Game Programming: The New Chemistry Set
Monday, 14th May 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: chemistry, computer science, engineerin
It wasn’t long ago that Tech Crunch wrote an article entitled: “The Great Engineering Shortage of 2012” discussing the extreme dearth of quality development talent in the United States.
It shouldn’t be a surprise after all, most Americans seem to believe that their chances of making it big revolve around (a) getting on reality television (b) becoming famous for filming a sex tape or (c) starting a rock band rather than (d) going to school and doing something as boring as slogging through a computer science degree. Computer science graduation rates, in fact, have declined to a point where they are currently lower than they were 25 years ago…while the demand for engineers has skyrocketed.
Now lets step back from these horrifying and puzzling statistics for a second and look at what the problem really is: Programming and computer science are extremely obscure crafts that most people can’t wrap their heads around or (more commonly), even find a rational entry point.
When was the last time you think someone sat down and built a Spring MVC server on a Sunday afternoon just because it was fun? Ever normalize a data table just for kicks? What about spending Thursday night comparing Merge-Sort and Quick-Sort algorithms and their respective O(n) times? Keep Reading
Real Life Portal Turret Tracks Targets
Friday, 11th May 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets, Gaming
Tags: MATLAB, Mechatronics, Penn State University, portal 2, Portal Gun, servo, target, tracks, turret
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An engineering student has built a real-life Portal turret for his aptly named “Advanced Mechatronics” class project at Penn State University. The turret tracks its targets using “image processing” and deals out a less than lethal blow once its locked on. This will go great with the real-life Portal gun.
Equipped with two servo mounts with two “hacked-up” USB powered Nerf missile guns, the turret also has an IP webcam mounted in the middle to track targets. The camera senses RBG colors connected to a laptop running MATLAB… Keep Reading
Defying Gravity? Object Moves In Space..Using Levitation
Wednesday, 9th May 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: experiment, gravity, levitation, mit, physics
What if materials could defy gravity, so that we could leave them suspended in mid-air?
This is the question one MIT researcher is asking and could be answering with a new computer controlled levitation system dubbed ZeroN.
The visual system is similar to the kinect, using software that enables the computer to move a steel ball around in space, or a human to just grab it and move it, “overriding” the computer system and telling it where it should go. Keep Reading
Apple Cologne Gives You That New Apple Product Smell (Silicon Protector Not Included)
Wednesday, 25th April 2012Posted in Apple, Blog Archive, Offbeat
Tags: apple, cologne, De Facto Standard, Melbourne, scent
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Know that special smell that hits you after unboxing an Apple Macbook/iPad/iMac? Well now you don’t have to keep buying Apple products to get high anymore, because custom scent developer De Facto Standard is has officially bottled the scent of freshly made styrofoam and protective plastic bags, complete with a classy transparent Apple cologne container.
Never fear, it’s only for an upcoming art show in Melbourne Australia. Or to quote the product’s creators themselves, which comes via Geekologie:
A distinctive scent can be observed when unwrapping a newly purchased Apple product Keep Reading
What was Apple CEO Tim Cook doing at Valve?
Friday, 13th April 2012Posted in Apple, Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: apple, Bellevue, ceo, gabe newell, game center, HQ, iOS, portal, steam, Tim Cook, valve, Washington
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If you haven’t heard by now, reports that seem to originate from the sometimes reliable AppleInsider claim Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at Valve’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington this morning.
The report didn’t provide any information about what Cook might have been doing there or cite any sources for the story, but the rumor has of course set off a storm of speculation regarding what the two companies might have been discussing. Keep Reading
Functioning NES Controller Coffee Table Is Worth Every Penny
Thursday, 12th April 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets
Tags: $3500, Charles Lushear, coffee table, controller, Etsy, functional, mahogany, NES
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Pop Artist Charles Lushear has graced us with another wonderful piece of art. His NES Controller coffee table not only functions as a piece of art or furniture it also works perfectly fine as an actual game controller.
With a retractable cable that comes from beneath and a removable glass top, the table becomes a fully functioning NES controller…only its much bigger and much more expensive.
The table is made from “maple, mahogany and walnut with dovetail joinery and mid century modern legs.” Its dimensions: 42″ length x 18.25″ width x 18″ height. Keep Reading
Intel Engineer Gets 20+ Years for Selling Secrets to AMD
Wednesday, 11th April 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: amd, Biswamohan Pani, corporate, espionage, intel, pani
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Before engineer Biswamohan Pani left Intel for rival company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), he wanted to take a little souvenir with him. So he nabbed a bunch of top secret documents from the company, valued somewhere between $200-400 million dollars. According to Geekosystem, there’s no real reason thus far as to why he did — other than to advance his career at AMD.
Here’s what happened, as close as it’s been determined: as Mr. Pani was preparing to transfer from Intel to AMD in June 2008, he had a few days of overlap between the two companies — and thus plenty of time to get his hands Keep Reading
Project Glass: Google Unveils Augmented Reality Glasses With Concept Video
Wednesday, 4th April 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: concept, glasses, google, Google X, Larry Page, project, Project Glass, smartphone, terminator, video
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The last time we told you about Google terminator-style glasses a built-in HUD and specs similar to a smartphone Google had not yet confirmed the project. Today out of nowhere previous reports from 9to5Google have been proven accurate with Google introducing the augmented reality glasses concept through a concept video and series of images.
The images above and below show what is most likely just a concept of the glasses (we’re hoping anyway), and the video what it might be like to use a pair. As reported by The New York Times, Goog will soon Keep Reading
New Specs Published For Real Linux-Powered STAR TREK Tricorder
Thursday, 29th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets
Tags: project, specs, star trek, tricorder
The device made famous by Star Trek is quickly becoming a reality. The device that allowed the fleet to explore unfamiliar areas, amongst basically everything else, would conceivably allow our modern society to do the same thing.
“The open source science tricorders that I’ve developed are very much a way to help people explore and feed their curiosity for the world,” Peter Jansen, who created and built the gadget, said.
The tricorder project is being Keep Reading
Flying Filesharing Drones May Provide Alternative to Censorship
Thursday, 22nd March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets, Social Media
Tags: drones, flying, LIam Young, like, network, online, pirate bay, Tomorrow's Thoughts Today, TTT
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We should have figured it was only a matter of time before a bunch of genius kids figured out an extremely creative, technologically innovative way around the clusterf*ck surrounding the whole Napster/Limewire/MegaUpload/ P2P and illegal filesharing debacle.
A think tank called Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today have what may be just what P2P rebels The Pirate Bay is promising: some real-life hovering file-sharing drones. Keep Reading
Microsoft Patent Reveals Wearable Displays For Glasses & “Xbox Gaming Helmet”
Tuesday, 20th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Technology
Tags: gaming helmet, goggles, head-mounted, patent, projector eyewear, wearable, xbox
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If you remember the Terminator style glasses we told you Google was working on not too long ago, it won’t be that hard to wrap your head around these Microsoft patents dug up by PatentBolt. There are two different designs present in the patent for “projector eyewear”, aka wearable displays. One appears to be more like Google’s glasses concept and the other is an “Xbox Gaming Helmet”.
PatentBolt explained one concept detailed in the patent described eyeglass frames that include a pair of projectors “which project virtual display images.”
The report continued: Keep Reading
Microsoft Shows Off ‘Beamatron’ Augmented Reality Kinect Concept
Friday, 16th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Technology
Tags: beamatron, concept, fusion, kinect, microsoft, prototype, research, xbox
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We’ve seen some pretty inventive Kinect solutions from third parties. We recently told you about a Kinect-based banking system from Etronika, and even Microsoft showed off Kinect Fusion and Lightspace at the company’s labs. Today UberGizmo points us to a video of a new augmented reality gaming solution demoed by Microsoft Research (below).
What you’re seeing in the video is known as the “Beamatron”. As explained in the video by a Microsoft researcher, the concept is Keep Reading
Next-Gen Virtual Reality Gaming Tech Demoed At GDC
Thursday, 15th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Technology
Tags: Forth Dimension Displays, Game Developers Conference, gdc, kinect, Move, virtual reality
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Game developers and fans alike have always been on the pursuit of the perfect immersive experience. For a long time gamers have relied on mods to help us get more and more out of the games we love so much. New tech from GDC really brings that pursuit to fruition in a new way.
Forth Dimension Displays has created a system consisting of an HD headset, a modified playstation Move gun and a vest with devices controlling movement and the various levels of player input. Keep Reading
GAMEBOY Meets Transformer In Amazing Lego Set
Wednesday, 14th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets
Tags: brunk, cartridge, game, GameBoy, lego, shockwave, tetrawing, tetris, transformers
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A brand new Lego creation brings together three of the coolest things from just about all of our childhoods – Transformers, Lego and Gameboy. Complete with a game cartridge and even the batteries, this Lego Gameboy transforms into a clone that looks a lot like the Decepticon Shockwave.
The Lego creation dubbed Domaster and Tetrawing was created and designed by Lego builder Julius Von Brunk. The name comes from the small paragraph written on the screens of old gameboys, “Dot Matrix with Stereo Sound” and Tetrawing comes from a burlesque girl who does a Tetris themed show. Keep Reading
Mass Effect 3 Datapad App Available Now, ME3 DLC Multiplayer Characters Leaked
Tuesday, 13th March 2012Posted in Apple, Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: Asari Justicar, Datapad, DLC, ipad, iPhone, leak, mass effect, ME 3
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A little while back now we heard about a Mass Effect 3 iOS app called Mass Effect 3 Datapad. As of today the app is available for download in the Apple App Store.
The ME Datapad acts as a companion app to Mass Effect 3 encouraging users to “take your galaxy with you wherever you go”. The app will include non-spoiler related codex updates, messages from characters in Mass Effect 3 as well as allowing you check on the status of the Galaxy at War map. Keep Reading
Free Assassin’s Creed Recollection App Has AC3 Artwork, Short Film
Thursday, 8th March 2012Posted in Apple, Blog Archive, Gaming
Tags: AC3, animated, artwork, Assassin's Creed, Connor, Embers, film, iPhone, ipod, Recollection
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We have told you all about Assassin’s Creed 3 over the last two weeks and today Ubisoft made its Assassin’s Creed Recollection iOS app available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch with some new AC3 artwork (via Eurogamer).
Completely free to download, Recollection also now comes with “booster packs” of cards as in-app purchases. These allows the user to increase their card library which consist of characters, locations and things of that nature spanning the entire breadth of the AC timeline and universe. Keep Reading
Using Your Hand As A Touchscreen: How It Works and Why It May Be A Work In Progress
Wednesday, 7th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Technology
Tags: Christian Loclair, gestures, hand, interaction, thumb, ThumbOnHand, touchscreen
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Forget touchscreen, try no screen. Christian Loclair, student at the Hasso Plattner Institute, has developed a brand new system for controlling devices like smartphones. The technology allows the user’s hands to essentially become a working touchscreen so to speak. It’s called ThumbOnHand Interaction.
The different buttons and features of the device are mapped to the various knuckles of the hand to be used as peripheral triggers. Loclair demonstrates easily navigating through an iPhone’s menu, launching apps as well as full panning and zooming hand gestures (below). Keep Reading
Hitman: Absolution Will Have Crowds of 1200 Characters (Screenshot), Box Art Revealed
Tuesday, 6th March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Technology
Tags: absolution, box art, crowd-tech, details, hitman, Square Enix
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IO Interactive released an impressive screenshot showing off the crowd tech in its upcoming release Hitman: Absolution today. At the same time we get our first look at the game’s box art.
At GDC in San Francisco later this week, lead physics programmer on Absolution, Kaspar Fauerby will give a presentation called “Crowd Technology in Hitman: Absolution” (via Now Gamer). This new tech is said to support crowds of up to 1200 strong, allowing Hitman: Absolution to “have very dense crowds which allow players to both interact with and influence the behavior of each individual character,” said the notes from the upcoming GDC presentation. Head past the break for a full-size screenshot of the crowd tech and details on the game’s engine. Keep Reading
Unbelievable Renders From Fox Engine: Can You Tell Which Is Real?
Friday, 2nd March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gaming, Technology
Tags: engine, fox, kojima, lighting, metal gear, renderings
As of yesterday, Hideo Kojima promised that there would soon be an update regarding the Fox Engine and today he definitely didn’t disappoint. The question has been brought up before: “When will the graphics ever look REAL?!”. Kojima’s Fox Engine might be the answer.
The Kojima tweet from yesterday said that Fox Engine updates will be posted to the Kojima Productions recruitment page and is targeted to “technological types” Today we see a small image on the recruitment page reading, “Fox Engine-Lighting Sample, CLASSIFIED”. The images within are renderings from the brand new Fox Engine placed next to actual photographs. Can you tell the renderings from Fox Engine apart from the real photos?
“Is it REAL, or is it FOX?” Keep Reading
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Available For Preorder Now, Ships in September
Thursday, 1st March 2012Posted in Blog Archive, Gadgets
Tags: AR Drone, brookstone, drone, iOS, ipad, iPhone, Parrot, preorder, quadrocopter
We first told you about this iPad/iPhone-controlled quadrocopter in our holiday gift list, and today the second generation AR Drone 2.0 is now officially up for preorder. The device comes with the same $300 price tag, but packs in a bunch of new features.
The new AR Drone is capable of capturing or live streaming 720p HD video right to YouTube at 30fps with a 92° wide-angle lens. There is also a new gesture, or “flip button”, that will make the device barrel roll in the air on command. Another new addition is a new USB port for capturing video from the built-in HD to a portable drive. The overall design of the drone is pretty much what we’ve seen before, but we’re not complaining. As before you’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch or Android device to pilot the device.
The company is building levels for Keep Reading
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