Digital Culture
Google Images can be a great tool when searching for pictures on the Web, but the feature is imperfect, to say the least. If you're searching for "Paris," for example, are you looking for the City of Lights, or a Hilton? The ever-restless folks at Google, however are thankfully always looking for ways to improve their services, and the latest addition to Google Labs, Google Similar Images Search, is an interesting new feature aimed at improving image results.
A feature known as Similar Images uses a picture rather than text to find other matching images. Timeline presents information already available in Google News but organised and displayed chronologically. Alongside these features is a new version of Google Labs, in which users can take a peek at what its thousands of engineers are working on.
If you're thinking of upgrading your IT setup, I would highly recommend a Mac, even if you need to run a PC. Same logic applies for laptops in your organization. Even during a recession, the productivity gained by giving your employees computers that just work can't be underestimated. [Yeah, sure]
One of the two projects, News Timeline, lets people browse history through Google's eyes, with a sliding chronological framework that draws information from newspapers, Wikipedia, and other sources. The other, Similar Images lets people search for images that look like one they've already found.
A couple of the coolest gadgets from this year's CES, Sony's OLED-based Walkman and Samsung's slim Blu-ray Disk player, are now on their way with availability from April.
Sony Japan has finally acknowledged the existence of the X-Series Walkman by noting that Japanese consumers will be able to purchase a NW-X1050 (16gb; 40,000y) or a NW-X1060 (32gb; 50,000y) on April 25th. The Japanese Touchscreen Walkman will have the ability to receive broadcast TV signals.
The dominant media player of the '00s (the iPod) still hasn't integrated with wireless headphones. Maybe it should take a quick lesson from the dominant media player of the '80s: the Walkman.
The 3-inch OLED touchscreen has 240 x 432 resolution. The Walkmans will have an audio player, One-Seg TV tuner, and FM tuner for basic use, but the fun really starts when you use the built-in Wi-Fi web browser, including a YouTube interface. The players support MP3 and AAC files, so your unprotected iTunes library might have a new home.
Text messaging graphic pictures of yourself could soon be legal for teens in Vermont. Lawmakers there are considering a bill that would make it legal for teenagers 18 and under to exchange explicit photos and videos of themselves — an act that's come to be known by teens as "sexting." Under the current law, teenagers could be prosecuted as sex offenders if they get caught sending graphic sexual images of themselves, even if it was consensual.
Caricatures of flame warriors
David Lance "Dave" Arneson (October 1, 1947 — April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the development of the genre, developing the concept of the RPG using devices now considered to be archetypical, such as adventuring in "dungeons", using a neutral judge, and having conversations with imaginary characters to develop the storyline.
Amidst backlash over Time Warner Cable's tentative plan for a 40GB broadband cap, the company said this week that it will offer an additional 100GB tier for heavy users. Pricing for this "super tier" has not been revealed. [Yes, we can, too, fight the rising tides! Sure we can!]
I, like many people, have been subscribing to Internet connection services since the days of 300 baud modems. Then I upgraded to 14.4k, 36.6k, 56k, DSL, and now cable. Unfortunately, due to where I am living today, I'm stuck on 3 Mbit Verizon DSL service, which is often running at less than 1 Mbit. Thankfully, my service doesn't have a download cap on it--at least not yet anyway.
The new advertiser-supported site, featuring professional videos, will be called Vevo and is expected to launch in coming months, the companies said.
Arneson worked with Gygax to create the original Dungeons & Dragons ruleset in 1974. According to IGN, disputes later caused friction and distanced Arneson from the D&D franchise. Nevertheless, Arneson's contributions have influenced numerous videogames, and probably always will.
At some point around 2 a.m. PDT, a fiber optic line owned by AT&T but leased to Verizon became damaged. It was located in a manhole about 10 feet below the roadway. San Jose Police told KCBS-radio that they suspect vandalism and are treating the area as a crime scene. The damage to the line silenced landline phones, cell phone service and Internet access for many in the area. But it also impacted a number of Web sites, which have data centers in the Silicon Valley area that - apparently - are connected to that fiber optic line.
Microsoft and its PC partners are going to allow Windows 7 users to downgrade not just to Windows Vista, but also to Windows XP, Microsoft officials are confirming.
Windows XP has already turned into a nightmare for Microsoft as the operating system competes with Windows Vista in many markets and today's news makes us wonder whether the operating system may actually outlive Windows Vista in one way or the other. Apparently, Microsoft has granted HP an exclusive OEM license extension for Windows XP that reaches deep into 2010. By then, Windows XP will be competing with Windows 7 for market share on netbooks.
As programmers continue to pick apart the code underlying Apple's iPhone 3.0 OS, details are surfacing that point to possible new hardware features for both the iPhone and iPod Touch. One of the first details unearthed from the code is the addition of stereo Bluetooth-audio streaming--a feature that current (second-generation) iPhone and iPod Touch owners will be able to take advantage of once the new OS is available this summer.
Now comes news of a bot that doesn't need to bother with any human thought at all, thank you very much. It's a "robot scientist" that researchers believe to be the first machine to independently come up with new scientific findings
Now ADAM is the first robot—but maybe not the last—to have independently discovered new scientific information, according to scientists who recently built themselves the mechanical colleague. ... The robot eventually identified the genes that code for enzymes involved in yeast metabolism—a scientific first for a robot.
The encyclopedia is dead. Long live critical thinking. ... I'm not saying Encarta was a bad product. On the contrary, it did a fine job of making encyclopedic articles searchable and accessible on a computer. However, I'm thrilled to see it go because of what it represents. Kids will just go to Wikipedia or the first three hits on Google, now, right? While that remains too true, what it really represents is the absolute challenge to educators to teach kids real Web-based research skills. Leave the encyclopedias behind and dig.
signed an agreement with Disney/ABC and ESPN, which will open their own channels on the video community site — and control their own ad inventory
There may soon be another option to play video games at home, in a very different way we have been used to so far. Rather than buying a fairly expensive console or PC, a small box promises to deliver games through the Internet to your TV or PC, no matter how powerful your local hardware is. Will cloud gaming have a chance to break through the barrier of modern game consoles and high-end PCs?
A video that appears to show police fatally beating a Tibetan protester was a fake concocted by supporters of the Dalai Lama, China said Tuesday — the same day the video-sharing network YouTube said its service had been blocked in China.
FAYETTEVILLE — At the start of every school day, administrators at Fayetteville Christian School will impound every student's cell phone beginning Tuesday. A local newspaper reports the policy came to fruition after teachers caught students texting test answers twice this year
Earlier this week, the social networking site Twitter was rocked by a brief Tweet exchange which stirred up feelings all over the web. The widely reported on story is of a woman, Connor Riley, who Tweeted the following: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work." Shortly thereafter a Cisco employee spotted the Tweet and responded with: "Who is the hiring manager. I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web." The exchange launched what really seemed to be the entire Internet into an uproar.
The FBI has recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them. Undercover FBI agents used this hyperlink-enticement technique, which directed Internet users to a clandestine government server, to stage armed raids of homes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada last year. The supposed video files actually were gibberish and contained no illegal images.
The tool is mainly aimed at IT professionals working in a corporate environment who still need test the new browser with internal applications and sites, although individuals may use it as well.
Jerry Jalava's 2GB USB finger looks like a normal finger, but it's detachable and he leaves it inside his computer's slot while using it. The Finnish programmer plans to "upgrade" his finger in the future with one that has a removable fingertip, an RFID tag and more storage space.
Pages
Top 25 Blog-Heap-o'Links Headers
Mindful Webworks for art's own sake (and some for fun). The art and wonder of it all await your scrutiny.
Webworks dedicated to getting people and property from here to there in an intelligent and automated way, and all the history and means of transportation.
Webworks directly concerning (as opposed to merely inspired by) the Urantia Papers.
Subscribe to Urantiana
Webworks regarding human liberties and similar social and legal fundamentals.
Presented in illustrated documentary, what we know of his story, and the history of our community he inspired.
LEGAL AND SAFE! But your mother might not approve.