Reading sign language has always been in the cards for Kinect, ever since that showed up as a feature in some of the early patents. A while ago, it managed to read two of the most sweeping, exaggerated arm-based gestures. But since then, it’s gotten good. Like, really, really good . Read more…
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Kinect Has Gotten Super Good at Reading Sign Language
Lignum Vitae, Latin for “Tree of Life, ” is the national tree of the Bahamas. It’s also the world’s densest wood, and has such unusual properties that the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, has its aft main shaft strut bearings made out of the stuff. In addition to being strong, hard, heavy, dense, water- and salt-water-resistant, Lignum Vitae contains natural oils that make the bearings self-lubricating. The USS Nautilus isn’t an anomaly; Lignum Vitae has been used as propellor shaft bearings in conventional ships, and hydroelectric plants dating back to the 1920s have used bearings for their turbines made out of the stuff. Virginia-based Lignum Vitae Bearings calls their product “the world’s only renewable (and greenest) bearing on the market.” Company President Bob Shortridge has acquired land in the Bahamas, one of the tree’s native origin islands, and plants at least one Lignum Vitae tree for every block of the stuff that passes through his facility. “Although Lignum Vitae has been harvested for over 500 years before I was born, ” Shortridge writes, “I feel an obligation to replace it… I wish for this incredibly useful wood to be available for generations to come.” Here’s Shortridge himself explaining Lignum Vitae’s properties and applications: (more…)
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Lignum Vitae: Wood So Bad-Ass, It’s Used to Make Shaft Bearings for Nuclear Submarines (and More)
CNet’s Declan McCullagh reports on a rumor that Google is testing a system for encrypting its users’ files on Google Drive; they are reportedly considering the move as a means of making it harder for government spies to harvest user-data.
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Google experimenting with spy-resistant encrypted Google Drive
One of the most common and beloved packing materials now comes in a metal form. Bubble wrap—first invented as three-dimensional wallpaper, believe it or not—started protecting valuables in 1960 and is branded by the Sealed Air company. It’s typically made from polyethylene, where a bubble-shaped side is bonded to a flat side. The new metallic form can offer protection in very, very tight spaces, only a few millimeters thick. So packaging can be made very, very small and much stronger than the plastic variety. Computer and cell phone cases could be made much more thin and sleek. Computer parts could be protected with very little space used. Even helmets would not need to be as bulky. The protection offered is more heat and chemical resistant and more flexible than any other bubble wrap. Making the metallic wrap is surprisingly simple. Afsaneh Rabiei , professor of engineering North Carolina State University, and her team started with a thin sheet of aluminum and used a studded roller to form small indents in the sheet. Instead of capturing air in these indentations, she filled them with a foaming agent like calcium carbonate or titanium hydrate. When such agents are heated they form bubbles within the metal, as you can see here: (more…)
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New Metallic Bubble Wrap: Thinner, Stronger, Better
judgecorp writes “Google has fixed a vulnerability in its Glass device, which made it possible to fool the wearable gadget into joining malicious Wi-Fi networks, through the use of fake QR codes. Google fixed the flaw fast, following a tip-off from researchers — but there are two warnings to take from this. There are other weaknesses in Glass (such as the absence of a lockscreen), and this sort of weakness will increasingly hit as the Internet of Things takes hold and the number of communicating devices multiplies.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Google Fixes Glass Vulnerability To Malicious QR Codes
Bloomberg is reporting , citing Taiwanese newspaper Commercial Times, that Apple may delay the next iPhone—after it allegedly decided to tweak its design to feature a bigger 4.3-inch retina display screen. Read more…
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Apple May Delay the New iPhone Because of a Change in Screen Size
First time accepted submitter rpopescu writes “Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame has pulled his solo album ‘Eraser’ (as well as music made as Atoms for Peace) from the music streaming service Spotify, as a protest at how much it pays the artists. Quote: ‘”Make no mistake. These are all the same old industry bods trying to get a stranglehold on the delivery system.”‘” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Radiohead’s Thom Yorke Pulls Albums From Spotify In Protest of Low Royalties
The scariest Google Glass hack just got fixed before anyone evil could actually use it, but the details are a little unsettling. Using nothing more than Glass’s camera and a malicious QR code, hackers would have been able to steal total control of the device if you so much as looked at the wrong thing . Read more…
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All It Took to Hijack Google Glass Was a Dumb QR Code
The revamped Google Maps design reached Android last week; now, it’s iOS’ turn. Google Maps 2.0 is gradually rolling out worldwide for Apple’s platform, and it’s bringing the Android version’s discovery and exploration components as well as some new-to-iOS features. Long-anticipated iPad support is the highlight, although there’s also indoor navigation , live traffic updates and incident reports. Maps 2.0 hasn’t hit the US just yet, although it should be available shortly. Update : It looks like it’s hit the US App Store as of midnight ET or so, check the link below to grab the update yourself. If you’re looking for offline maps, those are available with an Easter Egg like the one first featured in the Android version. Just zoom to the area you’d like to cache, then type “Ok maps” in the search box. [Thanks @carloslarez ] Filed under: Cellphones , GPS , Tablets , Mobile , Google Comments Via: 9to5 Mac Source: App Store (US)
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Google Maps 2.0 for iOS starts rolling out with iPad support, indoor maps (update: offline maps too)
=) -_- T_T =P 😉 Oh, the emoticon. Depending on who you’re talking to (or I guess texting to? messaging to?) at the moment, emoticons can be as common as some words. When did they first start showing up? Did people write letters with smileys and frowny faces? Were typewriters used to express emotion through symbols? Maybe. Apparently, the first emoticons were used in 1881. Read more…
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The First Emoticons Were Used in 1881