STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[Fuzz]

Who needs a 4", 7", 9" or 10" tablet when you can have a 27" tablet.

Lenovo Horizon 'Table PC' ushers old-timey board games into the Windows 8 era

from PCWorld:

Don't be alarmed, children. Yes, mommy and daddy really are dragging the new PC from its perch in the office, and placing it flat on the living room coffee table. It's time to play Monopoly, and everyone's invited to roll the e-dice. The new IdeaCentre Horizon can lay flat or stand at an angle like a traditional desktop.

At CES Sunday, Lenovo unveiled the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC, a 27-inch all-in-one that can be laid flat on a table for multi-user, multitouch game play and entertainment. In essence, two or more people can use the "table" surface at the very same time, throwing a whole new spin on PC gaming and creative collaboration.

The Horizon's 1920x1080 display supports 10-point multitouch, and is intended to reinvent good, old-fashioned family time with Windows 8 versions of classic board games and other touch-oriented pursuits like digital finger painting.

And get this: The Horizon comes with hardware game controllers to augment the newfangled gaming experience. You get an e-dice (it's unclear exactly how it works; we should know more once we receive our hands-on CES demo) as well as a set of four joysticks and strikers to complement the "part physical, part digital" gaming action, which Lenovo has dubbed "phygital." Yes, "phygital." We're not sure if this is a word that should be spoken in polite company. Real-world testing will prove out how the e-dice works in practice.

It's all an intriguing proposition. In fact, I love the new game play possibilities that Lenovo and Sony envision with their table-like tablets. But like Sony did a few months ago, Lenovo is announcing the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC with a rather limited set of games. Besides Monopoly, Lenovo has announced partnerships with FishingJoy, Raiding Company, Draw Race 2 HD and King of the Opera (these titles are available for iOS, but weren't available in the Windows Store at press time). I'd definitely like to see more pure board games added to the mix before the Horizon launches in early summer with prices starting around $1,699.

Oh well, at least you can also use the Lenovo all-in-one to create music tracks in Stagelight, explore painting in various Windows 8 coloring apps, and play "contest games" via a title called Lenovo Best Guess.

When the 1.1-inch thick Horizon isn't lying flat in family mode, it's a solid, ultra-thin, all-in-one desktop packed with a nice array of components. You get a Core i7 processor; an Nvidia GeForce GT 620M GPU; up to 8GB of DDR3 memory; and up to 1TB of storage space with an optional 64GB SSD. There's also a 720p webcam, USB 3.0 and HDMI support, and a 6-in-1 card reader.

Battery life? It's rated at only two hours. So if you plan on playing Monopoly in the living room with this sucker—and you don't want to thread an extension cord to the middle of the room—you may want to avoid the all-to-common "Free Parking House Rule," or your games will outlast available battery power.

[MIKA27]

The Tegra 4 Is Here

Here it is: the next biggest, baddest mobile processor, the silicon monster that’ll power your next coveted super-smartphone. It packs 72 GPU cores, 4 CPU cores, and a built-in 4G.

In a (somewhat simulated) head to head test between a Nexus 10 tablet and and a Tegra 4 mystery machine, the latter loaded 25 webpages in only 27 seconds, with the older chip taking 50. Not many of us will be loading up 25 webpages simultaneously, but Nvidia is hammering beefed up browser performance here—as well as topping the iPad 4′s A6X processor across the board. Nvidia says it’s simply the fastest mobile processor in the world. Nvidia says.

The Tegra 4 will also have supercharged HDR photo rendering, Nvidia says, beating out the iPhone 5′s abilities with better capture speeds thanks to all of those aforementioned cores working at once. In actual life terms, Nvidia says it’ll be the difference between two seconds of rendering on the iPhone and 0.2 seconds on a Tegra 4-powered mobile camera.

[MIKA27]

Who needs a 4", 7", 9" or 10" tablet when you can have a 27" tablet.

Lenovo Horizon 'Table PC' ushers old-timey board games into the Windows 8 era

from PCWorld:

Don't be alarmed, children. Yes, mommy and daddy really are dragging the new PC from its perch in the office, and placing it flat on the living room coffee table. It's time to play Monopoly, and everyone's invited to roll the e-dice. The new IdeaCentre Horizon can lay flat or stand at an angle like a traditional desktop.

At CES Sunday, Lenovo unveiled the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC, a 27-inch all-in-one that can be laid flat on a table for multi-user, multitouch game play and entertainment. In essence, two or more people can use the "table" surface at the very same time, throwing a whole new spin on PC gaming and creative collaboration.

The Horizon's 1920x1080 display supports 10-point multitouch, and is intended to reinvent good, old-fashioned family time with Windows 8 versions of classic board games and other touch-oriented pursuits like digital finger painting.

And get this: The Horizon comes with hardware game controllers to augment the newfangled gaming experience. You get an e-dice (it's unclear exactly how it works; we should know more once we receive our hands-on CES demo) as well as a set of four joysticks and strikers to complement the "part physical, part digital" gaming action, which Lenovo has dubbed "phygital." Yes, "phygital." We're not sure if this is a word that should be spoken in polite company. Real-world testing will prove out how the e-dice works in practice.

It's all an intriguing proposition. In fact, I love the new game play possibilities that Lenovo and Sony envision with their table-like tablets. But like Sony did a few months ago, Lenovo is announcing the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC with a rather limited set of games. Besides Monopoly, Lenovo has announced partnerships with FishingJoy, Raiding Company, Draw Race 2 HD and King of the Opera (these titles are available for iOS, but weren't available in the Windows Store at press time). I'd definitely like to see more pure board games added to the mix before the Horizon launches in early summer with prices starting around $1,699.

Oh well, at least you can also use the Lenovo all-in-one to create music tracks in Stagelight, explore painting in various Windows 8 coloring apps, and play "contest games" via a title called Lenovo Best Guess.

When the 1.1-inch thick Horizon isn't lying flat in family mode, it's a solid, ultra-thin, all-in-one desktop packed with a nice array of components. You get a Core i7 processor; an Nvidia GeForce GT 620M GPU; up to 8GB of DDR3 memory; and up to 1TB of storage space with an optional 64GB SSD. There's also a 720p webcam, USB 3.0 and HDMI support, and a 6-in-1 card reader.

Battery life? It's rated at only two hours. So if you plan on playing Monopoly in the living room with this sucker—and you don't want to thread an extension cord to the middle of the room—you may want to avoid the all-to-common "Free Parking House Rule," or your games will outlast available battery power.

Nice post!!

This looks amazing, I particularly love the suction controllers but HAT the battery life!? Who on earth would splash out the cash for this and expect only 2 hours?

[MIKA27]

Charge All Your iOS Gear From A Single Outlet With Griffin’s PowerDock 5

If your bedside table has become an unmanageable menagerie of phones, tablets, and other devices charging overnight, Griffin wants to bring order to your chaos of cables. The company’s new PowerDock 5charging station has a footprint no larger than an iPad, but can accomodate up to five tablets, or a mix of devices, and charge them all from a single power outlet.

Available sometime in the spring for $100, the PowerDock 5 is a bit more pricey than just dedicating a powerbar to the task, but it also promises to keep your stack of devices neat and tidy. And while Griffin is positioning the charger for use with the entire gambit of Apple mobile devices, since they all connect to a series of USB ports along one side, there’s no reason it can’t be used with any hardware slim enough to fit in its slots and capable of charging over USB.

[MIKA27]

The Yeti 150 Solar Charger Will Be Great For The End Of The World

It weighs in at a cumbersome 12 pounds, but the Yeti 150 charger box by Goal Zero is an electrical beast: it includes AC, 12V and USB ports — which should cover every gadget you own.

Goal Zero says the 150 watt hour battery can be completely juiced with just 15 hours of sun exposure (weather conditions varying, of course) using in attachable solar panel. Four hundred bucks is steep for a charger, but in case of an emergency, this will keep you jacked into the grid when you need it most. [Goal Zero]

[MIKA27]

J.J. Abrams Screens "Star Trek Into Darkness" For A Dying Fan

It all started with a Reddit thread a few days ago when a user asked Redditors if there was any way his friend suffering from cancer could see the film.

Reddit user Ideeeyut's friend Dan suffers a very rare vascular tumor that is attacking his liver tissue. Dan was hoping to see the 10 minute preview of "Star Trek Into Darkness" before "The Hobbit," but his local theater did not have the preview.

Ideeeyut and Dan's wife went to Reddit hoping to find a way for Dan to see the 10 minute preview before his cancer became too aggressive. Dan's wife came back to Reddit with great news...

Not only had Dan seen the first 10 minutes, writer and director J.J. Abrams personally screened the whole movie for him. From Dan's wife:

"Hi everyone, it's Daniel's wife, we are of course sworn to secrecy, BUT we are officially allowed to say we saw it and we enjoyed it IMMENSELY as a film and as a gesture.... However; Daniel 'hates' being an 'inspiring cancer story' we his friends and loved ones would prefer for the update to have more of a heartfelt message of giving, especially during this season: This is a story of us giving something to him, the 'internet' community giving something to him and ultimately being a heartwarming gift to our friends, family and so many others. This story of us (and of course JJAbrams & Bad Robot) being able to give this surprise gift of a screening to a huge movie buff like Daniel, especially a film made by a film maker who obviously makes movies with such care, with a fan like Daniel in mind (and a person like me who knows slightly less about these things).

Also, it was truly amazing that a film-maker so secretive as JJ Abrams was kind enough to show this to us.

It is also so wonderful for his friends & his family to finally hear some good news from us, they know how important film is to Daniel & could not think of a better way to please him. So this gesture really has brought a lot of smiles all around.

It was a wonderful thing to see with Daniel and a wonderful thing to see Daniel enjoy - Making someone as ill as he is smile for any length of time really makes a difference. (At this point making me smile is good too)

This is also so poignant as JJ Abrams took so much care in the first Star Trek movie to at least TRY to get everything 'right' for the fans and we were so touched when he was concerned that we wouldn't 100% enjoy the screening as it's still being worked on....... Be assured we enjoyed it 110%!

We are so grateful thank you, thank you, thank you....."

[Fuzz]

Mika, you can always keep the table plugged in, if you don't mind a cable running from the table to the wall. A screen that size, plus all that computing power, is bound to suck a huge amount of juice. I'm surprised it even lasts 2 hrs.

[MIKA27]

Mika, you can always keep the table plugged in, if you don't mind a cable running from the table to the wall. A screen that size, plus all that computing power, is bound to suck a huge amount of juice. I'm surprised it even lasts 2 hrs.

I want one!!!

[MIKA27]

Watch A Giant Sinkhole Swallow A Car

Sinkholes are mother shaking scary because it’s the ground disappearing on you. And they just seem to come out of no where! Like on this Brazilian road, a sinkhole pops up and just begins to inhale an entire car. Seriously, watch the video from the 1:30 mark — it’s like the car is driving straight into the hole or Mother Nature got hungry for some metal and petrol.

[MIKA27]

Speedy Electric Cockroaches Are As Creepy As The Real Thing

There’s nothing that inspires shriek-worthy horror quite like the terrible skittering of a cockroach bursting out from whatever dark corner and racing frantically to the next. Well that’s not reserved for just normal, squishy cockroaches anymore.

The VelociRoACH, a six-legged, 4-inch little sucker, darts around at speeds of 10 Km/ph or 26 body-lengths per second, making it one of the fastest robots around.

Developed at the University of California, the roach can move so fast by making use of six legs that spin fast enough to hit the ground 15 times per second and flex in a way that literally springs the bot forward. Three of the legs stay on the ground at all times, forming a sort of stabilising tripod. As for obstacles, the roach just slams into them head-first and leaps up over them after the recoil gives it an angle to sort of hop up over.

The VelocriRoACH is already faster than its organic counterpart, but developer Duncan Haldane doesn’t intend to stop there. His next step is to make the bot impervious to death by foot by building the bot out of materials that can spring back into shape after being stomped. In theory, it doesn’t seem quite as foul as the real thing by virtue of not being alive and not looking quite as gross at a glance, but the way the thing moves is still unsettling as ever. I really hope there isn’t some kind of wide-ranging application for these things.

[MIKA27]

Astronomers Found A Star Almost As Old As The Universe Itself

The universe is a big, ancient place, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it contains. We’ve also found some real gems, like this one: a star that is almost as old as the universe itself.

Sitting 190 light-years from our solar system, HD 140283 was found almost 100 years ago and has been studied by astronomers ever since. Scientists knew the star was old due to it’s composition of primarily helium and hydrogen, but it wasn’t until now that they were able to narrow down its age and come up with any sort of number. It turns out that is roughly 13.9 billion years, actually older than the universe — but there is a 700-million-year margin of error, which gives it plenty of room on the right side of the universe’s birth.

Astronomers knew of another star that was almost this old, but the reading on this star in particular is far more likely to be accurate. It almost definitely is the oldest star we’ve ever seen. Ever. Who knows if they will find an even older one, but frankly we’re starting to run out of space on the timeline.

[MIKA27]

Huge Dust Storm Off Australian Coast Looks Like A Tsunami Wave

Our planet is absurd. Take this crazy dust storm off the coast of Western Australia, for example. It looks like something out of a Michael Bay movie.

The photos were taken by Fishwrecked message board poster Boomer near Onslow, west of False Island (Mary Anne Passage) in Western Australia. Other photos of the storm make it seem even crazier, and like something not of this world.

[MIKA27]

Give Your iPhone 5 A Pro-Quality Mic With The Zoom iQ5

The iPhone 5′s capable of capturing really impressive video with its 8MP camera but the accompanying sound quality isn’t all that great. But with this new add-on mic from Zoom, your iPhone 5 videos will finally have the audio they deserve.

The iQ5 is a Mid-Side stereo mic compatible with iOS 6.0 and above, connecting through an 8-pin Lightning port. It’s central recording element rotates so you can film in both landscape and portrait. It can also be adjusted to pull both 90-degree and 120-degree fields as well as straight RAW audio and captures at 16-bit 44.1kHz.

It will retail for $US100 when it hits shelves later this year. Maybe Blue Microphones will have an updated version of its MIkey out before then.

[MIKA27]

Mars Colonists Wanted — Apply Here

Want to be a space pioneer? Not much tying you to planet Earth? Apply today and blast off for Mars! Yes, you really could be one of the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet, as Mars One is genuinely looking for new astronauts, and anyone anywhere can apply.

The non-profit Netherlands-based Mars One is seeking a legion of applicants; anyone who fits the pretty basic requirements is wanted. The idea is that it’ll begin the selection process in the first half of this year, with contestants potential astronauts whittled down into at least six teams of four, through a combination of votes from ‘a global televised programme’ and a team of experts.

Big Brother with a purpose then, basically. Entrants will need:

“A deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful.”

Of course, this is a one-way trip, so you’ll also need either a deep loathing of Earth, or have nothing to live for here. After at least eight years of training, only one of the six teams will make it, blasting off from our humble rock towards the Red Planet in September 2022. Subsequent four-man teams will be sent at two-year intervals to join the deep-space survivors.

The interesting thing is that apparently Mars One will start hurling equipment, supplies and rovers to Mars in 2016, so I guess we’ll see whether the whole plan really comes together then. If a one-way trip to Mars sounds like your bag, click here for details.

[MIKA27]

Video: Watch That Giant Squid Attacking A

Our friend Jonnypartys at The Scuttlefish found this video of the Architeuthis, the Kraken filmedby Tsunemi Kubodera and his team after 400 hours in a research sub. It’s only a few seconds, but you can see the beast both peacefully floating and attacking the submarine.

The monster was kind of pissed off, but I don’t blame it. According to Kubodera, they live “a solitary existence, swimming about all alone in the deep sea. It doesn’t live in a group, so when I saw it, well, it looked to me like it was rather lonely.”

Size comparison.

The complete footage will be shown by the Discovery Channel for the season finale of Curiosity. [The Scuttlefish]

[MIKA27]

Cannibal sold human flesh as ostrich meat

A CHINESE man convicted of murdering 11 people was executed on Thursday.

Zhang Yongming is said to have chopped up his victims and sold the flesh at a market near his home in southwest China, where he came to be dubbed "the cannibal killer", The South China Morning Press reported.

It is believed he duped unsuspected customers into thinking they were buying ostrich meat. Yongmin also reportedly ate his victims - mainly young boys - and fed scraps to his dogs.

[MIKA27]

Russia Is Going Back To The Moon In 2015

We sort of ignore the moon these days, because we’ve BEEN THERE and ugh it’s kind of out of the way. But Russia says it’s going back in 2015 with an unmanned probe.

Russia, you’ll remember, originally beat the United States to that particular achievement in 1959, 10 years before Neil Armstrong touched down. The new craft will be called Luna-Glob (Moon-Globe), and will be the first spacecraft launched from Russia’s new facility in eastern Amur. Here are some details provided by Roskosmos:

"Russian space officials have said Luna-Glob would consist of an orbital module and a probe that would land on the moon and beam back information about samples it takes from the surface."

The Luna-Glob mission had previously been slated for 2009 and 2010, but ran into financial problems both times. Now, though, Russia has committed $US70 billion in funds from 2013-2020. Both NASA and China have missions scheduled to go back to the moon in 2013 as well.

[MIKA27]

Woman Steals Train, Crashes It Into A Building

Last night in Saltsjöbanan, Sweden, a young woman decided to try her hand at driving a train. It didn’t end well: she careered off the track and straight into this house.

Swedish newspaper GP reports that the woman, a twenty-something cleaner for train operator Arriva, was injured in the accident, but — amazingly — nobody else was harmed. The wannabe train driver has since been arrested on suspicion of endangering the public.

Bertil Grandinson, who lives on the third floor of the house in the picture, explained: “We woke up at half past two by a terrible bang, it was as if an aeroplane crashed. I looked out the window and noted then to my great surprise that the train had run into the house. It is terrible and very shocking.” Terrible and shocking indeed.

It’s currently unclear how the woman managed to start the locomotive: even with a key, being able to drive the train apparently requires training.

[MIKA27]

Star Wars Fans Prepare For War Over This X-Wing Coffee Table

Most of us look can look at this beautiful hand-carved X-Wing themed coffee table and appreciate the craftsmanship that went into its creation — even if we would never even think of putting in our living rooms (Except for a certain member here on FOH ) But for die-hard Star Wars fans, this could very well be the holy grail of Lucas-inspired home decor.

Unfortunately there’s a good chance they’ll be more devastated to hear this table comes with a $US60,500 price tag than Luke was when he learned Vader was his old man. Its creators, Sean Regan and Aubrey Cohen, came up with that obscene amount by factoring in all the hours it took to create at a rate of $US14 an hour for their talents. So the odds are only Lucas himself could afford it. Maybe that’s why he sold his company to Disney.

[MIKA27]

Why The Moon Landings Couldn’t Have Been Faked

This video is so good, so incredibly brilliant, solid and simple, that you will want to paste it all over your Facebooks and Twitters just to piss off all the idiots who still claim that the moon landings were faked. The reason is simple: the technology to fake it didn’t exist.

It’s a very simple argument. It’s not about showing how ignorant the hoaxers demonstrate to be with their idiotic “proofs”, which actually show they don’t know anything about physics, photography or even perspective. Or the fact that simple there’s tons of physical proof that we were there. Or the fact that the Soviet Union was monitoring it too and accepted the American victory in the Space Race.

No, it’s something even more obvious. This video explains why, even if someone wanted to fake it, nobody couldn’t have been able to do it. There was absolutely no way to fake it at the time. Even the cameras needed to fake it didn’t exist back then.

It’s completely convincing and undeniable argument and worth watching from beginning to end. I enjoyed it so much that I was giggling at some points. Especially one of them: we have gone from a world in which we couldn’t possibly fake a landing on the moon but we went there for real to a world in which we are no longer going to the moon but we can easily fake it.

[tempbond]

This video is so good, so incredibly brilliant, solid and simple, that you will want to paste it all over your Facebooks and Twitters just to piss off all the idiots who still claim that the moon landings were faked. The reason is simple: the technology to fake it didn’t exist.

It’s a very simple argument. It’s not about showing how ignorant the hoaxers demonstrate to be with their idiotic “proofs”, which actually show they don’t know anything about physics, photography or even perspective. Or the fact that simple there’s tons of physical proof that we were there. Or the fact that the Soviet Union was monitoring it too and accepted the American victory in the Space Race.

No, it’s something even more obvious. This video explains why, even if someone wanted to fake it, nobody couldn’t have been able to do it. There was absolutely no way to fake it at the time. Even the cameras needed to fake it didn’t exist back then.

It’s completely convincing and undeniable argument and worth watching from beginning to end. I enjoyed it so much that I was giggling at some points. Especially one of them: we have gone from a world in which we couldn’t possibly fake a landing on the moon but we went there for real to a world in which we are no longer going to the moon but we can easily fake it.

Greatest video I've ever seen on YouTube ! Thanks for posting this !

[MIKA27]

Watch Dodge Hand-Build The Viper

The Dodge Viper is an incredible piece of machinery, one you learn to respect a little more when you see it hand-build at the factory in Detroit, Michigan.

The New York Times threw a few action cameras around the production line and came out with this, almost Benny Hill like video.

[MIKA27]

Aussie Firefighters Take Smart-Pills That Reports Back Data About Their Guts

Firefighters run into flaming buildings for a living, It’s not exactly what you might call a safe job. And while they can tell generally how they’re doing by noting whether or not they are on fire at any given time, there’s a lot more nuance to keeping track of other aspects of their health. That’s where data delivery pills come in.

In a trial executed here in Australia, 50 firefighters got dressed up in their normal protective gear but took one extra precaution: they each swallowed a little computer-in-a-pill transmitter — the Equivital EQ02 Life Monitor — that would keep track of their internal temperature and beam it back out for monitoring. The pills kept track of skin temperature, heart and respiration rates, and core body temperature, and beamed all that info out to an external computer. The idea is that if any of those readings spike too quickly, the firefighter in question can be pulled for a literal “cool-down” before anything bad happens.

Because of the amount of adrenaline in the their systems and all kinds of other distractions, firefighters are very vulnerable to heat stress, dehydration, collapse, and even cardiac arrest if they aren’t careful, and it helps to have hard data and someone on the outside looking out for them. It’s especially important in Australia, where temperatures are soaring to new heights, even when there isn’t any fire around.

After all is said and done, the pills are…expelled through perfectly normally bodily functions and then hopefully never ever ever ever ever used again. This is not the place for recycling. The pills performed will in the trial, so they might not be uncommon in the future, for firefighters and for other people who need their vitals closely monitored for whatever reason. Talk about a technology that’s easy to swallow.

[MIKA27]

You’ll Never Guess How Much The Original Batmobile Just Sold For

The Adam West Batman TV show from the 60s is perfect. It’s action-packed for the kids and hilarious for adults. This story is a testament to the popularity of the world’s greatest detective: decades after it finished going to air, the show’s props are still going for millions.

Just this last weekend, the Batmobile used in the 1960′s Batman TV show sold at auction for $US4.2 million. Holy profit, Batman!

The Batmobile was a modified version of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept, and in the show it was fitted with all sorts of baddie-bashing kit like smokescreens and oil slicks.

[MIKA27]

This Is What Went Wrong In The Boeing 787 Dreamliner

All the 787 Dreamliners — Boeing’s most advanced passenger aeroplane ever — have been grounded because of what you can see above: a melting battery made by the Japanese company GS Yuasa Corp, integrated in the aeroplane at Boeing Everett Factory, in Everett, Washington. Looks pretty bad to me.

This is not the first time an airliner has been grounded. All Douglas DC-10s were grounded in 1979 after generalized wing damage was discovered following a crash that killed 271 people. The MD-80 was also partially grounded because of faulty wiring.

Hopefully, they will fix it and this wonderplane will fly again soon.