Monday, 13 May 2013
Lamborghini Egoista Concept centers entirely on its very fortunate driver (video)
Make a LEGO Robot With a Raspberry Pi
Burger built in lab costs $325,000 to produce, 'tastes reasonably good'
Twitter buys Lucky Sort startup to help visualize your tweets
Los miles de razones por los que Mars One no enviará nunca a nadie a Marte
Por aquí ya mostrado nuestro escepticismo cuando se empezó a hablar de Mars One calificándolo de irrealizable; tampoco nos convenció mucho lo de que la cosa se plantee como una especie de reality.
De hecho tampoco nos creemos los planes de Dennis Tito para enviar a dos personas en una misión de circunnavegación a Marte en el proyecto Inspiration Mars, y eso que son mucho más comedidos.
Por eso no deja de sorprenderme el tiempo y espacio que se le dedica en distintos medios al hecho de que Mars One cuente con 78.000 candidatos para ir a Marte teniendo en cuenta que hay miles de razones por las que el proyecto nunca llegará a ningún sitio salvo, quizás, a llenar de dinero el bolsillo de sus promotores.
Merchandising de Mars One
Esos miles de razones son por un lado económicas, pues las estimaciones de 6.000 millones de dólares para el primer lanzamiento y de 4.000 para los consecutivos son ridículas si tenemos en cuenta que enviar a Curiosity a Marte costó unos 2.500 millones de dólares, y eso que Curiosity ni come ni respira.
Y por otro, aunque pudiéramos obviar el asunto de la financiación, que como ya decía Alvy no se arreglar con un Kickstarter, resulta que simple y llanamente no tenemos la tecnología para llevar a cabo una misión como esta.
Nuestros lanzadores no tienen la capacidad suficiente, y menos cuando hablamos de lanzamientos hacia Marte, los sistemas de soporte vital de las naves tripuladas no tienen ni de lejos la autonomía necesaria para un viaje tan largo, por no hablar del asunto de la protección contra las radiaciones de sus tripulantes, y por no tener no tenemos ni un traje espacial que les pudiera permitir a los voluntarios de Mars One moverse por la superficie de Marte.
En fin, un enorme despropósito que Daniel Marín y Javier «Irredutible» Peláez se han encargado de desmontar concienzudamente en Esa gran tomadura de pelo llamada Mars One .
De lectura obligatoria, en especial para los que deciden darle espacio en los medios de comunicación sin aplicarle ni un mínimo de pensamiento critico al asunto.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/ciencia/los-miles-de-razones-por-los-que-mars-one-no-enviara-nunca-a-nadie-a-mmarte.html
Google celebrates Breakout's 37th anniversary the only way it knows how
T-Mobile raises iPhone 5 down payment by $50, device now costs $150
Hands-on with the iConsole.tv, an Android-powered game system with the heart of a desktop PC
Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon hands-on
Slickdeals' best in tech for May 13th: 60-inch Samsung HDTV and 11.6-inch ASUS TAICHI
ChargeCard now shipping with micro-USB connector, we go hands-on
What to Expect at BlackBerry Live 2013
Google Offers 15GB Unified Storage Across Gmail, Drive, Google+
Editorial: Let Google be a little evil
Sqigle's Earl tablet brings Android to the wilderness with e-paper, solar power
Verizon bumps up Samsung Galaxy S 4 launch to May 23rd
MedRef for Glass uses facial recognition to identify patients, keeps health records
Amazon purchases Liquavista display company from Samsung
Airbnb updates Android app interface, adds calendar availability and guest pre-approval
With Email Insights, Silverpop Allows Marketers To Test And Customize Their Emails Based On Device
Silverpop, the marketing tech company that announced $25 million in new funding last month, is announcing a new feature to help customers adapt to all the different ways that people are opening their emails.
The feature, called Email Insights, accomplishes three main tasks, the company says. First, it allows them to preview how an email will look in up to 30 different apps across multiple devices. (It’s working with a company called Litmus to create those previews.) Adam Steinberg, Silverpop’s director of emerging apps, said that there was previously a lot of uncertainty and guesswork in the process — for many marketers, the testing process previously consisted of emailing people they knew with different devices then asking, “How does it look?”
Next, Silverop provides analytics about which devices and applications are being used to open those emails. Customers can then use that data to create emails that are customized based on a user’s “preferred device.”
“The marketer wants to know which type of device their customers are using so it can give them a device-centric marketing message,” Steinberg said.
For example, he told me that if an online retailer is launching a new iPhone app, instead of sending the same promotional message to everyone on their mailing list, they could create a special message for people who usually read those emails on an iPhone, with a direct link to download the app.
Email Insights is now available to all Silverpop customers with pricing that starts at $40 per month.
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/H3jCjws7VAc/
Google combines Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photo storage into a common 15GB pool
¿Cómo debe ser el Twitter de una empresa de comercio electrónico?
La gente de Twitter en el Reino Unido organizó un evento llamado #Twitter4Brands acerca del uso de las redes sociales orientadas as las campañas publicitarias y las ventas a través de comercio electrónico. Allí se presentó un estudio de Deloitte comparando su efectividad respecto a métodos de promoción tradicionales. Publiqué algo al respecto en el blog sobre experiencias en e-commerce TeLoEnvíoPorSEUR: Algunas lecciones sobre ventas y redes sociales en #Twitter4Brands .
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/internet/cuenta-twitter-empresa-comercio-electronico.html
IRL: Goal Zero Sherpa 50 and the HTC One on Rogers
All Google Play developers can now respond to user reviews
ABC to add live-streaming to its iOS app with rollout in NYC, Philadelphia
Netflix updates Player on PS3 with faster scanning and streamlined audio management
Facial Recognition Comes to Google Glass
Nokia Lumia 925 leaked in low-res press shot
Aereo Switches Up Pricing: $8/Month For 20 Hours Of DVR, $12/Month For 60 Hours Starting May 15
Aereo users, listen up.
The company that has been bringing you access to 30 over-the-air broadcast channels on the cheap is switching up its pricing structure a bit to make things less complicated. Unfortunately, this switch also makes things slightly more expensive, but still highly competitive in today’s content streaming landscape.
Starting on May 15, the original five-tier structure will be boiled down into two options: The base $8/month fee will offer 20 hours of DVR storage, and a $12/month fee will get you 60 hours of DVR storage. Neither service requires a long-term commitment.
However, it’s worth noting that the $8/month plan changes the way you can record on Aereo’s DVR service, only letting users record from one channel at a time. At the same time, the $12 plan actually offers more than it used to, bumping up storage from 40 hours to 60 hours.
When Aereo first launched, it offered more levels of service, including a $1/day deal. This was a unique option for the service, as it let users tune into huge, national events without forcing them to buy into the service on a monthly basis. Events like the Superbowl, presidential election, or the Academy Awards instantly became accessible to people without cable, and also offered an easy, painless way to taste the Aereo service without making a commitment.
While dropping that plan may remove that taste-test-ability, in the end Aereo believes that simplifying the options will be a better experience for customers.
Here’s what founder Chet Kanojia had to say in a prepared statement:
We looked at our data and it was clear, consumers want a more simple approach to pricing. With our new pricing structure, consumers begin with one base plan and then have the ability to upgrade their membership to triple their DVR storage capacity. We want to make it simple and easy for consumers to access our technology and we believe this updated pricing plan accomplishes just that.
For current users of Aereo, your plan will remain the same until the end of your current membership period. For those on the $12/month payment plan, you will be automatically upgraded to 60 hours of storage.
Right now the service is only available in New York, but Aereo has plans to expand into new territories very soon.
Happy TV viewing, everyone!
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/--XGcZwE4vE/
Groupon POS builds upon Breadcrumb with simplified point-of-sale interface for iPad
Aereo live TV service refreshes pricing plans, expands to Boston on May 15th
Withings Smart Activity Tracker hits the FCC with a catchier Pulse name
Obama's CTO Talks About How Learning Works In Kio Stark's New Book, Don't Go Back To School
The following is an excerpt from the new book by Kio Stark, Don’t Go Back to School: a handbook for learning anything.
To someone who has never tried, it’s not obvious how to learn the things you want to learn outside of school. I’m on a mission to show you how. To do that, I became obsessed with how other people learn best, and how they do it without going to school.
My research based on interviews with 100 independent learners revealed four facts shared by almost every successful form of learning outside of school:
- It isn’t done alone.
- For many professions, credentials aren’t necessary, and the processes for getting credentials are changing.
- The most effective, satisfying learning is learning that which is more likely to happen outside of school.
- People who are happiest with their learning process and most effective at learning new things — in any educational environment — are people who are learning for the right reasons and who reflect on their own way of learning to figure out which processes and methods work best for them.
This interview with Harper Reed is a great example of how independent learning works. Reed served as the Chief Technology Officer for Obama for America during the 2012 election; before that, he was CTO at Threadless. He is an engineer who builds paradigm-shifting technology and leads others to do the same.
I love computers and I’ve always been around computers. I can’t really talk about education without talking about computers. I went to high school and I actually really loved it. I took all the classes I could, I was prom king, student council president. I did everything I could to be more involved in high school and that is obviously not the normal path you’d expect for a computer geek.
But, along with that, I was constantly getting into trouble with computers. Never with the cops, but I was always getting banned from all the computers in the school district. Then, they would let me back in, and I would mess up again for whatever reason. It happened over and over. I was caught in this dichotomy of trying to be involved, but whenever I was trying to get involved with computers, I messed it up because I was curious and experimenting outside what was allowed. After that, I went to a small liberal arts college. I studied history along with computer science, because I knew ultimately I was going to work with computers and I wanted to learn something else, too. I studied Catholic history and the history of science, which overlap a lot. I’m not Catholic. I’m not a religious person at all, but it was really fascinating to learn all of the idiosyncrasies of Galileo and Bruno and all these different weird scientists who got burned at the stake for their discoveries.
I realized about probably three-quarters of the way through my education that in terms of computers, I actually wasn’t learning anything I needed to learn to get a job later on. I did learn some coding concepts in college, but more importantly I figured out that I’m an experiential learner. I need to put my hands on things and really see them, and really chew on them. It was better to do it in a real context, where it mattered if I did it right. Like where there was money at stake. So, I did an internship in Iowa City, IA. I worked for a real company that was trying to make a profit. The company built ecommerce apps. As an intern I started learning web apps to build web pages. Given my way of learning, it was fascinating to see how the management dealt with me. I was a child. I asked questions like a child does. “Why is the sky blue?” They just said, “It’s just blue. Go with that.” I said, “No! Tell me why we’re doing it this way. What is this?” It was client services, so we were just doing it because the client wanted it done, with no thought behind it. But all the questions I asked gave me this opportunity to see how things worked and the value of asking things that seemed obvious to everyone else. It gave me a lot of hope. It really kicked off the career that I have now.
The methods I used to learn technology don’t work for everything. I’m struggling with learning Japanese. My wife is Japanese and I want to learn the language, but I don’t know how. I take classes, I fail, it doesn’t work out. I have to figure that out. With technology, I immediately find a problem I want to solve. It’s usually about learning a new programming language or learning a new technology. If it’s a real problem, I want to get to where I can actually picture the solution and be able to see it through from the beginning to the end. For me, I can’t learn from videos. That just doesn’t do it for me, although there’s a lot of video learning right now. I find it very frustrating. So usually what I do is I just go through a tutorial of some sort and then really start iterating, doing it over and over. I start trying to be creative on top of that, and say okay, now that I can figure out how to do this, how would I use it? So I set a new goal pretty close in difficulty, and when I achieve that, I do that again, until suddenly I’ve learned something. When you’re in that process, it can also be the best time to teach someone else. A tech writer named Mark Pilgrim, who writes manuals for learning coding languages including Dive into Python, and Dive into HTML5 said, “The best time to write a book about something is while you’re learning it yourself.” So you know what’s hard to learn and can talk in an excited, confident, honest way about how you got to the place where it’s not hard anymore.
For me this whole process is really collaborative. I treat everything like I’m the CEO of my life. CEOs have boards of directors and boards of advisors and these are groups of people who they’re using to really rely on for help and advice to be successful. I think every person should treat their life like that. So, if I’m stuck, I know I can reach out to a buddy, or I can reach out to my brother. I know I can reach out to these people who are experts in whatever I’m trying to do. I try to surround myself with incredibly smart people who are often, if not always, smarter than me. Because other people are so important to learning, I also think one of the most significant things about the internet is democratization of access. Anyone can email you about self-learning and you’re probably going to respond. Probably. I think it’s about how you phrase it. We are all very busy, but we’re probably going to respond if you approach it efficiently.
You can learn a lot about this from a really good book called Team Geek by Brian W. Fitzpatrick. It’s actually about project managing software development geeks, but it applies to most things with communication. It should really be called “Interacting with People,” because all it is, is just little tricks on how to interact with people, how to make those interactions better. There’s a section called “Interacting with an Executive,” and that part should be called “Interacting with Busy People.” It says if you want to connect with someone who is very busy, tell them three bullets and then a call to action.
So if someone wanted help from me, it might go like this: “Harper, I’m interested in what you’re doing with the campaign. I’m going to be doing technology for a campaign in the coming election. Do you have a hint for product management or project management software that you guys use?” I can answer that quickly. It’s very simple. Then all of a sudden there’s this person who probably wouldn’t have had an opportunity to talk with me, and I can help them out. I love what that kind of efficient communication does for you.
Kio Stark is a writer, researcher, teacher, and passionate activist for independent learning. She teaches at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. She is also the author of the novel Follow Me Down. You can find out more about her work at KioStark.com.
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/YJvbOFyacmw/
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Pictures Surface Online Again
Meet the Man Who Keeps Netflix Afloat in the Cloud
Netflix starts streaming Disney movies in Ireland and the UK
