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Archive for September, 2008
$22,000 T-Rex Skeleton Is Worth the Cost of Taking the Bus [Dinosaurs]
11
Sep
Truth: the kids in the neighborhood will be unimpressed by your shiny new Corolla, even if it takes 4 years of monthly payments for you to actually own it. So buy something cool instead. Standing 13 feet tall and spreading 25 feet long, this animated T-Rex features 6 deadly-skeleton-like movements along with a roar that will force Ben Stiller into early retirement. Just check out the video:
Sorry, but the T-Rex does not come in periwinkle. Toyota still has you there. [Scare Factory via Nerd Approved]
Microsoft Offers a Sneak Peek at Your Neighbor’s PC
11
Sep
Nerds love to know how other nerds use their PCs. To give you a glimpse of what your fellow nerds are doing, Microsoft has released some (anonymous, but revealing) details about Windows users gleaned from the company’s Windows Feedback Program. The goal is to use the data to improve the coming Windows 7, but the figures reveal some interesting facts on their own.
Judging by the graphic above, images are overwhelmingly the most common file on your average Windows machine. However, the chart above is perhaps most notable for what it doesn’t show — music and video files. In fact, other than a passing mention of HD video, Microsoft never even acknowledges media files in the stats.
The other thing that jumps out from these statistics is that I’m not alone in my dislike of the “My Pictures†folder. It’s hard to tell exactly how many of us dislike “My Pictures,†but clearly we’re in the majority — spaces in folder names are bad, mkay?
But interesting trivia aside, the real goal is to improve Windows 7 and in that case the far more revealing statistic is that the vast majority of users with high screen resolution displays (1600×1200 or better) are adjusting their resolution down to 1024×768. Why pay for the pixels if you aren’t going to use them?
The Windows 7 blog admits that the loss of fidelity at higher resolutions makes “reading text in editors and web browsers difficult.†The post promises that in the near future “the Windows Desktop Graphics team will describe what we have done with that information to improve display quality and reading comfort in Windows 7.â€
We’ll be sure to let you know when the graphics team offers their insights.
See Also:
- Windows 7 Struggles to Balance Performance and New Features
- New Microsoft Blog Promises Windows 7 Details
- Sneak Peak: A Look At What Could Be In Store For Windows 7
Defending against the spin. So frustrating. [Corrections about candidates]
10
Sep
Chris Wetherell via massless
shared by 4 people
1) Watch it get thrown.
2) *sigh* Correct it.I'm trying to sort out the chaff from the messaging wheat about our candidates for the U.S. executive branch...so I'm making another list for myself (maybe useful to you?) so that I can be reminded of the current research about each claim. This is a non-comprehensive list and as a watchmen's watchman I should be fact-checked as well. Please correct me as necessary. (And yes, I know...that I'm publishing another political post annoys me as much as it may annoy you. Please accept my apology.)
1) Watch it get thrown.
2) *sigh* Correct it.
Correcting stuff about Sarah Palin that isn't true.
- Palin did NOT cut funding for special needs education in Alaska.
- Palin did NOT demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library.
Though she did inquire about banning, she never, ever banned any books. Ever.
- Palin was NEVER a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.
- Palin NEVER endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president.
This is just ridiculous. She wore a pin only when he visited and then took it off. More factually, she headed Steve Forbes' campaign efforts in Alaska.
- Palin has NOT pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools.
She's said she's open to it being taught alongside evolution, however, she hasn't actually done anything substantive about it. Hopefully, she'll clarify her position. But it's (currently) incorrect to say she's actually made any changes in Alaskan education regarding creationism.
Actually, just the opposite - she tripled per-pupil funding.
Correcting stuff about Barack Obama that isn't true.
- Obama’s health care plan will NOT "force small businesses to cut jobs".
In fact, the plan exempts small businesses.
- Obama's health care plan will NOT put "a bureaucrat ... between you and your doctor."
In fact, those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have.
- Obama has NEVER voted for "corporate welfare" for oil companies.
In fact, the bill Obama voted for raised taxes on oil companies by $300 million over 11 years while providing $5.8 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels.
- Obama will NOT close markets to trade.
Though he once said he wanted to "renegotiate" NAFTA, now he says he wants to try to strengthen environmental and labor provisions in it. He's not advocating closing any markets.
- Obama DID NOT vote to teach sex to kindergarten children.
Wow, this is disgustingly wrong. Rather, Obama voted for a bill in the Illinois state Senate that would update the sex education curriculum and make it "medically accurate." It was specifically designed to teach young kids how to recognize inappropriate behavior and avoid pedophiles and also demanded that any instruction be "age-appropriate". It was deemed urgently necessary enough to arm kids with knowledge about predators that it adjusted the year of beginning instruction. (Additionally, Obama was neither a co-sponsor nor a sponsor of the bill and it never got past the Senate.)
- Obama IS OPEN TO DRILLING for oil.
Specifically, he said he's open to "a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage".
- Obama HAS AUTHORED laws and introduced important legislation, including reform, in his political career.
A lot of criticism about whether a law is "major" or whether being "co-sponsor" is relevant is obscuring the fact that Obama was the chief sponsor (and, occasionally, author) of legislation in his career. It's incorrect to assert otherwise. e.g. There's a bunch of bills he sponsored during his time in the Illinois senate... and a bunch of them were bills of which he was chief sponsor... and those include stuff like..
- Keeping pharmacies from over-charging Medicare beneficiaries
- Child-care capital investment
- Bio-terrorism preparedness
- Changes to videotaped interrogations
- Expanding medical information resources for seniors
- Supreme Court Campaign Reform Act
- Changes to Earned Income Tax Credit
...why not instead criticize what he focused on as a legislator and what these bills might mean in terms of an Obama presidency? There's plenty of political meat for anyone to chew on.
- Obama will NOT INCREASE TAXES for working, middle-class families.
Nope. NO. NO. This is wholly incorrect. Despite a McCain ad claiming otherwise, Obama's plan would cut taxes for the vast majority of American households, with middle-income earners benefiting a great deal.
Correcting stuff about John McCain that isn't true.
- McCain will NOT fail to support loan guarantees for the auto industry.
Despite what an Obama ad says, McCain is actually in favor of low-cost loans to that industry.
- McCain did NOT say we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan.
In 2003, McCain actually said that we "may" muddle through, and he recently also called for more troops there.
- McCain does NOT define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year.
He was joking. Seriously. He even said, "but seriously" just after it. C'mon.
Correcting stuff about Joe Biden that isn't true.
- Biden did NOT get fewer votes as a presidential nominee than Palin as mayor.
[What they said] - McCain has said stuff that's wrong, incorrect, or misleading.
- McCain FALSELY claimed that his plan will increase use of "wind, tide [and] solar" energy.
His actual energy plan contains no new money for renewable energy.
[What they said] - Obama has said stuff that's wrong, incorrect, or misleading.
- Obama's plan currently CANNOT "pay for every dime" of his spending and tax cut proposals "by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens."
This was quite the whopper. His proposed tax increases on upper-income individuals seems crucial. And his plan, like McCain’s, looks likely to leave the U.S. facing big budget deficits.
- Obama FALSELY accused McCain of saying "no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investment in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels."
In fact, in 2002 McCain not only wanted tougher standards than most of the Senate did, but he was lauded by a Democrat.
[What they said] - Biden has said stuff that's wrong, incorrect, or misleading.
- Biden FALSELY claimed that "murder and violent crime rates went down eight years in a row" as a result of the Biden Crime Bill.
A peer-reviewed study published in the February 2007 issue of the journal Criminology found that the bill's "spending had little to no effect on crime."
[What they said] - Palin has said stuff that's wrong, incorrect, or misleading.
- Palin did NOT say "thanks, but no thanks" to the building of the Ketchikan bridge.
She clearly supported it and didn't stand up to Congressional waste - she accepted the money on behalf of Alaska.
- Palin FALSELY accused Obama of being more worried about terrorists being read their rights than apprehended.
This is a whopper. Obama seems as committed to apprehending terrorists as the other candidates. But he's a constitutional scholar and law professor and is passionate about the rights of habeus corpus being respected.
Survey: Americans Are Crazy About Text Messaging
10
Sep
Despite rising costs of text messaging, the impersonal method of communication has proven vastly popular in the United States, where handset users are sending more messages than ever, according to a recent survey.
The survey, conducted by the Wireless Association, kept track of the number of text messages sent over the month of June. In that month alone, U.S. handset users sent 75 billion SMS text messages, averaging about 2.5 billion messages a day. This represents a significant growth from June 2007, when handset users sent about 29 billion text messages.
That's a whole lot of money being poured into handset carriers with just text messaging alone -- considering that text messaging has inflated to about 20 cents per message. CNET even compares rising text-message costs to inflating gas prices.
(Photo credit: pouwerkerk/Flickr )
U.S. text usage hits record despite price increases [CNET]
TC50: Atmosphir, The Build-It-Yourself Gaming Platform
10
Sep
Jason Kincaid via TechCrunch
shared by 5 people
Atmosphir is a gaming platform and engine that allows users to easily create their own levels in a 3D world by painting basic elements into a three dimensional grid. After downloading a client application, users can play in their own levels, or they can visit the Atmosphir community website to play on any of the maps that have been uploaded by other users. The application is currently available in a limited beta with plans to release by the end of the year, and is available for both Mac and PC.
Users can choose from a number of palettes, including pieces of land, bridges, and hazard props that will threaten the in-game avatar with blazing fireballs. The application also includes a number of theme packs, which allow users to create some variety in their levels. The packs are currently pretty basic, but the site plans to release more exciting themes like “Pirates†and “Robotsâ€.
As far as gameplay goes, Atmosphir seems to be very straightfoward, much like a standard “Mario Brothers†game. The player’s avatar can run and jump around each level, which allows for jumping puzzles and the stomping on bad guys, but that’s about it. Atmosphir says that the current iteration is just a foundation, and that it plans to implement far more functionality including multiplayer support, which it says it can seamlessly push to every user’s client through an integrated updating system.
Panel
Robert Scoble - That’s what i’m talking about!
Bradley Horowitz - It’s impressive. Are the games suitable to play on game consoles?
Atmosphir - Definitely, I was always into Nintendo (they’re looking at getting onto gaming systems, like the Wii)
Bradley Horowitz - whats the level of effort involved?
Atmosphir - We built an abstraction layer that makes it easy to port to different systems, port to Sony PSP, we’re testing for the iPhone.
Bradley Horowitz - I can see a business model where I make a game and there’s a rev share.
Robert Scoble - Single player or online?
Atmosphir - Currently looking to make mulitplayer, add multiplayer code on top.. The game features automatic transparent updates. If we add code, we can download that seamlessly to user… client updates automatically
Robert Scoble - Is making level collaborative? I’d like to collaborate with my son.
Atmosphir - Yes, you can collaborate. Right now you take a file, send draft back and forth.. eventually would like to design in same environmental, can also upload with edit unlocked tag.. Levels are small files, only around 100k for a large level.
Robert Scoble - are blocks interactive? Can you make it play audio when you land on a block?
Atmosphir - Right now there are interactive things we’re working on.. some blocks shoot you up. we’re looking at doing audio stuff.
Sheryl Sandberg - looks exciting.. i think collaborative looks good going forward.
Joi Ito - How big is the client?
Atmosphir - Around 40 MB.
Joi Ito - Seems like tradeoff between user scriptabillty and blocks. Running from start flag would get kind of boring… are you going to have just one category of users.. User game play… it’s going to be a weird problem.
Atmosphir - We’re interested in when people mix roles of games and genres.. We want to mix it up.
Robert Scoble - Where’s the violence?
Atmosphir - We want to keep it family friendly, maybe we’ll have more mature themes. For right now we’re taking a Nintendo approach… But a rocket launcher is on the way.
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