Cops and politicians demand smartphone killswitches

Public officials from around the country have formed a partnership to lobby smartphone firms to introduce anti-theft measures. They’ve kicked off with a summit of the major companies. The partnership, dubbed the “Secure Our Smartphones Iniative”, brings together the attorneys general of seven states, city prosecutors, police chiefs, local political officials and safety and consumer groups. The group cites a statistic that 113 cellphones are lost...

Read More

Want beta access to Mac OS X Mavericks? Work for Apple retail

Apple is extending a beta program for its next-generation Mac OS X Mavericks to retail employees, creating what appears to be a tradition for new operating systems. Retail staff employees received an invite from Apple today, reports 9to5 Mac. Apple offered a similar program last year for the release of Mac OS X Mountain Lion. The memo reads: You are invited to participate in the pre-release OS X Mavericks seed program. Participation, including...

Read More

Lifelike Wobble Thanks to ETH Zurich Software

The cartoon characters so loved by young and old audiences alike are becoming increasingly lifelike. In order for them to look realistic, animators invest a lot of time in making a fat belly wobble as naturally as possible while walking, for instance. A project by ETH Zurich and Disney Research should make life easier for the filmmakers in future. Thanks to a new computer software, Professor Peanuts totters and wobbles while walking. (Picture:...

Read More

The Online Service That Lets You Rent Bikes ‘Round the World

 Spinlister will let you rent bikes from friendly strangers There’s no better way to see a city — or the countryside — than on a bicycle. It’s the reason bike rental services exist in so many big cities. There’s just one problem: most rental bikes suck. Well, there are two problems, actually: It’s also pretty hard to find a bike rental place outside of a big city. Which explains why Spinlister, a service that lets people rent out their personal...

Read More