Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,530 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 68 of 153).

How RadioShack Helped Build Silicon Valley | WIRED

My friend Laura Leslie posted a classic advertisement for the RadioShack TRS-80, complete with absurdly-high price tags. It reminded me of RadioShack’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Thursday, and of how different I’d be if it weren’t for RadioShack.

RadioShack was once every geek’s Mecca for electronics. Much of our digital world would not exist if it weren’t for RadioShack’s inspiration on a generation of geeks and tinkerers. Wired.com takes a fond look back at how many of our modern-day tech giants spent their formative years browsing the aisles at their local RadioShack.

Today, RadioShack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Part of a coming reorganization will involve co-branding as many as 1,750 stores with Sprint, one of the company’s largest creditors, and will almost certainly result in the closing of many others. While the RadioShack name may live on, its original spirit is probably gone for good. As it goes, so goes one of the unsung heroes of a generation of tinkerers and builders, a key piece of the Silicon Valley tech-boom puzzle.

via How RadioShack Helped Build Silicon Valley | WIRED.

Google Fiber and an FCC decision could give more people cheaper access to the Internet | News Feature | Indy Week

Indyweek talked with Erica Swanson, head of Google Fiber’s Community Impact programs, about bringing broadband to all income levels.

The bad news about Google Fiber coming to seven cities in the Triangle is that the high-speed Internet service won’t be installed in your neighborhood by the next season of House of Cards.

The good news is that Google Fiber says it will seek out traditionally underserved communities—low-income, minority, non-English speaking areas, where some residents don’t have home Internet at all.

About 60 million people in the U.S. don’t have Internet at home, according to the Pew Research Center. In cities, that number is 1 in 4. For some, a computer and a connection are too expensive; others say they don’t need it—the Internet has no place in their lives.

That might change, hinging on Google’s expansion plans, along with a pending decision by the FCC, that could give more people cheaper access to the Internet.

"Affordable connectivity, that’s the piece we can address," says Erica Swanson, Google’s head of Community Impact Programs.

via Google Fiber and an FCC decision could give more people cheaper access to the Internet | News Feature | Indy Week.

N&O’s Christensen gets light rail wrong

The N&O’s Rob Christensen makes the classic light rail vs. commuter rail blunder in this week’s column. If the media can’t even properly explain the difference between light rail and commuter rail, how do we ever expect the public to understand?

When it comes to a light-rail system for Raleigh, label me a skeptic.

I am a believer in buses, and I think our bus system should be expanded and more bus shelters erected.

Before we sink huge bundles of money into a light-rail system, I think a stronger case needs to be made, given our limited resources.

He also misidentifies the real problem with our bus system, which is it’s unusable to all but those who have no other choice. I’ve written about that before.

via Christensen: Raleigh needs buses, not rail | Rob Christensen | NewsObserver.com.

What does it Mean to be a Gig City? Upload Speeds Powering Entrepreneurs — Next Century Cities

Remember when I pointed out the secret sauce of Google Fiber is the upload speeds? Will Aycock, operations manager of Wilson’s Greenlight community broadband system, agrees.

It’s all about the upload. If you are the owner of a small engineering business with dense blueprints to send to your European clients, or a specialized country doctor who depends on the quick transmission of x-rays, a digital film effects company, or a media artist, your ability to upload your dense information to your clients means business. For GigCity, Wilson, North Carolina, offering gigabit upload speeds to its community is real business for its future.

via What does it Mean to be a Gig City? Upload Speeds Powering Entrepreneurs — Next Century Cities.

Vets study links PB pills, genetic variations to Gulf War illness | TribLIVE

A government-issued pill intended to protect troops from nerve agents may have made some troops more vulnerable to a chronic condition marked by headaches, cognitive problems, pain and fatigue, researchers say.

People with certain genetic variations were 40 times more likely to contract Gulf War illness if they took pyridostigmine bromide, or PB, pills that the Defense Department issued to protect them from soman, a nerve agent, during the 1990-91 war, researchers concluded in a study funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and published this month in the journal Environmental Health.

via Vets study links PB pills, genetic variations to Gulf War illness | TribLIVE.

Yes, Walking Through A Doorway Really Does Make You Forget — Here’s Why – Forbes

I forgot to post this earlier.

More often than I care to admit, I’ll walk from one room to another with a clear vision in mind of whatever I need to do once I get there, but then I get there and can’t remember why I started. The only thing that happened between my first movement and my last is that I walked through a doorway. Surely that has nothing at all to do with forgetting something I knew just moments before, right?

Wrong, says new research. As it turns out, walking through a doorway exerts an imperceptible influence on memory. In fact, merely imagining walking through a doorway can zap memory.

via Yes, Walking Through A Doorway Really Does Make You Forget — Here's Why – Forbes.

An Introduction to Google Fiber

An_Introduction_To_Google_Fiber_cover

One of the most useful things I got out of yesterday’s Google Fiber press conference (well, aside from a sweet Google Fiber water bottle) is an insightful booklet called “An Introduction To Google Fiber.” It basically spells out what the next steps are for the Google Fiber rollout.

Of particular interest is the question of “how do I get Google Fiber in my neighborhood?” Google’s answer?

Our approach is to build where people want us.

Fiber optic cable will travel into your neighborhood into boxes called telecom cabinets. One of these cabinets can serve you and a few hundred of your neighbors with Fiber — we call this grouping your “fiberhood”.

That’s where you come in. For us to bring Google Fiber to you — i.e. for us to light up your local telecom cabinet with working Google Fiber service and then for us to bring that service right down the street and up to your house — you and your neighbors first need to tell us you want us. Each fiberhood will have a sign-up goal that you can see on our website by entering your address — and the process is transparent, so you and your neighbors can see how close your fiberhood is to the goal.
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These four lucky cities are now officially getting Google Fiber – The Washington Post

Yesterday’s Google Fiber announcement has gotten some press in WaPo this morning. Unfortunately, it has hit one of my pet peeves:

After months of speculation, Google confirmed Tuesday that its ultra-fast Internet service will soon be coming to four more cities — Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Those regions, along with more than a dozen cities in their immediate vicinity, will be the latest to benefit from high-speed Internet provided by the search giant.

Uh, sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Fung, but that’s five cities, not four: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, and Durham.

The mayors of both Raleigh and Durham spoke at the press conference yesterday. Both cities’ Chief Information Officers spoke about the project and put in incredibly long hours to get their cities where we are now. Both cities have completely different permitting processes, different infrastructure, different laws and regulations. The way outsiders lump Raleigh and Durham into Raleigh-Durham has always annoyed me (and will be the topic of an upcoming blog post).

And saying it’s just Raleigh and Durham isn’t even accurate, as the nearby municipalities Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Garner, and Morrisville are also included. These cities’ mayors were also present but are overlooked by the reporter.

It’s just as big a deal to these other cities that they are getting Google Fiber. It would be nice if they got a little credit for their hard work, too.

via These four lucky cities are now officially getting Google Fiber – The Washington Post.

Tablets and E-readers May Disrupt Your Sleep

Screen time before bedtime disrupts your sleep, a new study says. I love the science of sleep.

People who receive a tablet or e-book reader for the holidays might wind up spending some sleepless nights because of their new gadget.

That’s because the light emitted by a tablet like an iPad can disrupt sleep if the device is used in the hours before bedtime, according to a new Harvard study.

People who read before bed using an iPad or similar "e-reader" device felt less sleepy and took longer to fall asleep than when they read a regular printed book, researchers found.

via Tablets and E-readers May Disrupt Your Sleep.

How ‘Jingle Bells’ by the Singing Dogs Changed Music Forever – The Atlantic

This is a fascinating account of the version of “Jingle Bells” recorded by The Singing Dogs. I always assumed this song was from the late 1970s – big deal, someone sampled dogs and made a song. I was shocked tonight to find out it was actually recorded in 1955! I had no idea that this was such a groundbreaking song, launching the arts of multitrack recording and sampling. Who knew?

Let’s, for a moment, consider "Jingle Bells" as performed by the Singing Dogs. With jaded, 21st-century ears, it’s easy to dismiss as Yuletide kitsch. It topped a 2007 survey of most-hated Christmas songs, but there was a time when listeners marveled at it—Dogs! And they’re singing!

It’s time we give the Singing Dogs their due. Created in Denmark in the early 1950s by a self-taught ornithologist and released in the U.S. in 1955, the record marks a turning point in how we listen to music. I’ll explain.

via How 'Jingle Bells' by the Singing Dogs Changed Music Forever – The Atlantic.