Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Measure Anything with a Camera and Software. Kevin C. Tofel writes "Using a simple concept, iPhotoMEASURE software can measure any objects you can take a picture of. Include a printout of a 7.5- or 15-inch square in the photo and the software can measure any distance or object in the pic to within 99.5% accuracy. Although geared towards contractors, there's any number of consumer usage scenarios as well. Enough to justify a $99 price tag? Jury's still out on that."[Slashdot] 6:06:58 PM      Google It!.

Google Docs to support Powerpoint. KindredHyperion writes "Garett Rogers at ZDNet has an article on the prospect of a Powerpoint-esque addition to Google Docs and Spreadsheets. From the article: "If you dig around the language files in Google Docs, you will find what appears to be traces of a new service preparing for launch soon. Meet Google Presently [~] an online presentation creator that will likely read and write the most common formats like Microsoft PowerPoint and Open Office Impress.""[Slashdot] 6:04:41 PM      Google It!.

Canadian Government Rejects Net Neutrality Rules. An anonymous reader writes "The Canadian Press reports that the Canadian government appears ready to reject net neutrality legislation, instead heeding the arguments of large telecommunications companies . Michael Geist has posted transcripts of the documents which can be summarized as the government thinks that blocking or prioritizing content is acceptable, it knows that this runs counter to recommended policy, and it doesn't care because it plans to the leave the issue to the dominant telecommunications providers."[Slashdot] 6:00:19 PM      Google It!.

Video on Demand From the Public Library. ye oulde library lover writes "In light of the recent story about Wal-Mart and movies on demand, readers should know there is a free service available from some public libraries that lets you download movies and tv shows. The service is just beginning, so selection is pretty mediocre, but the sponsors, Recorded Books and PermissionTV, make some big promises. If your library ponies up the dough for the top service, you will be able to download movies on the same day as their dvd release. All you need is a library card. You can see one of the early adopters [~] Half Hollow Hills Community Library in the library's blog. Look for MyLibraryDV."[Slashdot] 5:57:08 PM      Google It!.

Google Apps to Become Paid Service. FredDC writes "Business Week reports Google Apps is becoming a paid service soon for companies who wish to use it for their domain. Disney and Pixar are reportedly thinking about switching to Google Apps innstead of using Microsoft Office. Could this be the end of a monopoly? Or the start of a new one?"[Slashdot] 5:52:52 PM      Google It!.

Imaging Deception in the Brain. FMRI-based lie-detection systems seek to assess a direct measure of deceit: the level of activity in brain areas linked with lying. Studies have shown that the brain appears more active when someone is telling a falsehood, especially the brain ar... [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News] 5:47:15 PM      Google It!.