2005-11-28

ThinkGeek :: Digital Picture Frame with Remote

ThinkGeek :: Digital Picture Frame with Remote

The Treadmill Bike

The Treadmill Bike: "

You know, you could also just walk.

[Via Metafilter]



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Billboard as Shower

Billboard as Shower: "

This installation works like a flat shower that shoots out water droplets with different frequency. The difference in distance between droplets results in an image.
-- Billboardom

"

2005-11-21

Plastic Diode Could Lead To Flexible, Low Power Computer Circuits, Memory

Plastic Diode Could Lead To Flexible, Low Power Computer Circuits, Memory

Cheap highspeed memory and computers? Printable circuitry?

Glasses Track Eye Movement, Ad Exposure

Glasses Track Eye Movement, Ad Exposure: "

A pair of Eye Contact glasses developed by ID Magasin tracks eye movements and records what ads people look at for how long. The company used their EyeMark technology to analyse retail environments, but Eye Contact could be also applied be applied for TV audience analysis, potentially with a much greater degree of accuracy than diaries and people-meters. (ID Magasin also creates virtual reality mock-ups of retail spaces that they then analyse for effectiveness).

From Guardian:
'It is called the Eye Contact, and it's capable of capturing on film everything that you see during a typical day. The Guardian wore the goggles for four hours, recording a bus and tube journey to Oxford Circus and a shopping trip up Bond Street. The experiment, analysed with the help of ID Magasin, the company which developed the device, highlighted both the extent to which individuals are bombarded by commercial images and how adept most have become at screening out advertising messages. The results of our experiment showed that 99% of adverts make little or no impact.'

Last year, Canadian researchers developed a pair of sunglasses that can detect when someone is making eye contact with the wearer.
-- via AdJab "

2005-11-20

The first flying machine - the hot air balloon

The first flying machine - the hot air balloon: "Human flight turns 222 years old on Monday. The hot air balloon was the first sustainable form of flight, with the first passengers, (a sheep, duck, and rooster) taking to the skies on September 19, 1783 and the first humans breaking the shackles of gravity on November 21,1783 were Pilatre de Rozier, who was also to become the first man killed in an ballooning accident, and infantry officer Marquis d'Arlandes. The flight took place in the centre of Paris lasted 25 minutes and covered a little more than five miles and the balloon was built of paper and silk by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Ettienne. The Montgolfiers were well-educated paper merchants who had read the work of English scientist Joseph Priestly on the properties of air and had the skills to adapt the available technologies .."

Steve Jobs presents the iPod Invisa... on SNL

Steve Jobs presents the iPod Invisa... on SNL: "

No, no, we didn’t slip up and miss a keynote or anything. But according to a Saturday Night Live “special report” with “Steve Jobs” of the mighty black turtleneck, we did miss two entire product lines that are both already obsolete. The iPod Micro was launched live and immediately displaced by the iPod Pequeno (shown at right), holding one million songs in the size of your thumbnail. Before we could blink the Pequeno was trumped by the iPod Invisa, which holds 8 million songs, “every photograph ever taken,” and is completely invisible (and you thought watching video on your cellphone was cramped…). We don’t even have to tell you that someone already tried to place an online order for the Invisa from the Apple Store, right?

2005-11-18

Nosy sons save mother via webcam

Nosy sons save mother via webcam: "If you thought webcams were only good for video calls, monitoring coffee pots and traffic conditions and, of course, pr0n, think again. Karin Jordal, a 69-year-old artist was recently rescued by her far-flung sons after they discovered, via her webcam, that she had collapsed in her California home. One son, in the Philippines, was spying checking up on his mom, when he saw her lying motionless on the couch in her living room. He called his brother in Norway, who contacted an ambulance, which arrived in 10 minutes, telemergency style. The mother had apparently been in a diabetic coma for about two hours, and is now in a hospital recovering. Of course, she’s lucky that her boys were checking the cam when she passed out; they may want to consider giving her some kind of panic button to use in case they’re not glued to the screen next time she collapses.

[Thanks, Dave]



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2005-11-17

NASA - Space-time Vortex

NASA - Space-time Vortex

Gravity Probe B has collected its data.

[ SAILS • The Mascarillons ]

[ SAILS • The Mascarillons ]

Free-floating auto-assembilng robots

"Future of Advertising" Photoshop Contest VI

"Future of Advertising" Photoshop Contest VI: "
(image source)

Worth1000.com is running its sixth 'Corporate Takeover' Photoshop contest, inviting people to imagine the future of advertising (here's the last time they did it). Again, a lot of their ideas have already been implemented, but some are very, very fresh and promising, such as DNA branding.

"

Tip to counterfeiters: don't send printer jammed with fake money out for repair

Tip to counterfeiters: don't send printer jammed with fake money out for repair: "

Dear Counterfeiters,

We’re totally not trying to tell you how to run your business, but when the printer you’re using to pump out counterfeit hundies and fiddies breaks, it’s probably a good idea to remove all the fake money jammed inside of it before you send it out for repair. Otherwise you’ll end up like that gang of geniuses in Arizona which just got busted this week for pumping out $160,000 in counterfeit cash.

Your friends,
Engadget

[Via El Reg]



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Caption Contest: Albert Hubo humanoid bot thinks he's so smart

Caption Contest: Albert Hubo humanoid bot thinks he's so smart: "

We saw a bad photoshop mock-up of this floating around the internets a few days ago, but we didn’t think anyone had actually been crazy enough to build it. This humanoid robot named Albert Hubo walks, talks, shows emotions all disembodied Einstein style, and gives us the absolute heebie-jeebies.

Ryan: “That’s right ‘Steiney. World-changing intellectual, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, head grafted to an immortal robot body, total silver fox. Why, hello miss…”
Paul: “I’m real glad and all that you guys decided bring me back to life after 50 years of peace and quiet, but giving me the body of a 6 year old in a space suit doesn’t really win you any points.”
Marc: “It’s not the robot bod I mind; it’s the mullet. Please, someone get me a barber!”
Evan: “Yahoo Serious, older but hardly wiser, reflects upon the evils of typecasting.”



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SPONSORED BY: Fable: The Lost Chapters. Now On PC. Enter a world where every choice changes your fate. Enhanced graphics, new journeys, good or evil-how will you choose to play?"

The OLPC $100 laptop unveiled at UN net summit

The OLPC $100 laptop unveiled at UN net summit: "

We’ve finally got some pictures of the new concept design for the $100 laptop that was unveiled at the UN net summit in Tunis. As mentioned before, they had to make some changes to increase the durability of the machine, which they have finally produced a partially functioning prototype for. Encased in rubber and sporting a 500MHz processor, mesh networking capabilities, and four USB ports, the incredible hype behind the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project only seems to be building — who are we to stand in it’s way? More pictures after the break.

[Via CNET, thanks to everyone who sent this in]



Book Mode



Game mode



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Periodic Table of Elements with Flash and webMathematica

Periodic Table of Elements with Flash and webMathematica

tangram game

Here's an interesting tangram flash site. I still don't know if I can rotate the pieces.

2005-11-16

Electronic Paper Status Update

Electronic Paper Status Update: "

Reuters runs a status update on the progress of electronic paper technology and talks about potential implications for information businesses.

'An electronic newspaper, when the technology is finally available to produce one, still may not be the device to rescue newspaper publishers from an aging readership and dwindling circulation numbers. Such a device could well be sold by newspaper publishers who would subsidize it in order to sell subscriptions, but it would have to offer other sources to be attractive.'"

Scientists Crack Code For Motor Neuron Wiring

Scientists Crack Code For Motor Neuron Wiring: "Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have deciphered a key part of the regulatory code that governs how motor neurons in the spinal cord connect to specific target muscles in the limbs."

Plastic diode could lead to flexible, low power computer circuits, memory

Plastic diode could lead to flexible, low power computer circuits, memory: "Ohio State University researchers have invented a new organic polymer tunnel diode, which could one day lead to plastic computer memory and plastic logic circuits on computer chips. The diode design lends itself to easy, inexpensive manufacturing..."

Philips' concept LED bulbs

Philips' concept LED bulbs: "

Philips is showing off these new LED-based takes on the good old light bulb, which allow direct interaction with the fixture to change the lighting effect. The lights are part of Philips Design’s Next Simplicity project, in which they’re putting a designery twist on everyday objects. We’ve been testing this concept at Engadget labs on some traditional light bulbs, and recommend you hold out for these low-heat LED versions, which could be surfacing in a couple years.

[Via Inhabitat]





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Irish are clinging on to their phones after death

Irish are clinging on to their phones after death: "

Sure you love your phone, but are you ready to take that little ringer to the grave with you? Apparently some of the Irish are, according to a funeral director in Dublin who says that some people are so hooked on their gadgetry they “feel it’s a part of them,” while other people are just scared of waking up in the coffin, so they’re bringing it along just in case. The real question is, what kind of features do you look for in a phone for the afterlife? Seems like a smartphone would be mostly wasted on the deceased, but some tunes could be useful for all that lying around you’re going to be doing. Oh the choices.

[Via textually.org]



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MIT researchers working on super-fast robotic muscles

MIT researchers working on super-fast robotic muscles: "

Someday, when we’re toiling away in the silicon mines at the behest of our robot overlords (or brewing beer and rolling stogies, if the bots are fueled like Bender), we’ll look back on posts like this and wonder why we made such a big deal about all these advances in robotics. Anyway, now that robots are already smarter, stronger, and more attractive than us, it stands to reason that they will soon be super-quick as well. An MIT research group under the guidance of Professor Sidney Yip has taken a first step towards building bots that move with the Matrix-quickness with their development of robotic muscles that work 1000 times faster than the human equivalent. While current gen bots can only muster muscle speeds 1/100 as fast as humans’, Yip’s group has designed artificial “muscles” made from conjugated polymers (meaning that they’re conductive, not insulating) that react very quickly when exposed to solitons (charge density waves). So now that robots have mastered pool, soccer, and foosball, it looks like swimming, cycling, and track will be the next sports conquered in the bots’ ultimate quest for world (and Olympic) domination.



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US Modular redesigns Monstor, ups size to 6GB

US Modular redesigns Monstor, ups size to 6GB: "When we first checked out US Modular’s Monstor pocket drives, we liked the idea of getting up to 4GB of storage in a form factor not much bigger than a flash drive, but bristled a bit at USM’s marketing pitch, which claimed that the 2GB version was available for “about the same [price] as a 512MB flash drive.” Now the Monstor is back, with a shiny new finish and a maximum capacity of 6GB. Unfortunately, the company still claims that you can get the 2GB version at a 512MB price, and it’s still not true. Last time we checked, we could get a basic 512MB flash drive for under $30, while the best price we’ve seen on the 2GB Monstor is about $75, and that’s for the old, ugly one. So, props to USM for upgrading the capacity and making this thing actually look decent, but it’s time to either fire the marketing department, get them to come clean, or, most preferably, just lower the price of the 2GB version to $30.

[Via BIOS]



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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, "

The Ten Best AJAX Links

The Ten Best AJAX Links: "“Asynchronous JavaScript and XML is the newest phenomenon to hit the net.” To help you learn how to use it, the author of this article has scoured the net for the ten best AJAX tutorials and examples."

2005-11-15

Plastic Diode Could Lead To Flexible, Low Power Computer Circuits, Memory

Plastic Diode Could Lead To Flexible, Low Power Computer Circuits, Memory: "Researchers have invented a new organic polymer tunnel diode -- an electronic component that could one day lead to plastic computer memory and plastic logic circuits on computer chips. Today, computer chips use mainly inorganic silicon. The diode transmits electrical current at room temperature, and its design lends itself to easy, inexpensive manufacturing for smart cards and other memory devices."

"Transparent screens," reloaded

"Transparent screens," reloaded: "

Remember that whole transparent screen optical illusion thing from earlier this year? It’s back, and with a vengeance (even Ethan Embry lookalikes are in on the action). We’re talking of hundreds of “transparent” displays here, people. Is this the new cult nerd phenomena? Peep the gallery at Flickr and decide for yourself.

[Via TRFJ]



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Upgrade the Linksys WRT54G with open source firmware

Upgrade the Linksys WRT54G with open source firmware: "

The Linksys WRT54G is a fairly typical WiFi router, able to connect your home network and work seamlessly with a broadband connection. But what makes the $60 router unique is the fact that its firmware is based on Linux. A couple of years ago, Linksys — under pressure from the open source community — released the firmware under the GPL, and since then, developers have taken it apart and put it back together again, adding new features, including the ability to run the WRT54G as a VPN or VoIP server, a RADIUS server, or even as a full-fledged (albeit very low-end) computer. WiFi Planet has a good rundown of the options available to WRT54G hackers, along with lots of warranty-voiding tips; the site estimates that by upgrading the firmware, you can turn the WRT54G into the equivalent of a $600 workhorse. Of course, all of this raises the question of what’s really in all of those $600 routers powered by proprietary firmware. The answer, we assume, is pretty much the same guts as a $60 unit, and $540 of trademarked, patented, intellectual property. Thank goodness for open source!



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The FLIP auto-capsizing research vessel

The FLIP auto-capsizing research vessel: "

The FLIP floating instrument station is 300 feet long and takes 28 minutes to complete a controlled capsize, during which time the built-in furniture rotates along with the vessel and the crew hangs on for dear sweet life above the cold, unforgiving abyss below. All in the name of the science of testing sound waves underwater, dear friends. You may commence aghast chuckling… now.

[Via Pasta and Vinegar]



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Sona Mobile's Star Trek Communicator phone delayed

Sona Mobile's Star Trek Communicator phone delayed: "

We regret to inform our Klingon speaking, phaser toting, beam-me-upping audience that Sona Mobile’s Star Trek Communicator phone has been delayed — though it’s apparently not due to any lack of demand. No, production difficulties are delaying the device until 2006, so unless you can be up-taken by the Nexus or hit some other form of temporal disturbance, you’re still going to have to wait until the future to get your Communicator.



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Hawking Weighs in on VSE

Hawking Weighs in on VSE: "Hawking's cosmological riff, CNet

'When asked about his thoughts on President Bush's proposal to put a man on Mars within 10 years, [Stephen] Hawking simply replied: 'Stupid.'"

The 26-inch hard drive based coffee table

The 26-inch hard drive based coffee table: "

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s about time that we started coming up with a nice big sappy list of things to pretend to be thankful for this year, but one blessing we sure don’t take for granted is the fact that gone are the days of toting a 26-inch hard drive based DAP, just to loop the first few seconds of the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song a few thousand times for our morning commute. Or was that just us? Anyways, those massive HD platters from the 70’s are much better suited to uses such as this snazzy coffee table design, complete with aluminum base and a glass covering to protect those precious bits and bytes.

[Via Boing Boing]



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The Geneva Sound System: 600 watts made for iPod

The Geneva Sound System: 600 watts made for iPod: "

Can we let you in on a secret…we’re tired of all those wimpy iPod sound accessories pushing tin-speakers with single-digits of wattage which get cranked out by anyone with access to a machine press, a roll of plastic, and some white paint. So when a 600 watt RMS “made for iPod” rumbler shows up…well, we just start salivating like one of Pavlov’s pets. Oh sure, they don’t have any actual product shots up yet (just renderings) and you can only pre-order, but there is no doubt that the Geneva Sound System designs are hot. These puppies come in L or XL models slammin’ 100 to 600 watts-o-tie-flapping-power respectively. Each unit features an iPod Universal Dock connector, a built-in slot-loading CD, and FM radio all controllable by included remote. An LED display under the front cover shows input and track playing which is a good start. But if they could just scroll the now playing artist and track all Holzer-truism-like across the entire face then we might be willing to throw down the $1,075 for the XL model or $599 for the L. Said to be available this “fall”... hopefully meaning the northern hemisphere. More pics after the break.

[Thanks, Johanna]





Montage of products



Top-down view



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The VirtuSphere: full body immersion Virtual reality at last

The VirtuSphere: full body immersion Virtual reality at last: "November 12, 2005 The VirtuSphere is a new platform that is a breakthrough in the science of Virtual Reality and one we are convinced will take VR into the broader community. It is that significant and more because it is the solution for a million problems offering more compelling, convincing and relevant VR experiences than any device yet conceived, and with VR advancing rapidly in its other constituent areas (graphics, sound, touch, and to a lesser extent, smell and taste), we believe the VirtuSphere will be the device to make VR relevant to the world – this is a killer app. Inside the VirtuSphere, the virtual explorer can physically navigate the virtual world with genuine human movement, - the headset is wireless, and senses 360 degree movement, but unlike any existing virtual reality or gaming peripheral, the floor moves and each virtual step is accompanied by a real one of the same dimensions. It promises to be the ultimate computer games peripheral, the ultimate treadmill at the gymnasium, the ultimate educational resource with remarkable flexibility and offer the most realistic virtual experience of almost any kind - enabling you to walk through the house you’re hiring across the world for your holidays or explore the Daintree Rainforest. It also has major occupational training implications as it offers experiential learning"

Image floats, without the text wrap!

Image floats, without the text wrap!: "How many times do you have an image floated left in a block of content, but want to keep that content from wrapping around your image? [W]hat you really need is something that plays nicely with any HTML & any amount of content you, or more realistically, your database ..."

2005-11-10

Einstein's Relativity Theory Proven With The 'Lead' Of A Pencil

Einstein's Relativity Theory Proven With The 'Lead' Of A Pencil: "Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a new way to test Einstein's theory of relativity using the 'lead' of a pencil. Until now it was only possible to test the theory by building expensive machinery or by studying stars in distant galaxies, but a team of British, Russian and Dutch scientists has now proven it can be done in the lab using an ultra-thin material called Graphene."

Monkey Math Machinery Is Like Humans'

Monkey Math Machinery Is Like Humans': "Monkeys have a semantic perception of numbers that is like humans' and which is independent of language, Duke University cognitive neuroscientists have discovered. They said their findings demonstrate that the neural mechanism underlying numerical perception is evolutionarily primitive."