Monthly Archives: June 2014

Japan’s New Robot Museum Guides Are All Too Human | Mashable

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Japans New Robots Are All Too Human

If you’re searching for the uncanny valley, look no further than the work of Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro. He has been creating humanoid robots for years, and his latest incarnation — which is so realistic its scary — will act as robot guides at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Japan Miraikan.

The museum will welcome three robots, introduced in Japan on Tuesday. There’s the youthful-looking Kodomoroid, the adult female Ontonaroid and the baby-like Telenoid. With the exception of Telenoid, these robots look remarkably lifelike, have eerily expressive faces and are designed, in a limited sense, to move and communicate like real people.

Read More: Japans New Robots Are All Too Human | Mashable

Tools to Help Block Out Online Distractions | Gizmodo

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The problem with the web is there’s just so much of it; an endless tide of funny videos, pop quizzes, and social alerts ready to distract you from other, more urgent tasks at hand. We wouldn’t say there’s anything inherently wrong with killing time online, but if you really need to buckle down on an important job then these tools should help.

Overviews of:

  • KeepMeOut
  • StayFocusd
  • LeechBlock
  • Cold Turkey
  • SelfControl
  • TomatoTimer
  • Freedom

READ MORE: Tools to Help Block Out Online Distractions | Gizmodo

This Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite Is Humanity’s Greatest Achievement | TechCrunch

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Sometimes a device comes so close to being perfect that you’d be forgiven for not realizing that with just a single tweak, it can become, in actual fact, perfect. The Kindle Paperwhite is such a device, as an e-reader that Amazon has crafted so well that you pretty much never need look beyond for anything better. But while a regular book ends up with wrinkly pages after being caught in a surprise downpour on the beach, the Paperwhite fizzles – unless you get the Waterfi-treated Kindle Paperwhite.

The Waterfi version is shipped in the original Kindle packaging without any outward appearance of having been modified. It looks and feels like a Kindle, albeit a slightly heavier version, and interacting with its touchscreen is the same as you’d find with an unmodified version. But because of Waterfi’s special treatment process, its Kindle Paperwhite is completely waterproof – submersible to above 200 feet in either fresh or salt water, for any length of time.

READ MORE: This Waterproof Kindle Paperwhite Is Humanity’s Greatest Achievement | TechCrunch

An Ingenious Museum Design That Turns Visitors Into Creators | WIRED

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An Ingenious Museum Design That Turns Visitors Into Creators | Design | WIRED

In the revamped Cooper Hewitt, still in Carnegie Mansion, there will be around 15 new interactive screen displays where users can draw, design, and virtually explore the Cooper Hewitt collection. Much of this will happen via an electronic pen conceived by Local Projects and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and designed by Cooper Hewitt, GE, Sistelnetworks and Undercurrent. Each is paired with a unique URL on the visitor’s ticket, and as guests pass through different galleries they can touch the tip of their pen to wall text next to objects they find interesting, or inspiring. The pen then stores those selections. The museum still is finalizing details, but either way what follows will be a free-flowing, open-ended experience: with their pen, visitors can download all their selected items into a screen, and begin designing.

Read More: An Ingenious Museum Design That Turns Visitors Into Creators | Design | WIRED

Wow, this pen can write in any color on Earth | CNET

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Like the color of that flower? Your friends tie? With this new Scribble pen making a run on Kickstarter, all the hues of the world could be yours.

Read More: Wow, this pen can write in any color on Earth | CNET.

The Secret To Creativity, Intelligence, And Scientific Thinking | Fast Company

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The Secret To Creativity, Intelligence, And Scientific Thinking | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

The image is from cartoonist Hugh MacLeod, who came up with such a brilliant way to express a concept that’s often not that easy to grasp.

The image makes a clear point—that knowledge alone is not useful unless we can make connections between what we know. Whether you use the terms “knowledge” and “experience” to explain the difference or not, the concept itself is sound…READ MORE: The Secret To Creativity, Intelligence, And Scientific Thinking | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.

Lego Fusion Blends Virtual and Physical Gameplay | Mashable

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Leave it to Lego to use the word “fusion” correctly. The construction-toy companys new Lego Fusion analog-to-digital game sets are a true blend of real-world Lego building and tablet-app play.

Announced on Wednesday, and shipping in August and September, Lego Fusion boxes each come with 200 Lego pieces. They let you build and play in app-based virtual worlds that include a tower-defense game called “Battle Towers,” a town-building game called “Town Master,” a racing game called “Create and Race” and “Resort Designer.” What you build in the real world can be captured and used in the iOS and Android tablet apps. Each structure then becomes part of the game, and each game can be a part of your world or the larger Lego social community, where others are using their Fusion sets to build similar worlds. Towers can battle towers, race cars can compete against each other and townspeople can take virtual metros to visit other player’s towns.

Read more: Lego Fusion Blends Virtual and Physical Gameplay | Mashable

Niice Is A Beautifully Simple Tool To Create Moodboards | TechCrunch

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Every now and again I’m pitched a startup that I “get” instantly because it addresses a problem I’ve faced in the past and solves it in a simple, laser-focussed way. Niice is one such startup. It’s created a tool aimed at designers who need to create moodboards — a collection of inspirational images — in order to seed the creative process. The cloud-based moodboard-making service quietly launched a freemium version earlier this week.

Part image search engine, part image collection creator, Niice lets you search for images within its preselected image sources consisting of design galleries and various image communities on the web. The idea is to save designers having to trawl through bookmarked sites or rely solely on something like Google image search, as well exposing them to images they might not otherwise come across.

READ MORE: Niice Is A Beautifully Simple Tool To Create Moodboards | TechCrunch.

What Makes Old Books Smell Like Old Books? [Infographic]| Co.Exist

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One of the most unique and little-noted features of the dead-tree reading platform is its smell. A crisp new edition of Pride and Prejudice is scented a whole lot differently than the musty, middle-aged printing still being read in many a high school English class today.

But what causes these smells? A UK chemist and teacher who runs the blog Compound Interest, an exploration of everyday chemical compounds, went to investigate and came up with an infographic to explain the matter.

Read More: What Makes Old Books Smell Like Old Books? | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

What Makes Old Books Smell Like Old Books? | Co.Exist | ideas + impact

U.S. Navy Launches NeRD, a Security Enhanced E-Reader | The Digital Shift

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The U.S. Navy General Library Program NGLP last month announced the release of its new Navy e-Reader Device NeRD, which comes preloaded with 300 titles including popular fiction, recent bestsellers, and content from the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program. The new e-ink readers were designed by preloaded digital content provider Findaway World perhaps best known in the library world for its Playaway and are the first devices to feature Findaway’s new “Lock” ereader security solution.

These preloaded devices do not have wifi connectivity or accessible data inputs or outputs, and are designed to be manipulation free. This design adheres to the Navy’s security protocols, which include restrictions on many types of personal electronic devices with rewritable media or recording capabilities on board ships. In an earlier interview during the request for information stage of the project in 2012, Nilya Carrato, program assistant for the NGLP told LJ that preloaded, manipulation-free devices would also help ensure that titles are not accidently deleted during long deployments, and that sailors would not use their personal credit cards to add content to the devices.

via U.S. Navy Launches NeRD, a Security Enhanced E-Reader | The Digital Shift.