My Hangouts for Google+ is a Chrome extension that sits in your browser’s toolbar and alerts you of all live public and limited Google+ Hangouts from your stream. It’s super useful, and quite well done.
Via: Google Hangout Extension for Chrome
Friday, December 9, 2011
Tech: My Hangouts
My Hangouts for Google+ is a Chrome extension that sits in your browser’s toolbar and alerts you of all live public and limited Google+ Hangouts from your stream. It’s super useful, and quite well done.
Via: Google Hangout Extension for Chrome
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Tech: Autodesk bringing 3D Modeling to the Masses
Autodesk bringing 3D modeling to the masses:
Via: CNet
You may not know CAD, but if you’ve got a computer, you can now start creating 3D models.
That’s the idea behind 123D Catch and 123D Make, two new free software applications that Autodesk is planning on releasing on Monday. The two programs join the company’s existing iPad app, 123D Sculpt, as part of a family of tools that are intended to give just about anyone the ability not just to make their own 3D designs, but also to get them produced as real, physical models.
Autodesk unveiled the two new applications at a press event at its innovation center here today, making the argument that just about anyone can now play the role of 3D modeler that has traditionally belonged to CAD experts and other professional designers.
With 123D Catch, a user can take any digital camera and use it to photograph a real-world object. By snapping a few dozen pictures from angles all around the object and then uploading them to Autodesk’s cloud-based system via the software, the user can within minutes get back a 3D model of the object. Autodesk will process the model at no charge.
News: Kids have Adult Tech Skills
According to AVG, the average 11-year-old child has “adult skills when it comes to technology.” In other words, they can perform any task that an adult can when it comes to surfing the Web, getting a gadget to work, or solving complex computer issues.Via: CNET
“Technologically speaking, today’s kids can walk the walk,” AVG Chief Executive J.R. Smith said in a statement.
News: MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy
MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy:
During the last year Netflix managed to outgrow BitTorrent in terms of the amount of US Internet traffic it generates. A promising finding for Hollywood as it shows that there’s an overwhelming interest for the legal movie streaming service. At TorrentFreak we wondered what might happen if all US BitTorrent users made the switch to Netflix, and the results of this exploration are quite intriguing.Via: TorrentFreak
Overheard: iPhones vs. the Police
But things are different nowadays. Smart phones have cameras, and almost everyone has a smart phone. A court is therefore less likely to be ignorant of what actually occurred between the policeman and me. The policeman and I may have videotaped it. Bystanders might have, too. I am reminded of the utopia dreamed of by the eighteenth-century anarchist William Godwin, who hoped that someday everyone in the world would become so sincere and so expressive that all sides of every story would be fully narrated, and there would no longer be any need to deceive. Everyone would be his own narrator, and in the world that this sincerity revealed, perfect knowledge would include perfect forgiveness.
- "iPhones vs. the Police" by Caleb Crain
Tech Links: December 8, 2011
Boris Phone Holder from Mocha
The App Wars are about to heat up. Microsoft is offering developers a larger piece of the pie in revenue for apps for smartphones and tablets. If a Windows app's revenue breaks $25 000, MS is offering 80% of the revenue, ahead of Apple's 70%.
Canada's privacy commissioner has said that consumers should always be able to opt out of tracking. There could be work in the future, either in writing a browser add-on that prevents data being tracked/forwarded or in showing the data being tracked. This may mean that companies like CarrierIQ will have to be careful of what data they track.
Make Magazine has released its Ultimate Kit Guide which rates 175 DIY kits. Kits like the: 6-in-1 Solar Robot Kit, the Infrared Jammer Kit, the KaraKuri Somersault Doll kit, the Loud Objects Noise Toy Kit. But best of all you will find the astounding MakerBot Thing-O-Matic 3D printer. "The Thing-O-Matic is a breakthrough in 3D printing technology. The Thing-O-Matic prints thing after thing, it's completely automated! You hit print and the machine does all the work. Want to print 100 butterflies? Easy. Want to print an entire chess set? No problem. Buy it, assemble it, and enjoy being the first on your block to live in the cutting-edge personal manufacturing future of tomorrow!"
The new .xxx domains are available. Filter writers now have a new spam detector, just like when .biz and .info came out.
Daily Links: December 8, 2011
The DC-3: The Best Paper Airplane in The World. "During the summer of 1950, on the outskirts of Harrisburg Pennsylvania U.S.A., my sister's boyfriend 'Skip' was sitting on the glider on the front porch of our house. He said to me - Hey Mike... bring me a sheet of paper.' I answered why? and he responded with his make believe impatience 'Just bring it!' I obeyed and he said that he was going to build the best paper airplane in the world. I was eight years old at the time and my meager knowledge of paper airplanes was the traditional flying wedge that spiraled into tight loops and fell head first to the ground."
The Hipster's Dictionary: A copasetic compendium of hep cat hype and swing-era slang.
Louis C.K.: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Chick: The comedian (and father of two daughters) salutes the feminine future.
The Straight Dope: Can cops really commandeer cars?
VASSAL is an open-source engine for playing board games online, by email, on forums or on a single machine. Which board games? These. (Requires Java.)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Video: Traffic in Ho Chi Minh City
Traffic in Frenetic HCMC, Vietnam from photographer Rob Whitworth
Everyone who has visited Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam knows part of the magic (love it or hate it) is in the traffic. Ever since I first set foot in HCMC I have been captivated by the cities energy. Saigon is a city on the move unlike anything I have experienced before which I wanted to capture and share.
Video: Quick History of Satellites
Have you ever wondered how many satellites have been launched in to space? Well, you do not have to scratch your hear any longer – here is the answer thanks to the people at Ne0nLe0n. Every launch since they began up to 2010.
Tech Links: December 6, 2011
15 Futuristic Display Technologies That Will Change The Way You See The World
Wasn’t the future of television watching supposed to be way cooler than this by now? Yeah, it was, but don’t worry; those spiffy high-tech displays have only been delayed, not scrapped entirely.
DARPA's Shredder Challenge solved two days early
Infogrphic: Tips & Tricks for Students Conducting Research
In a recent stud on student research skills, 3 out of 4 students couldn't perform a 'well-executed search' on Google.
The Latest in the Widening Carrier IQ Phone Spying Scandal
It only took a scolding letter from a Senator, a class action lawsuit and a few thousand news stories, but smartphone software makers Carrier IQ finally responded to allegations of logging keystrokes and spying on users on Thursday night. The company’s denying the most serious user-tracking allegations, a number of questions about exactly what the software does and how users can turn if off remain. Among them, how long has this been going on and what the heck was Carrier IQ (and its clients) thinking in the first place?
Swiss government keeps downloading legal after piracy study
One in three people in Switzerland download unauthorized music, movies and games from the Internet and since last year the government has been wondering what to do about it. This week their response was published and it was crystal clear. Not only will downloading for personal use stay completely legal, but the copyright holders won’t suffer because of it, since people eventually spend the money saved on entertainment products.
Ten years of Windows XP: how longevity became a curse
Windows XP's retail release was October 25, 2001, ten years ago today. Though no longer readily available to buy, it continues to cast a long shadow over the PC industry: even now, a slim majority of desktop users are still using the operating system.
Why Instagram Is So Popular: It could also be the world of photography is changing so fast that lots of us nerds are talking about how a tool like Instagram can pass 10 million users in 355 days. The interface implications are fascinating, the company and technology dynamics of serving content to 10 million users with less than ten employees are fascinating, the artistic content is fascinating, and the reasons why people like me are so addicted to the damn thing are fascinating.
News:
- Facebook Targets Huge IPO: Facebook Inc. is inching closer to an initial public offering that it hopes will value the company at more than $100 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Science: Hot Cores in Dark Clouds
Above: A false-color, infrared image of a dark cloud as seen against the bright background of Milky Way emission. Within the snake-like cloud structure seen here, dust and gas are congealing into new stars that are detected as embedded, hot cores.
The earliest stages in the life of a star are among the most mysterious. This is primarily because stars form inside dark clouds of material that block optical light, and because they form relatively quickly, in only hundred of thousands of years, whereas once a star starts burning its hydrogen fuel it can last for billions of years.
Science: The Cosmic Web
Galactic surveys have revealed that the universe has a “bubbly texture.” Almost all galaxies are found within giant arcs surrounding enormous voids, some more than 300 million light years across, containing little other than empty space. Though it can’t be seen, dark matter dominates most of the structure.
As seen in the simulation above, the universe is arranged into great collections of knots, sheets, and filaments. These formations got their start from the tiny fluctuations in the cosmic background radiation, which represent areas of slightly more or less density. As the universe evolved, these small inhomogeneities attracted matter to them, which snowballed over billions of years into the enormous collections we now see.
Source: Wired
Photo: Buonanotte, Italia
Buonanotte, Italia
Lit up at night in this picture taken on June 15, 2011, the boot of Italy outline is drawn in by the cities of Bari, Brindisi, and Naples. Sicily is lit up as well. The ISS was almost a thousands kilometers east of Italy when it took this shot looking west, which is why it looks a bit squashed, foreshortened by the curve of the Earth.
Source: Discover Magazine
Monday, December 5, 2011
Daily Links: December 5, 2011
Europe According to USA
London-based designer Yanko Tsvetkov‘s Mapping Stereotypes project
13 Misconceptions About Today from Future History Classes
As the Occupy protests spread, the latest phenomenon to emerge is the Stealthy Wealthy. Sensitive to negative perceptions of extreme wealth inequality in hard times, and concerned about the possibility of history repeating itself, the super-rich have been swapping their limousines for nondescript-looking yet luxuriously outfitted cargo vans.
BoingBoing Gift Guide 2011: The ultimate source for ideas for your favorite proud, self-described geeks.
Christmas Decorating and Craft Ideas: Lots of gift and decorating ideas you can make yourself, as well as ideas for Christmas light displays.
Five Mysteries Uncovered By Google Earth
Infographic: College Tuition on the Rise
What It Looks Like Inside Amazon.com
Astronomy: Is Mars Really Red?
Mars is often known as the 'Red Planet,' but is it really red? This 60-second video answers one of the most frequently asked questions about our planetary neighbor.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Factoid: Ruins of Gedi
The ruins of Gede are the remains of a mysterious lost city on the Swahili Coast of Kenya, located deep within the Arabuko Sokoke forest. The mystery of Gede (Gedi) is that it does not appear in any Swahili, Portuguese, or Arab written records and present day research has not yet been able to fully account for what actually happened to the city. The inhabitants were of the Swahili, an ancient trading civilization that emerged along the eastern coasts of Africa ranging from Somalia to Mozambique. Archaeological excavations carried out between 1948 and 1958 have uncovered porcelain from China, an Indian lamp, Venetian beads, Spanish scissors, and other artefacts from all over the world, demonstrating the occupants were engaged in extensive and sophisticated international trade. Questions still remain as to what caused the downfall of Gede, but by the 17th century, the city was completely abandoned to the forest and forgotten until the 1920s. Today, a National Museum, Gede's sister cities from the period are part of the ethnography based archeological work of Dr Chapurukha M. Kusimba of Chicago's Field Museum, whose lifework has thrown light on the precolonial heritage of the Swahili peoples.
Tech Links: December 1, 2011
Are We Building a Fatter, Slower Web?: The average page download size has jumped 25% since this time last year — 626 kB per page to 784 kB. The main culprit: JavaScript.
Berg London's Little Printer is a small, net-connected printer for your home that will print you a small, daily newspaper with content you add or subscribe to via a phone app.
CarrierIQ, a data-logging software present on most new Android, Blackberry and Nokia phones, secretly records keystrokes, dialed numbers and text messages. It also can't be turned off. Trevor Eckhart, the Android user who discovered and recorded it, labelled CarrierIQ a rootkit (you can read Eckhart's further analysis here). CarrierIQ sent Eckhart a cease-and-desist letter (PDF here), but has since backed off. Eckhart's findings confirm earlier rumors.
The Day the Music Died: Why Labels Are Abandoning Streaming Music Services
"In many ways, this situation feels like filesharing’s threat realized in full, with music sales falling because the Internet has changed the way people think about obtaining and listening to music."
Tech: CubeStormer II
CubeStormer II solves the Rubik's Cube puzzle faster than the human world record.
This ARM Powered robot was designed, built and programmed by Mike Dobson and David Gilday, creators respectively of CubeStormer and Android Speedcuber.
The mechanics are constructed entirely from LEGO, including four MINDSTORMS NXT kits, with the addition of a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone running a custom Android app as the robot's brain.
Human speedcubers' solve times only include the physical manipulation of the cube and don't include some time which is allowed to "inspect" the cube beforehand. Times recorded by CubeStormer II are for the total solve including: image capture, software solution calculation and physical solve.
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