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Submission + - 1993 Film Predicts Google Glasses and iPads? (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "The AT&T Archive has released another film (this one from 1993) showing all sorts of imagined future technology — tablets, virtual reality, videoconferencing, virtual assistants, video phones on airplanes (because that wouldn't be at all irritating to your fellow passengers). Among the few significant differences between the predictions and today's technology: In the video everything works."
Google

Submission + - India to Investigate Google for Anti-competitive Business Practices (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: US, European nations and now India is behind Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices as it has been revealed by an Indian minister that the search engine giant is going to be probed by India's antitrust regulator. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced that it is going to launch inquiry into Google’s business practices having received a formal complaint from Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International regarding some potential anticompetitive practices being adopted by Google in India. No further details were released in the statement though. In an August 2011 letter [PDF], CUTS had written to the CCI that “Google can potentially engage in anticompetitive activities to the possible detriment of these markets in India and that therefore such activities in this regard need to be thoroughly investigated by the CCI.” Such a probe was waiting to happen as CCI has received quite a few complaints against Google from different companies.
Open Source

Submission + - The open source technology behind Twitter (opensource.com)

Submitted by caseyb89
caseyb89 writes: If it weren't for open source technology, you wouldn't be able to tweet. Chris Aniszczyk, Open Source Manager at Twitter, shares how open source is vital to Twitter's success. He states that using open source is a "no-brainer" for Twitter because it "allows us to customize and tweak code to meet our fast-paced engineering needs as our service and community grows." Twitter also established an open source office about a year ago to support a variety of open source organizations that are important to them. Aniszczyk will discuss Twitters open source usage in his keynote at LinuxCon.
Government

Submission + - Monitoring weapons bans with social media (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by __aaqpaq9254
__aaqpaq9254 writes: Kirk Bansak has a great article outlining a coming revolution in non-proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and bio-weapons, courtesy of smart phones and social media. Early theory on arms control foresaw "inspection by the people" as a promising method for preventing evasion of arms control and disarmament obligations and serves as a starting point for understanding "social verification." As Rose Gottemoeller recently stated: "[Cell phone-based] sensors would allow citizens to contribute to detecting potential treaty violations, and could build a bridge to a stronger private-public partnership in the realm of treaty verification." Exciting stuff for techies and activists.
Hardware

Submission + - Camera-toting EyeRing could help blind people to "see" objects (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: Generally speaking, the vast majority of augmented reality applications that enhance the world around us by overlaying digital content on images displayed on smartphone, tablet or computer screens are aimed squarely at the sighted user. A team from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab has developed a chunky finger-worn device called EyeRing that translates images of objects captured through a camera lens into aural feedback to aid the blind.

Submission + - Demonoid Domains name for sale (pcmag.com)

Submitted by Pax681
Pax681 writes: PC World and other sites are reporting of the death of Demonoid "Bad news for those expecting the BitTorrent site Demonoid to somehow spring up from the ashes after last week's alleged bust. The Demonoid domain names are now officially for sale via Sedo, the final nail in the coffin for the popular site that was taken down via a combined assault from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and Interpol. "
Would it be fair to assume that the week long DDOS was part of the operation to take the site down? and if so does thing signal that the *IAA's now see it as ok to break the law witha DDOS to enforce their copyright? http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-domains-go-up-for-sale-120812/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57491730-93/domains-seized-from-demonoid-bittorrent-site-up-for-sale/

Feed Engadget: NAA verifies new US record for human-powered helicopter flight (video) (engadget.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

A team at the University of Maryland has been taking human powered flight to new heights. Or, rather, lengths, by setting a new US record for flight duration of 49.9 seconds with its Gamera II rotorcraft. The benchmark event actually took place in June, but only received the all important plaudits from the National Aeronautic Association on August 9. Gamera II builds on its predecessor (unsurprisingly, Gamera I) by featuring improved transmission, rotor design and a redesigned cockpit. Not content with smashing the previous craft's record of 11.4 seconds, the team plans to fly a further refined version of the copter with longer blades and other fine tuning later this month. The 49.9 second flight has also been submitted to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale for World, rather than American-record verification. The guys at Maryland might want to keep an eye over their shoulders though, as it looks like someone else already has their eyes on that prize. Video evidence after the break.

Continue reading NAA verifies new US record for human-powered helicopter flight (video)

Filed under: Transportation

NAA verifies new US record for human-powered helicopter flight (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PermalinkGizMag | Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center |Email this|Comments
Hardware

Submission + - Colour printing reaches its ultimate resolution (nature.com)

Submitted by
ananyo
ananyo writes: "The highest possible resolution images — about 100,000 dots per inch — have been achieved, and in full-colour, with a printing method that uses tiny pillars a few tens of nanometres tall. The method could be used to print tiny watermarks or secret messages for security purposes, and to make high-density data-storage discs.
Each pixel in these ultra-resolution images is made up of four nanoscale posts capped with silver and gold nanodisks. By varying the diameters of the structures (which are tens of nanometres) and the spaces between them, it’s possible to control what colour of light they reflect. As a proof of principle, researchers printed a 50×50-micrometre version of the ‘Lena’ test image, a richly coloured portrait of a woman that is commonly used as a printing standard (abstract).
Even under the best microscope, optical images have an ultimate resolution limit, and this method hits it."
AI

Submission + - How To Breed A Face - Pareidoloop (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: The genetic algorithm is a way to create solutions to problems by mimicking the way that nature works. However, that doesn't mean it can't be fun! Pareidoloop is a program which uses a GA approach to create a face that satisfies a face recognition algorithm — and all using JavaScript.
The program constructs some random polygons and then proceeds from generation to generation breeding new images. The measure of fitness in each generation is simply the score on the face detection program. Eventually the image evolves to look more and more like a face — sort of.
The overall result is spooky and its a demonstration of the power of evolution in just a few thousand generations.
You can try it for yourself at pareidoloop
Businesses

Submission + - How Will Amazon, Barnes & Noble Survive The iPad Mini? (ibtimes.com) 3

Submitted by
redletterdave
redletterdave writes: "For about a year, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble were almost completely alone in the 7-inch tablet market. It was nice while it lasted. The past few months have seen Google and Microsoft unveil their 7-inch tablet offerings — the Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface, respectively — and it looks like Apple is about ready to get into the mini tablet game, too. If Apple releases its first "iPad Mini" next month, what can Amazon and Barnes & Noble do to keep the Cupertino colossus at bay, as well as the other new competitors in the 7-inch tablet game?"

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