“In the video, Brin navigates the system via a touchpad on the right side of the headset behind the display. He slides his finger forward and back to locate a photo he took of Gavin Newsom with the contraption. He then places the headset on Newsom’s face, and continues to navigate until the photo is located. He also tells Newsom, “Don’t touch the pad on the side” while setting up the headset for the talk show host. Unfortunately for inquiring minds, when Newsom asked how the photo was taken, Brin didn’t answer.”

[via]

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“Susan Moskwa, a Webmaster Trends Analyst, posted on her Google+ page that a Google Webmaster Tools colleague of hers was “photo’d” in a Lonely Planet article. The photo depicts a young attractive woman reading a book named “Introduction to Algorithms” by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest.”

via

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“Instead of kaleidoscopic wizardry and flashy, Aziz Ansari-approved sports cars, the bleakly shot, Romain Gavras-directed video focuses on a violent yet somehow vaguely boring uprising in the streets of Prague. Dissatisfied youth, aggressive police, burning cars — you get the idea. While watching it, we were secretly wishing that one of the rioters would take off his bandana and reveal himself to be Jay or ‘Ye, ready to spice things up a bit. Alas, our prayers were not answered, and five minutes later, the video ends with… more rioting.”

Great Gatsby Trailer :

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Matt gave inspiration to kids.

And Kids are giving inspiration to all of us in the World.

“Matt has Spastic CP, but opted to run in Field Day at Colonial Hills Elementary School despite being given the option to sit it out and despite the incredible challenge of his disability. What transpires is a boy who is filled with determination and a school of children who spontaneously come together and inspire Matt and everyone of us to do and be better.”

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This new section in Google+ will display scores and recommendations of your friends for restaurants and coffee shops. Google will show some pictures of the restaurant and the dishes that they serve, a plan to access it in Google Maps, the address and phone number, G+ comments and other information from Zagat:

General Score for food, decor of the place, service, the average cost and reviews from people who have already eaten there. Ratings are on a scale from 1 to 30.

You can now access Google Plus Local from your Google+ Account directly in the left sidebar :

LOCAL will be soon available on mobile apps for android and ios and will be integrated with Google Search and Maps.

“Today is just the first step, and you’ll see more updates in the coming months. If you’re a business owner, you can continue to manage your local listing information via Google Places for Business. Soon we’ll make it even easier for business owners to manage their listings on Google and to take full advantage of the social features provided by local Google+ pages. Get more information on our Google and Your Business Blog.”

[via google blog]

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Researchers from Yamagata University in Japan have devised a way for people never to be alone again – creating a portable telepresence robot that individuals can carry with them anywhere, through a backpack-like contraption. The MH-2 Shoulder Robot is designed specifically to generate human-like actions, like waving goodbye, pointing at things, and other coordinated head-to-hand gestures. This Miniature Humanoid 2 comes with several key body parts that aid in producing accurate and realistic human movements: a 3-DOF head, two 7-DOF arms, 2-DOF body and another DOF to make the robot appear like it is actually breathing. DOF in Robotics stands for Degrees-Of-Freedom.

Avatar for your Friend

What this miniature humanoid comes down to in the end is that it acts as some sort of avatar for any friend you have in real life – whether it’s your travel buddy, favorite brother or your best friend. When you take this robot with you and wear it on your shoulder, it will seem as if your friend or relative– reduced to the size of a toy robot, of course – is traveling with you, seeing everything that the humanoid is able to take in. Your friend is able to do this by immersing himself in a motion capture environment and viewing a 360-degree 3D display back home. As your friend reacts to the experience, the telepresence robot mimics these reactions and gestures so that you can interact with your friend straightforwardly, as if they’re actually there with you.

The only drawback to this humanoid device is its bulk, with up to 22 actuators needed for the robot to function convincingly. Wearing the MH-2 is like wearing a huge backpack, which hides the servos necessary for the robot to produce realistic movement. Improvements at making the miniature humanoid more portable, however, are already underway.

This project by Yamagata University researchers, Yuichi Tsumaki, Taisuke Tsukuda and Fumiaki Ono, was recently presented at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[via]

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According to Reuters, nuclear radiation threats are still palpable a year after the Fukushima disaster, especially along the northeastern regions of Japan. Spurred on by the promptings of Tokyo-based advocacy groups and growing concerns on the adverse health consequences of radiation exposure, Softbank has developed the Pantone 5, fitted with custom-made IC chips by Sharp that gauge radiation intensity in microsieverts per hour. Reuters also reports that the phone comes with monitoring features that keep track of all locations already tested for radiation levels. The Pantone 5 will be available in 8 different colors.

The smartphone was launched by Softbank at a Tokyo press conference on Tuesday, wherein Softbank president Masayoshi Son addressed guests and the media about the continuing dangers of radiation exposure following the Fukushima devastation. “The threat from the nuclear accident cannot be seen by the human eye and continues to be a concern for many people, especially for mothers with small children.” Son spoke at the conference in front of an aerial photo showing the devastated plant.

Several authorities in Japan provide updates as to radiation levels in specific areas surrounding the plant, but many harbor misgivings about the information. A few areas surrounding the plant have remained off-limits. The latest Pantone smartphone comes with a sensor that instantly monitors and alerts its users of radiation levels with just a few taps.

Google reports that a similar radiation-detecting smartphone was displayed last year at a tech fair by NTT DoCoMo, a top operator in Japan. At the time of the fair no date on the product’s commercial launch was announced or confirmed by DoCoMo.

Softbank is Japan’s 3^rd largest mobile carrier. Softbank president Son also gave assurances as to the smartphone’s user-friendly, lightweight design.

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Inspiration through Art

ArtCircles allows you easy access to classic and current works of art through your handy iPad, as you wander through a circle of collections categorized according to colors, curators and specific words. The curators are individuals who are artists in their own right – the prime movers of what we refer to as art in its broadest sense today – from musicians and designers to artists and innovators, showing us their own unique perceptions and inspirations when it comes to art. You can also create your own personal collection and even share your favorites to the rest of the world, through Facebook or email. And if you plan to get hold of prints of your favorite artworks, Art.com – known as the world’s leading provider of specialty wall art online – makes it possible for you to purchase your print favorites, too.

Fine visual details through the iPad

ArtCircles for iPad was launched on March 2012, kicked off by the Michael Langan short-film, From Van Gogh to Rothko in 30 seconds, a visual smorgasbord of artworks made more stunning through the nifty viewing features of the iPad. On the third-generation iPad, zooming in on any particular work is a real visual treat, as you get up close and almost personal on the fine details that make up such stunning masterpieces.

CEO Geoffroy Martin of Art.com has this to say about their app: “From Van Gogh to Rothko, every spin of the wheel on artCircles reveals something unexpected. By presenting our collection of more than 1 million works of art in a truly new way – through the eyes of this eclectic and creative group of curators or inspired by a word or color – we want to help people find the art they love.”

You can download Artcircles by Art.com for FREE here on Apple Store : itunes.apple.com/us/app/artcircles/id470042692?mt=8

[source]

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Nonetheless, a recent report made by Newsgeek – again mentioned over at The Next Web –  points to a possible agreement between FB and Face.com, all at an acquisition price of anywhere between $80 million and $100 million. But Face.com is neither confirming nor denying this latest bit of news, which if true, will turn the company into one of the latest Facebook acquisitions in a long string of buy-outs that includes Gowalla, Instagram, Lightbox and others.

Facial recognition by Face.com

So what makes Face.com so special? A face recognition platform first launched in 2007, Face.com’s face recognition software works not only through PC desktops but via mobile as well. Facebook offers its popular photo-tagging feature, but its limited functionality does not extend to mobile users. And with the accelerating shift from desktop to mobile browsing as far as social networking goes, this acquisition definitely offers a few worthwhile advantages for Facebook.

Again, all of these are no more than rumors, no matter that the possibility makes a lot of sense. In a statement released to TechCrunch, CEO Gil Hirsch of Face.com has said plainly that they “have nothing new to announce or share at this time.”

Given all the developments by Facebook in recent weeks –  IPO, CEO Zuckerberg’s recent marriage and the Facebook smart phone – the company’s acquiring Face.com, should the speculations prove true, will hardly be any surprise at all.

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“Miami Man Eating: Zombie Shot and Killed After Eating Victims Face. [...] Javier Ortiz, spokesman for Miami’s Fraternal Order of Police, said the officer who fired the fatal shots was “a hero,” according to a text-messaged statement. “Based on the information provided, our Miami police officer is a hero and saved a life,” he said. Sgt. Altarr Williams, supervisor of the Miami police’s homicide unit, said a man doesn’t have to be armed to be dangerous. “There are other ways to injure people,” Williams said. “Some people know martial arts, others are very strong and can kill you with their hands.”

Surveillance Video :

[via]

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“They replaced the 21,000 words found in your everyday dictionary with whatever shows up first for each word in Google’s image search. Behold Google – a 1240 page behemoth of JPGs, GIFs and PNGs in alphabetical order. We used two PHP scripts my brother Sam wrote for us, says Ben about the process in an email. “The first one takes a text list of dictionary words and downloads each image in sequence, and the second lays them out into columns and outputs a PDF.” The PDF was then printed into a beautiful book – handbound, thumb indexed pages held together in a marbled paper hardcover, the golden Google logo clearly indifferent to whatever internet horrors it may contain.”

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“Sitting around with your friends killing a couple of six packs of beer trying to think of different means to open your next drink is pretty fun. I encourage you to try it.”

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In an article published by The New York Times, several start-up company owners shared their insights as to why they are moving east. Qwiki founder Doug Imbruce wanted to settle originally in New York, but the dearth of investors in the state forced him to pack up and move to Silicon Valley in 2009. On February of this year, he decided to move back to New York, with his 15 Qwiki employees, because he wanted to bring his business to the media.

And then there is the issue of not being able to find the right professionals, especially engineers, who are willing to work for New York-based start-ups. Many engineers in the Big Apple find themselves working for finance companies, which offer better salaries than the smaller startups. But Aaron Harris of TutorSpree found a way around this: he looked for engineers from all over and made them move to New York. It’s a win-win situation that works two ways.

Investments for tech startups are beginning to look up in New York as well, as a report released by the Center for an Urban Future pointed to as many as 500 start-ups based in New York obtaining venture financing between 2007 and 2011.

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Several Attempts

This isn’t the first time, however, that Facebook has tried its hand at producing a smartphone. The New York Times reports that this is actually the third attempt by Facebook at devising its own mobile phone. It was in 2010 that initial rumors about a possible Facebook phone began circulating, published over at a TechCrunch blog. The project was shelved soon afterwards, after the shift proved too challenging for the company at the time. Last year the AllThingsD website published report about a partnership by Facebook and HTC, the focus of which was to devise a smartphone. This very recent effort by Facebook points to Facebook’s renewed commitment to the project, as Zuckerberg is seen hiring former Apple professionals who have helped devise the iPhone and the iPad.

Facebook has remained mum about the revived mobile-phone-building rumors, neither confirming nor denying anything. The company is playing it safe, saying simply that it is “currently working with OS providers, application developers and operators within the mobile industry”. This statement, first shared with AllThingsD the previous year, was re-echoed by the company presently.

CEO Zuckerberg, however, has conversed extensively with one of the former engineers of Apple, says the New York Times over at their blog. And Facebook has already done the recruiting too, mostly for engineers with substantial iPhone experience.

source : NYT

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“On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, I told my girlfriend to meet me at my parent’s house for dinner. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her in the back of an open Honda CRV and give her some headphones. He “wanted to play her a song”…”

2 million views in 2 days only… will it beat Lipdub JK Wedding Entrance (75 million views) ?

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“Experts in the early 1900’s said that the Golden Gate Bridge would be impossible to build. The winds were too high, the water was too deep, and the distance (1.26 miles) was way too long. Today, our doodle in the Bay Area celebrates the engineering and construction marvel that is the Golden Gate Bridge—and the visionaries who first dreamed, then built it into being. Happy 75th anniversary to the Golden Gate Bridge!”

Photo by Thomas Hawk :

A dedicated website for 75th anniversary : goldengatebridge75.org

[via google + 2]

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The new pictures taken by Google Glasses are pretty impressive. Remember the 1st pic was shot 2 weeks ago.

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“The invasion is beginning. It is inevitable. You created them, you can destroy them! I did not create Tetris, I was but the messenger. Tell me how to stop them. This is an extinction level event. No, don’t go! Let her go!”

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9 Million Pre-orders from Samsung

The South Korean press has reported late last week that up to 9 million pre-orders have been received by Samsung on their Galaxy S III smartphone.  More than 100 operators from around the world have ordered the smartphone moreover, as reported by The Korea Economic Daily. While there are speculations as to whether Samsung will be able to meet this colossal demand, one company official has disclosed that Samsung’s factory in South Korea is churning out 5 million units monthly.

Official Smartphone of the London 2012 Olympics

The Samsung Galaxy S III, which sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD touchscreen and a 1.4GHZquad-core processor, is the official smartphone for the London 2012 Olympics. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. It also comes with an 8MP high definition camera and a 1.9 MP camera on its front, perfect for high-definition video shooting. The smart phone measures an 8.9mm thickness, and comes with a blue or white “pebble-like” polycarbonate casing.

Customers in the UK who have already pre-ordered will get hold of the latest Android smart phone from Samsung starting May 29.

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The current population in China stands at 1.3 billion which, if there are already 1 billion mobile phone users in the country, translates to 76% of the total population being mobile phone users. According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) there are already 1,030,052,000 mobile users in China.

Tech in Asia first confirmed China’s growing mobile phone market, when it stumbled upon reports published over at Sina Tech, a Chinese website. With the rise of the cell phone using population, land-line phone users have significantly decreased in number as a result. With only 283,758,000 landline phone subscribers as of date, this means that at least 1 million users have dropped their land line subscriptions in favor of mobile phones.

Late last year the United States gave way to China in terms of having the biggest smartphone market worldwide. China received 23.9 million units during the third quarter, which is slightly higher than the 23.3 million-shipment to the U.S. This smart phone market growth in China has been brought about largely by the wider availability and affordability of mobile phones in the country, says Strategy Analytics, a research firm.

Chinese companies have been offering affordable devices to the market, giving several Western brands a run for their money. Some of the firms in China offering widely accessible mobile phones and operating systems are Xiaomi and Baidu.

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