Sebastian Seung is mapping a massively ambitious new model of the brain that focuses on the connections between each neuron. He calls it our “connectome,” and it’s as individual as our genome — and understanding it could open a new way to understand our brains and our minds.
Google TV-Ready Revue for $300 by Logitech
Since Google announced Google TV in May, there’s been a bit of speculation about just when it will be available and how it will work. According to CNN, Logitech has been at the forefront of device manufacturing for Google, but until today details were fuzzy. Well, now we’ve got plenty of details and a price: $300 for the Android-based device. And it’s called the Revue.
The Revue has a few interesting features, including pretty wide integration with Netflix, NBA, Twitter, CNBC, Napster, and Pandora (but not Hulu, at least not yet). Essentially that looks a whole lot like my XBox Live. If you happen to be a Dish Network customer, you don’t have to pay the $300 rate, but you’ll get it at a discounted $179. If you want the additional 6-Inch Mini Controller it’ll set you back another $130—these will work with the iPhone, iPad, and Android systems. If you want to make HD calls, you can also purchase the TV Cam for $150.
While I think Logitech and Google are going in the right direction, concept-wise, the pricetag looks really huge from my perspective. Google’s initial press release sounds promising:
Google TV is based on the Android platform and runs the Google Chrome web browser. Users can access all of their usual TV channels as well as a world of Internet and cloud-based information and applications, including rich Adobe® Flash based content – all from the comfort of their own living room and with the same simplicity as browsing the web. When coupled with the Intel® Atom™ processor CE4100, Intel’s latest system-on-a-chip designed specifically for consumer electronics, the new platform will offer home theatre quality A/V performance.
But, as the CNN article points out: currently the newest AppleTV is $99, and the Roku box for Netflix is $69 and up. And if you’re like me, you just use your XBox to stream and access most of these things well, almost for free. Even if you don’t consider the additional accessories, $300 is a lot of money for a box and a keyboard.
Sony is also getting in on the deal, with “the world’s first Internet television” which will be announced during a press conference next week. CNN reports that it’ll essentially be an HDTV with Google TV support.
While Google TV is interesting, the whole effort does feel a little behind the times considering that many people, at least those of us in the geek contingent, have been doing much the same thing at home for years. But, as with all things, it’s in the hands of the consumers. Many of whom are not geeks. Who knows? Maybe we’re more willing to buy $300 pieces of technology than I think!
You Are Here.
You Dropped Food On The Floor: Do You Eat it?
[Via Buzzfeed]
I Require New Batteries [PIC]
[Via]
Natural Selection at its Finest [Video]
Admire as Mother Nature does her magic with what is called the “natural selection” process.
[Via]
Michigan exposes laughs and concerns in DC election security showdown
Hacking an electronic voting system is illegal, undemocratic, deeply irresponsible, and an affront to everyone who ever fought against tyranny. But done the right way, it can also be funny.
A web-based voting system, designed for District of Columbia voters to cast their ballot from overseas, has been suspended after students at the University of Michigan altered the system to play a song every time somebody cast a vote. (The song in question was “The Victors”, the fight song of Michigan’s sporting teams.)
It should be stressed the students were not acting criminally and were among more than a 100 people asked to test the security and given access to the source code behind the system.
The voting option would have been among the first to take advantage of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, a law passed last year allowing technology to be used to make it easier for people, such as serving soldiers, to vote. Voters in the DC elections will still be able to log on to a website to print out ballots and return them by e-mail, fax or regular mail.
It’s not just the musical interlude that’s caused concern among officials. Testing also showed that Mac users running Safari and viewing and completing the ballot document with Safari’s default built-in PDF viewer would likely not have their vote counted. That particular setup left the ballot document restored to its original, unedited state when the voter saved and submitted it, meaning they would unwittingly cast a blank ballot.
The DC Board of Elections and Ethics says it has ” determined, with the assistance of the public examination community, that the current iteration of the ballot return feature did not meet our security and file integrity standards for the Digital Vote by Mail pilot project.”
The big question, now, is whether or not the decision to start the public testing program on September 24 was too late for a system designed to be used for real voting on November 2.
Wednesday Geeky Pics: Even More Geeky Tattoos
It’s been a while since we brought you a post of geeky tattoos (or more geeky tattoos!) – so here are more of the latest plucked with love from Flickr.
The best part of this binary armband? It reads “this is a binary armband.” – mezdeathhead (CC)
HOW TO: Build a Cheap Burning Laser
Youtube user Styropyro built this cool burning laser out of parts he salvaged from an old computers. Total cost of the project: $3.55. Oh, and if you decide to build one for yourself, be sure to act responsibly and don’t go pointing this thing into people’s eyes.
[Via]
How Much Would You Pay for an E-Book?
The New York Times reported a couple of days ago that for some newly released books on Amazon, the Kindle version actually costs more than the hardcover. For obvious reasons, this has not exactly been well received by their customers. Reviews for James Patterson’s new book Don’t Blink are overwhelmingly concerned with the price rather than the book itself, with a slew of one-star ratings (though one of these unhappy reviewers did note “I read the hardcopy of this and can tell the people who are boycotting the e-book because of the price, that they’re not missing anything”).
Meanwhile, Amazon is blaming the publishers (going so far as to write in italics underneath the $14.99 on the Kindle version this price was set by the publisher) and the publishers are blaming Amazon for lowering hardcover prices too drastically. Though the real victims here seem to be Kindle owners who were relying on that $9.99 price point – or maybe the authors, who now have crappy reviews of their books because of things beyond their control.
So what do you think? Is $14.99 too much for an e-book in general, or only if the hardcover happens to be $14.00? Or what about $19.99 for the Kindle version of Ken Follett’s new book Fall of the Giants? What do you think is the perfect e-book price point?
I own a Kindle, though my purchase choices on it usually have little to do with price – more like whether the book is important enough to me that I want it on my shelf, or if I’d be embarrassed to be seen reading it in public. But I do think I’d be wary about paying more than I’d pay for the hardcover.