Author: Terren

In downtown Montreal following the Alouettes’ Grey Cup victory on Sunday, there were a few celebratory car honks and cheers, but only a fraction of the throngs that jam the streets following a Canadiens playoff win.

Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen has died at age 84 in a Florida hospital from complications from pneumonia.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry has ordered journalists to leave the front-line island of Yeonpyeong, citing high tension with North Korea as U.S.-South Korea military exercises begin.

2010 is a special year for members of the Rider Nation, who count themselves among the most ardent fans of any CFL team. Not only did their beloved Riders make it to the Grey Cup – the team is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

If war breaks out on the Korean peninsula, Canada could become embroiled because of a half-century-old UN military alliance, federal documents reveal.

Football fans in Brandon are going wild for Saskatchewan Roughriders gear heading into Grey Cup weekend.

There’s not a lot separating the two Grey Cup teams, but our resident CFL scribe is reluctantly picking the Saskatchewan Roughriders to defeat the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday.

Scientists have been experimenting with muscles and technology to solve both human and robotic mobility issues for years. Now it looks as though researchers from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have made a significant leap forward for paraplegics, thanks to a revolutionary microchip the team has dubbed “Active Book.” What’s notable about the chip is that it stimulates more muscle groups than existing technology without the need for external connections. This was accomplished via micro-packing and precision laser processing, which allowed tiny electrodes to be cut from platinum foil and rolled into a 3D book shape. These platinum foil “pages” close in around nerve roots, and are micro-welded to a hermetically sealed silicon chip. Once embedded into areas within the spinal canal, the chip can work to stimulate paralyzed muscles, implying patients could even “perform enough movement to carry out controlled exercise such as cycling or rowing.” A press release from the Council says the Active Book will begin trials sometime next year — we can’t wait to see the results.

Continue reading Active Book microchip provides hope for exercising paralyzed limbs

Active Book microchip provides hope for exercising paralyzed limbs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 02:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been waiting and praying for the day when Japanese vocalist Hatsune Miku will sing in English, well my friends, that day has finally come.

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With temperatures in the -15C range in Saskatchewan this week, a school in the east-central part of the province is coping the best it can with a broken heating system.

The Acer Iconia! What a strange dual-screen creature. It’s clearly someone’s idea of the future of computing, but is it ready for prime time? Take a look for yourself. More »

Johnson & Johnson says it has ordered a voluntary recall of about 4.8 million packages of children’s medicines due to “insufficiencies” in the manufacturing process.

“amazing photography”

Shocker of shockers, folks — Acer’s getting into the tablet game, too. With the holidays too close for comfort, the outfit’s giving everyone pause that was considering that janky Android tablet on sale for Black Friday. All jesting aside, the flagship 10.1-incher looks quite interesting, boasting a dual-core 1GHz processor, an HDMI output and a native 1280×800 (!) screen resolution. You’ll also get a 5 megapixel rear camera, an “HD” front-facing camera for video calling and full multitouch support. Hard to say how many clams it’ll cost ya, but at least there’s an April 2011 ship date to mark down. Moving on, the 7-inch tablet (also unnamed as of now) packs the same screen resolution, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU and the same Flash 10.1 support — so far as we can tell, the “Android Tablet OS” Acer speaks of is Froyo, or Android 2.2. That one’s also coming in April of next year, and you can bet we’ll be scrounging up more details as soon as we can.

Update: PR’s live after the break, and here’s what’s new. The 10.1-incher boasts a 13.3mm thick shell, 1080p output over HDMI, a ten-point multitouch system and an inbuilt Gyroscope for gaming purposes. The 7-inch sibling seems mostly identical save for the screen size, packing a dual core CPU, DLNA technology, WiFi and integrated 3G.

Continue reading Acer introduces 7-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets, shipping April 2011

Acer introduces 7-inch and 10.1-inch Android tablets, shipping April 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2007 was the year of the Wii. So was 2008. But 2010? Not the Wii’s year, especially when you look at the console’s decline in the United States over the course of the year. More »