There's no shortage of ideas on how we can revitalize our flagging space endeavors. Neil deGrasse Tyson says we should invest in NASA. Planetary Resources plans to mine asteroids. And one systems and electrical engineer wants us to build the Starship Enterprise by 2032. BuildTheEnterprise, launched last week, is an audacious call to construct a working version of the first-generation USS Enterprise within 20 years. The proposed ship would have an artificial gravity wheel, three ion propulsion engines, and nuclear reactors; it would be able to reach Mars within 90 days. The author, known as "BTE-Dan," isn't an expert in the field, but he's put together a huge wealth of information on current research that could be used to build the ship, how much it ... Continue reading →
Worried that your status updates on Facebook aren't finding all the eyeballs you'd like them to reach? Soon you may be able to pay Facebook to give your status updates more visibility. Reports indicate the company is testing a feature that allows a member to "highlight" a status update -- for a price -- to make sure more of their "friends" see the posting. "We're constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends," a Facebook spokesperson told PCWorld. It's essentially all a Facebook representative told Stuff, the New Zealand news website that appears to have noticed this first. An obvious problem with a pay-for-views system is that it has ... Continue reading →
19 April 2012 Last updated at 07:28 ET Norwich City kit published on internet by boy ahead of launch Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Chris Brown said he was deeply sorry and regretted his actions A 17-year-old Norwich City fan has angered the club he supports by leaking pictures of its new kit 12 hours before the official launch. Norfolk Police were called in after IT student Chris Brown published images of the 2012-13 strip on the internet. Chris has apologised to the club, which said it would protect its intellectual property at all times. The teenager, from Norwich, managed to obtain the pictures from the Canaries' website as it was being updated. He did not hack into the website, but ... Continue reading →
Spotify, the premium streaming music service, will soon release a redesigned Android app, but if you can't wait for it to hit Google Play, Spotify is offering a preview version you can install right now. The new Spotify for Android preview features full support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, high-resolution images, new slide-out navigation, and improved social features. Spotify's mobile apps are available to users with a $10 monthly premium subscription. Here's a look at some of the highlights from the new Spotify for Android app. The New Look Spotify for Android preview (left) vs. the current version of the appThe first thing you'll notice with the new Spotify for Android is that the bottom navigation bar is gone in favor of a slide-out ... Continue reading →
Google is getting an earful from a French villager concerned about -- what else -- an invasion of privacy. Already facing heavy criticism about changes to its privacy policy that allow the Internet search leader to delve deeper into the lives of its users, Google is now being sued over a Street View image that shows an unidentified man in France urinating in his own yard. The resulting photo, the man contends, has made him a laughing stock in his small village in the Maine-et-Loire district in northwestern France. Even though Google blurred out the man's face, as is common practice for Street View images that capture a human face, the man is still easily identifiable to village residents who know him well. The man ... Continue reading →