nature

Cutting boards incorporate art with natural grain

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, these stunningly beautiful cutting boards are doing all the talking.

When I first stumbled upon that image, my first reaction was that it was an illustration of an astronaut walking on Jupiter. Too colorful to be the moon, not red enough to be Mars. It had to at least be an extra-terrestrial background. Even though Jupiter would be pretty hard to walk on, it looks like a tourist shot straight from the Great Red Spot. Of course, it turns out to be right from our own backyard.

Constructed of wood from … Read more

The 404 196: Where we read the tweets of a whale

It's been way too long since we've had Caroline McCarthy on the show! She makes a very attractive Jeff Bakalar replacement, and it's a trade that we'll take any day of the week. On today's show, we solve the mystery of the Natural History Museum whale, touch on virtual iBoobs, join the British Secret Service, and Wilson reads a very heinous headline about (what else?) butts. We also treat ourselves to a very steamy call from the public, over and over and over again...

I must admit that in Jeff's absence, Wilson and I are super stoked to welcome CNET News reporter Caroline McCarthy to the show today. Caroline is an expert in social media and even started her own Internet meme: the tale of the Twittering Natural History whale. For those of you who aren't familiar, the Natural History Museum in New York is home to a gigantic, life-size blue whale. The museum completed the construction of the whale in 1938, and the big boy somehow managed to sign up for a Twitter account. Check out his page and follow his tweets, the tongue-in-cheek humor is on par with DeadBigFoot. While you're at it, follow The404 and Caroline McCarthy as well!

EPISODE 196 Download today's podcast … Read more

Execs predict next Google-like tech

You could easily forget a business birthday, but Google wields more star power than most. It was officially incorporated 10 years ago this Sunday while co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were still working from a garage.

To celebrate, the journal Nature has asked researchers and business pundits to postulate on which young technologies might have as much impact on the world as Google 10 years down the road. After all, in the last 10, Google has grown from running a few loaner servers to a vast network of data centers that can not only deliver a map to a … Read more

Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Professional

Bottom line: Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 isn't perfect, but it's the best dictation software available. We don't find this upgrade necessary for the most basic dictation, although new features may benefit heavily accented English speakers and those who rely heavily on voice commands.

Who wants to risk or aggravate carpal tunnel syndrome at a keyboard? People who suffer repetitive stress injuries, type slowly, or dictate long documents for work are among the best candidates for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, which types as you talk. While not perfect, it's the best consumer tool available for digital dictation and can … Read more

Microsoft closes Powerset deal

Microsoft has now officially acquired Powerset, a natural language search firm, completing the deal it announced last month.

In a blog posting on Monday, Powerset's Mark Johnson said that integration efforts are already well under way. "This Thursday and Friday, there will be a bunch of folks down from Redmond for a symposium to share details about our respective technologies," Johnson said. "We're excited to learn about everything now available to Powerset in the Live Search stack. We're also excited to share the cool things we've cooked up here at Powerset and start … Read more

Microsoft's latest pitch to business: Hey, we do swell search as well

Over the years, Microsoft has taken different approaches to offering online support. Some of you may remember Microsoft Bob, a bizarre software desktop replacement whose personal guides were supposed to offer personalized help.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the product went nowhere and is now better-known as the answer to the trivia question, "What was Melinda French's claim to product fame?" (Of course, Melinda French later went on to fame and fortune as Mrs. Melinda Gates.)

Most computer users are more familiar with the Clippy, the office assistant Microsoft put into Office 97 that offered advice to user queries. … Read more

What is GTL from Shell?

Shell is filling cable channels with commercials for GTL, or gas-to-liquids, and someone asked me about it, so here's your answer:

GTL is a type of liquid fuel produced from natural gas. It isn't classic liquefied natural gas, which is natural gas cooled to the point where it turns into a fluid. Instead, methane from underground is cracked by catalysts and heat, turned into synthetic gases, and then transformed into a liquid similar to diesel. The process resembles the coal-to-liquid Fischer-Tropsch process devised in the 1920s.

Shell already makes token amounts of GTL in a plant in Indonesia; … Read more

Study: In Texas, wind power beats natural gas

Wind power is worth it, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

ERCOT studied the costs and benefits of wind power in three scenarios and concluded that expanding wind power in Texas would outweigh the total costs of boosting the state's electrical grid with conventional technologies. (Renewable Energy Access has a more detailed story here.)

The organization estimated the costs of putting in 5.1 gigawatts (GW), 11.6GW, and 18GW of new wind energy as well as the required grid connections. The 5.1GW plan would bring with it a $3.8 billion premium, but save $1.… Read more

'Nature': Energy tech not moving fast enough for climate change

Science journal Nature published a commentary on Wednesday that argues that scientists' climate change models overestimate the impact of low-carbon energy technologies.

A transition to cleaner forms of energy is one of the pillars of any discussion around mitigating global warming, along with policy and changes in lifestyle.

In their article, the Nature authors pick apart the assumptions built into the climate change reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC).

In short, they argue the IPCC studies are "dangerously" optimistic regarding the pace of clean technology and energy efficiency adoption.

An excerpt:

"Here we show … Read more

Get Planet Earth on Blu-ray for $49.99

Want to really show off that new Blu-ray player? Get yourself the BBC documentary series Planet Earth, which Best Buy has on sale for $49.99. I first caught it when it aired on the Discovery Channel, and it didn't take long before I decided I had to own it.

The series' 11 episodes take you to oceans, jungles, deserts, rainforests, and other remote parts of the planet, where you'll see incredible environments and wildlife. You don't have to be a nature buff to enjoy this; you just need a heartbeat.

I paid about $70 to buy … Read more