programmer

Researchers at MIT have developed a robotic system for duplicating shapes, a potential alternative approach to three-dimensional printing.

The Distributed Robotics Lab at MIT today detailed research aimed at replicating objects by essentially carving them from an unformed pile of "smart sand" or "robot pebbles." The vision is to have these miniature robots automatically create replicas of different sizes with only an original shape to work with.

A key difference from other approaches to replicating objects is that, unlike three-dimensional printing techniques, the smart sand builds by subtracting building blocks from a larger heap, according to … Read more

Anyone can now be an Android app designer.

Google's App Inventor, which was previously available to people only on request, is now free for anyone who wants to create their own Android smartphone apps. Part of the Google Labs playground, App Inventor offers you a programming environment to create those apps but doesn't require that you have any programming skills.

By following online tutorials and visually building an app step by step, early adopters of App Inventor have already been able to create some clever programs, according to a Google blog, including vocabulary apps for kids, a bus … Read more

Intel traditionally builds chips for its own use, but it's now branching out to create one for another manufacturer.

Intel will create chips based on its 22-nanometer technology for Achronix Semiconductor, Achronix announced today. This marks the first time Intel is designing a chip for another manufacturer and may indicate that the chip giant is looking to do some contract manufacturing for outside customers.

Based in San Jose, Calif., Achronix will use Intel's 22-nanometer chips to develop its own Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs are integrated circuits that can be programmed after they've been manufactured, allowing … Read more

Your kid dropped the remote in the toilet, or it smashed to pieces after you dropped it on your marble floor one too many times. Or it just disappeared from plain sight. Sure, you could buy a programmable or universal remote, but they can be a hassle to set up, and it's hard to get used to a completely different button layout.

A replacement remote is just so much easier to use, but getting one from the original manufacturer can be a challenge in its own right. If you're stuck try New Remote Control, they stock original factory … Read more

So as we saw in Monday's video blog, there are some car owners who not only love their Volkswagen Rabbits, but also want to update and upgrade their European bunnies. Well here's another adventurous Rabbit owner who sought to give his cottontail a power boost under the hood and did so with a little help from some independent throttle bodies.

For those of you not familiar, a throttle body controls the air intake into the engine in correlation to the pressure put on the accelerator. And this VW Rabbit gets blessed with a few Suzuki GSXR 650 throttle … Read more

Waste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 percent from 2007 levels by 2020, a U.N. study released Monday said.

E-waste--a term describing electronics including phones, printers, televisions, refrigerators and other appliances--grows globally by 40 million metric tones a year. Toxins are emitted when it is improperly burned by scavengers looking for valuable components, such as copper and gold.

A report released in Bali on Monday (PDF) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) predicted that by 2020, e-waste from computers would grow … Read more

Making coffee is never an easy task to focus on early in the day. For some, myself included, mornings are a miserable mess until coffee has been introduced into the equation. The problem is that sometimes it can be difficult even to get to that point. Luckily, some smart folks got to thinking and integrated a timer into a coffeemaker. This one innovation certainly makes life easier for those of us who don't function well without the magical elixir.

The Cuisinart Coffee on Demand 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker offers the convenience needed by morning-challenged coffee lovers. With 24-hour programmability and … Read more

The U.K. government is considering the mass surveillance and retention of all user communications on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo.

Vernon Coaker the U.K. Home Office security minister, on Monday said the EU Data Retention Directive, under which Internet service providers must store communications data for 12 months, does not go far enough. Communications such as those on social-networking sites and via instant-messaging services could also be monitored, he said.

"Social-networking sites such as MySpace or Bebo are not covered by the directive," said Coaker, speaking at a meeting of the House of Commons … Read more

The daily task of getting a cup of coffee offers a multitude of possibilities. We can simply go to the coffee shop, or we can dive into the world of coffee makers. Form stovetop espresso makers to the manual French press, there is no shortage of ways to brew a cup of joe.

One maker that has stood the test of time is the simple drip coffeemaker. Oster updates the familiar device with the Counterforms 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker. A host of features blends with the distinctive design to create a machine that looks good on the counter and provides for … Read more