$35 computer starts production.
While the Raspberry Pi computer may be little more than a small circuit board, it is powerful enough to play Quake III and handle Blu-Ray video.
Featuring a 700MHz processor, HDMI port, USB 2.0, and 256MB of memory, the device was the idea of a Cambridge University student back in 2006, after he noticed that new students had far fewer programming skills than in previous years.
The theory goes that most family computers are large investments for the home, with uses that center around media, and web browsing. Gone are the days when parents can simply let their kids tinker around on the computer, and even if they did allow it, manufacturers aren’t exactly producing builds that are easy to open and understand. The Raspberry Pi Foundation wants to create a computer that any parent can buy for a child (or a child can buy for themselves) and feel comfortable with experimenting.
Both US$35 and $25 models are about to enter production, with 10,000 of the computers to be constructed in the next few weeks, and you can check out their website here.
(via 8bitfuture)
Tweet Your Blood Cells With New iPhone Adaptor. One of our favorite Kickstarter projects stopped by the Gadget Lab a few days ago. The SkyLight is an adaptor that connects your smartphone to a microscope, then allows you to share the photos and videos you capture. From their project description:
The SkyLight’s universal compatibility allows previously owned technology (microscopes) to be upgraded to the digital age with the use of a widely available technology (smartphones) – good for global health, science classes, and anyone else!
Pretty amazing, this “future” thing is turning out to be.
Ghanaian entrepreneur, Mr. Kofi Kludgeson, recently unveiled the KPad, an Android based tablet device which he hopes will serve as Ghana’s answer to the iPad. (See product specs below this post) KPad which stands for Kludgeson Pad will be sold to consumers at a rate of 75 Ghanaian Cedis per month over a three year period to enhance its affordability among Ghanaians. Kludgeson hopes to capture about 1% of the Ghanaian market with his product. (via Entrepreneur launches KPad, Ghana’s answer to the iPad - CP-Africa)
Book Country Column: The Four Best Netbooks For Serious Writers
When netbooks first hit the scene a few years ago they seemed the answer to all my prayers as a writer: small and light/portable enough to carry with me at all times; a full OS and not just a basic word processor so that both writing and editing can happen; relatively inexpensive. There had been many laptops that fulfilled one or more of those requirements before, but they were usually insanely expensive.
Now a few years into the craze, netbooks are no longer the newest, shiniest toys on the block, but writers still love them because they’re still perfect for writing on the go. But with so many on the market, how can you choose the best one for you?
High technology, not low taxes, may drive US states' economic growth
via ScienceDaily
High-tech training may trump tax breaks for creating more jobs and improving a state’s economy, according to a team of economists.
“We found that lower state taxes were not statistically associated with a state’s economic performance,” said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural economics and regional economics, Penn State. “The tax climate was not linked to either growth or income distribution.”
Goetz, who serves as director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, said states that favor low taxes do not necessarily spend funds efficiently. They may skimp on funding needed public services like road maintenance and education. Those costs are often transferred to businesses directly or become obstacles for businesses seeking to attract qualified workers to the state.
“It’s essentially a case of you get what you pay for,” Goetz said. “You can’t attract businesses if you can’t provide needed public services.”
While lower taxes were not factors in economic growth, the researchers, who released their findings in the current online issue of Environment and Planning C: Government and Planning, said policies that promoted the use of high technology and entrepreneurship were significantly correlated with job creation and economic growth.
States with more technology classes in school, higher domain name registrations and more people online tended to economically outperform states with a lower emphasis on technology.
“It does indicate that states that have already moved into the online economy are better able to create jobs,” Goetz said.
I wish that the cost-cutting, no-new-taxes GOP will take a look at this research, but they won’t.
The Coming Battle for Africa’s Internet - Drew Hinshaw - International - The Atlantic
His company is one of several laying links in what they hope could become as much as 100,000 miles of broadband wiring criss-crossing the world’s second-largest continent like the 21st century version of a transcontinental railway. The connections start with undersea cables and extend onshore towards 3G towers within reception range of the continent’s growing middle class.
That burgeoning bourgeoisie is Africa’s lead variable, and Herlihy ballparks its current mass at 300 million people, each earning between $2,000 and $5,000 yearly — not always enough to keep a router in the living room lit, but certainly enough to pay off a BlackBerry bill. The service they enjoy, smoother than its American equivalent, runs off towers that are newer and more adaptable to data transfers, which is rendering Africa’s telecom transition — from a continent of voice phones to one of pocket PCs — more scalable than expected.
“It’s just happening faster and faster than anybody could have imagined,” Herlihy says.
» via The Atlantic
(via techspotlight)
Spotting Virtual Intruders - Technology Review
Researchers propose using hacker tactics to secure cloud computing systems.
via: techspotlight
Using iPads in the classroom? This site is a one-stop shop.
I Education Apps Review is a community site developed to offer reviews of iPad apps for educators. The kicker? Educators submit the reviews, so everything is community-driven. Certainly worth a look.
via world-shaker
How can technology make a person better? Only in this way: by providing each person with chances. A chance to excel at the unique mixture of talents he or she was born with, a chance to encounter new ideas and new minds, a chance to be different from his or her parents, a chance to create something his or her own.
I had far too much fun making this video. I miss Cruncher a lot.
What do women get up to online? | Technology | The Guardian
UK housewives spend 47% of their leisure time on the internet – and it’s not all cosy, mumsy surfing
