Someone made machines that play music with pint glasses

Forget skimming the edge of your pint glass to make music — how about some real alcohol-inspired instruments? Inventor Andy Cavatorta has built the Chalice Symphony, a quartet of devices that use Stella Artois’ signature drinking glasses to produce some decidedly uncommon sounds. Each of the instruments is surprisingly technology-laden. The Star Harp can use robotics to play itself, while the Pyrophone you see here relies on software-controlled torches to create flute-like notes. The Hive (a keyboard-driven cluster of bells) and the Violina (a spinning string-like instrument) also use complex machinery. There are currently just a few teaser videos to hint at what the symphony can do, but you’ll get an earful soon — Cold War Kids will release a track in early March that was performed using the glass-based gadgets. We have a hunch that it’s worth waiting for the song, even if you’re not a fan of Belgian pilsners.

Filed under: Misc, Household

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Source: Stella Artois

SkyShield protects airliners from missile strikes, completes testing in Israel

SkyShield, created by Israel’s Elbit Systems, has reportedly been under development for the better part of a decade, but the laser-based missile deflector has just now successfully completed live testing. The Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (MUSIC) device, which is mounted on an aircraft’s belly, uses a thermal camera paired with a laser to change the direction of approaching missiles, saving airliners and passengers from destruction. When the camera detects a missile, it rotates the plane so that the belly faces the approaching weapon. It then fires a laser beam, redirecting the missile so it can explode a safe distance away. It’s not clear when the technology will begin rolling out, but according to Haaretz, SkyShield will be used on all Israeli civilian aircraft, many of which operate around the world.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: Haaretz, Washington Times

Switched On: Understanding crowdfunding’s caveats, part 2

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The last Switched On discussed how many of the Risks and Challenges sections of Kickstarter campaigns fail to portray an accurate picture of what might go wrong. This was true in the case of the Auris Wily. It, like many campaigns, used this section of the campaign page in the exact opposite way it should be used; they allay concerns about risks and challenges. If the Risks and Challenges section of Kickstarter campaigns reflected reality, they might include some of the following things you should keep in mind for any device project you back:

• The company could get sued out of existence for patent infringement or something else.
• The product may turn out to be impossible to make or cost so much to make that it exceeds the amount of funds raised.
• The product may unintentionally do something illegal.
• An explosion at the factory could wipe out production.
• The contract manufacturer could have lied about its capabilities.
• A critical component for the product could become unavailable.
• A defect could be found that makes the product unsafe or unusable.
• The app that the product requires could be denied by Apple or Google.
• A critical team member may get hit by a bus.
• The bus may be driven by another team member with whom there’s been a falling out.
• That apparently earnest guy humbly telling you “Here’s where you come in,” in the slickly produced pitch video could take the money and vanish to a comfortable retirement in Chile where he feigns a humble existence driving a bus.

And of course, even if the project creator delivers working products in a reasonable time frame, there’s no guarantee that it will be around to support the product long enough to honor any warranty, or that a competitor will not come out with something that does what its product does better at half the price. Given the extended gestation of many crowdfunded devices, that’s a genuine possibility.

Now, the odds of many of these things happening are very low. But so are many of the risks detailed in S-1s. And both kinds do occur. Indeed, many, if not all, of these scenarios have occurred with products in their early days and certainly happened with Syre and Jorno.

All project owners should not be painted with the cavalier brush.

All project owners should not be painted with the cavalier brush. Here are some good risks articulated by the developers of the impressive Dash earbuds that have raised more than a million dollars and pack a completely wireless MP3 player and fitness aid into a set of headphones:

“Due to the incredible small size of The Dash, we use miniature components. For some of these we only have a single supplier. Even though we have a close dialog with our suppliers, we are not in control of their actions. Every component is highly integrated into and optimized within the design, and an unforeseen component alteration can delay our launch.

As Kickstarter continues to contemplate the best way to protect consumers, it should require that these kinds of real risk factors be disclosed universally.

“The Dash has a complex Bluetooth setup that we have tested vigorously in our labs. We might encounter real life applications, where we cannot guarantee for the quality of operations. We will continue to improve our software throughout the launch to improve functionality.”

The bottom line is that making a hardware product to be delivered on a mass scale is extremely difficult and even the most experienced and resourceful companies in the world occasionally fail in attempting it. As Kickstarter continues to contemplate the best way to protect consumers, it should require that these kinds of real risk factors be disclosed universally. And if the project creators won’t do it, it should be stated on the campaign page or pledge page or both.

In the meantime, by all means we should continue to back the projects that we believe in. But like anyone giving money to a cause — be it a venture capitalist funding a startup or a pedestrian sizing up a street beggar — understand the risks, analyze the authenticity and accept that your investment may be squandered.

Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research, a technology, media and telecom advisory firm, and founder of Backerjack, which covers crowdfunded product innovation. He blogs at Techspressive.

Filed under: Misc

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Stephen Colbert’s Cloud Fog: ‘part cloud, part fog, all security’

Stephen Colbert has a lot to say about internet privacy, Edward Snowden and the NSA, and he shared his thoughts Friday evening at an Internet security conference in San Francisco. Privacy advocates had implored Colbert to skip the event, which was hosted by security giant RSA — a company that reportedly took $10 million from the NSA to give the agency a back door into its software. Said Colbert: “I looked at the signatures on the online petition, then I looked at the signature — my signature — on the bottom of the contract saying I’d be here today, and my conscience was clear, as long as the check clears. Well, it’s not actually a check. They gave me a Bitcoin voucher for Mt. Gox. And I’m sure it’s going to be fine.”

Colbert also used the event to unveil his own privacy solution, something he calls Cloud Fog. The service — which he describes as “part cloud, part fog, all security” — relies on a familiar “advanced polyhedral extruded polymer info solid” to generate random numbers. Hey, doesn’t seem any worse than many of the real security solutions out there.

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