Archive for July 25th, 2009

Anakin Skywalker All Grown Up

It’s been ten years since Jake Lloyd played young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace. Ten years on, Jake discusses what life has been like for him, having been in one of the most anticipated films of all time.

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Man Climbs Building With Vacuum Gloves

Take a look at this video. It shows inventor, Jem Stansfield climbing a BBC building using his home made ‘vacuum gloves.’ Amazingly he makes it to the top. That vacuum must have had some strong suction.

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White House Bans Twitter

The White house has banned access to Twitter on it’s computers. White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs casually mentioned to CNN that Twitter is blocked, saying that people already know enough about what he’s doing.

While Barack Obama twitters on two accounts, @WhiteHouse and @barackobama, Gibbs clearly doesn’t understand the power of the micro-blogging tool.

Talking of Twitter, you can follow us @pigjockey.

A Car For The Blind

One major drawback for the blind, is their inability to drive. Well, undergraduates at Virginia Tech have created a car that the blind can drive.

The students used the same technology that lets cars drive themselves, to allow the blind to drive. The vehicle uses a laser range finder, voice software and other sensory technology which worked flawlessly when blind drivers took the wheel.

A vibrating vest provides cues to follow when accelerating and decelerating. The vest vibrates in different places — the back, the belly and the shoulders — to convey different commands. When the entire vest vibrates, it means, “Slam on the brakes!”

This is a great step forward for the blind. Perhaps in the future, such technology could be used to benefit everyone. It could certainly help cut down alcohol-related traffic incidents. Blinding work guys!

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