Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Rich Needn't Experience Society's Ills Ever Again Aboard a Tropical Island Megayacht [Yachts]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5824206/the-rich-need-not-experience-societys-ills-ever-again-aboard-their-tropical-island-megayacht/gallery/

I've read Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, so forgive me a moment, but I couldn't help but wonder if the poor would make the best fuel for this floating in-your-face exuberance from the folks at Yacht Island Design.

Helipad? Check. Volcano with waterfall? Of course. Pool on a ship floating in the world's largest pool? Naturally. Oh, and the volcano/waterfall combo is also a cabana. Like you didn't see that coming.

Powering it all would be the world's poor, because their slender matchstick frames are akin to brittle kindling, and I imagine they'd be at least half as effective as diesel fuel or whatever it is powers 90-meter-long floating cabana megayachts these days. Plus, they're free and easily found all around the world, and their self-sustaining numbers are graciously increasing every day!

Yes, it's a concept design, but honestly, people and their money sometimes. WTF?

The top speed is 15 knots. [Gizmag]

You can keep up with Jack Loftus, the author of this post, on Twitter and Facebook.

Leaked: iPhone 5 "Assistant" Is Enhanced Crowd-Sourcing Voice Control Based on Siri [Leaks]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5824217/leaked-iphone-5-assistant-is-enhanced-crowd+sourcing-voice-control-based-on-siri

Leaked: iPhone 5 "Assistant" Is Enhanced Crowd-Sourcing Voice Control Based on Siri Although it's not currently available in the iOS 5 developer beta, a new leak at 9to5Mac has indicated a curious voice control feature called Assistant could be making its way into the mysterious iPhone 5 when it launches.

Sorry, "if" it launches, since there's been nothing but rumor and rampant speculation about the next version of the iPhone basically since the last one launched.

But! On to the Assistant thing that will probably/definitely be exclusive to the iPhone 5. It's based on the Siri technology that Apple acquired when it bought that company, and will do a whole lot more than just haphazardly dial contacts when you say people's names as the current iPhone does now.

Instead, the theoretical iPhone 5 will convert speech to text, scour the data on your phone to make specific location-based recommendations for your queries, and use crowd-sourcing to fine tune the system and reduce errors (after all the privacy snafus associated with the iPhone 4 and Facebook we have to asume this with permission). [9to5 Mac]

iCam Bypasses Clunky Factory-Installed Camera Interfaces with an iPhone [Cameras]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5824212/icam-bypasses-clunky-factory+installed-camera-interfaces-with-an-iphone

Zeki Ozek wants to complement your current camera with an iPhone and eliminate SD cards, clunky factory-installed interfaces and whatever else attaching Apple's smartphone to the back of your rig might accomplish.

He proposes we do it with iCam, a camera with a dock in the back that syncs up with an iPhone courtesy the 22 pin connector. The concept won a Red Dot Design Concept award this year, based on what I assume is the design's incredibly broad potential. Strapping a powerful, portable touchscreen computer to the back of a custom-built camera can do that for you. Plus, wireless connectivity. Cannot understimate the convenience of that.

I imagine cameras will be wireless, hyper-connected, uber-customizable devices in the near future anyway, but there's no denying the iPhone's potential in this early, specific case. [Rexplore]

Samsung SPH-M930 to give Boost Mobile a keyboard-packing Charge?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/24/samsung-sph-m930-to-give-boost-mobile-a-keyboard-packing-charge/

Like Android, QWERTY keyboards, and paying as you go? Boy, have we got the handset for you. This is the Samsung SPH-M930, a Droid Charge-looking slider reportedly destined for the pre-paid world of Boost Mobile. The Gingerbread handset is said to be rocking a 1GHz Qualcomm chip and is a mere FCC approval away from your thumbs.

Samsung SPH-M930 to give Boost Mobile a keyboard-packing Charge? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T Google Nexus S on sale today, exclusive to Best Buy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/24/atandt-google-nexus-s-on-sale-today-exclusive-to-best-buy/

AT&T Google Nexus S on sale, exclusive to best buy

If you shelled out 600 clams for an unlocked Nexus S, buyer's remorse starts now: the subsidized AT&T version is out today. Available exclusively from Best Buy (and exclusively in black), the AT&T Nexus S will set you back only a paltry $99 with a two-year contract. Is the loss of color choice (and that whole "SIM-locked to AT&T" thing) worth the savings? We'll leave that up to you and your (Google) wallet.

AT&T Google Nexus S on sale today, exclusive to Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Porsche's Compass Watch Makes Me Wish I Needed a Compass More Often [Desired]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5824044/porsches-compass-watch-makes-me-wish-i-needed-a-compass-more-often

The compass-in-a-watch concept isn't exactly a breakthrough in functionality, but my goodness is Porsche Design's P'6520 compass watch pretty. Its black titanium case splits in two, with the Swiss movement timepiece on the top half and a removable liquid compass on the bottom.

The compass is viewed through mirrors on the compass face and the bottom of the watch half, and it works in both hemispheres. It's also waterproof to 50 feet. No word on the pricing just yet, but expect it to cost about what you paid for your car. [Porsche via uncrate]

Pix-Star FotoConnect HD is a 10-inch digiframe ripe for regifting

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/23/pix-star-fotoconnect-hd-is-a-10-inch-digiframe-ripe-for-regiftin/

PixStar FotoConnect HD

Are you ready to meet your next regift? This is the Pix-Star FotoConnect HD, a 10.4-inch, 800 x 600 digital photo frame with a WiFi radio inside. This little display can pull in pics from Picasa,
Facebook, Smugmug, Shutterfly, Flickr, and MobileMe amongst others, and show off images sent straight to a special e-mail address. It may seem like every other digiframe, but it does have one unique feature -- support for UPnP and DLNA. That means any pictures stored on your home network can easily be beamed to it as well. If you want to be the original gifter, instead of the regifter, you can pick one up now for $189 at Pix-Star.com and Amazon. You'll find the full PR and an additional pic after the break.

Continue reading Pix-Star FotoConnect HD is a 10-inch digiframe ripe for regifting

Pix-Star FotoConnect HD is a 10-inch digiframe ripe for regifting originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio Tablet tiptoes into retail, starting at Costco

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/vizio-tablet-tiptoes-into-retail-starting-at-costco/

We know it's been a long wait since CES, but after getting pawed at by both Blake Griffin and yours truly, the Vizio Tablet is starting to show up in stores right about on schedule. Frequent Engadget commenter DaHarder took a step away from the Disqus box and snagged this tablet at a local Costco store for $329 ($20 off the regular price), an achievement also unlocked by the folks at Mobileslate. According to their reports you may have to ask around to find out if the VTAB1008 is actually in stock but it may be lurking along with its $40 Accessories Kit, while it's already showing in stock on the Vizio online store. Impressions so far suggest a "budget" tablet experience above that of the flood of craptablets with decent hardware and battery life, but a software experience behind the top of the line slates due to the custom UI, small internal storage and RAM and slower single core Marvell CPU. Our review is yet to come, but if there's around three bills burning a hole in your pocket and you've just got to have an Android tablet with integrated IR blaster, we're not seeing too many other options available.

[Thanks, DaHarder]

Vizio Tablet tiptoes into retail, starting at Costco originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo's 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/lenovos-7-inch-ideapad-caught-by-mr-blurrycam/

We spied a mystery FCC listing just the other day, filed under a no-name company but bearing some unmistakable Lenovo markings. Now we have another unidentified device bearing the same branding and, according to our friendly neighborhood tipster, this is the company's 7-inch IdeaPad, which might be (internally) dubbed the A1-07. It's said to be powered by a TI OMAP3621 processor (which also drives the Nook Color), features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, a Broadcom GPS unit, 3G wireless with a SIM slot, and room for a microSD card as well. A 3,700mAh battery supposedly keeps things juiced, both front- and rear-facing cameras are on offer, and it's all wrapped in a glossy plastic styling that makes it look a little like a TouchPad with some bare metal highlights. It also features three buttons up front that we're hoping don't mean it's been relegated to Android 2.x. Now, the image above (and the second one, below) have obviously been crudely modified to hide something, and we can't be sure of what we're looking at here, but it's interesting enough for us to pass these along. Have a gander and let us know what you think in comments.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Lenovo's 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam?

Lenovo's 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Thrill 4G up for pre-order today at Radio Shack, ahead of August 7th launch?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/lg-thrill-4g-up-for-pre-order-today-at-radio-shack-ahead-of-aug/

The LG Thrill 4G was announced at CTIA four months ago , but wasn't given its rightful time in the sun due to a much larger elephant in the room. Now the phone's launch is quickly approaching, however, and the AT&T-branded Optimus 3D is ready to get some glory. We were sent not one, but two separate emails this morning from Radio Shack insiders with a few details about the retail chain's rollout of the device. As it turns out, visitors to The Shack can be offered the opportunity to reserve a Thrill -- supposedly gearing up for an August 7th launch -- starting today with the purchase of a $50 gift card. According to the screenshots sent to us, the Thrill can be all yours for $80 with a two-year contract ($550 if you exhibit a fear of commitment). We're hesitant to declare August 7th the official launch date, since history has shown that resellers don't always get handsets at the same time as corporate outlets do. If you find any success reserving one today, however, we'll be ~~thrilled~~ elated to hear about it.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading LG Thrill 4G up for pre-order today at Radio Shack, ahead of August 7th launch?

LG Thrill 4G up for pre-order today at Radio Shack, ahead of August 7th launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Charlie Miller finds MacBook battery security hole, plans to fill with Caulkgun

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/charlie-miller-finds-macbook-battery-security-hole-plans-to-fil/

Those batteries have probably met a worse fate than the white MacBook line they came from. According to Forbes, Charlie Miller's managed to render seven of them useless after gaining total access to their micro-controllers' firmware via a security hole. Evidently, the Li-on packs for the line of lappies -- including Airs and Pros -- are accessible with two passwords he dug up from an '09 software update. Chuck mentions that someone could "use them to do something really bad," including faulting charge-levels and thermal read-outs to possibly even making them explode. He also thinks hard-to-spot malware could be installed directly within the battery, repeatedly infecting a computer unless removed. Come August, he'll reportedly be detailing the vulnerability at the Black Hat security conference along with a fix he's dubbed Caulkgun, which only has the mild side-effect of locking-out updates by Apple. Worth being safe these days, though. Right? Full story in the links below.

Charlie Miller finds MacBook battery security hole, plans to fill with Caulkgun originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG promises 55-inch OLED TV in 2012, just in time for the next b'ak'tun

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/23/lg-promises-55-inch-oled-tv-in-2012-just-in-time-the-next-bak/

LG OLEDs

LG is apparently tired of this tiny OLED stuff. 15-inch TVs and 4-inch cellphones? What is this, 2009? The company has decided it's time to super-size the organically-powered panels and plans to introduce a 55-inch HDTV in mid 2012. We've got faith it can deliver too -- last summer the Korean manufacturer was showing off a 31-inch model (above) and it sounds like it's shifting focus completely towards larger sizes. CEO Kwon Young-soo has said that IPS technology is much better suited for the mobile space. Of course, LG has promised impressively-sized panels before and, even if such a set does make it to market, chances are you'll have to take out a second mortgage to afford one.

LG promises 55-inch OLED TV in 2012, just in time for the next b'ak'tun originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Slash Gear | source

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Friday, July 22, 2011

Droid Bionic's secrecy betrayed on Amazon, by simple dock listings

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/droid-bionics-secrecy-betrayed-on-amazon-by-simple-dock-listin/

We had our hands on a raw version of the Droid Bionic way back at CES, but two listings on Amazon for desktop and car docking stations, uncovered by Android Central forum posters, may give the clearest look at the phone so far. As you can see in the shot above of the desktop dock Motorola's slab appears to have a chrome ring running around the outside, while the dock itself has a 3.5mm audio out, HDMI output and USB ports. There's no price or release date listed for either accessory but if you've been lusting over the beast and its rumored specs we're figuring some quiet time with these shots is just what the doctor ordered -- check after the break for a shot of the car dock and the back of the desktop docking station.

Continue reading Droid Bionic's secrecy betrayed on Amazon, by simple dock listings

Droid Bionic's secrecy betrayed on Amazon, by simple dock listings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Android Central ! ;| source

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Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/wolfram-launches-open-cdf-format-adds-visual-pizzazz-to-charts/

Amazon's Kindle DX and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook were supposed to be the business world's answer to an on-the-go office. Turns out, PDFs viewed in e-ink or on a tethered slate don't offer much in the way of interactive app experiences -- they're still just documents, no matter the tablet they're wearing. Well, Wolfram Group's got an open format contender to Adobe's throne and it's hoping you'll adopt it. Introduced today, the Computable Document Format "puts easy-to-author interactivity at its core," breathing animated life into otherwise static infographics. Not a programmer? No need to worry, the company promises the two-way diagrams are "easy enough for teachers, journalists, managers, [and] researchers to... create." We've seen Microsoft's XPS take a similar crack at dethroning the reigning format king, only to find itself in portable document oblivion. We'll just have to wait and see if CDF's a more noble contender. In the meantime, head on over to the source to download the free player and see for yourself the possible future of live textbooks, tables and charts.

Continue reading Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs

Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IBM rig doesn't look like much, scans 10 billion files in 43 minutes

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/ibm-rig-doesnt-look-like-much-scans-10-billion-files-in-43-min/

Someone ought to gift these IBM researchers a better camera, because their latest General Parallel File System is a back-slapping 37 times faster than their last effort back in 2007. The rig combines ten IBM System xSeries servers with Violin Memory SSDs that hold 6.5 terabytes of metadata relating to 10 billion separate files. Every single one of those files can be analyzed and managed using policy-guided rules in under three quarters of an hour. That kind of performance might seem like overkill, but it's only just barely in step with what IBM's Doug Balog describes as a "rapidly growing, multi-zettabyte world." No prizes for guessing who their top customer is likely to be. Full details in the PR after the break.

Continue reading IBM rig doesn't look like much, scans 10 billion files in 43 minutes

IBM rig doesn't look like much, scans 10 billion files in 43 minutes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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