In a recent Roundtable on Creative Capitalism hosted by TIME, CK Prahalad, author of "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" brings to our attention the insight that "the essence of poverty is the assymetry of information" and that this asymmetry was now changing due to the availability and affordability of mobile phones in developing nations. Jeffery Sachs supports him by pointing out that the digital divide was being closed by market forces not civic efforts. Global leader Nokia has already leapt into the breach by opening a Research Center in Nairobi, Kenya in order to develop concepts and products that are of value and relevance for those at the Base of the Pyarmid. The ubiquitious little cellphone has now been spotlighted as a key tool for poverty alleviation, although the debate continues. [previously]
posted on Aug 27, 2008 - View this thread

Fascinating 3D renderings of different processes inside of a human body. Yes, the style is quite similar to The Inner Life of The Cell, but this one is different. Dissolving of the pills was definitely entertaining. It would be great if a doctor could comment on the other processes that are displayed.
posted on Jul 9, 2008 - View this thread

toneshared is a library of free mobile phone ringtones made by electronica/alternative musicians. From the subtle to the mashed to the downright annoying.
posted on Jun 26, 2008 - View this thread

Google's Android goes live for demo. Lots of video and stills. Cache.
posted on May 28, 2008 - View this thread

If hydrogen-cell cars are no good, how about hydrogen-cell motorbikes!
posted on May 14, 2008 - View this thread

Arthur de Pins. Cheeky French illustrations and animations. Some mildly NSFW.
posted on Apr 21, 2008 - View this thread

After recent promising results demonstrating the ability to change mouse skin cells into stem cells, researchers have replicated this change in human skin cells in papers published in Science and Cell (access to full articles requires subscription) . The White House, somehow, is trying to take credit for this. The potential of all this: huge.
posted on Nov 21, 2007 - View this thread

The Inner Life of an Intelligently Designed Cell? Remember The Inner Life of a Cell animation (discussed here)? Apparently the Discovery Institute (recently discussed here) is showing it in presentations with a new title and narration, and without attribution.
posted on Nov 20, 2007 - View this thread

The son of industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (creator of the distinct styling of the Apple IIc and subsequent products, as well as founder of frog design) shares memories and photographs (auf Deutsch; Google cache) of Apple's early attempts at an iPhone.
posted on Jul 18, 2007 - View this thread

WIRED: A cell mobile phone helped police find the body of missing student Kelly Nolan. "The average citizen is not aware that they are carrying a location-tracking device in their pocket..."
posted on Jul 18, 2007 - View this thread

Tappity is a free guide to mobile-friendly sites. From your browser, you can search for or add sites, and rate sites in the database. You can also set up a homepage of favorite links. This is displayed when you navigate to Tappity from your mobile. It's a seemingly simple idea that's been making my train commute fly by.
posted on Apr 19, 2007 - View this thread

Are mobile phones wiping out our bees? Electromagnetic waves from cell phones and other sources may be the cause behind the mysterious bee colony collapses in the US and Europe, a serious problem for food crops.
posted on Apr 15, 2007 - View this thread

Michael J. Fox makes an impassioned plea(YouTube) to Missouri voters asking them to vote for Claire McCaskill for the us Senate.
posted on Oct 20, 2006 - View this thread

Dead Ringers: the Science Museum asks us the question "should we upgrade our mobile phone?" "No" and "no" say the Times and the Observer, but we still do: on average every 18 months. What's the problem? Well it isn't just the lead, arsenic, beryllium and brominated fire-retardant cases (pollutants all) disappearing into our land fills (which are not covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive [WEEE] in Europe). Coltan also goes into our phones. It occurs mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as such our demand for upgrades has been contributing to a war (despite mobile phone companies' claims to the contrary, coltan is not regulated like timber). If we must upgrade, we can at least recycle or hack our old phones.
posted on Aug 7, 2006 - View this thread

Most. Expensive. Cellphone. Evar. (It's Jaren Goh Design's $300,000USD "Black Diamond" phone.)
posted on Jul 25, 2006 - View this thread

Cooking Behind Bars. In 1986, upon my arrival at the county jail, my cooking lessons began. There, I witnessed men using empty toothpaste tubes as spoons, and burning toilet paper to heat up coffee or reheat the food served. Complete with recipes.
posted on Jan 7, 2006 - View this thread

The Banana Cell Phone Cover - Just in time for Christmas! Hey, it looks like he's talking into a banana.
posted on Nov 29, 2005 - View this thread

Around the world on 8 litres of fuel? I'd be more excited about this if the automotive industry hadn't been teasing us with cool, feature laden concept cars for years, and then actually producing boring combustion engine sedans.
posted on Jun 29, 2005 - View this thread

Source of stem cells idea sent me straight into my uncanny valley. (via aldaily)
posted on Jun 17, 2005 - View this thread

Micromovie awards 2005 - the mission: produce a 90-second movie filmed entirely on a mobile phone (dubbing of better quality audio permitted). Dozens of films are available here for viewing. Sponsored, or course, by a major phone manufacturer. Don't let that distract you from the cute little films, though)
posted on May 26, 2005 - View this thread

Cellphedia is a thesis project created by Limor Garcia (NYU). It's a cell phone application that allows to send and receive encyclopedia-type inquiries through Text messaging. A user will be able to get all the information they need – from “how old is the queen of England?” to “how many miles is the Brooklyn Bridge?” – through a real-time social network, while walking in the street.
posted on May 3, 2005 - View this thread

Nokia's iPod killer. Nokia today introduced their new N-series multimedia-centric phones (dropping the 4-digit model numbers they've been using for ever). The N91 in particular looks like it's shooting straight for the iPod crown: 4GB hard drive, 3G, global GSM, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, USB mass storage, FM radio and a claimed 12.5 hrs of battery time. The N90 isn't too shabby either.
posted on Apr 27, 2005 - View this thread

Camouflage Cell Towers hidden in trees, buildings, and crosses.
posted on Apr 7, 2005 - View this thread

A higher power at work in church steeples In a move which I can't help think is twistedly brilliant, churches around the nation are beginning to reap benefits from the great wireless expansion. By turning their steeples. Into cellular towers.
posted on May 1, 2003 - View this thread

Among the most confusing dilemmas facing today's consumer is the question of which cell phone carrier is right for you. Even though Consumer Reports just published an article rating different carriers, the results are far from conclusive. I've been searching for web resources to cut through all the crap, and I thought I'd share a couple with the MeFi community, since typing "compare cell phone plans" into Google brings up a load of pop-up laden vendors thinly disguised as dispensers of advice.

• PhoneScoop.com offers the most comprehensive lists of cell phone features I've seen, a handy comparison tool, and a good number of intelligent user reviews.
• LetsTalk.com suffers from a bit of that thinly-disguised-vendor syndrome, but it is useful for comparing different services and getting clearly presented, itemized lists of each service's features. Be wary of the service comparison tool, because it's rather incomplete, but it's a good starting point to compare plans.

posted on Jan 23, 2003 - View this thread

"A lot of time is being wasted" Nancy Reagan lobbies for stem cell research. Some things never change.
posted on Oct 1, 2002 - View this thread

Study: Mobile Phone Users Worse Than Drunk Drivers
It took mobile users half-a-second longer to react than normal, and one-third of a second longer than when they had been drinking.
They were also less able to maintain a constant speed and found it harder to keep a safe distance from the car in front. Participants in the study stated that they found it easier to drive drunk than when using a cell phone.
Here's the fun quote:
"Eventually," said Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager at Direct Line, "we would like to see the use of mobile phones when driving, both hand-held and hands-free, become as socially unacceptable as drink driving."
Nice graphic Here that explains the time/distance it takes to stop. That fraction of a second = +46 feet stopping time over normal, and +33 over being drunk. More Here and The Full Report[PDF].
posted on Mar 24, 2002 - View this thread

CellManners.com: "A site devoted to promoting civility between cell phone users and the people around them." Don't miss the Cell Slang. (Brought to my attention by NY Times article "Cell Yell: Why Do Phone Calls Turn Into Broadcasts?")
posted on Nov 23, 2001 - View this thread

Anyone starting to play NokiaGame? It incorporates all forms of communication (web, cellphone, tv and radio) to guide you thru an interactive adventure game in loads of countries, and has loads and loads of players... anyone had good/bad experiences? I played last year - got shamelessly addicted...
posted on Nov 3, 2001 - View this thread

Yesterday, the Good Morning Silicon Valley webpage at the SJ Merc (which I love since it keeps me from having to see CNET's god awful ads) had an interesting blurb as an offshoot of the whole NY cell-phone safety debacle (scroll to the last item.) Columnist John Paczkowski asked if it was possible to change your pants in a moving car at 65 miles an hour. He got some pretty funny responses. What have YOU done in a moving car that you shouldn't have?
posted on Jun 29, 2001 - View this thread

Before you get that cell phone check to see where the tantalum inside it comes from. You could be funding a civil war in the Congo.
posted on Jun 6, 2001 - View this thread

cell phone rings? the next napster. (could, could, could. do you think record companies will actually pursue this?)
posted on Apr 24, 2001 - View this thread

Erik Davis on Feed: "I feel compelled to mention the strangely underreported fact that, thanks to the FCC, all U.S. cell phones will soon be required to pack GPS units (or some equivalent tech) that will allow their location to be fixed the moment that 911 is dialed... the FCC has also ruled that wireless carriers, and not users, own GPS location data, and can freely sell it to third parties... your radio-cum-PDA-cum-cell phone... may want to tell you about the great deal on Beanie Babies or Canon’s 15 x 45 image-stabilized binoculars that awaits you two shops down to the right."
posted on Jan 22, 2001 - View this thread

Is this the real reason some people hate cellphones?
posted on Jul 13, 2000 - View this thread

The August 2000 issue of Wired points readers to Tokyo Motor Trenz (site doesn't appear to be working at the moment), a small store in SF that will "trick out" your Nokia cell phone for you. Glow-in-the-dark buttons, clear plastic cases, LCD "tattoos", funky antennas, etc.
posted on Jul 12, 2000 - View this thread

Today's Davenetics (it's a newsletter) noticed a flurry of wireless deals came about today. AOL is planning mobile versions of instant messenger, email, and other AOL services, Microsoft is working on mobile MSN and Hotmail, while Amazon has unveiled their phone portal to shopping. Looks like we will soon be reminiscing about the good old days when the internet used silly wires and cables.
posted on Feb 28, 2000 - View this thread