WSJ: Google to sell ASUS, Samsung tablets from its own online store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
WSJ: Google to sell ASUS, Samsung tablets from its own online store
WSJ: Google to sell ASUS, Samsung tablets from its own online store:
In a move that would be reminiscent of its initial plans for the Nexus handsets, the Wall Street Journal suggests Google will open its own online store this year, but stocked with tablets instead of phones. The Android tablets would be built by Samsung and ASUS who already offer the well received Galaxy Tab and Transformer lines, but have been unable to make a dent in marketshare comparable to that of Apple or even Amazon. Other details seem to be less clear, including the possibility of the lineup including Google branded tablets -- like the one hinted at by Eric Schmidt in December -- or that the store could offer a new tablet from ASUS (maybe running Jelly Bean, maybe not), or the chance that Google will follow Amazon's approach by subsidizing the upfront cost. Right now it seems that all possibilities are still in Play, but if the rumor is right we'll see the store launch this year -- any suggestions for the folks at Mountain View?
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3D printed shoes
3D printed shoes:
The Smithsonian's Design Decoded blog reports on the latest developments in 3D printed footwear, including the fashion designers and students who are experimenting with printing out shoes using cheap materials that only last for "one lap down a runway." As Andrew writes on the Makerbot blog, "the artist worked with what was available to push the limits of the design, and the design will drive the demand for the needed materials. This is truly a case where life will catch up to imitate the art." Sarah C. Rich expands:
(Image: Andreia Chaves’s Invisible Shoe)
The Smithsonian's Design Decoded blog reports on the latest developments in 3D printed footwear, including the fashion designers and students who are experimenting with printing out shoes using cheap materials that only last for "one lap down a runway." As Andrew writes on the Makerbot blog, "the artist worked with what was available to push the limits of the design, and the design will drive the demand for the needed materials. This is truly a case where life will catch up to imitate the art." Sarah C. Rich expands:
As materials science advances, injection molding may give way to 3D printing—a strategy that’s widely used in design studios for pushing formal boundaries, but as yet not ubiquitous on the footwear market. Most polymers used in 3D printers are too hard and inflexible to make a comfortable shoe, although fashion students and designers have not been deterred from producing them, if only for one lap down a runway. The existing concepts invariably look rather sci-fi, with web-like lines that wrap the foot.These Shoes are Made for Printing (via Makerbot blog)
Swedish designer Naim Josefi envisions a consumer environment in which a shopper’s foot would be scanned in-store, and a shoe printed on demand that perfectly fit the wearer’s anatomy. Brazilian designer Andreia Chaves’s Invisible Shoe pairs a common leather pump with a 3D-printed cage-like bootie, while Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen’s Morphogenesis shoe more closely resembles a platform wedge. And at the London College of Fashion, student Hoon Chung created a line of 3D printed shoes for a final project, which look perhaps the closest to contemporary styles, though the molded shapes betray a high-tech production method.
(Image: Andreia Chaves’s Invisible Shoe)
Annihilator: a multifunction demolition tool
Annihilator: a multifunction demolition tool:
I've been satisfied with the Stanley FuBar demolition tool that Mark reviewed in 2008 (available in safety yellow!), but I am sorely tempted by the Annihilator Wrecking Bar, which sports all the same features as the FuBar, along with a bottle-opener, a board-straightener, a "multi-purpose nail-puller," a demolition axe, and a chisel. Plus, it's called THE ANNIHILATOR. John Scalzi's bought one for his kid to use for zombie-defense training.
Dead On Tools AN14 Annihilator Wrecking Bar, 14-Inch tools,zombies,gadgets,total destruction the only solution
I've been satisfied with the Stanley FuBar demolition tool that Mark reviewed in 2008 (available in safety yellow!), but I am sorely tempted by the Annihilator Wrecking Bar, which sports all the same features as the FuBar, along with a bottle-opener, a board-straightener, a "multi-purpose nail-puller," a demolition axe, and a chisel. Plus, it's called THE ANNIHILATOR. John Scalzi's bought one for his kid to use for zombie-defense training.
Dead On Tools AN14 Annihilator Wrecking Bar, 14-Inch tools,zombies,gadgets,total destruction the only solution
Incident Tech's gTar gets teased, remains largely silent (video)
Incident Tech's gTar gets teased, remains largely silent (video): 
What you see above is the gTar, an upcoming electronic musical instrument from Bay Area-based startup, Incident Technologies. It's got what appears to be an iPhone docked in the pick-guard and it looks pretty cool lit up in the teaser video after the break. Beyond that, there's not a ton of information about the thing available online, but we did some digging and have pieced together a pretty good idea about the thing. The device made an appearance at South by Southwest earlier this month, and bits and pieces have made their way into the web by way of startup site AngelList and social networks like Facebook, Twitter and, of course, YouTube. A posting on the former describes it as "a consumer electronics device that enables an interactive music entertainment experience to anyone without any kind of previous musical knowledge."
From the looks of it, the thing is a little bit Guitar Apprentice and a little bit Tabber. Unlike the plasticky Guitar Apprentice, however, this device looks like a genuine guitar (strings and all), albeit one with a light up fretboard for Tabber-like educational purposes and a "docked mobile device." The guitar also makes it possible to share music socially, though it's not entirely clear whether this is accomplished via the docked smartphone or an external output like a PC, though given the company's connections to the developer community, we suspect that both will be options, be it through built-in functionality or available APIs. The gTar is also being positioned as a music creation device, rather than simply an educational tool (à la Tabber) or a simple overblown Guitar Hero-style controller.
Check out a flashy, if rather uninformative teaser after the break.
Continue reading Incident Tech's gTar gets teased, remains largely silent (video)
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What you see above is the gTar, an upcoming electronic musical instrument from Bay Area-based startup, Incident Technologies. It's got what appears to be an iPhone docked in the pick-guard and it looks pretty cool lit up in the teaser video after the break. Beyond that, there's not a ton of information about the thing available online, but we did some digging and have pieced together a pretty good idea about the thing. The device made an appearance at South by Southwest earlier this month, and bits and pieces have made their way into the web by way of startup site AngelList and social networks like Facebook, Twitter and, of course, YouTube. A posting on the former describes it as "a consumer electronics device that enables an interactive music entertainment experience to anyone without any kind of previous musical knowledge."
From the looks of it, the thing is a little bit Guitar Apprentice and a little bit Tabber. Unlike the plasticky Guitar Apprentice, however, this device looks like a genuine guitar (strings and all), albeit one with a light up fretboard for Tabber-like educational purposes and a "docked mobile device." The guitar also makes it possible to share music socially, though it's not entirely clear whether this is accomplished via the docked smartphone or an external output like a PC, though given the company's connections to the developer community, we suspect that both will be options, be it through built-in functionality or available APIs. The gTar is also being positioned as a music creation device, rather than simply an educational tool (à la Tabber) or a simple overblown Guitar Hero-style controller.
Check out a flashy, if rather uninformative teaser after the break.
Continue reading Incident Tech's gTar gets teased, remains largely silent (video)
Incident Tech's gTar gets teased, remains largely silent (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Monster Solar Tornadoes Discovered
Monster Solar Tornadoes Discovered:
astroengine writes "For the first time, huge solar tornadoes have been filmed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) swirling deep inside the solar corona — the sun's superheated atmosphere. But if you're imagining the pedestrian tornadoes that we experience on Earth, think again. These solar monsters, measuring the width of several Earths and swirling at speeds of up to 300,000 kilometers (190,000 miles) per hour, aren't only fascinating structures; they may also trigger violent magnetic eruptions that can have drastic effects on our planet. 'These tornadoes may help to produce favorable conditions for CMEs to occur,' said Xing Li, solar physicist at Aberystwyth University and co-discoverer of the phenomenon."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
astroengine writes "For the first time, huge solar tornadoes have been filmed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) swirling deep inside the solar corona — the sun's superheated atmosphere. But if you're imagining the pedestrian tornadoes that we experience on Earth, think again. These solar monsters, measuring the width of several Earths and swirling at speeds of up to 300,000 kilometers (190,000 miles) per hour, aren't only fascinating structures; they may also trigger violent magnetic eruptions that can have drastic effects on our planet. 'These tornadoes may help to produce favorable conditions for CMEs to occur,' said Xing Li, solar physicist at Aberystwyth University and co-discoverer of the phenomenon."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple May Need To Rethink 4G Claims (and Pay Refunds) In More Countries
Apple May Need To Rethink 4G Claims (and Pay Refunds) In More Countries: redletterdave writes "After the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) won a battle with Apple after alleging the Cupertino-based company was misleading customers about its third-generation iPad, authorities in other countries are now assessing the compatibility of the new iPad with local 4G LTE networks to see if their customers should deserve refunds too. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed on Tuesday that it is investigating complaints of Apple's misleading '4G' claim, while Sweden and Denmark are also reportedly considering investigations, after agencies within both countries received 'several complaints' from customers about 4G connectivity. Even though these countries carry broad LTE coverage, the new iPad isn't supported on any of those networks."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
(title unknown)
(title unknown):
Why does electricity move along wires? This is one of those questions where the answer is relatively simple—the wires are made of conductive metal—but the meaning behind the answer isn't always well-understood. Conductive metals are conductive because of things going on at the tiny scale of atoms and electrons. If you want to understand superconductivity, and what red wine has to do with any of this, you need to understand this part first.
You know how an atom is set up. There's a nucleus, made up on protons and neutrons. Electrons circle the nucleus like a cloud. In conductive metals, though, those electrons aren't tightly locked to any one nucleus. Instead, a conductive wire is a bit like an electron river, in which nuclei float like buoys. "Generating" electricity really just means "making the river flow", getting those electrons to move along from one nucleus to another. That's how electrcity is able to get from the power plant to your house.
But it's not all smooth sailing. As those electrons travel, they encounter resistance. They bump into one another, slowing down their movement like fender bender slows traffic. There are energy conversions that go along with those little collisions. Where electricity once was, you get some heat. When people talk about "line loss"—the usable energy lost to waste heat as electricity travels over power lines—this is what they're talking about. If we could conduct electricity in a more efficient way, we wouldn't have to generate as much to begin with.
Enter superconductivity. Turns out, there are certain materials that, when to chill them down to just the right temperature, suddenly lose all resistance. Instead of a windy, jumbly river slowly moving across the land, you have a straight, fast shot to the sea. More astoundingly, you can turn some ordinary metals into superconductors by exposing them to booze. From Technology Review:
Learn more about electricity, line losses, and waste heat by reading my book, Before the Lights Go Out.
Via DJ Patil
Image: Some rights reserved by krossbow
Why does electricity move along wires? This is one of those questions where the answer is relatively simple—the wires are made of conductive metal—but the meaning behind the answer isn't always well-understood. Conductive metals are conductive because of things going on at the tiny scale of atoms and electrons. If you want to understand superconductivity, and what red wine has to do with any of this, you need to understand this part first.
You know how an atom is set up. There's a nucleus, made up on protons and neutrons. Electrons circle the nucleus like a cloud. In conductive metals, though, those electrons aren't tightly locked to any one nucleus. Instead, a conductive wire is a bit like an electron river, in which nuclei float like buoys. "Generating" electricity really just means "making the river flow", getting those electrons to move along from one nucleus to another. That's how electrcity is able to get from the power plant to your house.
But it's not all smooth sailing. As those electrons travel, they encounter resistance. They bump into one another, slowing down their movement like fender bender slows traffic. There are energy conversions that go along with those little collisions. Where electricity once was, you get some heat. When people talk about "line loss"—the usable energy lost to waste heat as electricity travels over power lines—this is what they're talking about. If we could conduct electricity in a more efficient way, we wouldn't have to generate as much to begin with.
Enter superconductivity. Turns out, there are certain materials that, when to chill them down to just the right temperature, suddenly lose all resistance. Instead of a windy, jumbly river slowly moving across the land, you have a straight, fast shot to the sea. More astoundingly, you can turn some ordinary metals into superconductors by exposing them to booze. From Technology Review:
Last year, a group of Japanese physicists grabbed headlines around the world by announcing that they could induce superconductivity in a sample of iron telluride by soaking it in red wine. They found that other alcoholic drinks also worked--white wine, beer, sake and so on--but red wine was by far the best.Learn why a 2009 Beauoulais makes such a big difference by reading the full story at Technology Review.
Now Deguchi and co have repeated the experiment with different types of red wine to see which works best. They've used wines made with a single grape variety including gamay, pinot noir, merlot, carbernet sauvignon and sangiovese.
It turns out that the best performer is a wine made from the gamay grape--for the connoisseurs, that's a 2009 Beajoulais from the Paul Beaudet winery in central France.
Learn more about electricity, line losses, and waste heat by reading my book, Before the Lights Go Out.
Via DJ Patil
Image: Some rights reserved by krossbow
For Clear Skin, Just Rub Thyme All Over Your Face [Acne]
For Clear Skin, Just Rub Thyme All Over Your Face [Acne]:
Oh Lordy. Here we've all been buying fancy spot treatments and expensive elixirs to rid ourselves of acne, when it turns out the answer to our problem might have been growing in the herb garden all along. Thanks for telling us, Mother Nature. Yes, a new study has found that herbal preparations of thyme might be more effective at treating acne than current prescription remedies. More »
George Lucas -- 'Star Wars' is Dead
George Lucas -- 'Star Wars' is Dead: Stick a fork in Jar Jar Binks ... 'cause the "Star Wars" franchise is done ... FOREVER ... so says intergallactic space god George Lucas. The Jedi Master's master was leaving Toast in L.A. yesterday when we asked when he was finally going to release…
EyeWire: a videogame to help scientists trace the neurons in a retina
EyeWire: a videogame to help scientists trace the neurons in a retina:
Robert sez, "The gamified EyeWire project, now in open beta, is about using human computation to help trace the neurons in a retina. Tracing the neurons will help nail down the computation that goes on inside the retina leading up to the optic nerve, and lead to better methods of brain mapping. Come and help explore the eye's jungle!"
EyeWire – Help Map the Retinal Connectome
(Thanks, Robert!)
Robert sez, "The gamified EyeWire project, now in open beta, is about using human computation to help trace the neurons in a retina. Tracing the neurons will help nail down the computation that goes on inside the retina leading up to the optic nerve, and lead to better methods of brain mapping. Come and help explore the eye's jungle!"
Game 1: Reconstructing Neurons
The first step of the challenge is to reconstruct the tree-like shapes of retinal neurons by tracing their branches through the images. You will accomplish this by playing a simple game: helping the computer color a neuron as if the images were a three-dimensional coloring book. The collective efforts of you and other players will result in three-dimensional reconstructions of neurons like this. Playing the game does not require any specialized knowledge of neuroscience — just sharp eyes and practice. If you like, you can stop reading this page, and proceed to detailed instructions for the game here or simply start playing. On the other hand, if you’d like to know more about the scientific plan, read on.
Game 2: Identifying Synapses
Reconstructing neurons involves tracing their branches, which are like the “wires” of the retina. This by itself is not enough for finding connectomes; we also need to identify synapses. This kind of image analysis will be accomplished through another game that will be introduced on this website in the near future. The identification of synapses will involve subtleties, due to limitations of the dataset, as will be discussed in detail later on.
Rules of Connection
Playing either of the above games will produce information that will be valuable for understanding how the retina functions. How exactly will the information be used? To answer this question, we should confront the issue of variability. We expect that every retina will be wired somewhat differently. In that case, would mapping the connections in one retina tell us anything that is applicable to other retinas? We expect that retinal connectomes will obey invariant rules of connection, and it is these rules that really interest researchers. Many of the rules are expected to depend on neuronal cell types, i.e., of the form “Cell type A receives synapses from cell type B.” Some such rules are already known, but the vast majority remain undiscovered.
EyeWire – Help Map the Retinal Connectome
(Thanks, Robert!)
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