DIY: In-car Entertainment System for $30

I love things that allow you to leverage existing products you already own in new ways. The CradleVue is a device designed to securely suspend your notebook computer between the front seats of your vehicle, positioning it for unobstructed backseat viewing.

Personally I don't see myself spending an extra few thousand bucks to add an in-car entertainment systems to any new car I want to buy. But I have taken a long trip with my son across country and I would have loved to have one of these with me.

Article: Facebook Surpasses Google Search as Most Visited Web Site

Channel Insider reports: "Facebook's new lead over Google search points to the undeniable influence of social networking."

This is pretty amazing to see this happen. I am guessing Google and many other companies are probably very concern for several reasons (marketing, information distribution, and more).

Three Questions for Polly Pearson, VP at EMC

Dice.com reports: "Polly Pearson, vice president of employment brand and strategy engagement at EMC, understands that all too well. She has worked closely with executives there to help build the company's employment brand, and writes extensively on her blog about what you can do to build your own reputation, stay relevant, and make yourself more attractive to employers"

If you're looking for an IT related job, I would suggest watching these videos they contain good information about how to promote yourself. In the past you only had to post your resume, now you have to do a lot more.

(Back to) The Future of Communication

Here is a video I found online recently, it dated back to June 2007. Its amazing how outdated the predictions were off (I know most of these were never serious), but there is an essences of truth in a few of them.

Skinput: Appropriating the Body as an Input Surface

I have been seeing a lot of buzz recently about Skinput (watch the video if you want to understand it), but basically it sensors that listen for acoustic transmission from gestures (i.e.: tapping, snapping, etc.) you can make on your arm. From this information, you can navigate portable electronic devices (such as: smart phone/PDA, MP3 player, etc).

This technology is similar, but totally different from another technology from SixthSense. see the following TED Talk for more information.

SuperNews!: The Memes of Memetasia

Green Power

Since the 70's we have been looking for green power, and I think I can safely say the "future is now". In the last few years I have seen some amazing innovation in this field, more then I have ever seen in the last few decades For example there have been huge leaps in bio-fuels, and power generation (i.e.: solar, wind, nuclear, etc.).

I have to admit one of the area I find most interesting is waste products to fuel/energy conversion. There is some very interesting innovation in this field, from methane capture to converting solid waste material into fuel. So personally I believe if these technologies play out, waste will be the future of energy.

SAMSUNG Flexible AM OLED (Unbreakable Display)

LCDs screens are lighted from the back. An AM OLEDs is created by 3 layers of high-tech films (red, green, and blue), and every pixel is made of light that is emitted from the three layers. Because there is no need to light the pixels on OLEDs from the back you can make the screens thinner and flexible.

Believe it or not: Avatar takes 1 petabyte of storage space, equivalent to a 32 YEAR long MP3.

The The Next Web.com reports: "The entire rendering of Avatar reportedly requires over 1 Petabyte of storage space according to BBC’s Clickbits, which is the equivalent of 500 harddrives of 2TB each. That’s equal to a 32 year long MP3 file(!)."

That is a pretty amazing amount of storage.

Turning Carbon Dioxide into Stone

From ScienceFriday.com: "What if you could take CO2, pump it down a deep hole in the sea floor and turn it into something harmless? New research suggests the idea is not so far-fetched. David Goldberg, Taro Takahashi and Angela Slagle of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory published a study on the subject in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week."

I am not a big fan of this type of technology, but it's interesting.

A Recipe for Slime (DIY)

From: ScienceFriday.com: "Want to make slime? Two chemistry students from Hofstra University in Long Island, New York share their recipe. Also, find out how to make the gooey stuff glow. The presentation took place at the New York Hall of Science in honor of National Chemistry Week. It was sponsored by the New York section of the American Chemical Society."

A note from the site: "In the video, Alex says "1/16th - so 1/8th tsp ZnS" -- that is, 1/16th of the total mass should be ZnS (not 1/16th tsp, as the graphic shows)."

G-Speak - Gesture Computing (Next Generation User Interface?)

It seems like every month, we are getting closer and closer to the gesture computing type concept that were used in the movie Minority Report. Here is a condensed demonstration of Oblong's G-Speak spatial operating environment.

A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything (Animated)

This animated movie took 2100 pages, about 50 jotter books, and roughly 3 weeks work.

Thought of the day: Cliques and Social media web sites

As Americans we tend to isolate ourselves into our little cliques (friends/family). For example, do you know your neighbors (I know a few will say they do)? Also personal technologies (like music player) cause us to isolate even more. Although, social media web sites like Facebook are very fascinating because they enforce/break cliques apart.

I have a fascination with Facebook. Not because any of the technologies of the web site. Its real power comes from its users/community. It has allowed me to connect with long lost friends that I have not seen in a long time, it has also allowed me to connect into social communities that I am interested in.

I was a late comer to this technology mostly because I didn't see it's real power. Although there is part of me wonders if this is nothing but another fad, and/or how long it might last?

An Interactive Video Haiti Earthquake (360 Degree View)

This is an amazing interactive video; you can change the point of view of the camera using the mouse (or zoom using the scroll button) while the video is playing. Footage is of the damage done after the earthquake in Haiti. You can also, pause, forward or rewind the video as it plays.

Note: A fast CPU and broadband internet connection are required to play this video.

Computer Science rap at Stanford (NSFW)

Warning: Contains inappropriate language. So its not safe for work.

Nerdcore rapper Monzy busts rhymes with an accuracy rate of 98.2%.

Filmed on the Campus of Stanford University for the documentary NERDCORE FOR LIFE. Dir: Dan Lamoureux

NOTE: Raw footage of this performance has been on youtube for a while but this is the new, edited version that's free of all the zooms and goofy shaky cam action.

FedEx Super Bowl Commercial

Here is one of my favorite commercial from the 2010 Super Bowl. It is not one of my all-time favorites but its up there.

Anthony Atala: Growing New Organs

Anthony Atala's state-of-the-art lab grows human organs -- from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that "prints" human tissue.

Cars Without Drivers?

LiveScience.com reports "Meet Boss - the car that can drive itself! It has 18 sensors, including a three dimensional laser and onboard computers that connect to GPS and mapping software. When it comes to knowing the rules of the road, Boss rarely makes a mistake."

I have been watching the self-driving cars technology progress for years. The early ones I saw could barely stay on the road, and used enough computers to fill-up a large van. They're only getting better, and the technology used to run them getting smaller, which is expected.

Office 2010: The Movie

Official Trailer to Office 2010 The Movie (www.office2010themovie.com). This trailer is loosely based on 24 and Enemy of the State. Clippy will finally be avenged.