taylor

Future of 3D printing is bright, says SXSW panel

AUSTIN, Texas -- The future of 3D printing, a technology that's rapidly maturing and enabling a wide variety of people and companies to rapidly design and create physical products, is very bright.

That was the conclusion of a panel of experts who spoke at SXSW yesterday: while there are certainly limitations to the technology, the opportunities that 3D printing offers everyone from garage entrepreneurs to large corporations will be be plentiful, and often economically advantageous.

Today, the technology is already considered one of the hottest around, but during the talk -- which was moderated by CNET's Rich Brown … Read more

From Death Star to Disney, exploring the 'Star Wars' franchise (Q&A)

It's one of the biggest film franchises of all time. It's also one of the biggest merchandising franchises of all time. It's spawned dozens of novels, countless comic books, spoofs, video games, and even was responsible for the name of a controversial military defense system.

We're talking about "Star Wars," of course, George Lucas' mammoth empire that started back in the early-1970s as a much, much smaller creation. But don't think that Lucas didn't have big ideas. From the earliest days of working on the script of his sci-fi space opera, the &… Read more

Crave Ep. 101: Russia's trampoline sidewalk

Have you missed the weekly Crave podcast? We sure have. We are, therefore, very happy to tell you it's making a comeback with CNET producer Stephen Beacham! Catch the madness and mayhem below.

Episode 101:

- Feeling jumpy? Bounce down a trampoline sidewalk

- Trotify puts Monty Python horse coconuts on your bike

- Chuck Taylors collide in nerdy shoe collection

- Geek out over Legend of Zelda playing cards

- DOE, NASA testing fission reactor for spaceflight

- Interchangeable clothing uses magnets to switch up the style

- $2.4 million air-conditioned limo submarine perfect for 007 … Read more

Mario, 'Star Wars,' Chuck Taylors collide in nerdy shoe collection

Knitting, once seen as a hobby reserved for fleet-fingered elders, has become an awesomely nerdy pastime. This movement has resulted in such creations as knitted frog dissection kits, knitted Princess Leia buns, and customized knitted geek Converse.

Etsy seller PrettySneaky's store is full of wearable knitted nerd art sneakers. The shoes are made from classic Converse high tops with hand-knitted uppers crafted from wool yarn. … Read more

Taylor Swift lets Twitter followers follow her in person

When one of your mentors does yet one more thing to confirm the validity of her mentorship, you have to sit back and admire.

I am, therefore, glazed-eyed with admiration at Taylor Swift, who this week is taking Twitter into the real world.

Swift, my mentor for all things love-related, is launching a new album called "Red."

Because she is a dedicated professional, she is promoting this opus far and wide. However, she has chosen to step beyond the confines of social media to interact with some of her followers in person.… Read more

Facebook CTO Bret Taylor leaving to start company

Bret Taylor, who has been Facebook's very public CTO for three years, today announced that he's leaving the social-networking giant to start a company. He didn't say what his next venture will be.

This is a big loss for Facebook and comes less than a month after the company went public. While Facebook stock rose more than 6 percent today, to close at $30.01, it's still 21 percent below its offering price of $38 a share. The news about Taylor, first reported by AllThingsD, came out after the market closed.

Naturally, Taylor turned to Facebook to tell the world … Read more

Facebook aims to whip the mobile Web into shape

BARCELONA--Facebook would like to build more mobile Web apps and fewer mobile native apps. Really, it would -- but browsers just aren't up to it, the company has concluded.

Web apps naturally span the multitudes of mobile devices that Facebook loves to run on, but they support Web standards so inconsistently that it's a developer's nightmare, said Facebook Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor, speaking here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. So Facebook is trying to do something about it: "We're taking on mobile web standards," Taylor said.

It's a two-pronged effort. … Read more

Reading this kitchen scale takes on new meaning

Despite the availability of a plethora of recipes online, many good old-fashioned cookbooks still quite often do the trick; they are easy to thumb through, they are usually well-organized into themes, and they don't stop working when they get wet.

Because of this timeless usefulness, it is not uncommon to find a few cookbooks hanging about on a shelf in practically any kitchen. They make for a good resource when one is not sure what to cook. All one has to do is peruse the spines, pulling one down when they find one of interest. And the scale while … Read more

AMD spells out Windows 8 tablet strategy

So, does AMD have a solid Windows 8 tablet strategy this year? I'll let the reader decide, but AMD needs to be extra aggressive on the power-efficient chip front because it's not just an Intel-AMD fight now.

Windows 8 will bring ARM chip players like Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Freescale into the market, presenting AMD with plenty of heavyweight Windows competition.

Earlier in the week, I spoke with John Taylor, director of client product marketing and software at AMD, who cited two major chip designs for tablets, Hondo (2012) and Temash (2013). AMD now calls its chips … Read more

The 404 900: Where we have sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing (podcast)

Mark Licea transports us back to the '90s on today's 404 Podcast, which also happens to be our 900th episode! How appropriate that the penultimate episode would also fall on Jonathan Taylor Thomas' 30th birthday.

The '90s theme rolls through the show as Mark sings today's "Tang That Tune" music trivia segment, and we'll also reveal details about Nike's Back to the Future sneaker, as well as Rolling Stone's ranking of the worst songs of the '90s. We have a few selections of our own to add!

Finally, we spend a minute talking about a clever algorithm that helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial wall. The memorial planners hired a local media design firm to develop a network of names organized by interpersonal relationships.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The 404 Digest for Episode 900

An algorithm helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial. 9/11 memorial guide. No power laces = 100% fail; back to the best shoe Nike never made. Rolling Stone ranks the worst songs of the '90s. This matters: JTT reunites with "Home Improvement" cast to celebrate 30th birthday. Justin's Daily Bathroom Entertainment: dog loop.

Episode 900 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more