aliens

RFID-manufacturer Alien Technology announced this week it has created new software for its tag readers. The software provides information on the velocity and position of tags, and can thereby distinguish between adjacent tagged objects such as luggage.

Not being able to distinguish between two tagged objects has been a big headache for the airline business. On one hand, RFID readers save labor because the tags don't need to be aligned with the reader. On the other hand, a device might read several tags at the same time, without knowing which specific piece of luggage the tags are tied to. … Read more

Know how many bags get lost at airports? Last year, the number hit a staggering 34 million globally, according to numbers from international transport association IATA.

This cost the aviation industry $3.6 billion. One way to reduce the amount of mishandled luggage could be to switch from today's widespread bar-code tagging system to more sensitive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The IATA estimates that $200 million could be saved each year by such a swap at the world's top 80 airports.

That is exactly what RFID manufacturers like Alien Technology are dreaming about. With updated chip technology … Read more

The invasion is upon us. It started innocuously enough, with a sighting or two, but then they got bigger and even began to float above us. And now, just like the nest scene in Aliens, they have multiplied and are ready to conquer the universe.

The "Sphericles" speakers pictured here are only the latest and most prolific example of the alien eyeball speaker invasion we've been warning about for months. This surround system is part of a DIY project by designer Darren Kuzma, which includes a Tang Band 3-inch bamboo cone driver and 1-inch Titanium dome tweeter.… Read more

Remember a few years ago how Wal-Mart and other companies slapped mandates on their suppliers and told them that they'd have to begin to put standardized RFID (radio frequency identification) tags on stuff coming into the warehouse or else?

The idea was that the tags would let retailers and distributors track all of the products coming from various suppliers through a single, large database. Warehouse managers loved the idea because it simplified their jobs, but privacy advocates warned of Minority Report scenarios where corporations tracked your spending habits. Tagging would start with pallets, they noted, but move to individual … Read more

This is either a special product made for a very special person (with four ears) or a decidedly old-school way of getting around file-sharing laws. Either way, we wouldn't count on a huge market for this double headset.

Akihabara News says SKPAD's latest invention can be used with any device that has a standard headphone jack, though we're not sure about quality. And because it seems to work like a splitter or an adapter for multiple earphones, we're also not sure about the $37 price.

Something like this might be useful on a plane or in … Read more

Sometimes we wish computers were more like cars. Drive one around for a while, and then when it starts to show its age, trade it in for a newer model. Unfortunately, computers age worse than pretty much any other consumer product, losing value from the very second they roll off the assembly line.

That's why Alienware's AlienExchange Trade-in Program caught our eye. In fact, the company will do more than simply give you a few bucks for an old PC. Like a bizarre online pawn shop, they'll take old gaming consoles, MP3 players, and mobile phones, and … Read more

We should have known this was coming. It's been months since we last heard from Cabasse, the French loudspeaker specialist--or, at least, that's what they claim to be. In reality, we suspect it's a front for a growing population of aliens that have taken the form of eyeballs.

The latest pair of ostensible speakers, the 5.1 "Eole" system, features five "spherical satellites" (translation: UFOs) with a 250-watt amplifier and 8-inch woofer. It's based on the design of Cabasse's $150,000 "La Sphere," including its orb-like shape, Gizmag says.… Read more

We always suspected it was true, and now we have confirmation: Alien eyeballs are invading the planet. There have been all manner of thinly veiled ocular disguises, ranging from loudspeakers to super magnifiers, but the true masterminds have taken the form of Webcams.

The indisputable proof? An appendaged speciman of an eyeball Webcam has been photographed and posted on Tokyomango, masquerading as a replica of a Japanese ghost named "Medama no Oyaji" who, oddly enough, walks around naked and "speaks in a really high voice." (We hope those two characteristics aren't related.) Come to think … Read more

ROSWELL, N.M.--If you're coming to this town for anything other than UFO madness, you're probably heading to the wrong place.

I came as part of Road Trip 2007, my driving tour of the Southwest in search of the most interesting technology- and science-related stories.

Roswell is the self-proclaimed UFO capital of the world, and it is still reaping the tourist-dollar benefits of an event that happened 60 years ago, when a local may have found the remains of a crashed UFO in a field that's actually quite some distance from here.

The event made world … Read more