We’ve already written about this guy in the past. Remi Gaillard is a renowned French prankster, who, it seems, never managed to get out of his rebellious teen past. Last time, Mr. Gaillard wore a Kangaroo suit and caused all sorts of mischief upon the French population, and now, he tries to reenact a real-life game of Mario Kart.
[Via Neatorama]
We’ve posted this about two years ago while we were hosted at blogger.com, but since it just got updated with new data and visuals, we thought that it was worth sharing again. Shift Happens: Globalization and the Information Age is a video that shows how information evolves around the globe as time flies by.
In the following video presentation, General Motors’s VP of R&D, Larry Burns, previews cool next-gen car design: sleek, customizable (and computer-enhanced) vehicles that run clean on hydrogen — and pump energy back into the electrical grid when they’re idle.
For those of you who are interested, ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley has posted a fairly detailed list of the upcoming changes that will be included with Windows Vista SP2. In addition to all previously released security updates, the new service pack will add some additional features to Vista such as native Blu-Ray support and a new Wi-Fi configuration tool (WCN), just to name a few.
Microsoft is continuing to broaden the pool of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) testers beyond the fairly small, select group who’ve been working with test builds for the past few months. On December 2, Microsoft made the latest beta build of SP2 available for download by any TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers.
Vista SP2: What’s inside? [ZDNet]
The Sci-Fi Channel has opted to pick up the Battlestar Galactica prequel, ‘Caprica’, as a 20-hour series, including the 2-hour pilot. The pilot was originally planned as a movie and has already been shot, and fans eager to see it are now going to have to wait until the 2010 debut of the series. Production doesn’t start until next year.
Here’s a description of the show, from the press release:
Set 50 years before “Battlestar Galactica,” “Caprica” follows two rival families — the Graystones and the Adamas — as they grow, compete, and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics. “Caprica” will deliver all of the passion, intrigue, political backbiting and family conflict in television’s first science fiction family saga. As the series begins, a startling development is about to occur — the creation of the first cybernetic life-form node or “Cylon” — the ability to marry artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies. Joseph Adama (Morales) — father of future “Battlestar” commander William Adama (Najafi) — a renowned civil liberties lawyer, becomes an opponent of the experiments undertaken by the Graystones (Stoltz), owners of a large computer corporation that is spearheading the development of these living robots: the Cylons.
A lot of fans have been critical of the pilot after seeing previews, however, blasting it as a boring family drama with a thin veil of sci-fi. It does appear to be far less dark than Battlestar Galactica, which may very well attract new fans but alienate those who like the current dynamic and don’t want to see it changed. You can see the promo trailer at the Sci Fi Channel website.
Tags: Battlestar Galactica
IBM has just released a ridiculous video listing five innovations it thinks will be commonplace by 2013. I don’t know about you, but this clip makes me think of one of those old mid 1960 documentary that tried to predict how technology would be at the end of the 20th century.
Unveiled today, the third annual “IBM Next Five in Five” is a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. The Next Five in Five is based on market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s Labs around the world that can make these innovations.
[Via Gizmodo]
Personally, I’m not from the “texting” generation, so this doesn’t really apply to me, but what about you, younger [GAS] readers? Have you ever used texting to declare your love to someone, or in the opposite extreme, dump someone to avoid a potentially disastrous situation? The comments section is open for your stories.
These breathing books must be one of the most original and awesome mix of old and new technology I’ve seen in a long time. I’d just love to put one of these on the corner of a table in my living room, invite some friends over, and watch their reaction as they lay their eyes on the thing. Hit the more link for an additional clip.
By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
A new study (PDF) in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that – gasp! – talking on a cell phone while driving might actually be dangerous. Sure, the conclusion is kind of a no-brainer, but the heart of the experiment was to figure out if there’s any difference between chatting with someone on a hands-free phone and chatting with a passenger in the car with you. After all, it seems like the mechanics are basically the same… Wrong! According to the study (which used 41 drivers), talking on the phone made a significant impact on driving, causing them to drift lanes, miss exits, and just generally drive like the jerks that make you yell “GET OFF THE FREAKING PHONE!” to people in front of you in traffic–even without having a phone in their hands. Meanwhile, talking to a passenger in the car had little or no impact.
This fits perfectly with my theory that talking on a cell phone actually actively sucks away at your brain cells. Okay, maybe not… Actually, if you stop to think about it, the findings do make some intuitive sense. It seems to me like an issue of presence–even if you’re talking to someone, if they’re there with you in the car, your attention is still there in the car. The researchers from the study suggest that the driver may even be getting conversational cues about the surrounding traffic from the passenger. After all, your mother sitting on her front porch on her phone isn’t going to shriek, “OH MY GOD, YOU NEARLY CLIPPED THAT 18-WHEELER,” at you while you’re talking to her while driving.
Strangely enough, the study doesn’t address people who text message or check their email while driving. I suspect this is because they’ve all been in horrible traffic accidents already.
[Image Source: Flickr]
For people too busy to enjoy setting up and decorating a real christmas tree, this instant one might actually be a good alternative. I’m not sure if it would look all that nice though – we don’t get any closeup views in the video.