Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, July 26, 2013

New Nexus 7 to arrive today at Best Buy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/26/new-nexus-7-on-sale-early/

A tipster has told us that the latest Nexus 7 from Asus and Google will hit Best Buy stores today, and a pre-order we placed earlier for the device seems to confirm that. We put our money down for one when the order page first went up, and while the confirmation originally said it would arrive on the original July 30th launch date, it's now telling us that we can expect our tablet later today. That jibes with info we were given by a source claiming to be the manager of a Best Buy store. He said that while pre-orders started yesterday, "there were few (of them) in my region," meaning that "if you are present at a (Best Buy) location today at opening, you have a good chance of buying the tablet." He added that some stores don't have stock yet due to agreements with Google, but pre-orders are still possible at those locations. Until we receive confirmation, however, you may not want to make a long journey to one of the outlets. Meanwhile, we've reached out to both Google and Best Buy.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

12K gaming rig renders 1.5 billion pixels per second for just $17,000 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/26/12k-gaming-amd-7970-sharp-pnk321/

Think your gaming rig's impressive because it can run Metro: Last Light with maxed out settings at 60FPS? Well, Microsoft rounded up a trio of Sharp PN-K321 32-inch 4K monitors and wired them to a Windows 8 PC stuffed with three ASUS 7970 GPUs. The $17,000 experiment proved two things: Such tech is outside our price-range, and it takes a huge amount of support to get it working. For instance, before AMD wrote custom drivers to make Eyefinity and multi-stream transport play nicely together, the framerate was a meager 8FPS. It's worth noting that even after all that, demos only lasted a few minutes before the computer's power supply would conk out -- but maybe the kinks will be fixed in time for us to play Battlefield Bad Company 5 on it.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft, AMD

Via: Gavin Gear (Twitter)

Source: Extreme Windows Blog (Microsoft)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Dealzmodo: Sanyo Eneloop XX, ASUS Monitor, Vornado Fan, Fight Club

Source: http://gizmodo.com/dealzmodo-sanyo-eneloop-xx-asus-monitor-vornado-fan-912558549

Dealzmodo: Sanyo Eneloop XX, ASUS Monitor, Vornado Fan, Fight Club

Eneloops are by far the best rechargeable batteries on the market, and they've become somewhat of a running joke around here because they never stay on sale long enough for the post to go up. Well, today is the day. Needless to say, I'd get them in your cart and checkout quickly if you're interested. [Amazon]

Scientists Just Discovered a New Force That's Stronger Than Gravity

Source: http://gizmodo.com/scientists-just-discovered-a-new-force-thats-stronger-909286447

Scientists Just Discovered a New Force That's Stronger Than Gravity

Scientists have long known that blackbodies produce radiation and that radiation creates a repulsive effect. However, according to a new study there's another force at play, one that acts a bit like gravity and attracts objects to the blackbody. They're calling it "blackbody force."

How PolicyMic, A Startup With A Handful Of Employees, Gets 6 Million People To Read It Every Month

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-increase-site-traffic-according-to-policymic-2013-7

policymic

In 2011, Chris Altchek left his job at Goldman Sachs. He created PolicyMic, a site that used Bleacher Report's model of hiring mostly-free contributors to produce content and applied it to politics.

Since then, Altchek and his co-founder Jake Horowitz have raised a small family-and-friends round followed by $1.5 million from investors such as politician Condoleezza Rice and Silicon Valley big-wig Mary Meeker.

The team recently grew to 16 people but Altchek says his team reached 6 million monthly uniques with just 12 people prior to the mini hiring spree. Part of the traffic growth came from obvious tweaks, like adding more apparent share tools to the site and expanding into other verticals, such as news and entertainment. There's also an obvious traffic spike in March 2013, when PolicyMic closed its financing round. Other less obvious factors contributed to the company's growth as well.

We asked Altchek which moves he's made over the past few years that helped his site grow the most.

"PolicyMic focused on a very specific demographic – millennials – and a specific type of content – high-quality analysis," Altchek says. "We've been able to grow traffic to over 6 million monthly uniques, which is now 1/3 social, 1/3 search, and 1/3 direct, by doing three things really well."

Here are those three things, according to Altchek:

Smart social – we've narrowed in on smart content that people still want to share. We hired a behavioral scientist from London School of Economics, Liz Plank, who's job is to study viral trends on smart topics. We track social sharing on all the top publishers on the web and draw trends that allow us to produce viral stories on important topics. A few examples include this story on the protests in Turkey which has 97,341 shares, or this storyon Calvin & Hobbes with 50,011 shares, this story on Brazil which 71,570 shares, or this story on the American economy with 47,176 shares.
Mobilizing millennials – we have built our editorial team around our millennial contributors – who are the leading 20-something in their fields. Instead of writing multiple stories per day, our 12-person editorial team is focused on training writers, editing, fact-checking, and recruiting millennials with deep topic expertise. By sourcing these high quality millennial contributors, we have built out a network that produces, consumes, and distributes to have an impact on PolicyMic and across various social networks. Our contributor model has allowed to us to scale to publishing over 90 high-quality articles per day.
Viral Engagement – while building a high-quality publishing system, we've built a community of millennials that want to have intellectual discussions on big ideas. Because of the authentic discussion happening on our platform, thought leaders have begun holding Q&A by publishing on the site and responding to comments. Here are a few recent thought leaders we've hosted:

Future improvements Altchek is planning to make include a site redesign, and the expansion into even more verticals this fall.

To see how he got started, here's a Q&A with Altcheck shortly after he left Goldman Sachs.

Join the conversation about this story »

The North Pole Is Now a Lake

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-north-pole-is-now-a-lake-907239981

The North Pole Is Now a Lake

If you think these images from the North Pole look more like a lake than the snow-covered expanse you'd expect, that because it is is—the North Pole has melted.

Refreshed Nexus 10 Said to Arrive âIn the Near Futureâ

Source: http://gizmodo.com/refreshed-nexus-10-said-to-arrive-in-the-near-future-907554798

Refreshed Nexus 10 Said to Arrive “In the Near Future”

While speaking with journalists after last night’s three-pronged Google Android 4.3/Nexus 7/Chromecast spectacular, the company’s Sundar Pichai reportedly told people that Samsung’s preparing an updated Nexus 10 to sit alongside the new Asus-made Nexus 7.

10 Beautifully Creepy Photos That Turn Centrifugal Force Into Art

Source: http://gizmodo.com/10-beautifully-creepy-photos-that-turn-centrifugal-forc-841150758

10 Beautifully Creepy Photos That Turn Centrifugal Force Into Art

According to physics professors, "centrifugal force" isn't actually a unique force at all — it's just a different form of momentum. But centrifugal, uh, effect can lead to some pretty awesome visuals, as shown by photographer Peter Schafrick.

Why Google's New Chromecast Is Going To Annoy TV Executives

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-chromecast-annoys-tv-executives-2013-7

Google Chromecast The most exciting reveal from Google's event yesterday was its new streaming device, the Chromecast.

The Chromecast is a little "dongle" that plugs into the back of your TV's HDMI port, giving users the ability to wirelessly stream content from their computers and devices to their TV.

While its primary use will likely be with apps integrated with a Chromecast "cast" button, Google also announced that users can mirror anything playing in its Chrome browser too.

This opens up the floodgates, allowing anything viewable on the web to be ported over to a user's television set.

And TV executives, who are notorious for drawing a line in the sand dividing web content and television content, can't be happy the Chromecast blends the two mediums together.

Peter Kafka of AllThingsD gives Hulu Plus as a prime example.

Right now, Hulu differentiates between its web streaming service and its TV streaming service. While you can watch plenty of Hulu's content for free online, the ability to watch Hulu content on a TV requires a Hulu Plus subscription.

Hulu says they are developing an app for the Chromecast, but it's a practically useless endeavor.

The Chromecast merges the two media, sidestepping the need for standalone apps, and this could quickly cause content providers and the TV executives they work with to become angry.

And if they get mad enough, Kafka writes that content providers could bar their websites from working with the Chrome browser.

Highly unlikely, but possible.

If enough fuss is made over the device, the Chromecast could potentially hamper Google's relationshi! p with T V executives, a risky move if Google wants to compete with Apple's rumored television set.

Time will tell if the Chromecast truly has the power to affect change in the streaming industry, but it certainly has the potential.

Join the conversation about this story »

Perform Key Financial Calculations with Wolfram Alpha

Source: http://lifehacker.com/perform-key-financial-calculations-with-wolfram-alpha-886304451

Perform Key Financial Calculations with Wolfram Alpha

Every data geek's favorite search engine, Wolfram Alpha, offers a ton of practical uses. Add to that list gleaning information for your personal finance decisions.

The New Nexus 7: More Power, Pure Google

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-new-nexus-7-more-power-pure-google-884758863

The New Nexus 7: More Power, Pure Google

Google formally unveiled the newest iteration of its Nexus 7 tablet at today's press conference in San Francisco. Turns out, this past week's leaked spec and grainy product shots (and last night's pretty-darn-clear ones) were dead on: this thing is freakin' sweet.

Google Unveils the Chromecast, an HDMI Stick for Streaming Video

Source: http://lifehacker.com/chrome-unveils-the-chromecast-an-hdmi-stick-for-stream-897062318

Google Unveils the Chromecast, an HDMI Stick for Streaming Video

Google took the wraps off of the Chromecast today, a tiny thumb drive-sized stick with an HDMI port on one end that's Wi-Fi enabled. It's designed to make it simple to push video from your home network, smartphone, or the web right to your TV screen.

AeroSee uses drones for mountain rescue, wants you to join the search

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/aerosee-mountain-rescue/

The woods may be lovely, dark and deep, but they're also dangerously unpredictable. That's why the University of Central Lancashire is looking to improve search and rescue technology with AeroSee, a project that incorporates drones to locate missing hikers. The lightweight aircraft, provided by E-Migs, are equipped with cameras that transmit video to nearby ground stations. Analysis is then crowd-sourced by search agents, who scour the images for missing persons, like a high-stakes Where's Waldo. And that's where you come in. Tomorrow, July 25th at 12:30PM GMT (7:30AM ET), UCLan will launch a simulated mission where you can log in to its site to scour images for a survivor. The fastest virtual savior will top the leader board and take home a sweet prize. Want to sign up for the search? Head on over to the source link below.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

Source: AeroSee

Mercedes Vision Golf Cart concept could shuttle you around the course in comfort

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/mercedes-vision-golf-cart/

Today's golf carts certainly serve a purpose, but despite opulent add-ons like plastic rain shields and windshield wipers, the electric buggies littering the world's fairways and outdoor venues can hardly be considered luxurious. Now, with Mercedes-Benz considering a compact vehicle of its own, the cookie-cutter people mover could be a thing of the past. The German automaker recently debuted its Vision Golf Cart concept, a solar-powered two-seat carriage that includes such amenities as heated and cooled seats and cup holders, air vents, speakers, a joystick control, iPhone dock, heads-up display and LED headlights. Sounds pretty posh.

Gallery: Mercedes-Benz Vision Golf Cart

Filed under: Transportation

Via: Inhabitat, CNET

Source: Daimler

Hands-on with Disney Research's AIREAL haptic feedback technology (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/disney-research-aireal-hands-on/

Handson with Disney Research's AIREAL haptic feedback technology video

If you're hoping to get some more tactile feedback out of augmented reality environments, the folks at Disney Research have devised the AIREAL system that could end up doing just that. The team is showing off the project at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies space, so we made sure to stop by for a look and feel. As quick refresher, the technology reacts to the user's gestures by churning out a vortex of air to provide tactile feedback in real space -- thanks to an almost entirely 3D printed enclosure and a smattering of actuators and depth senors. In the demo we saw, hovering our hand just over a display summoned a butterfly.

Once it landed, that small bit of air offered up the physical sensation that it was actually touching us. As we moved closer to a virtual open window, wings went a flutter and the whole sensation increased a bit. Sure, what we saw was a fairly simple use scenario, but there are aspirations for this to enhance gaming experiences and other augmented environments (likely within the confines of a Disney park, of course) with the addition of haptic feedback. Looking for a bit more info? Consult the video after the break for just that.

Gallery: Disney Research AIREAL hands-on

Filed under: Misc

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