space

The drive for clean and green stuff/energy, etc. is in part a reaction to the supersized American consumer culture in general. Big houses, big cars, lots of stuff. All requiring more and more energy and fuel to drive around and get it, play with it, go to the show, etc. Browsing the depressing and completely paranoid LATOC site, I came across an interesting tidbit graphic:

Yes you read that right. 20.2 square feet of retail for every man, woman and child in America. 10X the world wide average (assuming it's true). Now the Europeans are small countries … Read more

There's no time like the present for those who have designs on the future. That's certainly the case at the International Paris Air Show, where aircraft makers have gathered to make deals and show off what they've got on the drawing board.

One company with a particularly lofty goal is Aerion, which wants to get the first supersonic business jet off the ground. The aeronautical engineering venture, based in Reno, Nev., says its plane will be able to fly from Paris to New York in just a little more than four hours--or about three hours ahead of … Read more

There have been several stories in the news this week about airplanes and spacecraft. I'm an Air Force veteran myself, and I've been an Aviation Week subscriber for over 20 years, but you don't have to be in the industry to keep up with the latest in aerospace technology. Even CNET covers this kind of thing today, and some of the stories I've seen this week have gotten me thinking about buying a private jet.

I think Esther Dyson deserves a lot of credit for bridging the computer and aerospace industries. In 2005, Esther inaugurated her … Read more

Good news, galactic explorers: You no longer have to pay a million bucks for the privilege to be one of the only civilians to fly in outer space--just somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000.

Europe's EADS Astrium is developing a space jet to take off in 2012 that's one of a new generation of "airplane-to rocket" vehicles, according to BornRich: It looks like a conventional aircraft but is powered by rocket engines. The "Astrium Space Jet" can even take off from regular airports, though we somehow doubt that it will go through the … Read more

MySpace has announced the official beta release of its MySpaceIM instant messaging service which soft-launched informally a year ago. According to a release from MySpace, over 17 million of the social networking site's 180 million members worldwide have installed the downloadable client.

MySpace, which was acquired by News Corp. in 2005, used to operate a browser-based instant messaging service, which it has since phased out.

The MySpaceIM service competes with other ubiquitous and well-established instant messaging clients, like Yahoo Instant Messenger, Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger, and the formidable AOL Instant Messenger. But MySpaceIM hopes to set itself apart … Read more

Here's a rumor we didn't see coming. The U.K.'s The Times is reporting that News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch-helmed company that purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, may be willing to trade it. According to Times writer Dan Sabbagh's article, News Corp. is mulling a swap of MySpace to Yahoo in exchange for a 25 percent stake in the dot-com.

Interestingly enough, The Times is itself owned by News Corp. The parent company is allegedly "interested in a deal even if it means losing some control of MySpace because it would give the … Read more

If you're a musician with a computer and a Web connection, it's a fair bet you've got a MySpace page. The social networking site claims to have its origins in the lower reaches of the L.A. music community (although some writers dispute the official history of the site).

MySpace may be too common to be cool, but it's also too easy to pass up: create a profile, build a list of artists and fans who appreciate your genre and/or live in your location, and advertise your shows and recordings for sale. No longer do … Read more

Category: Community

MySpace is one of the most well-recognized social networks in the world. It's also one of the most trafficked on the Internet. The service originally started as a social network for music enthusiasts, and as a place where bands could promote their upcoming concerts or albums.

The main draw to the service is its user profiles, which are completely customizable by editing some code in the settings. Because of this capability, many sites and services have sprung up, offering various add-ons that require no coding knowledge for the end user. Users can communicate with one another via … Read more

Ever since we were reminded of Uncle Fester's lightbulb last week, we've been reminiscing about old TV shows. And then, by the miracle of coincidence, today we see the ultimate example of Hollywood's version of technology from the '60s: "Robot" from Lost in Space. (That would be the original TV series, not that pathetic movie with Matt LeBlanc.)

Thanks to Technabob, we learned that "Robot B9"--we never knew his full name--has been resurrected in the form of a full-size replica for sale to the public at a mere $24,500. But before … Read more