Read: Rotten Apple: HTC sued over 20 patents
Shared by Gabriel Kent
http://www.cafepress.com/fuckx.115597339
Are we really surprised? They might not be the biggest handset maker yet, but HTC is clearly producing the best smartphones on the market. Apple has identified them as a threat and decided to unleash their team of high paid lawyers to slow them down.
Today in a U.S. District Court, Apple filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. Apple CEO Steve Jobs went as far as to say HTC is stealing their technology.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”Steve JobsApple CEO
According to the court documents Apple is seeking a permanent injunction that would stop HTC from selling devices in the United States.
Many had speculated that Apple was the reason some Android phones didn’t support multitouch out of the gate, but we never had any official confirmation. Now we have a list of patents that Apple claims have been “stolen”. These include features we have seen on several Android phones like unlock screens, rotating displays, accelerometer controls, and power conserving technology.
Update: Neowin has an official response from HTC.
“HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones. HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations. HTC only learned of Apple’s actions this morning via media reports, and therefore we have not yet had the opportunity to investigate the filings. Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC.”
Update 2: Gizmodo has a nice illustrated guide for some of the patents.
Update 3: Engadget reports Apple is specifically targeting Android and has named several phones in the suit including the Nexus One, Dream / G1, myTouch 3G, Hero, and Droid Eris.
Update 4: Steve Jobs responds via YouTube. “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”
Apple patents listed in the suit include:
- The ‘331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- The ‘949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
- The ‘849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
- The ‘381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
- The ‘726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
- The ‘076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
- The ‘105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
- The ‘453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
- The ‘599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
- The ‘354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ‘354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.
- United States Patent No. 5,481,721 entitled “Method for Providing Automatic and Dynamic Translation of Object Oriented Programming Language-Based Message Passing Into Operation System Message Passing Using Proxy Objects,” issued on January 2, 1996…
- United States Patent No. 5,519,867 entitled “Object-Oriented Multitasking System,” issued on May 21, 1996…
- United States Patent No. 6,275,983 entitled “Object-Oriented Operating System,” issued on August 14, 2001…
- United States Patent No. 5,566,337 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Distributing Events in an Operating System,” issued on October 15, 1996…
- United States Patent No. 5,929,852 entitled “Encapsulated Network Entity Reference of a Network Component System,” issued on July 27, 1999…
- United States Patent No. 5,946,647 entitled “System and Method for Performing an Action on a Structure in Computer-Generated Data” issued on August 31, 1999…
- United States Patent No. 5,969,705 entitled “Message Protocol for Controlling a User Interface From an Inactive Application Program,” issued on October 19, 1999…
- United States Patent No. 6,343,263 entitled “Real-Time Signal Processing System for Serially Transmitted Data,” issued on January 29, 2002…
- United States Patent No. 5,915,131 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Handling I/O Requests Utilizing Separate Programming Interfaces to Access Separate I/O Service” issued on June 22, 1999…
- United States Patent No. RE39,486, entitled “Extensible, Replaceable Network Component System,” reissued on February 6, 2007…
Related Posts
- HTC Desire (Bravo) expected to be next Android superphone
- T-Mobile confirms early January launch for Google Android phone Nexus One
- Googly phone confirmed: first pics and info of the HTC Nexus One
- HTC Passion coming to VZW this Christmas?
- Android advertising assailment advances
Read: Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too
Shared by Gabriel KentAkin to the Texas-size garbage patch in the Pacific, a massive trash vortex has formed from billion of bits of plastic congregating off North America's Atlantic coast, researchers say.
A damn shame...
Read: Ubuntu Gets New Themes, Logo, Boot Screen, Indentity and So Much More!
Shared by Gabriel KentOver a week ago we revealed that a big announcement regrading the re-branding of Ubuntu was imminent. That announcement has now been made - but even we didn't expect it to be quite as big as this!
Looking pretty good..
Beginnings
All of the new artwork and design directions are the result of Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth and a small team reassessing the brand values and identity that Ubuntu embodies.
The team touched up on "light" as a reference point:
"We're drawn to Light because it denotes both warmth and clarity, and intrigued by the idea that "light" is a good value in software. Good software is "light" in the sense that it uses your resources efficiently, runs quickly, and can easily be reshaped as needed."Ensuing collaboration, consultation and shared vision between that small team and the Ubuntu artwork community - over all major non-KDE spins - are responsible for the following utterly awesome artwork you will see below.
New logo
Ubuntu gains a new logo with a new typeface and visual style.
In keeping with trying to create a cohesive brand identity the ancillary services Ubuntu provides have also been redesigned under the same styling: -
Two new themes
The visual identity of Ubuntu goes deeper than simple changing the font and logo. To this extent two new themes have been created to provide Ubuntu users with a modern and elegant desktop in keeping with the "light" direction.
"Light"
"Dark"
I'm not entirely convinced that the 'left' alignment of window buttons is a change most users will take to - but i have every faith that a checkbox check will put them back on the right side (no pun).
The lack of bottom panel isn't actually that notable as it's obvious these screenshots are simply cropped above it.
Boot
A slick new boot screen also ties in the new Ubuntu experience from power-on to desktop. Powered by Plymouth this is one part of the new visual styling most users won't get to see much of thanks to the super fast boot Lucid already has!
Website
The entire "branding" of Ubuntu has been realigned and refocused - from the default icon set right down to the official website.
Further
You can read much more on the semantics behind the visual change - as well as even more gallery goodness on the Ubuntu Brand wiki page @ wiki.ubuntu.com/Brand#Light:%20Ubuntu%20is%20Lightware
Snap Poll
We love polls here on OMG - so we're holding a snap one to gauge your initial reactions.
The new Ubuntu style: Like it or not?
The new Ubuntu look - Like it or loathe it?opinion
Read: With Artificial Photosynthesis, A Bottle of Water Could Produce Enough Energy To Power A House
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Hmm... need to look into more... very light on details...
One of the interesting side effects of last year's stimulus bill was $400 million in funding for ARPA-E, the civilian, energy-focused cousin of DARPA. And in this week's first ever ARPA-E conference, MIT chemist Dan Nocera showed how well he put that stimulus money to use by highlighting his new photosynthetic process. Using a special catalyst, the process splits water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel efficiently enough to power a home using only sunlight and a bottle of water.
Like organic photosynthesis, Nocera's reaction uses sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy. However, whereas plants create energy in the form of sugars, this process creates energy in the form of free hydrogen. That hydrogen can either be recombined with the oxygen in a fuel cell to generate electricity, or converted into a liquid fuel.
In about four hours, water treated with Nocera's catalyst can produce 30 kilowatt-hours of energy. Moreover, the process is cheap. So cheap, in fact, that Nocera has no problem envisioning a day when each house generates its own fuel and electricity from photosynthesis.
But don't take my word for it. Check out this video and hear Nocera describe this process himself:
Read: Power line 1, tree branch 0
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Wow...
Video courtesy YouTuber BozkurtTekinTahsin.
In case you didn't believe Louie the Lightening Bug when he said "ya gotta stay away from power lines," consider the fate of this gentle tree branch, who apparently never got to watch Saturday morning PSAs, or at least wasn't paying attention if it did. It screams, literally, for about 14 seconds before bursting into flames like a vampire in a tanning booth.
[via Neatorama]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Electronics | Digg this!Read: Days Get Shorter Because of Chilean Earthquake [Science]
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Damn...
Apart from a colossal tsunami, here's another effect of the 66.6 exajoules liberated by this weekend's earthquake in Chile: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says that days will now be shorter because the quake shifted Earth's axis by three inches.
The change—which can only be measured thanks to computer models—will result in days that are 1.26 microseconds shorter than before. That's 0.00000126 seconds shorter. There may have been more visible changes, like islands changing its position. One of them, Santa María, may have raised two meters after the shattering land move.
This is not the first time this has happened, as every single earthquake has an effect on the planet's axis. [Business Week]
Read: DORYU 2-16 Pistol Camera
Shared by Gabriel Kent
word...
via http://worldfamousdesignjunkies.com/kawaii/doryu-2-16-pistol-camera/
Read: Photo
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Great shot.
Read: Do A Total Background Check On Yourself
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Not a bad list.
Now you can know what Big Brother knows about you and get access to the same dirt everyone from your boss, landlord, insurance agent, to your favorite casino has on you. Here is a comprehenisve list of websites and phone numbers for most of the "specialty" consumer reports, like your employment, rental, and check writing history. Be sure to check them out and correct any errors, before a crisis hits.
Employment History Reports
The Work Number
ChoicePoint (866) 312-8075
Acxiom
Abso
Tenant History Reports
ChoicePoint (877) 448-5732
First Advantage SafeRent (888) 333-2413
Tenant Data Services
RentBureau
UD Registry (818) 785-3905
Auto & Home Insurance Claim Reports
ChoicePoint
Insurance Services Office (ISO) (800) 627-3487
Credit Bureaus Reports
Equifax
Experian
Transunion
Innovis
Payment Reporting Builds Credit (PRBC)
Full File Disclosure/Personal Information Reports
ChoicePoint
LexisNexis
Check Writing History Reports
ChexSystems (800) 428-9623
TeleCheck (800) 835-3243.
Shared Check Authorization Network (800) 262-7771 Fax: (800) 358-4506
Health History Reports
Medical Information Bureau (MIB) (866) 692-6901
Prescription Drug Purchase History Reports
Ingenix MedPoint
Milliman IntelliScript
Social Security Statement
Social Security Administration
Purchase Returns History Reports
Retail Equation
Gaming Patron's Credit History and Transaction Data
Central Credit
Other Reports
TeleTrack
Utilities & Telecommunications Reports
National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange, Inc (NCTUE) Call 1-888-201-5643 for reports
(Thanks to Bob!)
SOURCES:
Do A Background Check On Yourself [Consumerist]
[Consumer Reports]
[PrivacyRights]
[Bankrate]
[Listergeant]
[MyFico Forums]
[CreditBoards]
Read: Petition to make “Hella” the prefix for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Shared by Gabriel Kent
It has my vote.
Carl sez, "A petition to make Hella- the official SI prefix for 10^27, for measuring things bigger than Yotta- (the prefix for (US) billion trillion). For instance: 'the sun (mass of 2.2 hellatons) would release energy at 0.3 hellawatts.' It would also come in handy for eventually measuring Internet traffic and US national debt." The Official Petition to Establish "Hella-" as the SI Prefix for 10^27
(Thanks, Carl!)
- Punk math philosophy and podcast
- The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 ...
- Math for adults: the subtle wonder of numbers and Sesame Street ...
- Möbius Bagel: interlocking, endless, doughy rings of math
- 3D-printed math and science sculptures
- March is math holiday month, today is square root day!
- Zombie apocalpyse: the math geek edition
- Zombie apocalpyse: the math geek edition
Read: Dogs Filmed at 1000 Frames Per Second
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Great ad...
The above is a beautiful slow motion video (1000fps) shot of dogs jumping for dog treats flying through the air. It’s actually an advertisement for Pedigree, as you’ll see at the end. It’s interesting seeing all the little details our eyes can’t ordinarily pick up.
(via Boing Boing)
Read: Hydrofloors Pools with Movable Floors
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Nice!
Hydrofloors Pools with Movable Floors
Hydrofloors are only like the coolest thing ever invented. They are specially designed pools with movable floors. When you’re using your pool it’s just like a normal pool. But when you are done swimming or aquacising, you press a button and the pool’s floor slowly raises up while the water slips underneath the floor. Pimpin! Eventually the pool’s floor reaches the top and you are left with a large flat area you can use for recreation, dining, parties or any other dry land event you want.
Another press of the button and the floor sinks back down slowly to reveal your already water-filled pool. You can also stop the floor at any point which means you can make the pool as shallow or deep as you want. Having a kid’s party? Just set it for shallow kiddie pool depth. Be sure to throw a few extra chlorine tablets in the pool cleaning mechanism though, you know how kids are.
via gizmodo
Read: Scientists Discover Booze That Won’t Give You a Hangover
Shared by Gabriel KentKwang-il Kwon and Hye Gwang Jeong of Chungnam National University have discovered that drinking alcohol with oxygen bubbles added leads to fewer hangovers and a shorter sobering up time. People drinking the bubbly booze sobered up 20-30 minutes faster and had less severe and fewer hangovers than people who drank the non-fizzy stuff. Kwon said: "The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage reduces plasma alcohol concentrations faster than a normal dissolved-oxygen alcohol beverage does. This could provide both clinical and real-life significance. The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage would allow individuals to become sober faster, and reduce the side effects of acetaldehyde without a significant difference in alcohol's effects. Furthermore, the reduced time to a lower BAC may reduce alcohol-related accidents."
Crazy...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read: Google killed Bambi
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Shit...
So much for “Do No Evil”…
Want to see more Google Streetview fun? Check out our collection of ”The Best Google Street View Fails, Wins, And WTF’s“.
Read: Google Index to Go Real Time
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Interesting...
Google is developing a system that will enable web publishers of any size to automatically submit new content to Google for indexing within seconds of that content being published. Search industry analyst Danny Sullivan told us today that this could be "the next chapter" for Google.
Last Fall we were told by Google's Brett Slatkin, lead developer on the PubSubHubbub (PuSH) real time syndication protocol, that he hoped Google would some day use PuSH for indexing the web instead of the crawling of links that has been the way search engines have indexed the web for years.
Google senior product manager Dylan Casey said yesterday at Sullivan's Search Marketing Expo in Santa Clara, California that the company plans to soon publish a standard way for site owners to participate in a program much like that.Sponsor
How The System Might Work
PuSH is a syndication system based on the ATOM format where a publisher tells the world about a Hub that it will notify every time new content is published. Subscribers then tell the Hub "when this Publisher posts new content, please deliver it to me right away." So instead of the Subscriber checking back with the Publisher all the time to see if there's new content, they just sit and wait to be told that there is by the Hub. The Publisher publishes something, then tells the Hub that it's available, then the Hub goes and delivers it to all the Subscribers. This can take as little as a few seconds.
If Google can implement an Indexing by PuSH program, it would ask every website to implement the technology and declare which Hub they push to at the top of each document, just like they declare where the RSS feeds they publish can be found. Then Google would subscribe to those PuSH feeds to discover new content when it's published.
PuSH wouldn't likely replace crawling, in fact a crawl would be needed to discover PuSH feeds to subscribe to, but the real-time format would be used to augment Google's existing index.
As Danny Sullivan told us today, Google would have to implement some sort of spam control and not just let content be pushed live to the index unvetted. That was what happened in the earliest days of search and it was a real mess, he told us.
The Advantages of a Real Time Google Index
PuSH is much more computationally efficient for Google but Slatkin says that even more important is the impact of such a move for small publishers. Right now many small sites get visited by Google maybe once a week. With a PuSH system in place, they would be able to get their content to Google automatically right away.
A richer, faster, more efficient internet would be good for everyone, but the benefits in search wouldn't be limited to Google, either. The PubSubHubbub is an open protocol and the feeds would be as visible to Yahoo and Bing as they would be to Google.
"I am being told by my engineering bosses to openly promote this open aproach even to our competitors," Slatkin says. That's a very good sign.
We expect this will be a very big deal and we'll be covering it more extensively in the coming days, as well as whenever Google has something to announce more formally.
Don't Forget: ReadWriteWeb recently released a big research report titled The Real-Time Web and Its Future, based on 50+ interviews with key innovators, like PubSubHubbub creator Brett Slatkin. Check it out!
Above: Slatkin's deck for a presentation about Hubbub at Facebook HQ last Fall. DiscussRead: #601; The Discovery that Changed the World
Shared by Gabriel Kent
heh...
Modern Warfare 2 - No Russian Machinima
Here's that video, now stop sending me messages to do this please. Only disappointment is I think I cut it too much, feels short and too fast. Enjoy.Read: Skyscrapers and Business Cycles
Shared by Gabriel Kent
This is really interesting.
Read: Homemade Flying Hovercraft. Actually Works…Awesome (vid)
Shared by Gabriel KentPretty cool machine -- vid shows it hovering, flying...doing hover/flying things. Inventor wants to market and sell it (potentially for around $13,000 each). No idea about its marketability, reliability or safety -- but definitely looks like a fun ride...
That... looks... so... fun.
Read: Ubuntu Desktop In the Cloud
Shared by Gabriel Kentjimjimovich writes "One new feature in Ubuntu 10.04 that caught my attention is the Desktop in the Cloud project. Ubuntu already has great EC2 support, and it's getting even better. Now you can launch Ubuntu Desktop instances on EC2 and connect to them with an NX client."
Interesting
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read: Un-TreeHugger: Get Cocoa Puffs (Literally) with Le Whif Chocolate Inhaler
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Huh? Bad for lungs?
Image via NPR, credit Phase One Photography Sometimes the whole "zero calorie" thing goes too far, like when it comes to enjoying chocolate. The latest thing is a chocolate inhaler called Le Whif. Yep, you read that right. Inhaling - and not in the figurative sense - is actually a way to consume chocolate now, thanks to a disposable tube good for ten hits. Er, puffs. Er, whifs. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Read: 10-year-old’s Jesus picture declared too disturbing for church display
Shared by Gabriel Kentsubmitted by AnnArchist to WTF
Its actually a great photo...
[link] [46 comments]
Read: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Music
Shared by Gabriel Kentmbone writes "Ever wonder how Jimi Hendrix would cover Lady Gaga? Whether you do or not [I'm guessing not], you may be about to find out. Writing for Wired, Eliot Van Buskirk describes North Carolina's Zenph Sound Innovations, which takes existing recordings of musicians (deceased, for now) and models their 'musical personalities' to create new recordings, apparently to critical acclaim (PDF). The company has raised $10.7 million in funding to pursue their business plan, and hopes to branch out into, among other things, software that would let musicians jam with virtual versions of famous musicians. This work unites music with the very similar trend going on in the movies — Tron 2.0, for example, will clone the young Jeff Bridges. If this goes on, will the major labels and studios actually need musicians and actors? In the future, it could be harder to make money playing guitar with all of the competition from dead or retired artists."
Far out ;)
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read: Awesome Biomimicry: Leaf Veins Inspire New Model for Water and Electricity Distribution Networks
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Leaf power!
Lemon leaf with interconnected loops. Photo: RU A team of biophysicists at Rockefeller University recently published a paper in Physical Review Letters about a new way to design distribution networks based on the veins that carry water and nutrients in most tree leaves. This is a great example of biomimicry! Evolution by natural selection maybe be blind, but it has had billions of years of trial-and-error to figure out efficient and robust ways to do things. The interconnecting vein loops in leaves are a good example of that, and we can learn...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Read: Energy Required To Produce a Pound of Food
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Interesting... better eat more beef while the getting is good.
The Oil Drum post some interesting data on the energy input required to produce different kinds of foods; I threw them into bar chart form and it sure looks like Graham Hill should be pitching the idea of a Weekday Vegan rather than a Weekday Vegetarian; cheese is as high as meat....Read the full story on TreeHugger
Read: Long-distance quantum communication gets closer as physicists increase light storage efficiency by an order of magnitude
Shared by Gabriel KentPhysicists at the Laboratoire Aime Cotton - CNRS and University of Geneva have achieved reversible light storage efficiencies of more than a magnitude greater than those offered by previous techniques. The new method could be useful for extending the range of quantum repeaters, used for long-distance quantum communication. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news186654076.html)
Amazing...
Read: Bye bye Earth
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Damn... nice work...
 | submitted by upchuk to pics [link] [27 comments] |
Read: Skinput turns your arm into a touchscreen
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Nice...
A skin-based interface from Microsoft Research effectively turns your body into a touchscreen.
Sound creepy? Called Skinput, the system is a marriage of two technologies: the ability to detect the ultralow-frequency sound produced by tapping the skin with a finger, and the microchip-sized "pico" projectors now found in some cellphones.
Read full article in New Scientist.
Read: New technique offers a more detailed view of brain activity
Shared by Gabriel KentMIT and Caltech researchers have developed a new type of fMRI sensor that can measure a specific neurotransmitter (dopamine) -- a more detailed, higher-resolution indicator of neural activity than conventional fMRI, which measures blood flow in the brain. Dopamine holds particular interest for neuroscientists because of its role in motivation, reward, addiction and several neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinsonâs disease. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news186687539.html)
Great work...
Read: Facial recognition phone application described as a 'stalker's dream'
Shared by Gabriel Kent[YouTube Video] Swedish software developer, The Astonishing Tribe, is testing a iPhone application called Reconiizr that will enable the user to find names and numbers of complete strangers. The Daily Mail reports.
Heh...
The user simply has to take a picture of a person and hit the 'Recognize' button. The photo is then compared to shots on social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter before personal information, which can include phone numbers, addresses and email addresses, is sent to the user. The app works on phones with a camera of five or more megapixel resolution.
![[link]](http://imgur.com/G9fSO.jpg){kind=link}
Read: The iPad: It’s about control systems, not eBook reading
Shared by Gabriel KentComments
Good point.
Read: MeBot, MIT’s most expressive telepresence robot yet
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Way cool...
Described as a "semi-autonomous robotic avatar" by its creators at MIT, the MeBot is an effort to give people a face and an expressive presence in a room far, far away from them. That, and an adorable crab-like body.
While the MeBot show's the operator's face on a small screen, it goes one step further, using software that will analyze the controller's face and cause the MeBot to respond appropriately with its stubby arms and articulated neck. It looks like the MeBot can also be operated directly using a control that resembles the units arms, though they aren't designed for much more than gesturing (in other words, you wouldn't be using MeBot to do work remotely).
The end results, according to MIT, is one hell of an expressive little telepresence robot:
We conducted an experiment that evaluated how people perceived a robot-mediated operator differently when they used a static telerobot versus a physically embodied and expressive telerobot. Results showed that people felt more psychologically involved and more engaged in the interaction with their remote partners when they were embodied in a socially expressive way. People also reported much higher levels of cooperation both on their own part and their partners as well as a higher score for enjoyment in the interaction.
Check out the MeBot in action in the video below, which also gives you a good look at that control interface.
MIT, via Plastic Pals, via Coolest-Gadgets
Read: Baby stars illuminate web of glowing gas
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Nice...
A dramatic new image of a star cluster in our neighboring galaxy reveals light, wind and heat flowing in dramatic spirals.
Read: Touchpad Meets Morphing Keyboard
Shared by Gabriel KentSeveral sources are reporting on the new offering from the British firm Pelikon which combines a touchpad and morphing keyboard into a unique little device. "this isn't just any old morphing keyboard, you see. Not only can the board be dynamically reconfigured by backlighting different portions of the keys -- the entire surface of the thing doubles as a touchpad, which you can probably imagine has virtually limitless utility in a mobile device where the space for a true touchpad simply doesn't exist. Pelikon already works with Toshiba on its domestic-market Biblio, but we'd love to see it hit devices around the world -- in fact, we wouldn't really mind if they just released this prototype they're showing as a Bluetooth accessory. diNovo Mini competitor, anyone?"
Not bad... OEM play though...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read: What people are really buying online: infographic
Shared by Gabriel KentComments
Interesting....
Read: Subliminal cigarette marketing
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Funny...
The Tobacco Documents Library is an online database of millions of tobacco industry documents made public through court cases. Included are letters written to cigarette companies including several where the public have complained about 'subliminal messages' hidden in adverts.
Quite frankly, they are a joy to read, and this is my favourite among many hidden gems. It's a letter from an organisation called Morality in Marketing to the makers of Camel cigarettes:
Dear Mr. Johnston
While at first we were enchanted with your popular new advertising campaign featuring head-shots of a "cool camel,' in the course of an in-depth analysis by our media researchers the subliminal message inherent in your ads was cracked. Consequently, we must withdraw our agency's support of this ad and include Camel Cigarettes on our hit-list of "Prurient Products" to boycott.
Your subtle ploy to titillate your audience with pornographic imagery of male genitalia disguised as harmless camel heads has not gone undetected. You can only imagine the extreme sense of anxiety, frustration and embarrassment I now feel when I am continually exposed to this graphic homosexual depiction of penile putrescence.
We have a bone to pick with you: where do you get off on displaying this root of all sin to hype your cigarettes? How long will you continue to promote your product by flashing gigantic sex glands on bill-boards throughout this country? As an up and coming organization dedicated to educating the American pubic about decency in advertising, we do not advocate censorship. However, while our desire is not to be too hard on you, we, as chaste Christian consumers, strongly urge you to cut off this media deluge of frontal nudity.
Additionally, could you please send to me a list of promotional materials offered to your customers and their children in conjunction with this extended marketing gimmick . We would be particularly interested, for obvious reasons, in any products which might involve oral contact (ex. mugs, glasses) or fondling (ex . stuffed replicas of the camel).
A prompt reply to this inquiry would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God Bless You.
Firm in Our Faith,
Reverend Peter Manale
President
Interestingly, most of the other letters complaining about subliminal messages are a bit fixated on hidden representations of the 'male genitalia', probably fuelled in part by a similar urban myth.
I couldn't find anything in the tobacco documents database to suggest that the industry was particularly interested in subliminal advertising, although there are several documents about subliminal flavours in cigarettes.
In fact, an academic paper [pdf] was written on exactly this topic, finding that the industry had done research to show that adding consciously undetectable amounts of menthol flavour to regular cigarettes caused "altered perception of tobacco smoke and its constituents via cooling, smoothing, and anesthetic effects; increased impact through stimulation of trigeminal receptors; interaction with nicotine controlling its perception, delivery, and uptake; and increased respiratory irritation and toxic effects".
I heard a rumour that if you smoked cigarettes backwards you could hear Judas Priest songs but it never worked for me.
Link to subliminal complaints letters in tobacco docs database.
Read: Y We Should Never Underestimate BioWare (or Canadians) Again
Shared by Gabriel KentDon't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed – Why the Mass Effect trilogy may end up being the most important role-playing saga in gaming history.
OK OK... im playing ME1 this weekend (I no longer have my saved game)... hopefully ME2 next weekend.
Read: Apple admits using child labour in China (Malcolm Moore/Telegraph)
Shared by Gabriel Kent
I actually agree with child labor. I had my first job at 8.... cleaning cages at a pet store. Its the other stuff that's a shame.... basic slave like conditions. Buy Apple and support slavery.... despite uncovering all these problems Apple continues to use the factories.
Malcolm Moore / Telegraph:
Apple admits using child labour in China — Apple has admitted that child labour was used at the Chinese factories that build its computers, iPods and mobile phones. — At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories which supply Apple.
Read: Debasing & Defacing the Dollar
Heh heh: Not what you Dollar Bears thought!
These are a half dozen of my favorites from 30 Bizarre Examples of Defacing Money from the aptly named site, MONEY MUMBO JUMBO:
Sparta!
iPod
Head shot
Alice in Wonderland
Moth Eaten:
And even though I was never a big Kiss fan, this one still tickles me:
Kiss
Source: Money Mumbo Jumbo
Hat tip boingboing
Read: Introducing the Coffee Party….
Shared by Gabriel Kentsubmitted by sleepygoldenstorm to politics
"It is not Us against the Govt. It is democracy vs corporatocracy..." Seriously, how fucking idiotic is this? The Government doesn't create wealth... it appropriates it. Democracy is mob rule, that is why we live in a Constitutional Republic... Mobs do not generate wealth either, they loot it. Fucking looters. These people are lost.
[link] [10 comments]
Read: Microsoft, Researchers Team Up And Tear Down Major Spamming Botnet
Shared by Gabriel KentUnprecedented court order helped dismantle Waledac, the second-generation iteration of the Storm botnet: here's how the undercover operation went down
Easier to deploy than destroy...
Read: Repo Men Launches: Tracking Down Artificial Organs for Fun and Profit
Shared by Gabriel Kent
A new rabbit hole... this one sounds interesting.
Ciji Thorton is a 26-year old woman with an artificial eye.
Will LaFerriere is a 27-year old former military man with an artificial heart.
Alex Gamble is a 22-year old female with an artificial liver.
And Usman Akeju is a 27-year old software consultant with an artificial kidney.
For the next month, three simple words can cost these four runners $7,500. Any registered hunter in the country can repossess the runner’s artiforg (artificial organ) by getting within speaking distance of them, uttering a three word phrase, receiving their codeword, collecting their artiforg, and calling their Union rep using the runner’s phone. Promoting the upcoming release of the movie Repo Men, this alternate reality game will test the abilities of Ciji, Will, Alex, and Usman to remain undetected against an onslaught of investigative skills from “bounty hunters” nationwide.
People following the hunt for these four individuals at wired.com/repomen and through the #repomen hashtag on twitter will become intimately familiar with the lives of these four brave volunteers. Do you have what it takes to learn everything there is to know about these individuals, track them down, and collect their artificial organs?
There are Google Maps to track verified sightings of the Eye, the Heart, the Liver, and the Kidney. Each artificial organ has been spotted in Los Angeles (although the Heart is reported to be in “Lost” Angeles)…where they’ve gone from there is up to you to find out. The hunt has commenced in earnest, with new discoveries about the four targets being made by the minute.
Join us Monday, March 8th on the ARGNetcast for an interview with Lone Shark Games about this exciting chase.
Click Here for previous coverage of the Repo Men hunt.
Click Here for coverage on the previous hunt for Evan Ratliff.
UPDATE: The blog Dread Central received a special package from the Repo Men team earlier today containing dossiers on the four runners along with some truly impressive posters, a copy of Wired Magazine, and a cooler containing a replacement brain.
Read: PlanetSolar: World’s Largest Solar Boat Finally Unveiled
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Nice...
Photo: The Age On Thursday, the covers were taken off PlanetSolar, a multi-hulled vessel, powered entirely by up to 500 square metres of photovoltaic solar panels. It is considered to be the world's largest solar boat. The 31m long and 15m wide craft is expected to be able capture 103.4 kW of solar energy to drive its engine which apparently only needs 20kW, to achieve an average speed of eight knots (15kph or 9mph). Although it is hoped it can also attain a top speed of roughly twice that. While it is imp...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Read: iPad Will Beat Netbooks With "Magic"
Shared by Gabriel Kententirely_fluffy writes "In a talk intended to woo investors, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said the iPad will win over potential netbook buyers, but not because of specs or features. No, Cook said the iPad's magical properties will seal the deal. "The netbook is not an experience people are going to continue wanting to have," Cook said, according to Macworld. "When they play with the iPad and experience the magic of using it... I have a hard time believing they're going to go for a netbook."" Another thing that would help would be a camera and a $100 discount, but hey Magic is cool too, provided they have enough mana.
My mana is almost full!
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Navigate through User Photos in Street View
http://maps.google.com | New click and drag controls make it easy to navigate through user contributed photos in Street View. Click or drag the silver orbs in the direction you want to look. See what's to the left, right, up, or down.Read: This photograph is so rock-n-roll that it was taken before rock-n-roll even existed.
Shared by Gabriel Kent
Nice...
 | submitted by d1rtfarm to pics [link] [61 comments] |
![[link]](http://imgur.com/hI4Cc.jpg){kind=link}
Read: Derek Lowe is a pharmaceutical chemist who has been in the business for over 20 years. Here are the chemicals that he won’t work with.
Shared by Gabriel Kentsubmitted by koavf to science
Great blog...
[link] [30 comments]
Read: How Would You Build the Gas Stations of the Future?
Shared by Gabriel Kent
?
Image credit: Good In the future, calling them gas stations will probably be a misnomer: In all likelihood, fueling stations will not be dispensing fossil fuels. What fuel source we will rely on—and how it will be distributed—however, has yet to be determined. In the meantime, Good wants to see your vision....Read the full story on TreeHugger
Read: Nikola Tesla’s letterhead circa 1900
Shared by Gabriel KentComments
Nice!
Read: Researchers: Rootkits Work Nicely On Smartphones, Thank You
Shared by Gabriel KentRootkit-based exploits could allow attackers to eavesdrop on users or identity their location, Rutgers study finds
I bet they do ;)