Augmented Reality Magazines
Here is a very cool look at a new augmented reality magazine. Using an iPhone and an app from Junaio you can add features to magazine photos like 3D, video, animation and pop out text.
via: Beyond the Beyond
pads, batterys, sliding maps and art mashups
Cool new toy and utilities
Apple Magic Trackpad
I love the multi-touch track pad on my Wife's MacBook. It turns mouse like actions upside down, sideways and inside out. I love it so much that I bought her the Apple Magic Mouse. It is like the track pad but only in mouse form. Now you can take it one step further and get the Magic Trackpad to replace your mouse. No lasers, no balls and no buttons. Just a slab of beautiful aluminum.
Also new from Apple is their new battery charger. Batter Charger from Apple? Trust me, just read up on it and buy one for you and your Dad.
Microsoft Street Slide
No one likes to give Microsoft props anymore. It's a geek hipster tradition that whatever Microsoft puts out is uncool. That said, the demo for Street Slide has my saliva running. We will see if this comes to fruition or not but for now it just looks awesome.
Community Calendar with Google Apps and WordPress
The Walker Art Center has this blog and on it they do the strangest of things. They give away their secrets. They actually tell you how they build their beautiful websites. The blog is called New Media Initiatives. I would recommend you go to this site but I think you should just read all of their blogs. You really need to get a well rounded experience. In this post they go into great detail explaining how they mash-up Google Apps with WordPress to make their community oriented Open Field site. While it is on your mind, go to the Walker and enjoy the activities of Open Field.
Butt Bongos Anyone? or Skin Texting
Fascinating video on using your arm or hand as an input device.
via: Engaget
Pot shops, best pictures, Decaf, 3d alphabets and Nano Sci-Fi
What I'm reading/listening to today:
Los Angeles Aims To Close Some Pot Dispensaries - It seems to be one of the only businesses thriving in tough economic times. (via NPR)
The Big Picture : 2009 in photos - The Boston Globe photo blog is consistently the most beautiful and sad site on the web. This is part 1 of 3.
Hackers release Decaf to combat Cofee : Microsoft released a series of tools to Law Enforcement. They called it Cofee. Now hackers have a tool to combat it called Decaf.
Make your own 3d alphabet. No, not on the computer, in real life!!
I started a new book today. Small Miracles by Edward M. Lerner. Published by Tor Books. BTW Tor has an awesome blog site: tor.com
listening to "Neu! - Hallogallo" http://blip.fm/~hteik
WOW!
I just found out that the new iPhone is going to be able to copy and (wait for it) paste. Holy shit this is ground breaking stuff. Next thing you know they will be able to delete things.
E-mini cooper = 0 emissions, Yeah Right
This week at the LA Auto Show the all new electric Mini Cooper was unveiled. BMW dubs it the Mini E. I was curious so I went to their web site and there staring at me was a statistic that said CO2 Emission = 0. So I am guessing that these crazy Germans are giving away free wind or solar devices along with the price of the car. But no this isn't the case. The sad part is that most consumers will believe that there is no CO2 created when they use their electric car.
Now here is an idea that is closer to emission free driving
Of course what BMW doesn't include in the zero emisions is that you still have to manufacture the car, mine for the materials, replace batteries, create electricity, upgrade the electrical in your garage.
With the self powered car you still have all of those things and very little options for heaters/air conditioning. Maybe we need to look at bamboo and pedals.
Has anyone been sucked into the blackhole yet?
The Large Hydron Collider went online today and yet we are all still here. What gives?
Bob Woodward’s Super Secret Weapon
Bob Woodward's revealation of the US super secret weapon has not only sold copies of his book but it has made for hilarious blog comments.
Here are my top 5 things the super secret weapon could be:
- Skynet
- Planes + Tanks = Planks
- laser beam shooting unicorns
- NASCAR
- "Muad'dib"
A few of my favorite sites for reader comments.
No Place to Hide – the video
This is show called "No Place to Hide". It is a Peter Jennings production and is based on my favorite book by Dan O'Harrow of the Washington Post. The video covers what is going on in the world of databases and video surveillance.
The man sticking it to the man.
The FCC is finally doing something in the right direction but I am sure this will be a slap on the wrist and then they will let Comcast carry on with their practices.
Our Canadian neighbors are hoping that this will move their own version of the FCC into similar action.
It has been suggested that Comcast's customers should respond by having a upload / download day, where everyone moves as many files as they possibly can via non-bittorrent or file sharing software. If every customer signed up and then uploaded their files to a free backup site it would bring Comcast to its knees.
Vimeo video site
I have been looking for a site that will host video and allow you to have much better quality than You Tube. I found Vimeo and I think that the quality is amazing. Let me know what you think.
next Day... from nikodio on Vimeo.
This second video looks amazing but when you hit play you might want to pause it for a while and let it load. It is 720p HD quality. If you load it full screen it looks better than most anything I've downloaded. Heck, watch both of them in full screen.
I'm guessing that if this site suddenly became popular they might take quite a performance hit.
By the way I had no idea what this second one is about and so I did a little searching. Watch it for a while, write down what you think the documentary they are going to make is about and then go find their website. I was way off.
Episode Six: 64 Days - Part 1 from mike ambs on Vimeo.
I've been playing around with Facebook lately and I am testing a WordPress plugin' that will upload this post directly into my Facebook account. We will see.
Podcast from your iPod
The TechStop reports on what looks like an awesome new product form Belkin. The Belkin Podcast is not out yet and I couldn't find it on Belkin's website so this is the first that I've seen it in detail.Then again if you can find anything easily on Belkin's site than you're one up on me.
2009 – The Year of the Robot
I'm going to skip 2008 and go right to my 2009 prediction. 2009 will be the year of the robot!
We first started seeing robots enter our day-to-day world with toy devices such as Sony's AIBO or your Robosapien. Then we started seeing working robots like the iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner. This year we were introduced to the Nabaztag/tag wi-fi bunny that was connected to you network and not only entertains you but also reads you your email and RSS feeds.
At this year's CES we are seeing the next step in robot technology. WowWee the maker of the Robosapien, Roboraptor and anything else you can put Robo in front of has a new "security" product. Rovio is their newly announced roving webcam that you can control from a webpage and view what is going on in your office or home. You can also setup a predefined area that the Rovio can patrol. I'm not sure what makes this a security product, but I do see a use for it.
iRobot who makes the Roomba and other home cleaning products also makes industrial and military robots. They have announced there new Looj, a gutter cleaning robot that crawls through the leaves and slime to leave your gutters clean and ready for rain and snow.
The Nabaztag which is made by French company Violet, is built on an platform that gives enterprising developers the ability to connect in and create their own applications for this device. The bunny allows for user to input via voice, button or RFID tag, although they don't quite have the RFID features ready for prime time.
As of today most of the Nabaztag add ons from developers that have made entertainment applications such as radio and podcast streaming, but the possibilities are endless. Universities in Europe, where the device has been available for quite some time, have been developing anything from diet/nutrition studies to medication alert systems.
iRobot also has opensource development models available to the public. The company provides the basic communication to the device and you can add to it.
Having working products that allow developers to add on to them creates huge push for the future of the technology. Before enterprising robot developers not only had to deal with their own code but also be an expert in the robot they were developing on. Developing add ons for the Nabaztag or iRobot is no different than developing add ons for Facebook or Google.
My immediate thoughts on where some of these technologies could go is for people who have elderly parents or neighbors they could use the security robot to check in on them. The Nabaztag could be used to make sure they are taking their medication when they should.
Robots are here and the floodgates are about to open. They might not exactly look like a robots of the 1950's but they are tools that will start to change how we go about our day to day lives.
. . . I just wanted to note for this article that my family owns a Nabaztag. It is hilarious interacting with a bunny on a day to day basis. Right now it is a novelty and doesn't really add to the quality of our lives, but I bet it happens soon.
Now I Can See Your House
Google Maps StreetView is now in Minneapolis
Favorite Spots Around Town:
Robot Love
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Walker Art Center
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Weisman Art Center
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SE Library (Designed by Ralph Rapson)
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House in Falcon Heights
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