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• Eye-catching products in a hall of gadgetry
  New York Times online, 9 January
  Technology editors and reporters from the New York Times share their notes on some of the standout exhibits at the recent Las Vegas Consumer Electronics show including inductive ink technology.
• A TV-Internet marriage awaits blessings of all parties
  New York Times online, 9 January
  The blending of television and the Internet is inevitable. But will it happen in concert with the major cable and satellite distributors, or in spite of them?
  Discussion starter:
  • Merging of technologies
• Thunderbird stamps are go, thanks to Kiwis
  TVNZ One News, 12 January
  Stamps honouring TV puppet master Gerry Anderson were issued yesterday.
  Britain's first "motion stamps" play Thunderbirds' "5 4 3 2 1" take-off sequence when tilted back and forth. Royal Mail's main collection marks Anderson's 50th anniversary of puppeteer film-making.
• Trike-drifting dangers
  TVNZ Close up video, 19 January
  Safety and legality issues around the growing trike-drifting boom are raised and discussed.
  Discussion starter:
  • Nature of Technology: Technological outcomes - positive and negative impacts on the social and natural world.
• Annual year in ideas
  New York Times magazine article, January
  For the tenth year running, New York Times magazine looks back on the past year's innovative ideas. Last year's take starts off with the train that never stops.
  Discussion starter:
  • Idea generation and screening
• 2011 could be dream year for tech-toy lovers
  Stuff.co.nz, 12 February
  A stunt car powered by light. Check. A table-top version of a popular iPhone game. Check. A battery-powered sweet-talking boyfriend doll. Check.
  These are some of the items the US toy industry hopes will help it rebound from a lackluster holiday sales season in which demand petered out after a strong start.
  The top US toy fair kicks off Sunday in New York just weeks after toy makers Hasbro and LeapFrog Enterprises shocked investors with a weak finish to the biggest selling season of the year.
• The Wristwatch Looks For a New Use
  New York Times online, 15 February
  A number of companies are hoping to offer a new product that can take over the real estate of the wrist, and although these devices can tell the time, they can also go above and beyond the old stemwinder your grandfather likely owned.
  One watch that is currently being tested, called the Allerta inPulse, acts more like a computer than a timepiece. This device is different because its creators hope programmers and developers will "hack" the watch, creating new applications or uses for it. The Allerta is expected to cost $150.
• Tech Universe: Wednesday 16 February
  NZ Herald, 16 February
  A variety of technology innovations, such as:
  Lund University in Sweden is experimenting with air hybrid engines. They claim fuel consumption of city buses could be reduced by as much as 60%.
  The Cray XT5 Jaguar is a 1.75 petaflop supercomputer (peaking at 2.3 petaflops), only recently beaten out as world's fastest. When it was used to model air flows around semi trucks some areas for significant fuel and cost savings showed up.
• Machines beat us at our own game: What can we do?
  Stuff.co.nz, 17 February
  A computer that was created by IBM to excel at answers-and-questions has bested 'Jeopardy' contestants. The performance was proof that IBM has taken a big step toward a world in which machines will understand and respond to humans. 

  Discussion starter:
  • What turns a computer into 'artificial intelligence'? What are the possible uses and benefits of artificial intelligence? What are the possible liabilities?
• Effects of nanotechnology still unknown, warn watchdogs
  TVNZ, 21 February
  Nanotechnology is the 21st century's scientific buzz word. The technology provides solutions so minute it cannot be seen with the naked eye or even a standard microscope and could revolutionise the way we generate energy, treat illness and even make beauty products. However, the long-term effects of its daily use are still largely unknown.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technological Modeling: functional and practical reasoning
• Google tweaks search to punish low-quality sites
  New Zealand Herald, 26 February
  Google says it has tweaked the formulas steering its internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems "low-quality" sites.
• Cardboard sculptures created by algorithms
  New Scientist magazine online, 1 March
  The latest 3D printers are amazingly flexible, but some shapes are still beyond the reach of current technology. Michael Hansmeyer, an architect and programmer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich found an alternative method to create the detail required in his sculptures.
  Discussion starter:
  • Digital technologies: 3-D modeling ; computer programming
• Clothes makers join forces to Set 'Green Score'
  New York Times online article, 1 March
  A newly formed group - the Sustainable Apparel Coalition - is working to produce a label that would share some version of a sustainability score with shoppers, giving them a much more detailed view into the supply of fabrics, zippers, dyes, threads, buttons and grommets that come together to form the clothing they buy, as well as what impact the creation of that clothing has on both people and the planet.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technological products: the impact of material use
• Virtual parachute training
  BBC.co.uk video, 2 March
  A new machine is being used by the Royal Air Force in Britain to simulate all stages of a live parachute jump and test how people adapt in different scenarios and weather conditions. Malfunctions can be replicated to allow new recruits to learn how to react if something goes wrong.
  Discussion starter:
  • Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: simulation technology - evaluating fitness for purpose
• Hi-Tech 'Robonaut' delivered to space station
  NZ Herald online article, 2 March
  The final trip into space by USA shuttle Discovery delivered a permanent storage compartment for the orbiting international space station. Its contents included R2 - a kitset robot which will be assembled in May and tested as a potential astronaut helper.
  Discussion starter:
  • Technological Modelling: prototype testing