@timgray: Are you saying that you can buy an unlocked Android phone and then activate it on a plan that does not include data? Because Sprint has been specifically telling me that this would not be possible (although that's exactly what I would expect someone trying to sell me a new phone and contract to say).

@BazookaJoe: They're filled with NO2. Here's how the balloon is used- [www.urbandictionary.com]

@FlyingAvocado: IANAL, but US patent law also requires that inventions be novel. For Apple to file a patent on an invention on 6/17/2008 when it was posted on YouTube on 12/21/2007 seems to negate any claims of novelty. But I also don't know how prior art applies to first to invent. Apple may claim to have invented it…

@Curves: That's what I usually do, but every now and then ca.gizmodo.com reverts to old articles from one day (iPhone needs to steal this from Android, etc.). Any idea why I keep getting this and if there's anything I can do to stop it?

1Password sounds great, but my employer blocks Dropbox, so I doubt it will work. KeePass sounds possible, but they also don't let most of us use flash drives. Does anyone know if LastPass or any other password manager will function in an overly-restrictive IT environment like this?

I would love to use a password manager like 1Password, but my employer blocks Dropbox for security reasons, so that won't work. KeePass also sounds good, but they also won't let most of us use flash drives. Would LastPass work for me? Anyone know of any other password manager that might work in this kind of…

Probably otters. When you get a couple of otters in a row it looks even more like a long "multi-humped creature" swimming really fast.

I've seen and used wheelchairs like this that are already on the market ([www.nu-drive.com] is one of them). All of the currently-available ones use proprietary (and expensive) hubs and handles rather than conventional cycling gear- I think that's the cool part about this one. These systems roll forward when you push…

@imadm1: It's too bad that I can't write you a letter. I got a Dexcom CGM and managed to drop my A1C from 7.9 to 5.9. That's because I'm an engineer who can use it exactly as intended. I can easily see how this device would be utterly wasted on a non-technically inclined user. Until they get a clinical trial that can…

@Tycho Vhargon™: I guess that depends on how important the improved capabilities are to you and how much money you've got. The expensive cameras and systems seem to sell pretty well, but there are also cheaper webcam-based systems that are selling pretty well too now. It all depends on your needs and resources.

@Tycho Vhargon™: Really good passive marker MoCap cameras actually go for around $10-20K each retail, but those are a bit better than simple webcams.

@ss3: I heard an interview with some buzzword-spouting MicroSoft suits on NPR Science Friday. I was surprised to hear them maintain that Kinect has not been hacked (according to their definition) and whatever people have been doing with it (what the rest of the world calls hacking) is because they left that part of it…

@Tommy Five: If it's one-piece you can't injection mold that overlapping gridwork and keep them separate. You'd have to make into two sections and bond them somehow.

@ka1axy: They probably had access to the high speed camera already and were just using it to answer a question that came up. I wouldn't think this study could get official funding from any government agency, nor would it be worth it to the researcher to complete the massive amount of paperwork required to apply for…

My first engineering job was as a co-op for Motorola's battery division back in the StarTac era. One of my many jobs was drop testing the batteries. We had to drop them 6 feet onto concrete on every side, multiple times, both in the phone and out of them. The small StarTac batteries generally always passed, but what I…

@EliteGeek: Yup- biggest wasp in the world. They kill off entire hives of honeybees. I kind of wish Justin Schmidt would've included it in his sting scale ([en.wikipedia.org] from descriptions I've found it sounds like this bugger might be a front-runner.

You might think this guy a wimp for not being able to deal with wasps, but remember that they have these wasps in Japan. Giant Asian Hornet. 1/4" long stinger. Kills more people per year in Japan than all other wild animals combined.

@Samurai I-am-awry:They do- you just have to build 'em yourself:

@Mansoori: An artifical pancreas will only help Type I diabetics (like me). Type II (the one people can get from eating too much) is more complicated and involves systemic insulin insensitivity. In other words, their pancreas works fine, but their body doesn't use the insulin right.