Thursday, August 05, 2010

Help Survey Genghis Khan's Lost Tomb With Some Armchair Archaeology [Archaeology]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5604701/help-survey-genghis-khans-lost-tomb-with-some-armchair-archaeology

Help Survey Genghis Khan's Lost Tomb With Some Armchair ArchaeologyIf you're bummed that SETI@home hasn't quite succeeded in pinpointing our friendly extraterrestrial neighbors, National Geographic is offering up another ambitious project you can get involved in at home: surveying the Mongolian region that holds Genghis Khan's tomb.

NatGeo's Valley of the Khans project allows armchair archaeologists to sift through satellite imagery of the region—multispectral shots provided by the GeoEye-1 and Ikonos sattelites—and mark what they think could be ancient roads, rivers, or other anomalies. And that's only one aspect of this high-tech effort.

At the University of California in San Diego, researchers are employing a HIPerSpace (Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Space) wall—seen above—to visualize huge expanses of the Mongolian region, scaling into the billions of pixels.

Help Survey Genghis Khan's Lost Tomb With Some Armchair Archaeology

And then there's the StarCAVE, an Earthquake-proof, 3D visualization room which surrounds researchers with images in better-than-HD resolution—it's a few square feets' worth of Northern Mongolian vista, perfectly reproduced thousands of miles away in California.

You can find out more and join the Field Expedition team for the Valley of the Khans project over on National Geographic's site. And if hunching over your laptop wasn't exactly how you envisioned your swashbuckling archeological adventure, you can always compliment your pajamas with an Indiana Jones fedora. [National Geographic's Valley of the Khans Project]

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Logitech 7.1 Surround Sound G930 Gaming Headset Frags Wires Too [Gaming]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5604940/logitech-71-surround-sound-g930-gaming-headset-murders-wires-too

Logitech 7.1 Surround Sound G930 Gaming Headset Frags Wires TooThe update to Logitech's original 7.1 surround sound gaming headset, but it's wireless. Logitech says it's using "gaming-grade wireless," whatever that actually means. But happens if you're in the middle of a frag session and the batteries die?

The charging station basically turns it into a standard USB 7.1 gaming headset, so you can keep using it while it's charging. Like the original G35 it's got three programmable keys on the side to use for voice morphing, music or chat controls. It's pretty 'spensive at $160, but that's about how much "gaming" audio tends to run. [Logitech]

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Jolicloud 1.0 now ready for your downloading delight on Windows or bootable USB

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/04/jolicloud-1-0-now-ready-for-your-downloading-delight-on-windows/

Tariq Krim's app-based cloud OS has been a long time coming, but it's finally freely available for download -- just grab a 16MB installer and you too can join the Jolicloud. We've been impressed more than once by the responsive netbook operating system which can boot in seconds flat, and now that it's got touchscreen support and a streamlined Windows dual-boot installer all for the bargain price of free, it's definitely worth a try. Give it a spin at our more coverage link, and let us know if it improves your life in any meaningful fashion. If your keyboard is inexorably intertwined with Windows, however, don't fret; a little penguin tells us a tablet PC version is also on the way.

Jolicloud 1.0 now ready for your downloading delight on Windows or bootable USB originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GigaOM  |  sourceJolicloud Blog  | Email this | Comments

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PlayOn's web app brings Hulu and Netflix to iPod touch, iPhone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/04/playons-web-app-brings-hulu-and-netflix-to-ipod-touch-iphone/

Tired of waiting around for Apple's "review process" to complete? So was PlayOn. Rather than sticking it out and dealing with the App Store's near-limitless amount of red tape, the content streaming startup has kicked out an HTML5 web app that enables Hulu (for now, at least) and Netflix streaming to iPod touch and iPhone devices. It's still hard at work perfecting things for the iPad, but given that it's completely free to surf over to its mobile web site (linked below), it's tough to complain with what we're being given right now. Early testers have praised the app's speed, and while you'll still need a Windows PC (yeah, PlayOn still doesn't have a Mac client) and a PlayOn subscription before indulging on your mobile, at least you've got an option that you once didn't. So, anyone digging the new avenue?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PlayOn's web app brings Hulu and Netflix to iPod touch, iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mobiputing  |  sourceVenture Beat, PlayOn Mobile  | Email this | Comments

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Droid 2 flyer confirms Froyo (again), promises 40 percent boost in website load times

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/04/droid-2-flyer-confirms-froyo-again-promises-40-percent-boost/

It's not often that we know this freaking much about a major smartphone prior to its announcement -- not to say that we're complaining. Latest in the never-ending string of Droid 2 leaks is this handy little flyer, seemingly part of internal training for sales reps, pimping a variety of features like Android 2.2 out-of-the-box (something the original Droid is just now getting), the 8GB of on-board storage with another 8GB on an included microSD card, the Droid X-like UI skin, Swype, and -- this is interesting -- a claimed 40 percent gain in website loading time over its predecessor thanks to the 1GHz core. Of course, Froyo's quite a bit faster than Eclair, so if they're benchmarking a Froyo Droid 2 against an Eclair Droid, that could account for part of the performance improvement, too -- not to say that we're complaining. Hit the gallery below for a larger version of the page.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Droid 2 flyer confirms Froyo (again), promises 40 percent boost in website load times originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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