When crowdfunding service Kickstarter launched in 2009, it seemed like the perfect way for technology entrepreneurs to raise money for apps and widgets, and in fact much of the focus on the company has been on how it allows inventors to find backers for things like iPod Nano watches and iPad stands. But Kickstarter is also increasingly becoming a platform for launching movies, books and other artistic endeavours — which led its co-founder to say recently that the cash dispersed by the company will soon exceed the amount of … Read More → "Kickstarter will soon exceed the amount of funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts"

The Redundant Calculator is a vintage SHARP calculator seamlessly combined with an abacus for all your digital/analog calculating needs. The calculator was created by New York City art studio Partners & Spade and is available for purchase.

Source … Read More → "Redundant calculator, combination calculator and abacus"

Watch International Space Station astronaut Satoshi Furukawa building a Lego model of the International Space Station inside the International Space Station. I wonder if there’s a minifig version of the International Space Station astronaut Satoshi Furukawa building a Lego model of the Lego International Space Station inside the Lego International Space Station.
via Gizmodo

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… Read More → "International Space Station astronaut builds Lego ISS inside ISS"

This week Texas Instruments has announced the first big collaboration with OMAP 5, their next-level processor. Both iRobot and Harman have decided to use the newest architecture available on the market, Texas Instruments OMAP 5, in their newest technologies for a multi-core experience that brings their products to the forefront not just for the excellence of their products themselves, but because the Texas Instruments OMAP 5 platform has … Read More → "Texas Instruments teams with Harman and iRobot for OMAP 5"

When the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 spend exactly zero time in front of screens, what its members are concerned about is substitution — all the time those children aren’t spending acquiring new skills and language through one-on-one interaction.

Yet a new effort by researchers at MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten group will attempt to create … Read More → "How young is too young to learn to code?"

A startup working on battery technology says it’s developed a key breakthrough that could one day lead to an electric car that has a 300-mile range and could cost around $25,000 to $30,000. Envia Systems, backed by venture capitalists, General Motors, and the Department of Energy, plans to announce on Monday at the ARPA-E conference that the company has created a lithium ion battery that has an … Read More → "Battery breakthrough could bring electric cars to all"

He designed the iconic two-flipper pinball machine we know today, went on to build over 100 pinball games and lived for over a century: Steve Kordek, one of pinball’s pioneers, passed away on Feb. 19. He was 100.

Pinball owes a debt to everything from bagatelle to bocce ball and billiards, but in the 1930s, the first mechanical “marble” or “pin” games involved pulling a spring-triggered plunger to send a ball spinning around a board. But getting the ball in a hole required physically shaking the table. Using flippers to repel a ball … Read More → "Pinball pioneer Steve Kordek dies at 100"

Organizers of America’s Cup expect at least five million people to turn out for this year’s spectacular yacht race in San Francisco, which is slated to be a zero-waste affair. In a mammoth undertaking, spectators of the June and September events will be unable to obtain disposable bottles of water, non-compostable picnic utensils, or plastic bags at the race. The event organizer’s admirable ‘Sustainability Plan’ falls … Read More → "San Francisco America’s Cup to be a spectacular zero-waste yacht race"

According to deckhands and regular passengers, Tony boards the Thomas Jefferson ferry every morning at Pier 79 on W. 39th St. during the rush-hour commute. He travels back and forth on the boat to New Jersey, exiting briefly at each dock to search for food, before disembarking after two hours without fail back in Manhattan.

He then repeats the same two-hour routine, wandering both the upper and lower decks of the boat, during the evening commute. The only time he ever misses a day is during a blizzard.
via Read More → "Tony the Pigeon regularly commutes on the New York Waterway Ferry"

David at Nut&Bolt has a short overview of affordable oscilloscopes on his website.

via Dangerous Prototypes