Wolves r going 2 eat me, LOL

A Swiss biologist is developing a system that will alert shepherds via text message when their sheep are under threat from wolves. Eventually the system could actively deter the wolves from attacking.

The work is designed to tackle a significant problem with sheep either perishing in a wolf attack, or simply being do frightened that they break out of their surroundings and flee. The idea is to use a special collar with a heart rate monitor that would then sent a text to shepherds if the sheep’s heartrate rose for a sustained period.

Initial testing involved 12 sheep and two muzzled Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs, a breed that was intentionally developed in the 1950s from German Shepherds and wolves for use in law enforcement, the idea being to combine the physical attributes of a wolf with the ability of dogs to be trained

The testing showed that the system should work particularly well with sheep: even the simulated attack caused their heart rate to rise from 60-80 beats per minute up to 225 bpm, which should be detectable without the risk of false alarms.

The project is the work of Jean-Marc Landry of KORA, a biology research group specializing in carnivores. Landry says he plans to start developing collars later this year, with the plan of testing a final prototype in 2013.

As well as the text messaging tool, the final versions of the collars could also automatically trigger either a sound to deter the wolves, or emit a repellant spray that would likely be non-lethal.

Cost could come into play as the spray would only work if the wolf was close to the sheep, meaning every sheep would need the collar; there could be similar problems with the sound technique depending on how far it traveled.

In theory though, the text message tool might only need a sample of the sheep as it would only take one frightened sheep to trigger the alert. Whether that’s a cost-effective saving would depend on how quickly the shepherd would be able to respond.

(Image credit: Peter Gordois)

The Avengers As 2012 Olympians [Pics]

deviantARTIST scargeear created these images of The Avengers – and even Coulson (yay!) and Loki – as 2012 Olympians.

The depictions are so obvious – yet clever – it’s surprising we haven’t seen them sooner! The Olympics would never be the same if superheroes entered the Games (talk about unfair!) — but it would be awesome as heck to watch!

Anyone up for the 2016 Superhero Olympics??

[Via Wanna Go to the Movies]

NASA’s Curiosity’s Descent on Mars + First Color Picture Taken by the Rover [Video + Picture]

This stop-motion video shows the 297 pictures that were taken by the Mars Descent Imager as it “dropped” NASA’s Curiosity rover down on the surface of Mars.

Yeah, I know, we don’t see much, but hey, this is still better than nothing! In addition to the video, here’s the first color picture that was taken by the rover on the surface of the planet.

This view of the landscape to the north of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity was acquired by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the afternoon of the first day after landing. (The team calls this day Sol 1, which is the first Martian day of operations; Sol 1 began on Aug. 6, 2012.)

In the distance, the image shows the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. The image is murky because the MAHLI’s removable dust cover is apparently coated with dust blown onto the camera during the rover’s terminal descent. Images taken without the dust cover in place are expected during checkout of the robotic arm in coming weeks.

[Source: NASA]

EA Sues Zynga for their Copycat of The Sims Social

So it seems Zynga has finally bitten off more than they can chew, and are having to face allegations of copying and repackaging games to make its gazillions of dollars.

No one can deny that Zynga games are popular – I myself play the various “with friends” games on my phone. But there also seems to be quite a popular belief that Zynga is evil – and gaming giant Electronic Arts is calling them on it.

In a glorious 50-page complaint (that you can read here), EA outlines exactly how Zynga’s new game The Ville was a complete and total rip-off of The Sims Social by EA. While I have to admit that I haven’t read the whole thing, I wouldn’t be surprised to find EA in the right on this one.

While the idea of patenting a concept seems a bit ridiculous to me, it appears that Zynga didn’t even bother to make many changes when they repackaged the game. As EA claims (on pg 14 of the complaint):

Every key element that has made The Sims series, and The Sims Social, so original and unique has been replicated by Zynga in The Ville.

I mean Zynga even used the exact same RGB skin tone values as The Sims Social. Given that RGB values result in over 16 million different colour combinations, it’s rather too small a chance that they would both choose exactly the same skin tones independently.

There are whole range of other points that EA makes from the showering sequences to the sleep sequences, from the cuddling and snuggling to the breakups that are all too similar to The Sims Social that it has to be considered copied.

It’s quite amusing how the complaint also dresses down Zynga’s previous games, with a whole section under the title “Zynga Is Widely Reported To Have Achieved Much Of Its Success In The Gaming Market Through Cloning Competitors’ Games”. Priceless.

Basically EA says that Zynga downright copied their game, which is in direct violation of United States copyright laws.

[Via Geekosystem]

Is That Dress Bigger On The Inside?

Ever since Black Milk Clothing took over the geek chic scene with their intergalactic tights and 8-bit swim suits (not to mention the incredibly cool R2D2 and C3PO designs) girls have rallied behind the fashion line. Yesterday, BMC released a long-anticipated fan favorite – Dr. Who Tardis mini dress and leggings. Girls stalked the internet for hours, and my Facebook and Twitter feeds blew up as friends posted the release and who scored what from the Nylon Wars ep. 2 line.

The Australian designer has found a nice niche within the clothing market: Stretchable leggings and dresses, which are easy to travel and wear. Unfortunately, these pack a serious price punch: A pair of tights will run you roughly $79.00 USD and dresses cross the $100 USD mark. But for such a unique and inspiring offering, women are willing to fork out the money to look at the height of fashion at their next convention or night out on the town.

Tags: black milk, dr. who, dress, fashion

Attempting to Define Viral Videos

The term Viral Video has come to be known as many things, but the general term seems to suggest that the content became very popular very quickly.

Here’s a short documentary from PBS explaining what the organization thinks is a viral video.

My pet peeve has always been when marketing campaigns label their videos as viral marketing. Personally, I define viral content as something people shared instinctively because it means something to them, or they just find it amusing or insightful. It is a label that is attached to content AFTER it is shared around the net. To me, viral is not something you make happen.

However, despite my personal views on the topic, this video does present other angles to viral videos. Marketing uses viral videos by creating something of quality. I always encourage that! That it gets shared like wildfire is their hope, and the best content will succeed in that.

However there is some bad content that goes viral too. Our human condition does seem to find amusement in others’ failures. That guy trying to look cool jumping into a pool off from a roof and belly flopping himself in the process will always be funny!

What is your definition of a viral video? What makes something viral?