walls

Facebook stock hits low before slight rebound

Facebook briefly hit another low today before rebounding.

Facebook's shares are up 0.7 percent to $29.05, up slightly from an earlier low of $28.25. Despite the slight gain, the stock is down nearly a quarter from its offering price of $38.

It's been a tumultuous ride for Facebook's stock and for any shareholders stuck with the stock at its offering price. Its first full week of trading ranked it as the worst performing IPO in a decade, and the stock fell below $30 for the first time yesterday.

The declines have largely stemmed from … Read more

Under the hood of Apple's iPhone, iPad charger

No, it's not the first thing people gravitate toward when tearing open their brand-new iPhone or iPad. Heck, it's probably not even the second or third thing (the USB cable and the Apple sticker are more popular I'm sure).

But, hidden deep within that pretty box is a cube that makes the whole thing work. It's an AC wall-charging unit, and it's as technically impressive as any other component in that box.

Ken Shirriff, a technology buff and blogger, has a complete teardown of Apple's tiny technical wonder on his blog, detailing (exhaustively, I might add) why exactly Apple can charge $29 for it.… Read more

EFF: Prosecutors want location data via a Twitter shortcut

New York City prosecutors have subpoenaed Twitter in order to get data about the account holder's location during the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Electronic Frontier Foundation disclosed in a blog post today.

By granting the subpoena request -- which Twitter has challenged -- the court is allowing prosecutors to bypass the need for a search warrant as typically required when seeking location information, the EFF argues.

"The judge also allowed the government to get access to location information without a search warrant. Twitter keeps a record of a user's IP address when he logs in to … Read more

Twitter challenges court order to hand over user data

Twitter is challenging an order from a New York state court requiring it to hand over data on one of its users, who is being prosecuted for disorderly conduct related to an Occupy Wall Street protest on the Brooklyn Bridge last year.

Prosecutors want Twitter to turn over basic user information from Malcolm Harris' Twitter account (@destructuremal), as well as his tweets. Harris' motion to quash the subpoena to Twitter was denied by the Criminal Court of the City of New York, and Twitter filed a motion (PDF) yesterday in support of the defendant's motion to quash the subpoena. … Read more

Hulu's possible future: A playground for cable subscribers

It's looking like the jig may be up for Hulu as we know it. Rumor has it that the TV and video streaming service might be planning to switch from its free model to a plan that requires viewers to prove they pay for cable or satellite TV, according to the New York Post.

The purported new model is called "authentication" and would work by making users log into Hulu with cable or satellite TV account numbers in order to watch any show on the service -- essentially putting up a de facto pay wall around its … Read more

Mysterious Internet outage in China fuels talk of a 'kill switch'

At approximately 11 a.m. local time yesterday, Internet users around China reported significant Internet blackouts. Not only were they unable to access some Chinese sites but many foreign Web sites that hadn't previously been blocked were inaccessible as well.

The issue was not isolated to China. Web users in Hong Kong and Japan also reported problems with accessing Chinese sites. A number of explanations immediately came to light, with the most viable cause being the 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, which might have damaged undersea cables.

However, reports from China's major telecommunications companies -- … Read more

The holy grail of adhesives?

UMass is not the first institution to look to the gecko and its remarkable powers of adhesion. A team from Berkeley announced a gecko-inspired nonskid surface back in 2006. "I can list maybe 20 other people" heading up similar work, says UMass researcher Al Crosby.

Most of that work, however, has focused on the hair on the bottom of the gecko's feet. Called setae, these hairs are only part of the reason why the gecko, among other species, can use adhesion to move along walls and ceilings.

"In order for something this large to use adhesion," Crosby says, "its tendons are stitched right into its skin. And so you have the tendon, which is very stiff tissue, connected to the skin and the setae. That direct connection is critical. Without that, the gecko could not use adhesion. This direct integration is what we ended up mimicking in Geckskin.… Read more

How to install a USB wall socket

Pin It

With the abundance of USB-dependent devices, it's surprising more cafes, offices, and homes don't have outlets like the U-Socket.

After stumbling upon a photo of an iPhone plugged directly--no AC adapter--into the wall, I soon discovered that USB outlets, or wall sockets, not only exist, but are very easy to install.

Unless you're a helpless tech addict, you won't need these in every room, but the kitchen, bedroom, and office are a few places that would seriously benefit from such an installation, saving the headaches of looking for AC adapters.

U-Socket, and other generic … Read more

Facebook's IPO: What Wall Street still wants to know

Facebook has tremendous potential to become a cash-generating machine, but can it capitalize on its opportunities?

That's the question a lot on Wall Street are asking themselves a day after Facebook filed its S-1 IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The social network boasts an impressively large--and engaged--user base. Yet the company hasn't fully figured out how to make money off of them.

Investors will be clamoring to get ahold of Facebook stock, with many hoping to get in before the company figures things out and the stock takes off.

"I think Wall Street's … Read more