3D Printjobs-
A new kind of printer showed up about one year ago that could create real, tangible objects from digital photographs. Back then, it was largely used to create simple tools like hammers and wrenches, but California artist Cosmo Wenman recently used the MakerBot Desktop 3D printer to recreate two works of art -- "Head of a horse of Selene from the east pediment of the Parthenon" and "Portrait of Alexander the Great". By using several free computer programs, Wenman scanned photographs of the sculptures at different angles and created 3D models for the printer to use. Most impressive.
Stay on Target-
As college students, many of us are faced with tons and tons of work each day from classes we may or may not care about. In order to get that dream job, or any job really, we are taught to push forward through the distractions. In an attempt to improve his own productivity, "Hack the System" blogger, Maneesh, decided to hire someone to slap him whenever he got off task. That's right -- in the face, with her hand. Before hiring his "assistant", Kara, Maneesh measured his productivity level using RescueTime and found he was productive only 38% throughout the week. But with Kara present, this rose to a whopping 98%. Maneesh largely attributes this to Kara's presence regardless of whether she slapped him or not. It was instead more so about the ideas, questions and conversation she brought to the table. Also watch this.
Intruder Alert-
Have you ever wondered what your little brother/sister or child would do if a creeper stopped by your house while you were away? A 12-year-old Oklahoma girl may provide the perfect framework. After a stranger rang the doorbell and then proceeded to kick in the back door, the girl called her mom, Debra St. Clair, who instructed her to grab the family gun, hide in the closet and call 911. The intruder eventually found where the little girl was hiding, but was shot while turning the closet's doorknob. Police found 32-year-old Stacey Jones sitting at the end of the block with blood running down his back. He was hospitalized and promptly taken to Bryan County Jail. Little girls with guns ain't nothin' to mess with.
#OccupySesameStreet-
As I'm sure you've watched or read by now, Mitt Romney plans to eliminate funding for PBS should he be elected. "I like PBS, I love Big Bird, I actually like you too, but I'm going to stop borrowing money from China to pay for things we don't need," he said at the recent presidential debate. Wait… what? PBS CEO, Paula Kerger responded to Romney's remarks with the following statement:
Fudging Numbers-
The newly released job report claims that the unemployment rate is now at 7.8% and that about 873,000 previously unemployed people have found work. Is it a little strange for this news to pop up during election season? Perhaps. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis had this to say regarding the suspicions: "I'm insulted when I hear that because we have a very professional civil service. I have the highest regard for our professionals that do the calculations at the (Bureau of Labor Statistics). They are trained economists." Romney jumped in to point out the sizable loss of manufacturing jobs and lack of any real unemployment decrease. "If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11%," he said in a statement following the reports release. Another job report is set to be released 4 days before elections. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/jobs-report-unemployment-rate_n_1942067.html
Quick Hits:
Apple Sans Steve -
Snoop Dogg on Romney -
http://web.stagram.com/p/295013702162174941_1574083
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIA2F_lH4_E&feature=g-all-u007
Image Source: http://www.tauntr.com/blog/occupy-sesame-street-gets-violent
Maps… How do they work?
I wasn't going to mention iOS 6 because, well, it's iOS 6. But apparently the loss of Google Maps and the inaccuracies of Apple's own mapping system are a much bigger deal than I thought. So much so that Ireland Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has personally made arrangements to inform Apple of these errors. “The Verge” wrote an article overviewing the issue and also point out “iMore” editor Rene Ritchie's observation -- iOS 6 was made more for the company instead of the customers.
LMFAO Disband-
There may not be as many parties rocking in the near future as Redfoo and Sky Blue are moving on to work on different projects. Redfoo has been coaching junior tennis player Ayaka Okuno in Las Vegas and wants to create a tennis clothing line. He's also been writing a song specifically for the New England Patriots. For now, Sky Blue will embark on solo career where he will continue making LMFAO inspired tracks. Well shucks.
Cruel Summer-
In the new G.O.O.D music compilation album Kanye West says "Mitt Romney don't pay no tax." Well, actually, he does. Or did. Anyway, Romney paid $1.95 million on his 2011 taxes and, according his advisors, did not receive full deductions for his $4 million contribution to charity. But for someone who thinks $200,000 - $250,000 is the middle American income, giving the government a cool $2 million is probably chump change.
For more insight:
iPhone 5 launch shenanigans-http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/21/iphone-5-launch-day-marketing/#s:iphone-5-police
DMX vs. Google-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOiiHfxHnTk
Alan Shatter to Apple-http://www.thejournal.ie/alan-shatter-apple-maps-airport-dundrum-602115-Sep2012/
The Verge-http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/20/3363914/wrong-turn-apple-ios-6-maps-phone-5-buggy-complaints
iOS 6-http://www.imore.com/yes-ios-6-more-about-apple-new-user-features-thats-okay
LMFAO & Redfoo-http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/redfoo-calls-time-out-on-lmfao/story-e6frfn09-1226478504612
Romney's Middle Income Math-http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/14/romneys-middle-income-math/
Image Source: http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/iOS6.jpg
Each year, students are bombarded with emails, flyers, and Facebook invites to take part in community service events around campus. But how many benefit homeless, helpless pets?
With Microsoft's preview of its new Windows 8 operating system, the Zune platform seems to be moving into further obsolescence. In addition to changes to the Windows Live branding, both the Zune music and video players are being changed to just "Music" and "Video" within Windows 8. As it stands, music, video and games are all going to fall under the "Xbox Live" umbrella. These changes are, in large part, efforts to simplify and “synergize,” so to speak, Windows as a whole.
That being said, it's surprising to see Microsoft begin to undergo what appears to be some very significant branding and software changes. Or at least, it's surprising that it took them so long. Apple, arguably Microsoft's biggest competitor, has been quite successful with this idea of an integrated ecosystem for quite some time. Just think -- when someone says "Microsoft", what do you think about? I highly doubt it's the Zune or anything other than your computer. However, when someone says "Apple", you're much more likely to think about your iPod, iTunes or Macbook.
The difference between the two isn't necessarily about the technical capabilities of their products but rather the integration associated with each. For instance, you plug your iPod into your Macbook and use iTunes to play, buy and store thousands of songs and videos. On the other hand, while Windows does have its own media player and media guide (a barebones iTunes store), they aren’t nearly as prevalent in the user experience because of the openness and control Windows allows. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. In fact, many people prefer the Windows operating system over Mac because of the freedom it allows. The problem is a lack of any centralized hub or standard that is effective across all media, while still allowing users to choose whatever other programs they'd like.
Windows Media Center tries to do this but is rather large, slow and clunky. The potential move to a Spotify-esque service and Xbox Live blanketing across several areas would be the first steps in a much needed integration effort for Microsoft. Apple seems to have mastered this concept and, say what you will about restrictions, was named the world's most valuable company last year. It’ll be interesting to see how much this restructuring will effect Windows’ malleability, if at all.
Image Source: teamawindows.blogspot.com
Leopards and Lions and... Lions?
]The Verge has a very nice video overview of Apple's newly announced Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion. Many of the changes seem to be putting the iOS experience on your computer.
Notification Center: A new, blue icon will appear when new notifications have been received. Clicking the icon will open the center itself, which can pull notifications from "Calendar", "Messages" and even third-party developers.
Messages: iChat with a brand new look and better FaceTime integration.
Airplay Mirroring: View your computer screen on your Apple TV by clicking an AirPlay icon. Streaming music, watching video, etc. are all available options.
Game Kit: Multiplayer gaming between Mac, Iphone, iPad and iPod Touch will be available. With AirPlay you can use your TV to compete against a friend who’s on their iPad, while you use your computer.
Apple also has their own overview available.
Weed on a Plane
40lbs. of marijuana were found on a plane while flying through Barack Obama's airspace over Los Angeles. The president was flying from Los Angeles to a fund raiser in Corona Del Mar when a Cessna 182 aircraft began to fly closer to the White House helicopter, Marine One. The “Mary Jane” was found after the Cessna 182 was asked to land. One of the more interesting tidbits, whether the Cessna 182's pilot was high while flying, has yet to be revealed. How fun/scary would that be?
Be My Date?
Image Source: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01214/plane-cargo_1214188i.jpg
Hello everyone! I hope your year has been going well so far. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
Chrome Phone
For you fancy kids rockin’ Google’s newly released Galaxy Nexus or another device running Android 4.0, Google has released a beta version of Google Chrome on the Android Market. In addition to incognito browsing, “Chrome for Android” allows users to sync whatever tabs they have open on their computer to sync with their device by signing in to a Google account. You can watch an introduction video HERE.
Elementary Molecules
A 10-year-old girl from Missouri, Clara Lazen, happened upon a new molecule while rearranging some atoms used to create nitroglycerin. Tetranitratoxycarbon (sound it out) is a combination of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon that does not exist in nature but can be created artificially. Her teacher, Kenneth Boehr, and a colleague realized that this was indeed a new molecule and one Professor Robert Zoellner wrote a paper on the subject, which was co-authored by Clara. In short, the atom can be used to either store energy or blow stuff up.
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Last week Facebook went public and many people received a nice chunk of change following the announcement including an artist, Dave Choe, who accepted stocks instead of money[/url] for painting Facebook’s Palo Alto location in 2005. ABC held an interview with Choe in which he discusses his newfound lack of privacy.
Dat Sh*t Cray
A Tumblr account run by a 17-year-old girl named Kate is chronicling her journey to becoming thinner. She’s currently 5’10” with a current weight of 127 and an ultimate goal of being 115 – something more in line for a woman around 4’10”. Another girl, Antonia, 16, also runs a “thinspo” blog.
“I like images that show skinny, happy girls,” she writes in an email to the Huffington Post. “They look so confident and we can see their bones through their skin. It's the most beautiful thing ever. I also like tips about food or how to ignore hunger.”’
Now there seems to be two types of “thinspo” blogs out there – those that post before and after pictures of seemingly healthy women and others that condone unhealthy dietary practices (pro-ana) to achieve a “dream body”. I don’t understand…
Vidya
Robo With a Shotgun
Image Source: http://techzoomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/google-chrome.jpg
