December 2011
33 posts
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Will the other guy run a red light? MIT algorithm...
According to ExtremeTech, MIT researchers can predict with up to 85% accuracy whether or not the other driver coming from the other direction will run a red light:
George Aoude and fellow MIT students Vishnu Desaraju and Lauren Stephens plotted their algorithm against data from a heavily instrumented intersection in Christianburg, Virginia, and found they could predict red-light runners 85%...
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Google builds 'Memories for the Future' so you can...
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MIT steps up open-source education with MITx in...
Universities around the globe have in recent years offered recorded sessions of their courses for netizens to attend, and MIT is set to step up another gear with MITx.
MITx will offer a portfolio of MIT courses through an online interactive learning platform that will:
organize and present course material to enable students to learn at their own pace
feature interactivity, online laboratories...
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KLM flights let you choose your neighbours based...
“Meet and Seat” service (not to be mistakened as “meat and seat” or any terrible dating innunedos…) will come to KLM flights early next year. USA Today explains:
Travelers will be able to link Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to their check-in information… and pick seatmates based on similar interests.
It’s a nice intersection between...
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Using YouTube to study effects of hallucinogen... →
Great story from the BBC on how research scientists are using social media to study the effects of unknown drugs, when clinical trials may be impossible, unethical, or simply too costly.
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Haiti's Earthquake Inspired LinkedIn's Skill-based... →
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Control cooking app 'Minority Report'-style
There is now an iPhone cooking app that guides you through a recipe step-by-step, and simply waving your hand get you to the next step so you don’t get flour or grease on your phone. Genius.
Now, just hook that up to a pico projector and a Kinect-type sensor and we can all be waving about the kitchen to get the “next step” in our recipes projected on the wall. Fabulous!
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Say goodbye to laundry and hello to clothes that...
BBC News reports:
Engineers have created a chemical coating that causes cotton materials to clean themselves of stains and remove odours when exposed to sunlight.
According to the report, analysts think the material would be great for people living in humid country. I would add that college students would also welcome this new invention!
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Skype Flaw Can Expose Caller Locations (via... →
Mobiledia reports:
Scientists at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University initiated video calls to 10,000 randomly selected Skype users and discovered that even when a recipient does not accept the incoming call, the user’s Internet Protocol, or IP, address can still be vulnerable to theft.
Armed with an IP address, hackers can uncover specific information about victims,...
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Rival networking sites get design overhaul (via... →
I’ve been featured in an article in the Sun Newspaper (UK) about the redesigns from Facebook and Twitter!
My take on Facebook’s Timeline:
The re-design definitely encourages users to share more items as the timeline acts almost like a blog or memory book.
I think the new design also familiarises the site’s users with the concept of regulalry logging their personal actions...
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Lessons learned from Californian scientists who...
In October 2011, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s research arm, held a competition with reward of $50,000 for the first team that can “unshred” five shredded hand-written documents and answer the puzzles contained in each of them.
It took the winning team 1 month (or altogether 600 man-hours) to crack the code, highlighting how...
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Ludwig computer game teaches 8th grade physics
TNW reports:
Through this marriage of game makers, physicists, and scientists of learning, Ludwig the game came to fruition.
The game’s graphics and gameplay rivals those found on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, with the added bonus of teaching four areas of physics—Combustion, Water, Wind and Solar.
Ludwig [offers] students a quasi-self-made roadmap of physical principles, as well...
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Robots attempt record breaking Pacific Ocean... →
Created by US firm Liquid Robotics, the four are aiming to set the record for the longest distance at sea travelled by an unmanned craft.
Throughout their journey the robots will gather lots of data about the composition and quality of sea water.
The journey is expected to take about 300 days, and is designed to inspire researchers to study ocean health.
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Concept kitchen from Philips powered by poo
From Fast Code Design:
The digester requires a steady supply of water and waste material in the form of vegetable scraps and, uh, bathroom waste solids—which certainly challenges conventional notions of cleanliness in the kitchen, not to mention household chores. The resulting sludge residue can be safely removed and recycled as compost.
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Augmented reality contact lenses
It will be awhile yet before augmented reality contact lenses become a reality; after all, the researchers are only doing testing with rabbits at the moment. But at the rate technology improves, it won’t be long until we all have personal dashboards under our eyelids.
According to the New Scientist:
The first version may only have one pixel, but higher resolution lens displays - like...
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Making electricty... from your pee?
Apparently, researchers from University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol are working on producing electricity from urine.
According to the BBC:
Tests have produced small amounts of energy, but more research could produce “useful” levels of power.
Hmm, keep on peeing, er, I mean testing.
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Facebook photo helps reunite lost man with family...
A heart-warming story that highlights the good that can come out of social networks.
From TheNextWeb:
Luis Matias, who is 78 and suffers from memory loss, went missing for two weeks in the Philippines after he walked out of his home, was located after a photo of his wife searching for him went viral on Facebook, raising awareness of his disappearance in the local community.
A street...
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Latest footballing fashion trend - QR codes in...
Surely this is a sign that QR code is now mainstream!
South-East London team Bromley FC is going up against relative big fishes Leyton Orient in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday, and to celebrate, or get a wedge of cash from a sponsor, it’s hired a stylist favoured by Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand to give the first XI QR cuts.