Google Hosts New York City's First 'Geek Street Fair' A "geek street fair" hosted by Google took over New York City's 14th Street Park with Lego robots, experiments and animal skulls on Wednesday afternoon. The idea behind the fair is to raise awareness about New York City’s tech community as well as promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics to young kids.
Craig Nevill-Manning, an engineering director at Google's New York office, is one of the many people behind this geek street fair. "If we want to continue to see technology change the world, it's important to inspire the tech entrepreneurs of tomorrow," he says. The fair was free and open to everyone, and kids from summer camps formed a big part of the curious brigade.
David Wells, the New York Hall of Science's manager of creative making and learning, says kids are open to everything when it comes to exploring the world around them. "Kids are interested in things that are interesting," he says. Jared Blaut and his wife brought their 2-year-old son, Wilder, to the fair. 21 Things That Will Be Obsolete by 2020.
Activision Shows Off Animated Human That Looks So Real, It's Uncanny. Activision showed off the state of the art of real-time graphics on Wednesday, releasing this mind-boggling character demo. The character's skin, facial expressions and eyes look so real, it's uncanny. When you watch this video, see if you think this character has reached the other side of what's commonly called the "uncanny valley," a term first uttered by early robotics guru Masahiro Mori in 1970. It describes the range of sophistication of animated graphics, from one side of the valley where human figures simply look unrealistic, to the middle of the valley — where they look just realistic enough to be creepy — to our side of the valley, where animation is indistinguishable from reality.
Whenever the uncanny valley is mentioned, the animation techniques from the November, 2004 movie Polar Express come to mind. Most viewers noticed the characters weren't quite photorealistic enough to keep them out of the creepy zone. I think this is impressive, but not perfect yet. A Digital Native's Guide To Playing Outside. What A Digital Native Needs To Know About Playing Outside So you’ve been told to go outside, and you’re not sure what to do. Of course, you’re not happy about it.There’s no electricity outside, no Wi-Fi, and the sun on your iPad screen is just plain awful.
You remember going outside before, but can’t recall much beyond moving from the house to the car to the store back to the car and in the house again—a familiar pattern. Either way, you are quite sure that being outside sucks. After all, your parents get to stay inside—why should you have to go outside? There’s nothing to do, and you’ll be bored. Have a seat. Getting Ready Before you open the door, shield your eyes with your forearm; the sun (that large, hot ball of fire in the sky) is bright. You interact with “outside” different than a computer or tablet—multitasking here is a matter of walking and talking, or throwing a baseball and laughing.
Observe Nature Beginning to Interact Careful. Knocking on doors. If they do answer? Other Factors. 10 things about being an artist that art teachers don't tell you. There are many misconceptions about the art world. Ask someone to describe what it means to be an artist, and they will probably paint a picture of one of two extremes.
There is no perceived middle ground, no stability, no security: there are simply those who make it, and those who don't. The quintessential artist-failure is dedicated, talented, yet tragically unappreciated. Regrettably, their work acquires value only after their death. The other extreme is the artist-celebrity. The conceptualists, the YBAs, the Damien Hirsts – these cunning characters are able to sell anything, particularly if it has some kind of biological waste product artfully smeared across it. If popular opinion is anything to go by, the creative sector is a huge gamble, braved only by reckless, or masochistic, individuals. I've completed three years at art school, and am now an MA student, and as far as I can see – no, it doesn't.
Here are 10 honest truths about work, life and leisure in the creative industry. 1. Digital Legacy: Lesson Plans. Today I will be working with a group of students at Ute Meadows Elementary on the idea of creating and tending their Digital Legacy (or what some people call their a Digital Footprint or Digital Identity). Here are the lesson plans for just such an event: There is a new type of reputation out there. It lingers and builds long after you you have stopped caring about it.
Managing it is hard. AmigurumiPatterns.net - Discover and download the most wonderful amigurumi patterns! Xfactorcomms.visibli. Stella Artois ads make you think print. This summer, Stella Artois been running a campaign in magazines, newspapers and outdoor, supporting their "Live Film" initiative. The ads are like a "Where's Waldo" of film trivia.
All portray typically English scenes that have been invaded by characters, props and scenarios from classic films. Each of the three ads contains approximately 20 films. The campaign aims to entice drinkers with prizes including DVDs and a holiday in San Francisco. Ed Morris, executive creative director of Lowe, the agency which created the adverts, said: "A promotion is quite a hard sell, so we wanted to aim for something big. "There are some we knew ourselves and some we researched, so that people would immediately recognise some and be drawn in by others which are more subtle. St. Spokesperson for Bass Ireland, who have Stella Artois in their stable of drinks, Brian Houston, described the lager's first outdoor campaign as a "thinking man's ad" which has "stirred up so much interest it's unbelievable".
Vibrating tattoo alerts patent filed by Nokia in US. 20 March 2012Last updated at 11:11 ET Nokia's patent suggests magnetic tattoos could replace passwords on its future devices Vibrating magnetic tattoos may one day be used to alert mobile phone users to phone calls and text messages if Nokia follows up a patent application. The Finnish company has described the idea in a filing to the US Patent and Trademark Office. It describes tattooing, stamping or spraying "ferromagnetic" material onto a user's skin and then pairing it with a mobile device.
It suggests different vibrations could be used to create a range of alerts. The application lists Cambridge-based Zoran Radivojevic as the innovation's lead inventor. It suggests a magnetic marking could be attached to either a user's arm, abdominal area, finger or fingernail. "Examples of... applications may be low battery indication, received message, received call, calendar alert, change of profile, eg based on timing, change of time zone, or any other," the filing reads. 'Invasive procedure' 10 Fun Questions Kids Can Answer with Wolfram. Posted by Here at Wolfram|Alpha we’re always asking questions and seeking answers in an effort to make all of the world’s knowledge computable and understandable by everyone (big or small). We’ve put together a short list of common questions asked by preschool- and kindergarten-aged children that can be answered with Wolfram|Alpha. We hope these examples inspire your child to dream up more! Is the Moon bigger than the Earth?
Ask Wolfram|Alpha to compare “size of earth, size of moon”, and you’ll discover numerical and graphic size comparisons showing that the Earth is indeed larger than the Moon. Chances are your little artists will discover the answer to this question on their own, but they can try asking Wolfram|Alpha what color they get when they “mix red and blue”? Whether it’s because they’re excited about the party or just turning a year older, the birthday countdown is always on!
Are there other people who have my name? Working on number recognition or basic addition and subtraction? Optix mural by Bristol street artist Richt. In the not so distant past street art and graffiti was mainly thought of as a form of vandalism which occurred purely as a means to destroy or deface public and private property. These days however street art is more commonly appreciated and accepted as “the people’s art”, and although still illegal has had more exposure than ever, with artists such as Bristol street artist Banksy and creator of the Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster Shepard Fairey achieving worldwide fame and notoriety. The work of both these artists and more has now found its way into the major art galleries and museums and are placed on equal terms next to the ‘classic’ pieces of their time. On the national street art scene, Bristol has become an epicentre boasting an amazing amount of talented artists who produce work that can be viewed and enjoyed by everybody.
One of the major players in the Bristol street art scene is Richt – part of the What Collective alongside 45RPM, Sainty, Sums, Howl and Gumbo. Visit Richt's blog. Student Inspires Educators to Think Outside the Ban. 10 technologies that will change the world in the next 10 years. As computational power rises exponentially, not linearly, so does the rate of change -- and that means the next 10 years should pack in far more technological change than the last 10. Disruptive technology is, by its very nature, unpredictable, but it is still possible to look at the work being done by R&D labs around the world and see clues as to what the future holds. That's the full-time job of Dave Evans, Cisco's chief futurist and chief technologist for the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG). At Cisco Live, Evans outlined what he believed to be the top 10 trends that will change the world in 10 years.
Here is his list, with commentary augmented by yours truly based on interviews in the past year with numerous other industry analysts and visionaries. To continue reading, register here to become an Insider It's FREE to join No. 1: The Internet of Things We have passed the threshold where more things are connected to the Internet than people. Using Lego as the building blocks of movie making. 18 August 2011Last updated at 03:23 By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News WATCH: LJ Rich joins the singers who have become Lego pop video stars at the hands of animator Chris Salt A brick does not move.
Its very immobility is its defining characteristic. The same is generally true of Lego. They do that when they are in the hands and before the camera lenses of the growing number of people making brick films. "Lego makes it a lot easier to throw things together," said veteran brick film maker Chris Salt. This solves one of the big obstacles that prevents people getting into stop motion animation - the huge effort required to create a set, characters and props before even a single frame of film is shot. Many film makers like using Lego because all the bits are made to a consistent scale Contemplating the scale of that pre-production task stopped Chris from trying it himself - despite being a big fan of animation.
But serendipity revealed how to overcome that obstacle. Film focus. Draw a Stickman. England's regional accents: Geordie's still alreet. Michael Morpurgo — News — Read Michael's Dimbleby Lecture in full. Thursday, 10th April 2014 A new abridgement of Michael Morpurgo’s moving World War 1 story Private Peaceful in 13 episodes is available to download from the BBC School Radio website. During the passing hours of an all-night vigil Private Thomas Peaceful recalls the events of his young life his school days, family life in a tied cottage on a country estate, love for a girl called Molly. And later, how he and his elder brother, Charlie, enlist and are posted to France, the hardship of life in the trenches and the terrible event that the morning will bring. “Tommo’s journey from agricultural labourer to cannon fodder is movingly told… Michael Morpurgo is expert at getting through to his readers.
He writes here about events that should never be forgotten nor forgiven, and does so most effectively.” Independent “Full of warmth as well as grief, conveying vividly how precious it is to be alive…” Sunday Times This series will be available until 26 May. ‹ Back to News. Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education. If You Printed The Internet … 88 Ways To Make A Stranger Smile. Post written by: Marc Chernoff Email Don’t wait for people to smile. Show them how. Let your guard down. Talk to someone you don’t know straight from your heart. Compliment them. Remember, your best friend was once a stranger too. Love whoever is around to be loved. Smile often.Hold a door open for someone.Pay for the person in line behind you.Send a hand-written thank you card to someone who assisted you with something.Clean out all your old clothes and donate them to someone in need.Give a compliment about a waiter, waitress, sales clerk, etc. to his or her manager.Compliment a stranger’s appearance.
And above all, live proudly. Photo by: Thomas Hawk If you enjoyed this article, check out our new best-selling book. And get inspiring life tips and quotes in your inbox (it's free)... M.guardian.co.uk. Twitter may be harder to resist than alcohol because giving in to the desire seems 'low cost', researchers said. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Tweeting or checking emails may be harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, according to researchers who tried to measure how well people could resist their desires. They even claim that while sleep and sex may be stronger urges, people are more likely to give in to longings or cravings to use social and other media. A team headed by Wilhelm Hofmann of Chicago University's Booth Business School say their experiment, using BlackBerrys, to gauge the willpower of 205 people aged between 18 and 85 in and around the German city of Würtzburg is the first to monitor such responses "in the wild" outside a laboratory.
The results will soon be published in the journal Psychological Science. "Modern life is a welter of assorted desires marked by frequent conflict and resistance, the latter with uneven success," said Hofmann. Starry Night (interactive animation) What's Smaller Than Apple? [Infographic] Apple’s (AAPL) market cap recently hit $370 billion US dollars. This is an amount that may not seem that large when compared with the $700 billion bank bailout of 2008. Looking at it next to other things, such as the size of certain industries and government programs, and you may be surprised. Infographic by Visual.ly The US retail industry for prok is $30 billion, cattle is $74 billion and poultry $45 billion – all of which total $149 billion, or $181 billion dollars less than Apple’s value.
Even the 10 largest software companies’ revenues combined are smaller than Apple. All the federal taxes paid by all corporations in 2010 are $198 billion compared to Apple’s $370 billion. The US pharmaceutical market also comes closer to Apple’s revenues, but is still shy by $81 billion dollars. Even Apple beats out itself, as the Apple of previous years has been smaller than Apple today. So the question then becomes, what’s bigger than Apple? Things you can't live without - Hidden heroes gallery. iPhone » Work.