I've been a faithful Mac since 2006, but wasn't always as sold on Steve Jobs' baby as I once was. Apple products and their fanboys were annoying at one point, mostly because I was too busy playing Icy Tower and Text Twist to want to pay them any mind. Yet, I still was drawn in. Why and how do Steve Jobs and the Mac army make such addicting products? Obviously the marketing is big, but what else makes #teamiPhone so devoted. College Humor takes a stab at why in the video, brewing up a funny parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. What Charlie finds in Steve Jobs' factory might make anyone hold off on Mac purchases for a little while. Plus, it's never too late to get a good laugh out of Bill Gates' decade-long fight to get the edge back for Windows. Check out the video on whatever iProduct you have...
Jumping. Jehosephat. When we talk about 'the Future', THIS is what we are referring to: using knowledge that we've had for decades and using it to contribute to the betterment of medicine. This National Geographic video shows the 'Skin Gun', a practically brand new invention that uses healthy stem cells grafted from a healthy part of a patient's skin to 'spray paint' over damaged or burned skin. The result is a healing process that is almost less than a week elapsed. Inventions like this are exciting because they show the extent of our handle on technology, but disappoint me because this kind of innovation has definitely been around for a while. The whole 'stem cell debate' has been drawn out too long at the expense of scientific discovery and medial breakthroughs. Now that the regulations on stem cell research have loosened up a bit, I'm anxious to see where all this research goes. If we get anything comparable to the 'skin gun', then 'the Future' should be a lot brighter.
Forget DARPA and their supposed 'futuristic weapons'. They take decades to do everything, unlike this 19-year-old teen from Indiana who made his own very own death ray for $90, using nothing more than a traditional satellite, 5800 little square mirrors and the power of the Sun! *cue Birdman theme music* When its one-centimeter heat spot is focused correctly, the 'death ray' sets fire to anything in its sights, which is impressive for some kid in his backyard. At the end of the day, it's a nice way to mess with your neighbors. Definitely time to scheme on one of these for the summer...
Yes, yes people!! The 'Future' is coming, complete with laser vision, dehydrated food and transforming vehicles!! Okay... So the first two are nowhere near fruition, but the last one is shown in the above video. The Uno Transformer made its debut at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, and features the capacity to transform from a triple-wheeled unicycle to a sleek two-wheeled motorcycle. The Uno uses a gyroscope to balance itself and does its transformation while accelerating for maximum stability and speed for its small frame. It's completely electric-powered, meaning you won't have to break your bank, and lets out zero-emissions, meaning it's 'green' by default. The only thing that the Uno's design sacrifices is horsepower, clocking in at a top speed of 35 MPH. You won't blow by the Ducatti's and Kawasaki's, but you'll definitely look cool doing it. Check out the BPG Uno III in action.
I never thought I'd see the day... Well actually, yes I did. Prophesying an 'I, Robot'-esque scenario aside, this is pretty cool. At Dalu Robot Restaurant, a hot pot joint in China, you'll never have to tip your waiter or worry about him spitting in your food. The restaurant owner also doubles as the proprietor of a robotics firm, so he decided to mix the two. The robot waiters drive around the restaurant on tracks and use radar and magnets to maneuver. I'm not going to lie. It's a bit creepy at first, and isn't as comprehensive, as you still have to take the food off the trays. Still, it's a fun change for those of us looking for some tech in their eating experience...
For all of you iPhone-using jet-setters, here's another reason that I'm slightly jealous that I don't have one. This new free app called Word Lens, in laymen's terms, is a visual translator. The Word Lens uses a technology called augmented reality to visually transpose translated text onto the iPhone screen. Things like this make me believe that we're not too far from virtual reality being a feasible thing. In fact, it's better off being seen than told. Check out the video, and be happy if you've got an iPhone... for once.
When was the last time you used your phone for nothing more than calling someone? My guess is never, especially considering I can't remember the last time I haven't been doing a bajillion and one things at the same time on my phone. Mobile phones have become somewhat of a brain-sucker over the past 10 years, turning people into zombies for 4-inch screens, texting and apps. What would happen if we just reverted back to the simple concept of a telephone on a mobile phone?
Well the good people over at Dutch design firm John Doe are doing just that, releasing a device called John's Phone, which is a mobile phone with... just a phone. No texting, no apps, no games, no cool sounds. Just a phone. If you're wondering where all of the contacts go, then simply flip John's Phone around to reveal a handy, dandy NOTEBOOK. There's also a slide-out keyboard pen to write addresses, phone numbers and notes in said notebook. In terms of a display, the only visible one is a slim band at the top of the phone designating whether the phone is on or not, the batter life and who is calling you. Finally, John's Phone uses SIM cards, so you can interchange between carriers. All in all, for the minimalist, this is probably a savior. If you're like the rest of us, then John's Phone will be nothing more than a nice gift or conversation starter. At the same time, it's fun to think about what life would be like without these data-rich bricks we carry around with us. Check out a video of John's Phone in action...
Sony is sending its cassette tape Walkman into retirement in Japan as demand for a music player that was ground-breaking in its day dwindles to a tiny niche in the era of digital technology.
Sony stopped Japanese production of the portable music player in April and sales will end once the last batch disappears from stores, company spokeswoman Hiroko Nakamura said Monday.
Sony has sold 220 million cassette Walkman players globally since the product's July 1979 debut that changed lifestyles by popularizing music on the go. More than 30 years later, the cassette Walkman has been rendered an anachronism by MP3 players and iPods. Demand for cassette players in Japan is now largely limited to elderly users. But Sony will continue production of the cassette Walkman in China to accommodate users abroad, including in the U.S., Europe and some Asian countries, Nakamura said.
It is a sad day in music technology. As we enter the day and age where EVERYTHING is on the internet, the media we used to inject our music on is becoming thing of the past. As with the traditional vinyl record, 8-track player, VHS and Betamax, every media format has its dying day. For you, oh great Sony Walkman, with your cassette tapes, that day is upon us. Built in 1979 to a throng of no one (people were still convinced 8-tracks could catch on), you enabled people to take their favorite recordings with them wherever they went. They could use your format-able cassette tapes to record whatever they wanted, from long riffs by jam bands to four hour-long radio blocks with their favorite rappers. Walkman, hip-hop, and music today, would be nowhere without you. You single-handedly began what we call filesharing today.
In the 80s you were synonymous with youth culture, as beat-dwellers were lost in their headphones everywhere you could be taken. My mother said you were the reason my generation would go deaf, though ironically I heard everything you blasted in my ears. Your convenience was unparalleled. Whereas record players and 8-tracks needed an absurd amount of space, all you needed were two double A batteries and a pair of headphones to turn a routine walk to the gym into a personal concert. I can't tell you the last time I've used one of you, but I'm sure in some dusty basement, you're there, just waiting to play 'The Chronic' or 'Illmatic' for some unwitting soul who would never know your magic otherwise. Yes, we dropped you in lieu of CD's and newer versions of your namesake, but your original form will be remembered the most. Walkman, you will be sorely missed as we move into an era where removable media is forgotten and iPods thrust their sound waves into our eardrums. As a child of the 80s (90s really), I'm sad to see you go by the wayside, but happy to have known you, even if half of my cassettes got recorded over by accident...
In another case of Google attempting to take over the world, the California technology firm has apparently logged over 140,000 miles in a car controlled by nothing more than a computer. The cars, which have been under wraps for about a year, are completely automated, using artificial-intelligence software that senses anything near the car and mimics decisions made by a human driver. By all means, this might very well be the invention of the decade, and it's only 2010. According to Google, the car reacts faster and works with the flow of traffic better than most human drivers. Because they do not get sleepy, distracted, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the automated car is virtually impervious to accidents. In fact, the only accident the cars were involved in was when a human driver rear-ended one of the Google Cars (the name sounds right, doesn't it?). Obviously, this is the testing phase of the technology, and automated cars are almost a decade away from production. That said, the concept is revolutionary. The applications are endless, not only from a consumer standpoint, but when dealing with military and public transportation. The only caveat I can see is that Google will now truly know where we are. We're getting closer to a dystopian future, and Google and Apple are at the forefront. I guess talking cars are reward enough for signing our lives over to technology companies. Check out a video of the Google Car in action...
The reason a comic like Iron Man is so successful is because of the premise of strengthening the human body through machinery. Now, we sure as hell aren't on the level of Stark Industries as of yet, but our military expenditures aren't being used in vain these days. The engineers at Raytheon have revamped their XOS Exoskeleton to create a 2nd version of the armor that is not only lighter, but stronger than its predecessor. The new version, which uses a high-pressure hydraulic frame to move in conjunction with the user, also boasts less power usage than the first, although this one still has to be connected to a power source to work. The applications for such an invention are endless. All you've got to do is crack open a comic book to pique your imagination as to the possibilities for the XOS-2 Exoskeleton. Raytheon says that the XOS-2 can do the work of 2 or 3 soldiers without the wear and tear that the human body would go through. If that isn't reason enough to want to see the XOS-2 in action, then nothing is. Check the video out...
Remember about a week and change ago when I said the first round of 'iPad killers' would be making their way into the mainstream in the coming months? The first one was the Samsung Galaxy Tab was the first one to hit the market, and now, the good people over at RIM have prepared their answer to the iPad: the Blackberry Playbook. Billed as the first 'Professional tablet,' ironically the Playbook is going to be an 'amazing gaming platform' according to Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis. That's a big departure from the usually business-oriented Blackberry mantra, but I'm interested to see how they pull it off. The Playbook will have Flash out of the box, so that immediately puts it at an advantage over the iPad. In addition, the Playbook has an impressive spec list that clearly outdoes the iPad, with a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a bigger screen. The Playbook also features a front-facing camera for video chatting over either a 3G or 4G network. The introduction of the Playbook might be a lost cause considering the iPad's hold on the market, but then again, what's a market without options? Not to mention, the Playbook looks pretty and polished. Check out some flicktures and rendering in the video...
Think someone's just on a Bluetooth idly chatting with what seems to be themselves? Think again. For those moments that you want to record, but can't see yourself lugging around a video camera, there's the Looxcie personal video recorder. You wear the Looxcie just like you would a Bluetooth earpiece, and when you want to record, you just turn on the camera to get 30 seconds of video. The idea looks interesting, especially because you can instantly upload those videos to Youtube, Facebook or Twitter from your phone. Speaking of phones, the Looxcie functions as a regular Bluetooth headset. The video quality is mediocre, but the possible applications for the Looxcie are attractive. Live video blogging and World Star Hip-Hop can definitely make use of this. Check out the Looxcie in action...
Now that the iPad has officially taken hold of American consumers and virtually made people into walking zombies viewing their huge telescreens (word to dystopian futures and George Orwell), it's time for the fleet of 'iPad killers' to hit the stores and slowly try to whittle away at Apple's heels while Steve Jobs takes over the world. The first attempt at such a device is the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy is on Orion's belt powered by Google's Android operating system, which I'm quite partial to. It features a 7-inch LCD screen, a 1 GHz processor and can be used on both a 3G and 4G networks (unlike the iPad). Add to that, the Galaxy Tab also has Flash, something the iPad faithful have been salty about since day 1. Will the Samsung Galaxy Tab be able to dethrone the iPad? Absolutely not. Will it be able to grab some of the market from Apple, and simultaneously open the floodgates for other 'iPad Killers'? By all means. I see a Christmas season dominated by tablets. Cue up the Big Brother conspiracy theories at once. We're entering dystopia, and Apple is holding the door open...
If I told you that the old ideas about 'the Future' from movies would come true in the next decade, would you believe me? Now that I think of it, I might not believe you either. The fascinating technological concepts of movies such as Minority Report, the Matrix and the latest Star Trek, always seemed farfetched, considering how slowly companies are to unveil their future plans. However, that doesn't mean those pipe-dreams can't or won't be achieved in time for my generation to care or take advantage. Swedish tech startup, TAT, commissioned a bunch of designers, tech people and computing engineers to design a realistic and aesthetically-captivating model of the future of the touch screen, called Open Initiative. The result is quite astonishing, to say the least. The video above shows a rendering of what the future holds for us, computing-wise. From alarm clocks you don't have to fumble around the snooze button for, to mirrors that show news headlines, to wireless collaboration and sharing over touch-friendly user interfaces, it seems as if the sky is the limit. It will be interesting to see if companies pick up this model or can run with it at all, because this simply looks cool. The fact that it's integrated in regular life, but not hindering it by being too (there is such a thing; think robot vacuums) has me thinking the future won't be as automated as we think. My only concern is how integrating all of the networks we have will work out. That's neither here nor there at the design point, though. Check out the video, and see what the next generation is looking like...
#shoutout to Mashable for the interviews in Union Square...
We all text. Don't deny it. Since the advent of the smartphone (ie: Blackberries, Palms, iPhones, etc.) a few years back, texting has become almost ubiquitous. My mother texts me now (can't get my pops into it) and I don't think it's weird. Hell, I'm texting someone right now as I write this post. People have become so used to texting that phone conversation has taken somewhat of a backburner to rapid-fire fingers and day-long texting conversations. With such a reliance on the relatively new technology (the first text was send in December 1992), it stands to ask what the normal etiquette for texting is. The fact of the matter is, that with every type of communication comes a set of do's and don'ts that informally govern that communication's use. For the traditional house phone, I know if you called my home after 9 (and weren't an immediate family member, or in grave danger) you would be getting an earful. When it comes to e-mail, you generally want to be professional with people you don't know and can loosen up with friends. Communication and its different modes bring up entirely new issues than just the inception of them. So, this week the census question is, what are your unwritten rules for text messaging? Are there certain things that can be done with texting and others that you wouldn't touch with a text? What would turn you off from texting someone? As with the Census, all you guys gotta do is comment below and let the discussion begin!!
*wipes drool off chin* I am an NBA 2K veteran. Yes, I said it. A veteran. I've been playing NBA 2K exclusively since 2000, when it graced its basketball goodness on the now-dead Dreamcast. I remember heads clowning it for years, only to come around two years ago, when they realized NBA Live Elite was doo. That said, I've been waiting for years to see Michael Jordan grace the best NBA video game out. That year is upon us. October 5th marks the release date for the 11th edition of NBA 2K, and I for one, cannot wait. Just check out the trailer and see how incredibly dope this game looks...
PREAMBLE: For those of you who haven't been following the blog since last year, I had a section on it called 'The Census'. The premise behind it was that I would present an issue, then pose a question in a poll, where you, the readers would have the opportunity to vote on it for a week. Unfortunately, the voting got a little sparse, so I canned it... Until now. The Census is back, but now, rather than voting on it, I simply implore you, friends, to chime in in the comments section. One of the reasons I started Dear Whoever was to have an open forum for dialogue on what's going on in the world today. Some of that dialogue takes place through my letters, but I would love it if my readers got some time to voice their opinions. So here goes... This is the first round of the new, kinda improved, Census. Enjoy folks...
I guess the title is a little misleading, considering Justin Bieber is merely a teenager (didn't stop the Power Rangers, though). At the same time, he's not exempt from the rules that govern the social media frenzy that has everyone glued to their computers and phones now. And while we're on the topic of being glue to one's phone, please take a look below to see the kind of influence and power that we give to one man. Justin Bieber retaliated against a failed Twitter hack by tweeting that person's phone number to his 4.5 million fans (source). The fan, Detroit teen Kevin Kristopik, went on to receive over 26,000 texts ranging from laughter to outright hate. His cell phone bill is estimated to be upwards of $5000, given he doesn't have unlimited texting. Cell phone fees aside, is this the kind of society that we live in? Do the frivolities of celebrities enamor us that much that we kowtow to their every beck and call. Truthfully, what did any of those 26,000 text messages do for the people that weren't Justin Bieber. My guess is little to nothing. So I suppose the question is, how did we allow someone to gain that type of influence over people? The same thing happened to the 'chosen one,' a random Twitter user that Kanye West decided to follow. Steven Holmes had to delete his Twitter to get away from the promoters, social media hawks and random bystanders contacting him because of some supposed 'relationship' he had with Kanye. Is it just me or has social networking gotten a little too crazy?
That's what happens to your phone when you mess with Justin Bieber's Twitter...
So tell me people, where do you stand on the power of social media and how much influence we place in the hands of celebrities through that medium? Do we give stars too much pull in our lives? How is it that Justin Bieber can get thousands of fan(atics) to barrage a phone and Kanye can cause a person's social networking experience to crumble? Where do we draw the line between harmless online fun, and jeer-worthy groupthink? Please, please, please throw some comments below. I'd love to hear what you guys think!
Having lived in cities for all of my life, I've noticed two distinct problems that plague every city: traffic congestion and public transportation. Some cities have so many cars on the road that public transportation suffers, while other cities have so many cars that everyone suffers. The amount of vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, bikes) on the roads today make finding sustainable ways to keep our cities' roadways moving a high priority. That said, few people have found good methods to lessen the congestion while keeping costs down. Until now. Shenzhen Huashi of China has developed an ingenious, yet remarkably simple concept to ease congestion in cities: the Straddling Bus. The bus uses the space in between different lanes on a street, and literally straddles the road, going over cars, other (smaller buses), trucks, small motor vehicles and pedestrians. It would use electric and solar energy to run, as well as be easier to construct than, say a subway. People would enter and exit the straddling bus through ladders on the side or through overpasses. Plus, the straddling bus (in the demonstration) has a capacity of 1200 people per bus, which dumps all over any other modern transport system in the world. All in all, this is an brilliant idea because it's so simple. It almost makes you wonder 'Why didn't I think of this?'. The straddling bus already has over 186 km of track ready to start construction next year, so this concept is about to make it to practice really soon. Check out the video and some flicks...
Sometimes fanaticism doesn't have to be about weird costumes and camping out all night to get into Comic-Con. In fact, sometimes the biggest fans have other, more palatable interests that actually turn out to be useful for the fan. I guess you could say that's the case with this California man (all the random, cool stuff is always in freaking Cali, isn't it?) who took his love for Batman, and made his own custom Bat-Pod replica to cruise around on. The chopper is fully functioning, aside from the machine guns, and other classified gadgets only Bruce Wayne's rich behind can access. I'm not really sure how fast the replica can go (not that it matters; we can't disobey traffic laws like Batman), but it definitely looks like it can haul ass on a straightaway. Check out some closer flicks, and a video of the Bat-Pod in action...
If you want to see how someone's day is going, chances are you can check their Twitter and get a pretty good idea. That said, aside from your own personal friends, it's really impossible to get a serious feel for the rest of the world's affect (look it up) at any given time... Until now. Computer scientist Alan Mislove from Northeastern University and his colleauges in Boston have done a study that finds that the west coast is happier than the east coast, and across the country happiness peaks each Sunday morning, and hits a low on Thursday evenings. The study is called 'Pulse of the Nation'.
Mislove took all public tweets between September 2006 and August 2009, filtered out users from outside the US (and those with no location listed), then filtered them against a psychological word-rating system called Affective Norms for English Words. ANEW ranks lower scoring words as negative and higher ones as positive. Positive words like 'love', 'diamond', and 'paradise' have higher scores, while negative words like 'funeral', 'rape', and 'suicide' have lower ones. He then took those scores, calculated the average mood of all the users in a state hour by hour, and plotted the scores on a 'mood map'. The mood map transforms every hour based on how many users in a state are tweeting, and how that state is tweeting (happy or sad). The result was the video above, a 24-hour map of the emotional ups and downs of Twitter.
The dope part about this study is that you can see where you fit in as a regular Twitter user. Weekends are usually fairly happy, while the middle of the week is pure drudgery. Also, the West Coast's overall happiness compared to that of the East Coast is dumbfounding. Even crazier is the fact that the Midwest seems to always be somewhat unhappy (sorry Detroit). It's interesting to see such a wide base of data being portrayed so simply. If you want to see an extended write-up with more infographics, click here. Other wise, check out the video and see how your mood fits into the pulse of the nation...
