You’ve got to check out this video of a presentation given by Microsoft engineers at the Professional Developers Conference in LA. I was completely racking my brain trying to figure out how it worked, which made the reveal on the (relatively simple) mechanics of the technology at the end a lot of fun. The first application that comes to my mind is interactive retail displays. What other practical uses are there?
Via a Tweet by reBang
DARPA (the same folks behind the DARPA Challenge, where autonomous cars race to destinations) sponsored this project to add “damage tolerance” to aircraft. If the plane loses control surfaces from damage, the system takes control and calibrates itself to keep the aircraft airborne, and then uses on-board navigation systems to automatically land. You have to see the video of a scale test to really appreciate what’s going on.
I have the feeling that the cost of the system is probably far higher than the cost of losing a UAV in battle right now, but the implications are exciting. I expect that we could see systems like this in all sorts of forms of transportation. Just imagine if your tire blows out at interstate speed, and your car automatically merges you out of traffic and bring you to a safe stop.
I have to admit though, I don’t think anything would instill fear in an enemy much more than a one-winged fighter jet passing overhead after taking a direct hit from an anti-aircraft missile.
Video: Rockwell Collins
Via: Engadget
Jake Jitchener (aka Kitch) made a twitter post tonight that reminded me of an issue that I brought up back in October of 2007. Apple’s iPhone does nothing to interact with Mac computers through Bluetooth, and has still issued no updates to fix the issue.
I’m not talking about new features that would take time to code, I’m talking about features that already exist in the Mac OS, and work very well with other phones. Address Book on the Mac already has the ability to pair up with a Bluetooth phone to place calls and show CallerID information on-screen. This doesn’t work with the iPhone though, it lacks the required profiles. I’m sure that these profiles could be added with a software update, but I can’t figure out why they weren’t there to begin with. Apple is normally so good at selling a whole solution of products that work together seamlessly, but the iPhone seems to work outside of this philosophy. (For instance, we still can’t sync Notes or To Do’s?) I hope Apple gets its act together with the 2.0 firmware update.
You can buy software (BluePhoneElite 2 by Mira Software) to at least use your Mac as a headset for your iPhone, very handy if you keep your phone docked at your desk. BPE2 is $25.
I saw this thing posted on Unclutterer. There are a few charging stations on the market, and I’ve seen some great concepts by design students for this problem, but I’ve never seen one on the market at such a great price. The Driin Mobile Phone Holder is about $8, and looks like it doesn’t take up much room at all. It uses the charger’s brick to hold itself to the wall and holds the device. Cord management is accomplished by just wrapping the cord around the holder.
It wouldn’t be the best solution if you have a ton of devices you need to charge, but I think it would serve as a great home for things like mobile phones, handheld games, or music players. You can pick one up at Amazon.
National Geographic has posted a story about the environmental impact of all of our technological waste. My initial reaction was, ‘Yeah, I understand that this is a problem,’ but I was not ready for the vivid accounts of exactly how this problem affects lives and environments around the world.
June is the wet season in Ghana, but here in Accra, the capital, the morning rain has ceased. As the sun heats the humid air, pillars of black smoke begin to rise above the vast Agbogbloshie Market. I follow one plume toward its source, past lettuce and plantain vendors, past stalls of used tires, and through a clanging scrap market where hunched men bash on old alternators and engine blocks. Soon the muddy track is flanked by piles of old TVs, gutted computer cases, and smashed monitors heaped ten feet (three meters) high. Beyond lies a field of fine ash speckled with glints of amber and green—the sharp broken bits of circuit boards. I can see now that the smoke issues not from one fire, but from many small blazes. Dozens of indistinct figures move among the acrid haze, some stirring flames with sticks, others carrying armfuls of brightly colored computer wire. Most are children.
Choking, I pull my shirt over my nose and approach a boy of about 15, his thin frame wreathed in smoke. Karim says he has been tending such fires for two years. He pokes at one meditatively, and then his top half disappears as he bends into the billowing soot. He hoists a tangle of copper wire off the old tire he’s using for fuel and douses the hissing mass in a puddle. With the flame retardant insulation burned away—a process that has released a bouquet of carcinogens and other toxics—the wire may fetch a dollar from a scrap-metal buyer….
There’s MUCH more to the article at the National Geographic website.