Dec 20
Several Blu-ray movies are available for less than $15, with some priced below $10. Which ones are worth picking up? Here’s our list.
Originally posted at Fully Equipped
Dec 20
Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video)
Posted in: kinect, Microsoft, Today's Chili, video, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360
UC Davis’s Oliver Kreylos has been responsible for two of our most impressive Kinect hacks yet. He was one of the first to get proper 3D video out of the thing, following that up by pairing up two of the cameras, one to fill in the gaps of the other. You might have thought he was just playing around but no — oh no. There was a method to the madness and his ulterior motive has been revealed: 3D telepresence. This is what he’s been working on all along and he has an early version operational, using the output from two Kinects in a remote office to beam a 3D representation of another person to his display, which he can navigate around (and through) using a Wiimote. Meanwhile, the viewer can see the position of Oliver in real-time, a virtual camera floating around and enabling them to maintain eye contact despite her not actually looking at either physical camera. That demonstration is embedded after the break along with a somewhat fanciful follow-up in which Kreylos engages in a rather… protracted lightsaber battle against the forces of evil.
Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Dec 20
Electronic flash isn’t just for when you don’t have enough light. Used outdoors, electronic flash fills in harsh shadows – thus the term fill flash – and even lets you use a slow shutter speed to convey motion in the background while freezing the subject, as in the picture above. Your DSLR probably has a pop-up electronic flash. You get more versatility with an external flash, and well you should when they cost $150-$500.
Dec 20
Total Lunar Eclipse Occurring Tonight
Posted in: space, Today's Chili
Tonight will mark the first opportunity in two years for star gazers to catch a glimpse of a total lunar eclipse. Weather permitting, the eclipse should be visible for upwards of 1.5 billion people–those in North and South America and parts of Europe, Asia, Hawaii, and New Zealand will get a chance to glimpse the cosmic event.
The shadow of the eclipse will fall on the moon at around 1:33 AM EST tonight/tomorrow morning. Prime viewing will occur between 2:41 and 3:53 AM EST. By 5:01 AM, the eclipse will be gone. The mid-totality moment will occur at 8:17 UT/3:17 a.m. EST/12:17 a.m. PST.
Unlike the tricky pinhole viewing of solar eclipses, you’ll actually be able to look at this one–heck, bring a pair of binoculars or a telescope, if they’re handy. Another total lunar eclipse won’t be visible in the US until April 2014.
For more information on the Eclipse’s stages, check out Space.com.
Dec 20
This portable, steel-clad shed might look like a render from your favorite post-apocalyptic first-person-shooter, but it is terrifyingly real. Designed and built by Dutch designer Joep van Lieshout, the Vostok Cabin is currently on show in Paris, at La Cité des Sciences.
The hut is as minimal as it is creepy. The only amenities are a light, a woodstove, a toilet and a couple of benches. The rusting, scarred walls are welded from steel plates reclaimed from dead ships, and while the zombies might make a terrible clanging racket as they slowly try to claw their way in, the human meal inside this tin-can will likely stay safe until his own food runs out.
What on earth was van Lieshout thinking when he designed this? Luckily, he tells us:
The changing climate, growing poverty, wars and more are only expanding. This movable nomadic dwelling unit provides shelter from this disconcerting situation.
That’s a dark future right there. You’d think that if you were building a shelter to help you outlast such apocalyptic times, you’d make it a little less depressing. C’mon, van Lieshout. What’s going on? You specced-out a beautifully symmetrical wooden handle for the stove-lid, but you couldn’t find time to add a lick of paint? Not to worry, though. The only thing left in existence after the nuclear winter (apart from cockroaches) will be the equally ubiquitous IKEA. You can always brighten the place up.
Vostok Cabin by Atelier Van Lieshout [Dezeen]
See Also:
- Mathematical Model for Surviving a Zombie Attack
- Hiding From Zombies in a Sandcastle in Minecraft
- Austin Road Signs Hacked, Warn of Nazi Zombies and World's End
Dec 20
A nation-wide pornography block? That’s what one UK politician is gunning for. Ed Vaizey, conservative parliament member and communications minister, is looking to block access to legal pornography, making access to the stuff an opt-in–rather than opt-out–model.
Those interested in looking at adult content will have to contact their Internet providers. Doing so will add them to a “porn surfing whitelist”–a lot more work than the average Internet surfer is currently used to undergoing in order to see naked people.
The move is being pushed as an attempt to block children from seeing adult content. According to a recent study, one in three kids in the UK under the age of ten has seen pornography on the Internet (which, for those of you non-techy folks out there, means that one in three kids in the UK under the age of ten has seen the Internet).
How possible is such a country-wide block? Not very, according to pretty much every ISP in the country. Here’s an example, quoted by the BBC, “Unfortunately, It’s technically not possible to completely block this stuff.
And here’s something from the Internet Watch Foundation, “You end up with a system that’s either hugely expensive and a losing battle because there are millions of these sites or it’s just not effective. The cost of putting these systems in place outweigh the benefits, to my mind.”
Dec 20
This article was written on February 27, 2007 by CyberNet.
Vending machines can accept payments from cell phones, so why not McDonald’s? Back in September, Coca-Cola announced that it was going to equip all of their vending machines in Japan with the technology that would allow the machines to accept payment via mobile phones. They hope to have this done by the end of 2008.
With that, I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before cellphones became the newest way to make payments. It makes sense for a couple of reasons, but first because so many people have their mobile phones glued to their side! Secondly, it’s a way for companies like Coca-Cola to save money because they don’t have to worry about collecting coins from machines if they’re getting electronic payments.
According to BBC, this technology is being expanded in Japan to the McDonald’s Fast Food Chain. Together with NTT DoCoMo (a leading mobile phone operator), McDonald’s will offer customers the option to make a payment via their mobile phone. This also provides McDonalds with important information about their customers and their eating habits which they could use for marketing purposes.
This could definitely turn into a replacement for cash, much like the credit card. It means one less thing you’ll have to carry around, and one less thing to worry about. As mentioned, using a mobile phone to make payments isn’t something new to Japan, but it has yet to reach the U.S. The U.S. mobile market is typically behind other countries anyways, but I think it’s definitely something that could take off here in the U.S. where you can find a McDonalds at nearly every corner.
Sources: Far East Gizmos, BBC
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Dec 20
Apple looking to hire iOS navigation engineers, first test is to find way around One Infinite Loop
Posted in: Apple, maps, navigation, Today's Chili
Is Apple looking to take it to Google and its uppity Maps app? That certainly looks to be the case, with AppleInsider noticing that the company has four new job listings which specify “Computational Geometry or Graph Theory” and “experience developing navigation software” as “valuable knowledge.” The obvious implications here are that Apple’s looking to craft first-party, full-fledged, turn-by-turn navigation and bring it to its GPS-equipped devices, but maybe the company’s previous new hires simply got lost a lot and this is just an attempt to nip that problem in the bud. Either way, the software job market just improved by four. Giddy up, coders.
[Image credit: Nurimb]
Apple looking to hire iOS navigation engineers, first test is to find way around One Infinite Loop originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dec 20
NASA Green Flight Challenge proposes ‘pocket airports,’ invites you to fly ’em all
Posted in: NASA, Today's Chili
Soon we’ll be hopping on a jet plane, heading to Vegas, living the life, playing with gadgets, and not getting a lot of sleep. Flying to Nevada for CES on a plane is easy, but getting to the airport can be a challenge if you live out in the country. NASA wants that fixed as a sort of spin-off of its Green Flight Challenge, a prize awarded to an aerial vehicle that can manage 200mpg at 100mph while emitting only 78db of noise at 250 feet. It would also need a very short takeoff and landing, something that would allow it to land on what’s being called a “pocket airport.” These rinky-dink runways would fit on just two acres of land and would launch or receive an (ultimately autonomous) aircraft every 30 seconds. The idea is that such strips could be scattered about suburban areas and provide quick, convenient shuttling to real airports and, presumably, to other pocket airports. Now, we wonder, will we still need to empty our pockets before boarding?
NASA Green Flight Challenge proposes ‘pocket airports,’ invites you to fly ’em all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dec 20
A clever designer at the Samsung Art and Design Institute has solved one of mankind’s peskiest problems: how to share photos with your friends.
In truth, this was answered long ago by the camera phone, and later, by direct uploads to Facebook. But should you be hanging out with some more old-school buddies, Jung Eun Park’s UCIM is for you. The concept camera features a trio of USB-ports. When taking snaps that you want to share, you collect up your friends’ thumb-drives and plug them in. Any photos you take are copied direct to all the sticks.
Teasing aside, this is a very nice feature, and easily avoids the two alternative scenarios: One, you take every picture three times, once with each camera. Only one of these photos will have everybody with their eyes open. Second, the person with a camera promises to email the photos, or burn them to a CD. Or something. Only they never send them, or if they do, then you get crappy low-res files, or a subset of all the pics taken. This solves the problem of lazy, lying friends.
The UCIM is also cute-looking, although the USB-ports could be put into any camera, not just this puffy, marshmallow-flavored case. I’m sold. Or I would be, if I hadn’t discovered a great new trick of my own. Borrow a friend’s iPhone, take my picture and then email it to myself. If you try this, always remember to mail the full-resolution version. It’s not your 3G bandwidth you’re using up, after all.
Take Picture, Share Picture [Yanko]
See Also:
- Flickr Hooks Up With Facebook for Photo Sharing Love
- Share That Photo: Hit Save
- Instagram for iPhone, Like a Lomo-Twitter for Your Photos
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