How to Make Observations like a Scientist Many of science’s most important breakthroughs, from the discovery of microorganisms to the theory of evolution, have come about through observation. The scientist’s gaze is clearly a powerful tool for making sense of how the world works. But it is not the same as “everyday observation,” as Catherine Eberbach and Kevin Crowley call the kind of casual looking done by those of us who don’t wear lab coats. (MORE: Brilliant: Why Floundering is Good) First, scientists train their attention, learning to focus on relevant features and disregard those that are less salient. (MORE: Brilliant: Learning Can Be Passive) While casual observers simply sit back and watch what unfolds, scientific observers come up with hypotheses that they can test. Lastly, Eberbach and Crowley note that while novices use observation to collect information and then move on, scientists return to observing again and again, engaging in the cycle of observing, recording, testing, and analyzing many times over.
Automation News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo SExpand @macrumpton: Click the image for the full size to see what I'm talking about. Here's a side-by-side shot of Miro and MPC, both playing the same frame of "Pioneer One" S01E01 720p (h264) mkv file. Even if you don't want to go the media center route, and are content with Miro for downloading, I highly suggest you get a good graphics card (if you need one) and a separate program to decode and play back the files. Miro is not comparable to a true Media Center by any stretch of the imagination. Things Miro is lacking: • Good support for remotes and internet/eventserver based control for phones. • Proper databasing (sort by name, aired date, release date, actor, genre, MPAA/TV rating, duration...) • Auto-discovery of missing supplemental media (Fanart, screen caps, cover art, subtitles and lyrics etc.) • Boot as an OS for HTPCs • User login with parental controls • Scripting and skinning extensability • Media flagging
Spotify - Large Scale, Low Latency, P2P Music-on-Demand Streaming by Gunnar Kreitz, Fredrik Niemelä Published in Proceedings of IEEE P2P'10 Abstract Spotify is a music streaming service offering low-latency access to a library of over 8 million music tracks. The service currently has a user base of over 7 million and has been available in six European countries since October 2008. Download thinkery: Take Notes, Save Webpages & URLs For Later While Browsing With the massive amount of information online, sometimes we just can’t keep track of all important and interesting content that we come across. This is where thinkery can help you out. This handy web application makes life easier by letting you focus on the important content, and access it instantly at any later time. Basically, thinkery is a bookmarklet available for all browsers (and an extension for Chrome) that allows you to quickly capture anything that comes to your mind, and save content that you come across on the web for future reference. The Chrome extension for the service adds a button to the toolbar, which, when clicked, saves the page, complete with the option to add tags, edit the URL or add notes. You will find a menu, URLs, titles and the actual content in thinkery’s slick interface. thinkery is a neat service that works seamlessly and can be quite useful for people who need to quickly save web content on the go. Install thinkery For Google Chrome Advertisement
Automation News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo @Domo: That's what he gets for being too slow! @Navin R Johnson: Couple of flaws with that. 1. They can take off their mask and get more 2. @BigCanada: 1. 2. I envision a system that recognizes that a group has arrived, estimates the number of people (erring on the high side) and dispenses candy. Voice prompting from the system will help the trick-or-treators to know what to do. Multiple trips to the door will result in multiple candies, yes.
Save interesting articles for later reading on your PC, iOS, or Android device, with ‘Pocket’ If I told you that ‘Pocket’ is the bookmarking service ‘Read it Later’, relabeled and relaunched, would you lose interest in this article? You shouldn’t, because with Pocket not only are the articles that you save bookmarked in the cloud in ‘Read it Later’ or ‘Instapaper’ fashion, but also downloaded in their entirety on your iOS or Android device, such that you are able to read them at any point, even offline. Moreover, the new Pocket implements a handy tagging system, looks very polished and professional, and is completely free on both your desktop and device. There’s lots to like about Pocket. Download to device: no sooner than you save an article or website that it starts downloading on your iOS, iPhone, or Android. Wish list: the ability to share specific tags with other users. Note that Pocket will work with legacy browser extensions that import/export ‘Read it Later’ data, although many of the new features, such as tagging and filtering may not be supported.
Automation News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip - Gizmodo @hahn: I don't know about all that. With the right safeguards in place, I think this would be secure enough for my tastes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Believe it or not, I'd feel a bit more secure with this system (with some tweaks) than a traditional lock-and-key system for the same reason I feel better about having extraneous cards in my wallet: If my phone (or overstuffed wallet) is missing, I'm going to know it.
Track payments and create bill reminders for free at billbaba.com billbaba.com is a personal finance management system online that helps you do things like set reminders to pay bills, keep records of money you’ve lent out, and manage personal financial goals. It’s free to sign up and use the site, all of which is very easy. Ever have a friend tell you something like, “You really should get your finances together.” It’s said out of genuine friendship and concern so you start looking into what to do, and one thing you could do is try billbaba, a free web services that offers various tools to help you do just that. Once you set up an account, you’ll be able to start using the various features of the billbaba site. The first thing I did was to set up various different payments I have to make out every month as reminders. In addition to the reminders, billbaba also helps to keep track of financial goals overall and your progress towards each of them. The other feature I can see myself using in the long term on bilibaba is the goal progress tracking features.