PAIN

If you're in need of a little back pain relief and have $149 to spare, keep an eye out for the newly approved WiTouch by medical device developer Hollywog.

Putting a fresh spin on old tech, the device employs electrical stimulation (called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation -- aka TENS) to ease back pain. But unlike its predecessors, this one is wirelessly remote controlled.… Read more

When I started reading about Lumoback's Kickstarter campaign this morning, my left foot was curled under my right thigh and my back was slouched so far forward it was almost cartoonish. A few sentences in and I was sitting tall, but by the end of the page a few minutes later I was back to my old ways, an offense I'll surely pay for in ibuprofen costs in the years to come.

Enter Lumoback, the sensor and app that hopes to rise above its competition. (Yes, there are several sensors and apps aimed at improving posture.) And having hit its $100,000 goal in a matter of days, with 26 left on the calendar, it looks like it will at the very least see a round of production.

The brainchild of three Stanford grads -- an engineer, physician, and entrepreneur -- Lumoback is essentially a sleek little waistband that tracks movement data and syncs wirelessly to an iPhone 4S or new iPad. The team says it's prioritizing support for Android as well.… Read more

Do you hurt everywhere? Can't find any lasting solutions? Before you start popping pills, consider a little talk therapy--by telephone.

Chronic widespread pain, a condition called fibromyalgia, affects as many as 1 in 10 Americans, and is notoriously tricky (and expensive) to manage.

In the first six months following diagnosis, it costs on average $3,481 for medications, consultations, tests, and emergency room visits, according to researchers at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Manchester, both in the U.K.

So the researchers decided to investigate two less expensive alternatives: exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy (by phone).… Read more

Brett Paine Murphy developed the SoundStage tabletop board game for children (or adults) to explore 3D audio in a playful way. I experienced SoundStage at the recent Dumbo Arts Festival in Brooklyn, NY, and was bowled over by the sound. It was a breathtaking display of technical virtuosity, but one that a 6-year-old child could enjoy. More specifically, SoundStage uses a double quadraphonic sound system with four speakers arranged in a square, and four more speakers closer to the floor. Within the eight-speaker sound cube there's a 2-foot square table, illuminated from below, and a large number of "… Read more

Data comparing students at two schools in St. Louis, Mo., suggest that just two hours of gaming or texting a day can negatively impact joint health, and that the younger the children are, the more severe the reported pain.

"Our study has shown the negative impact that playing computer games and using mobile phones can have on the joints of young children, raising concerns about the health impact of modern technology later in life," said Yusuf Yazici, a rheumatology professor at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, in a press release.

Yazici is presenting his … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--If you don't think that the latest model of an airplane that first took to the air 42 years ago could be fresh, majestic, and iconic upon its own initial foray into sky, then you didn't see Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental take off on its first flight today.

Resplendent in its all-new orange, red, and white livery, and sparkling in the mid-morning sun, the biggest and most fuel-efficient passenger airplane in Boeing's history took off from Paine Field here at 9:58 a.m. PT before a cheering crowd of hundreds, if not thousands, of … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--The skies are clear, the sun is out, and the plane is ready. Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental is all set for its first flight.

With a two-hour window for the inaugural flight starting at 10 a.m. PT today, it appears that all is go for inaugural flight of the all-new version of Boeing's most iconic passenger jet. The flight comes about 13 months after the February 8, 2010, first flight of the 747-8 Freighter.

Thousands of Boeing employees and families, as well as fans of the 747, and a cadre of press will be on hand … Read more

We're back to start another week of shows, but before Wilson bores us to death with avant-garde filmmaking movements from 1995, we briefly summarize each of our weekends spent swimming at the local "prison gym," watching all-star hockey games, and whatever it is that Wilson spends his time doing outside of work.

After that, look forward to a dynamic chat about the mysterious location of T-Pain's Facebook "Like" tattoo, Dragon Quest VI arriving too late for a gamer grandma, push-up tighty whities for the modest man, and five families in Boston that unanimously decided against ditching their cable TV connection in lieu of various on-demand set-top boxes.

Oh, and the city of Austin, Texas, is launching a Twitter campaign to rename its Solid Waste Services Department to the "Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts." So there's that, too.

When you go to Hawaii, do you slip into a tattoo parlor in order to engrave a permanent memento of your visit onto your, say, thigh?

I ask because T-Pain, the rapper who eats a little messily in a Toshiba laptop ad, seems to have become carried away on a recent trip to Hawaii.

It is not known why he chose to honor Facebook with a tattooed presence on his forearm. Perhaps someone in a hula skirt offered him a little Facebook love.

Helpfully, though, he tweeted a picture of his new armwork, so that his followers could, well, like … Read more