Today I reversed engineered the core technology of a hardware company that recently raised a $20m+ Series B.

This just goes to show that keeping something secret doesn’t mean that others won’t be able to copy it or come up with something better.

The crazy thing is… I know next to nothing about hardware.

It was a depth sensor using a laser light source and an IR camera in a compact webcam-like enclosure. They made it sound magical, but it was really quite simple. They demoed it for about 15 minutes, and there were no pictures allowed. They shot down everyone’s guesses (structured light, time of flight, sonar), and didn’t really describe how the device worked. However, after a few minutes of thinking, extracting the trick behind the technology was pretty easy.

If their technology is really this simple, I’m guessing that their investors are actually investing in the business plan. Now I’m really interested in their strategy…

This video was quite enlightening. It does a good job of explaining how the economy drives us on a macro level.

I am suddenly interested in economics.

I really enjoyed this paper on microwaving vegetables vs. using other cooking methods. I also looked up the funding sources and it seems this paper is purely academically motivated rather than motivated by some microwave company.

The coolest finding was that some vegetables increased their antioxidative properties after cooking.

From Science Daily’s summary:

• The highest antioxidant loss was observed in cauliflower after boiling and microwaving, peas after boiling, and zucchini after boiling and frying.
• Green beans, beets, and garlic were found to keep their antioxidant levels after most cooking treatments.
• The vegetables that increased their antioxidant levels after all cooking methods were green beans (except green beans after boiling), celery and carrots.
• Artichoke was the only vegetable that kept its high antioxidant level during all the cooking methods.

On Flickr:

I ordered one from Abe’s of Maine for about $100 below retail using a coupon code from retailmenot.com. The catch? Waiting time measured in MONTHS!

I recommend getting it from Amazon. Where shipping is free, and the listing price is already 100 below retail.

Key bits from the DPreview Review:

• 24-60mm equiv lens with 2.5x optical zoom and up to 3.8x Digital Zoom
• f/2.0-2.8
• Optical Image Stabilizer
• Program, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority and Manual Exposure Modes
• Hot shoe
• RAW
• 1/1.63-inch 10.1 megapixel sensor
• Retro Sexy

The LX3 is an example of a species so endangered that the we were beginning to worry it had become extinct – a compact camera that photographers can get excited about. Panasonic has included a large degree of direct control, classy styling and, more importantly, a specification that goes beyond the unthinking ‘larger screen and more megapixels’ trend.

It’s hard to tell what we’re more impressed by – the ambitious lens or the decision to sit back and spectate during this round of the megapixel race. If pixels aren’t just to become clutter on your hard drive, they must contain useful information and we’ve seen too many compact cameras that produce images that need to be down-sized to bring them up to standard. The LX3 may not have the eye-popping resolution of some of its peers but instead it’s one of the best high-ISO compact cameras we’ve seen.

From Nature:

Here we report that peeling common adhesive tape in a moderate vacuum produces radio and visible emission…

The intensity of X-ray triboluminescence allowed us to use it as a source for X-ray imaging. The limits on energies and flash widths that can be achieved are beyond current theories of tribology.

Well, it looks like eating until you’re full makes you die faster. No more all-you-can-eat Sushi for me.

Here’s a robot that’s wirelessly controlled by living brain tissue.

It’s all over the Internet – Huge earthquake in China. =(