Hasta La Gadget!

MIT’s Media Lab creates all sorts of neat stuff. Futuristic robot sort of stuff. Jetsons stuff. And now the program is combining the technology of the future with a cue from the past when they premiere their first opera, Death and the Powers.

The one-act opera, which was 10 years in the making, will make its premiere September 24-26 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Composer and Media Lab professor Tod Machover, who has created technology-infused instruments for Yo-Yo Ma and Prince, conceptualized Death and the Powers as a way for technology and music to compliment each other. The production features a human cast alongside an animated multi-media set design which includes nine life-sized singing “OperaBots.”

The story is straight Singularity mythology. (If you didn’t know, The Singularity is the hip new geek religion, if you’re reading GearLog, you’d probably be interested in joining our cult. It’s run by Google. Really.) Death is the tale of a plucky mad scientist who uploads his memories and personality into “The System.” The actor portraying the scientist disappears after the first scene and is thereafter represented by various robots, lights, and assorted fixtures that make-up the on-stage “System.” Off-stage, the singer’s performance is captured by software that monitor’s his volume and pitch, as well muscle tension and breathing patterns and reflect those attributes into on-stage mechanisms of The System. Machover doves this use of technology as “disembodied performance.” It’s like if T-Pain had an unlimited budget and a dedicated staff of research grads.

It sounds amazing. I can’t wait to check it out. It’s going to be the Avatar of the opera world. In the meantime, I hope Professor Machover will next use technology to improve upon ballet, which is awful. Just awful.

Some video of the production after the jump.

This article was written on September 14, 2009 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

Windows 7 Relaxes CableCard Restrictions
Microsoft released information last week stating that Windows 7 would give all PC owners the ability to add CableCards to their machines. Prior to this you could only buy CableCards with select OEM PC’s. What does this mean? Basically with CableCards you’re able to record encrypted cable channels using Windows Media Center. This could prove to be some stiff competition for Tivo considering there are no monthly service fees associated with a Media Center PC.

Leaked iPod Touch with Camera Photos were Real
Last week Apple released new iPod Nano’s with video recording capabilities, but many people were left puzzled when the same functionality was left out of their high-end iPod Touch product line. The internals of the new iPod Touch show striking similarities to the photos that were leaked prior to Apple’s announcements, and provide some solid evidence that the iPod Touch was indeed supposed to have a camera.

Dropbox Adds More Functionality
Dropbox is an amazing way to keep files in sync between all your machines, but their web interface has always been a little lackluster. They’ve added some new functionality including keyboard shortcuts, interface and usability improvements, and true bulk operations that make their website a lot better.

Attach 100MB Files in Yahoo! Mail with Drop.io
Yahoo! only lets you attach files up to 20MB to your emails, but thanks to some third-party integration that limit is now five times larger. To use the service you’ll have to click the “Get Started” link on this page to enable the use of apps, and then you should see an option in your mail sidebar to “Attach Large Files.” It’s not as integrated as I’d like to see it, but it’s still nice being able to send 100MB attachments without leaving the Yahoo! Mail interface.

Google’s “Jump to” Option in Search Results
When performing certain searches on Google you may find a “jump to” option offered right before the description of the result. Clicking on this link will take you directly to the part of the page related to what you’re searching for. For this to work Google is looking for “internal bookmarks/links” on a page. That’s why you’ll often find that Wikipedia results will show up with this option since it uses internal links in their table of contents to jump to various parts of the page.

–News in Brief–

Opera to Unveil “the Next Generation in Mobile Browsing”
Opera has put together a teaser page for something they will be unveiling very soon.

Chrome Turns Extensions on in Dev Channel
Google Chrome users running the developer version of the browser should be pleased to hear that you can now install extensions by default, which means this feature should be getting closer to prime time.

Windows 7 RTM not Affected by Latest Flaw
A recently discovered vulnerability makes it possible for a hacker to remotely control a system, but only affects Windows Vista, Server 2008, and pre-release versions of Windows 7.

Android has 10,000+ Applications Available
The Google Android mobile OS now has over 10,000 applications available for download, and 65% of those apps are free.

Firefox 3.5.3 Introduces Flash Update Notifications
In an attempt to keep users safe, Mozilla will now display a notification for anyone running Firefox if they have an old version of the Flash plugin. In the future the browser will also look for updates to other common plugins.

Facebook Lite Keeps Things Simple
Facebook users in the U.S. and India can now take advantage of a simpler Facebook interface that feels a bit Twitter-like.

Hotmail Getting More Improvements
Hotmail is rolling out some changes including auto-saving of drafts, keyboard shortcuts that closely match what’s used in Gmail, mobile improvements, and more.

Opera Unite Hits Beta Stage
The first Beta of Opera Unite has finally been released, and it’s significantly more stable than previous versions according to Download Squad.

Hubble Takes more Amazing Photos after Repair Mission
These are the first photos sent back from the Hubble Space Telescope after undergoing a rather extensive repair and service mission.

Google Earth 5.1 Gets Faster
The newest Beta of Google Earth not only uses less memory than previous versions, but is also 25% faster at starting up.

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

Windows 7 Login Background Changer
Want to freshen up that background image you see when you login to Windows 7? This free and open source application will let you select an image you want to use when logging into your machine. What I really like about this WPF-based solution is that it doesn’t modify any system files on your machine.

iTunes 9 Introduces a “Watched” Folder
iTunes 9 has finally added a highly requested feature: a watched folder. This folder resides in your music library, and any music added to it will automatically be imported into your library. Unfortunately this directory cannot be changed, and I suspect that Apple added it for the new “Home Sharing” features that let you automatically add music from other libraries on your network. It’s still nice to have though.

How to Access Gmail when it’s Down
With the recent Gmail outages some people are trying more than ever to make sure that they’ll still be able to access their messages even when the service is down. Normally when Gmail’s web interface goes down the IMAP/POP3 is still functional, and that’s what most people turn to. This article provides a few other alternatives such as checking the mobile version, using the iGoogle gadget, and more.

Postbox Email App Leaves Beta, Charges $40
Over the last few months Postbox has definitely been one of the most talked about desktop email clients. It was available for free when it was in the Beta stage, but now it will run you $40 for a license. It is definitely a nice email client, but they are in a tough spot. There are a lot of free desktop email clients out there, and I’d venture to guess that a majority of the money spent on desktop email clients goes towards Outlook. And then there’s also the fact that the web interfaces for email services like Gmail are evolving at a rather rapid pace.

Google Spreadsheets Gets SQL-like Syntax
Anyone familiar with SQL might enjoy the new “QUERY” function that was recently added to Google Spreadsheets. This function uses Gviz syntax to imitate SQL syntax right there in your document. It’s still a bit limited at this point… “SELECT” statements are the primary use, but you can add “ORDER BY,” “GROUP BY,” “LIMIT,” and more within your query. Hopefully it will branch out to become even more powerful.

–Tips in Brief–

iTunes 9 has Jump List Support in Windows 7
iTunes 9 was released last week, and anyone using Windows 7 can already take advantage of the included Jump List support. If you hover over the icon you can pause, play, or skip music, and you can receive additional options by right-clicking on the icon.

Pause Incoming Emails
This Outlook 2007 add-on from Microsoft will let you pause incoming emails so that they are not shown until you are ready to read them. This keeps you from getting distracted while you’re trying to work, and can also keep things quiet while you’re giving a presentation.

Coral IE Tab for Firefox
This Firefox extension is based on the popular IE Tab add-on, but takes it one step further. It is able to save your cookies and also works with Adblock Plus, which are things the original extension can’t boast.

Google Voice Adds Email Forwarding/Replies to SMS
Google will now let you view and reply to any SMS messages received through Google Voice right from your Inbox.

Another Free Backup Utility
As we’ve said in the past… there’s never a shortage of free backup utilities. What makes this one a bit different is that you can use it to backup and restore an entire partition or drive.

–Downloads–

• Avant Browser 11.7.37 [Mirror]
• Avast Home 5.0.104 ^Beta [Mirror]
• CDBurnerXP 4.2.5.1541 [Mirror]
• FeedDemon 3.0.0.35 ^Pre-Release [Mirror]
• Firefox 3.0.14 [Mirror]
• Firefox 3.5.3 [Mirror]
• Google Chrome 4.0.206.1 ^Beta [Mirror]
• Google Desktop 5.9.909.8267 [Mirror]
• Google Earth 5.1.3506 ^Beta [Mirror]
• iTunes 9.0.0 [Mirror]
• Maxthon 2.5.7.1143 ^Beta [Mirror]
• Maxthon 3.0.2.2 ^Alpha [Mirror]
• QuickTime 7.64.17.73 [Mirror]
• Sandboxie 3.39.13 ^Beta [Mirror]
• uTorrent 1.8.4.16381 [Mirror]
• uTorrent 2.0.16407 ^Beta [Mirror]
• VirtualBox 3.0.6.52128 [Mirror]

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Google Spreadsheets Gets Some Sweet New FeaturesGoogle Spreadsheets Now Allows Public EditingGoogle Spreadsheets Gets An UpdateGoogle Spreadsheets To Get A Chart Creator SoonGoogle Spreadsheets Get A Few Nice Updates

This article was written on June 06, 2008 by CyberNet.

Opera announced today that they have partnered with Haute Secure to include top-notch threat protection in their next-generation browser. A new snapshot of Opera 9.5 was posted yesterday that was bundled with a new theme, but the integration with Haute does not appear to be in place yet.

This partnership is good news for Opera because Haute already has add-ons available for both the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers on Windows, but Opera users were left out in the dark. And the integration of Haute in Opera 9.5 also means that it will be the first time Haute will be available on multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux).

Here’s what Opera had to say regarding the partnership:

Together, Opera and Haute Secure block Web sites known to distribute malware as well as protect Opera users from downloading software from links designed to trigger malicious attacks. The combination of the industry’s largest database of known malware distributors from Haute Secure and Opera’s Fraud Protection architecture enables Opera users to secure their entire computers proactively from malware that threatens the security of personal data.

Malware protection being built-in to the browser appears to be a growing trend. When Firefox 3 is released in the coming weeks it too will keep users safe from both phishing attacks and malware, but not using Haute’s technology. It will be interesting to put the two browsers up against each other to see which one is more effective at detecting malware on the web.

Copyright © 2010 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Opera 9.1 To Include Fraud ProtectionDownload Opera 9.1 Pre-Release With Fraud ProtectionOpera Decides Not To Enable Anti-Phishing By Default?Opera 9.5 Released; Firefox 3.0 Coming TuesdayVista Is So Secure That It Doesn’t Need An Antivirus

Continue reading HTML5 speed test finds IE9, Firefox 3.7 lead the pack in Windows, Chrome a distant last

HTML5 speed test finds IE9, Firefox 3.7 lead the pack in Windows, Chrome a distant last originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you know, even professional coders like to develop things on the side. Opera‘s mobile dev team has been working on a “hobby project” to bring its browser to the Maemo-sporting Nokia N900 and N8x0 devices, and today sees the first fruit of that labor in the form of a “preview build” release. Fredrik Ohrn warns us that there might not ever be a final version, since this is being done just for fun — and particularly in light of the MeeGo future that awaits the platform — but for now it’s yet another option for your versatile mini-computer. Click the source for the download.

[Thanks, Jesus]

Opera Mobile 10 lands on Maemo thanks to pro hobbyists originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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