Some researchers at the Technical University of Munich have built an unassuming but no-less-remarkable mechanism for tilting and panning a small camera robotically. Designed to keep up with the eye movements of a human in gaze-tracking studies, the camera mount features three degrees of movement, and can flick around at a rapid 2500 degrees per second — our flesh-composed eyeballs max out at a mere 1000. The setup uses ultrasonic piezo-actuators, which move prismatic joints, which drive spherically-jointed rods attached to the camera, keeping the weight under 100 grams and still acting gently enough to avoid rattling on top of the wearer’s head. We’ll take two. Speedy robo-cam mimics the movements of the human eye, exceeds them originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Political comedy, without practical application within a political strategy, will merely satiate our hunger for real change with a punch line and rob us of our sensitivity to any number of social and political injustices. Related Entries November 1, 2010 The Anarchist October 29, 2010 Pack Your Trunk
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By Mr. Fish Related Entries October 29, 2010 Pack Your Trunk October 27, 2010 Everyone Looks a Little Bit Asian
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By Mike Luckovich Related Entries October 29, 2010 Pack Your Trunk October 27, 2010 Everyone Looks a Little Bit Asian
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If the damp blanket of leaves warming the ground is any indicator, then we’d say that fall has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. That means Google’s Chrome OS is due . What better time for DigiTimes to cite sources from “component players” claiming that the first smartbooks featuring the Chrome OS will launch later this month. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Google will follow a similar strategy as its Nexus One and be first from the gate with the launch of a self-branded Chrome OS notebook manufactured by Inventec — the ARM-based machine will not be sold through normal retail channels and is expectated to ship a very modest 60,000 to 70,000 units. Acer and HP are then rumored to be launching Quanta-manufactured Chrome OS gear as early as December while ASUS waits to gauge market reaction. Of course, if all of this is true then we should be getting a Google event press invite right about, well, now. Google-branded Chrome OS smartbook launching this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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By Eugene Robinson The first African-American president takes office, and almost immediately we see the birth of an overwhelmingly white national movement that tries its best to delegitimize that president. Coincidence? [Above, an anti-Obama poster.] Related Entries October 29, 2010 Pack Your Trunk October 27, 2010 Everyone Looks a Little Bit Asian
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The San Francisco Giants are World Series Champs, the first time since 1954. And fans in the Bay Area reacted Monday night to the team’s impressive win over the Texas Rangers. (Nov. 2)
Continue reading …Shocker! Kids spending too much time in front of TV screens, too little in loving parents’ embrace
November 2, 2010 No Comment
Not that anyone really needed to have this spelled out, but America’s tots are apparently spending too much time in front of the telly tubes. The latest study, conducted by the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington, finds that children under the age of five are spending 4.1 hours of each day watching movies or TV, doubling the recommended maximum of two hours a day. Whether you take the slightly arbitrary two-hour RDA to heart or not, it’s undeniable that all of us — not just the young ‘uns — are spending increasingly larger chunks of our time looking at the world through a screen and not through our own retinas. And, if you want an extra topping of alarmist extrapolation, these figures come from a research sample concluded in 2006, today’s better-equipped toddlers are very likely to outdo those numbers when mobile devices and the like are factored in. Imagine how bad this would all be if the US didn’t have so much quality programming to entertain and educate them with. Shocker! Kids spending too much time in front of TV screens, too little in loving parents’ embrace originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …VUDU, Wal-mart and Disney join forces, add a free streaming copy to Toy Story 3 Blu-ray discs
November 2, 2010 No Comment
Wal-mart is showing how it might make use of VUDU after purchasing the 1080p movie streaming house earlier this year, now that the two have teamed up with Disney to throw in a free digital copy of Toy Story 3 with each one purchased at the store on DVD or Blu-ray. When the movie goes on sale today, customers will receive a download code they can use on their nearest VUDU player ( now including Boxee on the Box, PC or Mac) to stream some Buzz and Woody at any time without a disc involved. Wal-mart and VUDU are quick to describe this mix of of physical and digital access as the future of content, and we’re thinking this type of promotion is about to become much more widespread since Amazon’s already offered a similar deal with Disc+ , and Best Buy purchased CinemaNow specifically for this type of offer . The only question now is if customers will start asking “which streaming service does this connect to?” before they run out to buy a new Blu-ray instead of simply looking for the lowest price or other promotional tie-in. Continue reading VUDU, Wal-mart and Disney join forces, add a free streaming copy to Toy Story 3 Blu-ray discs VUDU, Wal-mart and Disney join forces, add a free streaming copy to Toy Story 3 Blu-ray discs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Highlights of this day in history: President Harry Truman wins re-election in an upset; South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem killed after coup; Howard Hughes flies his ‘Spruce Goose’; Game show scandal rocks early TV; Singer kd lang born. (Nov. 2)
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