Just Another Tech Blog

joshbyard: A Reality-Based Look at the City of the (Near)...

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:12:50 -0400

A Reality-Based Look at the City of the (Near) Future

By 2050, seven out of every ten people on Earth will live in cities. Compared to the beginning of the 20th century, when just 20 percent lived in urban settings, the increase is staggering.

This rapid urbanization coupled with the population explosion that will see 8.9 billion people living on the planet in 2050 presents the challenge of more total humans and a higher percentage of them flocking to cities to find a better life. So, what is the city of the future and what is the future of cities?

Txchnologist asked a few leading thinkers to give their impression of what future cities in 50-100 years will be like.

(via Bye Bye, Jetsons: Engineers and Consultants Offer A Reality-Based Future | Txchnologist)

(ht futurist.com, ht The Futures Agency)

usatoday: Take a look, it’s in your tablet — a Reading Rainbow...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:08:12 -0400

usatoday:

Take a look, it’s in your tablet — a Reading Rainbow app.

… you can go anywhere?

(via Reading Rainbow App Review)

futurescope: Bringing down the cost of fuel cells via...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:20:00 -0400

futurescope:

Bringing down the cost of fuel cells

via kurzweilai:

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee(UWM) have identified a catalyst that provides the same level of efficiency in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as the currently used platinum catalyst, but at 5% of the cost.

[read more] [UWM] [paper1 & paper2] [image credit: Troye Fox]

Numerous reports of this coming to future laptops, smart phones, and tablets in the comic years. Particularly from Apple.

parislemon: Innovation. (via @JoeTierney) I think the surface...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:17:56 -0400

parislemon:

Innovation.

(via @JoeTierney)

I think the surface can outline the future of Microsoft heading into the hardware battle. It will surely be the first real iPad competitor, it still won’t beat it.

Unboxing video of the new iPad (third gen)

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:41:49 -0400

bitshare:

If you can’t wait to get the new iPad third generation, which is available to the public on March 16; you can check out this unboxing video from Vietnamese blogger Sonlazio. He provides a first look into the new iPad and a bunch of great photos. Thankfully, since I don’t speak Vietnamese, he points a lot in the video and you can make sense of the new features such as the bigger 5 megapixel camera.

Read More

8bitfuture: Why you’ll soon be hearing all about ‘Terahertz...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:09:55 -0500

8bitfuture:

Why you’ll soon be hearing all about ‘Terahertz Scanners’.

Several exciting new uses are being trialed for devices which can scan objects and create an image using beams of terahertz radiation. Much like an x-ray can see through clothes and skin to image your bones, T-rays can produce similar images, but with new techniques they could soon see uses in held held devices, as opposed to the room-sized scanners required for x-rays.

One report describes a device that is small enough to fit on a silicone chip and operate at room temperature, which could be used as a security screening device for weapons, for medical imaging, or even for drug ‘sniffing’. The Imperial College in London, who created the device, say that it can sense any molecule, because every one has a unique signature in the THz range.

Elsewhere, the New York Police Department and the Department of Defense are using similar technology specifically for weapons screening. Privacy issues aside, the Police hope to one day use the scanner in place of a more invasive pat-down to check for weapons. Their current prototype has a range of up to five metres, but they hope to extend that to 25 metres (85 feet).

That device scans for the terahertz waves which are naturally emitted by our bodies. The waves pass through any non-conductive material like clothing, but are blocked by conductors such as your keys, mobile phones, or more importantly a knife or gun.

Expect to see these techniques and even more uses for terahertz scanners in the news over the next few years. While privacy advocates will be upset at the thought of an invisible Police probe able to target you from down the block, nerds and geeks should be thrilled at the thought that it could soon be used to build a real life tricorder.

Wasn’t it Ben Franklin that said “Those who would give up freedom for security deserve neither and will loose them both”

The Natural Learning Curve

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:45:54 -0500

I think in this technological world we live in now we’ve come to the point where you don’t need to learn how to use technology. We are living in the age where no matter who you are, or what age you are; you can walk up to any computer or any cell phone and instantly know who to use it. Even if it’s not the advanced things you can still find your way around it. I think we need to thank natural finger gestures for this. Yep, that set of six things like pinch to zoom, and press and hold have all lead us to where we can instantly use technology. But it doesn’t stop there, we’re now hearing stories that two year olds that use their parents iPhones and iPads swipe at there books and T.V. thinking that the picture will change. As crazy as this is, companies need to keep innovating, and capitalizing on this. Since it’s something every human knows how to do, it could get more people on their devices (hence the reason Apple is so popular, people know how to work the products). While there is still a lot of work to go with this, the idea is great, it removes the keyboard and mouse as well as the barrier between technology and humanity. The only thing it needs now is Siri and a voice box everywhere!

Da Kidd

thedailyfeed: Ouch! A new study found that tapping on your...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:36:00 -0500

thedailyfeed:

Ouch! A new study found that tapping on your tablet incorrectly can lead to greater strain and injury than a computer. We talked with the experts to find out what to do.

“In general, the iPad provides a lot of mobility, and so that is a healthy thing,” said Jack Dennerlein, a senior lecturer on ergonomics and safety at Harvard. “But only so long as you don’t get stuck in any one posture for too long.”

The key to good iPad ergonomics, Dennerlein says, is to use a good case that allows for different viewing angles — and to remember to change that angle regularly.

Apple better fix this before it turns into NECKGATE. I can already see the furious Engadget Headlines.

thisistheverge: It’s all very clean and should look great next...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:34:45 -0500

thisistheverge:

It’s all very clean and should look great next to your macchiato, but we’re really hoping Clear bucks the trend and syncs with Google Tasks, your iOS reminders, or some sort of cloud service and isn’t just another pretty task manager.

Clear for iOS manages your to-do list with a minimalist, gesture-based interface | The Verge

If this app had location based reminders, Apple would buy this.

Twitter Announces Micro-Censorship Policy

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:32:19 -0500

Twitter Announces Micro-Censorship Policy :

courtenaybird:

Via NYTimes.com: So much for the free-wheeling, libertarian reputation of Twitter. The company announced Thursday that it could start censoring certain content in certain countries, a sort of micro-censorship widget that would pop up up in a grey box on the Twitter feed.

“Tweet withheld,” it would read “This tweet from @username has been withheld in: Country.”

I’m skeptical about this since I really don’t think Twitter themselves are doing this. I could see if the countries themselves are censoring the tweets, but why Twitter themselves. It’s the best place on the internet for Free Speech. This will be something to further investigate.

Facebook may file for it's IPO next week

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:08 -0500

bitshare:

In a new report from the Wall Street Journal published a short time ago, they are saying that Facebook may finally file for their Initial Public Offering (IPO). Currently Facebook is a privately held company, and if they go public their stocks can be traded publicly and they can build on their capital dramatically.

Read More

Facebook, Really, I know you’re a big company and you want money I get it, but all IPO’s lead to bankruptcy. Unless you Linked in (I really don’t get why that caught on), or Zynga (Farmville is so 2009). Get it anyways Facebook, don’t listen to me.

Da Kidd

"Facebook’s Smart Lists and Google+ Circles have popularized the idea that we need the ability to..."

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:11:05 -0500

“Facebook’s Smart Lists and Google+ Circles have popularized the idea that we need the ability to share different things with different audiences. That lets us have fun with some people and be boring with others without having to maintain two profiles. But neither of those networks offer much control for the person on the receiving end…. Pinterest Is the reverse of Circles.”

- Pinterest Works Better Than Google (via courtenaybird)

thisistheverge: Pew: 19 percent of American adults now own a...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:10:37 -0500

thisistheverge:

Pew: 19 percent of American adults now own a tablet, twice as many as in December

Just in case you needed data to back up your assertion that tablets are exploding in popularity, the Pew Research Center has revealed its latest polling figures, suggesting that 19 percent of grown-up Americans now own a slate of some sort. More notably, there was apparently a lull in tablet ownership growth over the latter half of 2011, which now appears to have been a case of buyers waiting for the holidays before putting up the cash.

thisistheverge: YouTube now serves more than 4 billion daily...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:29:06 -0500

thisistheverge:

YouTube now serves more than 4 billion daily video views

YouTube has passed yet another milestone: it now serves more than 4 billion daily video impressions to its adoring audience. That’s the report from Reuters, which cites information direct from Google that also notes roughly 60 hours of new content are being uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a 25 percent increase from the 48 hours users were uploading back in May, when the video hosting website was dolling out only 3 billion video views per day.

Is YouTube the next Hulu or T.V. no less maybe Apple should take note…

thisistheverge: #BeBold? NOOOOOOOOO! Just end this RIM,...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:27:54 -0500

thisistheverge:

#BeBold?

NOOOOOOOOO! Just end this RIM, We’ve went over this before!

thisistheverge: Don’t miss the page flipping | The Verge This...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:26:25 -0500

thisistheverge:

Don’t miss the page flipping | The Verge

This might not happen on ebook readers, but for you iPad and tablet readers this is probably be something Apple will either, buy or copy in the next while. Look out for it it iBooks 3.0 when we add T.V. to books next.

Da Kidd

Again with the future video, this time though it’s from...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:20:07 -0500

Again with the future video, this time though it’s from Corning Gorilla glass, look out for the natural hand gestures, as these will start to become an even bigger deal in industry than they are today.

Da Kidd

wired: The Android Black Market Android developer Koushik Dutta...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:07:09 -0500

wired:

The Android Black Market

Android developer Koushik Dutta has announced that he is building a web-based store to collect and offer Android apps that have been banned from Google’s Android Market.

Photo: Flickr/keith.bllvay

I found this video a while back, but it’s definitely...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:04:33 -0500

I found this video a while back, but it’s definitely something industry should begin to look forward to.

Da Kidd

RIM Give Up

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:42:25 -0500

I gotta hand it to RIM and the Blackberry when I was say 7 years old and on the train to the city I was in a wonderland of business men and women who were all carrying their brand new Blackberry’s. It quickly evolved to be the phone I wanted, since I was pretty much the dream phone, AT THE TIME… RIM wake up it’s 2012! you can’t keep making devices with push button keys as your mainstream product. Sure you claim it’s easier to type on, when it’s really not, but it’s wasted space on the phone (yes even the slide out keyboard one’s). When your in the same industry of the iPhone and numerous other Android Phones you have to innovate with the crowd. I’m not saying you had to copy, but a full touchscreen phone, with a new OS for it was due back in 2008. Sorry :[ And now I hear you got a new CEO today Thorsten Heins, which Engadet reported earlier that it wasn’t the shakeup needed for RIM. RIM I say this from the bottom of my heart, you were my first phone love, but if you fail to innovate when innovation is needed, your company will be bankrupt by the end of the year. I say put Blackberry Messenger on the iPhone, dump your stock, and give away the rest of your play books for a $99 powersale and hope for the best.

Da Kidd