2009-06-29

Layar -- SPRXmobile's Augmented Reality Browser

clipped from www.good.is
Can augmented reality technology finally make it easy to do the right thing?

Augmented reality allows you to see, in real time, data about your surroundings. It’s different from having the internet on your phone—you don’t actually have to look anything up, and you don’t actually have to know exactly what you’re looking for. Augmented reality is more like a having a sixth sense—and a seventh and eighth sense—that makes data a natural, passive part of how you see the world.

So how does this work? Last week, a Dutch company, SPRXmobile, introduced the first-ever augmented-reality browser platform for a smartphone. It’s fairly simple to explain. The software uses two basic features found on smartphones—a compass, and a GPS system. From there, it knows exactly where you are—and, just as important, which direction your phone is pointing. And this is where things get interesting. Armed with that knowledge, SPRXmobile unveiled a rack of applications

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clipped from www.sprxmobile.com
MAKING MOBILE MAGIC

Our aim is to design services around the personal context of your customer in such an intuitive way that it seems like waving a magic wand.

clipped from www.sprxmobile.com
Press release: The first mobile Augmented Reality browser premiers in the Netherlands
AMSTERDAM, Tuesday June 16th, 2009. Mobile innovation company SPRXmobile launches Layar, worlds first mobile Augmented Reality browser, which displays real time digital information on top of reality (of) in the camera screen of the mobile phone. While looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs, healthcare providers and ATMs. [...]

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Sources:
  1. Better Choices Through Technology | GOOD
  2. SPRXMobile Mobile Service Architects » Home
  3. SPRXMobile Mobile Service Architects » We launched Layar: worlds first augmented reality browser for mobile
Related:
  1. Layar
  2. Video: SPRXmobile's Layar is world's first Augmented Reality browser for cellphones
  3. Video: Hands-on with SPRXmobile's Layar augmented reality browser for Android
  4. SPRXmobile Launches "Augmented Reality" Browser for Android Mobile Phones | InteractiveTV Today

2009-06-28

CMR -- A Breakthrough In Storage Technology

clipped from www.physorg.com

'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure

(PhysOrg.com) -- Millions of people today carry around pocket-sized music players capable of holding thousands of songs, thanks to the discovery 20 years ago of a phenomenon known as the “giant magnetoresistance effect,” which made it possible to pack more data onto smaller and smaller hard drives. Now scientists are on the trail of another phenomenon, called the “colossal magnetoresistance effect” (CMR) which is up to a thousand times more powerful and could trigger another revolution in computing technology.
'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure

The structure models for F-type and A-type magnetic ordering in manganite in response to pressure. The arrows inside orbitals indicate the spin direction of d electrons.




GMR 101
[ gmr 101 animation ]

Visualize MR and
GMR Heads in
action [ go ]




advanced GMR animation

Observe the
physics of GMR
in motion[ go ]




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clipped from ftp.aps.anl.gov

A “Colossal” Magnetic Effect under Pressure

Photo: Yang Ding (left) of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Daniel Haskel (right) of Argonne shown with x-ray instrumentation used to probe the magnetic ordering of Mn ions in a manganite material at high applied pressures and cryogenic temperatures.


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Sources:
'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure
GMR: A Giant Leap for IBM Research
A “Colossal” Magnetic Effect under Pressure | Advanced Photon Source
Related:
Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: "'Colossal' Magnetic Effect Under Pressure"
‘Colossal’ Magnetic Effect Under Pressure | Carnegie Institution for Science
Carnegie Institution for Science
HPSynC - Welcome
Slashdot | "Colossal Magnetic Effect" Could Lead To Another Breakthrough In Storage Tech

2009-06-26

Synthetic Trees

Clipped from: Artificial Trees: Could They be Better Than the Real Thing? : TreeHugger



Artificial Trees: Could They be Better Than the Real Thing?

Living trees are one of nature’s best carbon capturers; planting them can help counteract the carbon emissions of everything from cars to planes (though they're just a small part of a bigger solution). But the artificial version created by Columbia University professor Klaus Lackner has been grabbing carbon 1,000 times more quickly than the rooted versions (and “several hundred times better,” according to Lackner, than windmills) for a total of 90,000 tons of carbon each year--even without sunlight.
Clipped from: Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing | Popular Science

Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing

Each synthetic plant promises to do the work of a thousand old-style wooden trees
Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University who is developing the tree, met with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu last month to talk about the concept. In an interview with CNN, Lackner said the synthetic tree is "several hundred times better at collecting CO2" than windmill generators. Lackner says that for every 1,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide collected, the tree emits just 200 kilograms. This ratio is more than enough to warrant the relatively high cost of building the trees (about the same as a new automobile) or retrofitting coal plants.
Clipped from: 'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air - CNN.com
/technology

'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air



A conceptual design of how the "synthetic tree" might look should they ever reach the stage of production.

As the wind blows though plastic "leaves," the carbon is trapped in a chamber, compressed and stored as liquid carbon dioxide.

The technology is similar to that used to capture carbon from flue stacks at coal-fired power plants, but the difference is that the "synthetic tree" can catch carbon anytime, anywhere


Clipped from: Air Scrubber Can Soak Up One Ton of Carbon Dioxide Daily - GoodCleanTech

Air Scrubber Can Soak Up One Ton of Carbon Dioxide Daily

More than a year ago, Sir Richard Branson launched the Virgin Earth Challenge which promises to grant $25 million to anyone who can come up with the best method to capture significant amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. While we've seen potential contenders before, a group of scientists from Columbia University in New York headed by Klaus Lackner, seems to be leading the pack.



Clipped from: GRT - Global Research Technologies: Carbon Dioxide Air Capture

Global Research Technologies, LLC




GRT is the global air-capture technology and intellectual property leader and is currently developing its ACCESSTM air-capture system for commercialization.


Clipped from: BBC NEWS | Programmes | Artificial trees: A green solution?
BBC News

Artificial trees: A green solution?

Carbon capture, in the form of "artificial trees", is one idea explored in the BBC Two documentary Five Ways To Save The World. But could these extraordinary machines help to mitigate our excessive burning of fossil fuels and its consequence, global warming?


Artificial trees mimic one of the greatest carbon capturers on earth



Professor Lackner estimates that every tree would remove 90,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year


Would people be happy to look at fields of artificial trees?


Carbon dioxide gas would be injected into the sea bed

Sources

  1. Artificial Trees: Could They be Better Than the Real Thing? : TreeHugger
  2. Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing | Popular Science
  3. 'Synthetic tree' claims to catch carbon in the air - CNN.com
  4. Air Scrubber Can Soak Up One Ton of Carbon Dioxide Daily - GoodCleanTech
  5. GRT - Global Research Technologies: Carbon Dioxide Air Capture
  6. BBC NEWS | Programmes | Artificial trees: A green solution?
Related:
  1. Carbon capture: Scrubbing the skies | The Economist
  2. Columbia Magazine
  3. Synthetic Tree Captures Carbon 1,000 Times Faster Than Real Trees | Sustainability | Fast Company
  4. Synthetic Tree Promises Huge Carbon Dioxide Absorption Rate - GoodCleanTech

Talking To Plants

Clipped from: Talking To Plants Cartoons


Clipped from: Women's voices 'make plants grow faster' finds Royal Horticultural Society - Telegraph

Women's voices 'make plants grow faster' finds Royal Horticultural Society

Talking to plants makes them grow, especially if you are a woman, according to an experiment by the Royal Horticultural Society.

In an experiment run over a month, they found that tomato plants grew up to two inches taller if they were serenaded by the dulcet tones of a female rather than a male.

[...]

Appropriately the most effective talk came from Sarah Darwin, whose great-great grandfather was legendary botanist Charles Darwin, one of the founding fathers of the RHS' Scientific Committee.

She read a read a passage from the On the Origin of Species and beat nine other 'voices'.

Her plant grew nearly two inches taller than the best performing male and half an inch higher than her nearest competitor.


Clipped from: Prince was right: study shows talking to plants helps them grow - Times Online

Times Online

Prince was right: study shows talking to plants helps them grow

The Prince of Wales was right all along. Plants really do like it if you talk to them.

What he did not know is that they prefer to hear a woman’s voice. And what really encourages them to grow is a direct descendant of Charles Darwin.

These are the conclusions of a month-long study by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) into the effect of the human voice on tomato plants.


Clipped from: BBC NEWS | UK | England | Surrey | Darwin relative helps plants grow
British Broadcasting Corporation

Darwin relative helps plants grow



The voice that best encourages plants to grow taller belongs to a relative of Charles Darwin, according to plant experts in Surrey.

Clipped from: Does talking to plants actually help them grow?
Ask Yahoo!

Does talking to plants actually help them grow?

The idea of talking to plants was introduced in 1848, when Dr. Gustav Theodor Fechner, a German professor, suggested the idea in his book Nanna (Soul-life of Plants). He believed that plants were capable of emotions, just like humans, and you could promote healthy growth by showering your plants with attention and talk.
[...]
And in 1970, New York dentist George Milstein released Music to Grow Plants By, a record of songs to play for your plants. In fact, a few studies seemed to confirm that classical or soothing music would benefit plants, while loud aggressive music, like rock music, could cause them to wither and die. If you are a proponent of the theory, there are several records out there to help your houseplants be happy and healthy.


Clipped from: The DoveSong Foundation -- The effect of Music on Plants (The Plant Experiments)
The DoveSong Foundation


Dorothy Retallack and Professor Broman working with the plants used in music experiments.

Clipped from: Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants | Kids Discover > Earth facts for kids > Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants | Pitara Kids Network

Pitara - Home

Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants

Experiments show that plants thrive if soothing instrumental music is played in the background. On the other hand they shrivel and die if exposed to heavy metal or rock music. And now a Japanese company has created a gadget that puts you in touch with the 'feelings' of plants.


Sources:
  1. Talking To Plants Cartoons
  2. Women's voices 'make plants grow faster' finds Royal Horticultural Society - Telegraph
  3. Prince was right: study shows talking to plants helps them grow - Times Online
  4. BBC NEWS | UK | England | Surrey | Darwin relative helps plants grow
  5. Does talking to plants actually help them grow?
  6. The DoveSong Foundation -- The effect of Music on Plants (The Plant Experiments)
  7. Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants | Kids Discover > Earth facts for kids > Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants | Pitara Kids Network
Related:
  1. Research|Penn State: Does talking to plants help them grow?
  2. Garden - Talking with Plants
  3. Probing Question: Does talking to plants help them grow?


2009-06-16

Opera Unite: a Web server on the Web browser

clipped from www.youtube.com

Opera Unite

Opera Looks to Reinvent the Web with Integrated Services

Norway's Opera Software is looking to re-invent the Web by integrating file sharing, media sharing, a Web server, and social media - without using remote servers.

clipped from unite.opera.com

Opera Unite: a Web server on the Web browser


Photo Sharing

File Sharing

A simple and safe way to share files directly from your computer.


Photo Sharing

Photo Sharing

Share your personal photos with friends around the world without the need to upload them.


Photo Sharing

Fridge

A fun place for people to leave notes on your computer.


Photo Sharing

The Lounge

Invite your friends to a chat in The Lounge hosted on your computer.


Photo Sharing

Media Player

Access your complete home music library from wherever you are.


Photo Sharing

Web Server

Host your Web sites running from your own computer.

clipped from www.youtube.com

Opera Unite Instructions

clipped from www.theinquirer.net
The Inquirer-Home


The problem is, even after only half a day of testing it, we've discovered some gaping security holes which would appear to leave the system open to abuse.


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Sources:
  1. YouTube - Opera Unite
  2. Opera Looks to Reinvent the Web with Integrated Services - Computing News - Digital Trends
  3. Opera Unite
  4. YouTube - Opera Unite Instructions
  5. Opera releases unite tool - The Inquirer
Related:
  1. Six Questions About Opera Unite | Technologizer
  2. Taking the Web into our own hands, one computer at a time
  3. Opera Unite Puts File Sharing in the Browser - News and Analysis by PC Magazine
  4. Opera Unite attempts to reinvent the Web - Technology Live - USATODAY.com