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The 404 744: Where we make our own leaked photos (podcast)

Remember the dream of the Concorde? It was that supersonic passenger jet that would ferry passengers from New York to London in less than 3 hours, but supersonic travel never took off because of the loud sonic booms that the planes would generate as they broke the sound barrier.

NASA is working on new technology that would dampen or eliminate those booms, and the space agency is hoping that this will usher in a new era of supersonic travel.

Early experiments add a 24-foot-long spike to the plane mounted on the nose of the aircraft that creates three smaller shockwaves to greatly reduce the noise as the aircraft hits Mach 1. It could mean shorter travel time for consumers, but Jeff is more excited to wean himself off the sleeping pills he takes every time he boards an aircraft.

In less exciting historical innovations, New Yorker Till Krautkraemer is touting a beverage that offers a new way to supplement your protein intake: drink it! MeatWater is intended as a meal supplement with flavors like Peking Duck, Beef Stroganof, and Fish'n Chips; but the liquid contains zero animal byproducts, so vegans and vegetarians are encouraged to consume it for their daily dose of protein.

This is not a joke. According to the Web site, MeatWater has 22 amino acids that aid in performance recovery and decrease body fat when ingested with liquids, and it's recommended that you drink MeatWater warm, as the flavors and aromas are heightened this way.

And while we're solving first-world problems with technology, check out this double USB concept that hopes to save precious microseconds and the frustration you experience from "plug rejection."

Finally, Intel is following in the footsteps of Polaroid and Lady Gaga by introducing its own celebrity employee: Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am has been appointed director of creative innovation, a role that places him as an ambassador to the company and collaborator in "new technologies, music and tech advocacy."

There's not much to say about this should-be joke, so we're just waiting to hear the BEP single that samples the Intel Inside chime. Wait, he's already doing that.

Episode 744 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Subscribe in iTunes video | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Gaming wrap-up

Another CES in the books means it's time to take a look at the past few days and highlight what we thought were the most exciting moments of the show. To the right are some video First Looks in gaming from CES 2011.

Unlike last year, gaming was able to earn a few moments of glory this year as we were treated to some impressive products, mind-blowing prototypes, and the latest in state-of-the-art surround-sound headsets.

From iPad joysticks to mouse and keyboard control for the Xbox 360, it's safe to say that CES 2011 solidified gaming as a … Read more

CES: Mouse and keyboard control coming to Xbox 360

LAS VEGAS--Ask any hardened PC gamer and they'll tell you there's no better way to control a first-person shooter than a mouse-and-keyboard combination. We completely agree, and with the Eagle Eye 360 from Penguin United, Xbox 360 gamers can do just that.

While the company has already had a PlayStation 3 offering that provides the same functionality, the Xbox 360 version is new for CES. The device can bind all of the Xbox 360 controller commands to mouse and keyboard buttons and store up to two key-mapping schemes.

You'll need a wired Xbox 360 controller for the … Read more

CES: Motion control tech powered by your eyes

LAS VEGAS--First came remote controls, then systems like Kinect, where you use your body as a remote control. The next advancement in motion control tech doesn't require you to move much at all, with the exception of an eye muscle or two.

Today at CES, I got a demo of a very early but still interesting prototype that uses the motion of your eyeballs to control things on a screen. The technology was built just in the last few months and demonstrated here by Hunter Smith and Christopher Culver from Waterloo Labs, a research group within National Instruments.

For … Read more

Eye-Fi eyes photo transfers to your phone and tablet

LAS VEGAS--One oft-cited reason for the lack of cameras is that a lack of fast and easy wireless sharing capabilities keeps them from developing the ubiquity of a camera phone. Eye-Fi is planning on bridging the gap between traditional cameras and mobile devices like phones and tablets by adding a new capability, Direct Mode, to its existing Eye-Fi X2 product.

For the uninitiated, Eye-Fi's SD card line adds a variety of Wi-Fi file transfer capabilities (among other things) to any camera that uses SD cards. While the current generation allows for peer-to-peer connections between cameras and computers, Direct Mode … Read more

Gift idea: 'Eye-Fi' moves photos to MacBook, PC

Though Eye-Fi's Secure Digital (SD) card has been out there for a couple of years, it's worth revisiting--just because it works. And it's not a bad idea as a holiday gift for any digital camera owner.

Eye-Fi allows the transfer of photos from existing digital cameras wirelessly. A nice piece of inexpensive technology that has worked well for me.

Eye-Fi SD cards come in 4GB and 8GB capacities and, after a relatively painless setup, do away with USB cables and the task of inserting/removing of SD cards.

Because I own a couple of MacBook Airs, this … Read more

The skinny on Bing's new panorama maker (video)

Microsoft unloaded a dump truck's worth of changes on its Bing service earlier today, and some of the real gems to come out of the lot are the updates to Bing mobile.

New to the company's iPhone app--and soon other mobile iterations of Bing--are two very visually impressive, and downright useful additions: a Streetside viewer for local maps, and something called Bing Vision, which adds a way for users to pick out specific words from photos to create a customized Web search.

Missing from the update but headed to the app in a future release is the real … Read more

Rogue merchant arrested after gaming Google

After a New York Times magazine article exposed his bizarre business tactic of courting the worst customer feedback possible so that infuriated buyers would leave negative commentary online, boosting his Google search results, DecorMyEyes.com eyeglass proprietor Vitaly Borker has been arrested on charges of cyberstalking, making interstate threats, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

The original story about DecorMyEyes, published on November 26, detailed the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Borker's tactics of harassing, cheating, and bullying customers, sometimes under pseudonyms and often with threats of obscenity and violence, to the point that several of them contacted the police. He … Read more

Shame on Vitaly Borker, three cheers for Amazon

commentary Plenty of Web sites this holiday season are offering tips about how to shop online without getting burned by dishonest merchants or con men.

Here's my advice: if in doubt shop at Amazon.

Amazon isn't perfect. I don't know any perfect stores online or off. But after 15 years of providing consumers with a safe shopping experience on the Web, the e-tailing pioneer deserves some applause. Don't believe me? Just read the testimonial given by Vitaly Borker, the man who operates what is now likely the most notorious retail store on the Internet.

On Friday, … Read more

Visa, Mastercard fail Web shoppers again

commentary Internet shoppers once again have reason to question whether Visa and MasterCard are the best means for buying online.

People have taken to Twitter and online forums to express shock about a compelling expose published in The New York Times on Friday. The story focused on an online retailer with a dubious history of customer service that included responding to complaints from unhappy patrons by allegedly threatening their lives. The newspaper reported that Vitaly Borker, a resident of New York, had generated so many complaints from selling eyewear on his site, DecorMyEyes.com, that all the negative comments had … Read more