Click to visit GrooveShark.Com
GrooveShark is a cloud-based music service that works in two different ways. First, you can use it like a custom radio similar to Pandora and Slacker but with unlimited skips (yes, even in the free version). Second, you can upload your MP3s and maintain a cloud library of music that you can stream from any browser. There is a paid version of GrooveShark that eliminates visual ads on the web interface and includes apps for streaming your tunes to your smartphone.
The whole point of this blog is to post things that I find interesting that you also might find interesting. This video is very interesting. It’s not often that I tune in for a 27 minute video on the internet but this was better than some Hollywood movies. The video is silent so you can watch it at work.
The video is a compilation of various security cameras around Dubai that seem to have caught ten men and one woman carrying out the assassination of a high level Hamas member, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. It was posted by Wired.Com but I was unable to find it on YouTube (so you won’t be able to view the video in full screen mode).
You may be asking yourself, “What the heck does this have to do with technology?” For starters, many of the movements of the group were captured by hidden security cameras. The video also addresses, among other things, encrypted cellphone use, airport security and some type of very small, short-range handheld communication device. The assassination was carried out without any traces of evidence left in the hotel room and the victim was in his own hotel room with the door locked and chained when his body was found. No blood was found. You’ll have to watch the video to learn the apparent cause of death.
Here ya go…
I don’t think I’ve ever had a post dedicated entirely to a Microsoft product but this is awesome. Below is a video from the TED conference which shows off the augmented reality features in Bing Maps. The video is long, around 8 minutes, but it gets better and better as it progresses.
[via Alden Torres on Google Buzz]
Tired of your cell phone battery running low or conking out? RCA just unveiled a device which can charge a cell phone (or other MicroUSB device) from a Wifi signal. The Wifi “harvester,” pictured right, converts a Wifi 2.4 ghz signal to DC power. Power is stored in an internal battery when the harvester is in a hotspot. When you need juice for your cell phone, you simply connect it to the harvester (somewhat like the AA battery emergency power supplies for cell phones).
There’s a lot of buzz being generated about the MagicJack home cell tower gadget (femtocell) being demoed at CES. There’s also a lot of misinformation and confusion about the device. This post clears up some of the misinformation and confusion. Ultimately, it appears that many of the advantages of the MagicJack femtocell are overstated.
MIT Media Lab’s SixthSense Project provides a peek into our digital future. The one sentence description of SixthSense found on the official blog reads: ”‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.” The video below demonstrates various ways in which SixthSense can augment reality. Below the video I will include some information about the technology.
Below is a video of TOPPS 3D Live baseball cards, the first to include augmented reality. These are truly amazing!
Seiko has re-released its famous talking pyramid clock. The updated version, pictured below, is only available in Japan right now. Rest assured, there are some improvements to the talking pyramid clock (which apparently have been in development the past 25 years)… the updated pyramid also speaks the temperature and weather report. Not much else to write about this one other than my brother has the 1984 version.
Alan Mulally, Ford CEO, is the opening speaker at the CES 2010 which will be held in Las Vegas on January 7th. He is expected to discuss upcoming SYNC features that will be included in Ford/Microsoft joint venture. One of the upcoming features was revealed this week — mobile Wifi.
I’m writing from Ubuntu 9.10 inside of Windows 7 using Sun’s VirtualBox 3.1.0, which was released about two weeks ago. VirtualBox is open source software that enables computers to virtualize computers within an operating system. So, for example, you can run Windows in Linux and vice versa.
What are you writing about? I haven’t heard of Augmented Reality.
Wikipedia offers the following definition: ”Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality.” In other words, computer graphics are inserted into a view or image of the real world.
AR can best be understood by illustration. Consider this scenario. You are shopping for a home. In the un-augmented world, you might look for For Sale signs, knock on doors, call brokers and browse the web. With AR, however, you might just drive down the streets that interest you. Next, you would snap your cellphone camera at a house. It would process the image and report information back to you. The information would be overlaid on the image you see of the neighborhood either on your phone’s screen or with a pair of special glasses. You would know which houses are for sale. You might see the asking price of the home, pictures of the interior and maybe even a video virtual tour of the home. As you move down the street, you would learn about the next prospective house.
