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Donnerstag, 25. November 2004 |
Reading Print Publications Electronically.
A trend I've been seeing lately is distribution of print publications
in "reader" software thats presents them just as they were printed.
This goes beyond just PDF [~] entire magazines and newspapers are being
pushed to readers with their own software for viewing them.
I tried two such solutions, and they were both quite good.
Zinio: This company distributes
magazines with its "Zinio Reader." The reader displays the pages just
as they were printed, complete with page-flipping animations. It's
surprisingly readable, despite the loss of the "straight up-and-down"
layout of Web pages. The reader is unobtrusive and straightforward.
They have several issues available for free.
Newsstand: New York Times:
This company does the same thing as Zinio, but for newspapers. I used a
7-day trial of the New York Times, and it was almost good enough to pay
for. I'm cheap, of course, but let me say that I'd pay for this version
before the print version. Again, like Zinio, the reader software was
easy to work with. At full-screen, two entire pages of the Times
appeared side-by-side, with text big enough to scan the headlines, and
a little magnifying glass to zoom in on anything I actually wanted to
read.
Both systems have automated downloads [~] they run a scheduled check for
new content, and notify you when it's downloaded. I'll gladly admit
that it was nice to scan through the New York Times every morning when
I got to work. There was something...relaxing, about reading a "paper"
with no hyperlinks tempting you off the page, or animated banner ads
yelling at you. It felt as leisurely as sitting on the living room
floor with the paper spread out in front of you.
This would be a great solution for commuters. Set your laptop to
download the paper in the wee hours of the morning while you're
connected, then read it on the train on the way to work. Everything is
in one big file, so you don't need a connection.
One more that I didn't try: NXTBook
While this stuff is cool in its own right, it highlights one of the big
problems with the Web: it's tough to keep your attention on Web
content, because the Web is ever-changing and it's so easy to get
distracted. Hyperlinks beckon you on to more content and you know that
different...stuff, is just a bookmark click away.
What I found when reading content designed for print, was that I spent
more time reading
it. I would actually read an entire article, rather than just skim it,
and I could actually be semi-contemplative about something, instead of
rushing to finish so I could move onto the next thing. There was an
unmistakable sense of peace about the entire process that I've just
never gotten from Web content. [Gadgetopia]
6:11:22 PM 
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Nero's new MediaHome with on-the-fly transcoding. 
With all the buzz around home media servers, Nero has created the MediaHome software package to provide control of
network entertainment. While most of the package looks pretty similar to others, the brilliant part is that it
can do on-the-fly content transcoding from one format to another. For instance, if one playback device only
supports MP3, MediaHome will convert files of other types (say WMA) on the fly. It[base ']s about time.
[Engadget]
6:10:09 PM
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Switched On: RoboSleepingIn.  Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched
On, a weekly column that covers everything related to digital convergence, the connected home, and all those other
multimedia buzzwords that marketers are tossing out these days. Last week he looked at
the Juice Box, Mattel[base ']s new personal video player for
kids, this week he talks about the robot gap:
One of the greatest gaps in popular technology application exists in robotics. Depending upon your definition,
robots have been used for decades in manufacturing, helping to automate assembly lines. In terms of intelligent robots,
though, the adoption has been much lower; in fact, they[base ']ve been largely confined to the entertainment, toy, and
education markets. From the high-tech Aibo to the
lowbrow Robosapien (pictured at right),
hobbyists embrace consumer robots not for what they can practically do. Indeed, many eight-year old boys will happily
provide a belch at least as robust as Robosapien[base ']s for free (and dance as jerkily with enough sugar and caffeine).
Rather, hobbyists are attracted to the experience gained from thinking about programming concepts. Mindstorms was a
perfect logical complement to a product that has long stimulated children[base ']s creative impulses. Indeed, Dean Kamen[base ']s
FIRST competition, essentially a robotics competition for high school students that has grown to fill the Astrodome, is
to BattleBots what ballet is to professional wrestling. All this is worthwhile for the early adopter and curious
tinkerer, but isn[base ']t this equation backwards on some level? These humans are spending more time serving robots than vice
versa. In terms of robotics, there are more mechanics than drivers.
 Aibo (pictured at right) is a talking dog in
more than the literal sense, and it[base ']s not alone. Moving up the consumer robotics food chain, or what would be one if
robots ate, are the advanced robots like Asimo and Qrio from the likes of Honda and Sony. Their creators take great
pride in showing how they can perform tricks like climbing stairs, but what are they going to do when they get there?
Perhaps the most useful consumer robot available today, which combines a modicum of intelligence to tackle a household
chore, is the Roomba from iRobot. A turgid
overgrown hockey puck, it is a long way from the Jetsons[base '] Rosie, whose purpose is to faithfully serve her family, or I,
Robot[base ']s NS-5, whose purpose is to get its ass kicked by Will Smith.
If this all sounds familiar, it hearkens to the state of affairs when the PC was in its early days and many of its
hobbyist users were programmers. However, the realization of the consumer robot will take longer to mature than its PC
counterpart, and will likely, as the PC did, take a different direction. Before the PC became mainstream, computers
were portrayed in science fiction as omniscient oracles. It turned out to be relatively easy to build a perfect
calculating machine, but PCs ultimately became tools for such noble pursuits as writing novels, editing films,
composing operas, and creating Web sites for rating poo.
Robots, at least the android variety, have a far harder task ahead of them, because we ultimately expect them to pass
for human not only in psychological and physical behavior but in terms of appearance. The appearance part will probably
be solved earlier, but it[base ']s difficult to predict when robots will be intelligent enough to handle any sort of complex
task that requires adapting to a potentially dynamic environment in real time, much less be stimulating enough to be a
satisfying companion. Until then, you can slowly prepare for war against the new superhuman masters by learning to
stealthily remove [base "]D[per thou] cells.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis at NPD Techworld, a division
of market research and analysis provider The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On, however, are his own. Feedback
is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.
[Engadget]
6:08:58 PM
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Sound-based pistachio sorter.  We hate getting those pistachios that can[base ']t
be opened without a hammer, and neither does Tom Pearson, who created a sound-based pistachio sorter that listens to
the sound the nuts makes when falling into a steel plate, detects whether they[base ']re open or not, and whooshes the
unopened ones away with a blast of air. His sorter is 97% accurate, which means you[base ']re still going to be annoyed every
once in awhile. It[base ']s just that[base ']ll be less than you are right now, since current sorters only have a 90% accuracy
rate.
[Engadget]
6:06:56 PM
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Pinar Yolacan is 'The Tripe Artist'. "A 23-year-old design student turned artist makes clothing out of tripe - Yes, the real thing - the lining of a cow's stomach.
Cathy Horyn wrote a story about Yolacan's work (pictured above and below) in last Tuesday's New York Times Fashion Section.
A showing of her photographs, "Perishables," opens at the Rivington Arms gallery on New York's Lower East Side on December 10.
The Turkish-born artist, asked about why she chose to work in her
strange medium, replied, "I've always been interested in the
impermanence of things."
re-Blogged from bTang reBlog [we make money not art]
5:38:10 PM
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New from the inventor of Karaoke: A $3,800 jug
There's a great story here
about Daisuke Inoue, the former keyboard player who invented Karaoke.
In 1971, Aged 31, he hooked up a car stereo, an amp and a coin box, and
made history. (He forgot to patent it and his company flopped when
Laserdisc machines were invented). This is his new invention, the New Aqua Trio,
which "is purported to electrolyze water for washing laundry, cleaning
dishes and even rinsing mouths without detergent or chemicals". At
$3,800, sales are apparently slow. (Link from Create Digital Music) - Tom [Music thing]
5:36:54 PM
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The SeeLinder: Make 3D holographic video calls, at least eventually.
Regular 3D displays must be getting a little too commonplace in Japan or something
(they[base ']re even popping up in cellphones), because now
researchers there are showing off a technology called the SeeLinder that takes things up a notch and let[base ']s you make 3D
holographic video calls. SeeLinder uses a 360-degree digital camera and cyliderical tube to create real-time
three-dimensional holograms that[base ']ll let you view the person you[base ']re talking to from almost any angle (i.e. you can walk
around them and stare at the back of their head while their talking, etc.). Most 3D displays have a sweet spot that
only gives you the full effect when you[base ']re looking at the screen from a specific angle.
[Thanks, Jason]
[Engadget]
5:34:26 PM
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The Smartphone Era Starts...Now?.  The
problem with punditry, as has often been pointed out before, is that
pundits suffer no ill consequences for flubbed predictions. Last I
checked, that Goldman Sachs lady who said the Dow would break, like, 1
million by the year 2010 still has a job. And all those pollsters who
gave John Kerry 311 electoral votes? Richer than you or I, my friend.
So it's with the proverbial grain of salt that I take this latest
Gartner report, stating that the smartphone era is totally, totally
upon us. Yeah, I agree that's the way the wind's blowing, and I welcome
it with open arms. But some of the projections in here seem a wee bit
sunny. 80 percent of "mobile workers" will be using wireless e-mail in
three years time? That depends on your definition of "mobile worker," I
realize, and I'm sure having two feet and/or a bus pass ain't what
Gartner means. Still, I'm skeptical--weren't we all supposed to have
HDTV by now, too? Data prices seem too high for Joe Q. Consumer;
T-Mobile's Sidekick II data-plus-voice plan starts around
$60-per-month. Unless you want to pay 20 cents-per-minute for calls on
the budget $30 plan, which is nuts.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, and it'd be swell if I'm wrong--hey, more
work for me. But a good rule of thumb on reports like this is treat 'em
like MP3 player battery-life specs: Lop 20 percent off the estimate.
Of course, in my own case, they'll have to pry my Treo from my cold, dead hands.
'Smartphone' Era to Start Next Year, Researcher Predicts [Information Week] [Gizmodo]
1:46:20 PM
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Outdoor High-Speed PTZ System.  I
had a friend in high school who had a removable police siren for his
car, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. But this is
definitely one better: A pan-tilt-zoom camera with a 220x day/night
zoom and a Sony Super HAD CCD. It's advertised as being perfect for
armored vehicles and other military applications, though I think it'd
be pretty bad-ass on the dash of a Ford Fiesta.
Not so sure about the price tag, though. I'll admit I don't know
much about the high-end PTZ market, but $2,900 sounds like a hefty
chunk of change for a rotating camera, super-zoom or no super-zoom.
But, hey, it's marked down from $3,400.
Outdoor High-Speed PTZ System [KBizz.com] [Gizmodo]
1:32:47 PM
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The Gadgetry of Thanksgiving: Super Debeaker.  My
girlfriend is a vegetarian, so I'm accustomed to receiving stern
lectures whenever I tear into a drumstick. But coming face-to-face with
the Super Debeaker, albeit in JPEG form, gave me pause. You can be sure
that, before I tuck into that luscious bird tomorrow night, I'll give a
moment's thought to what his time on Earth must've been like.
None-too-pleasant, I'll wager, given that his beak was likely snipped
off at a young age.
On the other hand, as the site makes clear, debeaking prevents
cannibalism, picking, fighting, and egg loss. So I guess there's a big
upside, too. And the Super Debeaker claims to get the job done with
minimal blood loss.
So, yeah, I'll ponder the evils of factory farming for a second or
two. Then I'll leave my girlfriend to her Tofurkey, and start wolfing
down some avian flesh. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
Super Debeaker [Gizmodo]
1:32:00 PM
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© Copyright 2005 Joerg Rheinboldt.
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Happy Thanksgiving everybody! [
