InfoDatang

AdChoices Wheels Of The Future

2012-06-28T10:30:00.000+08:00

We know plenty about how digital technology is reshaping computing, smartphones, personal relationships and business. But what about something most of us depend on every single day — the automobile? Digital tech is also changing how we use and interact with our cars, and in more ways than you probably realize.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications, for example, could help automobiles detect one another’s presence and location to avoid accidents. That could be especially useful when it comes to driverless cars — another advance already very much in development. Similar technology could help ensure that cars and their drivers slow down for school zones or stop at red lights. Symphony Services scoured sources from around the web to compile all this and more into the infographic below.

Amateur Rocket Launch Reaches 121000 Feet

2012-06-27T23:00:00.000+08:00

Led by Derek Deville, the rocketeers launched their custom-built 26 ft. (8 meter) Qu8k (pronounced "Quake") rocket on September 30, 2011 from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It reached an altitude of 121,000 feet (36,880 meter) in 92 seconds, at speeds of 2,185 mph (3,516 km/h). Holy speeding missiles, Batman! The Qu8k rocket returned to Earth safely just 8.5 minutes later, landing 3 miles (5 km) from its launch point.

The incredible footage from on on-board camera shows the curvature of Earth and the black sky of space. See the full video below.

The launch was an attempt at the Carmack Prize, a challenge by John Carmack (creator of Doom and Quake and founder of Armadillo Aerospace) to hobbyist rocketeers to launch a rocket past 100,000 feet, log the feat with GPS, and recover the rocket intact after reentry. As the GPS devices on Qu8k failed to log readings above 100,000 feet, the attempt is likely disqualified.

30 Worst Parking Jobs Ever

2012-06-27T16:30:00.000+08:00

With such limited space, sometimes parking in the city can be pretty tricky. Just ask the thirty people featured in this list.

Apple Quietly Quits Claiming That its Mac OS X is Virus Proof

2012-06-27T10:00:00.000+08:00

This might not be the stuff of major announcements and news releases, but it is likely a bigger deal than many of them. In the stealthiest of all fashions, Apple has quit bragging about the invincibility from computer viruses of the OS X operational system, which powers the giant’s computers.

The change regards the marketing messages on Apple’s website, which highlight the qualities of the Mac operating system. The overly confident “It doesn’t get PC viruses” statement has been replaced by a rather more humble “It is built to be safe”. Also, the “Safeguard your data. By doing nothing” slogan has been replace with “Safety. Built in.” You can check out the difference between the two descriptions in the image below.

This dramatic change of marketing language comes only a couple of months after hundreds of thousands of Apple computers got infected with malware. However, the occurrence should hardly come as a surprise, given the number of computers Apple has sold.

Amazing Body Transformations

2012-06-27T04:30:00.000+08:00

Never give up if you want to lose extra weight. It is possible only if you really desire to bring changes to your life. All these girls have proved that stunning body transformations can become the reality once you make efforts to stay fit and healthy. Check out these incredible before and after pictures of girls who have successfully lost a significant amount of weight.

Let it inspire you to make healthy changes instead of just sitting around reading Poker Blog”.

Legless Spencer West Climbs Mount Kilimanjaro On His Hands

2012-06-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

31-year-old motivational speaker Spencer West, of Toronto, Canada, lost both his legs at age five as a result of a spinal genetic disorder called sacral agenesis. Doctors told his parents that he "would never do much with his life." However, through sheer willpower he proved them wrong and did the seemingly impossible: he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro over a grueling seven-day period. Traveling on his hands for 80% of the trek, West was able to achieve his goal with his two good friends by his side. He spent an entire year training for the climb to ensure his arms were strong enough to handle the trip. In addition, his incredible achievement helped raise £300,000 for the educational charity Free the Children.

From his blog:

The moment the summit was within sight… it was incredible. We looked around – me, David and Alex – and realized that, after seven grueling days of relentless climbing, after 20,000 feet of our blood, sweat and tears (and, let’s face it, vomit) we had actually made it. We were at the top. The summit sign seemed almost like a mirage.

Then it sunk in. We made it. To the top of the mountain. The mountain that I promised to the world I would climb. The bleeding fingers and blisters were all worth it. I looked at the guys, my two buddies who dreamed up this crazy plan with me, and realized we actually finished what we started.

Google Nexus 7 Tablet Leaks Ahead Google I/O, Reveals Its Specs And Design

2012-06-26T15:30:00.000+08:00

The long rumored Google Nexus tablet manufactured by ASUS has revealed its specs and its pretty face thanks to a leaked internal training document. And here’s what it’ll probably look like.

As usual with rumors, you should take this with a pinch of salt, but it all looks pretty real to me and matches most of the previous rumors. It’s got the curved front like the previous Nexus family members, too.

Specs-wise, the leaked document confirms what we’ve been hearing so far. The tablet will be built around a 7-inch 1280×800 IPS display with a 178-degree vieweing angle. It’s powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 chip sporting 12-core nVidia GeForce GPU and 1GB of RAM. Expectedly, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be running on this sweet hardware and naturally the slate will get frequent updates directly from Google.

And, as you know, the tablet is expected to be a real Amazon Kindle Fire competitor, which means its price has to sit at under $250. According to the leaked document, it is. An 8GB Google Nexus 7 tablet will retail for $199, and the 16GB model will go for $249. Yes, those are going to be the only internal storage options, and since this is a Google Nexus product, no, there won’t be a microSD card slot.

The back of the device won’t sport a camera, which is presumably one of the corners that had to be cut to keep the price tag so low. You do get a front-facing 1.2MP camera, though. Yeap, just like we heard before.

Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, NFC with Google Wallet, and hopefully, Bluetooth 3 will be on-board, but the latter is yet to be confirmed. The battery is reported to last for 9 hours, which is pretty good for a device with such internals.

Skype Gets More Than 70 Million Downloads For Android

2012-06-26T12:00:00.000+08:00

Skype announced today that their Android app has surpassed 70 million downloads from the Google Play Store.

The achievement is celebrated with a special infographic showing the progress the app has made to become the most popular video calling application for Android.

Furthermore, a staggering 1,384 Android devices from HTC, Samsung, Sony ~~Ericsson~~, Motorola, LG and many more are able to run the app. This shows just how much effort the Skype development team has put into making the app a one size fits all deal.

Asphalt 7:Heat

2012-06-26T10:00:00.000+08:00

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline is considered by many the best mobile racing game in history, so it wasn’t an easy task for Gameloft to meet the expectations with the next iteration of the series.

By all means and purposes, Asphalt 7: Heat looks better than its predecessor (at least on paper), so we’re unbelievably excited to let you know that there are only four days left until the game will hit Google Play.

Already released in Apple’s App Store (boo!), Asphalt 7: Heat should be up and running for Android devices starting next Monday. The pricing hasn’t been officially confirmed just yet, but we have no reason to think that we will be (furthermore) discriminated, so it’s safe to assume that we will be required to pay the same $0.99 as Apple users are.

16 Passive Aggressive Car Alarm Notes

2012-06-25T20:30:00.000+08:00

AdChoices Your Favorite Drinks Photographed Under a Microscope

2012-06-25T18:30:00.000+08:00

In his series ‘Fingerprints of Drinkable Culture’, photographer William LeGoullon who looks at the world’s top five most-consumed man-made beverages (tea, beer, coffee, wine and cola) as scientific specimens.

About his series, he writes:

‘My latest works express my fascination with beverages, the variety of methodical processes through which we craft them, and the detailed makeup of each liquid we drink. Stemming from my work as both an artist and as a barista and bartender, my interest is in concocting a recipe of beverage culture, art, and science with regard to what we as humans consume. I am continually inspired by observing what has been left behind and the clues that inspire examination. In this series, I treat the world’s top five most consumed man-made beverages like scientific specimens, allowing each liquid sample to dry before photographing them using a microscope. The resulting images provide us with a chance to analyze these fingerprints of drinkable culture as an act of art consumption.’

Coffee

Tea

Wine

Wine

Cola

Beer

Coffee

Espresso

2012-06-25T13:30:00.000+08:00

Did you know that listening to music stimulates several parts of the brain, and may both increase productivity and help recall memories? We published this infographic today to highlight how music impacts the brain and improves learning.

Mozilla Prepares ‘something BIG’ For Firefox On Android Next Week

2012-06-25T11:30:00.000+08:00

Mozilla is cooking something big, according to their Twitter teasing a major Firefox update on Android. At least that’s what it looks like.

There are virtually no indications on what the ‘something BIG’ part might be, but judging from the not so many Firefox goodies the browser has seen on Android, it’s safe to assume the announcement is in this ballpark.

As you know, next week is when the Google I/O conference will take place (June 27) so it’s highly probable Mozilla will make its announcement there. This might be a bit awkward however, if Google is to announce its Chrome browser as the default from Jelly Bean 4.1 onward.

We’ll wait and see. What do you think Mozilla will be announcing? A completely revamped Firefox for Android or just a burst of cool features?

The World Without The Internet [Infographic]

2012-06-25T09:30:00.000+08:00

HTC One XXL To Be Like One XL

2012-06-25T06:30:00.000+08:00

Android users have become power-hungry - dual-core processors no longer cut it. If you're among that crowd, this next rumor should give you a twitch of excitement - an HTC One XXL with two extra cores than the XL, better graphics and more RAM.

A couple of leaked screenshots show some of the specs of this purported beast - a 4.7" 720p screen, 8MP main and 1.8MP secondary cameras and a codename, "Closurexxl".

The chipset specs of the One XXL are more interesting though - a quad-core processor (reportedly a Snapdragon S4 with Krait cores), 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU plus LTE connectivity.

One chipset matches the description - the Qualcomm APQ8064. There's an old rumor of the HTC Zeta with that chipset and roughly similar specs, but that's from before the HTC One series came to be.

AMD Releases Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, Takes Back The Performance Crown Ffrom NVIDIA

2012-06-25T04:30:00.000+08:00

When AMD released the HD 7970 last year, it was the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the market. That was until NVIDIA launched their GTX 680, which took the crown from AMD and left the 7970 with a bloody nose.

Now AMD is back with a tweaked version of the HD 7970, called the HD 7970 GHz Edition, to take back what’s now rightfully theirs, the title of the fastest single-GPU graphics card.

As usual, AnandTech put the new card through its paces and found that it tied with the GTX 680 in single-monitor setups, however, the HD 7970 GHz Edition took the lead when it came to multi-monitor setups running at insane resolutions, which made it the overall winner in terms of pure FPS performance. However, they also noted that this performance comes at the cost, and that is higher power consumption and heat levels and significantly higher noise levels. They even went as far as to say it was one of the nosiest cards they ever tested.

Underneath the identical looking body (compared to the standard HD 7970), the HD 7970 GHz Edition has the exact same hardware. The changes come in the form of a higher clock speed that has gone from 925MHz to 1000MHz and the introduction of an even higher 1050MHz turbo boost clock speed. The memory clock has also been updated from 5.5GHz to 6GHz and that’s about all the difference there is between the two cards.

The HD 7970 GHz Edition prices start at $449, which is a tiny bit more than what the HD 7970 cards are selling for right now and a lot less than the $549 launch price for the same. The hardware partner include ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, MSI, Sapphire, TUL and XFX. If you want the ultimate performance from a single-GPU graphics card and can tolerate the high noise levels then this is the card to get right now.

Instaglasses: Filters for Real Life

2012-06-25T00:30:00.000+08:00

As all of you know Instagram is the photo sharing app with fun filters. German designer, Markus Gerke has come up with the idea of Instagram filters built into a pair of sunglasses. Since the proposal, many people have started working on the project, and we are eagerly waiting for these Instagramic sunglasses known as Instaglasses.

Samsung Galaxy S III Explodes

2012-06-24T22:30:00.000+08:00

There was a time when the exploding iPhones got huge media coverage. Today the case is quite similar – the hottest phone on the market – the Galaxy S III – became even hotter to the point of catching fire.

The unpleasant incident occurred in Ireland. A white Galaxy S III bought from Carphone Warehouse was attached to a car mount when suddenly white flames started coming from its bottom. Here are some pictures:

The badly damaged Galaxy S III

The dead Galaxy S III is all over the internet already. Luckily the guy is unharmed and he got a new phone directly from Samsung, while the problematic unit has been sent to the company's headquarters for detailed investigation.

First BlackBerry 10 phone won't have a QWERTY keyboard

2012-06-24T20:30:00.000+08:00

The Washington Post is reporting on a curious decision by RIM - the first BlackBerry 10 device to launch will be touchscreen-only. RIM isn't abandoning their trademark - the full hardware QWERTY keyboard - as such devices will still come later on.

While it's true that touch-only devices running iOS or Android are taking BlackBerry's lunch money, the solid typing experience is one of the main reasons people still buy a BlackBerry.

In fact, with most droids forsaking the physical keyboard (and iPhones which never had one), a BlackBerry is one of the few options for people who hate typing on virtual keyboards.

RIM already have a touch-only design for a BlackBerry 10 phone, the developer alpha unit they unveiled in May. One analyst from Jeffries says that BB 10 is all about catching up with Apple in terms of touch and multimedia experience.

He goes on to add "They are going to build a BlackBerry device with a keyboard, but it’s just going to take longer. Maybe it will come a month or two after, but frankly it might be already too late."

Any way you cut it, starting with a touch-only BlackBerry is a gamble. And while the company is not in a good position to lose a bet, if it pays off RIM might start reclaiming some of that lost marketshare.

Angry Birds in Real Life

2012-06-24T17:30:00.000+08:00

Here comes the Angry Birds! Unarguably the best and most successful and addictive game for mobiles, Angry Birds has managed to amaze people ever since it was released as an app for iPhone and iPad. It went on to be the most sold app on the Apple app store and one of the most popular games on Android too. Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds hasn’t left any stone unturned to make it available on every platform, be it on mobiles or desktop.

I hope that these birds are not so violent in real life.

The World’s First Angry Birds Theme Park

2012-06-24T03:30:00.000+08:00

The world’s first Angry Birds theme park will officially open inside Finland’s Särkänniemi Adventure Park on June 8 2012. Angry Birds developer Rovio Entertainment helped the park's staff design the experience.

There are 12 rides at the park, including a roller coaster, a lighthouse and an adventure course, along with themed food areas. Visitors can also play the game on screens throughout the park.

“The opening of Angry Birds Land in Särkänniemi is a really big deal for us. The theme and design of Angry Birds is internationally renowned, so we are delighted to welcome visitors from around the globe to experience the product for themselves,” says park manager Miikka Seppälä.

Awesome Playgrounds by Monstrum

2012-06-23T22:30:00.001+08:00

The Bubble Hotel in France

2012-06-23T20:30:00.000+08:00

Sleep under the stars without the fear of getting gobbled up by a bear or infested with creepy crawlies at the Attrap Rêves in Marseille, France. Small bubbles are designed by designer Pierre-Stephane Dumas, they allow you to stay in the room, but at the same time as though and in the open air.

The bubbles are small and cozy, about 13 feet in diameter. Some are fully transparent, while others allow a little more privacy and are half opaque. Staying the night in a bubble will cost you upwards of 109 euros, while tasty meals are provided at the nearby lodge-style restaurant.

Songjiang Hotel

2012-06-23T18:30:00.000+08:00

Project Name: Songjiang Hotel

Year: Current

Owner: Shimao

Location: Songjiang District, China

Building Type: Commercial

Greenroof Type: Semi-Extensive

Greenroof System: Custom

Roof Size: 37237 sq.ft.

Roof Slope: 1%

Access: Accessible, Open to Public

The Iphone Boom Mic

2012-06-23T14:30:00.000+08:00

We all know how great the iPhone 4S is at recording video content. Some have shot amazing videos which you would think have been done with professional cameras. But the biggest problem with any phone is the mic, they’re not made for high quality sound recording. Photojojo has a solution for you: the iPhone Boom Mic.

The mic attaches to the headphone jack and adjusts to hold the back of your phone, even over a case! It is super lightweight, so it won't throw off the balance of your phone as you record.

Shooting your friend's show? Use the directional setting to capture all of the sound coming from the stage. When you're interviewing the band afterward, switch to the super-directional setting for more precisely focused recording. The mic works through the LiveAction app, which also lets you upload your videos instantly.