Geek Gestalt

Those who have long depended on dusty old whiteboards can get rid of them, Sharp says. At CES here today, the company unveiled its Aquos Board--80-, 70-, or 60-inch screens that offer an all-new "touch solution" and give users new ways to share content.

The Aquos Board gives workers similar high-quality display technology to what they already have at home, and allows for sharing all kinds of content between co-workers. The device can capture notes, and has a connected PC and touch technology.

Users can employ a pen or even use their fingers for marking up displays and sending information to remote workers. The device, which is essentially a huge smart board--not a television--works with Microsoft Windows 7 and Office, and Touchpad applications. … Read more

The world's largest passenger plane may not be sky-worthy, some aircraft engineers in Australia are saying.

The BBC reports that the engineers are concerned about small cracks that have appeared on the wing ribs of some Airbus A380 airplanes, and that they're calling for the whole fleet to be grounded for investigation.

The cracks were found on A380s operated by Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways, the BBC reports, and Singapore Airlines says it has repaired the wings of two of its A380s.

Airbus recommends that airlines check for cracks but says they present no real danger. The BBC … Read more

Here at Geek Gestalt, every day is different. The world of geek culture is broad--sometimes bewilderingly so. A typical year's coverage can easily include stories on everything from Burning Man to Lego, aviation to 3D printing, NASA to tech startups, MythBusters to Pixar movies, and so on.

That makes coming up with predictions for next year in culture a difficult task--but we're here to serve, so that's just we're offering. Of course, trying to settle on just five ideas for 2012 means leaving a lot of things out.

Still, prognosticating culture's next steps meant talking … Read more

Editor's note: This story originally ran in 2009. In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we'd run this touching piece again.

On a recent Christmas Eve, Jeff Martin found himself forced to explain to a Canadian general why, when Santa Claus passed through Toronto that night, Google Maps had placed the city in the United States.

Martin, then a senior marketing manager in Google's Geo group, was part of a huge team of people involved in the joint U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command's annual NORAD Santa tracker program, a long-running effort to … Read more

I guess this didn't go the way Sony wanted it.

In September, after the much-hyped hacking of the PlayStation Network, Sony instituted new language in its terms of service forcing PSN users to agree not to sue the company.

But according to CNET sister site GameSpot, some didn't take kindly to being strong-armed in that way. And now, a Northern California man has filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Sony "on behalf of all customers who purchased a PlayStation 3 and signed up for PSN access before the September change to [the PSN] terms of service.&… Read more

The Super Bowl is coming to a computer near you. Live.

The NFL announced today that for the first time, it will stream the broadcast of its championship game--said to be the most-watched TV event in the world--making it possible for anyone with an Internet-connected computer or a Verizon mobile device to watch the game as it happens.

The Super Bowl, which is scheduled to be played between the winners of the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference on February 5, will be available on both NFL.com and NBCSports.com, the league said.

Online viewers will see … Read more

Lego plus "Lord of the Rings." Need we say more?

It's not at all clear exactly what Lego has planned, but the iconic toy company said today that it is launching in 2012 a new LOTR line of, well, something.

Still, it seems obvious that what we'll be seeing is a "Lord of the Rings" themed Lego set, or sets. And that's because the extremely cagey Web site for the project features what I can only presume is Frodo--a Lego version of him, that is--holding on to a very large shiny ring.

This … Read more

If Zynga thought it could get investors to flock to its stock the way Facebook users have rushed to FarmVille, CityVille, CastleVille, and others, it's getting a very unwelcome reality check.

On Friday, with the whole world watching and expectations high, the social games giant kicked off its IPO. But within hours of the shares going on sale at $10 apiece, it became clear that Zynga was in for a rough day. Though it finished the day with a market capitalization of over $2.5 billion, the shares had dropped to $9.50.

Today, things haven't gone any … Read more

The world is changing fast--maybe faster than we ever thought. And within five years, science fiction is going to turn into non-fiction. We'll be able to read each other's minds, forget all our passwords, and create all our own homes' energy.

These are just three of the five predictions IBM announced this morning as part of its annual "5 in 5" prognostication project.

The list is meant to promote long-term work being done under Big Blue's Smarter Planet initiative--and the company says "5 in 5" already has a track record of success. In … Read more