I usually wouldn’t post something like this, as it’s not really technology related, but it’s simply too amazing to let it pass. This video is what “Beautiful” is all about. It really makes you slow down and appreciate what’s around us. For a truly glorious experience, check out the HD version right here.
Ancient Runestone Tells Digital Story
Museums have been using various display technologies to immerse visitors into their exhibits for a while, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as cool as what’s going on at the Randers Kulturhistoriske Museum located in Denmark. Check it out:
As visitors approach the 1000-year-old Mejlbystenen runic stone, an ancient tale of tragedy and grief is projected upon the stone’s surface, which is already cool all by itself. But just when you think everything is over, the projection shifts and enters the visitors’ area, where it waits for visitors to interact with it.
Unfortunately after seeing this, the only thing you’ll be after vising your local museums is dissapointed… unless you live in Denmark that is!
The History of the Internet
The “History of the Internet” is an animated documentary explaining all the events and technologies that led to the invention of the Internet. A fascinating watch!
Logic Bolt: Packing a Pico-Projector into a Phone
Pico-projectors, a.k.a “Pocket Projectors”, have been all the rage over the last few months. It’s easy to see the allure of a fun device the size of a pack or two of smokes that can project SD video or pics onto the nearest wall—once you take into account the fact that the images won’t be very large, or very bright. Do you really need one? Probably not. On the other hand, if one came packed into your cell, wouldn’t it be cool? Enter the Logic Bolt, with quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, 3MP cam, and a cool LED PJ that can project an image of from 36 to 64 inches, and you’ve got just the thang to show the world your Ex in all the naked glory she / he was born with!
[Via the kind folks at Gizmodo]
Sharp Debuts XV-Z15000 “Value” 1080p DLP Front Projector
By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
The under $3000 full-HD front projector space is hugely crowded, these days—almost exclusively by LCD projectors. Sharp is aiming to change that, offering a new “value” $2999 front PJ (However, it is much, much cheaper at Amazon.com!) based around Texas Instruments’ new 0.65″ DLP Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD) chip. Touting a dynamic iris (yay!) for on/off contrast spec’d at 30,000:1, the Sharp looks promising at first glance. Now that LCD and LCoS display technologies largely have matched or even well-surpassed the once-king DLPs in terms of actual contrast and shadow detail, however, one questions the “advanced” benefits DLP now offers, especially in the low-end PJ market: for the XV-Z15000 still can’t begin to compete with the LCDs, for example, in terms of living-room-friendly placement flexibility…perhaps the single most important component of “SAF,” or “Spouse Acceptance Factor.”
It has limited throw-range and ZERO lens shift, either vertical (necessary) or horizontal (highly desirable); it’s “automatic” keystone adjustment, designed to auto-compensate for the inevitable off-center placement, is of highly dubious utility, given the huge image-degradation such correction causes. Still, if that’s a sliding lens cover I see, à la Sanyo PLV-Z2000 (ahem, LCD and streeting for under $2000!), well, that’s nice…but for those of us hoping Sharp might hit one outta the park in the value PJ segment, looks like this is merely a foul tip…
[Via cnet]
Burn 10 Facebook friends to cook up a free Whopper
It’s a new year, and chances are that at least some of you have made a resolution to avoid fast food or red meat. Burger King knows this, and they’re apparently seeking to head off this mass migration towards healthiness by offering an alternative resolution: delete 10 of your Facebook friends instead, and they’ll give you a free Whopper. You know that in the throes of your Web 2.0 addiction you’ve accepted way too many friend requests — and now is the time to trim the fat, as it were.
Burger King has created a Facebook application called Whopper Sacrifice. Install the app, then delete 10 friends — and Burger King will send you a coupon for a free Whopper! It’s easy! Um, except that the Flash app crashes in Google Chrome (for me, anyway). Oh well, I couldn’t think of ten friends that I wanted to burn anyway — yes, I’ve been a good social media boy.
As of this writing, over 9000 friends have been sacrificed, according to Burger King’s site.
You’re limited to one coupon per person, so you have to weigh the loss of ten friends against only one Whopper. What am I saying?! Who wouldn’t kill ten friends for a Whopper? I wonder if you can uninstall the app after you get your coupon, and then refriend those people? Of course, in the mean time they get to see just how much you love them: your activity feed says “<user> sacrificed <supposed friend> for a free Whopper.” Just see if they’ll accept your friend request after receiving that gut punch — or should I say “paunch”: a Whopper sans cheese has 40 grams of fat (1.5 of which are trans fats), 51 grams of carbs, and a “whopping” 680 calories.
Yelp review spurs test case for online defamation
By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Popular review site Yelp is a great place to get that anger off your chest about how you were treated by a crappy, overpriced restaurant or any other vendor/service provider, but a lawsuit filed last February may chill out some of those heated reviews in the future.
Christopher Norberg of San Francisco is being sued for defamation regarding a negative review he posted on Yelp about a Dr. Biegel of the Advanced Chiropractic Center in that same lovely City by the Bay. I obtained a copy of that review from Christopher’s lawyer, Michael Blacksburg — but I won’t repost it here to avoid creating any legal troubles of our own. To summarize, Christopher related a dispute over billing after being treated for injuries resulting from his being hit by a car. He says that he expected a bill for $125, but received one for over $500 — apparently due to delays in payment caused by Mr. Norberg not having health insurance and having to sue the driver of the car to get reimbursed. Eventually, the doctor accepted $125, but the experience left such a (figurative) pain in Christopher’s backside that he decided to vent about it on Yelp.
That review was included as Exhibit A in the original filing of the defamation suit against Christopher. Since that time, Christopher removed his review and replaced it with a more carefully worded version.
Now I’m no lawyer, but I believe that in order to obtain damages, Dr. Biegel’s lawyer (Eric L. Nordskog) will have to prove that the original review includes knowingly incorrect statements of fact that are defamatory. For instance, if the phone calls Christopher mentioned in the review never happened, or the conversations were materially different than represented. According to the original filing (also obtained from Christopher’s lawyer), Dr. Biegel claims that all but a few phrases of the review is false.
You might argue that any posting on Yelp or similar sites should be taken as opinion by definition. But just as in any other publicly available medium, if you include facts they’d better be solid. Should the court decide in favor of the plaintiff, this could have wide implications for not only sites like Yelp, but also for posts and comments on blogs and other forums (I know I’m going to revisit my old reviews to look for ostensible facts that might be shaky). The case is scheduled to go before the San Francisco Superior Court on March 2, 2009.
In the long run, I think that the negative publicity from this suit may do far more damage to Dr. Biegel’s business than Christopher’s original one-star review. Personally, I wouldn’t want to have that doctor’s hands around my neck — but that’s just my opinion.
All Things JVC – Japanese Victor Corp. Aiming To Become a Major CE Player, Again
By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
JVC has kept a relatively low consumer electronics profile in recent years—especially compared to its glory days—e.g. basically taking a “wait-and-see” attitude during the recent Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format war, certainly failing to keep up with its competitors on most audio/video technologies. Their HDTV offerings have been less restrained (their current L-CoS front projectors still remain the PJs to beat in terms of actual, observable contrast/shadow detail, for example). However, JVC apparently is out to give its competitors battle on multiple fronts, if their flurry of product rollouts is any indication.
Order your Force-Training Star Wars Kit Today!
Fear not my young apprentices! With the new force training kit, the force shall soon be strong in you!
Does that make me sound like a delusional loon? Yeah, I thought so too…
The Force Trainer, which is expected to sell for around $100, is a headset that allows you to use brain waves to manipulate a sphere located inside a 10-inch-tall transparent tube, just like Yoda did with Luke’s ship in Star Wars episode V.
If you’re wondering if you’ll be able to choke people from a distance after a few weeks of training, the answer is fortunately no. The device reads your brain activity, a bit like an EEG medical test, and then transfers it to a remote, which blows some air up and makes the sphere float inside the tube. As you become better, the unit will cue you in to help you progress to a new level of proficiency (from “Padawan” to “Jedi Master.”) Sounds fun doesn’t it? Unfortunately, there’s no word about availability or release date as of yet.
[Via USA Today]
FREE Nationwide VoIP Long-distance with Ooma’s Telo Cordless Phone
By Will Sullivan
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
If you live in the U.S., how does “free long distance telephony” grab ya? If sales of the $20/yr. Magic Jack are any indication—the #1 “hottest holiday gadget” according to NPR’s gadget guy—then totally free VoIP LD oughta kick up a veritable buttload of interest. Boasting DECT 6.0 protocol compatibility—for extended, interference-free range—up to six handsets per system, connected phone book, mobile transfer, speakerphone, and voice mail, Ooma’s new Telo looks to be quite the impressive bit of tele-kit. Back to that “mobile transfer” part…Engadget quotes CMO Rich Buchanan: “[The Telo] helps combine the home phone and cell phone so you can enjoy the benefits of both without any compromises.” We’ll see if we can’t discover more about just how this works…stay tuned!