Amazon Rainforest's Trees Will be Microchipped Just Like Your Dog [Trees]

If a tree has been cut down and there aren't any witnesses, was it really cut down? So goes the thinking behind the group of people tagging Amazon rainforest trees, who wish to stop illegal logging for good.

Implanting a microchip into the base of a tree will help determine where the wood has come from—so if it's been illegally logged and sold on, the buyers will know. Details such as the exact location where the tree was planted, the size of it, and even who cut it down will be ingrained in the microchip. [Reuters via Treehugger]

Image Credit: JorgeBrazil

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Over 25 Billion Tweets Were Sent in 2010, and the iPad Was the Top Tech Subject [Twitter]

The year is only just grinding to a halt, but Twitter's already released its list of the top subjects tweeted about in 2010. Of the 25 billion tweets published, BP's Gulf oil spill disaster was the most tweeted-about term.

Following the disaster, it was the FIFA World Cup; the movie Inception; the Haiti earthquake; and the goddamned king of noise-makers during the World Cup, the Vuvuzela.

On the list at number six was the iPad, and it was Android that was the seventh most-tweeted-about subject. Justin Bieber only just made the top ten at number eight, and the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was number nine. Pulpo Paul, the psychic octupus which prophesied during the World Cup, rounded out the top ten. [Twitter via TechCrunch]

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You Can Download the Free Google Latitude iPhone App From...Now! [Google Latitude]

After briefly appearing in Japan's App Store, Google's Latitude app is now in your App Store—and this time, it doesn't look like an accident. Stalk friends! Be stalked! It's free! [iTunes via RedmondPie]

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How would you change the second-generation Apple TV?

No one said that hobbies were easy to throw away, and it's pretty clear that the Apple TV still holds a dear piece of Cupertino's heart. In fact, we'd argue that the box's streaming abilities now tie into Apple's overall mission more than ever before, and with iOS 4.2.1 for the iPad (and the accompanying introduction of AirPlay), it's feeling less like an afterthought and more like a focal point. That said, we're curious to know if early adopters feel satisfied by their $99 box. Have you found it to function as-advertised? Still fuming over those output and / or color issues? If you were given the keys to the design kingdom, how would you turn the Apple TV into your perfect media streamer? Ditch the iTunes integration? Offer access to more content portals? Paint it pink and line it with LEDs? It only costs $0.02 to play, and the deposit slot's just below.

How would you change the second-generation Apple TV? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patriot intros Supersonic USB 3.0 flash drive, milks 100MB / sec from a single chip

At present, there seem to be three strategies to embracing the potential of USB 3.0 -- go all out with an external SSD, introduce a hulking RAID-on-a-stick, or settle for a single-chip USB key with ho-hum maximum read/write speeds of roughly around 80MB / sec and 60MB / sec. There are a number of these barely-better-than-USB-2.0 flash drives floating about, but Patriot decided not to settle for that -- its new Supersonic flash drive uses the mythical "quad channel" technology (and a native USB 3.0 controller) to eke out some extra speed. That allows Patriot to beat down the USB 2.0 straw man with 70MB / sec writes and 100MB / sec reads, and possibly justify a pricing premium if the company can't manufacture them on the cheap. If the Supersonic sounds like the best of all worlds for your portable data, you'll find it in 32GB and 64GB configurations starting Q1 2011. No word on price quite yet.

Patriot intros Supersonic USB 3.0 flash drive, milks 100MB / sec from a single chip originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Dec 2010 03:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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