If you’ve ever wondered which disease will be the disease that kills you, I recommend that you take the 9 minutes to watch this TEDMED video.

The opening evening of TEDMED, I was sitting near the front, waiting for presentations to start. I made casual conversation with the man next to me, before realizing that he was actually about to speak.

Actually, “speak” sounds like a bit of an overstatement. This guy, Bill Davenhall, was pitching me on the importance of maps. Maps! Boring old maps! What did maps have to do with the future of medicine?

So he explained a few cool things that maps could do. For instance, when combined with satellite imagery, they could track plants most common in areas of malaria outbreaks, warning residents before hindsight was 20/20.

Within about 2 minutes of chit chat, he’d sold me. Then, he got up on stage and showed this presentation, and I was floored by his thesis (what we should be able to do with data that we already possess). [TEDMED]

Going for a spectacular sunset shot, a man ventured onto the ice of the North Sea. But he quickly became lost on the monochromatic landscape. Ironically, two cameras would rescue him from the very danger a camera put him in.

The man started firing off the flash of his camera, hoping to grab someone’s attention who could beckon him back to the coast. And someone spotted him—from hundreds of miles away at her computer—as she watched this webcam feed of St. Peter-Ording, the tourist spot where the man disappeared.

She contacted authorities who guided him back to shore safely. [Physorg and BBC]

Still think that widespread iMac problems don’t exist? After we reported Apple giving UK customers 15% refund bonuses with 27-inch iMac returns, we’ve heard from quite a few readers that Apple is doing the same thing in the US. UPDATE

15%. Cash. So on a $2000 machine, we’re talking about a $300 apology straight from Apple customer support. From the handful of reader anecdotes we’ve received thus far, it sounds like you need to be a repeat iMac returner who’s dealt with multiple 27-inch iMacs that have been busted in some way (but they may accommodate first time buyers as well, we don’t know). One reader had multiple yellow screens, then received another new model with broken Bluetooth. He took the 15% and just returned it.

Even though Apple has failed to admit the iMac’s failings in a public light, there’s no doubt, the company is putting their money where their mouth isn’t.

UPDATE: According to an Apple customer support discussion with one of our readers, the 15% bonus refund is officially for “tax and shipping”—it’s a flat base rate to cover your return no matter the area you are in. So if you have an 8% sales tax, you may only be pocketing 7% (and even less after shipping if you don’t have an Apple Store near). Obviously this offer ranges from small bonus to adequate refund, depending on your circumstance, but returning an iMac is far from a money making venture.

How do you counter Apple’s iPad? With another iPad. That’s what Sony’s going to do, according to Sony’s CFO Nobuyuki Oneda.

“[Slates are] a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product…Time-wise we are a little behind the iPad but it’s a space we would like to be an active player in.”

To be fair, Sony’s Reader was the first major eReader in the world, and it was a pretty remarkable product for its time. The Vaio P, while a bit unusable by normal-sized humans, is also a small engineering marvel.

But…oh Sony. I just can’t take anything you say or do seriously anymore. I’m trying here. Make you a deal—say that whole piece about the iPad again. This time, I’ll do my best not to crack a smile.

Nope, not working. I tried. I tried so hard. [Computerworld]

So, the HDDBOOST may be ridiculously brilliant. It’s a hard drive bay that offers SATA connections to both a normal hard drive and a solid state drive. Ultimately, it promises the speeds of SSD with the storage capacity of HDD.

Here’s how it works:

With no additional software, a 32GB SSD (recommended size, that you install) mirrors a chunk of data from your HDD, allowing it to act as a high speed data buffer, starting processes quickly while your computer only combs through your slower HDD-based files as necessary.

Of course, everything won’t be SSD speed, but manufacturer SilverStone still promises a 150% speed increase across your entire computing experience. That number is a bit hard to swallow, given the fact that there’s no intelligent optimization (that we’ve heard of, at least) guiding HDDBOOST to only copy over the most used, most beneficial files for speed increases. Then again, the idea certainly makes some level sense. And for $55 (available in Japan only at the moment), the HDDBOOST isn’t a huge financial risk. [Hexus]

Netflix signed a frightening deal with Warner Bros, delaying new release WB DVDs from going out to customers until 28 days of purgatory pass. Netflix minimized the decision, but what if every studio jumps on board? Here’s an example:

TechCrunch dug through Netflix’s top January rentals, and they yanked any title that’s within 28 days of release. Over half (13 of 24) would be missing.

(Yes if available, no if not)

1) Julie & Julia: December 8 — No

2) District 9: December 22 —- No

3) 500 Days of Summer: December 22 —- No

4) Angels and Demons: November 24 -– Yes

5) The Proposal: October 13 —-Yes

6) The Hangover: December 15 —- No

7) Star Trek: November 17 -Yes

8) Up: November 10 —-Yes

9) The Taking Of Pelham 123: November 3 -– Yes

10) Night At The Museum 2: December 1 -– Yes

11) The Ugly Truth: November 10 —- Yes

12) Public Enemies: December 8 -– No

13) The Hurt Locker: January 12 —- No

14) Inglourious Basterds: December 15 —- No

15) Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: January 5 — No

16) Funny People: November 24 — Yes

17) G.I. Joe: November 3 — Yes

18) Harry Potter 6: December 8 —- No

19) Terminator 4: December 1 – Yes

20) Gamer: January 19 — No

21) A Perfect Getaway: December 29 — No

22) Extract: December 22 — No

23) 9: December 29 —– No

24) Transformers 2: October 20 — Yes

25) Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past: September 22 — Yes

Netflix has positioned themselves well, especially as the service has evolved to the greatest streaming media portal (in the living room) in existence. But even scrolling through my digital media library, I can spot a decent number of titles, sure, but there’s not all that much that I actually want to watch (Starz offers some of their most notable content, and even that’s in jeopardy).

Netflix has developed an amazing rental infrastructure. But they need to become as media savvy as Apple if they want to make it worth a damn. [TechCrunch][Photo by Rob Lee]

Back in the 60s, astronauts had to compete with monkeys to make their way into space. Today, NASA and GM have developed a new trainable, expendable crew member. Its name is Robonaut2.

(The original Robonaut, developed a decade ago, never got off the ground.)

Ambidextrous and designed to use the same tools as humans, Robonaut2 can lift up to 20lbs (just check out that lead photo!) and operate in environments too dangerous or inconvenient for humans to work. From what we can tell given the past decade of Robonaut development, the system is loaded with technologies like head tracking, so Robonaut can autonomously watch a human’s every move, but the limited AI seems to take the backseat as Robonaut is more of a VR controlled construction worker than a HAL on legs.

Well, that’s as of today. The bottom line is that, in the not so distant future, we’ll be able to build robots that need far less care than humans. Robots were the first to walk (OK, roll) on Mars. And it’s hard to imagine that trend slowing down, ever. [Nasa via Engadget]

In this week’s iMac update, we talk to an Apple Authorized Service Provider/Reseller from the UK. And what does he tell us? Apple is so short on 27-inch displays that they’re paying customers 15% to simply return faulty iMacs.

Can You Safely Buy a New iMac Yet?

Nope.

Why?

The yellow screens have yet to be fixed. The flickering screens have just been addressed with a second firmware update, but we can’t tell whether or not this update fixed the problem. (Write [email protected] to let us know your experience).

What’s Being Done?

27-inch iMacs are still being delayed in what is allegedly a complete halting of their assembly line, though Apple has denied it. The three-week delay of last week has been shifted to a two-week delay (but such is to be expected, as we’re a week later in whatever fix Apple appears to be working on). Of course, if Apple’s screen issues are in any way related to believed supplier LG’s production methods, these delays might not help. LG-sourced Dell displays are having color issues, too.

What’s With the Apple Payouts??

A UK-based Apple Authorized Service Provider/Reseller shared some interesting information with me. First, the UK appears to be totally out of 27-inch panels to repair iMacs (which makes sense if Apple’s assembly lines are halted). Here’s what he said, after sharing inventory lists with me:
(click for pop-out)

The short of it is that apple doesn’t have any 27″ LCDs in Europe and there is a backlog of 230 machines that are waiting on this part, with no eta on shipping. So to keep customers happy(ish) they’re paying them. That’s right apple is now (quietly) offering people a full refund and 15% of the price extra, and they are arranging a free pick up of your machine. I’m not 100% if this is the case in the US, but it’s happening over here in the UK.

As far as i know it’s both Apple stores and 3rd party retailers, but the refund itself comes from Apple not the 3rd party retailer. We’ve had two customer that have both gotten there machines’ refunded plus the 15%.

In real numbers, that’s an apology of $300 or more on Apple’s part.

Quote of the Week

“The 27-inch iMac has been a huge hit with customers and we are working to increase supply to meet up with strong demand.”
– Apple spokesperson

How Can you Test Your Machine?

A flickering screen will be immediately obvious. As for issues where the bottom half of the screen looks a bit yellow, you can confirm those suspicions here.

Maybe you’re a good photographer, but you’re horrible with Photoshop. Maybe you’re great at Photoshop, but you’re a horrible photographer. Don’t worry, both camps can excel at this week’s Shooting Challenge: Polar Panoramas. I promise.

The Challenge

Make a polar panorama (or a planet made from a panoramic photograph)—which involves shooting a panorama, then bringing those shots into Photoshop. After about 5 minutes of work, with the help of the Polar Coordinates filter, you’ll have something resembling our lead photo.

The Method

Photojojo has a superb step by step tutorial online, as does Instructables. The basic point to keep in mind is this: frame your base photograph so that the top and bottom 25% are fairly devoid of detail (sky and ground, for instance). Also, while we normally ask submissions to avoid post processing wherever possible, this week is obviously a little bit different. So go nuts to make your final shot look great (within ethical reason—no adding fake buildings or whatever).

The Rules

1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos need to be taken the week of the contest. (No portfolio linking or it spoils the “challenge” part.)
3. Explain, briefly, the equipment, settings and technique used to snag the shot.
4. Email submissions to [email protected].
5. Include 800px wide image AND 2560×1600 sized in email. More details on these below.

Send your best entries by Sunday, February 7th at 6PM Eastern to [email protected] with “Polar Panorama” in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs, and use a FirstnameLastname.jpg (800px) and FirstnameLastnameWALLPAPER.jpg (2560px) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email.

I’d probably never use an electric blanket—I’ve just heard too many horror stories that include elements like burn marks and houses transformed to ash. But a water cooled/heated mattress? That sounds downright brilliant.

The ChiliBed is similar to all the memory foam mattresses you’ve seen advertised lately, but inside its core, water is either heated or cooled while it passes through coils, generating a massive temperature flux that should emanate naturally from your sleep surface.

But the real reason this product felt so remarkable? The claimed temperature range is impressively (and maybe even dangerously?) wide, accommodating those of you who’d like to sleep in environments spanning from 48-118 degrees F—and each member of the bed (assuming you’re just sleeping with one other person) can have their own temperature controls.

Technically, I find the ChiliBed to be quite clever. Practically, well, neither temperature extreme sounds particularly healthy.

Still, bundled with the right level of research, it’d be neat if the ChiliBed could adjust temperatures in sync with your sleeping patterns, helping you rest or, heck, just sweat/shiver off some of your excess weight. [ChiliBed]

The original solBAT was a neat idea—a backup battery that charged through an integrated solar panel, which in turn charged any USB device. The solBAT II is the same thing, but it charges devices even faster.

Mounting to a window thanks to some suction cups, or hooking to pretty much anything with a clip, the 1500mA solBAT II puts out 5V through USB, which is enough throughput to charge your iPhone as quickly as you can from the wall.

For $30 (available soon), I’m willing to give the solBAT II a shot. Something about the prospect of free solar power still feels way more sci fi to me than it probably should at this day and age. [Scosche]

Note: In an old version of this post, we mixed up the solBAT and the solCHAT. We’ve amended this error. The old solBAT was $30 as well.

Good meat is about more than proper marbling. Apparently quality of fat has a lot to do with its flavor, which is why researchers are re-purposing cameras to tell the best cuts from the just OK.

Two teams of Japanese researchers have been using infrared cameras to detect Oleic acid (which signals the presence of tasty, tender omega-9 fatty acids) in Hida-gyu beef. In a recent trial, 14 out of 24 experienced beef experts confirmed that beef determined to be of higher quality through infrared photography testing really was. Now, the team hopes to refine their process so that it’s more accurate, while I hope whatever they discover can squeeze into a modded iPhone and correlating app. [Examiner via Switched via Picturephoning][Image by Conny Lundgren]

Intel and Micron are growing their latest 25nm flash memory in this new production facility. PC Perspective gives us a tour of this strange world where men wear cleanroom suits, lest they contaminate the robots. [PC Perspective]

I just want to take anyone from Sony who’s related to the development of the PS3 platform in any way, and shake them until the saboteur witch doctors hired from Nintendo and Microsoft lose their hold.

The latest idea from the Sony braintrust? No more big downloadable titles. So you’ll still be able to download little arcade games, but future titles the size of Warhawk will no longer be offered on PSN.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has assembled an impressive library of $20 titles on the 360, and they’re intelligently slapping games like, say, Mass Effect on there before Mass Effect 2 comes out. This kind of strategery is good for the game studios, sure, but more importantly, it’s convenient for the consumer.

Anyway, Sony is having none of that. Why? Because their platform is heavily invested in 50GB-wielding Blu-ray (which requires hefty installs for some games all the same).

You want to know the chief problem with Blu-ray, Sony? It’s that you can’t download it. You aren’t out of the console fight yet. Pick yourself up, dust off your gloves and attack the world with every tentacle that is Sony’s larger development monstrosity.

I grew up listening to a Walkman. This shit kills me. [IGN via Kotaku]

You think you’re better than me, TouschSmart 600? You think because you’re now configurable with Core i7 720QM (1.6 GHz) or i7 820QM (1.73GHz) processors—starting at $1700—that you’ve defeated the long-standing caste system separating man and machine?

Well, at least this new option makes you a viable (though a bit Pontiac-looking) replacement for an i7 iMac. Check out what I thought about the Core2Duo version of the TouchSmart 600 here. Then know that the i7 will be the exact same thing but faster. [HP]

There’s nothing especially wrong with bowls, except for the simple fact that bowls aren’t slides.

The Fruit Slide—a concept—stores fruit with two critical elements of any design: style and a hint of danger. You get the style from the timeless spiral design. And the danger, well, sooner or later you’re probably going to distractedly grab for an apple only to watch a few weeks of fruit bruise on your kitchen floor.

Yes, it’s my greatest wish to see the high octane pome ride that is the Fruit Slide come to fruition. There’s gotta be a factory somewhere in Shenzhen that can cease production of glowing iPhone cases long enough for this small dream to actualize. [Michael Anderson via Home Tome Nerd Approved]

OK, so it’s not really a power core. The Escape C is really just a necklace with some LEDs and Bluetooth controls, but this Tokyoflash product is still neat in its own right.

Pairing with pretty much any Bluetooth device—from an iPhone to a Skype-wielding PC—the Escape C can accommodate a pair of headphones (with mic) while streaming A2DP audio. Plus, typical volume, track advance and call controls offer you a means to control your music and communications without reaching into your pocket.

Of course, Tokyoflash couldn’t create a product without some sort of cryptic time cipher, which is where those blue LEDs come into play. But we won’t understand how that part works until the Escape C is released later this year for $150-$180. [egoism via lowyat via technabob]

After Apple announced the iPad, Barnes & Noble contacted me immediately to inform me that my long-standing Nook order was on its way. This new-to-me product has proven to be more than a little quirky—directly upon opening it.

But I’m not going to lament the Nook’s ePub/DRM compatibility failings that sucked away a good portion of my wife’s weekend when she just wanted to read—those have been well-documented on plenty of message boards by now. Nor will I complain that the arrangement of left and right page turn buttons is completely counter-intuitive. (Why wouldn’t a button on the left of the screen flip pages back while a button on the right flipped pages forward? Instead, B&N uses an odd stacked arrangement.)

OK, I won’t complain about those quirks much.

I just want to point out something so ridiculous that it encapsulates every obvious and avoidable design flaw with the Nook; it should serve as a symbol, a mascot, if you will, for all that is wrong with what should be a device every bit as natural to use as a book.

The Nook has a 2-page, 7-step set of instructions to explain how you pull the thing from its plastic case. I’m not exaggerating. Within the scope of the grandma test, it’s fail incarnate.

The sadder point? Even with as many electronics as I unbox a week, it took me a good 5 minutes to figure this process out on my own. (After all, I never thought to turn to the instruction manual just to open the package.)

In other words, the Nook packaging actually necessitates these lengthy instructions, as ridiculous as they are in their own right. Somehow, Barnes & Noble invented a box that’s every bit as complicated as their product.

Mighty rulers of B&N—CEOs with names I’m too lazy to Google at this time—don’t let some prima donna designer or marketer tell you how to make or package your product. Ask your mom or grandma. They always knows best.

Read our full Nook review here.

For about $24 in parts and 20 minutes’ worth of drilling/bolting, this coffee can lamp can be yours. Just be ready for all the “nice cans” jokes to pour in at your decor’s expense. [ReadyMade via Unplggd]