Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, March 17, 2014

drag2share: This Treacherous Hanging Staircase Doubles As Shelving and a Desk

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-treachorous-hanging-staircase-doubles-as-shelving-1545728028

This Treacherous Hanging Staircase Doubles As Shelving and a Desk

Here's a great space-saving idea for anyone living in a small home with multiple floors who also happen to be incredibly sure-footed. Mieke Meijer's designed this completely unorthodox staircase called the Object Élevé for a home in the Netherlands to maximize space, functionality, and wow factor.

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drag2share: Amazon's streaming device is reportedly a dongle with gaming support in tow

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/17/amazon-streaming-gaming-dongle/

We've been hearing rumblings about Amazon's set top box plans for quite a while now, and according to the folks over at TechCrunch, that gadget more closely resembles Google's Chromecast. The possibility of a USB-style product should come as no surprise given the popularity of the aforementioned $35 option and Roku's recent release. In addition to the dongle form factor, the report also suggests that the device will feature support for streaming PC games in order to compete with the likes of Xbox, PlayStation and Steam for all types of living room content consumption. The gaming aspect is said to closely resemble a service like OnLive, which allows cloud-based streaming. Details are scare in terms of titles, but the library has been tipped to include "top-tier games" beamed from Amazon at 30fps. This reported union of the online retailer's set top and console plans comes just days after a controller broke from cover and weeks out from a report that gaming plans were alive and well.

Source: TechCrunch

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drag2share: Seiki's U-Vision HDMI cable arrives today to transform your HD video into 4K

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/17/seiki-uvision-hdmi-cable/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

We saw a brief demo of Seiki's U-Vision HDMI cable back in January at CES, and now the $50 cable is officially on the market. When connected to your fancy 4K TV, the chord promises to up-convert HD content from your cable box or Blu-ray player to Technicolor-certified 4K Ultra HD. It's also capable of transforming 720p content to 1080p, all while using adaptive sharpening and noise reduction to keep the picture looking its best. The demo we saw at CES was pretty clean, but the reel didn't give us the opportunity to really put it through the paces -- something we'll definitely be looking to do now that it's available. If you want to give it a try, you can pick one up today at Amazon, Newegg and Fred Meyers stores.

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drag2share: How An LA Times Reporter Got An Algorithm To Write Articles For Him

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/uHgdgI3OLOg/quakebot-robot-la-times-2014-3

robot robotic stiff work

Whenever there is an earthquake in southern California, a system called Quakebot analyzes notifications from the US Geological Survey and automatically creates a blog post for the Los Angeles Times.

We first noticed this in a post titled "Earthquake aftershock: 2.7 quake strikes near Westwood" in the LA Times today via Gizmodo's Adam Clark Estes.

At the bottom of the post it reads, "This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author."

That author is Ken Schwencke, a journalist and web developer who lives in Los Angeles.

Schwencke created the Quakebot system about three years ago, but it has been functional for about two, Schwencke tells Business Insider.

Quakebot is an automated system that lives on the Los Angeles Times's servers. The system receives emails from the US Geological Survey, runs through a checklist of where it is, and then determines if it's newsworthy based on the magnitude.

It then parses out content from the email and inputs it into the LA Times's content management service. The post is structured on a formula based on previous posts.

"It saves everyone the initial rush to write something," Schwencke says.

If there's a 6.0 quake in Los Angeles, Quakebot automatically set a post live. But if it's anything smaller than 6.0, Schwen

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drag2share: The other thing Holland has legalized: carrier-free SIM cards

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/17/holland-legalizes-carrier-free-sim-cards/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

When it comes to tolerating things that other countries deem illegal, Holland's got previous experience, but this time the nation has approved something that doesn't just benefit glaucoma sufferers. The country has ratified the use of blank SIM cards that aren't tied to a carrier, and can instead be tweaked use whatever network is best for you. The idea is that since you're not tied to an operator, you can switch between providers when your needs change -- allowing you to swerve roaming charges when you're out and about. The move also boosts "internet of things" makers, who can connect devices to cellular networks without signing a long, expensive deal. Of course, the longer-term implication is that smartphone companies like Apple and Samsung could bulk-buy voice and data services and cut out the middle man -- a prospect that would even send John Legere into a cold sweat.

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drag2share: One Day Your Smartphone's Screen Could Be Used To Test Blood

Source: http://gizmodo.com/one-day-your-smartphones-screen-could-be-used-to-test-1545401478

One Day Your Smartphone's Screen Could Be Used To Test Blood

Patients who rely on the use of coagulants to limit the formation of blood clots in their veins also require frequent and regular trips to the hospital for tests to monitor their blood flow. It's a time-consuming side effect that researchers at EPFL hope they've solved with a portable test that relies on a smartphone's display's unique properties.

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drag2share: Report: Apple Healthbook Will Track Your Life Down to Every Breath

Source: http://gizmodo.com/report-apple-healthbook-will-track-your-life-down-to-e-1545455810

Report: Apple Healthbook Will Track Your Life Down to Every Breath

For a couple months now we've been hearing about Apple's plans to release a new fitness tracking system in the near future called Healthbook. This morning, 9to5Mac reports a lot of details about the rumored health-monitoring app for iOS. The app is impressively exhaustive. How is all of this possible? We're loathe to say an iWatch might be coming...but maybe?

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Article: Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom details allegedly come to light

The camera-centric Galaxy S5 spinoff could be among Samsung's first to employ its hexa-core processor. The camera-focused Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom, a variation on the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S5, could feature a 20-megapixel rear camera and a hexa-core processor, according to new benchmarks. Than...

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-57620365-251/samsung-galaxy-s5-zoom-details-allegedly-come-to-light/

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Article: Will transparent caching reshape the future of video on the internet?

When Comcast and Netflix signed a peering agreement last month that lets the two networks directly connect to each other, it also meant that Netflix would be paying Comcast to deliver its online video. From Comcast’s perspective, this deal helps offset the stress it believes online video delivery...

http://gigaom.com/2014/03/14/will-transparent-caching-reshape-the-future-of-video-on-the-internet/

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drag2share: Overhead Laser Lights That Illuminate With Images and Video

Source: http://gizmodo.com/overhead-laser-lights-that-illuminate-with-images-and-v-1541538870

Overhead Laser Lights That Illuminate With Images and Video

As far as giant corporations go, it's usually Sony that's willing to a take risk on an unorthodox new product. But this time it's Panasonic's turn with the company's new Space Player that combines overhead lighting with compact projectors letting you project everything from different colors, to still images, to videos and animation.

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drag2share: A Simple Adapter Lets the iPhone Assist in Eye Exams

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-simple-adapter-lets-the-iphone-assist-in-eye-exams-1542345459

A Simple Adapter Lets the iPhone Assist in Eye Exams

We've already got machines that give ophthalmologists a close-up view of the inside and outside of the human eye. The problem is they're big and heavy, expensive, and rarely accessible to those in third world nations. So researchers at Stanford University have created a simple iPhone add-on that lets almost anyone, anywhere, perform eye exams.

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drag2share: Kinect and Unreal Engine 4 power Alzheimer's and dementia care project (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/17/unreal-engine-4-alzheimers-dementia-therapy/

Sure, virtual reality and browser-based games are impressive, but Unreal Engine 4's latest use is a bit more noble: improving the lives of Alzheimer's and dementia patients. The Forest Project uses the game engine, smart TVs and Microsoft's Kinect 2 tech in an attempt to create a temporary reprieve for those suffering from the cognitive diseases via an interactive, virtual woodland. There's also a virtual dementia simulation that aims to help caregivers understand first-hand how their patients see the world, possibly improving care as a result. Should the dev team reach its crowdfunding goal, the arboreal environment could be just the beginning, with beach or Christmas-themed environments hinted as possible expansions.

Opaque Multimedia and Alzheimer's Australia Vic need a fraction of what many modern game budgets command to bring The Forest Project to multiple platforms in early 2015 -- $82,000 (AU$90,000). Other details are scarce, but seeing that the team is in San Francisco for this week's Game Developer's Conference, we may hear more as the show progresses.

Filed under: Gaming, Science, HD

Source: The Forest Project (Pozible)

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drag2share: New Payments Startups Face An Uphill Battle To Disrupt The Credit Card Processing Industry

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/azLAOrda9Jw/credit-card-payments-market-competition-2-2014-1

Payment Card Transaction Breakdown

The credit card industry processes a massive volume of transactions — about $4 trillion this year in the U.S., according to BI Intelligence estimates. With so much money in play, it's no wonder that a host of startups are trying to carve out a niche for themselves and offer services to merchants and consumers that will rewrite the value they get from every credit card payment.

But the credit card processing industry isn't going to change over night. These startups are entering into an extremely complex and entrenched space.

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Saturday, March 15, 2014

drag2share: LG Lucid 3 leaks with updated design, no doubts on the carrier

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/15/lg-lucid-3-leaks/

We'll admit, we're getting mixed messages here. According to @evleaks' latest reveal there is very likely a new LG Lucid (number 3 to be specific) incoming for Verizon. Nothing unusual there, as it's been about a year since the last one. But if the images are accurate (and history predicts they will be) LG has taken some design cues from its G-series -- rounded corners, and a curved back etc -- along with a very Samsung-esque physical home key (the last edition had capacitive buttons). Of course, this isn't the first LG phone with such a button, or even to share this design. The new F-series we saw at MWC bears more than a casual resemblance to the pic we see above. There's little else to glean from the image other than the obvious, but expect a mid-range specification (with model number VS876) to hit the Verizon web store in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

Source: @evleaks (Twitter)

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drag2share: Here Are The Google Drive Add-Ons That Will Actually Make Your Life Easier

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/best-add-ons-for-google-drive-2014-3

laptop ball pit working fun office

Google just launched add-ons for Docs and Sheets, meaning that there's now an app store dedicated to tools and features that will help you increase your productivity and do more within your docs.

To browse through all the add-on options, select Get add-ons in the Add-ons menu of any open document or spreadsheet

There isn't a huge selection of extensions yet, but Google lets anyone create their own, so more will definitely start cropping up soon.

Until then, here are our favorites, and the ones you should consider adding right now:

1. Messenger

Google Docs just became even more of a killer collaboration tool. Messenger lets you keep track of changes made in a Doc, while also letting you chat with fellow collaborators. If you want something that works almost exactly like Word's track changes, the same company also makes a version of the add-on without the messaging feature.

2. EasyBib

College kids, rejoice! The greatest site on the Internet for anyone who has to source a paper just got integrated with Google Docs so now it's simpler than ever to make a perfectly formatted bibliography. Using the EasyBib add-on, you can search for sources by title, ISBN, or keywords, and boom: You've got a works-cited entry you can paste right into the end of your document.

3. Merge

Thanks to Merge, you can now design a fancy looking party invitation (or any other kind of message) in Google Docs and seamlessly send it in a personalized email to any contact you have saved in a Google Sheet. You can even use the Reporting tab to see how many people have actually opened your email.

4. PandaDocs

Next time you have an important document that needs to get signed and sent, skip the annoying process of printing and scanning. PandaDoc lets you add legally binding electronic signatures to your Google Docs, so you'll never have to jump through hoops to get something signed again.

Runner up: Maps

Maps is a great concept and would be perfect for anyone who wants to use Docs to create a trip itinerary. However, in the current version, you can't zoom in or out on a map, and if you're mapping on two points, you can see them both, but won't get directions for moving between them.

SEE ALSO: You Can Fix A MacBook By Baking It In An Oven Like A Pie

Join the conversation about this story »

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