Neolithic farmers may have been new to the whole "raising crops" game but they quickly figured out how to increase their agricultural efficiency: literal bullcrap. And we’ve gotten hellaciously good in the intervening thousands of years at the art of compost. Here’s how you can get in on the goods.
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A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology, led by Professor Changhuei Yang, have figured out a way to crank their microscopy up to 11. Usually, scientists are forced between a rock and a hard place: they can have high res images of small areas or low resolution pictures of larger fields. Using a strategy known as Fourier ptychographic microscopy, Yang’s team was able to computationally correct a standard microscope’s low res imagery, producing a billion-pixel picture. By adding an LED array to an existing microscope — the only hardware tweak their $200 system calls for — the researchers were able to stitch together a 20X quality image from a 2X optical lens. The information gleaned from the LED lights was corrected entirely on a computer, making it an exceptionally cost effective way to create high res microscopic images. The team’s report, published by the journal Nature Phototonics, can be read in full at the source link below.
Via: California Institute of Technology
Source: Nature Phototonics
There aren’t that many maglev trains in operation yet (one is currently operating in Shanghai, China and another is in Japan). There have been skytrains and monorails before, but this is the world’s first magnetically levitating system of mass transit, which will be built in Tel Aviv, Israel. Previous maglev trains were for intercity journeys, not urban mass transit.
Skytran was designed to reduce urban traffic congestion. It’s supposed to be less expensive to use, faster, and more comfortable than cars or buses. The two-seater pods allow for personal transit between stations.
Vehicles will be requested through a mobile app and are supposed to arrive almost instantly on demand.
The system was designed by engineers from NASA and Skytran. I wonder how this will scale up when tens of thousands of people try to use it every day. It kind of reminds me of the pods in Minority Report.
[via designboom]
When Google Reader finally closed its doors, it shoved thousands of teary-eyed RSS fans
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The original Nexus 7 arguably marked a turning point in Android tablets, Google finally doing what critics had long been demanding, and wading into the slate market with an own-brand option. With a screen size that undercut the iPad by several inches – and pre-empted the iPad mini by several months – the Nexus 7 also fought hard on price, with razer-thin margins and ruthless specification trimming on the ASUS-made tablet keeping the starting point at under $200. Time – and tablets – wait for no one, though, and with the iPad mini on the scene it was high time for Google and ASUS to rework the Nexus 7. The second-generation, 2013 version promises to be more powerful, more grown-up, and just as affordable, but has Google done enough? Read on for the full SlashGear review.
The original Nexus 7 was cheap, and it largely felt that way. More generous observers described the rubberized back cover as “grippy” and the overall feel as lightweight, but physically it was clearly built to a price and, when the iPad mini debuted some months later, began to look more than a little chunky.
Price of entry to the Nexus 7 2013 club has gone up a little – $229 versus $199 for the cheapest first-gen model – but you’re getting 16GB of storage as a minimum rather than 8GB. In fact, comparing like-for-like, the new tablet is actually more affordable than before, since Google launched the 16GB original model at $249. There’s a 32GB version for $269, again WiFi-only, and a 32GB WiFi + LTE model that will cost $349 and be sold on AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
If you’re keeping count, that makes the cheapest new Nexus 7 a full hundred dollars less than the cheapest iPad mini. At first glance, it looks like Google has followed Apple’s lead and gone for a matte-finish metal casing, too, but in fact the Nexus 7 2013 sticks with plastic for its back panel. The dimpled texture of the original has been dropped, but you still get the easily-held soft touch coating, and while it’s not quite as premium in the hand as Apple’s option, neither is it embarrassingly behind.
The new Nexus 7 has lost some of its bulk, along with the dimples, and is now 7.9 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches and 10.24 ounces (compared to 7.8 x 4.7 x 0.41 inches and 12 ounces before) making it narrower and lighter – though not thinner – than the iPad mini, and leaving it feeling somewhat stretched-out in its form-factor. It’s also easier to hold one-handed, with the slimmer casing more amenable to being gripped with your fingers either side.
That’s down to the smaller screen, of course, Google and ASUS sticking with a 7.02-inch panel versus Apple’s 7.9-inch display. The Nexus 7 2013 gets a surfeit of pixels to play with, however: it runs at a Retina-dense 1920 x 1200 resolution for a total pixel density of 323ppi. It’s a fantastic panel, using LCD IPS technology for broad viewing angles no matter how you’re holding the slate, with rich blacks and clean whites, not to mention bright and accurate colors.
As you might expect, that pays dividends when you’re using the Nexus 7 to watch video, and despite the slightly narrower display than the iPad mini, widescreen content fits the Google tablet’s screen for a final image that’s about the same size. A second speaker has been added for this second-gen model, and the stereo pair is considerably better than the mono cone of before, with a surprising amount of bass despite the limited dimensions. It’s helped by pushing them to the extremes of the slate, and Google credits Fraunhofer’s Cingo 5.1-surround virtualization system for boosting the audio abilities.
Google has obviously driven ASUS hard to fit a lot into the new Nexus 7. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chipset is its beating heart, running a 1.5GHz quadcore Krait 300 CPU paired with Adreno 320 graphics, and there’s double the memory from before, now coming in at 2GB. Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n (2.4/5GHz) and Bluetooth 4.0, along with NFC, a microUSB port, and the option of LTE (with HSPA+ 42Mbps support), along with the same cluster of sensors – accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, digital compass, and GPS – we’d expect from a smartphone.
ASUS has also found space for a rear camera this time around, too, slotting in a 5-megapixel shooter along with the 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. There’s also wireless charging, compatible with the same Qi standard as the Nexus 4 smartphone. What you still don’t get is a microSD card slot, Google expecting users to rely on the cloud for their storage needs.
We’ve seen the Snapdragon S4 Pro used to good effect in Sony’s Xperia Z and the LG Nexus 4, though the new Nexus 7′s implementation – at 1.5GHz – doesn’t quite stretch it to its maximum speed of 1.7GHz. Nevertheless, the second-gen tablet feels swift and smooth in just about every area.
Benchmarks are admittedly an artificial way of gaging performance, but with that caveat it’s fair to say the new Nexus 7 does particularly well. In the Quadrant test of overall processor power, 2013′s Nexus 7 scored 5475, almost 2,000 points ahead of the Tegra 3 powered original Nexus 7. In Geekbench 2, the tablet scored 2,670, while in Antutu it managed 20,011. In the Sunspider test of browser speed, where a lower time is better, the new Nexus 7 completed in 1,177.1ms.
Raw numbers don’t really explain the usability of the Nexus 7, however. It feels zippy and responsive, with apps loading quickly and multitasking avoiding the lag that can affect some lower-powered devices. One of the lingering complaints about the original Nexus 7 was that, over time, it would grow sluggish with continued use, something that was down to how Android handled cleaning its internal storage, but that’s been addressed in Android 4.3 which should mean the new Nexus 7 stays perky even as you throw new apps at it.
You can’t escape Jelly Bean, even with a new version of Android making its debut on the 2013 Nexus 7. Android 4.3 is the third outing for the name, in fact, with a host of changes that – like the improved storage management – generally go on behind the scenes rather than in front of the user.
That’s not to say Android hasn’t matured into a capable tablet platform, especially on smaller slates like the Nexus 7. The UI hasn’t looked like an inflated phone OS for some time now, and the growing number of tablet-specific apps for Android means digging through the Play Market no longer leaves you with little more than inflated phone software to choose from.
It’s the under-the-hood alterations which, although not perhaps instantly noticeable, will arguably make the biggest difference in the longer term. OpenGL ES 3.0 support, for instance, brings accelerated 3D graphics to the new Nexus 7, supporting Google’s earlier work on “Project Butter” to keep the interface slick. There’s also Bluetooth LE (aka Bluetooth Smart) support, the low-power wireless profile that will become increasingly commonplace as wearables like smartwatches gain traction. It’ll perhaps make more sense when Android 4.3 starts reaching phones, however.
Great for tablets, however – which tend toward the communal – is the newly-added Restricted Profiles feature, which allows for several different accounts to be set up on the Nexus 7, optionally with limits on what, exactly, they can each do. Each profile has its own app and data space, as well as homescreen settings, widgets, and the like, and each can be restricted around accessing certain apps, Google Play downloads, or other digital content.
It’s something which mainstream tablets have lacked for some time, and it makes a big difference if you have a family slate that lives on the coffee table and gets used by more than one person. Alternatively, if you’re in the habit of passing back your Nexus 7 to the kids in the rear of the car to occupy them, it’s useful to know that they’re not going to max out your credit card with in-app purchases and other downloads.
Android’s on-screen keyboard now has a Swype-style mode, where you can drag your finger between letters rather than pecking at them individually. The other big change is Google Play Games, effectively Android’s equivalent of the Apple Game Center, and doing much the same thing in pulling together multiplayer titles, achievements, and leaderboards.
In many ways, Google’s alterations to Android are polishing rather than revolutionizing the platform. If anything, what’s really still half-baked is the support – for tablets specifically – of third-party developers. As we said, the Android tablet app situation has improved since the early days of Honeycomb, but Apple’s iPad still has the lion’s share of titles.
The original Nexus 7 wasn’t much of a photography device. In fact, it even lacked a camera app out of the box; the front camera was solely intended for video calls such as in Hangouts. Now, on this second-gen version, Google has relented and added a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus on the back of the tablet.
Our experience with tablet cameras has never been especially good, not helped by the questionable ergonomics of using a 7-inch or bigger device to take photos. The quality the 2013 Nexus 7 can deliver with its new camera is only average, but colors are at least accurate and well-lit scenes are generally free of grain. There’s also 1080p HD video recording, which again is serviceable if hardly inspiring.
Android 4.3 brings a new camera app, complete with changes to the interface and more intelligent stitching of Photosphere panoramic shots. It’s still not perfect in how it patches together 360-degree images, but it’s quicker at it, which cuts down on inter-shot delay. The tweaked interface, meanwhile, hides some more of the settings in sub-menus, making for a UI that’s cleaner though not necessarily any faster to use for those making frequent changes.
Whereas usually each new generation of a product brings with it a larger battery, the Nexus 7 2013 bucks convention and actually trims its power pack down. Inside there’s a non-removable 3,950 mAh Li-Ion battery, down from 4,325 mAh in the old version, but Google claims that some clever software optimization has not only matched the previous runtimes but allowed the updated tablet to exceed them.
Google quotes up to nine hours of HD video playback or up to ten hours of web-browsing from a full charge. Our own testing suggests these are pretty accurate estimates; with heavy use, including Netflix media streaming over WiFi, push email and social networking turned on, some photography, and browsing, we managed almost nine hours of use before the 2013 Nexus 7 ran out.
Although there’s Qi wireless charging support this time around, Google doesn’t include the necessary hardware out of the box. Instead, you get a regular microUSB charger as standard, and have to provide a Qi charger yourself; if you’ve got one for the Nexus 4, then it will also work with the Nexus 7 2013.
The original Nexus 7 saw Google take the reins in Android tablets, showing a confused market exactly where it wanted it to go. With the new Nexus 7 2013, the rough edges of the first-generation hardware have been buffed away for the most part: the wireless charging and rear camera address two common complaints, and though it’s not quite as premium in the hand as Apple’s iPad mini, it remains considerably cheaper.
That’s before you even get to the high-resolution display, which goes beyond affordable table-stakes as we might have expected from a tablet intended for the mass-market, but kicks the new Nexus 7 to the top of the heap when it comes to Android slates. It also ratchets up the pressure on Apple to deliver an equally impressive screen on the iPad mini, since side-by-side the extra detail and clarity on the Nexus 7 2013 is readily noticeable.
Google’s first Nexus 7 was cheap and cheerful. The second-generation version is just as keenly priced but doesn’t leave you feeling like you’ve made obvious compromises in return. That makes it our pick of the Android tablets, and sets an early – and impressive – challenge to the new iPad mini.
Nexus 7 2013 Review is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
In a bit of a change-up from past fees from notable console-selling brands, the Sony PlayStation 4 has been revealed this week to be coming without fees for online chat or third-party app streaming for apps such as Hulu and Netflix. This news came aside reassurance that a $50-a-year PlayStation Plus subscription would have a big of a flip in which services it offered. A PlayStation Plus subscription brings a user free online multiplayer – users will not be able to play multiplayer online without this subscription unless the games they are playing are also free-to-play.
Sony’s PlayStation Access let this fact and other bits and pieces be known this afternoon in a Q and A video which also stated the friend limit to have been lifted to 2,000. This will allow you to work with Party Chat with essentially anyone you meet.
You’ll also be able to keep your current PlayStation Network name, avatar, and information therein – it all transfers over with great ease.
This session made note of the DualShock 3 controller not being able to work with the PlayStation 4, also confirming the tip that the PlayStation Move will work just as it does with the PlayStation 3. Sony went on to made certain the distinction between the colors of the original PlayStation 3 (Piano Black) and the PlayStation 4 (Jet Black) to make sure everyone could get the hint – there very well may be different colors for the console once it’s past launch phase.
It was confirmed that the Sony PlayStation 4 will be supporting 3D content, but no confirmation of what or when was made. “We’ll have more news coming soon” is as far as Sony will go at the moment. The PlayStation 4 will have a 500GB drive inside, it was also asserted, and just like the PlayStation 3, users will be able to expand.
Sound good enough for you for now? Let us know how you’re feeling about what Sony’s let the world know so far about this next-generation console and if you’ll be planning on partaking as well!
PlayStation 4 cuts fees for online services: Netflix, Hulu, chat included is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We’ve already adjusted to the consumer utopia of buying just about everything online with a single click, but waiting for it to show up is still the hardest part. eBay Now
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If you’re a photographer, professional or hobbyist, you probably know that you can accumulate gear costs quickly. All those costs can be hard to keep track of, making it imperative that you get your stuff insured and/or protected against theft somehow. New site Lenstag wants to help with that.
The website already has users in more than 80 countries and is free to use. Photographers can get in on it by signing up with a simple email and password combo, and then you just start adding gear. Enter a make and model, and suggestions will appear allowing you to be specific. You also enter in your serial code, which the site requires photographic evidence of to verify. An actual person does the final verification, which is why Lenstag isn’t your average possession database.
Lenstag having this information means you can give eBay buyers more peace of mind, and then actually transfer ownership to other Lenstag members. You can also report stolen gear, which allows people to look it up when they recover or find stolen gear, including police departments and private buyers shopping on Craigslist, for instance. Additionally, every piece of gear gets an auto-generate page designed to float up in search results, so that if someone is checking out a perspective search on a particular model of lens or camera with your serial number, they’ll see a notice that it’s stolen and get a form to submit a report.
The site introduced a new feature that lets you make a temporary verification link for their online sales of used camera goods, which is handy since you don’t want the listing hanging around once the gear is already sold. In general, it’s an amazing service and one that requires nothing more than a small amount of extra effort for a lot of extra peace of mind.
Lenstag founder Trevor Sehrer, whose day job is in mobile engineering with Google, told me that he plans on doing outreach to form official partnerships with police services soon, after first focusing on building out additional user-facing features. The Finnish Police have already endorsed Lenstag without any prompting, he notes, so it should make sense to start with them. When asked about revenue, however Sehrer demurred.
“I’m much more interested in solving the problem of camera and lens theft with Lenstag than making money,” he said. “The site doesn’t cost a lot of time or money to operate since users only need it when their set of gear changes and the verification system can scale quickly to as many verifiers as I need to get through any backlog.”
He is eventually looking at partnering with insurance providers, but the aim would be to pass on discounts to members of up to 20 percent, not necessarily to make revenue for the site itself.
As a photographer, I find this a very welcome resource, especially given its design and human-powered verification. I can imagine a time when asking for a Lenstag verification will be standard practice when buying and selling used gear, and I’m sure other photographers would appreciate the peace of mind that could come along with that.
Even if you haven’t seen one in person, you’re probably at least familiar with the concept of a scratch-off world map—it hangs on the wall, you scratch off each country as you visit it, etc. But Lego Cuusoo user TPNK came up with a brilliant, far more tactile version made entirely out of—you guessed it—Lego pieces.
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New York City apartments are small, so to make the most of my space, I’m mounting my 46-inch TV to the wall. One problem—which mount do I get? Is your TV wall mounted? Tell us which mount is your favorite. Do I go cheap? Any landmines to look out for? And go ahead regale us with any horror stories you may have of mounts falling off the wall and taking your TV crashing with it.
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
