The moment I heard of this next device, I couldn’t help but think of this old Far Side cartoon. It would appear that an acoustics engineer John Reed has been working on a way to actually translate dolphin squeaks.

Apparently, the technology used to decipher dolphin chatter is the same as the tech we use to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. In all honesty, I didn’t know we had technology for that purpose.

The dolphin translator, called the Cymascope, has an odd set up. It uses a basin of water with a video camera, along with sand, brass plates, and a violin bow. When the dolphin sings, it records the input and analyzes it for common syntax patterns.

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The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is working on creating a laser which can compress and heat a single fuel capsule to more than 180 million degrees in order to trigger a thermonuclear reaction. In short, they’re building a Death Star Laser. But for good, not evil. The idea is to create a kind of miniature sun on earth that would supply “limitless, safe, and carbon free energy.”

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This is probably one of those stories that might be getting too much press, but I’m covering it anyway for those who haven’t heard. Essentially, General Motors and Segway have teamed up to create Project PUMA.

PUMA stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, and it is essentially the next step up for Segway. The PUMA can hold two or more passengers, and everyone always asks how in the world a third person could ride this without being dragged.

Is anyone still amazed at the perfect balance? I admire that they figured out how to put two people on it. Anyway, the PUMA can reach speeds of up to 35 miles an hour, at a cost of 35 cents per charge.

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For those of you who have been enjoying Blu-ray through Netflix, you’re about to see a jump in the price of your membership. Which could be deemed as slightly unfair.  Since you may have a month where you’ve only received DVDs instead of Blu-ray.  There is no guarantee the videos you want are even available in Blu-ray.  At the same time though, Blu-ray does cost more money, so it’s questionable what else could have been done.  It was bound to happen eventually.

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It’s said that in slowing economies, companies build value, not go on shopping sprees. So, when Cisco (makers of computer servers and routers of most Internet traffic) decided to pony up half a billion dollars for Pure Digital Corporation, the idea seems to run counter to conventional wisdom. Unless, Cisco is looking to expand their range of services to include the consumer market. And with Pure Digital enjoying a great 24 months with sales of pocket camcorders it can also reveal that Cisco believes that video will be a driving for on the Internet in the future.

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Expensive electronic brain trainers like “Brain Age” are no better than keeping the mind young and sharp than the daily crossword puzzle, according to experts in the United Kingdom. Based on a study commissioned by the consumer group “Which?,” three experts were tasked to check claims made by Nintendo and other devices that brain games increase memory and are instrumental in staving off mental disorders like Dimentia.

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The main association of mobile phone manufacturers, GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association) has recently announced a plan to standardize all phone chargers with a microUSB connector.

What does that mean? It means that there will no longer be a myriad number of charging cords, with all those tips that are not compatible with each individual cellular phone manufacturer.

One of the motivations of this new agreement is to stop the environmental damage caused by the waste of old cellular phone chargers. Did you know that there is 51,000 tons of cell phone chargers being discarded a year? A standardized charger could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from this waste by 13.6 to 21.8 million tons.

Another economical and environmental improvement by the standardized charger is that they are projected to consume up to fifty percent less power.

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It appears that Microsoft has found yet another way to dominate the market as they are starting their own line of retail stores.

Some of you are probably looking at the picture here and can’t help but compare it with Apple stores. I mean, look at the minimalist décor, and the company logo emblazed in the glass. Should we have any problem with Microsoft stealing a page from Apple’s playbook? It wouldn’t be the first time.

Ooooo, that was below the belt with that cheap pot shot at Microsoft. I suppose that I could take a lot more, because a company like Microsoft is too big not to hit. So let’s get all the Microsoft cracks out of our system.

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