Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Web

The Cryoscope: A Haptic Weather Forecasting Device [Video]

Geeks are Sexy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:00:16 +0000

The Cryoscope shows the user exactly what to expect outside by haptically exhibiting exactly how cold or warm it is to be outside. The user simply touches an aluminum cube that has been heated or cooled to the appropriate temperature. The unit fetches weather data from the internet, and translates it to the cube physically, pumping heat in or out of the cube.

[Robb Godshaw]

Oh, Internet – A love song [Video]

Geeks are Sexy — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:00:42 +0000

This began as my Anti-SOPA song…but turned into so much more…

[MyHarto]

Digitals: A Musical Ode to Information Overload

Geeks are Sexy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:18 +0000

One day I got an email, an sms, a phone call, a Facebook message and two tweets all within about 5 seconds of one another. This video is a re-manifestation of my brain’s interpretation of that event.

[Via The Awesomer]

This Should Be Facebook’s New Official Anthem! [Video]

Geeks are Sexy — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:26 +0000

Haven’t you heard? Like Like Like Like Like. Also, gotta love the stalker at around 0:33.

[Via Neatorama]

PRO-CRAS-TI-NA-TION [Video]

Geeks are Sexy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:00:13 +0000

A short motion graphics piece about procrastination. A topic that is definitely fitting (or once was) to my lifestyle. I hope you enjoy!

[Ryan Perera]

Superheroes on Twitter [Video]

Geeks are Sexy — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:00:26 +0000

Batman and Supes review the fine points of social media while hanging out in their favorite café.

Thanks Mark!

Europe to Google: Hold your Horses

JLister — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:54 +0000

European privacy officials have demanded that Google put planned privacy policy changes on hold until they can check that the new rules comply with local laws.

The demand comes from the Article 29 Working Party. That’s not a legal organization in itself, but rather a group made up of the data protection authorities in each of the European Union’s member countries. The group itself doesn’t have enforcement powers, so this is more of a co-ordinated warning of potential individual action.

The new Google policy is set to take effect on March 1st and contains two main changes. Firstly, the existing collection of 70 separate policy documents, each covering an individual service, is to be reduced to 11. That will include one master policy that covers most services, with the remaining 10 requiring individual policies for legal reasons. Google says this change will make it easier for users to keep track of the way it behaves.

The second change is that Google is now claiming the right to treat all data it collects about a user from across its services as a single record. From a user perspective, this could mean for example that the contents of your Gmail messages influences the ads you see on YouTube, the clips you view on YouTube influences your autocomplete suggestions when searching, and the sites you visit most often could even influence your dictionary suggestions in Gmail.

Of course, this also means Google will have even more accurate and detailed information with which to sell advertising. It also potentially increases the risk of inappropriate data use according to privacy campaigners.

The changes have already prompted a hostile advertising campaign by Microsoft which effectively accuses Google of compromising user privacy for the sake of profit.

Although Google doesn’t have to take notice of the European request, and it seems unlikely it will delay the changes at this stage, it has said it’s happy to talk to authorities about its policies. Between European governments being particularly unhappy with the debacle of Google unintentionally collecting Wi-Fi data through its Street View work, and European Union officials proposing a major overhaul of online data protection laws including giving users the right to demand a company delete all data about them, now wouldn’t be a smart time for Google to pick a fight.

The Facebook Post with a Million Replies

Rodney Brazeau — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:57 +0000

Facebook is all full of firsts. The groundbreaking website that defined modern social media has set a new record as a post has reached One Million Replies, officially setting a world record.

JustaGuyThing says:

on October 31st, 2011, a post was, er, posted, with the goal of reaching as many comments as the Frontierville Fan Group page could possibly muster. Only 100 or so different people commented, and those that did posted an average of over 9,500 times apiece. Needless to say, this wasn’t generated by a hilarious joke, powerful opinion, and certainly not sheer popularity. No sir. This was done by brute force and willpower.

Facebook has become such a social hub for so many, and it was only a matter of time before a benchmark like this was achieved.

But it was a thread about Frontierville? This game woudln’t exist if it wasn’t trying so hard to replicate the success of its predecessor Farmville. Oh, you don’t care about that game either? Odd that.

This is exactly my point. If this incredible landmark achievement was on a near endless thread about solving world hunger, or sharing ideas for a renewable energy source, I could see it having value. But this is like getting a Guiness Book of World Records for passing gas for the millionth time.

While it is an elite few that get recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records, and it’s not something that anyone can take away from them, I have to wonder if these intrepid facebookers are actually proud of this crowning achievement?

[Editor's note: And when I think that this group only has 1141 fans... Imagine the greatness we could achieve with our 260k-fan-strong page! Ok, let's all work to bring this post above 1 MILLION LIKES! (Below!) GO GEEKS! :) ]

My Understanding of Google’s New Privacy Policy [Comic]

Geeks are Sexy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:00:26 +0000

[Source: Doghouse Diaries]

Social Media “Gurus” Defined [Comic]

Geeks are Sexy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:47 +0000

Yes, I know, I’m a terrible person, thank you for not reminding me. :)

[Source: Toothpaste For Dinner | Via CB]

Search With Your Eyes! Well…Your Smartphone Eyes.

Daljeet — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:30 +0000

Tom seems to be getting the idea – who needs to fall asleep in boring lectures
when you can add dinosaurs, Yoda, and the Tasmanian devil to the scene.

In a world where we’re too lazy to get off the sofa just to get another drink, technology steps up…and encourages us to be even lazier.

Information hunger will never be sated and the future of the information hunt can be found in the burgeoning trend: “Point-Know-Buy.”

Our fun friends at trendwatching.com have decreed that in the coming months, the searching by typing out a few keywords into a google field will become an archaic mode of access. Telling someone to jfgi may end up being as much of a quip as saying, “Go look in the goddamned Library catalogue.”

What we’ll be able to do now is use our handy little smart phones to point at things, get it to identify what the hell they are, and then get it to tell us all about it. What it is, where it’s from, who’s it made by and where to buy it! Why bother scanning through pages of text in a google search when you can just play with the pretty pictures and get the same results?

Breaking it down for us, there’s apps like Shazam which can identify music you hear (from personal experience – an amazing app!) and Heinz’s ‘augmented reality recipe book’ that will cause recipes to sprout from a picture of your favourite Heinz product.

There’s also amazingly practical apps like VizWiz which helps out blind people ‘see’ the world by informing them of what’s on the screen. Pretty snazzy.

So whaddya think? Shall we throw out the keyboard, plug in the smartphone, and enter an “augmented reality”?

[Via trendwatching.com]

How To Remove Ads From Videos

Geeks are Sexy — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:00:29 +0000

[Via]