drag2share: A New Silicon Valley Hotel Has A Stunning Light Show Powered By Data

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/epiphany-hotel-light-show-2014-5

This light installation is a stunning new way to look at data. 

Project Edison, which was designed by a group of engineers from the IDEO Digital Shop, features a set of 100 light bulbs that can light up or move up and down according to any data stream you choose. The interactive chandelier was recently installed in the lobby at the Epiphany, a new Joie de Vivre hotel in Palo Alto. 

The light bulbs can be programmed to reflect any set of information, including the weather in Palo Alto or mentions of the hotel on Facebook and Twitter. Each of the 100 bulbs can move down from the ceiling and light up independently. It can also be programmed to mimic the physical movements of the hotel's guests, lighting up when the bar and restaurant filled with people, for instance. The constantly changing nature of this high-tech installation is meant to be a reflection of Silicon Valley as a whole. 

"We didn’t want to create something that would be static," IDEO design lead Brad Simpson said to Wired. "In three years, regardless of whatever’s happening in the world from a data standpoint or a technology standpoint, this is something that hopefully can evolve and grow with that."

Watch the video below to learn more ! about th e IDEO engineers' design process. 

SEE ALSO: This Is What The Kitchen Of The Future Could Look Like

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drag2share: Speed Up Firefox By Enabling Its New HTTP Cache

Source: http://lifehacker.com/speed-up-firefox-by-enabling-its-new-http-cache-1570488335

If Firefox has been feeling sluggish for you lately, you might be able to cut down on some of those UI hangs with an about:config tweak.

The Mozilla team is working on a number of performance tweaks for upcoming versions of Firefox, one of which is the use of a new HTTP cache that should fix some UI hang issues. It isn't enabled by default yet, but will be soon—and you can enable it right now with an about:config tweak. To do so:

1. Enter about:config into Firefox's address bar and press Enter.
2. Search for the browser.cache.use_new_backend flag and double-click on it.
3. Change its value from 0 to 1 to enable the new cache. (You can flip it back at any time by changing it back to 0).
4. Close about:config and continue browsing—no need to restart or anything.

I enabled it and while it hasn't been a silver bullet, it seems to have helped decrease the number of times the browser screeches to a halt. Check out the link below for more info, and while you're digging around in about:config, check out some of our other favorite tweaks.

Mozilla Firefox New HTTP Cache Is Live! | Mayhemer's Blog via @tarasglek

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drag2share: Millions of these robotic bees may roam the world in the near future

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/these-are-the-robotic-bees-of-the-future-1570332550/+caseychan

This science-fiction infomercial was made to raise awareness of the fact that bees—which are crucial for the survival of all species, including ours*—are dying all around the world. The fact is that this video isn't too far from the truth: bees may go extinct if we don't act promptly and scientists are already working on robotic replacements.

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drag2share: Commercial Beekeeping and the Rise of Bee Thieves

Source: http://gizmodo.com/commercial-beekeeping-and-the-rise-of-bee-thieves-1570529274

Every spring, bees all over the country make a long, artificial migration to California by truck. Renting out bees to pollinate almond trees has become a big business with the explosive growth in California's almond industry . Where there is money, of course, there are thieves.

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drag2share: These 3D sand drawings create fun trippy illusions on the beach

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/these-3d-sand-drawings-create-fun-trippy-illusions-on-t-1570652745/+caseychan

Some people go to the beach to take a dip in the water and get some sun. Jamie Harkins goes to the beach to take a journey to another world. Harkins is a fantastic artist who transforms a beach into alternate realities by creating 3D sand art. Sometimes his art looks like people are sailing in the lake, other times they're skating or diving or inside a robot. I want to go to the beach with him.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

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