Microsoft’s Mice Get Touchy

Microsoft’s Mice Get Touchy
By Kkelly6. 十月 2009 10:47
Those of you who haven’t been following the advent of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system are probably unaware that it incorporates multitouch technology, which recognizes more than one finger touch at a time. Yes, Apple’s already done that, we know. So in an effort to make this technology useful and distinctivel, Microsoft Research has developed a family of five mice that utilize it interesting ways, like being able to flick a cursor across the screen, or pinching to shrink photos. Yes, Apple. . . .

We could try to explain how each one works, but you’d probably much rather see them in action:

Say Goodbye to Training Wheels

Say Goodbye to Training Wheels
By Kkelly19. 十月 2009 09:16
It’s been a right of passage for generations of toddlers: the day when your parents break out the crescent wrench and take the training wheels off your bike. The day usually ends with success as you travel down the sidewalk balancing your two-wheeler with relative ease, but that usually comes after a few bruised and scraped knees or elbows. What if there was a way to skip the pain and move right to the reward?

A new innovation called the Gyrowheel has been designed to help make the ordeal of graduating from training wheels more enjoyable and less painful. The wheel replaces the traditional front spoked wheel with one packed with a spinning disc that uses a rechargeable battery pack to spin independently at various rates to stabilize the bike, even when it’s rider-less. Think of it as something similar to the way a Segway balances itself and you get the idea. The speed of the disc can be adjusted based on the comfort level of the rider.

The Gyrowheel will be available in early December, which is about the time when you might want to divest of your investment in Band-Aid stock.

Listen Up

With the exception of those people on infomericals with the big rigs on their heads, most people who use hearing aids prefer to be somewhat more discrete in their use, particularly in public. Consequently, some of these people have found themselves in awkward situations at social or business events because they didn’t want to have to go through the all-too-obvious and often-complicated volume-adjustment routine. So they simply agree and end up with. . .an anchovy pizza.

This issue formed the impetus behind the development of new “sweep” touch volume activation technology developed by design firm Stuart Karten Design and Starkey Laboratories for Starkey’s new S Series line of hearing aids.

The bottom half of the hearing aid is completely touch-activated, allowing for quick and easy volume adjustment. An upward sweep of the finger along the surface turns the volume up, while a downward sweep results in lower volume. A quick touch of the device switches operation between digital listening modes.

“By giving patients more control over their hearing aids, I hope we’re giving them a greater sense of freedom in their lives,” says Ron Pierce, SKD’s director of strategy and research. Finding a way to mix design and technology in a form that can make people’s lives easier should be the goal of every product developer.

Bike Storage 3.0

In Japan, where more than 18 million bicycles are sold per year to people who use them for daily transportation, even to and from work. Consequently, people-powered transport is one of the biggest growing sectors in the Japanese economy.

Having millions of bicycles on the streets daily means those bikes have to be parked somewhere. Traditional bike racks are an eyesore, not to mention the fact they leave bikes exposed to elements, and who wants to commute with a wet seat?


One town in Japan has come up with an innovative way to store bikes that’s both convenient and dry. The “bike tree” is a fully-automated storage system that can store up to 6,000 bikes in one location for a small monthly fee. The bikes are fitted with an electronic tag that transmits data to the tree. Once the bike is inserted into the retrieval slot, the tree recognizes the size and weight of the bike and then grabs it and places it in the rack system. When the owner wants to retrieve their bike, they simply swipe their mag stripe card through the reader and their bike is delivered to them in minutes. It’s interesting to watch the tree in action:

The Future of Musical Instruments?

The Future of Musical Instruments?
By GSV18. 十二月 2009 08:50


Or is it something that is going to cause a reboot of Thomas Dolby, Kraftwerk, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer?

It’s called the Eigenharp Alpha from Eigenlabs. It features 120 keys, 12 percussion keys, two strip controllers, a breath pipe, and even pedal inputs. And there is even what can be described as “disco lighting” up and down the neck.

The company’s creative director Richard Campbell calls it “The most expressive musical instrument ever made.” It is certainly one of the most digital. And it isn’t cheap: While it will be introduced in the U.S. next month, you can pick one up in the U.K. for £3950.

By the way, if you watch this video and get to about the nine-minute mark, the guy on the left is playing an instrument that Eigenharpers may not recognize. It’s called an “acoustic guitar.”

Fast Chinese Train Is, Well, Really Fast

Fast Chinese Train Is, Well, Really Fast
By GSV29. 十二月 2009 08:28
On December 26th, while you were, perhaps, in a long line at a department store trying to return that gift you’d received, a line that moved with all of the alacrity of a tired, wounded snail, a group of folks in China were setting a land-speed record.

The Harmony Express passenger train traveled between Guangzhou to Wuhan, a distance of some 1,100 km, in less than three hours, averaging 350 km/hr. According to a story in the Financial Times, this speed is significantly faster than that of the Japanese Shinkansen or the French TGV trains, which have a maximum service speed of 300 km/hr.

And the “fast” train in the U.S., the Acela, brings to mind the aforementioned snail—comparatively speaking—as it travels the 300 km between Boston and New York in 3.5 hours, for a speed of about 86 km/hr.

In the event that you want to see a fast train—labeled the “fastest”—check out this video which, as you’ll note from the fact that the guys are speaking French, is not the Harmony Express::

Get Published Now

If you've got a manuscript, there's never been a better time to get published. This video from Author Solutions will tell you how to get started on your publishing journey. For more information, visit www.authorsolutions.com.

Nooka Augmented Reality Accessorizer: Not real but it should be

Nooka is one of our favorite brands and these guys created a new way to try on a Nooka watch at home. By using augmented reality technologies – albeit technology that may not work quite yet – you can try on any watch just by putting on a specially coded bracelet. The system senses the position of your hand and lets the Nooka watch appear in 3D right on your wrist. It’s honestly an amazing idea and someone better patent it before Trojan and Victoria’s Secret get their hands on it.

We’ve seen a few of these, including Avatar toys that come to life on your screen, but never have I seen them shown in such a compelling and fascinating manner. If you were flipping through a magazine would you stop and take a photo of a little bug in the corner of the page or are you more likely to peel of a intriguing watch and go to a website to see something even cooler?

AR is finally getting to a point where the uncanny valley has finally been reached. Expect amazing things in just the next few years.

Thanks, Dr. Mark Wright

Music and the Brain: How the Mind Interprets Music

Music and the Brain: How the Mind Interprets Music
Hosted by: Leila Lemghalef
Daniel J. Levitin has worked with some of the biggest names in the recording industry: Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Santana and Joe Satriani, to name just a few. He has penned two best-selling books, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, and, The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. Both these books aim to make accessible to laypeople the ideas and theories connecting music and the mind. In this video, WatchMojo.com speaks with Levitin about his book, This Is Your Brain on Music, and learns about some of his most memorable experiences in the record industry. For more information click Here

COMMUNITY

Brain Exercises: Insight Into The Science Of The Real World

Brain Exercises: Insight Into The Science Of The Real World
Hosted by: Rebecca Brayton
We all know that to keep our bodies healthy we should exercise and feed it appropriate foods. Keeping our brains healthy uses the same principles of exercise and fuel. By constantly feeding our minds information and challenging ourselves with new facts, we can help keep our brains fit well into old age. Dr. Joe Schwarcz – better known simply as Dr. Joe – is dedicated to explaining science to the masses and helping to foster a public interest for his chosen field. And this bestselling author informs and entertains on a wild assortment of science-based topics in his book "Brain Fuel". In this video, WatchMojo.com speaks with Dr. Schwarcz to learn more about how an interest in scientific trivia can keep your brain engaged, energized and healthy.

Sense Or Nonsense: Chemical vs. Natural

Sense Or Nonsense: Chemical vs. Natural
Hosted by: Rebecca Brayton
The terms 'natural' and 'organic' have come to be associated with health, whereas the word 'chemical' today connotes poison and toxicity. But Dr. Joe Schwarcz, a chemist by trade, wants the world to know that just because something is synthetically made does not mean it is inferior or more dangerous than a natural product. Examples such as snake venom and poison ivy stand as proof that Mother Nature can be just as volatile as a scientist. In this video, WatchMojo.com speaks with Dr. Schwarcz about chemical versus natural, and also which chemicals have unfairly been classified as 'bad,' as discussed in his book, 'Science, Sense and Nonsense.'

Gokivo Navigator

Gokivo Navigator

Gokivo Navigator provides users with one-touch access to geo-centric searches with ratings and reviews that have been composed by millions of users. Gokivo Navigator is designed with Apple’s native look and feel for quick maneuvering. Easily find your way with real-time turn-by-turn visual and voice-prompted directions whether travelling by car or on foot.
Traffic alerts give you a heads-up on your next move
Enjoy your music library while navigating. Before voice-prompts are announced, the music volume automatically lowers for upcoming turn notifications
View rich 3D moving maps to quickly display the location of an address or point of interest
Pinpoint your current location and map every turn of a trip while staying connected sharing geo-coded locations with friends --- without leaving the app
Share a location with your friends via in-application email
Small application size leaves you plenty of room for your music, video and applications – compare our low 2.7MB size to other 1GB+ navigation applications
Gokivo Navigator is supported on iPhone 3G and 3GS only and requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later to be installed. Available in the United States only.

Why have an expensive, separate device for navigation when you can have it all on your iPhone! Download Gokivo Navigator Today!

Attend Startup School on October 24th

Watch live video from Startup School on Justin.tv

Startup School

Where: Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley.
When: 24 October 2009, 9:00 am.
Application Deadline: 1 October 2009.

Are you a hacker who has thought about one day starting a startup? Have you already started it? Then you're invited to a free, one-day startup school this October 24 at Berkeley. We'll have a range of experts speaking about startups from their own experience.

The atmosphere of energy in the room at startup school is something you have to experience to believe. Many founders have told us that this event was what finally made them take the leap.

The event is free, but because more people may want to come than we have room for, we ask you to fill out a brief application form if you want to attend. The application deadline is noon PT on October 1, and we'll issue acceptances by October 8.

Drew Houston of DropBox [eTalk by CSUA]

Drew Houston of DropBox [eTalk by CSUA]
by KRUTAL DESAI on FEBRUARY 1, 2010
CSUA recently invited DropBox CEO Drew Houston to Berkeley to speak about his experience as a young entrepreneur. Lots of insightful information. Be sure to check it out below:

DropBox eTalk part 1 from Catherine Duncan on Vimeo.

The Tech Behind The Hard Rock Cafe

The Tech Behind The Hard Rock Cafe

While there's nothing wrong with the California Club, you don't go to a Hard Rock Cafe because you love food. You go because you love music, and now you're likely to stay longer because you love technology. Knowing the value of memorabilia, Hard Rock took on the huge task of photographing their memorabilia collection in high resolution, feeding it into their office SharePoint. Today, that SharePoint drives the Hard Rock Memorabilia site, the 18'x4' multitouch "Rock Wall" in Orlando, the Rock Wall Solo in Seattle, all the Hard Rock Surface computers, and Microsoft Pivot. And all of it is tagged and indexed with the inside story and Deep Zoomable.



The access to this content is incredible when you think about it. These rockers could teach the world a thing or two about how digital curation is done. Think of how much stuff sits on a shelf at the Smithsonian, Vatican, and thousands of other museums and art galleries around the world. In this video, Hard Rock CIO Joe Tenczar gives us a tour of some of the tech you’ll see in the latest Hard Rock Cafes.

Here is a link to the Photosynth of Tommy Alsop's wallet that I mentioned in the video. And don't miss my behind the scenes look at the Hard Rock Cafe

The Skinny Pancake

About this Episode February 10, 2010
Right in downtown Burlington sits The Skinny Pancake, a mobile creperie focusing on seasonal, organic ingredients. Started by a few friends, The Skinny Pancake quickly grew into a popular destination for all. In fact, it became so popular they were able to open up a brick and mortar restaurant nearby.

While there I feasted on there locavor, fall harvest, and lemon sugar crepes.

Learn more about them online at SkinnyPancake.com

Scrapblogs

Scrapblogs

We did our absolute best to make Scrapblog as simple as possible to use, but we also know you might want a little help getting started. We've put together a quick tour of the most common features of Scrapblog. Enjoy!

Now you can print your one-of-a-kind creations into high-quality photobooks and cards. Take a tour of printing or learn more.

Kenny Rogers - The Gambler

On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made my life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
so if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

When he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
chrousx3

Twitter’s Development History Beautifully Visualized In A Video

Twitter Code Swarm from Ben Sandofsky on Vimeo.

Twitter’s Development History Beautifully Visualized In A Video

by MG Siegler on February 5, 2010

Twitter just recently launched a new Twitter Engineering blog, and to kick things off, one team member, Ben Sandofsky, decided to share a video he made representing Twitter’s development history. The video was made using Code Swarm, a software tool used to visualize data.

As Sandofsky notes, “it isn’t exactly scientific, but it still goes to show Twitter’s explosive growth mirrored in engineering.” More importantly, it looks awesome. You can see the shift in Twitter development from Jack Dorsey in the early days (2006) to Blaine Cook to Alex Payne to Twitter’s now large team of developers. Each team member is represented in the video by their Twitter avatar.

Watch it below. It’s mesmerizing.

Apple's co-founder on his Toyota frustrations