Bluetooth to FM Converter with style

New Potato reveals TuneLink Auto Bluetooth-to-FM transmitter for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- Engadget

The newly announced TuneLink Auto looks like a typical cigarette adapter charger at first glance, but within, there's technology that accepts audio over Bluetooth and then sends it out over FM. This prevents users from having to connect a dongle of any kind to their iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, but the built-in USB port is actually capable of charging all three should you choose.

Psychohistory

Well, that's what it looks like: analysis of large aggregations of human behavior yeild enough data to predict the future of the DOW with 87.6% accuracy.   Its even more analogous when you figure in that if the tweeters learn about the predictions, the outcome will change.

Twitter Predicts the Stock Market | Singularity Hub

Bollen, Mao, and Zeng fed the 9.8 million tweets into OpinionFinder and GPOMS and compared the trends they found to the Dow. The emotional lens that seemed to have a strong correlation to the stock market was ‘Calm’. When the calmness of tweets changed, two to six days later the Dow would fluctuate in about the same way.

Excellent Post on The Difference Engine

 

The 100-year leap - O'Reilly Radar

 

In December 1837, the British mathematician Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine. Anyone intimate with the details of electronic computers will instantly recognize the components of Babbage's machine. Although Babbage was designing with brass and iron, his Engine has a central processing unit (which he called the mill) and a large amount of expandable memory (which he called the store). The operation of the Engine is controlled by program stored on punched cards, and punched cards can also be used to input data.

An early mobile phone from 1922

Video of a very early mobile phone ... fire hydrant not included.

As almost everyone and their dog has already mentioned ... it doesn't support flash, either :)

But you can stream music from the early iTunes store ...


It's no iPhone 4G, but it is in black and white... - Computerworld Blogs

Here's something you don't see every day: a 1922-vintage mobile phone. Pathé News has discovered a silent, black and white movie of this pre-historic device being demonstrated, somewhere in America. Let's take a peek at this (ahem) distant cousin of the iPhone 4G

The Museum of RetroTechnology

Pneumatic networks, hot-air gramophones, monowheels.   Find it all at this site. 


The Museum of RetroTechnology

This elegant monowheel cycle- the word "bicycle" seems somehow inappropriate, though there are certainly two wheels involved- dates back to 1869. It was built by Rousseau of Marseilles.
"In 1869 the craftsman Rousseau of Marseilles built this monocycle, which perches the cyclist on the inside of a 2 1/2 yards-high wheel. As there is no steering mechanism, it makes uncommon demands on the rider's sense of balance." 

What Should the Next Supreme Court Nominee Know?

What key areas of experience and expertise might round out the current court in the absence of Justice Stevens following his retirement?   Should Obama nominate a liberal?  An Evironmentalist?  A representative of any one of the numerous underrepresented and disenfranchised groups that have suffered inequality under the law?  Maybe.  But then there's also this.   Read the article, its unbelievable. 

Our Tech-Savvy Supreme Court - Law Blog - WSJ

According to the story, the first sign of trouble came was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John Roberts asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?” (Cue sound of hard slap against forehead.)

Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days

True dat ... click through to see why.

Magic Wand Remote

Who wouldn't want one?

Magic Wand: Accelerometer + Remote Control - O'Reilly Radar

The wand has a total of thirteen gestures that can be programmed to output IR signals. The gestures can be re-programmed at any time when you have the original remote. Their website doesn't list all of them, but the names are quite suggestive of the motion. They include Rotate (for volume), Flicks (for advancing tracks or channels), and Taps (I would think for Playing and Stopping).

Name that Tune

Top of the list in this article was a site I'd never tried before: Midomi which asks you to "hum a few bars" and they'll guess the song.   So my first inclination here - as in so many cases where a web site claims to be able to guess what you're thinking  - is to toss Gilligan's Island at them.   I figure its something that's rarely on people's minds, yet it is familiar to almost everyone.  In this case the theme song.  They request 10 seconds, so I started with 3 seconds.  No dice.  Then I tried whistling for 10 seconds.  No dice.  Then I followed instructions hummed for ten embarrassing seconds and ...



Now you can try this yourself, and perhaps you'll find the "near misses" just as interesting.  In my case, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" turned up as a close match to Gilligan's Island.


HOW TO: Find the Name of That Song

In our usage of Midomi over time, we’ve found it to be startlingly accurate. Of course, it depends a bit on some esoteric factors such as how faithfully you can reproduce the sound (or conversely, how tone-deaf you are!) and how obscure the track is you’re trying to identify. You’ll also need to give the search engine some core identifiable piece of the song to work from, which means knowing enough of the lyrics or melody to trigger a match.

Hacking Life

Here you go.

 J. Craig Venter, genetic entrepreneur extraordinaire, points out that the efficiency of sequencing genomes has recently outstripped Moore's law for computers by about an order of magnitude for the last four years.  Given that pace... do you think that natural or artificial intelligence will be getting the next big upgrade? 

Synthetic Life - TierneyLab Blog - NYTimes.com

The rate at which this technology is now improving puts silicon to shame. Dr. Church noted that between 1970 and 2005 gene sequencing had taken place on a Moore’s Law pace, improving at about 1.5 times per year. Since then it has improved at the rate of an order of magnitude, or ten times annually.

Ornitopter Video

Cool: artificial humming bird.

'First-ever' flight of robotic ornithopter announced • The Register

Vid Famous crazycraft company Aerovironment has won a $2.1m contract to further develop its robotic "Nano Air Vehicle" (NAV), which flies and hovers using flapping wings like a hummingbird. The company has also released a video of the innovative craft in test flights.

Transplant advances

Just phenomenal progress.


BBC NEWS | Americas | First US face transplant revealed

Surgeons at a clinic in a Cleveland, Ohio, replaced 80% of Ms Culp's face with that of a dead female donor.

"I guess I'm the one you came to see today, " she told reporters but added that "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."

The transplant is only the fourth to be carried out. Two operations have been conducted in France and one in China.

Man gets first double hand transplant in U.S. : Scientific American Blog

Kepner, who lost both hands and feet to a bacterial infection a decade ago, will need intense physical therapy before he is able to use his hands effectively, according to Rose.

The problem with growth.

NYT had an article a couple days ago about the demographics of web growth and the associated economics.   I was thinking that they would surely mention Last.fm ... but they didn't.  Still its a good read.

Internet Users in Developing Countries Drag on Sites’ Profits - NYTimes.com

Facebook is booming in Turkey and Indonesia. YouTube’s audience has nearly doubled in India and Brazil.

That may seem like good news. But it is also a major reason these and other Web companies with big global audiences and renowned brands struggle to turn even a tiny profit.

Call it the International Paradox.

Lessig's infamous talk

Here's your daily dose of irony.  One of Lessig's talks on how copyright should be adapted to remain viable ... received a take-down notice from Warner music.

I hadn't seen the talk before.  You can watch it below.  Well worth the time. 

update on Warner Music (Lessig Blog)

As you may have read me tweet, the organization that hosted me for this talk:

Received a notice that Warner Music had objected to its being posted on copyright grounds. Apparently, YouTube's content-ID algorithm had found music in the video that they claimed ownership to. The organization is apparently responding by disputing the claim

Dealing with EULA's

Step by step instructions on how to make sure your kitty will take the rap for any EULA violations.

The Agreeable Cat by Anne Loucks

How often have you been presented with unplesant click-through license agreements like this one from the Adobe website:

Report card on US Infrastructure: D

The article breaks down the grade by each component of infrastructure.  Now, mind you, letting ASCE advise you on infrastructure spending levels is a little like letting a fox advise you on the security systems for your hen house.  Still, the picture speaks volumes.

U.S. infrastructure crumbling : Scientific American Blog

The nation's roads, bridges, levees, schools, water supply and other infrastructure are in such bad shape that it would take $2.2 trillion over five years to bring them up to speed. But even that huge chunk of change would only raise their grade from a "D" average to a "B," according to the latest "Report Card for America's Infrastructure" released today by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

What Obama might do about Ares.

The interplay between Mike Griffin and the Obama transition team has been entertaining.  He's even reportedly getting some unexpected help.  But here's a report that sounds very interesting, and might tip the hand of the Obama team's plans on development of the Shuttle replacement. 



TG Daily - Obama wants Pentagon and NASA to play nice for moon race

According to Bloomberg, "Obama has said the Pentagon's military space program -- which spent about $22 billion in fiscal year 2008, almost a third more than NASA's budget -- could be tapped to speed the civilian agency toward it's goals as the recession pressures federal spending."

NASA currently has a five-year gap between the retirement of the Space Shuttle and the return to space via the Orion six-person craft that can carry astronauts to the ISS and the moon atop the Ares I and Ares V rockets (currently under development). During the gap, NASA has contracted with two commercial space companies to service the ISS.

Finding TV Online

A good list of sites, here.   Although its not in this list, I've had some luck finding stuff with Veoh as well.


The Best Tools To Watch TV On Your Computer | MakeUseOf.com

Much like phone companies became complacent with their position of power before the world of VoIP started capturing more of the telecom market, cable TV providers are complacent and oblivious to the rising popularity and reach of Video over IP. More and more people are getting fed up with the exorbitant rates these companies charge, and they are looking to the internet for alternatives.

Goodbye, VHS

The last VHS distributor calls it a day, although the owner does not reveal the location of the warehouse full of "free tapes" in the article.


Last major VHS supplier ejects from tape biz • The Register

"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," Distribution co-owner Ryan Kugler reportedly said. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in [the] warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."

Goodbye VHS. You outlasted Beta, Laserdisc and RCA's Capacitance Electronic Disc, but it was only a matter of time. Last one to watch that ALF Christmas Special tape, don't forget to rewind on your way out.

Teddies in Space

This will make a great screen background.



Out of this world: British teddy bears strapped to helium weather balloon reach the edge of space | Mail Online

t's not often that Britain can claim a win in the space race. But these teddy bears drifting nearly 20 miles above Earth have become the first soft toys to take part in extra-vehicular activity (to use correct NASA jargon) at such an altitude.