Even though we’re living in 2013 and can stream entire seasons of TV shows in between banking and sending work emails on our phone alone, sending data around the world is not exactly an easy feat. The internet exists how it does today thanks to the help of cables sunk deep into the world’s oceans. A new, gorgeous map details the world’s submarine cables as they appear in 2013, and shows us where the underwater internet is headed in the future.
Why can’t our refrigerator fire off an urgent email when the milk has gone lumpy? And the toilet paper dispenser warn us it’s empty – before we sit down? And when will our microwaves run BitTorrent? EUREKA, the European R&D network, knows how badly you crave networked objects, and rather than mock you, it's moving to help. To that end, it has developed small, inexpensive, battery-powered sensors able to link everything from consumer electronics to environmental monitors to factory robots – creating the much-anticipated "Internet of Things." But unlike the over-hyped RFID, it’s technology you’d actually use. Instead of knowing whether your keys are indeed on the RFID reader, the network could gently remind you that you left them in your car, which is now 100 miles away with someone else at the wheel, but, luckily for you, low on gas. Gaze into the so-called future of things with EUREKA’s press release, conveniently embedded after the jump.
Long exposure photogrpahy is plenty awesome on its own. But pair it with a staff that lights up according to how strong Wi-Fi signal is and you get something even more illuminating: a picture of what Wi-Fi networks really look like. More »