October 2007
39 posts
“This is the first device that is portable and wireless and anybody can...”
– News that the DS is to reach further into non-gamer territory. Recently in the US the company transmitted stats, trivia games, and video replays for a fee to DS owners at Seattle Mariner home baseball games. In Japan, museums have allowed visitors to download a virtual tour guide to the handheld.
Digital map control important for future of... →
Garmin trumps TomTom with $3.3bn bid for digital map provider TeleAtlas after Nokia bids $8.1bn for it’s only global rival (and Garmin’s original map provider) Navteq. Digital maps are used by SatNav, GPS and Internet-based services like Google Earth.
UGC Push in Smash Bros. Brawl →
Other than your friends, you can also send stages you’ve created to Nintendo. Daily, a selected user-generated stage will be sent out to users.
Training a Starfish to Think For Itself →
Human-chimpanzee gap widens →
Human and chimpanzee genomes differ by 1.2% if you only compare the coding genes. Consider gene duplication and the difference widens. Throw in differences in gene expression and it widens further.
Bats: Flight evolved before echolocation →
Did you know that bats make up ~20% of living mammals? A reason is hypothesised in this paper from Aberdeen Uni’s bat cave that bats learned to fly before they were nocturnal, only later being forced to evolve echolocation.
Nickelodeon's Me:TV →
Allows kids to record and upload clips for a chance to appear in a live programme and compete against each other in real time via their broadband webcam.
The mangrove killifish - a non-standard fish. →
The only known self-fertilising hermaphrodite vertebrate found spending dry spells in rotting logs.
'Interspecies' Rodent Created Using Embryonic Stem... →
Mouse/rat next.
Gel Changes Colour On Demand. →
“A critical component of the structured gel is a material that expands or contracts when exposed to certain stimuli. Those changes in the thickness of the gel cause it to change color, through the entire range of the visible spectrum of light.”
Of opposable thumbs and software engineering →
Current evolution of programming languages: Concurrency, domain specific languages and end-user experience.
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Microsoft Multi-touch Display R&D →
Uses a different technique to the iPhone, the MS Surface Computer and DIY-projectors because it relies on direct reflection of light from fingers and can therefore handle proximity, e.g. sense when you stroke close to the surface without touching. Fantastic! Apple’s ‘seeing’ screen could get close but because it’s just passive would be limited. (The Register article on this...
Attention! How your brain manages its need to... →
The Brain: Modules provide cognitive functions; network connectivity provides complex cognitive processes. Different types of attention demonstrate this.
Nokia wants to reach out and Touch →
… and vibrate, and tilt, and detect light, and more. In S60 5th Edition, due second half of 2008.
“The [Cane Toad] invasion front advances an average 130 meters (426 feet) each...”
– Cane toads getting arthritis as a result of their accelerated evolution.
Human Locator →
Interactive projection system primarily targeted at advertising. A sort of industry-strength Eye Toy for shop windows. Follow the link for lots of videos.
Nokia Develops Eyes-Free Touchscreen Controls →
