Want Siri for Android? Try Vlingo [Infographic] While Siri isn’t perfect, the voice-controlled assistant is definitely an innovative feature of the iPhone 4S and it’s something that may make Android fans jealous. While we’ve seen some Siri competitors on Android before, we’ve been fans of Vlingo for a long time and the company just put out an infographic about why it offers more features than Siri. The funny thing is that both Siri and Vlingo are now connected through Nuance, as this company provides the voice-recognition technology for Apple’s iPhone 4S and it just acquired Vlingo. Still, the infographic is interesting to see and if you’re on an Android phone and want a taste of voice controls, feel free to download Vlingo here. About The Author Marin Perez Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. Sell Your Old Cell Phone for Cash Buy a New Cell Phone
Birds evolving faster in Americas, study says - Technology & Science The rate of evolution of birds appears to be accelerating, particularly in North and South America, says new research based on a genetic family tree of every bird species known to man. Using a genetic map of 9,993 bird species, a team of researchers — including scientists at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University — found that the rate of bird diversification is increasing, particularly in North America, parts of Asia and South America. "We find that birds have undergone a strong increase in diversification rate from about 50 million years ago to the near present," the scientists say in a study published in the journal Nature today. Based on previous studies, the researchers expected to reach the opposite conclusion and find that the rate at which new bird species proliferate would diminish over time, in part as a result of human impacts on natural habitats. "Perhaps birds are special," said Mooers in a statement. Changing climate may play a role, researchers say
USB Stick Contains Dual-Core Computer, Turns Any Screen Into an Android Station | blog Is that a USB key in your pocket or a dual-core computer? Today, Norwegian company FXI technologies showed off a USB stick-sized portable computer prototype, complete with a dual-core 1.2-GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU (same as in the Galaxy S II), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out and a microSD card slot for memory. Codenamed Cotton Candy because its 21 gram weight is the same as a bag of the confection, the tiny PC enables what its inventor calls “Any Screen Computing,” the ability to turn any TV, laptop, phone, tablet, or set-top box into a dumb terminal for its Android operating system. The Cotton Candy has a USB 2.0 connector on one end and an HDMI jack on the other.
Print - 110 Predictions For the Next 110 Years · People will be fluent in every language. With DARPA and Google racing to perfect instant translation, it won't be long until your cellphone speaks Swahili on your behalf. · Software will predict traffic jams before they occur. · Climate-controlled jackets will protect soldiers from extreme heat and cold. · Nanoparticles will make chemotherapy far more effective. · Electric cars will roam (some) highways. · Athletes will employ robotic trainers. · Bridges will repair themselves with self-healing concrete. · Digital "ants" will protect the U.S. power grid from cyber attacks. · Scrolls will replace tablets. Your Car Will Be Truly Connected As we branch out as a species, it's quite reasonable to think that we'll send 3D printers to other planets to print habitats for humans prior to our arrival. — Dave Evans, Chief Technology Officer and Resident Futurist, Cisco Systems · Your genome will be sequenced before you are born. 10 Things That Will Remain the Same · Passwords will be obsolete.
Build your own LCD Video Projector Here are some other LCD projector plans recently mailed to me by somebody, I scanned them in for you: By the time you are done going through all this information, you should be able to build a video projector that will work as well as any one of the brand name LCD video projectors that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, for less than $300. To get started you need to know how these projectors work. Why use an LCD projector over a standard CRT/TV frensnel lens magnified projector? Choosing an LCD monitor for your projector: A decent LCD monitor which ranges in size from 2 to 5 inches diagonally, can be purchased via many internet or traditional vendors for under $100 USD. Here you will find plans, wiring diagrams, and a complete list of all parts & materials needed, with step by step instructions to guide you through the construction process. Where to buy pre-built projectors: You can buy these projectors pre-built. I did a quick search and came up with the following.
10 Futuristic Materials Lifeboat Foundation Safeguarding Humanity Skip to content Switch to White Special Report 10 Futuristic Materials by Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member Michael Anissimov. 1. Aerogel protecting crayons from a blowtorch. This tiny block of transparent aerogel is supporting a brick weighing 2.5 kg. Aerogel holds 15 entries in the Guinness Book of Records, more than any other material. Carbon nanotubes are long chains of carbon held together by the strongest bond in all chemistry, the sacred sp2 bond, even stronger than the sp3 bonds that hold together diamond. “Metamaterial” refers to any material that gains its properties from structure rather than composition. We’re starting to lay down thick layers of diamond in CVD machines, hinting towards a future of bulk diamond machinery. Diamonds may be strong, but aggregated diamond nanorods (what I call amorphous fullerene) are stronger. Transparent alumina is three times stronger than steel and transparent. inShare28 Materials
A Showcase of Workstations that’ll Make You Jealous Whether you’re a designer, developer, animator, or blogger, your workstation plays a major role in how you get things done. Some of us like a neat, clean, and inspiring workspace, while others require a crazy over-the-top hardware configuration. In this article, we’ve compiled a showcase of photos that will give you workstation envy. The thing about workstations is that even if you have a nice one, seeing another awesome setup can make you a bit jealous. About the Author Henry Jones is a web developer, designer, and entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience. Related Posts 389 shares Colorful Logos for Your Inspiration We’ve rounded up some examples of logo designs that make excellent use of color. Read More 745 shares 11 Inspiring Examples of Dark Colors in Web Design Deciding when to go dark can be tricky, but the decision should always be about enhancing the content and the user experience.
How to sail around the world for free: Five ways to live the dream You don't have to be a wealthy yacht owner to sail into the sunset. CNN takes a look at five ways to travel the globe for free. Many private yacht owners offer free food and board for volunteer crew members. "It's not necessary to have sailing qualifications, it's more important to have the right attitude," said Kylie Gretener of findacrew.net. When 84-year-old Alaskan Jo Ryman Scott (pictured) and her 86-year-old husband, Dick, joined a yacht in Greece recently, they had no previous sailing experience. But they were able to help out with some of the cooking and cleaning and had great stories to keep the crew entertained. Queen Sofia of Spain (left) -- pictured with Princess Letizia of Spain (right) and daughter Princess Leonor of Spain -- surely has no trouble finding nannies to look after her grandchildren. Greenpeace is just one environmental organization advertising for volunteers on its research vessels. Open seas Volunteer as crew Be a companion Care for kids Cook up a storm Be a friend
projects Installing NAS4FreeApril 09, 2013 With so many of our memories and purchases existing only in the digital realm, having a reliable method of storing them is essential. We've written a guide to help you to install NAS4Free - free software which provides several methods of protecting your data by mirroring it across multiple disks. NAS4Free is very scalable product supporting both UFS and ZFS, meaning it is a great choice for Mini-ITX systems - which can vary from low power consumption Atoms up to powerful Core i7 and Xeon based systems. Installing NAS4Free Building an XBMC 12 Home Theatre PC with a Mini-ITX motherboardFebruary 28, 2013 We are long time fans of XBMC here at Mini-ITX.com. Here's how to do it. Building an XBMC 12 Home Theatre PC with a Mini-ITX motherboard XBMC Guide updated to version 10.0January 25, 2011 We have updated our guide to building an ION-powered HTPC using XBMC to version 10.0. Building an ION powered HTPC with XBMC Building a Green PCAugust 06, 2010 The "CAUV 2008"
57 startup lessons I am a cofounder of RethinkDB — an open-source distributed database designed to help developers and operations teams work with unstructured data to build real-time applications. There are already very good lists of startup lessons written by really talented, experienced people (here and here). I’d like to add another one. People If you can’t get to ramen profitability with a team of 2 – 4 within six months to a year, something’s wrong. Fundraising If you have to give away more than 15% of the company at any given fundraising round, your company didn’t germinate correctly. Markets The best products don’t get built in a vacuum. Products Product sense is everything. Marketing Product comes first. Sales Sales fix everything. Development Development speed is everything. Company administration Don’t waste time picking office buildings, accountants, bookkeepers, janitors, furniture, hosted tools, payroll companies, etc. Personal well-being Thanks to Michael Glukhovsky for reviewing this post.
Bento Laptop Tablet Hybrid by René Woo-Ram Lee Bento is quite an exceptional and forward thinking concept by René Woo-Ram Lee. It’s quite a plausible scenario that most of use/own a tablet, a PC, external hard drives and a smartphone. Now combine the power of these to have fully customizable Bento Laptop! The Box accommodates all the gear to work as one whole unit or individually; as you see fit. Laptop with 15″ OLED screen11″ tablet and 4″ phone sit in shallow depressionsSolar powered lithium-ion battery1TB SSD drive Designer: René Woo-Ram Lee The Fujitsu branding is evident and rightly so, the concept is a part of the Fujitsu Design Award that is organized by Designboom. From Sand to Processor or How a CPU is made - Intel It is hard to believe that a modern processor (CPU) is the most complex product in the world. What is so complex in this piece of metal? In this article I will try to explain how a modern processer (CPU) is made from the sand. Processor Manufacturing It takes about $ 5 billion dollars to build a processor manufacturing factory. The process of processor manufacturing looks like this: the special equipment is used to grow a mono-crystal of cylindrical shape from the molten silicon. Some Chemistry Lessons Let us take a closer look at the whole process of manufacturing. Originally, it is taken in the form of SiO2 sand, which is in arc furnaces (at the temperature about 1800 ° C) reduced by coke: SiO2 + 2C = Si + 2CO This silicon is called a "technical" and has a purity of 98-99.9%. 3SiCl4 + 2H2 + Si ↔ 4SiHCl3 These recycling reactions that are generated by side silicon-contained materials reduce the cost and eliminate the environmental problems: Photolithography Photo Resist Application Etching
'nesting pc virtual tablet' by sono mocci - 'FUJITSU design award 2011' competition shortlisted entry 'nesting pc virtual tablet' by sono mocci a concept by japanese-born, italy-based designer sono mocci , 'nesting pc virtual tablet' is a combination tablet and data visualization interface with automatic battery charging and data syncing. phones, memory cards, CDs, USB ports, and I/O cables can be plugged directly into the device, where they will show up as images on the touchscreen for easy manipulation and access. the design was shortlisted from over 1000 concepts in our recent designboom competition ' a life with future computing ', organized in collaboration with FUJITSU . the 13-inch concept tablet features a dedicated dock for mobile phones. when inserted, a visualization of the phone onscreen works in the same manner as would the device itself, permitting dialing, calling, texting, and other use. the loading of disk media or flash drives offers a similar intuitive functionality. integrated charging eliminates the need for AC or outlet-specific adapters for these kinds of devices.