earthquake

Stay on top of earthquakes with eQuake Alert

Earthquakes can seem like isolated, uncommon events, but the truth is, multiple earthquakes occur around the world every day. If you want to keep track of this fascinating -- and sometimes terrifying -- natural phenomenon, try eQuake Alert. This Firefox extension can instantly alert you to earthquakes occurring anywhere in the world.

eQuake Alert installed easily and was ready for action after we restarted Firefox. The extension is highly configurable; you can select the frequency with which eQuake Alert checks for new earthquakes, whether to display a status bar message with the location and magnitude of each quake, and how … Read more

KFC Facebook message: There might be tsunami, but order chicken

It's possible that when you're worried about a tsunami wiping away you and everything you hold dear, you'll prefer a bucket of large extra crispy chunks as opposed to just a few crispy strips.

Equally, it's possible that the last thing on your mind would be, well, any kind of chicken at all.

KFC seems to have discovered the latter might be the case. As the Daily Mail reports it, some people were a little surprised in Thailand on Wednesday when, as they rushed home worried about a tsunami, KFC posted: "Let's hurry home … Read more

Tsunami warning knocks out Zoho phone support

Our telephone support will therefore not be available today. Apologies for the inconvenience caused! 2/2

— Zoho (@zoho) April 11, 2012

In view of the earthquake and tsunami warning, we're having to evacuate our office as a precautionary safety measure. 1/2

— Zoho (@zoho) April 11, 2012

Huge earthquakes in the Indian Ocean and tsunami warnings caused at least one tech company with Indian offices to evacuate today.

Zoho, an online application developer based in Pleasanton, Calif., used Twitter to notify customers that it had evacuated its offices in India and that phone support would not be available. "… Read more

Japan 'astonishingly unprepared' for Fukushima disaster

A panel set up to review the events of last year's nuclear disaster in Japan has released a withering criticism of the country's nuclear industry and the government's response to the crisis.

The investigation details mistakes made in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami one year ago which killed tens of thousands of people in Japan and caused the worst nuclear accident in decades. It was prepared by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation (RJIF), a think tank created last year and funded by individuals and businesses.

The latest version of the report, published today on … Read more

Japanese artist creates music using brain waves

News of the mind-controlled skateboard spurred a rather heated discussion on Crave this week about how we could apply brain-wave-powered tech to other aspects of our lives.

Of all the things we came up with, music was not one of them. However, Japanese artist Masaki Batoh's had the wherewithal to make that connection.

Wanting to remember and help those affected by last year's Great East Japan earthquake, Batoh produced a new album, called "Brain Pulse Music," that took survivors' brain waves and turned them into music. … Read more

The 404 889: Where we feel an urge to back you up (podcast)

Our guest on the show today is Jason Scott, computer historian and adjunct archivist at the Internet Archives, a nonprofit founded in 1996 to save a copy of every Web page ever posted. He's also responsible for the Netscape GIF graveyard you see above. Also related: "under construction" GIFs!

We want to hear all about the 500,000 books scanned so far in the Archive warehouse, but we'll also talk to him about the Wayback Machine, a tool that lets you click through snapshots of Web sites along a timeline--check out CNET back in October 1996!

The Archive's book-scanning division is the company's foremost project with donated texts making up a big portion of the collection, but the Web site also preserves live music footage, original audio recordings, and various moving images clipped from history, like this compendium of news footage documenting various news organizations' coverage of the September 11 attacks over the course of seven days.

We have a lot of topics to discuss with Jason, including his personal project to rescue data saved on floppy discs (we'll explain what those are in the show, kids) and his personal vendetta against Wikipedia. But we only have 20 minutes for the interview, so expect to see him back on the show in the future.

The 404 Digest for Episode 889

Is this the end for books? Internet archivist seeks 1 of every book written. Rescuing floppy disks, by Jason Scott. The great failure of Wikipedia, by Jason Scott. Ticketmaster tells you where your Facebook Friends sit. CorporateTwits--Trolling goes corporate How a Tweet Led to a full steak dinner delivered to the airport. Netscape GIF Graveyard Under construction GIF Graveyard

Episode 889 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Track earthquakes with Android devices

Have you ever felt something and asked yourself, "Was that an earthquake?" If you live in an area with known fault lines, you're probably already aware of the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) earthquake Web site, earthquake.usgs.gov. If you have an Android device, you can track earthquakes easily with a couple of simple apps.

There are a few earthquake apps for Android devices, but we like Earthquake Alert and Earthquake. They are both easy to read and pull their data straight from the USGS. You can even create alerts so you'll know right … Read more

This Day in Tech: Twitter exposes photo galleries (nudity included); Earthquake shakes the East Coast

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Tuesday, August 23.

• You probably heard about (or felt) the rumble that shook the East Coast. While the earthquake struck Virginia, it was felt in New York and as far as North Carolina. Cell phone service has been disrupted due to a heavy call volume, so many people are turning to Twitter and Facebook to update their loved ones. When in doubt, text message is the best form of communication in an event like this.

• I thought something was new … Read more

Cell service jammed after East Coast earthquake

A rare East Coast earthquake that shook people from North Carolina to Boston today prompted heavy call volume that jammed cell phone networks throughout the region.

Instead of calling, many residents eager to share their experiences and get in touch with loved ones and friends reached out sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The quake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale and centered in western Virginia, struck at little before 2 p.m. ET. There were no initial reports of major damage, however, buildings like the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and New York City Hall were partially evacuated.

Cell … Read more