First Flexible Ebook Reader Developed By Tiremaker Bridgestone [Readers]

Written by lito paramo | 27 October 2009

When not making tires, Bridgestone is working on ebook readers so flexible that they'd probably survive being driven over. They've even got a prototype ready for testing, but no plans to commercialize the slender and bendy device at this point.

The reader is definitely slender as it's almost half as thin as a Kindle 2. It's said that it can be "bent to some extent since the circuit board and the electronic paper are flexible," but no one is saying how much "to some extent" is. No matter. While the lack of too many details about it or any plans for a commercial product put a damper onto Bridgestone's device, the good news is that other companies might adapt the technology in their products. The countdown to being able to toss our readers into bags without worrying about destroyed displays is on. [Crunchgear]

Hey Microsoft: We Need Aliases for Xbox Live Gamertags [Rants]

Written by lito paramo | 27 October 2009

I love Xbox Live, I really do. But man, how am I supposed to keep track of what usernames my friends are using? We need aliases, and we've needed them for a while.

On Adium, the AIM client I use, I put in aliases for everyone on my buddy list. How the hell am I supposed to remember everybody's ancient screennames that are references to something obscure from high school? Instead, they come up as, you know, their names.

On Xbox Live, I have literally no idea who some of my friends are. I have vague guesses based on their avatars, and I knew who they were when I added them, but everybody has such goddamned goofy usernames, it's impossible to keep track of them all.

Wouldn't it be easy to allow people to enter their real names as well and then give users a choice about which to display, the handle or the real name? Or allow people to create custom aliases for each person on their friends list? Because not knowing who your friends are kind of defeats the purpose of having a friends list in the first place, doesn't it?

Beijing Expansion Looks Like High Tech Eden [Architecture]

Written by lito paramo | 27 October 2009

They may have some of the dirtiest city skies in the planet, but at least the Chinese authorities are doing something about it. Check out the green, beautiful urban planning for the future of Beijing Central Business District:

I don't know if the lush gardens, the green public transportation, and the pedestrian and bike-friendly road network would help with their contamination problems, but they sure look pretty. SOM—the architects who won the Beijing Central Business District competition—say that it will help save a lot of money and resources:

The SOM plan defines new strategies for building municipal infrastructure and high performance buildings. Implementation of the plan could reduce energy consumption within the district by 50%, reduce water consumption by 48%, reduce landfill waste by 80%, and result in a 50% reduction in carbon emissions. Reduction in emissions from office buildings alone would equate to a reduction of 215,000 tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of planting 14 million adult trees.

Now, if they could make the Chinese government to respect Human Rights, then this city expansion would be truly people-friendly. [SOM via Otto]