Author: Sal McCloskey

The outdoors types of the world have benefited from recent technological advances that make exploring the world easier, more enjoyable, safer, and often more in-depth. It’s one of the promises of technology – simplifying processes. One such simplifier is the Gibbs Quadski, dubbed the “world’s first HSA amphiquad.” In four seconds, it is able to go from land to lake and back again. It isn’t a slouch at either type of terrain with boasts of speeds up to 45 MPH either way. Here’s a look at it once transformed for water use: As Jeff Sabatini at Car and Driver puts it: The big draw, of course, comes in that…

Just about everyone who is familiar with Google Maps has explored a distant land at one point or another. Big cities like Moscow, Sydney, and Jerusalem are accessible in ways that we could have hardly imagined a decade ago. As Google continues to expand their catalog of cities on Google Maps Street View, they are finding ways to reach the most remote communities. In the video below, they went to Cambridge Bay, a tiny community with a distinct culture and people that most would never have known about without this promo piece. For better or for worse, Google is opening our eyes to people and places that…

Just because the Wii U launched last week doesn’t mean the Wii is dead. In fact, three of them were sold for every Wii U consoles. Nintendo announced that they sold 1.2 million hardware units last week. Over 400k were the new kid on the block (pictured above) but it’s ancient predecessor held its own with over 300k units sold. Handheld devices accounted for over half a million with almost an even split between the DS (250k) and the 3DS (275k). “Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told CNET….

From Michio Kaku to MC Hammer, great thinkers in recent decades have proclaimed that the reality of our universe is such that you technically “can’t touch this”. Or that. Or anything. We don’t actually touch anything that we think we’re touching, nor does anything ever actually touch us. In fact, the various components of our own bodies are technically not even touching each other. It’s a hard concept to grasp, but the folks over at Minute Physics do a decent job of helping us make sense of it all in their most recent video: …

Online advertising has become one of the most important aspects of running a business. Even companies that do not operate primarily online such as retail shops must still using the internet to be found and to expose their wares to the public. The way that advertising online has evolved over the years has gone form “loud and obnoxious” to “stealthy and smart”. It’s not just about how big your ads are, anymore. This infographic from Yume comes to us via Los Angeles Hyundai and explores “Important Details You Should Know When Placing an Ad”. Click to enlarge. * * * “Online Advertising” image courtesy…

Who could possible be more qualified to talk about Apple’s primary smartphone competitor than a specialist named “Sam Sung”? It’s a no-brainer, really. He knows himself better than anyone. According to Buzzfeed, this is not photoshopped. Way to go, Sam. You found your true calling….

There was a time not too long ago when billion dollar purchases of tech companies didn’t happen all the time. There was a time not too long ago when billion dollar purchases were never done completely with cash. Those days are behind us with the latest billion dollar acquisition being happening with Cisco buying Meraki, an enterprise wifi startup. The company started as a research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. They now supply larger organizations the infrastructure, hardware, software, and support to operate secure wifi networks on premises. Instead of having…

There are certain scientific discoveries that help. Others simply intrigue. Every now and then something comes up that makes you wonder why we never knew it before. Such is the case with the recent discovery of a possible “rogue planet” a mere 100 light years away. A rogue planet is one that has no star. It’s orbit or trajectory are determined by other galactic forces as compared to the known planets in our solar system as well as other space objects that are primarily influenced by a single star. What makes this so strange as well as concerning is the thought, as pointed out in the video below, that there…

The robot employment scenario has been described and discussed for decades. Ever since the first hints of automation started creeping into industrial production around the end of the 19th century, people have claimed that mechanical automation would eventually replace humans altogether for better or for worse. We’ve seen it happen a lot in recent years. They are able to do many of the tasks that once employed humans, even going so far as to replace noodle slicers in China. Should humans be worried that robotic automation could eventually put us all out of a job? Will it happen sooner than later?…

In a deal that totals $1.8 billion in cash and stocks, Priceline has agreed to buy fellow comparison site KAYAK. This puts the shares of the publicly traded company at $40, up from where it closed today at $31. KAYAK consolidates the pricing from several different online booking services including Priceline. It appears that KAYAK will stay operational but it’s doubtful that it will continue to offer comparison shopping the way it does today. “Paul English and I started KAYAK eight years ago to create the best place to plan and book travel,” said Steve Hafner, KAYAK Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder….