cornell

Cell phone annoyances

Research out of Cornell University proposes that cell phone conversations in public places annoy us because we can only hear one side of the conversation. Researchers call it halfalogue.

Apparently listening to halfalogue is frustrating because it takes up more of our mental CPU, so to speak. We can usually deduce what the conversation is about from halfalogue but the act of deduction is distracting.

But guess what? Eavesdropping in general is distracting, not to mention rude. I propose that we all invest in a good pair of noise-canceling earbuds and do what we were told to do in elementary … Read more

iPad ban rumors nixed at Cornell, Princeton, GWU

Rumors that three universities had banned the use of Apple's iPad ran rampant across the blogosphere last week, leaving some to wonder whether the device had some type of hidden problem.

Those rumors, it turns out, were false.

However, iPad owners at all three--Cornell, Princeton, and George Washington universities--have faced varying degrees of connectivity issues.

CNET contacted all three institutions, and they all categorically denied that the iPad was ever banned on their campuses.

"Absolutely not," Steve Schuster, interim executive director of information technologies at Cornell, told CNET. "In fact, I checked around and I don'… Read more

Solar dress charges your MP3 player

Sashaying down the runway this weekend toward the future of wearable technology: a solar-powered dress that revs gadgets via a USB charger located in the waist.

Parts of the dress come from Cornell University's Textiles Nanotech Laboratory, which teamed up with two Italian universities to create cotton threads that can conduct electrical currents, yet remain light and comfortable enough to feel like the good old cotton we all know and love to sleep in.

"Previous technologies have achieved conductivity, but the resulting fiber becomes rigid and heavy," said Juan Hinestroza, an assistant professor of Fiber Science and … Read more

Research: For a happier life, just shut up and text

There's a movie out at the moment about what the world would be like if none of us could see a thing. It's called Blindness and it's very disturbing.

But there's another disturbing movie that plays in my head just about every day. It's called Shut Up!!!!! and it's the story of a world in which everyone just closes their voluble cakeholes, emitting not one sound. When the characters have something to say, they text.

This movie is disturbing because it is so immensely uplifting and soothing.

Now I am pleased to announce that … Read more