Friday, October 26, 2007
Best Firefox Add-On Redux
Once I was introduced to the world of Web 2.0 I couldn't stop.
I got a random email about a Firefox Add-on called "Stumble Upon". I thought it would just be a kind of dumb link aggregator - a way of discovering the next dumb YouTube video or gimmick website. The idea behind Stumble Upon is that you will never actually go out and find all the amazing websites and resources that pertain to your interests and hobbies yourself. You depend on friends for that. Stumble Upon replaces your friends quite handily by surveying some of your interests - there are over a hundred specific categories to choose from in music, sports, news, technology, careers, and hobbies - and creating a toolbar at the top of your Firefox that allows you to "stumble upon" relevant, peer-tested websites.
Like cooking? Find Cooking By Numbers, a site that profiles what you have in your fridge and tells you what you can make from it. Like theoretical physics? Find TenthDimension.com and discover the meaning of dimensions 4 thru 10.
Basically, Stumble Upon is the reluctant procrastinator's nightmare. A toolbar button just sits there at the top of my browser, begging to take me to the next life-changing website. It's cool to use if you have downtime in the middle of a project, or if you're sitting at your desk waiting for your life to slowly end. But don't take my word for it! Check it out!
Labels: firefox, internets, technology
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Can You Resist The Urge?
It's cool to see that in a world where people blindly accept the frustration of the user interfaces, they are given that people are still experimenting with new user interfaces. In a post I wrote a while back I suggested that the touch screen interface newly popularized with the iPhone won't be the be all end all, because of its lack of interaction with the sense of touch. It is simple ergonomics - while it's really awesome that we can have a machine with no buttons, there's no spring back to physically acknowledge the exchange. When the machine's innards ultimately break because I've thrown it at the wall too many times, how will I know I'm not just pressing the buttons too lightly??? Well, Engadget has reported Apple's filing of no fewer than three patents for touch screens with resistance capability. I may need to see this with my own eyes.
Meanwhile, some folks are attempting new interfaces with already existing technology. This website is no revolution yet, but it is pretty nifty. Can you resist the urge to click something???
Labels: dontclickit, interface, iphone, technology
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Make your own BS
Looking for a quick and easy way to generate meaningless buzzwords? Click the link below.
(Linked from Wired)
(Linked from Wired)
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Adventures in Convergence VIII: Thoughts to Action
Are you ready for this? CNET recently previewed an MIT report claiming to have found the most universal-to-date computer algorithm for translating brain activity into nonhuman physical action - i.e., Brain Powered Super Robots!! While technology already exists that takes advantage of reading brain patterns via EEG or optical imaging, each form of technology has its own language for interpreting brain activity into action. MIT's recent calculations are something like a Linux approach, uniting all of these technologies under one mathematical language.
If we are reading this right, this could mean a path towards standardization of a rudimentary brain/computer language. Protect your children!
Labels: brain, computer, prosthetics, technology
