Wednesday, May 6, 2009

5-6-09

The Onion is ceasing publication in SF and LA. It will still be available in print in some other cities, and online. I've only read the online version for several years, but this makes me sad and nostalgic.

Amazon revealed the new Kindle DX today with a larger gray-scale screen, pdf support, rotating screen, and more storage. It is designed for textbooks (publishers representing 60% of the market have deals with them) and newspapers. I know if this had been an option when I was buying incredibly heavy and expensive textbooks I would have jumped at it. Sources: New York Times Gadgetwise, Apple Insider, Engadget, CNet Digital Media, Wired Gadget Lab

However, as the new Kindle was announced, rumors are circling that Apple is going to be releasing an iPad (larger media tablet) soon. Sources: Wired, PC Magazine

Other recent e-book related stories I haven't linked yet:
* Wired roundup of all the readers (from when Samsung announced Papyrus)
* Sony-Google partnership making all out-of-copyright scanned books available for Sony Reader (reported by Wired & CNet)
* Publishers making free books available on Scribd

It looks like the FDA is pushing to have stem cell treatments labeled as a pharmaceutical preparation, not a medical process. Huge ramifications, delays, and barriers to research if this goes through.

Singularity hub has a bunch of videos of robots climbing stairs.

CNN has an article on geeks in popular culture - which includes an interview with the creator of The Big Bang Theory.

An electronic nose developed to test air quality on the space shuttle is proving effective in detecting brain cancer.

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