fireworks

Too fast, too furious: San Diego fireworks torched by tech glitch

You've seen one fireworks display, and, well, the next one doesn't seem all that different.

However, those who went to see San Diego's Independence Day fireworks last night surely left with a feeling like no fireworks display had ever given them.

For instead of 20 minutes of flash! whoosh! red, white, blue! ooooooooh! -- the whole shebang went off with a bang. At once.

Yes, they were gone in 15 seconds.

As CNN explains it, San Diego's "Big Bay Boom" was definitely big and definitely booming, as the fireworks were set off five minutes … Read more

The 404 853: Where our bellies were sluggish with goat meat (podcast)

Happy belated Fourth! We're back from celebrating on Independence by blowing up a piece of it, and we spend the first half of today's episode recounting all the bbq we ate yesterday. We're also bringing you results of the annual Nathan's hog dog eating contest and breaking news about one of our favorite shows on Comedy Central--and of course we wouldn't let a Monday go by without Tanging that Tune!

The 404 Digest for Episode 853

Joey Chestnut wins 5th straight Nathan's hot dog eating competition. Jellyfish fireworks over the Hudson river in NYC.

Episode 853 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Microsoft's money saves July 4 fireworks

An 11th hour campaign to save Seattle's July 4 fireworks display has succeeded, thanks in large part to $125,000 donations from Microsoft and Starbucks.

Short of a needed $500,000 to run Seattle's annual fireworks display, organizers had feared they would have to cancel this year's July 4 event. However, Microsoft and Starbucks pledged to match a combined $250,000 in donations and, by Friday, other businesses and individuals raised that amount, allowing the event to proceed.

"The show will go on!" Microsoft said Friday on its corporate Twitter account. "Seattle 4th of … Read more

iPhone laser light show

Galactica is an interactive light show, a relaxing app that lets you manipulate spacey visual effects to the sounds of ethereal background music.

As is often the case for apps like this (i.e., with arguably zero "usefulness") the value of Galactica comes down to how well it's designed and executed. Fortunately, Galactica makes excellent use of the touch screen, and the quality of the music and the app's cosmic "fireworks" are consistently good. The interface encourages playfulness, with a simple flick to send a stream of light shooting across the screen, a double-tap … Read more

Sega Toys helps you create your own fireworks

Here's something to consider for the next Fourth of July if you're still feeling the recessionary pinch or want to avoid the holiday throngs. Sega Toys' Uchiage Hanabi Fireworks Projector (15,540 yen; $166) brings the pyrotechnics and fiery colors right into your (preferably darkened) living room, complete with sounds but minus the cordite tang.

Powered by four AA batteries good for three hours, the device measures about 7x8x8 inches. I'd take a rain check, though, on customizing my own fireworks by drawing on the special plates, since they'll just come out looking like toxic fallout … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 785: Don't cross the Olympic streams

We tried to give NBC the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Olympic streaming, but then we tried it. And it's ridiculous. Also, we wonder if the iPhone makes you fat, even as it fattens Steve Jobs' wallet. We also discuss the technicalities of invisibility cloaks, and opt-out of Obama's aggressively hip Internet outreach campaign.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 785

Defcon ends with researchers muzzled, viruses written http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10013156-83.html

Judge orders halt to Defcon speech on subway card hacking http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10012612-83.html

Apple hits 3 million … Read more

Coordinating fireworks to music

Watching this year's Fourth of July fireworks display in Seattle, I wondered (not for the first time) how they coordinate the fireworks with the musical soundtrack--the hearts exploding right at the climax of "Unchained Melody," or the long fizzy streamers during the theremin part of "Good Vibrations," for instance. Not surprisingly, software's the answer.

The Seattle display was operated by a company called Pyro Spectaculars based out of Rialto, Calif., which reportedly uses a highly customized or home-built system to coordinate the music to the displays. But other pyrotechnicians might use combined hardware-software systems … Read more

Indecent Exposure 12: Indelible explosions

Photographing fireworks for a happy Fourth, putting pink in its place, plus the usual rumor and innuendo.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 12

Chemists brew 'greener' fireworks

Researchers are working to reduce the pollution left by the shooting stars and bursting bombs that spangle skies in fireworks displays.

Efforts by Walt Disney and the military are driving the changes, according to a report by Bethany Halford in Chemical and Engineering News.

Fireworks have become more colorful within the last two centuries, but the basic technology hasn't changed much in 800 or more years since early forms of gunpowder were likely used in rituals and battles in China.

Staple ingredients are a fuel to create heat and an oxidizer to accelerate burning. Additional chemicals slow the burn, … Read more