Monday, 30 September 2013
gdgt's best deals for September 30th: Fujiilm FinePix JX650, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX80 Cameras
3Doodler 3D printing pen starts shipping to Kickstarter backers, retail models arriving in early 2014
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review (2013): is last year's best e-reader still tops?
Lineal Timeline Lets You Visualize History (Or The Future) On Your iPad
A new app for iPad called Lineal Timeline launched recently, offering a way to scroll back through historical events from centuries prior, as well as create your own personal timelines using notes and photos from your device’s library. Though appearing deceptively simple, the app’s goal is fairly ambitious: it wants to be able to present all of history in minute-by-minute detail in the iPad’s interface, without overwhelming the user with information.
The answer comes in the form of an iOS 7-only iPad application from a company called Apposite, founded in 2011 by husband and wife team Greg Wieber and Colleen Clery. Greg had previously launched music app Polychord in the iTunes App Store, before the two teamed up on Apposite. The company’s first creation was Microcosm – an experimental sound toy that grabbed a headline on Gizmodo in early 2012.
Lineal Timeline, however, has been on Colleen’s mind for years. She began working on designs for the app back in 2010, after being inspired by the iPad’s capability to organize research and thoughts. Explains Greg, Colleen is dyslexic and has been frustrated how information is often presented in isolation. “For her, understanding comes through placing things in context – by contrasting fields of study, building connections between them, and discovering common themes,” he says.
Meanwhile, Greg, a former EA interaction designer, says he was intrigued by the user interface challenge of building something like Lineal Timeline.
Even if you don’t have a need for organizing your own personal research into some sort of historical context, Lineal Timeline is still an enjoyable way to organize any series of events throughout history that you want to better understand and view more visually. For example, a student struggling to understand how the events of a World War unfolded could plug them into the app and then use it as a reference tool. You could also visualize the important moments throughout a company’s history, or that of an industry. Parents could use Lineal Timeline as a modern-day baby book, tracking the chronology of their child’s first steps and other milestones.
The app also supports “future” timelines, which opens it up to other use cases led by project managers or event planners, too.
Today, Greg says he’s been using Lineal while reading about Einstein – plotting his major life events and discoveries, including those of his contemporaries and predecessors all the way back to Newton.
As you create your own timelines in Lineal, you’ll be able to scroll through the moments you add in a variety of ways. If you were to build a timeline for a series of events throughout a decade, for example, when you zoom out, all the events from that decade form a stack which can be scrolled up and down for easy access. Zoom in again, and the events again spread out to their respective years. You can also color tag events to build sub-timelines around themes, and a forthcoming update will make building timelines easier through the addition of import and export tools. That will go a long way to encourage adoption, as today making timelines takes, well, some time.
A bit further down the line, the plan is to also add in collaboration and sharing features. And longer-term, Greg says the company’s overall vision for this and other projects it’s considering, including some smaller apps that emerged while making Lineal, is to bring data visualization tools to ordinary people.
He declined to discuss the business model in-depth (beyond the fact that Lineal is a paid application), saying only that there are “a lot of interesting opportunities once we reach a certain scale.” Well, aren’t there always? However, he did promise Lineal would never introduce things like banner advertising in order to generate additional revenue.
The Lineal Timeline app is $4.99 here in iTunes. (Note that it requires iOS 7 and up to run.)
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/S0KUQe8VM_8/
Las Variaciones Goldberg y tres artículos sobre estas por Jeremy Denk
Porque nunca hay suficientes versiones de las Variaciones Goldberg de Johann Sebastian Bach, la versión que Jeremy Denk grabó para la NPR, First Listen: Jeremy Denk, 'J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations' .
Como material extra, tres artículos escritos por Denk acerca de esta obra, Why I Hate The 'Goldberg Variations', en el que pretende convencernos de que las odia aunque por supuesto que no es así, Hannibal Lecter's Guide To The 'Goldberg Variations', en el que habla de las Variaciones en el cine, y This Is Your Brain On The Goldberg Variations, acerca de qué las hace tan increíbles.
(Vía MetaFilter).
- Glenn Gould: A State of Wonder - The Complete Goldberg Variations, otra genial versión de esta obra.
- Open Goldberg Variations: un clásico en el dominio público, para uso y disfrute de cualquiera.
- Bach + electroencefalograma + Arduino + tricotadora = NeuroKnitting, bufandas neurodiseñadas, hackers, artistas, y las Variaciones.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/musica/lvariaciones-goldberg-y-tres-articulos-sobre-estas-por-jeremy-denk.html
IRL: Wahoo's Blue SC speed sensor for bikes
Nokia says current high-end Lumias won't get Bluetooth 4.0 support
Ciencia en primera persona, investigadores que explican la importancia de lo que hacen
Ciencia en primera persona es un proyecto de Euskampus que busca acercar al público lo que hacen cuatro investigadores –por ahora– en su vida profesional, contar lo que les llevó a dedicarse a la ciencia, y ver un poco como es su día a día.
En una sociedad con mejor formación científica esto no debería ser necesario, pero me temo que por ahora es lo que hay, por lo que cualquier esfuerzo para hacer entender a cuantas más personas mejor lo importante de la ciencia, que nos afecta a todos, es más que bienvenido.
En los cuatro vídeos producidos hasta ahora salen Luis Hueso, físico, Itziar Laka, lingüista, Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, astrofísico, y Juanjo Zulaika, ingeniero industrial, aunque la idea es ir grabando más de estas piezas.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/ciencia/ciencia-en-primera-persona-investigadores-que-explican-la-importancia-de-lo-que-hacen.html
The 10 Countries Where iPads Cost the Most
I Believe I Can Fly With This Soon-To-Be Commercially Available Jet Pack
A few things come to mind at the mention of a jet pack.
The Jetsons come first, and then this hilarious video, in which Fox 5 News embarrasses itself with a water-propelled jet pack. But what if I told you that we’re about a year away from the first legitimately available jet pack for sale?
It’s true. Martin Jetpack, a New Zealand-based company, has just revealed the latest prototype of its jet pack, which is promised to be available in mid-2014. Though the name suggests otherwise, the P12 Jetpack is actually propelled by ducted fans, powered by premium gas.
Founder Glenn Martin has been working on building a jet pack for the last 30 years, starting in his parents garage. The P12 marks the 12th iteration of his dream, and the closest version yet to commercial availability.
Unfortunately for the (incredibly wealthy) average Joe, Martin will be releasing the Jetpack to first responders like policemen and firemen before bankers, NBA players, oil tycoons, etc. will have their chance at a purchase. However, Martin says the jet pack should be commercially available to anyone (who can afford it) by 2015.
As for pricing, it’s predictably high. The Martin Jetpack will cost anywhere between $150,000 and $250,000, excluding the cost of premium gas as well as any costs associated with getting a sports license in the U.S., and purchasing the necessary flying equipment. But hey, what’s $300k compared to feeling like you live in the future?
The P12 is said to reach a maximum of 46 mph, with a max flight time of around 30 minutes. In that time, at a normal speed of around 35 mph, the Martin Jetpack can transport an individual about 20 miles. The highest that this personal flight vehicle can go is 3,000 feet, but it’s recommended that the pilot remain around 500 feet.
Why? Well, flying at a lower altitude won’t give enough time for the safety systems to work. This includes a rocket-deployed ballistic parachute.
That said, acrophobics need not apply.
According to GizMag, the pilot will also need hearing protection, helmet, neck restraint, boots, and a fireproof suit.
So who’s ready to fly?
[via Gizmodo]
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/JjcjSqZ6aTM/
MSI launches GP laptops for business-gamer types
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 review (global edition)
This could be Sony's Xperia Z1 'mini': a 20.7-megapixel camera and Snapdragon 800 in a 4.3-inch package
Insert Coin: KnowRoaming's SIM 'stickers' let you talk, text and surf worldwide on the cheap
Resisting The Deadpool, Turntable.fm Focuses On Live
In the past year, Turntable.fm has gone from a force in the digital music world, with around 420k MAUs and a Fred Wilson-helmed board, to a near-Dodo-level bird.
On September 11 of this year, the company shut down Piki.fm, which was meant to provide a more laid-back, asynchronous experience complementing Turntable.fm’s real-time, community driven environment, and took away the ability to upload music, which founder Billy Chasen says saves the company $20k a month.
According to comScore, Turntable is seeing 89K uniques, with a 52.9 percent decrease in uniques from August of 2012.
So what now?
I got a sneak peek at Turntable’s pivotal plan, and it all comes down to live performances. The idea is to replicate the live performance experience as closely as possible, from feeling like you’re surrounded by others to hearing the nuances of someone’s singing or playing live.
I witnessed a test performance, and it works a little bit like this:
Artists visit Turntable’s Soho office/studio and set up in front of a green screen. A camera records the performance live to viewers who have purchased tickets to the show. Turntable is requiring a minimum ticket price of $5, but artists can choose their own ticket price as long as it’s higher than the minimum. Artists generally spilt the profit 70 percent/30 percent with Turntable, but that is negotiable.
Where users are concerned, it’s a very different experience from the Turntable you’ve come to know. What once was a laid-back, play-in-the-background situation is now a live experience. You can snap pictures of yourself with the computer’s webcam, which are sent directly to a big screen in front of the audience. The artists can also see a real-time chat that’s happening among viewers, as well as direct questions posed from the audience.
This allows for real-time interaction between artists and their fans in a way that’s impossible during a concert.
Turntable aggregates the ambient noise from listeners’ mics (including applause) to play at the end of every song, so that users really get a sense of community while watching the performance.
Take a look at the UI:
But will this be enough?
Mimicking a live performance experience inside a computer screen is a huge, daunting task. Watching last night, there’s definitely an excitement that takes the viewer beyond an animated club or stadium with bobbing heads, but does it match that of a live show?
Red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere, the vibration coming from the speakers, the palpable energy of being in the same room as an artist you adore… These are the things that make concerts worth the price. Whether or not that will translate to a chatroom-esque environment remains to be seen.
However, there are advantages. When in your life will you have the opportunity to ask Justin Timberlake if he prefers boxers or briefs, or Lady Gaga what happened to her meat dress after she wore it? With Turntable Live, that possibility is, well, alive and well.
Chasen says that, financially, the company is alright to continue operation for now, with the majority of focus on Turntable Live. With the shutdown of Piki and reduced expenses from pairing back Turntable.fm (which will live on as a sort of in-between-shows lounge), the company will make it through the end of the year.
If Turntable Live picks up, that should create a valuable revenue stream, but if not, the company will be looking for funding by early next year. Chasen wouldn’t go into any more detail on financials.
Luckily, the new Turntable Live product doesn’t have a whole lot of competition in the space, as Turntable.fm did with Pandora, Spotify, Songza and others. Spacebar, a company that launched at Disrupt, has a similar proposition for consumers, allowing them to hear a live stream of a concert for a relatively cheap price.
However, Turntable Live requires that artists step out of their routine and schedule and enter the Turntable office downtown, shoot a live concert, interact, and all for ticket prices that viewers are willing to pay. That said, Turntable goes live unencumbered by competition, but this could be a bad thing as well.
It could be that nobody’s tried this because it’s possibly a bad idea.
Turntable Live launches on September 30, when the first headliners and prices will be announced. Chasen says the company plans to have at least one show per day from then on.
Here are some pics/Vines from the test performance:
via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/M82bigGlEhI/
Microsoft's New Windows 8.1 Ad and Other News You Need to Know
Sky adds 'The Wire' and other high-profile TV box-sets to its VOD collection
Vodafone Smart 4G shows its face, some base specs in leaked flyer
Con este truco dejarás de recibir spam telefónico en el móvil (Android, iPhone)
Aquí va un truco rápido para impedir que entren llamadas comerciales no deseadas, al menos no más que una primera vez y evitando que se repita la misma con todo lo cansino que resulta, por si a alguien le sirve.
En dos pasos,
- Añadir en un contacto (llámalo como quieras, Spam o Marditos Cansinos) todos los números que vayas comprobando¹ que son de spam teléfonico. Tanto de llamadas de voz como de mensajes SMS.
- Bloquear ese contacto para que el teléfono ignore las llamadas y mensajes procedentes de todos los números asociados a ese contacto, y los que se vayan añadiendo en adelante.
En Android algunos fabricantes incorporan de fábrica la opción para bloquear contactos desde las opciones de un contacto. En caso contrario se puede configurar un tono en silencio y asociarlo al contacto o desviar la llamada directamente al buzón de voz (desde Editar contacto) o utilizar aplicaciones como Calls Blacklist y similares para bloquear las llamadas y mensajes que entran desde esos números.
En iPhone iOS 7 añade la opción «Bloquear este contacto» para que todas sus llamadas y mensajes sean simplemente ignoradas. En versiones anteriores de iOS el truco era simplemente asignar un tono en silencio y quitar la vibración para ese contacto (en las opciones del contacto).
1. Mi consejo particular es no añadir a la lista un número hasta haber comprobado directamente que corresponde a una llamada comercial —basta cogerlo, verificar y pedir que te llamen a otra hora para a continuación asignar el número en el contacto bloqueado. Decir que no te interesa y pedir que no te llamen más no suele funcionar, en mi experiencia.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/gadgets/truco-no-recibir-publicidad-spam-telefonico-movil-android-iphone.html
Facebook to join Twitter in providing TV networks with user data
La Game Boy de las maletas se llama Travel Boy
La Travel Boy Carry On Luggage la tienen en ThinkGeek (salvo que sea 1 de abril, que entonces puede que sea verdad o puede que sea mentira) por unos 50 euros al cambio, vía OhGizmo.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/juegos-y-diversion/game-boy-maletas-llama-travel-boy.html
Where to Get the Best Deal on Your iPhone 5
De cómo el símbolo de los mil nombres (#) pudo acabar con el mundo (al menos en el cine)
Con todo lo WTF que es la película «Objetivo la Casa Blanca» resulta que contiene la que es probablemente la escena del tipo personas delante de un ordenador más realista que se haya visto nunca en el cine.
— La contraseña es¹ november, india, lima, eco, oscar, hotel, barra invertida², 9, kilo, almohadilla...
- ¿¡Qué!?
— ALMOHADILLA
— WTF!?
— ¡“Mayúsculas 3”!
— Ah, joder, “mayúsculas 3”
El símbolo # tiene muchos nombres y a la vez no tienen ninguno con el que todo el mundo entienda siempre que nos estamos refiriendo a ese símbolo.
Muchos lo conocemos como almohadilla³, pero no se llama igual para todos: también se conoce como barras o barras-barras o gato o michi o tatetí o «distinto a» o grilla o signo de número o numeral o cardinal o vieja o incluso «las rayitas cruzadas» o «ese que es como las tres en raya» o «rejilla» o simplemente «cuadradito». Se llama quadradet o coixinet en catalán, traol, trebol o treboil en vasco y grade o grella o cancelo en gallego.
En inglés también es el símbolo de los mil nombres: desde number sign a pound sign o hash sign pasando por square, sharp, cross, comment sign... hash, crosshatch, pound, number, octothorpe, fence, crunch, mesh, hex, flash, grid, pig-pen, tictactoe, scratch, gate, hak, oof, rake, unequal, punch mark según se recoge en Pronunciation guide for Unix, vía Wikipedia.
Demasiados nombres para tan poca cosa.
Y con todo lo anterior en la versión original de la película no lo llaman de ninguna de esas formas sino hashtag —sin duda, por culpa de Twitter. Y también sucede que el símbolo # no siempre sale con la combinación de teclas «mayúsculas+3», sino que esto varía según el sistema operativo y el idioma del teclado.
Mi propuesta es llamarlo U+0023 que no hay que confundir con sostenido. Aunque también podría llamarse #, #, U+FE5F, ﹟, U+FF03, ＃,.... O bueno, tal vez sea mejor dejarlo en «mayúsculas+3» por simplificar y que al pulsar esa combinación de teclas sea lo que dios quiera.
1. En alfabeto fonético
2. también llamada barra inversa o barra oblicua inversa o barra revertida o contrabarra o backslash o escape,... otro símbolo que no es buena idea utilizar en una contraseña que pueda ser necesario tener que dictar poco segundos antes de que explote todo. Sugiero.
3. Si, es un nombre verdaderamente ridículo.
via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/humor/simbolo-mil-nombres-acabar-mundo-cine.html
Google launches gaming app vending machines, places first ones in Tokyo (naturally)
UK cyber defense unit promises to 'strike back' at enemies
