Italian Mafia Sends Text Messages to Jailed Dons via TV Show
According to The Telegraph, the Italian mafia has been using a soccer TV show's interactive text messaging feature to communicate messages to imprisoned bosses. As part of the show 'Quelli che il Calcio,' fans send in text messages which are displayed on a ticker, while host Simona Ventura chats onscreen about soccer. Apparently, mafia goons would send seemingly mundane phrases, like "All is well, Paolo," in order to communicate with their bosses behind bars. Prison officials uncovered the scam when they heard a family member of one inmate talking about the texting system to somebody.
Simona told La Republica newspaper, "We opened up a line of communication with our viewers in order to give them direct contact with the show. It proved to be all that I had expected apart from the fact that it was apparently used to send messages to mafia bosses." The host and producers claim to know nothing about it, expressed shock, and claimed, of course, the interactive text messaging feature won't be part of the show when it returns this September.
Italian Mafia Sends Text Messages to Jailed Dons via TV Show originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Etching a portrait into a PCB
This Italian maker has been experimenting with adhering inkjet paper onto a sheet of PCB with a clothes iron, then scrubbing off the paper with an old toothbrush. Neat! [Thanks, Giancarlo!]
Nokia Italy Offers The N8 For Pre-order
With all the importance that Nokia's CEO is apparently putting on Nokia's upcoming Symbian^3 flagship device, the Nokia N8, it's good to see that the device has appeared for pre-order on Nokia's Italian online store, listed as being available
Nokia N8 up for official €469 pre-order in Italy, available in September
Nokia's Symbian^3 flagship -- the 3.5-inch N8 with 12 megapixel camera -- just went up for pre-order on Espoo's Italian storefront showing an end of September availabilty. Now before you get up in arms about the €469 price tag (about $610), remember, the €370 estimated retail price announced was pre tax and pre carrier subsidy. That's just how Europe does things, deal with it. We're not seeing the preorder available elsewhere but we'll update you if that situation changes.
[Thanks, Faisal]
Nokia N8 up for official €469 pre-order in Italy, available in September originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Robotic Arm Learns to Flip Flapjacks, Thanks to Italian Teachers
If we could design our dream robot, it would be one that could use its metallic dexterity to cook for us. Fortunately, some like-minded guys at the Italian Institute of Technology have made our dream come true. According to Make, Dr. Petar Kormushev and Dr. Sylvain Calinon designed a robotic arm, and then taught it to flip pancakes. The process is called kinesthetic teaching. Basically, Kormushev and Calinon grabbed the robotic arm, and moved it in the way that it would to flip a hotcake in a pan. Next, the bot repeatedly attempted the motion (in this case, more than 50 times) until it got it right. So, by Kormushev and Calinon reinforcing the appropriate movement, the robot was able to adjust and learn how to perform the task.
See the pancake pro in action after the break. Now, if only these guys could teach this robot to scramble eggs and fry bacon, too. They could market it to Waffle House and IHOP, and the future of flapjacks would be set in motion. [From: Make Zine, via: Popular Science]
Continue reading Robotic Arm Learns to Flip Flapjacks, Thanks to Italian Teachers
Robotic Arm Learns to Flip Flapjacks, Thanks to Italian Teachers originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
My Cinderella Would Wear These Fiber Optic Heels [Shoes]
Italian designer Francesca Castagnacci made a pair of heels fit for any girl—or at least any girl who's serious about her bandwidth. They're made from strands of fiber optics as thin as human hair and lit by a LED. More
Laser cut stainless steel "lace" table covering
Rachel @ CRAFT spotted this laser cut steel table cover by Imogen Luddy, inspired by a piece of 16th century Italian lace.
There Has To Be a Logical Reason for the Carbon Fiber Toilet [Design]
Italian designer Alberto Del Biond has created a carbon fiber toilet. Why? That's what I want to know. More
The History of Everything, In Wondrous Stop-Motion Street Animation [Animation]
It's hard to imagine Italian artist BLU producing a more involved work than 2008's astonishing MUTO street animation. And yet! "Big Bang Big Boom" tackles the history of life itself in frame after glorious frame of wall-painted animation. It's unreal. More
iPad Now Magical and Holy Thanks to Digital Missal [Ipad]
iBreviary—the daily prayer book for iPhone—will become a full Roman missal for iPad, allowing priests to celebrate mass in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin. The Vatican-sanctioned application, created Padre Paolo Padrini, includes: More