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Own Your Own NS-5 Sonny, Or At Least His Head

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:12:54 +0000

By Andrew Liszewski I’ve never read Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, but I can only assume the original book is a lot superior than the I, Robot movie starring Will Smith from a few years ago. As I recall, it wasn’t exactly a hit, whether you’re going by critical acclaim or box office take, so I’m […]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve never read Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, but I can only assume the original book is a lot better than the I, Robot motion picture starring Will Smith from a few years ago. As I recall, it wasn’t exactly a hit, whether you’re going by critical acclaim or box office take, so I’m kind of surprised that someone actually thinks there’s a demand for a replica bust of the movie’s ‘protagonist’ robot known as Sonny. The bust features the same opaque outer housing as the NS-5 robots did in the film, which grants you to kind of see their inner-workings. But for a superior look at what makes him tick you can remove the back of Sonny’s head where you’ll find his brain that actually glows thanks to a set of blue LEDs. The bust is powered by a single 9-volt battery hidden in the base, and is available from the Funshop for about $130.

[ NS-5 Sonny ] VIA [ DVICE ]

Judge Protects YouTube’s Source Code, Throws Users To The Wolves

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:13:14 +0000

The ongoing Google/YouTube-Viacom litigation has now officially spilled over to users with a court order requiring Google to turn over large amounts of user data to Viacom. If the data is actually released, the consequences could be far more serious than the 2006 AOL Search debacle. Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United […]

The ongoing Google/YouTube-Viacom litigation has now officially spilled over to users with a court order requiring Google to turn over big amounts of user data to Viacom. If the data is actually released, the consequences could be far more serious than the 2006 AOL Search debacle.

Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued the view and order, which is here (PDF).

That data includes each YouTube username, the associated IP address and the videos that user has watched on YouTube. Google will also be required to hand over duplicates of every video removed from Youtube for any reason (DMCA notices or user-initiated deletions). Stanton dismissed Google’s argument that the order will violate user privacy, saying such privacy concerns are merely “speculative.”

Meanwhile, the judge denied Viacom’s request that Google turn over YouTube’s source code as it could “cause catastrophic competitive harm to Google by sharing them with others who might create their own programs without making the same investment.”

I have the ability to comprehend why Judge Stanton, who graduated from law school in 1955, may be absolutely and utterly clueless when it comes to on the web video services. But perhaps one of his bright young clerks or interns could have told him that (1) handing over user names and a list of videos they’ve watched to a highly litigious copyright holder is extremely apt to result in lawsuits against those users that have watched copyrighted content on YouTube, and (2) YouTube’s source code is about as valuable as the hard drive it would be delivered on, since the core Flash technology is owned by Adobe and there are countless YouTube clones out there, most of which offer higher quality video.

YouTube’s core value is in it’s network effect - the library of content along with its massive user base.

The privacy fallout of this ruling is spectacular. The EFF has already chimed in, noting that the order is highly apt to be in violation of federal law.

Judge Stanton doesn’t seem to care much about that law, for now. And he clearly doesn’t understand that far more data is being transferred than is necessary to comply with Viacom’s core said concern, which is to comprehend the popularity of copyright infringing v. non-infringing material. Viacom has asked for far more data than that, and there’s only one use for that data: to sue individual users (or shake them down via the threat of lawsuit, which has been perfected by the RIAA) who have watched a few music videos or television shows on YouTube.

I say this with the utmost respect, but Judge Stanton is a moron. And Google simply can’t hand this data over without facing a class action lawsuit of staggering proportions.

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Eco Brolly Turns Anything Into An Umbrella

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:09:49 +0000

By Andrew Liszewski If you’ve ever been caught in a sudden and unexpected downpour (you probably weren’t wearing your weather forecasting Suunto Lumi) you’ll know that a newspaper can make for a half-decent alternative umbrella. But holding it over your head while trying to keep yourself and whatever else you’re carrying dry can be difficult. Enter […]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’ve ever been caught in a sudden and unexpected downpour (you probably weren’t wearing your weather forecasting Suunto Lumi) you’ll know that a newspaper can make for a half-decent alternative umbrella. But holding it over your head while trying to keep yourself and whatever else you’re carrying dry can be difficult. Enter designer Shiu Yuk Yuen’s Eco Brolly concept. Essentially it’s an ultra compact collapsible umbrella frame that’s designed to use newspapers, plastic bags or anything else you can get your hands on to keep you keep dry.

Now obviously newspapers have the tendency to disintegrate when they get wet, but I don’t think the Eco Brolly is designed as a replacement to an actual umbrella. Think of it more as an emergency solution that’s small enough to carry with you on days where there’s a slight chance it could rain. I actually like the concept, particularly since you can just chuck the newspaper into a recycling bin when you get to where you’re going, instead of having to hang it somewhere to dry like with a regular umbrella.

[ Eco Brolly ] VIA [ Yanko Design ]

Sound Chaser Plays Music From Its Vinyl Track

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:13:02 +0000

By Luke Anderson I’ve always been fascinated by the vinyl record. Since I was born in the 80’s, I grew up in the era of the cassette and CD, so those strange black discs were interesting. They somehow played music by having a needle run over them, how strange. Of course I’m older and comprehend the […]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always been fascinated by the vinyl record. Since I was born in the 80’s, I grew up in the era of the cassette and CD, so those strange black discs were interesting. They somehow played music by having a needle run over them, how strange. Of course I’m older and understand the logic behind how they work, and yet somehow I still find them interesting. This Sound Chaser makes them even cooler.

Essentially what you see are several strips of a record that has been cut up and put back together to form a small track. The tiny yellow box on wheels contains a needle and speaker which grants it to play music as it follows the track. How cool is that? Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any plan to release these commercially. It’s probably ideal, since we really don’t want people to go out and cut up all of their old vinyls.

[ Yuri Suzuki ] VIA [ Dvice ]

Honestly Officer, I Didn’t Know What The Speed Limit Was

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:12:53 +0000

By Jonathan Kimak Ok, maybe you’ll tell the police officer that caught you speeding that you didn’t know the speed limit when you really did know. But sometimes you get distracted for a second because you’re switching tracks on your iPod and you miss seeing the sign and the next sign might be 10 miles […]

By Jonathan Kimak

Ok, maybe you will tell the police officer that caught you speeding that you didn’t know the speed limit when you really did know. But sometimes you get distracted for a second because you’re switching tracks on your iPod and you miss seeing the sign and the next sign might be 10 miles away. That one second distraction could cost you hundreds of dollars in speeding tickets.

Vauxhall Motors, a British subsidiary of General Motors, has come up with a camera to repair that problem and possibly save you money. The optional camera takes 30 photos a second and analyzes the pictures with image recognition software to detect all the speed limit signs it passes and then posts the current limit on the dashboard of the automobile.

The system will debut in Vauxhall’s upcoming Insignia sedan and might be available for 2010 models of automobiles in the US. Of course if you do have this in your automobile and are speeding, you’ll have a far harder time trying to explain how you didn’t know the speed limit when you’ve a large light that states 65 on your dash.

VIA [ Kicking Tires ]

Popularity: unranked [?]

European Mobile VoIP Startup Nimbuzz Raises $15 Million

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:13:53 +0000

Mike Butcher at TechCrunch UK reports: Word has reached me that Netherlands-based Nimbuzz, the mobile VoIP and IM startup that extends into social networks, has raised $15 million in a second round led by Naspers/MIH, with Nimbuzz’s other major existing investor Mangrove Capital Partners also participating. It’s already had $10 million from Mangrove (the original Skype […]

Mike Butcher at TechCrunch UK reports:

Word has reached me that Netherlands-based Nimbuzz, the mobile VoIP and IM startup that extends into social networks, has raised $15 million in a second round led by Naspers/MIH, with Nimbuzz’s other major existing investor Mangrove Capital Partners also participating. It’s already had $10 million from Mangrove (the original Skype investor). Apparently deals with 10 major social networks and three operators are already on the table. The latter see these kinds of apps as a way of boosting data use and therefore revenues. The cash will be used to extend to Windows Mobile, iPhone and Android. They are looking at a million registered mobile users so far.

Nimbuzz offers free mobile VoIP, conference calling, IM and group chat and pic and file sending across multiple IM communities, including Skype, MSN, Google Speak, Yahoo!, AIM, Jabber and ICQ, plus 23 social networks, including apps/widgets for Facebook and Myspace.

Read the rest of the entry.

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Yahoo Gets Dumped By Maxim

admin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:15:49 +0000

The indignity of it all. On top of everything else that Yahoo is dealing with right now (testy shareholders, departing executives, reorganized employees), it also just got dumped by Maxim. The magazine’s site, Maxim.com, now uses Quintura to power its search instead of Yahoo. Its sister sites Blender.com and Stuffmagazine.com, will […]

The indignity of it all. On top of everything else that Yahoo is dealing with right now (testy shareholders, departing executives, reorganized employees), it also just got dumped by Maxim.

The magazine’s site, Maxim.com, now uses Quintura to power its search instead of Yahoo. Its sister sites Blender.com and Stuffmagazine.com, will also soon be dumping Yahoo as well. All three sites are operated by Maxim Digital, which is owned by the private equity firm Quadrangle Capital Partners, where former Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig happens to be an operating principal.

Quintura’s search interface creates a semantic tag cloud above the results. By clicking on different tags, users can refine their search and reorder the results.

I’m a big fan of the search tag cloud. But I’m not sure the final results are any better than Yahoo’s, and they certainly take longer to come up. The appeal to publishers like Maxim Digital, though, is that they have the ability to keep searchers on their sites longer by helping visitors find exactly what they’re looking for—which in the case of Maxim readers is “hot girls” and “stupid fun.”

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HD Glasses: Because The Real World Isn’t Clear Enough

admin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:08:55 +0000

By David Ponce What you’re looking at right there my friends… are High Definition Glasses. Wraparounds, no less. Because you see, no one may have told you this yet but that pair of eyeballs stuck in your head, well… it ain’t good enough. It’s 90’s technology, man. And you don’t want to be […]

By David Ponce

What you’re looking at right there my friends… are High Definition Glasses. Wraparounds, no less. Because you see, no one may have told you this yet but that pair of eyeballs stuck in your head, well… it ain’t good enough. It’s 90’s technology, man. And you don’t want to be stuck in the 90’s now, do you? You heard us: all this time you’ve been seeing the world in Low Def. These glasses right there will take care of that problem for you.

Sure, some may say they’re only upconverting the world, but we beg to differ. This is 1080p all the way, baby! Check out these gems from the website:

HD Vision technology gives you clarity that you’ve never experienced.

Enhance your vision.

Just like High Definition TV.

Modern European Style.

It used to be that sticking a lowercase “i” in front of a name was enough to move a product. Seems “HD” is the new “i”… But who can resist that “Modern European Style”? At $20 a pop, they basically sell themselves.

Hit the jump for links, as well as a snazzy video of a similar product (not a wraparound, so not quite as cool… but damn if that’s not an awesome infomercial).

[ Product Page ]

Thanks, Earthworm.

Pluribo Is CliffsNotes For Amazon Reviews

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:11:07 +0000

Amazon’s customer reviews are an indispensable feature on the online mega-store, allowing shoppers to get a quick read on products without having to turn to magazine reviews or external sites like epinions. But many products, particularly electronics, have hundreds of reviews. Who has time to read through them all? Pluribo, a new startup […]

Pluribo, a new startup out of New York, has just released a Firefox extension that looks to filter through the noise of Amazon customer reviews. The plugin automatically culls through every review on a given product and generates a concise two sentence summary that highlights the most common positive and negative comments. For the time being automatic product reviews are restricted to electronics, but the site plans to implement support for other products, like books and kitchen appliances, in the near future.

Beyond providing a condensed summary, Pluribo also tries to justify its conclusions. To see the plugin’s explanation, users need only mouse-over one of the underlined terms, which will generate a list of excerpts from the relevant reviews. For example, hovering over “This product scratches easily” will show a list of quotes that contain phrases related to scratches, scuffs, and other similar terms.

So does it work? Sort of, but I wouldn’t go by Pluribo’s word alone. The system seemed to work well enough for ruling out obviously bad choices, but when it comes down to making a final selection, it’s best to turn to the reviews themselves. Pluribo doesn’t always seem to catch the most obvious problems, and the quotes it uses to justify its conclusions don’t always make sense. There’s also no way to tell which products Pluribo has indexed without opening each individual product page.

It’s also unlikely that many people will be willing to install a Firefox extension to get reviews from Amazon alone(the company says more stores are on the roadmap). Even with its problems, Pluribo is a handy tool and one that could gain some traction once it expands its supported product base.

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