Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Interead COOL-ER 3G e-reader announced, adds wireless to the mix

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/09/interead-cool-er-3g-e-reader-announced-adds-wireless-to-the-mix/

We are already fans of the COOL-ER e-reader: if anything, its playful look and decent price point has brought a smile to our embittered faces. But still, the lack of WiFi and a Whispernet equivalent is something of a buzzkill -- who wants to rely on a USB cable or SD card in this day and age? Good news, digital book fans: Interead has big changes in store for next year, including the aforementioned WiFi and deals with AT&T for bandwidth and NewspaperDirect for access to over 1,300 newspapers and magazines. Not bad, eh? If all goes according to plan, we can expect to see the COOL-ER 3G sometime in mid-2010. Hopefully, they can set the MSRP low enough to keep consumers' interest. PR after the break.

Continue reading Interead COOL-ER 3G e-reader announced, adds wireless to the mix

Interead COOL-ER 3G e-reader announced, adds wireless to the mix originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT now made to order in UK, estimated for January 25 launch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/10/acer-aspire-timeline-1820pt-now-made-to-order-in-uk-estimated-f/

Australia can't covet it all to themselves forever, right? Acer's Aspire Timeline 1820PT convertible has finally popped up on an UK retailer site with a £529.99 (about $858 US) price tag and a "due for release date" of January 25th, 2010. What's that? You want news about a stateside release? Keep sticking with the teaser, it's the best you're gonna get for now.

[Thanks, Andy]

Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT now made to order in UK, estimated for January 25 launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee Pad coming soon?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/10/asus-eee-pad-coming-soon/

ASUS is said to be quietly working on the launch of a new pad device, between four and seven inches in diagonal breadth, which should offer a combination of MID and tablet PC capabilities. That's the short, sweet and uncorroborated whole of what we know so far, though we might reasonably expect to see some variant of the Eee PC Touch UI making an appearance. For an indication of what to expect from an ASUS touchscreen device, you can check out our T91 review right here, and the comments are the place to unload all your wild and wacky theories about just what might be inside an Eee Pad. Get to it.

ASUS Eee Pad coming soon? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Giant Mysterious Spiral Takes Over the Skies of Norway [Science]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-bnqdX-gSJ8/giant-mysterious-spiral-takes-over-the-skies-of-norway

People are freaking out all over Norway because of what you are seeing here. According to Norwegian news outlets, the spooky giant spiral was seen, photographed, and recorded on video from all over the country. Updated with video

Could it all be a hoax? Maybe it's a massive joke, but all kinds of Norwegian news sites are reporting on it. According to NKR—Norway's national TV channel—it could be related to a rocket fired from a Russian submarine in the White Sea. The Russians are denying any part on it at this at the moment. Nick Banbury, a witness located at Harstad, described how it all happened:

We are used to seeing lots of auroras here in Arctic Norway, but on my way to work this morning I saw something completely unexpected. Between 7:50 and 8:00 a.m. local time, there was a strange light in the sky. It consisted initially of a green beam of light similar in colour to the aurora with a mysterious rotating spiral at one end. This spiral then got bigger and bigger until it turned into a huge halo in the sky with the green beam extending down to the earth.

As hard as it is to believe, you can't dispute the fact that the strange spiral was witnessed and recorded by thousands of people from hundreds of miles away, which means that the phenomenon occurred at a very high altitude. Even Phil Plait from Bad Astronomy agrees that this is real, and says that it was probably a rocket out of control.

So barring any epic group joke, expect your new alien overlords to arrive at any time now. We can only hope they ! are all peace-loving voluptuous blondes with blue eyes. [Altaposten, VG, NRK via SpaceWeather via Universe Today—thanks Gonzalo Oxenford]

If you know Norwegian and have any information, contact me on AIM or by mail.

How Huge Is the Internet on an Average Day? [Data]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/W4LF5lm5brs/how-huge-is-the-internet-on-an-average-day

The internet is, like, big. So's this infographic showing just how crazy huge it is, and what 210 billion emails, 3 million Flickr images, 43 million gigabytes (on phones) sent on an average day really means. It hurts.