911

Remembering 9/11 via the iPad

This post is more of a heads-up than how-to. If the approaching 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has put you in a reflective mood, there is a wonderful iPad app that provides a retrospective of the World Trade Center, a look at the projects occurring at the site today, and a look to what the future holds for the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. The app, The 911 Memorial: Past, Present and Future, is free, though only for a limited time.

The app was created by Steven Rosenbaum, the filmmaker behind 7 Days in September, a documentary … Read more

The 404 900: Where we have sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing (podcast)

Mark Licea transports us back to the '90s on today's 404 Podcast, which also happens to be our 900th episode! How appropriate that the penultimate episode would also fall on Jonathan Taylor Thomas' 30th birthday.

The '90s theme rolls through the show as Mark sings today's "Tang That Tune" music trivia segment, and we'll also reveal details about Nike's Back to the Future sneaker, as well as Rolling Stone's ranking of the worst songs of the '90s. We have a few selections of our own to add!

Finally, we spend a minute talking about a clever algorithm that helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial wall. The memorial planners hired a local media design firm to develop a network of names organized by interpersonal relationships.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The 404 Digest for Episode 900

An algorithm helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial. 9/11 memorial guide. No power laces = 100% fail; back to the best shoe Nike never made. Rolling Stone ranks the worst songs of the '90s. This matters: JTT reunites with "Home Improvement" cast to celebrate 30th birthday. Justin's Daily Bathroom Entertainment: dog loop.

Episode 900 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

How 9/11 attacks reshaped U.S. privacy debate

It was not that long ago that U.S. congressman Spencer Bachus, a conservative Republican from Alabama, was defending Americans' right to privacy against overreaching government surveillance.

"Technology has outrun the law," Bachus said during a July 2000 hearing. He wondered: "What level of monitoring do we, as a country, want to have on private conversations?"

Soon afterward, that House of Representatives committee took the unprecedented step of voting, by a 20-1 margin, to require police to obtain a warrant from a judge before e-mail could be read or mobile phones could be tracked. The legislation … Read more

Car Tech Live 232: Frankfurt auto show preview (podcast)

This week, our Frankfurt auto show preview. Volkswagen finds the only direction is up, Land Rover ends tea time to update a 25 year old model, and Yo-Auto redesigns the car door.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 232 SHOW NOTES

• Aha Radio and Slacker join forces to add beats to your tweets

• Volkswagen to showcase Up at Frankfurt auto show

• Land Rover concept heralds Defender update

• Infiniti mystery concept for Frankfurt

• New Porsche 911 shows up with seven-speed manual

Buzz Out Loud 1529: HTC tries to buy some street cred (Podcast)

HTC spends $300 million to acquire some Beats Electronics awesomeness, but we have to admit: we're befuddled. Also, Apple is now officially the world's most valuable company, and we're happy, because they're slightly less evil than ExxonMobil. And in the worst idea we've heard in a while, the British Prime Minister floats the idea of turning off social networks to stem the rioting in London. Dude, do you WANT more riots!?

Video, SMS support coming to 911 service

The Federal Communications Commission is planning to rapidly roll out several new ways for people in the U.S. to call the emergency 911 line.

Speaking yesterday at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials annual meeting, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said that his organization has developed a "five-step action plan" to deploy Next Generation 9-1-1.

Next Generation 9-1-1 is the next phase of the emergency service. It's designed to offer users more ways to contact emergency officials, as well as improve the network to ensure it holds up for the new communication technologies.

According to Genachowski, a … Read more

110 Stories app adds Twin Towers back to skyline

The 10th anniversary of the fall of New York's World Trade Center towers is fast approaching. Brian August and his team of developers at Kickstarter are looking to memorialize the tragedy with 110 Stories, an augmented-reality app for iOS that will place the iconic buildings back into the New York skyline.

110 Stories is still in development, with a Kickstarter fundraiser wrapping up within a few days. The app will work by directing the user to point an iPhone camera at the former site of the towers. It will then etch an image of the towers over the picture … Read more

Porsche 911 GTS review: Light and nimble, and oh-so-yellow

With 40 years of fine-tuning, you would expect the 911 to be a well-honed car by now. And with the new 911 Carrera GTS, it's easy to see how all this work paid off.

Despite the engine's being naturally aspirated, Porsche manages to get better than 100 horsepower per liter out of it, while at the same time delivering reasonable, if not stellar, fuel economy. The relatively light weight of the car is apparent when you first get behind the wheel. It dances through turns.

And the 911 has come a very long way, with new technology added … Read more

Porsche GT3 race livery designed by intern

Gone are the days when "getting coffee" was the main responsibility of the corporate intern. Porsche recently let one intern design the race insignia emblazoned on a 911 GT3 race car.

Anna Frey, a recent industrial design graduate from Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, was responsible for designing the paint job for Porsche Cars North America's (PCNA) entry in the 2011 Porsche Carrera World Cup. The 70.2-mile race was held over the weekend on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife, and PCNA's 911 GT3 was piloted by American Le Mans Series GTC Champion Melanie Snow.

PCNA also let a team … Read more

Spectrum reform, public safety network move forward in Senate

The Senate Commerce Committee voted Wednesday to approve legislation aimed at resolving long-standing issues for mobile broadband users, both public and private.

Co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.), S. 911, the "Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act," had wide bipartisan support, passing the committee by a vote of 21-4. (A current version of the bill is not available online, pending several amendments approved during the markup.)

A key provision of the proposed law would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to hold "voluntary incentive auctions" both to … Read more