elderly

Twenty minutes of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Developer Bethesda Softworks is fueling gamers' anticipation with a new 20-minute video showing footage from the highly anticipated game, Skyrim, which arrives for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 platforms on November 11. Gamers have eagerly awaited the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series for nearly half a decade.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim takes place 200 years after Oblivion, and is a new chapter in the series following the murder of a King. Gamers explore the land of Skyrim, which is a massive free-roaming area full of never-ending lore. Multiple cities within the mountainous region offer a variety of jobs for gamers, while the promise of random dragon appearances and a rumored ancient evil should keep things interesting. … Read more

At Woods Hole, conquering the deep ocean

WOODS HOLE, Mass.--Although crews have managed to shut off--for now, at least--the flood of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it is virtually certain that ongoing cleanup work will keep the concept of deep-sea science in the public's eye for some time.

That could be good news for the scientists and researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) here, one of the world's leading repositories of across-the-board ocean expertise, and the developers of a stunning collection of hardware and software tools designed to probe the countless mysteries of the deep.

I've come here as part … Read more

Adult diapers in Japan turned into fuel

Can older incontinent people be a source of new energy? Absolutely, says Japanese automation firm Super Faiths. In a society where elder care is a growth industry, the company has developed a series of recycling machines that turn used diapers--a bulk of them the adult variety--into fuel for biomass boilers and stoves.

We've seen machines that recycle office reports into toilet paper. Well, Super Faith's SFD Recycle System machines address the malodorous problem of tons of used diapers from hospitals and nursing homes going into landfills or being incinerated as waste.

The machines automatically shred, dry, and sterilize … Read more

Can't take care of your elderly relatives? Buy a bot

A research project in Europe is bringing together a multidisciplinary team to create a robot, wearable smart sensor system, and alarm-and-reporting system in the hopes that together they'll enable more elderly people to live independently for longer.

Researchers at the University of the West of England at Bristol (UWE) plan to work with companies such as Robosoft out of France and Smart Homes out of the Netherlands to investigate the best technologies to meet the unique needs of elderly people living alone at home.

Various oft-independent systems, such as health reporting, home alarms, voice-recognition shopping, and nutritional/medication schedules, … Read more

Screensaver for Elder Scrolls game fans

Enjoy playing Elder Scrolls by Bethesda Game Studios? You can extend the entertainment of the gaming experience to your PC even when you're not playing by installing this nifty screensaver that features elements from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PlayStation 3) Screensaver installs quickly and unobtrusively to your Windows system. This free download doesn't launch its own interface; instead, users access the screens through the Windows Screensaver dialog box by way of the Personalization command on the right-click Desktop menu or through the Appearance and Personalization command on the Windows Control Panel. The Elder … Read more

The 404 418: Where it's Dong Ngo we're talking about here

After multiple cancellations and attempts to get him on the show, Mr. Ngo is finally in the 404 studio in New York! We're excited to pick his brain on all the new advancements in the CNET labs, but we get sidetracked by the most random conversations. Dong and I have a special relationship (don't go there): Dong was actually the first person I met when I first started working at CNET! In fact, you could consider him my printer mentor! Thanks, Dong.

Since we have Dong in the hot seat, we take this opportunity to pick his brain about his experiences coming to America from Vietnam. As you can imagine, it took the young Dong awhile to adjust to our idioms and figures of speech, which he illustrates beautifully in a cheeky story involving an attractive blond woman and a big, yellow Hummer.

In addition, Dong surprises us all and tell us that it was actually Michael Jackson who inspired him to learn English! I can just imagine little Dong saying "Who is the Man in the Mirror and why are we asking him to change his ways?"

Believe it or not, we finally arrive at an actual news story in the second half of the show. This one is about a Japanese teddy bear robot nurse named RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance) meant to transport the elderly and handicapped in its creepy outstretched arms. Has anyone noticed that it looks a lot like a certain bear meme?

Either way, we all take issue with the fact that the bear can only hold up to 134 pounds in its foam-padded paws! Clearly this robot ain't picking any Americans up anytime soon. I think we actually have babies that weigh more than that.

Big thanks goes out to Paul Ramsay for inviting us to last night's hypnotism show at the Julliard Academy. It was tons of fun--who knew a group of kids could Riverdance so well!? Maybe you can help Jeff through his knife phobia! If you're not familiar with Paul's work, be sure to check out his appearance on our show. Also, head over to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast to catch more of Dong Ngo's crazy antics.

EPISODE 418 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

This ain't Jive talkin', it's social networking for grands

The Jive was created by Ben Arent, a college student, over a six-month period as part of his product design degree. The concept was designed to get elderly technophobes connected to their friends and family without feeling overwhelmed of learning how to use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. It would essentially be their own type of social networking.

The unit itself is referred to as "Betty"--a steel-cased monitor with three magnetic sensors, to help recognize the events in the program, making it a tangible interface. The internal hardware is a stripped-down Dell Latitude … Read more

Welcome to oblivion

Oh Elder Scrolls, how you have changed my life. Thanks to you, I no longer speak to my friends, and I have realized the truth that the outdoors is evil. I haven't been much of a RPG player since the days of the D&D gold box games, but I was thoroughly enchanted by the release of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Now, as if sensing my need for some more Elder Scrolls action, Bethesda Softworks has released an expansion pack for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles. Featuring an interesting twist that allows … Read more

Video phone for Japan's elderly

Recent products from Japan's NTT DoCoMo continue to reflect that country's aging population, as we saw the other day with a phone created for the elderly or others hard of hearing. Its latest offering is aimed at seniors who might not be able to use a handset at all.

DoCoMo's new video phone device stays connected to NTT's broadband cellular network for health care and emergency situations, according to Electronista. Homebound patients, for example, can contact their doctors and show them their conditions on the device's 7-inch display, which also serves as a touch screen … Read more