grande

What's a tablecloth without a table? This thing, apparently.

Through creative use of transparent acrylic, the Essey Illusion Table and Grand Illusion Table fool your eyes into believing that a tablecloth is all you need to keep your meatloaf off the ground.

The table uses solid acrylic "tablecloth" corners to provide the support needed to keep the table on terra firma.

At $225 to about $470 for the tables, depending on the size and style, you may not be in the market to buy one. But if you're an aspiring magician, you should at least bear … Read more

The U.K. Ministry of Defense announced Monday that 14 of the 23 teams who applied have made it to the finals of its Grand Challenge.

The MOD Grand Challenge is a competition of robots similar to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Grand Challenge. The finalist teams range from universities to military contractors.

Coincidentally, both the U.S. DARPA Grand Challenge this November 3 and the U.K. MOD Grand Challenge this August 2008 will focus on the urban setting.

However, while the DARPA-sponsored challenge focuses on the autonomous vehicle, the MOD-sponsored challenge concentrates on the … Read more

THREE RIVERS, N.M.--I just hit exactly 2,000.0 miles since leaving on Road Trip 2007, my journey around the Southwest.

And given that there happened to be a little piece of shoulder to pull off on here in the middle of nowhere--truly a remote road--and a good enough signal via my EV-DO card, it seemed worth blogging.

So, if you care--and I'm sure at least 11 of you do, that's what I'm doing: Commemorating that since I left the Bay Area a week ago Monday, I've driven exactly 2,000 miles.

Last year, … Read more

With the sound of wailing engines still ringing in our ears, we just got back from the first day's racing at the 2007 San Jose Grand Prix. CNET Car Tech spent the morning getting an exclusive pit-side look at the workings of the CDW/RSPORTS Champ Car team, whose car finished second fastest in the first round of qualifying for Sunday's race. Check out our slide show of some of the tech behind the track times.

GRAND CANYON WEST, Ariz.--If you've never walked on air, you should come visit this place.

This is the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a bridge of glass that juts out over the Grand Canyon and will make your stomach clench up.

Or worse.

But it is one of life's great experiences: to be in the air over this natural spectacle, and I highly recommend a trip out here.

I will be posting a full story and photo gallery of my visit here as part of my Road Trip around the Southwest, so please stay tuned for that. But in … Read more

Google has just announced the much-rumored acquisition of communications service GrandCentral. TechCrunch broke the news about the acquisition last week and is now reporting the deal is rumored to be somewhere in the range of $50 million. Details about final price and terms are confidential.

This is Google's latest move into the telecommunications market and one of their biggest. For current GrandCentral customers, service will go uninterrupted. For users interested in signing up, GrandCentral is now limiting sign-ups to invitation only.

The other big change in place as of today is GrandCentral's RingShare service. Previously, users were able … Read more

Someone is using a Grand Theft Auto mod video as a way to trick viewers into infecting themselves. Although YouTube videos remain safe to view, that hasn't stopped criminals from finding new ways to entice YouTube viewers to get infected with the latest Trojan horse. The latest example is a Grand Theft Auto video for a mod called Hood Life. According to Chris Boyd, Director of Malware Research at FaceTime Security Labs, the graphics in the mod are lame. He says the images used in the video are circa 1986, crudely rendered, not up to the high standards of … Read more

Google is in talks to buy GrandCentral, which offers a way to merge all phone calls into one number, according to TechCrunch.

"We have a high degree of confidence that the deal has actually been closed. We are trying to nail down the acquisition price," writes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who speculates that Google could use the technology with its Gmail and Google Talk applications.

Google representatives said they do not comment on rumor or speculation and GrandCentral did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Category: Communications

GrandCentral is a catchall voice mail and messaging service that you can monitor right in your browser. When you sign up, you get a new phone number. When people call this number, the system takes their names (the first time they call; after that, it remembers), and rings all of your telephones for you at the same time--your desk, your mobile, your home--and lets you pick up the call from any of them.

GrandCentral allows you to reject calls after you hear the name of the person calling; define which of your phones ring based on who is … Read more