Visualized: Mercury originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Quadrocopters juggle balls cooperatively, mesmerize with their lethal accuracy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkRobots.net | ETH - IDSC | Email this | Comments
Columbia doctors turn to IBM's Watson for patient diagnosis, clairvoyance originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkPhysorg | Columbia | Email this | CommentsThe Oxford English Dictionary added a number of networthy initialisms to the ranks of official English words. If you haven't heard of an initialism before, I hadn't, you'll now know that this is a word that is created by making an acronym from the first letters of each word in a longer phrase. The venerable dictionary added and updated a collection of these acronyms to it's rolls of wordiness earlier today.
LOL officially enters the ranks of real words alongside such internet-chat-spawned shorthand as OMG (Oh My God), IMHO(In My Humble/Honest Opinion), and BFF(Best Friend Forever). The Oxford guys also decided to update the entries to the older terms FYI (For Your Information) and TMI (Too Much Information). Apparently the folks over at the OED neglected to include ROFL and LMAO, most likely because they aren't used quite as often verbally or in traditional print.
As such usage indicates, many people would consider these recent coinages, from the last 10 or 20 years, and associate them with a younger generation conversant with all forms of digital communications. As is often the case, OED's research has revealed some unexpected historical perspectives: our first quotation for OMG is from a personal letter from 1917; the letters LOL had a previous life, starting in 1960, denoting an elderly woman (or 'little old lady'; see LOL n./1); and the entry for FYI [FYI phr., adj., and n.], for example, shows it originated in the language of memoranda in 1941 – OED
The dictionary also added the popular usage of ♥ to heart as a colloquial synonym for to love. So now, writing "I ♥ you" to your sweetie is not only sickeningly adorable, it's also grammatically correct! I think you'll all join us in saying, "WTF?"
[via Ars Technica]
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This is just plain crazy and any legislator that votes for Microsoft in this quest deserves to be ousted in the next elections. Microsoft is on a campaign to make it illegal for companies inside the US to buy from overseas firms that use unauthorized software. That might not sound that bad at first glance.
Once you get into the details of what Microsoft wants to do the audacity of the plan comes into plain view. Microsoft wants to be able to sue American firms for buying from these companies. So this is how it would work. If Ford buys a washer from a firm in China that Microsoft establishes is using unauthorized software, Microsoft wants to be able to sue Ford.
The real rub is that the law might actually pass and is in fact already in place in Louisiana and may even be passed in Washington. At the core, this will put the burden of policing pirated software on all companies that buy from overseas or they could face fines. Exactly how a company in the US is supposed to know that a supplier in China uses pirated software isn't made clear.
[via TEchDirt]
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HTC EVO 3D first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsHi!
Today I tried the remote desktop server functionality that I've installed on my phone. There's an app for that (this is a registered trademark by Apple) :P
Kinect meets a Pufferfish display, produces wonderfully creepy all-seeing eye (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 04:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |earthware (YouTube) | Email this | CommentsSome graduate students at Universität Konstanz in Germany put together a project based on Microsoft's popular Kinect system. Instead of using the system as a gaming controller, they take the Infrared camera's visual data from a helmet mounted Kinect and uses it to relay audio instructions through a wireless headset. This could possibly give the blind warnings about obstructions and directions at a larger distance than the current white cane and/or seeing eye dog system in popular use today. They call it the NAVI, Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired.
The pair of students wanted to do more than just implement that system. They also put together a limited Augmented Reality system utilizing the standard camera mounted alongside the dual IR cameras that allow the Kinect to have stereoscopic vision. The AR system is set up to read various AR bitmap tags like the one pictured below. This allows the system to work with the external world to give the handicapped access to more information. It also works to prove other AR concepts like having bit mapped tags trigger virtual events.
So for example, if you walk towards a door the output will be "Door ahead in 3″, "2″, "1″, "pull the door" where each part of the information depends on the distance to the marker on the door.
These systems put together allow the student to pass blindfolded through a short course with the NAVI working as a guide. The team put together this short demonstration video showing the components and operation of the system. They talk a little bit about the vibro-tactile arduino system in the belt, but I don't quite understand what's going on there. I'll venture a guess that as the user gets closer to walls the belt will begin to vibrate harder as a tactile warning system.
[via HCI Blog @ Universität Konstanz]
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Sun.com, the twelfth oldest domain on the internet, will be decommissioned on June 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Sun | Email this | CommentsNintendo's 3DS isn't just a 3D portable games console, it's also apparently a style judge. According to the handheld's user guide, players with beards, bangs or even glasses could end up confusing the 3DS' facial recognition system.
Piercings and bangs can also apparently confuse matters, while the environment you play in – what's behind you, how good the lighting is – can also have a big impact. Basically, it sounds like the 3DS would prefer you to follow the same guidelines as for passport photos: clear face, plain background and, whatever you do, no smiling.
Now, we've been confused by beards before ourselves in the past, but we do worry about long-sighted gamers forced to squint at their screens because the 3DS forces them to take off their reading glasses if they want to be recognized properly. Bearded, glasses-wearing and riddled with piercings? Perhaps you should just save your money for an NGP.
[via Kotaku]
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Continue reading PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation
PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PermalinkHack-A-Day | pabr.org | Email this | Commentshttp://www.engadget.com/2011/03/15/in-lasers-we-trust-nasa-researches-5kw-galactic-trash-disposal/
The whole idea is stinking "conspiracy" from miles away :p
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The Apple iPad 2 started selling last Friday, March 11th to massive lines at major flagship Apple Stores. One NYC woman was able to sell her first place spot in line for $900. This could become an interesting trend for future Apple product launches…
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College student Sahas Katta was able to beat his speeding ticket in traffic court using…drumroll please…his Android smartphone, and a handy app. Katta was pulled over and charged with going 40mph in a 25mph zone. But he wasn't going 40, only 26mph. His word against the officer's right? Not so much, since he was running My Tracks by Google in the background on his Motorola Droid phone.
The free app records and visualizes GPS data on a map, tracking distance, average speed, average moving speed, and max speed. Katta downloaded this information to Google Docs and brought it with him to the courtroom. He was able to convince the judge that the officer might not have been using his radar gun correctly, introducing enough reasonable doubt that he was declared "not guilty". Nice!
[via Android Community]
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http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/ix2yhSsV7_Y/
A quite interesting study with a quite reasonable outcome :p
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Good times, a really nice article that kept me company during the trip to work:
http://www.eetimes.com/design/embedded/4213842/Using-PCI-Express-as-a-fabric-for-interconnect-clustering?pageNumber=1
When the iPhone 4 first debuted on AT&T users experienced the famous "death grip" as their reception plummeted after holding the phone in a certain way. Consumer Reports has tested the new Verizon version of the iPhone and the reception problem seems to have followed the device to its new network. While complaints rained down on AT&T and Apple when the iPhone launched, complaints have been far fewer for Verizon's iPhone.
Consumer Reports ran the device through the same series of tests as AT&T's iPhone, as well as five other Verizon smartphones: Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Incredible, Samsung Fascinate, Motorola Droid X, and the LG Ally. All tests were done in a radio-frequency isolation chamber which blocks outside signals. Sending a signal to the phones, they were then tested by placing a finger on different parts of the phones to see if there was any signal degradation. The only phones who experienced a signal drop were the iPhones.
The drop in reception comes from the design of the iPhone 4. The sleek and stylish design places the antenna on the outer metal band of the phone, and on the lower left is the antenna where the signal loss happens. If you bridge the gap it will result in signal loss, something easily done while holding the phone normally. The design problem is easily alleviated buy putting a case on the iPhone, which lead Apple to hand out their Bumpers for free when the problem first came up. Consumer Reports concludes their test by not including the Verizon iPhone 4 on their recommended smartphone list, despite receiving high marks on their ratings.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/02/verizon-iphone-4-reception-problems-consumer-reports-lab-test.html
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