Gadgets Future

Pandora, the ad-supported internet radio service that builds stations off of your personal taste, may be shutting down in the near future.  Due to high royalty costs from the labels, that may be their only option.  According to the Washington Post, Pandora founder Tim Westergren doesn’t seem too confident the company will survive.

“We’re approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision…This is like a last stand for webcasting.”

The Post mentioned that a whopping 70% of Pandora’s $25 Million in revenue this year will go to royalty fees.  Representative Howard L. Berman, a Democrat from California, is attempting to work up a deal between Pandora and SoundExchange, the organization that represents artists and labels.  Lets just hope Berman can get through to them… or we may have to go back to hating the RIAA.

I’m deeply saddened by the fact they may go out of business… and I’m sure their million other users are as well.  So what do you think Pandora should do?  Should they stick it to the RIAA and start playing all indie bands?  Is going out of business really their only option?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Read [Washington Post] Via [ReadWriteWeb]

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →

An aircraft is a vehicle which is used to travel through the air. An aircraft is made up of number of different parts and each part has a specific function. For an aircraft to work smoothly, each and every part should work perfectly. Fasteners, engine, bearings, wings are some of the common aircraft parts.

Each part of the aircraft has a specific function. An engine is used to create the thrust which is required to push the aircraft into the Earth’s atmosphere. Different types of engines are available and an engine is selected after analyzing the capacity of the aircraft and the thrust required for putting it into the atmosphere. Wings are required to help the aircraft maintain balance in the air and also to adjust the direction. Fasteners are the hardware devices that are required for joining two or more things together. Different types of fasteners are available and a number of fasteners are used in an aircraft as an aircraft is a big vehicle. Buckle, batten, nail, pin, staple are some of the types of fasteners.

Apart from fasteners, bearings are also used in an aircraft. Bearings are the devices that control relative motion between different parts of a machine. Like fasteners, a number of types of bearings are available and they are distinguished from each other on the basis of the motion they allow. The bearings are also classified on the basis of the operation principle. Liner motion, hinge motion and axial motion are some of the common motions permitted by bearings.

Fasteners and bearings are used extensively in aircrafts. The engineers working on aircrafts should make sure that they use certified aircraft parts. It’s not very difficult to find aircraft parts but it’s very important to make sure that the parts are of high-quality in order to ensure safety of travelers.

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 11:57AM
According to Appleinsider, the newest beta of iphone firmware (2.1, beta 4) has been seeded to developers, but takes one crucial element off the table — push notification. If you’ll recall, the new feature will allow third-party developers to take advantage of Apple’s servers for real-time push of data to and from applications. Apparently, the feature has been cut from the most recent beta for “further development” with no indication of when it will be reinstated. Of course, this is a beta seed of the firmware — the actual release is slated for September — and it makes sense that Apple would be tweaking major additions like this before going live, especially considering its recent launch debacles.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 9 Comments

Filed under: cellphones

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 9:20AMJust over a year ago, we passed off a far-out proposal that would turn highways into wind farms. Now, however, the state of Oregon is proving that such feats are actually within reach as it breaks ground on the first so-called “solar highway” demonstration project. The project will be installed at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin, where it will cover around 8,000 square feet and produce 112,000 kilowatt hours per year. The total cost for the 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is $1.3 million, and believe it or not, it should be completed and operational in December of this year.

[Via Digg]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 32 Comments

Filed under: Transportation

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 5:46AMAMD’s going through some rough times, no doubt about it, but for fanboys of the CPU maker (wait, do CPU fanboys still exist?) here’s your feel-good story of the year. The always-thorough Tom’s Hardware has pit Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor against AMD’s Athlon 64 2000+, and the results just might surprise you. The 1GHz Athlon (with a core voltage of 0.90 volts and a power draw of just 8 watts) managed to best the aforementioned Atom in both energy consumption and processing power tests. The gurus at Tom’s credited the more modern 790G platform and the highly efficient K8 architecture as big players in the Athlon’s strong showing, finally deeming said chip “more economical, faster and quieter” than the Atom. We know you’re in disbelief — good thing there are 14 pages of proof waiting in the read link.

[Thanks, Carl]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 14 Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 5:46AMAMD’s going through some rough times, no doubt about it, but for fanboys of the CPU maker (wait, do CPU fanboys still exist?) here’s your feel-good story of the year. The always-thorough Tom’s Hardware has pit Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor against AMD’s Athlon 64 2000+, and the results just might surprise you. The 1GHz Athlon (with a core voltage of 0.90 volts and a power draw of just 8 watts) managed to best the aforementioned Atom in both energy consumption and processing power tests. The gurus at Tom’s credited the more modern 790G platform and the highly efficient K8 architecture as big players in the Athlon’s strong showing, finally deeming said chip “more economical, faster and quieter” than the Atom. We know you’re in disbelief — good thing there are 14 pages of proof waiting in the read link.

[Thanks, Carl]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 14 Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

by Paul Miller, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 10:50PM
What could possibly provide us more joy and mirth than a Segway? How about a Segway-inspired bot that fails spectacularly on a consistent basis? The tech in play here is quite simple, and the fact it can stand as long as it does being that top heavy is actually pretty surprising. The best news? Hit the read link for a guide to making your very own fail bot at home. It’s fun for the whole family.

[Via technabob]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 56 Comments

Filed under: Robots

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 1:39AMIndilinx just recently caught eyes with its Barefoot solid state drive controller, which has reportedly shown a read speed of 230MB/sec. Merely days later, it’s already talking about the next best thing. Said firm, along with Mosaid, is preparing for a third-generation of the controller for the SATA 3 interface, which will provide a mind-boggling 600MB/sec. Unfortunately, no other details were provided, but just in case you were terrified that the internal drive you purchase in 2013 wouldn’t transfer files any faster than the one you’re using now, at least you’ve one less worry on your mind.

[Thanks, Johnny]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 6 Comments

Filed under: Storage

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 1:39AMIndilinx just recently caught eyes with its Barefoot solid state drive controller, which has reportedly shown a read speed of 230MB/sec. Merely days later, it’s already talking about the next best thing. Said firm, along with Mosaid, is preparing for a third-generation of the controller for the SATA 3 interface, which will provide a mind-boggling 600MB/sec. Unfortunately, no other details were provided, but just in case you were terrified that the internal drive you purchase in 2013 wouldn’t transfer files any faster than the one you’re using now, at least you’ve one less worry on your mind.

[Thanks, Johnny]

• Read
• Permalink
• Email this
• 6 Comments

Filed under: Storage

The Flamingo Away is definitely a much different garden decoration compared to the usual gnomes and what not. These speak out their mind in an alternative manner, never mind if you don’t have a pond for the pink flamingo to land on.

The Gnome-Be-Gone’s aren’t just interested in getting rid of gnomes in your garden. They’ll also weed out any flamingos that might be hanging around too. Includes 2 Gnome-Be-Gones and 1 resin pink flamingo. Handmade using recycled components by uber artist Fred Conlon. Fred’s amazingly fun, funky, and always very unique art, has appeared in art galleries, festivals and shows across the country. Measures approximately 24″ long x 16″ wide. Metal will acquire a rust patina finish with outdoor use.

Pretty pricey outdoor decorations to have IMHO. You will need to fork out $124.99 for this.

• Email to a friend
• Leave a comment