Author: kenmay

Aphex Twin is making music software based on mutation

Aphex Twin (aka Richard James) is known for creating original, complex sounds whenever he can, but his next creation might just take the cake. He tells Groove that he hired a programmer to develop music software based on mutation. Once you give the app an audio sample, it automatically generates six variants on that and asks you to pick your favorite before going on to create more variations — think of it as natural selection for sweet beats. The software still “needs to be tweeked, ” and there’s no mention of a public launch, but the early output reportedly sounds “totally awesome.” Don’t be shocked if one of James’ post- Syro albums uses this software to create some truly one-of-a-kind tunes. Filed under: Software Comments Via: FACT Source: Groove

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Aphex Twin is making music software based on mutation

Xiaomi passes Uber as the world’s most valuable startup

As if we needed another sign of Xiaomi’s skyrocketing growth, the Chinese smartphone maker says it’s now the most highly valued technology startup in the world. Yes, it’s even worth more than wunderkind Uber. Xiaomi announced that it raised a whopping $1.1 billion from investors, which pegged its valuation at $45 billion, slightly higher than Uber’s $40 billion-plus value. For a company that didn’t even exist before 2010, Xiaomi is on a roll: It was named the third-largest smartphone maker in the world earlier this year (which honestly makes it hard to think of it as a startup). And it’s now focused on expansion efforts in India and Indonesia (scaling back plans to reach 10 more countries this year). It’s no wonder why Xiaomi is popular in emerging markets — its phones offer high-end specs and looks for a fraction of the price of other smartphones. While it has no plans to tackle the US or Europe yet (its next stop is Brazil next year), Xiaomi’s unique strategy and massive funding could end up driving down smartphone prices everywhere. Filed under: Mobile Comments Via: Bloomberg

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Xiaomi passes Uber as the world’s most valuable startup

Belize’s "Blue Hole" Reveals Clues To Maya’s Demise

An anonymous reader writes The collapse of the Mayan civilization has been a mystery for decades, but now new research suggests that the blue hole of Belize could provide an answer. Studying minerals from Belize’s famous underwater cave, researchers have discovered that an extreme drought occurred between AD 800 and AD 900, which is when the Mayan civilization collapsed. From the article: “Although the findings aren’t the first to tie a drought to the Mayan culture’s demise, the new results strengthen the case that dry periods were indeed the culprit. That’s because the data come from several spots in a region central to the Mayan heartland, said study co-author André Droxler, an Earth scientist at Rice University.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Belize’s "Blue Hole" Reveals Clues To Maya’s Demise

Pope to push for action on climate change

Over the weekend, The Guardian reported that Pope Francis will issue an encyclical urging Catholics to push for action on climate change. The push will coincide with the efforts to follow up on the Lima agreement in the hope that they will lead to binding agreements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Although the Vatican has not confirmed that the document is in the works, the article quotes several authorities by name, and they speak as if it is a done deal. The document would be in keeping with the Pope’s messages on environmental stewardship; the article quotes Francis as telling an audience in Latin America, “Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness.” It’s also consistent with his general high regard for scientific findings. The Pope will join a variety of voices pushing for action next year and will undoubtedly add to the political pressure for an agreement. A more relevant question may be whether Francis can sway anyone who wasn’t already interested in seeing progress made on the climate. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Pope to push for action on climate change

Hackers Say They Can Copy Your Fingerprint From Just a Photograph

Right now in Hamburg, Germany, the largest European hacker association, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), is holding its 31st annual congress that’s a four-day fest of all things hacking. Other than having a pretty rad name , CCC is well-known for detailing all the crazy (and sometimes scary) shit they can do. They’ve just added another one to the list. Read more…

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Hackers Say They Can Copy Your Fingerprint From Just a Photograph

The Nerdiest Way to Play Quake Is Also the Coolest

Forget gaming PCs. Forget Doom on an ATM . Forget Super Smash Bros. on a graphing calculator . The only game worth playing is Quake on an oscillascope. I mean, holy crap would you look at this thing? It’s as nerdy as it is awesome. Read more…

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The Nerdiest Way to Play Quake Is Also the Coolest

Modio lets kids design and 3D print their own action figures

Add / Remove In Jingle All The Way — perhaps one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, at least in Springwise’s opinion — Arnold Schwarzenegger goes to absurd lengths to get the must-have toy craze Turbo-Man after they’ve sold out in stores. Zeitgeist products from the Furby to Pet Rock will always give parents a headache at Christmas time, but a bigger trend in the ascendancy is the Maker movement, which aims to get consumers creating their own personalized gadgets and playthings. In line with that philosophy, Modio is an app that makes it easy for kids to bring their own imagination to life in the form of a 3D printed superhero or monster figure, based on their own design. Available as a free app for both iPhone and iPad , Modio lets users pick from a huge digital library of 3D parts – heads, bodies, legs and accessories — that can be combined with one another to create unique characters and creatures. Each piece can be customized down to color, pattern and texture, and a detail mode lets kids with a penchant for art to draw their own emblems. The finished design can be played with via the app to test the different poses they can make. When they’re happy with their creation, those with access to a 3D printer can either quickly print their figure in one piece or print each part individually. Individual parts simply snap into place and they twist and bend just like they did in the app. Since each action figure is essentially modular, users can replace any broken parts, or change up their character by simply printing more. The app supports any 3D printer, although it comes optimized for the MakerBot and its Cloud Library out of the box. Watch the video below to see the app in action: Although using Modio to its full potential requires both an iPad and a 3D printer, it allows for a lot more freedom, as well as potential enjoyment and learning for kids than a store-bought toy would. Are there other typically mass-produced products that could be designed and manufactured by consumers using a similar platform? Website: www.modio3d.com Contact: contact@modio3d.com

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Modio lets kids design and 3D print their own action figures

The Best Command Line Replacements for Bloated Desktop Apps

Command line utilities are often reserved for only the geekiest amongst us, but many of them are actually a lot better than desktop alternatives. In fact, many are easier to use, waste less resources, and often have more keyboard shortcuts. Let’s take a look at a few of the best. Read more…

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The Best Command Line Replacements for Bloated Desktop Apps

Courier drones could make the postman a thing of the past

Add / Remove Regular readers of Springwise may remember our recent article on the ambulance drone , designed to offer faster response times and hopefully save more lives as a result. Now looking to target less life threatening situations, our most recent spotting is the creation of London-based Bizzby , which is looking to create the first fleet of courier drones for private individuals. While there has been much talk of major logistics and delivery companies taking advantage of drones to offer faster delivery times, there has been little activity surrounding the possibility of a similar service for individuals. The Bizzby Sky, however, is just that. Equipped with a small on-board compartment measuring 25 cm (H) x 40 cm (W) x 120 in (L) that can carry up to 500g, the drones enable individuals to send and receive small items across crowded cityscapes. To order a drone, users fire up the Bizzby app on their phone and enter details of the item they are looking to deliver, the location they wish to deliver to, and the time they would like the collection to take place. They can enter a pick up location, or let the drone pick up from their current location. Once the drone has arrived and the item has been placed on board, the vehicle will set off for its destination, flying up to 400 feet. On-board sensors are designed to prevent collisions in the air, while cameras give both the sender and receiver real-time tracking capabilities — pixelating any sensitive material for privacy reasons. In the event that the drone begins to run low on batteries, it will automatically return to its home GPS coordinates. However, low batteries may actually be the least of Bizzby’s worries, as the Civil Aviation Authority does not currently authorise the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles over populated areas. Undeterred, Bizzby has created a petition urging the UK government to allow the use of these drones, calling for regulations and controls similar to those already used by air traffic control. Should they be successful, what other opportunities would that new legislation open up? Website: www.sky.bizzby.com Contact: ask@bizzby.com

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Courier drones could make the postman a thing of the past

Google Tracker 2015: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

The New Year is almost here, and that means it’s time for the bi-annual Google Tracker, our round up all of Google’s news, rumors, and acquisitions. Hopefully it paints a clearer picture of what will happen with the company in the future. We’re not really predicting launch dates or guaranteeing that everything in this article will launch in 2015, we’re outlining a list of projects and initiatives currently underway at Google HQ. Think of it as a big “to-do” list for Google—things can be delayed, moved around, or canceled, but to the best of our knowledge, this is a good synopsis of the company’s current goals. The 2013-2014 version of the Ars Google Tracker worked out pretty well: Android Wear, Google Play Games, Android One, the Nexus Player, YouTube Music Key, and many features of Lollipop were all represented. So if you play close attention to Google news, this post should be a good refresher. And if you’re just a casual Google observer, it’s time to catch up on all you’ve been missing. Table of Contents Nest: Google’s Home Automation Division Android M and Google’s feature experiments OS-wide fingerprint support Selectable app permissions Split-screen apps Google Hangouts, your personal IM assistant Copresence—cross-platform, ultrasonic pairing of nearby devices Person-based reminders Android Apps as a universal binary Android turns into a real car infotainment OS Material Design hits the Web WhatsApp competition, but not Google Hangouts Chromecast 2—new hardware that supports “second screen” interactions Virtual reality with a piece of cardboard Google X Life Sciences—Basically the “Google Healthcare” division Smart contact lenses Baseline Study Continuous monitoring via disease-detecting nanoparticles Liftware, a stabilized spoon for tremor sufferers Calico Google X Self-driving cars Google Glass 2—powered by Intel The Google X Display Division Project Ara—Will the modular phone concept finally become a real product? The Google graveyard Other stuff The world’s most ambitious tech company Nest: Google’s Home Automation Division Nest The Nest Thermostat, Nest’s first consumer product. It lets you control your thermostat remotely and learns your schedule. 4 more images in gallery Home automation was a major expansion point for Google in 2014, and the market feels like the company’s next big ecosystem. At the very beginning of 2014, Google bought Nest Labs , the makers of the Nest Thermostat, for $3.2 billion. Shortly after the acquisition, news came out that Tony Fadell—Nest’s founder and “one of the fathers of the iPod”—was a direct report to Google CEO Larry Page. Only a handful of Google employees deal directly with Page, and they’re usually heads of divisions at Google. So at the time, we posited that Fadell would be running Google’s “smart home” division . Read 118 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Google Tracker 2015: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year