Archive for July, 2008
« Previous EntriesNew Way Of Storing Solar Energy Discovered [Solar Energy]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Solar power has a lot of promise, but until recently there hasn’t been an adequate way to store the energy the sun produces. Scientists at MIT have come up with a new fuel cell process that mimics the way plants store the sun’s rays that is both efficient and inexpensive, not to mention environmentally sound. Without getting too technical, the system uses sunlight to separate water’s hydrogen and oxygen atoms and then puts them back together in a fuel cell, providing energy. This means an almost limitless supply of clean energy might be just a few years away, though it’s still too early to say when you’ll have what you want: a solar powered laptop. [PhysOrg]
Why I Hate the iPhone Camera (and Loved the Best Rock Concert Ever) [Apple]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
There. I said it. I hate it. OK, I don’t really hate it. But sometimes I want to smash it against the wall. The last time was in the pit at the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s concert in Madrid. I was there, first row, center of the stage, after waiting a whole night and day outside of the stadium. That night was the most amazing and magical I’ve experienced in a very long time, and certainly the best rock concert I’ve ever been to. Only one thing failed: my iPhone’s camera.
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I was tired, exhausted, and about to fall sleep standing up (there were no seats at the pit). The week had been hell, and I was physically and emotionally destroyed. But then, the band and the Boss took the stage and Night blasted everything away. In a few seconds, as the adrenalin kicked in, the exhaustion disappeared. Then Radio Nowhere came. And Lonesome Day. And the Promised Land. From there, he and his band made every single one of the 60,000 souls in the stadium fly.
Three hours of pure rock, with the Boss giving it all until the end, when he sung a ten-minute version of Twist And Shout, mixed with—get this—La Bamba. Not a single pause. Just music, heart and soul. I just couldn’t believe this guy is almost as old as my dad. Forget Mick Jagger. Forget bloody Bono. He is the greatest rock musician alive, a true force of nature.
And I’m not even—or was not, until this day—a fan. The whole thing was totally unexpected for me. At the beginning I thought “this is going to be amazing” and I realized I only had my iPhone, because like every other concert, cameras and camcorders are absolutely prohibited. Specially when you are in the front row and the security guy can shake your hand. Or get your camera away.
During the whole concert, the entire stadium was under his command, jumping, singing, waving, screaming, completely in ecstasy, electricfied, everyone sweating under the hot spanish summer night. He and the band were enjoying the whole thing to no end. You could see them laughing, looking at us with real surprise in their faces, as if they weren’t believing that this huge stadium just couldn’t stop singing and jumping through every single one of the songs they played.
They were giving all their life away right there, and the public was returning it right back. With interest. Each of us. Mass hysteria. Crowd orgasm. Total love and dedication from Bruce, the band, and the public.
At one point—one of many in which he came to sing even closer to us—the Boss walked to the central platform and took a girl up on the stage. I knew she was the daughter of one of the spanish fans—who had been following him through the whole tour—because I met her before the concert started. She danced with her for a minute, smiling while the band played. It was just one of the many “I can’t believe this is happening” moments of the night.
Right there, in the very first row, in the corner of the central platform, I could see all these moments perfectly, like I’m seeing the screen of my computer right now. We were able to actually shake his hand, as well as the hands of the band—who at the end all came to the center platform. I shouted at him at one point (”Yes! Take us up there!”) and he replied looking straight into my eyes, with the biggest smile, pointing at me and saying “Yes, I’m going to take you there!” just before the band exploded with sound.
Another time, I could see him turning to Max Weinberg—at the end of Seven Nights to Rock—and whisper: “Born to Run!” And (boom!) Born to Run started to play a second later. At any time, I could turn around and see the 60,000 people in the Santiago Bernabéu—the name of the Real Madrid football stadium—singing, clapping, taken way by his power. Yes, it was absolutely breathtaking. All of it. From the very beginning I thought: “I have to share this with the people I love. I can’t do this justice with my description. I have to take photos.”
There was when I started hating the iPhone’s camera.
Nothing, I wasn’t able to take any of this magic with clarity. I’m not even talking about recording video (don’t get me started on that). I’m just talking about making a decent photo with one of the most advanced pieces of technology ever developed. Only one single photo that didn’t appear to be taken with a broken Lomo. By a drunk guy. Without a decent sleep in the last three days (ok, forget about the part about the drunk guy.)
Sure there was some clear pics here and there, but whatever was ok’ish, it was also completely crazy and badly framed. Some of them look nice—as you can see here, in the gallery of untouched images—but most of them need cropping and heavy Photoshop treatment.
I know most cellphone cameras are exactly the same. They behave poorly under low light conditions, they are slow, and have bad interfaces. And yes, I have to admit I like the iPhone’s camera blurriness and unwanted “special effects” sometimes. I even try to get similar effects with my DSLR. But that’s optional. This time I only wanted one thing: to be able to frame a good photo. Without having to hold the iPhone in a weird position. Without trying to find the stupid software interface button and not miss the shot (which I did, plenty of times).
That’s what I want. I don’t want more resolution, and I don’t want a stupid zoom. I would be happy (HAPPY) with good lenses and a better, speedier, more luminous sensor. And of course, the physical button. In fact, scrap the rest. Just give me the physical button. As much as I love virtual interfaces—because they open the door to multi-functional devices at a low cost, with great power and flexibility—I’m afraid that there are still times when the only way to go is a physical button. So give me just that in the iPhone 3G 2.0 and I will be happy, Señor Jobs.
And since we are at it, here’s a note for the Nokias, Sony Ericssons, Samsungs, and LGs of this world: stop doing the silly marketdrone race towards more megapixels and bigger optical zooms. Educate the users. Don’t dazzle them with higher numbers. Give us all more quality, more light, and more speed. That’s what really counts to catch the special, truly ephemeral, completely unexpected moments you want to save forever. Because when I think about it, even while I will always keep this concert in my—blurry as the iPhone’s camera—memory, there would never be another one like it.
That’s exactly what cellphone cameras are for. To capture the unexpected, to take decent pictures of the special moments in your life, because we can’t go around life with a camera in our pocket at all times. In other words, cellphone manufacturers, get your ass in motion and give us a real camera in our handsets.
First Pics of LG Netflix Blu-ray BD300 Player [Blu-Ray]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
LG’s Netflix-streaming, Blu-ray 2.0 playing BD300 made its public debut tonight, and we’re impressed. The box is slim and it won’t take up more space on your shelf than any other player. An LG exec confirmed a September launch for the sub-$500 player, so check out the gallery and start lickin’ your chops. [LG] galleryPost(”bd300″, 3, “”);
Jumbo-Sized MIDI Sampler Let’s You Muscle Out Beats Like Mario in Giant World [Music]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008No matter how good the music is, musicians look kinda lame tapping out little beats on tiny samplers on stage. What is emphatically not lame though is pounding them on 16 giant pressure-sensitive pads with this 750-pound sampler rig. It was built for the Warped-tour band Family Force 5 by a musician named bwack, and it packs a 22″ monitor, 10 control knobs, two pizza-sized pitch wheels and a Mac running Ableton to control the whole game. Check it out onstage at the Warped tour below. Giganto-rock!
I want to play this soo badly.
[Bwack via MAKE]
Sprint’s Centro Gets First Update [Updates]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
One of the most successful smartphones of the last year is the Centro from Palm. Sprint was the first carrier to sell the device, so it’s no surprise that it’s also the first carrier to offer a software update for the phone. The big change is the addition of location services to Google Maps, a quasi-GPS that’s actually pretty useful. Other changes include updates to VersaMail for Gmail users, better Exchange support, and Bluetooth enhancements. Hit the jump for the full list from Palm’s website. [Palm Update - thanks, David!]
Improved Gmail IMAP compatibility and an updated setup wizard with the new Gmail settings
Updated compatibility for Google Mobile Maps My Location feature to approximate your current location – great for directions, finding nearby restaurants or business, or checking local traffic.1
Improved ongoing delivery of email sent to VersaMail accounts using Microsoft’s Direct Push Technology via Exchange ActiveSync
Bluetooth usability enhancements and updates
Sprint TV performance enhancements2
Enhanced AOL Instant Messenger performance
Improved performance when adding a contact using Mobile Voice Control
Improved email attachment handling
Changed default camera shutter sound to “ON.” Audible shutter “click” will be heard when taking photos
Allows Preferred Roaming List updates over the air
iPhone Apps We Love: NetShare - Share Your 3G/EDGE Connection With Your Computer [IPhone Apps]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
NetShare is one app we never thought would make it onto the official iPhone App Store. All it does is set up a SOCKS5 proxy for you to get your laptop/computer online through use of the 3G/EDGE connection. Does it work? Yes. Yes it does, much to our surprise. EDGE works just fine, although Mahoney says it’s slow as balls. 3G impressions in a sec. Be careful of how much bandwidth you’re using, since your provider probably makes a frowny face at you using their network to power your laptop, however “unlimited” your plan may be. [NetShare - Thanks Matthew and Ryan!]
Update: Having problems setting it up on my iPhone 3G. I follow the instructions and the phone seems to “connect”, but that’s about it. No connections shown in the NetShare app, and nothing goes through.
Shimano’s All-Electric Gear System is Like F1 Paddle Shifters For Your Bike [Bikes]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Gear and derailleur mechanisms in high-end bikes are among the more impressive feats of engineering around, which makes bike madman Eric Hagerman’s report in Wired on Shimano’s new ultra high-end all-electric gear shifters pretty interesting. While other companies have dabbled in replacing rickety lever and cable shifters with all-electric mechanisms, Shimano has taken the tech much further than most. And while it may seem like bike-dude geekery at best, hearing the pros talk about the difference makes it sound like an amazing rig to try.
Switching to servos and batteries is like moving from an automatic transmission to F1 paddle shifters, says one engineer Wired talked to. “Mindblowing—you just touch the button and it shifts,” says Tour de France vet Frankie Andreau. And all in all the set is actually lighter than Shimano’s current top-of-the-line components, which is a must before pros are even going to go near it. No price yet, but it’s pro gear. Big bucks—well over the $2,600 you’d drop on next year’s conventional Dura-Ace group. It was on a few riders’ bikes at this year’s Tour, and it will become available to the public in January of ‘09 More at: [Wired, Thanks, Joe]
Crazy Kassou Car: Confusing, Like a Giraffe With Batwings [Freak Car]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
As a tall guy I can appreciate that designer Nicholas Lee Dunderdale incorporated an adjustable roof into his 3-wheeled Kassou concept car. The rubber “neck” can be raised or lowered depending on the passenger’s need for headroom or better aerodynamics. But, to be honest, this thing looks like some sort of crazy science experiment. Like an unholy mixture of a giraffe, bat and a vacuum that surely goes against the laws of nature. I mean, what are those wings for anyway? Despite its odd appearance, the Kassou actually earned second place in the Car Design News Contest for 2008—although I wouldn’t expect to see it on the street anytime soon. [Car Design News via The Design Blog via Gearfuse]
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Aussies to follow Canadian’s lead by searching for pirated tracks
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
When we last left off, Canada had passed the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which essentially tosses fair use out the proverbial window and allows that calls for searching for and confiscation of all technology that contains suspected pirated music and movies. Essentially, travelers crossing the border of Canada will have to submit to an inspection of all personal media platforms, laptops, and anything else that could contain pirated movies and music. Travelers with infringing content would be subject to a fine and may have their devices confiscated or destroyed.
The Treaty, which has been aggressively pursued and lobbied by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is yielding tremendous dividends for their brib … er … lobbying efforts since the secretly negotiated agreement was adopted at last month’s G8 Summit between the nations of the United States, the European Commission, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico. And now, Australia is in the act, as well.
Will life for international travelers become a digital version of Midnight Express? Fortunately the treaty has to undergo ratification by Congress here in the United States, so there’s still time to scuttle it by contacting your local representatives. But the serious question here is, how on earth will this draconian measure be enforced without abuse or flat out mistakes in determining if a music track is legally owned?
And the fact that Canada has already gotten the ball rolling and Australia is picking up the ball doesn’t bode well for the freedom to use the songs and movies we buy as we see fit.
Those concerned can contact IPac or the EFF for more information.
Hat Tip and photo credit - DVice
[ Aussies to follow Canadian’s lead by searching for pirated tracks copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
<hr noshade style=”thin, blue, solid line, 1px high” /Pressy idea: Educational Toys
AOKI Deodorizing Suits Keep Sweaty Types Tolerable At the Office [Clothing]
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
You know that sweaty guy who always comes into work smelling like an armpit? Yeah, you know who I’m talking about—and if you don’t, “that guy” is probably you. Thanks to AOKI, you won’t have to tolerate the funny looks, wrinkled noses and giggle-laden whispers of your co-workers any longer. The translation is shaky, but they claim that their new line of deodorizing suits can absorb sweat, suck out odor and provide antibacterial protection using the power of silver ions. They also run about $370 on sale. Unfortunately, if you don’t live in Japan you will just have to continue being the smelly office outcast. [Rakuten via Crunchgear]