction of the P552w. The full-touchscreen device boasts a speedy 624MHz CPU, a 240 x 320 QVGA display, HSDPA / UMTS radios, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP), 256MB of flash memory, 128MB of DDR, plus support for microSD / SDHC cards. What’s really of note, however, is the inclusion of a skinned UI utilizing a technology called “Gester,” which is controlled via slides of the finger, pinching, and flicks (think HTC’s TouchFlo). The company is tacking on a few pieces of proprietary software as well, such as “EziPhoto″ and “EziMusic,” and claims that the device has “seamless Google integration.” Clearly ASUS has backed away from that 3D interface we saw at Mobile World Congress this year, though we suspect the new UI — dubbed “Glide″ — bears more than a passing resemblance to it. No word yet on release dates or prices, but you’ll know when we do.

[Via Electronista]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Desktops, Networking

That nasty Windows Home Server data corruption bug might finally be a thing of the past, as WHS Power Pack 1 has gone live after a month-long beta test. Not much else to the enhancement suite: x64 support and support for backup to external media are along for the ride, but otherwise it’s mostly performance tweaks. Go on and grab it now, you crazy home-server admins.

[Thanks, Neal]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We don’t know what’s going on here exactly, but we′re fairly certain they need a load of these on Arrakis, ASAP. Sure, Muad’Dib may be able to summon sandworms and lead an army of Fremen into battle, but he can’t make drinkable water out of thin air, can he? That’s where the Xziex comes in. Basically, this intimidating “atmospheric water generator” siphons moisture out of the air and converts it into water — delicious, clean, healthy water. It may not actually live up to the company’s claim of “The Most Exciting Product Ever,” but if it does what they say, it’s a pretty amazing device. Honestly, the Xziex website does cause a little concern, with its calls for readers to “lock in” their “position,” and excited passages about earning potential — but hey, who can blame them for trying to make a buck?

[Via Gearlog]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones

Yes, that’s right, one lucky Engadget Mobile reader is going to walk away with a gorgeous, ultra-limited LG Shine worth more than the combined value of, like, every phone we’ve ever had. How exactly does one get in on this action? Head on over to Mobile for the scoop!

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

We know what you’re thinking: Jeebus, not another Bluetooth adapter Engadget, slow news day? But if you check that snark for a moment, you’ll notice that this ¥2,280 (about $22) Logitec adapter is a Bluetooth 2.1+EDR + Class 1 device. That means an operating range up to 300 feet and all the goodies that come from 2.1. In other words, easier pairing and up to 5x longer battery life for like-speced Bluetooth keyboards and mice. It also supports 15 different Bluetooth profiles (9 on Macs) including your favorites for stereo audio and handsfree devices. Now that Bluetooth 2.1 is beginning to trickle out into retail, you won’t be buying 2.0 gear anymore will you?

[Via Impress]

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Get ready to burn through your allowance, kids, as AMD is getting set to loose its Catalyst 8.3 drivers for all to indulge in. What does the download net you, exactly? Why, CrossFireX support, of course. Starting today, users can link up any combination of RV670- and R680-based products — that includes the Radeon HD 3850, Radeon HD 3870 and Radeon HD 3870 X2 — in order to acquire triple- and quad-GPU performance within Windows Vista. Additionally, the drivers also introduce ATI Hybrid Graphics support in Vista, which was boasted about already when the firm unveiled its upcoming 780G chipset. Check out the read link for the full list of changes, and keep an eye on the firm’s support page for v8.3 to surface any moment now.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops

It might be a bit early for us to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts, but that said, isn’t it a bit early for Microsoft to be talking Windows 7 feature cuts? If The Inquirer’s “reliable sources″ are to be believed, Microsoft is giving DirectX 11 the boot from its next version of Windows to keep hardware requirements down — apparently the DirectX 10 requirements of Vista were enough of that sort of trouble for one decade. Obviously there’s no official word on Microsoft at the moment, so we’ll reserve judgment for the time being — and hey, maybe no DirectX 11 wouldn’t ruin our year — but with the endless quantity of features cut from Vista still fresh in our memory, this is certainly not an encouraging sign if true.

[Thanks, Isaac]

 

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Digital Cameras

We′re not sure why Sony didn’t give its 25 megapixel full-frame DSLR a name other than “Flagship,” but we can see why they’d want to invoke ocean-faring vessels when referring to this thing — it’s freaking huge. Check it out in the gallery below.

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Original post by Nilay Patel