MICHAEL RUNDLE
London-based journalist, occasional artist.
Tech Editor at HuffPost UK
Also:
- Creator of Tower of Ghost
- Illustrator
- Former metal singer
- Interested in Time Travel
Contact details, CV & other whatnot below.
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Tweets
- Still from Apple ad: I have this bag, haircut, beard and coat. I live half a mile from this street. Image rights! http://t.co/KoyLc1YsYy
- Google Map of every place, street, town and city Bob Dylan ever sang about. http://t.co/cANRXqbimS
- I knew the *exact* page number. If it wasn't clear, I was a bit of a dweeb.
- Once took an entrance exam where the reading section was a passage from a Discworld book. Q1: 'Where do you think this passage came from'…
- I wish my job was to answer papers like these. http://t.co/7b8nKSxOXN
- 'The Beauty Section' http://t.co/446sPTn7k4
- Restaurant's Extreme Burger Challenge Moved Down To Regular Menu http://t.co/XI12SyCmoP - one for Man Vs Food fans.
- @themuneeb @mehdirhasan Yesterday it had 7 signatures. Today, 61. That, my friends, is political momentum in the digital age.
- You know what game is still quite awesome? Unreal Tournament 3. Thanks, Steam eterna-Sale (and my capacity for nostalgia for Flak Cannons).
- It just seems a weird thing to wear. How do you explain it to anyone? What's the statement? Also, how do I develop my own T-shirt business?
- Like a lot of people I quite enjoy Daring Fireball from time to time. But who in god's name would buy a DF T-shirt? http://t.co/V2ZbzJnrEP
- Milwaukee Brewers Bloody Mary comes with cheeseburger-bacon-popcorn-bacon-sausage-nacho-pickel-pretzel-hotdog stirrer http://t.co/57wr55rlwQ
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Info
- Summary
Technology Editor of the Huffington Post UK.
Former Assistant News & Politics editor at HuffPost, former editor of the UK's top men's blog, Asylum.co.uk, former reporter for Metro New York and graduate of NYU (MA Journalism) and Cambridge University.
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In 2006, after studying history at the University of Cambridge and completing an internship at the BBC, Michael moved to New York City to read for an MA in journalism.
While in New York he worked full-time as a reporter for Metro New York newspaper, covering crime, transportation and the 2008 election. He also freelanced for several other publications, most notably The Brooklyn Rail.
In 2008 Michael joined AOL as an assistant editor for Asylum, a new men’s online magazine. Four months later, with the site now the leader in its category and having graduated from NYU, he moved back to London to become Asylum’s UK editor. When he left Asylum in 2011 the site had more than a million visitors a month.In 2011 Michael joined The Huffington Post as UK Assistant News & Politics Editor, and in June 2012 was promoted to Technology Editor.
Specialties: Journalism, online business development and outreach, graphics and illustrationExperience- May 2012 - PresentTechnology Editor UK / The Huffington Post
Overall editorial responsibility for HuffPost UK's technology content and website.
- May 2011 - May 2012Assistant News Editor UK / The Huffington Post
News writing and editing, homepage editor shifts, long form features and social media.
- Jul 2009 - May 2011Editor / Asylum (AOL Europe)
Editor of Asylum, AOL's website for men. Role involves directing an international team of editors and bloggers, executive management of content and responsibility for growth and business development at asylum.co.uk and other men's media sites.
- May 2008 - Jun 2009UK Editor / Asylum (AOL Europe)
UK editor of Asylum. Management of all daily news and features content plus direction of online promotion and strategy.
- Jan 2008 - May 2008Associate Editor / Asylum (AOL)
Writing and multi-media production plus viral marketing.
- Jan 2007 - Jan 2008News Reporter / Metro International (New York City)
Breaking news stories (politics, crime and social issues) and features, plus copy editing, photography and web development.
- Nov 2004 - Jun 2006Founder, Editor, Producer / Cambridge Independent Podcast
The Cambridge Independent Podcast was one of the UK's first major music podcasts, with more than 15,000 listeners per show. It was highlighted by the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4664065.stm) and USA Today, among others, for its technical innovation and excellent content.
- Jun 2005 - Aug 2005Intern / BBC News
Produced content for the web, television and mobile services as part of BBC's work experience program.
Education-
2006 - 2008New York UniversityMA in Journalism
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2003 - 2006University of CambridgeBA (Hons) in History
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Posts
- May 24, 13
The European Space Agency has official inaugurated a centre to give early warnings in the event of a dangerous asteroid or meteor on a collision-course with Earth.
The NEO Coordination Centre is designed to strengthen the search for dangerous Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).
The ESA estimates that around 600,000 asteroids are present in our solar system, and that around 10,000 could pose a danger to live on our planet.
In a blog posting about the launch, the ESA notes the "dramatic proof" of the danger that was shown by the recent meteor strike on Chelyabinsk, Russia, which injured about 1,000 people earlier this year.
The new centre will act as a central point for European data on NEOs, which are being established under the ESA's Space Situational Awareness programme.
The ESA said:"The new centre will support experts in the field by federating new and existing European assets, systems and sensors into a future NEO system. It will support the integration and initial operation of ESA's NEO information distribution network.
"The Centre is also the focus point for scientific studies needed to improve NEO warning services and provide near-realtime data to European and international customers, including scientific bodies, international organisations and decision-makers."
Meanwhile Nasa is also continuing to search for dangerous NEOs, while several private companies are thinking of turning them to our advantage by potentially mining them for water and precious minerals.
Unfortunately, our inadequate defences were revealed at a recent Congressional hearing, when NASA chief Charles Bolden joked that the best hope against a massive asteroid was currently prayer. - May 24, 13
Somebody's launched a social network for pets.
Yes, that's right - now that we have Facebook, Twitter and a thousand niche dating networks and connection websites, the only thing left is to sign up our domestic animals, give them passwords and then turn off the internet for good.
The site - YummyPets - is designed to be a "social network" exclusively for pets and their owners.
It's not a new idea - several sites such as MySocialPetwork have already been launched in the UK.
But YummyPets does have pedigree (boom boom). It launched in France more than a year ago, and now apparently boasts 150,000 members, with 500 pets joining every day.
The press release for the site's launch here in the UK quotes its founder as (sigh) 'Leo the cat'.
Leo apparently meowed:"I thought that the great pets of Great Britain should have the chance to join the social media world and interact as part of a community that knows them best."
The site includes features such as classified pet ads (to donate, buy and sell pet products), missing pet notices, instant messaging (for owners) and discussion forums.
It also includes "memorial pages" so that owners can pay tribute to lost pets.
As far as we can tell, despite the marketing bluster there is no way for pets to actually use the network themselves. We assume cats would use it to share grooming tips, hold passive agressive video chats and hunt down rivals, and that dogs would use it to stare blankly at the screen before making a "bhoou?" sound and wandering off in search of morsels. - May 24, 13
A student designer has created a prosthetic tentacle as an alternative to artificial human limbs,
Kaylene Kau from Taipei made the remarkable invention as part of a design school project.
The limb would be able to grip many different objects by curling up with the help of a simple motor.
It's actually a pretty simple invention. The controls on the limb tell the motor to curl or uncurl, and there is no 'hardwire' link to the nervous system, as seen in some of the most advanced robotic or artificial limbs in development.
Kau wrote:Through extensive research I found that the prosthetic functioned as an assistant to the dominant functioning hand. The prosthetic needed to be both flexible and adjustable in order to accommodate a variety of different grips.
For all its simplicity it's certainly unique, and an interesting vision of an alternative to traditional prostheses.
Take a look at more images of the device below. - May 24, 13
What's the only thing better than Lego? Giant things made of Lego.
And what's the only thing better than that? Giant things made out of giant pieces of Lego, each made out of Lego.
That's exactly that the Danish toy company has unveiled in Times Square, New York, to 'celebrate' the launch of the new TV series 'The Yoda Chronicles'.
The massive model is a full-scale Lego X-Wing Starfighter from the movie Star Wars. But instead of just building a big spaceship, they built a big version of their own Lego toy of the spaceship.
Each piece of the original 500-piece kit has remade in Lego, and used to build the replica. Gizmodo have some exceptionally good pictures of the build.
Here are some facts about the build:- Contains 5,335,200 LEGO bricks
- Weighs 45,980 pounds/20,865 kilograms
- Height: 11 feet / 3.35 meters
- Length: 43 feet / 13.1 meters
- Wingspan: 44 feet / 13.44 meters
- 32 builders spent 17,336 hours to construct - about 4 months
- May 24, 13Great Scott! A petition has been launched on a government website to boost funding for the development of hover boards.
The demand has been issued on the E-Petitions website, on which the public is allowed to present issues for consideration by ministers.
It asks ministers to consider funding a Back To The Future-style transportation device "so that we'd never have to walk again".
The petition reads:"We've all seen the film 'Back to the Future' it prompts fond childhood memories of how exciting it was going to be living in the future. Flying cars, robots to do the housework and most importantly the hoverboard so that we'd never have to walk again."
"The date in the back to the future film is fast approaching and we are an embarrassing million miles away from introducing the hoverboard to everyday life.
"This petition calls on the government to increase funding into hoverboard research so that we can have the hoverboard in widespread use across the globe by October 21st 2015, the date depicted in film."
If a petition reaches 100,000 signatures it is considered by the Parliamentary Back Bench Business Committee, who then decide whether or not it deserves a debate in the Commons.
So far it doesn't look good for the idea, posted by a Mr Joe Bradley.
Not only is it unclear exactly how the government - specifically the Department for Transport - could help in this matter, but the petition only has seven votes.*
Or rather, eight votes. How could we resist signing up? More power to you, Joe.
* UPDATE: The petition now has 61 votes, still 99,939 short of the required total. - May 23, 13
Lego and Superman are natural partners - more so than any of the Danish brick maker's other DC or Marvel superhero franchises.
That's because Superman can have a playtime role in virtually any product Lego has made. He can save planes, help the police, go back in time to battle pirates and travel to space. He can survive underwater, battle alongside Batman and probably even turn up in Minecraft, if you like.
So his addition to Lego's line-up alongside the new Man of Steel movie is certainly a welcome one for the toys as a whole.
Let's be clear - we love Lego Superman. And the MiniFig itself - with either regular Clark eyes or red Heat Vision eyes, its little cowlick hair and beautifully classic outfit - is brilliant.
It's a slight shame, though, that the three sets we got to try - Black Zero Escape (£19.99), Battle of Smallville (£39.99) and Metropolis Showdown (£11.99) - don't quite do the Man of Tomorrow justice, at least from an adult collector's perspective. Each has its strong points, but doesn't quite embrace the wider mythology of Superman, instead sticking a bit too rigidly to the upcoming film.
The best of the lot is the most expensive. Battle of Smallville comes with three Kryptonian Warriors, Superman and an army guy (who we suspect features in the film), alongside an impressively large, detailed and tactile spaceship and a Jeep. The set is an interesting build and the spaceship is generic enough for kids to play with in a vague, pow-pow sort of way while looking good on a manchild Lego fan's work desk.
But while you can ignore his presence in this set, the addition of the army guy ('Colonel Hardy') flags up a problem with the other two boxes in the range: they don't really make sense without the movie.
In the little Metropolis Showdown set, for instance, you get Superman, General Zod and a pretty inexplicable racing car that you can flip over with an articulated plank. Why? We're not sure.
Likewise, the Black Zero Escape set is clearly based on a scene from the movie, with Lois trapped in a spaceship pod and Superman tasked with rescuing her. But the scenery is hard to decipher, since it's meant to be part of a larger ship, and the possibilities for play seem a bit stale.
All that said, the sets are made with Lego's usual eye for detail and quality. It's just hard to imagine that kids won't eventually lose everything except the Superman MiniFig. They'll undoubtedly find ways to use the Man of Steel in adventures of their own imagination, but whether or not that's value for money for parents is a bit up in the air. - May 23, 13
Think our spring weather is bad?
Nasa says it's also spring on Saturn's moon Titan - and by comparison a bit of hail and drizzle is nothing.
The seasons take about seven years to change on Saturn's largest moon. The strange alien world was dark when Nasa's Cassini spacecraft arrived in 2004, but the sun has now crossed Titan's equatorial plane at equinox, and the northern hemisphere of the moon is starting to warm up.
Above: Ligeia Mare, shown here in data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, is the second largest known body of liquid on Saturn's moon Titan.
The result? Hurricanes, waves on lakes of liquid hydrocarbons and other tremendously intense things which are very interesting as long as you're not actually on Titan.
The space agency is predicting the Spring could bring increased winds, causing waves that will ripple across the moon's lakes of liquid hydrocarbons.
If conditions are right, and there is the right mixture of methane in the lakes, tropical storms or cyclones could also develop, with winds up to 70 km/hour.
Which would probably mess up any plans you had to fly over the world's surface - which due to the low gravity and thick atmosphere, you could actually do.
Above: light glinting off a lake on the surface of Titan
That's added to the normal frigid temperatures of the surface, which are usually as low as minus 179 degrees C.
Scientists think that in some respects, conditions on Titan are similar to those of the early Earth, albeit much colder since it is so far from the Sun. The planet is covered in dunes made of hydrocarbons, rocks and ice of frozen water and clouds of methane, which occasionally burst into rain. - May 23, 13
The ageing Mars rover Opportunity has found evidence that the conditions for ancient life once existed on the Red planet.
The six-wheeled robot has been on Mars since 2004, but it is still producing useful science.
Its remarkable longevity has astounded and delighted Nasa officials, who initially expected that it would last for just 90 Martian days.
Instead it is continuing to roll along the surface, 37 times longer than anybody thought it would.
Its latest discovery is one of its most exciting, Nasa officials said: an area of rock which was clearly weathered by large amounts of water, indicating that the conditions for life once existed on the planet.
Above: Preliminary interpretation points to clay mineral content due to intensive alteration by water.
No, it's not quite a skeleton of a Martian buffalo. But the rock ("Esperance") is unlike any the rover has previously found, fractured and weathered by conditions that were "possibly favorable for life", Nasa said.
The new pictures were taken at Cape York, an area on the rim of the massive Endeavour crater."What's so special about Esperance is that there was enough water not only for reactions that produced clay minerals, but also enough to flush out ions set loose by those reactions, so that Opportunity can clearly see the alteration," said Scott McLennan of the State University of New York.
Lead investigator Steve Squyres said that the "water that moved through fractures during this rock's history would have provided more favourable conditions for biology than any other wet environment recorded in rocks".
The new evidence supports the discovery earlier this year by Nasa's one-ton robot Curiosity rover, which landed on the planet only last year but has already shown that the planet could have supported microbial life in the past.
Opportunity had been exploring Cape York for about 20 months, but it is now heading to another area known as Solander Point, where it will spend the Martian winter.
On the way the rover will break the international record for longest distance travelled on another world, currently held by the Russian Moon robot Lunokhod 2 at 23 miles.
Among its other finds, Opportunity recently discovered a series of metal spheres on the planet.
CORRECTION: The headline of this article originally stated the Mars rover had discovered evidence for ancient life on Mars. The rover actually discovered evidence of conditions that could once have supported life on Mars. - May 23, 13
Astronomers have pictured a "missing link" galaxy collision in deep space which might explain what happened in the first few billion years of the universe.
The picture shows a ridiculously massive collision between two galaxies, which formed together into a single mass more than 10 times the size of the Milky Way 11 billion years ago.
Inside the furnace of this galaxy pair - known as HXMM01 - stars form at a rate of more than 2,000 suns a year.
But the picture is not just beautiful - it's an important step to understanding how our universe developed in the initial three to four billion years after the big bang.
The European Space Agency's Herschel space telescope has recently exhausted its supplies of liquid helium coolant, which allowed it to observe the "cool" universe in infra-red for more than three years.
But data from the telescope is still leading to new discoveries, including how early "elliptical" galaxies formed, and how they grew so large in a relatively short space of time.
The galaxy merger pictured by Herschel, and reported in Nature by UC Irvine's Hai Fu, shows what was happening three billion years after the big bang. The collision was sudden - taking only 200 million years to run.
"It's like a train wreck," Fu told the LA Times.
It was once thought that elliptical galaxies formed by the slow gathering of small dwarf galaxies, but the picture suggests this could have happened more quickly by larger galaxies smashing into each other, sparking a sudden - and finite - explosion in the number of new stars formed. - May 23, 13
Physicists say there is now good evidence that a legion of floating space brains are not spontaneously bursting into existence throughout the universe.
For about a decade there has been a theory (really a thought experiment) that so-called Boltzmann brains - self-aware conscious entities with no external physical presence - might exist in space.
The idea roughly goes - and we'd suggest further reading - that given a suitably dramatic timescale, energy and matter, it's possible that a consciousness could form into a working mind, of its own accord, in space.
Consciousness is commonly thought by scientists to be essentially an illusion, created by the interaction of a vast number of simple 'actors'. In the human brain these are neurons, of which we each have about 86 billion.
Just as a computer is able to use simple calculations to build up complex systems, so too our brains build memories and actions by the interaction of neurons. And so the fanciful idea of a Boltzmann brain is that the same thing might be possible by chance. The idea is really more of a thought experiment, designed to question our assumptions about the organisation of the universe. And like most experiments that involve the vast infinity of space, if such a thing were possible then it's almost certainly happening all the time, everywhere.
For if the universe is as massive as we think it is, and Boltzmann brains are real, then they're forming at such a rate they will eventually - depending on the fate of the universe - outnumber every human being who has ever lived.
A similar, arguably testable hypothesis suggests that the universe is probably a computer simulation - since if such a simulation is possible then every civilisation formed within one will eventually end up creating its own simulation. (It's turtles all the way down, for computer models.)
If the maths pointed to Boltzmann brains outnumbering humans, our theories of space and time could be compromised. That's because we would no longer be 'typical' observers, and might not have the ability to see reality from the 'correct' perspective. But according to a new report by New Scientist, new understandings of string theory and the theory of multiple universes might just give us an escape clause.
Physicists Claire Zukowski and Raphael Buosso at Berkely say that the key to this balance (of us, versus the superbrains) is whether or not universes expand forever and linger - full of Boltzmann brains - for much longer than creatures like humans would be able to survive.
But according to New Scientist, their work suggests this won't be the case after all. A new mathematical analysis says that by comparing two models of the universe - an older one proposed by Stephen Hawking and James Hartle, and one based on new models of string theory - it now seems less likely that reality as we know it is dominated by space superbrains.
It's worth reading the full report at New Scientist - or tackling the real report itself, if you fancy a challenge.
But don't get too cocky even if you understand it all. Chances are a space brain has got there first. - May 22, 13
You can now talk to Google.
An upgrade to Google Chrome was announced last week which would allow you to carry on a conversation (albeit a fairly one-sided and demanding one) with your desktop search box.
Unveiling the idea at its annual I/O press conference, the search giant demoed how you would soon be able to ask a question with your voice - say, "who is David Cameron?" and then go on to ask "how tall is he?" without repeating the subject. A whole string of these 'natural' search terms can be used in a row without having to repeat yourself.
And now it's live.
In a new update to Google's Chrome browser (version 27) the new conversational tool has been finally switched on for desktop users.
To get it you just have to restart Chrome - it should handle the upgrade automatically.
Then head to Google.com, click the microphone in the search box and start chatting away.
Unfortunately the service seems a bit spotty at the moment - launch jitters, we gather. But as long as you work alone (or can take the mockery of your co-workers or family) then it should prove a welcome new way to check how tall the members of the Coalition cabinet really are. - May 22, 13
Amazon has proposed a new headquarters building for downtown Seattle - and it's pretty astounding.
The new design features three geodesic-style domes, which look like giant greenhouses.
Together with a pair of mirrored towers, the new HQ would total 3.3 million square feet of office space.
The designs are the work of NBBJ, and are intended to create a "natural parklike setting" for its employees in the centre of Seattle:"The generative idea is that a plant-rich environment has many positive qualities that are not often found in a typical office setting. While the form of the building will be visually reminiscent of a greenhouse or conservatory, plant material will be selected for its ability to co-exist in a microclimate that also suits people."
The spheres themselves will be about 80-95 feet high, and feature central pillars covered in plants and trees.
Take a look at more images of the proposed design, which is still in the discussion stage, below. - May 22, 13
Gamers have been left confused - though optimistic - after Microsoft announced it will be possible to play second-hand games on the Xbox One console. They just won't say how.
The new machine will introduce new forms of digital rights management, which tie games to user accounts and also allow you to play different titles without swapping the disc.
But while that move comes with some benefits, it also raises questions about how the system will let users swap, trade or sell games - either with their friends or a used games store.PICTURES: Microsoft Unveils Xbox One
REACTION: What's The Verdict?
In an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft's Phil Harrison explained - twice - that it will be possible.
Harrison said that gamers will be able to play the same game if using the same system - say a son and a father living in the same house. And that if you take a game to a friend's house, you can play as long as you're logged in as yourself.
But if you leave, your friend will have to buy the game to keep playing under his own account."The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."
Aside from that, many issues remain unclear.
As MCV points out, Microsoft has not explained what happens when you try to sell a disc, either at retail or privately (on eBay, for instance). It says that an announcement is forthcoming.
Microsoft has also left some confused by claiming that the Xbox One will "require" an internet connection, but will not need to be permanently connected.
Prior to the launch, it had been feared that the new Xbox would feature an always-on style of DRM as seen in the recent disastrous launches of SimCity and Diablo III. While that does not appear to be the case, Microsoft is keeping specifics to a minimum on this issue as well as that of pre-owned games. - May 22, 13
The creator of the animated GIF has shocked the internet by declaring that it's pronounced... "jif".
That's right, while the online consensus has largely settled on the hard-G pronunciation ("gift" without the T) its inventor Steve Wilhite says we're all wrong.
Accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Webbys on Tuesday, Wilhite said that the Graphics Interchange Format was always meant to be said with a soft G.
"The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations," Wilhite said, according to the New York Times.
"They are wrong. It is a soft 'G,' pronounced 'jif.' End of story."
The GIF has been around since 1987, invented as one of the first ways to animate images with low file sizes.
Wilhite took about a month to develop the first prototype image of an aeroplane while working at CompuServe.
More than 26 years later the Gif is still one of the most popular formats online, responsible for thousands of memes, videos and dancing babies. It was even used by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to announce her company's $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr earlier this week.
But you're all pronouncing it wrong. - May 21, 13Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox One, the "next generation of entertainment in the living room".
Pitching the device as far more than a games device, Microsoft emphasised the Xbox One's ability to integrate live TV, video calling, movies, music and internet browsing on the TV.
"We put you at the centre of a new generation of entertainment in the living room," said Don Mattrick, president of interactive entertainment at Microsoft.
"Xbox One is built to amaze on day one and continuously improve in the generation ahead," he said.
Either way, we're covering the highlights here. Below we've collected the best pictures of the device, the top games and more key details.
For more we suggest heading to our AOL partners Engadget and Joystick, and the official Xbox Wire website, all of whom are covering the event.
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