If you have been on the internet for at least a few months, you probably came across a version of the animated GIF above. You may be wondering a) where the hell does this exploding head come from or b) how the hell did they do it. The answer to a) is David Cronenberg’s Scanners—and here’s the answer to b:
Let’s try something really quickly: pull your phone out, flip it over, and maybe squint at it a bit. Chances are you’ll see a series of FCC-mandated pictograms emblazoned there, little images you’ve probably never paid attention to before. If US…
The FCC’s controversial plans for a new version of net neutrality are still open for public comment for a few more days, and Chairman Tom Wheeler — continuing to fight charges that he may be a dingo — says it’s already received over 647,000…
Fans come in many flavors, the die-hard of which usually go to extremes to show their fondness for the subject of their adoration. One such Star Trek fan, Anthony Sforza of Long Island, has done just this by transforming his basement into a replica of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s bridge. The basement creation was the next logical step after years of … Continue reading
Keyboards are a dime a dozen, but few are as retro and classy as the Qwerkywriter, a typewriter-styled keyboard and dock for your Bluetooth-equipped slate or computer. The Qwerkywriter was funded through Kickstarter, where it exceeded its goal by about $40,000. The Qwerkywriter is a mechanical keyboard with 84 keys, USB, and an option for CMD keys for Apple users. … Continue reading
We’ve seen metal used in the construction of phones, and if the rumors are to be believed, Apple could be introducing the use of sapphire for its display as well. This is apparently because sapphire is an extremely hard material that makes it extremely difficult to scratch, unless you use a diamond.
We’ve also heard rumors that Kyocera was considering the use of the material themselves, but what about other OEMs? Could we start seeing a sapphire revolution? Apparently not. According to the folks at Engadget, they recently got in touch with a bunch of OEMs and asked them on their thoughts about the material.
Most of them seemed to be against the idea, citing costs as a reason. For example, a pane of sapphire is said to cost around $30, versus Gorilla Glass which costs $3. Sapphire is also said to be brittle. According to one representative, “The sapphire is too hard to withstand bending. It’s easier to break during drop tests when the size of sapphire increases.”
Corning themselves have criticized the sapphire material, claiming that their product is a cheaper and even more environmentally friendly, due to the fact that it takes less energy to produce. We suppose at the end of the day, it could really just boil down to marketing and as a way for Apple to remain ahead of the competition in terms of luxury materials, but we guess we’ll have to wait and see if the sapphire rumors pan out.
Smartphone OEMs Not Overly Enthused About Using Sapphire
, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
More often than not, developers are more than willing and happy to open up the alpha/beta phases of their upcoming games to the community. This allows gamers to play the game ahead of its release, and at the same time allow developers to spot and catch any bugs that might be present in the game and fix it before it goes up for sale.
Steam has an interesting option which is early access. This allows developers to put their games up for sale to get players to play their games while it is under development, who can then help provide feedback along the way – essentially a paid alpha/beta access. Now it seems that Sony themselves could be considering offering such a feature to PlayStation gamers and developers as well.
This was revealed by Sony’s Adam Boyes during an interview with Gamasutra who said, “That’s the thing — we live in a different world. There are different types of people. There people who always back games, enjoy Kickstarters, try things that they know aren’t finished but are willing to help make better.”
However bringing a PC feature onto consoles might be a different story. After all due to the differing nature of the console and the PC, gamers will have different expectations, so Boyes notes that it will be a challenge to bring the early access feature onto the PlayStation, but states that Sony “working through that right now. We’re figuring out what’s ok.”
What do you guys think? Would a PlayStation early access feature be something you would look forward to? Or would you rather purchase games that have been finalized and polished?
Sony Thinking Of Adapting Steam’s Early Access For The PlayStation
, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
It’s summer, it’s sunny and warm outside, and what’s a better way to take advantage of the beautiful weather by laying in the sun with a nice cold drink in your hand with your favorite tunes playing in the background? Sure, you agree, but it sounds like you might have to bring along a lot of equipment, right?
Well maybe not. A Kickstarter project called Coolest by Ryan Grepper might be able to solve your problem. Essentially the Coolest is a cooler that will be able to keep your drinks cold. At the same time, Coolest will also feature a built-in 18 volt battery unit and a blender unit that will allow users to blend their smoothies or cocktails at the same time.
The Coolest will also come with a built-in light to help you find your drinks at night, and to top it off, there is even a built-in Bluetooth speaker that lets you rock out to your jams while at a family outing or a picnic! There is even a USB charger that takes advantage of the 18 volt battery to help you charge your phones or tablets while on the go.
Other features of the cooler includes a divider to separate food from drinks (which also doubles as a cutting board), compartments for plates and cutlery, and to top it all off, a bottle opener. The Coolest Kickstarter project has since exceed its original goal of $50,000 by more than $2 million and if you’re thinking about getting your hands on one, it will be priced at $185.
The Coolest Is A Cooler With A Built-In Blender, Speaker, And USB Charger
, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
It wasn’t too long ago that the European courts had ruled that Google had to comply with requests from users for the right to be forgotten. This means that a person could file a request with Google asking them to be removed from the search results. That user will have to fill out a form, submit the links that are being displayed, and also photo identification.
It sounds like a pretty straightforward request, but it seems that Google is starting to become a bit overwhelmed by the entire proceedings. Writing for The Guardian, Google’s Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, revealed that Google has since received over 70,000 takedown requests from over 250,000 websites since the feature went live in May.
Drummond admits that because of this, Google has incorrectly removed some links in the process. ”Of course, only two months in our process is still very much a work in progress. It’s why we incorrectly removed links to some articles last week (they’ve since been reinstated).”
However he also adds that because of this and possibly because there will be even more takedown requests in the future, that Google is putting together an advisory council of experts to help them examine such issues more deeply. In the meantime Microsoft is also planning on offering such a service to Bing users in Europe and hopefully they will be able to learn from Google’s mistakes.
Google Has Received Over 70,000 “Right To Be Forgotten” Requests
, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Demand for civil legal aid continues to outstrip supply. Among attorneys and others in the field, this is known as the “justice gap.”
It’s clear that we will never close this gap unless our federal and state funders dramatically increase their support. In the meantime, we must also find ways to expand access to information that can help those in need. While there is no one way to do this, self-help legal centers and smarter use of technology are surely part of the solution.
In 1996 the Legal Services Corporation, an independent entity created by Congress in 1974 to support civil legal aid organizations around the country, issued a report touting the benefits of technology to increase the capacity of civil legal aid organizations. With its enthusiastic descriptions of self-help kiosks (“The Minnesota Twins sell tickets via kiosks which allow the potential buyer to ‘see’ what seats are available on a given date, and what the view is like from those seats, reportedly prompting many ticket upgrades”), the 18-year-old report is quite dated. But its basic message still holds true today: By using technology and self-help centers, the civil legal aid profession can “reshape delivery of legal services” and “assist millions of additional clients at very low cost.”
Today, self-help centers and technology have radically reshaped the delivery of civil legal aid. There are now online sources of legal assistance in each of the 50 states that provide information on civil legal cases related to basic human needs. In Alaska, that state’s court system has set up an online Family Law Self-Help Center with videos and articles providing information about child support and custody, divorce, and domestic violence. The Texas Legal Services Center runs TexasLawHelp.org, which provides free online information related to housing and employment discrimination, domestic violence, and other critically important civil legal matters.
In some instances, such as Massachusetts’ MassLegalServices.org, these online self-help centers assist civil legal aid advocates and attorneys in “more easily, accurately, and efficiently [creating] legal documents for their clients,” as Vincent Morris, director of the pioneering Arkansas Legal Services Partnership, wrote last year for the Mississippi Law Journal. (For a comprehensive overview of this aspect of the legal landscape, Morris’ “Navigating Justice: Self-Help Resources, Access to Justice, and Whose Job Is It Anyway?” is a must-read, and it argues convincingly for the inclusion and expansion of “innovative self-help resources” to “ensure that unrepresented civil litigants have meaningful access to justice.”)
A number of states, including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, and others, have combined the self-help aspect of online research with live help in the form of instant messaging from legal experts, who are known as “navigators.” (This model has been employed by the healthcare industry in the form of “patient navigators” — people who are not healthcare providers but are nonetheless familiar with the healthcare system and assist new patients in navigating among specialists and primary care providers.)
Yet another method of expanding access to civil legal aid information is through self-help centers located in courthouses and staffed by attorneys. A district judge had nothing but praise for the Civil Law-Self-Help Center set up on the bottom floor of the Las Vegas Justice Court: When litigants are better prepared, “the judge can make intelligent decisions,” District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez told the Las Vegas Sun. “The traffic through the center is much better than I anticipated, and I’m impressed with how the staff has handled it.”
In Massachusetts, “Lawyer of the Day” programs in housing courts around the state provide advice and assistance — but not representation — to income-eligible tenants and landlords. Courts in Massachusetts are also in the process of opening two pilot self-help centers, one in the western part of the state in Greenfield, and a second in Boston.
Nothing can replace the value brought by a skilled attorney or advocate to civil legal issues affecting basic human needs such as housing, shelter, and family safety. But expanding access to information through the use of technology and self-help centers to meet rising demand must be a part of the solution to closing the justice gap.
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.
