RevWaldo - Slashdot User

Submission + - Lou Reed collaborates on iPhone app (wired.com)

Submitted by RevWaldo on Thursday December 17, 2009 @04:59PM

RevWaldo writes: Coming full circle, former Velvet Underground lead singer/guitarist, Warhol Factory denizen, and rock-n-roll elder statesman Lou Reed has collaborated with developer Ben Syverson to create LouZoom, a new iPhone app for his fellow baby boomers who have trouble reading the small type in iPhone's address book. And everyone thought Ms. Reed (NASA artist-in-residence Laurie Anderson) was the one with all the mad technical skills.

Submission + - Cell Phone (Accidentally) Turns On Stove (gothamist.com)

Submitted by

RevWaldo

on Monday August 17, 2009 @11:25AM

RevWaldo writes: "From Gothamist: A Brooklyn man can't sleep at night knowing that the bizarre inter-gadget relationship between his Sony Erickson PDA and his Maytag Magic Chef stove might leave him burned. Last Monday Andrei Melnikov discovered that his cellphone was turning on his stove when he got a call in the kitchen. The phone had been on the kitchen counter when it rang, and as he answered it and walked away, he recalls hearing a faint beep. Minutes later, he smelled smoke, and discovered that some plastic cookware left in the oven was on fire. The incoming call had somehow turned the broiler on high, a phenomenon which Melnikov demonstrated for his landlord and 1010WINS. They believe this is the first time this has happened in the three years since Melnikov has owned the stove and the phone, but since neither device is talking, nobody really knows how long this hot affair's been going on. Melnikov and his girlfriend have put a stop to it by unplugging the oven, and they're afraid to plug it back in because of their pet chinchillas. Maytag is sending someone to "fix" the problem, but will the lonely old Maytag man really have the heart to stand in the way of such fiery passion?"

Submission + - 'Virtual Bike Lane' proposed by designers (wordpress.com)

Submitted by RevWaldo on Friday January 16, 2009 @02:16PM

RevWaldo writes: Installing bike lanes in urban areas is both expensive and often contentious. The proposed system, dubbed LightLane, would use lasers to project a virtual bike lane onto the ground from the bicycle itself. 'Instead of adapting cycling to established bike lanes', the designers state, 'the bike lane should adapt to the cyclists...Our system projects a crisply defined virtual bike lane onto pavement, using a laser, providing the driver with a familiar boundary to avoid. With a wider margin of safety, bikers will regain their confidence to ride at night, making the bike a more viable commuting alternative.' (via Gothamist via BoingBoing via GOOD )

Submission + - YouTube yanks Free Tibet video after IOC pressure (gothamist.com)

Submitted by

RevWaldo

on Monday August 11, 2008 @11:51PM

RevWaldo writes: "Via Gothamist — The International Olympic Committee filed a copyright infringement claim yesterday against YouTube for hosting video of a Free Tibet protest at the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan Thursday night. The video depicts demonstrators conducting a candlelight vigil and projecting a protest video onto the consulate building; the projection features recent footage of Tibetan monks being arrested and riffs on the Olympic logo of the five interlocking rings, turning them into handcuffs. YouTube dutifully yanked the video, but it can still be seen on Vimeo. (Be advised; there is some brief footage of bloody, injured monks.)"

Submission + - Pittsburgh cancer center warns of cell phone risks (google.com) 1

Submitted by

RevWaldo

on Thursday July 24, 2008 @01:52PM

RevWaldo writes: "The AP reports: 'The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.'

One possible solution offered? 'Use a wireless headset.' No risk of EM exposure from one of them, no sirree!"

Submission + - Patton Oswalt on YouTube and "UNIX slaves" (google.com)

Submitted by RevWaldo on Tuesday April 08, 2008 @12:19AM

RevWaldo writes: Patton Oswalt's take on YouTube is mildly amusing (part of Comedy Central's Root of All Evil.) But spot the closed-captioning error..or is it?
'But finally and most insidiously, YouTube has destroyed our ability to know when we're entertained. It has turned us into a nation of deranged Roman emperors. We're a continent of Caligulas sitting around in our bathrobes saying, hm, I'm bored. I'd like to see something poop or sneeze. Hm, yes, what would I like to see poop or sneeze? Perhaps a reptile or a gay homeless person or perhaps Della Resse. And isn't it odd how YouTube actually sounds like the name of the UNIX slave that will be working for that deranged emperor? YouTube! Bring me a farting panda! Ah, good job, YouTube. Avert your gaze!'

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