farm

If two data points make a trend, here's a new one: there will soon be two iPhone apps that promise to turn your humble mobile phone into a mobile electric-guitar rig, complete with multiple amps, effects, and microphones.

DJ and electronic music apps for the iPhone aren't much of a stretch--after all, a lot of electronic musicians have been using computers as their primary instrument since the 1990s, and the iPhone is as powerful as the highest-powered desktops from a decade ago.

But most guitarists are stubborn analog creatures, hunting vintage music shops and Craigslist for the perfect … Read more

FarmVille creator Zynga has a new social game launching today on Facebook, called FrontierVille. With 60 million active players (although the number can vary widely month to month), FarmVille is the unstoppable juggernaut of social games (a relatively new category, which includes games played on Facebook and other social networking platforms), and Zynga is hoping lightning strikes twice.

The new game takes the action in an even more rural direction than FarmVille, setting up shop in a far-flung frontier town. Game designer Brian Reynolds describes it as, "Oregon Trail meets Little House on the Prairie meets FarmVille." And … Read more

Clearly the biggest news to come out of Steve Jobs' keynote for the World Wide Developers Conference was the announcement of the iPhone 4, which is coming June 24 with preorders starting June 15. But among the feature announcements and hardware teaser images, Jobs also announced the availability of some new apps that will take advantage of the new hardware.

Netflix for iPhone was a welcome announcement, with the iPad version of the app already popular with its streaming "Watch Instantly" capabilities. According to Apple, now you'll be able to start a movie on your iPad or … Read more

Puget Sound Energy announced Wednesday it's beginning construction of its 343-megawatt Lower Snake River Wind Project in Garfield County, Wash.

The project will consist of 149 jumbo 2.3-megawatt wind turbines that will come from wind turbine manufacturer Siemens. When fully operational, they're expected to supply enough energy for 100,000 homes annually.

The project is not a one-site wind farm but--similar to the $1 billion wind energy complex in Texas--will be a connected system of turbines across various private lands.

About 40,000 acres of farmland will be utilized with farmers receiving energy royalty payments, as well as lease fees for the use of their land. Once the installation of the turbines is complete, 98 percent of the farmland on which the turbines sit will be able to be farmed as normal, according to PSE.

The Puget Sound deal confirms a trend. Partnerships between the wind energy industry and farmers are gaining traction across the U.S. With land lease rights for state and federal lands often hard to secure, wind energy developers have been looking elsewhere and have found the agricultural industry it would seem. States appear willing to foster the partnership as a way to attract wind turbine manufacturers and developers, while aiding their fledgling farming industries.… Read more

Got tweeted milk? Cows at a farm in Ontario, Canada, are sending out Twitter messages about the milk they produce. And that ain't no bull.

"Unloaded 12.7 kgs frothy milk from my udders," says a heifer who goes by the user name Freeride Speedy. She and 11 other cows at Buttermine Farms in Brant, southwest of Toronto, are part of the Teat Tweet project coordinated by Marcel O'Gorman from the University of Waterloo's Critical Media Lab.

The tweeting herd was outfitted with RFID tags. When a heifer approaches a milking pen with a laser-guided … Read more

Saleen Performance Vehicles will debut the 2010 S281 convertible on Sunday, April 25, at the 25th Annual Fabulous Fords Forever, hosted at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.

The black S281 production convertible, along with a silver coupe and a Saleen 435S, will be among 2,000 Fords in 50 different classes, ranging from classics to concepts.

According to a news release from Saleen, the S281 features carefully crafted sculptural detailing and naturally flowing lines. The car boasts a Saleen Series VI.5 twin-screw supercharger and dual-stage intercooler mated to 4.6-liter V8 engine producing 485 hp and … Read more

We Rule is a real-time kingdom simulation game where you'll need to earn money to expand your kingdom. Earning money in We Rule requires that you grow crops and build factories and shops that will bring in a steady income over time. The touch-screen interface is fairly intuitive for choosing what type of objects you want to build, but lacks descriptions of buildings making it difficult to predict how much income you will gain by placing a specific type of building. Part of the fun is finding out which building will net you the most cash. You also can … Read more

The 9.6 million players of the Facebook game Farm Town are being warned about fake security warnings popping up that are designed to mislead people into paying for antivirus protection they don't need.

"We are aware and have reported to the developers that many of our players have encountered the malware/spyware while on the Farm Town site," the moderator of a user forum for Farm Town maker SlashKey warned over the weekend. "We believe at this time that it is harmless to your computer and a result of one or more of the ads … Read more

They were virtually unheard of a couple of years ago, but now low-cost, low-power Netbook laptops are among the most popular PCs. After all, they approximate the experience of a larger, more expensive laptop at a fraction of the size and price.

But just as we've started to see Netbooks from Asus, Acer, HP, or Dell on every coffee shop table or airplane seatback tray, Apple's iPad comes along, looking very much like a Netbook screen unhinged from the rest of its body. The question is naturally raised, is the iPad a Netbook-killer?

To pull the question back a little, when the iPad was first announced, one of the questions we wrestled with was whether it should be considered a computer at all. By some standards, the iPad is essentially a keyboardless laptop, but by others, it's more akin to a portable media player, such as the iPod Touch.

In the end, we tilted in the direction of "not a computer," and the factor that tipped the scale was Apple's use of the walled garden iPhone operating system. The iPad's lack of freedom to install basic apps and plug-ins, such as FireFox or even Flash, makes this far too limited a system to be considered a full-fledged computer.

That said, when going to press events or trade exhibitions, we sometimes leave the laptop at home if it looks like we'll only need access to e-mail, some light Web surfing, and maybe Twitter or Facebook to get through the day. After all, the iPhone, Palm Pre, and other smartphones can handle those chores under most circumstances.

So, with a bigger screen, more productivity apps, such as the iWork suite, and even an optional wireless keyboard, can we ditch our laptops and Netbooks for an iPad?

The short answer is probably not.… Read more