Carlo Orlando

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have taught two monkeys how to feed themselves with a human-like robotic arm using only signals from their brains. The rate at which technology improves has continued to break down the ... walls of the impossible on a daily basis. Ideas that were once reserved only for futuristic television shows like The Jetsons and Futurama have slowly crept into the realm of possibility. Sitting in front of your computer screen in North America and sifting through the pages of Le Monde from Paris does not seem to impress us anymore. Typing out a ... (view more)

In response to security flaws, prisons all over Israel will soon be equipped with a computer program that can interpret the sounds of a guard dog to distinguish between warning cries and normal barking. In the past, Israeli prisons have relied on ... guard dogs to help monitor the surrounding areas and send out warning signals when a convict attempts to escape. However, this system has seen its share of flaws in the past, as guards have admitted to not being able to hear the dogs calling out to them or were unable to respond quick enough to catch the criminal. Other times, the guards would simply ... (view more)

In my experiences working with technology, I have come to learn that devices can be classified under three categories: gadgets that are essential to everyday living, gadgets that are necessary to have in case of emergency, and gadgets that serve no ... useful purpose other than being extremely cool to own. For fans of the third category, let me introduce you to the Chumby. The Chumby has a small and squishy design, like a cross between a beanbag and a stress ball. However, what sets it apart is that the Chumby has a 3.5-inch interactive touch screen attached to one side of the object. So what ... (view more)

If you went out and saw the recently released "Iron Man" movie, chances are that at some point during the film you envisioned what life would be like to own a suit that gave you superhuman abilities. What would you do if your strength was amplified ... 5 times? 10 times? 20 times its current capability? A robotics technician in Salt Lake City has developed an actual "Iron Man" suit that, when worn, increases human strength by 20 times its current capability. The robotics firm, Sarcos, now holds a lucrative contract with the United States Army to develop the 150-pound "Iron Man" suit to be used by ... (view more)

With the number of jobs in North America spiraling and the price of gas skyrocketing, consumers were recently given more bad news when it was announced that droughts in Asia would eventually lead to a universal increase in the cost of rice. So what ... can we Westerners do to help? Log onto a computer and join the crusade! While not a crucial commodity here in North America, rice has become a staple food for more than half of the global population. In Asia alone, more than 2 billion people receive up to 70% of their dietary energy from rice. In response to the shortage, some national governments ... (view more)

Small Silicone Valley start-up company "Sezmi" plans to give couch potatoes yet another option to watch their favorite shows. The company hopes to form a growing partnership between many local phone companies and television stations across the ... United States with this ultimate plan: go behind the backs of the leading cable and satellite systems to offer the most efficient television experience for consumers. (Source: dallasnews.com ) The evolution of the television as an entertainment medium can perhaps best be described as a blessing and a curse. While viewers now have literally thousands of ... (view more)

It's no secret that most of us are guilty of driving with a "lead foot". Sooner or later, we all think twice about going just a little faster to get to our desired destinations. Often, it's not the risk of an automobile accident that deters us from ... putting the "pedal to the metal", it's that at any moment a police car zoom up behind, lights flashing. But what if there were no more officers on road patrol? How many of us would go just a little faster knowing that there would be no consequences for such actions? In some states and municipalities, police officers have stopped patrolling certain ... (view more)

If you are a Microsoft Outlook user and let your emails build up by the dozens (like me), going back to locate an important message in a sea of junk mail can be an arduous task. Even if you are meticulous about storing and filing your emails, saving ... hundreds of "important" messages and having to locate a specific one can have the same effect. Xobni is here to help. Xobni -- "inbox" spelled backwards -- is a small Internet start-up company based in San Francisco and is introducing a new application that works together with Outlook to give users a better emailing experience. The software ... (view more)

The Warner Brothers Television Group has announced that "The WB Network" will be returning shortly as an online video site. The WB, which started out as a broadcast network in 1995 and went off air in 2006, experienced an early surge in popularity ... due in large part to the number of compelling television series it offered (7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek) and having an identifiable mascot (The WB Frog). In addition to opening TheWB.com, Warner Brothers is also launching a sister web site dedicated to children called KidsWB.com. The complementary sites are a part of the new "digital destination" ... (view more)

Google now has a secret weapon in the ongoing fight against irrelevant image results: VisualRank. VisualRank is basically an algorithm that blends image-recognition software methods with techniques for weighing and ranking images that look similar. ... You are sitting in front of a computer screen, relieved to have finished a lengthy term paper on wild animals. You decide that adding a picture of a jaguar would be a nifty way to give your title page some flare. You connect to an image search engine and type "jaguar" in the designated box. Suddenly, your screen fills with images of automobiles, ... (view more)