ICCARUS: Three Dimensional Data Visualization (for music)

from TechCrunch by Duncan Riley

ICCARUS is a new service created by social music and video recommendations startup Scouta. It creates a three dimensional visualization of the data behind a social networking or related website. ICCARUS also shows the social network between members, the memberships of groups, and the links between members and the content they enjoy. Navigate by clicking on points of interest, or searched using commands. Results are dynamic and are delivered in real time, providing an instant visual representation of the given network

The data is fetched via TurboGears and uses the GFX library to create the visual effects.

ICCARUS was launched Wednesday at Webjam Perth and won first place from a field of around 15 demonstrating startups. I spoke with Scouta CEO Richard Giles at the WA Web Awards Friday and he told me that the feedback on ICCARUS had been strong. Scouta plans on further refining ICCARUS with a possibility of providing the service to the public either later this year or early 2008.

The screencast above doesn't do the service full justice, but it's enough to give some idea of what it is capable of.

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A Peek At Didja.com: VeryFunnyAds Clone

from TechCrunch by Nick Gonzalez

Although “advertising as entertainment” site Didja.com is not launching until next year, the NYT has a sneak peak at what it will look like (screen shot below). The NBC Universal project is part of the yet unnamed News Corp/NBC Universal cooperative strategy against Youtube. However, New Co.’s second “major assult” on YouTube looks like more of the same, a clone of TBS’s VeryFunnyAds. It’s very similar to the TBS re-branding effort, letting users watch heaps of ads by search, ratings, and sort by various companies and countries.

That’d all make sense if New Co. was copying a successful site, but VeryFunnyAds doesn’t appear to be a resounding winner despite the 63 million clip views the site article says they delivered over the past year. That number of views suggests an average of 5 million videos streamed each month, but the viewership of the site doesn’t stack up.

After an initial bump on launch, VeryFunnyAds’ traffic has since tapered out at about 100,000 uniques per month, according to Comscore. Sixty-three million streams is a lot of traffic for an audience that size, especially since they don’t allow off-site video embeds. Heavy.com, whose network generated about 6 million streams in April has about 5.2 million uniques per month. If the numbers are true, it appears TBS’s site is at most attracting a small cadre of ad fanatics.

Contrary to the “advertainment” meme going around, it doesn’t look like it has legs.

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Alaskan luddites are 50th state to get e-prescriptions

from Engadget by Paul Miller

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It's good to know that wherever you may roam in this great union, your doctor can file for your OxyContin electronically. Alaska was the last state to revise regulations that were keeping doctors scribbling illegible notes that presumably denoted medicines in their twisted imaginations. Other late-comers included Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia. There'll always be a few complainers about how the new e-prescription systems hurt the mom and pop pharmacies, and tether doctors to a crash-prone computer, but the fancy new (hopefully hackable) databases that'll keep track of just how much who is taking of what really make it all worthwhile.

 

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Conceptual UNI enables compartmentalized computing

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Those who find difficulty in cracking open a typical tower to replace that aging DVD writer with one that burns in high-definition should adore Richard Choi's UNI concept, which exemplifies compartmentalized computing and takes the stress out of upgrading. Apparently, the "Think" module would act as the core computer and handle the essentials, while a variety of other plug-in modules would provide additional outputs (HDMI, DVI, optical audio, USB, etc.), hard drive space, and optical drives. Granted, this could get out of hand for those who get UNI-stackin' fever, but we'll certainly pass along kudos to the idea. Click on for one more shot.

[Via YankoDesign, thanks Martin]

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Researchers using pulses of light to quickly decipher codes

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

While we imagine most Wolverines are focusing their efforts on gathering up the requisite tailgating gear for the onset of fall, a team of researchers at the University of Michigan are busy finding ways to decipher encryption codes "within seconds." The crew has apparently discovered that by "using pulses of light to dramatically accelerate quantum computers," these systems could not only crack "highly encrypted codes" in moments versus years, but it could also "lead to tougher protection of [sensitive] information." Additionally, the findings rely on "quantum dots and readily available, relatively inexpensive optical telecommunications technology to drive quantum computers," which could lead to quicker implementation of quantum level applications. Hackers, meet your dream machine.

[Via TGDaily, image courtesy of Technovelgy ]

 

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