Lifestyle

Silverline puts iPhones, apps in seniors' hands

Here's a crowdfunding project with a twist: instead of pledging a certain amount to buy a new gadget for yourself, an underserved senior citizen will receive said product instead.

The project in question is Silverline, which is seeking funding on Indiegogo to equip senior citizens with smartphones preloaded with essential apps.

Silverline Mobile's Singapore-based creators, Jason Aspes and Lilin Phng, have developed senior-friendly iOS apps that provide useful information and keep them connected to loved ones. The five apps that have already been developed are: … Read more

The 404 1,244: Where we take a spa day (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Microsoft may announce the next generation of Xbox on May 21.

- Chinese people burn Apple products to pay respect to the dead; Americans do it just because.

- Here's a list of porn currently being watched in the Vatican.

- The season finale of "Alf": could it have been done differently?… Read more

Float down fairways on this hovercraft golf cart

Golf can be frustrating on the best of days. What better way to calm your nerves than to sail around the links on this hovercraft golf cart?

Bubba Watson, 2012 Masters champion, and his sponsor, Oakley, recently teamed up with Neoteric Hovercraft to launch this super sophisticated way of getting from hole to hole.

The hovercraft maker released a video of Watson riding on a 9-foot air cushion at Arizona's Raven Golf Club.

The BW1 has a "footprint pressure" of 33 times less than a human footprint, leaving relatively little impact on the course itself. … Read more

The 404 1,243: Where clouds are for the weak (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- A headphone "club" meeting in Babylon on April 20.

- Amazon extends AutoRip to vinyl records.

- Happy Audiophiliac April! To celebrate, here's what the Head-fi crew did to Steve.

- Follow Steve Guttenberg on Twitter.… Read more

How lasers can switch off cocaine addiction

Researchers who shined a laser light in a certain region of the brain -- stimulating the area associated with decision-making and impulse control -- were able to zap what they call "cocaine seeking" behaviors in addicts.

And while their work was on rats, their hope is that a similar technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS, currently used to improve symptoms of depression) will work on humans as well.… Read more

The 404 1,242: Where we light up the Pong (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This is your one chance to play Pong on the side of a Philadelphia skyscraper.

- Arrested Development returns May 26 with all 15 new episodes on Netflix at once.

- Netflix also gets old cartoon shows from Adult Swim; still no Batman: The Animated Series though.… Read more

The 404 1,241: Where we rip from the rich and seed to the poor (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- The first call from a cell phone was made 40 years ago today.

- The Verge interviews Marty Cooper, father of the cell phone.

- Recalling 1993: Step back 20 years in NYC's past.

- Catching up with the TV show release group responsible for recording, distributing torrents.… Read more

The first call from a cell phone was made 40 years ago today

Martin Cooper changed the world when he made the first cell phone call 40 years ago.

The former Motorola vice president and division manager made the call on the company's DynaTAC phone while standing in front of the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue. His first call: to the head of research at Bell Labs, a company that also was attempting to build the first cell phone.

Cooper's call did more than untether people from their fixed phone lines; it opened the door to true mobility and continues to affect virtually every aspect of our lives. … Read more