How would you change Kobo’s Aura HD e-reader?

Canadian e-reader company Kobo had a dream. That dream was to ignore commercial convention and ask its most hardcore of users what they would want from their dream e-reader — a bit like How Would You Change, in that respect. The result was the Aura HD, a 6.8-inch slate with a high-res (for an e-reader) display, impressive storage and a best-in-class front light. In our opinion, the hardware was gorgeous, but the software left a lot to be desired, not to mention that Kobo’s bookstore isn’t as strong as Amazon’s. Still, what we want to ask is, if you bought one of these, what did you think of it? Head on over to the forum and spill your brains.

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Source: Engadget Product Forums

Whirlpool’s new machine freshens your clothes in 10 minutes flat

Odds are that you’re used to ironing some of your clothes to keep them wrinkle-free, or taking them to the dry cleaners when you can’t (or just won’t) put them through a washing machine. No great shakes, right? Well, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool apparently believe that these are terrible burdens — the two have unveiled Swash, an appliance that freshens your clothing one piece at a time. The device uses the combination of heat and a special solution (held in “Swash pods”) to eliminate wrinkles and smells in your apparel without either damaging it or requiring time-consuming care; your duds should be (almost) as good as new in roughly 10 minutes. It doesn’t require water, and it can handle delicate materials like cashmere and lace. At first blush, it looks like a good way to save a favorite coat or sweater from the ravages of time.

However, this is most definitely an extravagance. While Reviewed.com found that Swash worked as advertised, you’ll really have to despise dry cleaning to justify the running costs — the device by itself is $499, and each 12-pack of pods is $7. That could quickly add up if you’re using the machine multiple times a week. It’s also not going to remove stains, so you’ll still be in dire straits if you spill a drink on your shirt right before a big date. You can buy the Swash at Bloomingdale’s this September, but you’ll want to think carefully about your typical attire before you splurge on a unit. Just how badly do you want to dress to impress?

Filed under: Household, Wearables

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Source: Swash, BusinessWire

Revisiting the Apollo 11 Moon landing 45 years later

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission where Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins made their trip to the Moon. Sure, you could say that there’s likely more tech in our pockets than what was used to put those three into out of the atmosphere. For whatever reason, though, powering up an Android device or an iPhone isn’t nearly as impressive as the fact that we shot humans into outer space and that they walked on the nearest hard surface. Join us as we celebrate that monumental event in the gallery below. For even more, be sure to check out the recent Reddit Ask Me Anything session with Aldrin. Spoiler: he thinks that Gravity is the best depiction of astronauts in zero-G he’s ever seen.

[Image credit: NASA]

Filed under: Science

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Source: Apollo Archive, NASA

Search engine turns the tables on hackers by exposing their info

Want to see a textbook definition of irony? Look no further than Indexeus, a search engine that primarily exposes the info of malicious hackers caught up in the very sort of data breaches that they inflict on others. As it was originally structured, people had to “donate” $1 for every record they wanted to purge from the engine’s index; in other words, they had to pay to avoid the wrath of their fellow thieves. This was ostensibly to create “awareness” of susceptibility to attacks, but critics have complained that it amounts to extortion.

You no longer have to pay, however. Indexeus founder Jason Relinquo tells security guru Brian Krebs that blacklisting is now free due to the EU’s “right to be forgotten;” he can’t charge for a service that’s supposed to be gratis. That purported desire to obey the law is rather odd when the indexed content is illegal by nature. Look at it this way, though — if any targeted hackers are having second thoughts about their paths in life, this may be the excuse they need to make a clean break.

[Image credit: Patrick Lux via Getty Images]

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Krebs on Security

Source: Indexeus

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: stadiums with modular housing, Tesla Model 3 and a tower of mushrooms

Soccer fans around the world are going through withdrawal now that the World Cup is over, and in Brazil, people are beginning to think about what should be done with the 12 stadiums that were built or renovated for the tournament. A pair of French architects has come up with a brilliant idea: Convert the stadiums into affordable housing. Solar panels come in all shapes and sizes — but rarely do they come in the shape of a huge duck. A team of London-based designers has submitted a proposal to build a 12-story duck-shaped renewable energy generator for the Land Art Generator Initiative, which will be held later this year in Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, Jamaica launched the world’s largest wind-solar hybrid installation, and global clean energy investment surged in the second quarter of 2014, driven by big wind and solar deals and installations of small-scale, rooftop solar photovoltaics. California is currently experiencing a drought of historic proportions, but that isn’t stopping one company from extracting water from the Southern California desert for its bottled water operations. A new report finds that Nestlé is quietly removing undisclosed amounts of water from the state for Arrowhead bottled water.

The world’s first tower made of mushrooms recently debuted at Brooklyn’s PS1 museum, and Inhabitat caught up with architect David Benjamin to discuss the groundbreaking structure. The tower is made from mycelium (mushroom root) bio-bricks, and it is being used to test the viability of mushrooms as a building material. Elsewhere on the green architecture front, the design firm Chartier-Corbasson released plans for a skyscraper made entirely from its residents’ trash. As time passes and residents produce more trash, the tower would grow taller. And in Singapore, architect Moshe Safdie unveiled plans for a massive biodome with a circular waterfall that descends from the center of the roof.

In green transportation news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company’s latest sedan would be called the Model 3 when it goes on sale in 2017. The electric car will be both cheaper and smaller than the Model S, and it’s expected to sell for about $35,000. Tesla also passed an important milestone in June as its rapidly expanding Supercharger network delivered more than one gigawatt hour of energy to Model S electric vehicles across the country. According to Tesla, the Supercharger network has saved 168,000 gallons of gas and offset 4.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide. The city of Helsinki wants to do away with personal cars altogether within the next 10 years by launching an integrated transit system that will make public transit more convenient and easier to use than commuting by automobile. And in Japan, Ferrari designer Ken Okuyama has drafted plans for a luxury sleeper train that looks like a boutique hotel on rails. The deluxe train looks futuristic on the outside and decadently retro on the inside, and the entire 10-car train only carries 34 passengers.

Teenagers continue to pave the way with some of the world’s most innovative projects. The latest wiz kid is Thomas Suarez, a 15-year-old who claims to have designed a 3D printer that is 10 times faster and more reliable than anything currently on the market. In other 3D printing news, the company Kudo3D recently unveiled the Titan 1, a printer that can print bigger objects faster than its competitors. The Titan 1 reached its Kickstarter goal of $50,000 within two minutes of launching the campaign, and it raised a total of $687,116. In other green design news, the folks at Oru Kayak have created the world’s first origami-inspired, flat-pack kayak. The one-of-a-kind kayak is now for sale, and you can get a $50 discount with this coupon code. The Spanish company peSeta and American designer Marc Jacobs have collaborated to create a beret with a turntable mounted on it. And a new report issued by China Labor Watch reveals several instances of child labor in a Samsung supplier’s factory in China.

Filed under: Internet

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