Woopra - Add Real Time Stats (and more) to Your Website

Do you want to know who is accessing your site in real-time? Do you want to chat with them?
Well, you can do that - and a lot more - with Woopra.



Be sure to check the following video:


GBTV #337 | Introducing Woopra from Neal Campbell on Vimeo.

via [Tech Crunch]

Test Your Senses

Do you want to test your senses? Well, there's an interesting Senses Challenge Test available at BBC.

Just give it a try: Senses Challenge.

It includes some optical illusions I've already talked about in here, but it has some other intriguing tests - including audio "illusions"! :)

I only got 12/20... how about you?

Time Perception - Brain Overclocking

Have you ever felt time slowing down?
Usually, when facing high-stress situations, you later recall it as it happening in slow motion.
I can certainly realte to that after facing a car accident a couple years ago, when I recall watching thing fly off just like it was played in slow-motion.

Well, researchers are now conducting experiments that prove it's real: our time perception can indeed change and make time slow down (or speed up.)

Check this video excerpt from a documentary on BBC.

Optical Illusion Video

Here's another optical illusion that is sure to leave you open-eyed for a while - at least it did to me!



This "change blindness" phenomena is exactly the same that makes us unaware of things we're not expecting to change.

In other videos, a person behind a counter talking to a "customer", ducked and it was another person that stand up in their place - most of the time, the "customer" didn't notice it was a different person; and they usually didn't believe it until they saw a video recording of it.

Industrial Automation

There are still many who believe a robot is unable to do some tasks usually performed by humans. But, when you see the things these ABB IRB 340 robotics arms can do, you may start thinking differently.

Just check this video:



These robotic arms are able to do up to 150 "pick and place" operations per second, with payloads of up to 2kg, and 10G acceleration (equivalent to going from 0 to 280mph in one single second!)

If that's not enough to impress you, I don't know what will! :)

Haunted Computer

Want to really freak out some coworker or friend?

What if, while you were working on your computer, it randomly started typing weird characters and/or the mouse pointer started moving erratically?

That exactly what you can achieve with this prankster phantom keystroker.

• Attach this evil prank device to your victim's computer and it makes random mouse movements and types out odd garbage text and phrases
• Jumper setting allows you to choose between either keyboard garbage typing, annoying mouse movements or both
• Adjustment pot sets the duration between annoying "events"
• Works on any OS
• Victim's computer requires USB port

Available from ThinkGeek for $24.99

Nanotechnology Concepts

Watch this nanotechnology concept video from Nokia, on how this technology can eventually change the way we communicate - and therefore, change our lives as well.



All we need now is a release date and affordable price tag. :)

Fifa Street 3 Movie

Want to know why street soccer is so amazing? Then check out this Fifa Street 3 ad video showing some incredibe roof soccer acrobatic moves.



Now, we only have to wait until we start seeing these moves in real soccer fields around the world. It would sure take the boredom out of most soccer matches! :)

Spore on iPhone [Video]

Need one more reason to justify to your wife why you desperately need an iPhone?

Well, you just need to show her Spore running on it.



Now you only have to worry with her not giving it back to you, and spend hours playing it.

Well... maybe its best to get two iPhones and be done with it.

Google Code University

Do you want learn or improve your programming knowledge?
Well, now you can do it for free at the Google Code University.

With tutorials, examples and videos to guide you every step of the way, in areas such as AJAX (javascript) and MySQL, I'm sure this is a new section of Google Code that you'll like to keep bookmarked for future reference.

New High Resolution Earth View

ESA (European Space Agency) has presented a new global portrait taken from space, detailing Earth’s land cover with a resolution never before obtained.

Although Earth’s land cover has been charted from space before, these new pictures have a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors.

The GlobCover system is a great step forward in our capacities to automatically produce new global land cover products with a finer resolution and a more detailed thematic content than ever achieved in the past," Frédéric Achard of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) said.

[ESA]

Google Pod

Here's something other companies should consider.

When a tired developer needs to take a nap to regain energy to get back to work in full gear, nothing like a resting Pod than can deliver the "goods".



Obviously, you can do so at GooglePlex. :)

Google Sky Maps

Up, up and away!

Google Sky Maps is now online.
And, as the space is a very biiiiiiig place, the map also comes with a search function (what else would you expect from Google?)

Arthur C. Clarke R.I.P.

Sadly, Arthur C. Clarke, the "inventor" of geo-synchronous orbits that allow satellites to remain stationary relative to the ground, died at the age of 90.

That sucks - it was one of the few persons I hoped I'd still be able to meet personally some day... :(

All I can say is, his thoughts and memory will keep on living with millions of admirers worldwide.

My favorite quotes from him:

There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future" (Clarke's second law)

At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years.

I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books.

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. (Clarke's first law )

A hundred years ago, the electric telegraph made possible - indeed, inevitable - the United States of America. The communications satellite will make equally inevitable a United Nations of Earth; let us hope that the transition period will not be equally bloody.

Food for Thought

While we're all used to eating as much as we need/want - we shouldn't forget there's a big world out there, especially when it comes to its differences.

Just check the average amount spent by each family, each week, for food.


1 - Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07



2 - United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week $341.98



3 - Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



4 - Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



5 - Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



6 - Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53



7 - Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



8 - Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03



9 - Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23



No further comments needed...

Useless Body Parts

If you're a programmer like me, you've probably already come across source code that contains useless functions that are no longer needed.

Well, the human genetic code also has some of those useless "functions". From muscles that are no longer required (unless you want to move around like a monkey or wiggle your ears) to wisdom teeth, not even forgetting vestigial remains from even more primitive functions like a third eye lid and a reptilian neck rib, you can check all out here.

So, what was that issue about creationism vs evolution again? :)

Amazing 3D New York Model

Well, maybe someday we'll have this kind of detail on Google Maps. :)




An amazingly detailed model of New York in 3D, fully textured, from ScreamPoint.

via [3D and 2D]

Google Reader Gets ARIA Support

Because not everyone is able to read a computer screen as easily as you and I, accessibility is one of the most important aspect that the internet and web apps should keep in mind at all times.

That's why I feel this Google Reader improvement is so important, allowing it to reach a much broader audience.

Google Reader is now ARIA enabled!

Spoken output support in Google Reader is implemented using Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA), an evolving standard for enhancing the accessibility of Web-2.0 applications. WAI-ARIA is supported at present by Firefox --- with future support forthcoming in other browsers. ARIA support in Google Reader has been tested in the following environments:

• Fire Vox The self-voicing extension to Firefox
• Firefox 3 with JFW 8.0 and Window-Eyes 5.5
• Portable Firefox 3 with both JFW 8.0 and Window-Eyes 5.5

Note that Firefox 3 is still in Beta and that ARIA support like the underlying standard is still in development. ARIA support in Google Reader is designed to help end-users experience the benefits of a powerful Web-2.0 application, while giving browser implementors and adaptive technology vendors a real-world application on which to test their implementations.

Activating ARIA Support In Google Reader

When you first open Google Reader using a screenreader, you will hear an invisible link labeled click hear for ARIA enhanced Google Reader. Follow this link to activate ARIA support. You can bookmark the resulting page for future use.

Once on the ARIA-enabled Google Reader, press ? to hear a list of available keyboard commands. Power users note: most of these keyboard commands are available in the default version of Google Reader.

[Google Reader]

Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 Memory Use

One of the things that annoys me the most regarding Web Browsers is that its memory use tens to grow dramatically over time.

In my particular case, as I have my computer on 24/7 for months, usually with a couple web browsers (Maxthon and Firefox) with dozens of tabs open, it's rather easy to see that happening.

While I can keep Maxthon open for months at a time (it starts using more memory, but it regularly "cleans up" and is able to maintain a manageable memory footprint) Firefox was a whole other matter.

It was hard to keep FF open for more than a couple of days without memory use starting to get over 300/400/500MBytes.

Of course, closing FF and running it again, and even opening the exact same pages it had, fixes the issue - reducing the memory use from 500MB to the more usual 100MB range.

That's why I'm so interested in Firefox 3.0 - one of the major improvements is indeed memory use/fragmentarion and memory leaks.

However, up until beta 3, I wasn't able to notice that much difference from the previous version.

Fortunately, this last 3.0 beta 4 has finally started to show its magic:

According to the developers:


Obviously, although these improvements will benefit everyone it will be extremely important for everyone using their browsers for days/weeks at a time.

I'll still be testing it for the coming weeks, but according to the experience I had after the first couple of days - Firefox 3.0 is definitely on the right track.

Rearview Mirror GPS Navigator

I've already talked about a rearview mirror video recorder in here; it was just a matter of time till someone applied the same concept to GPS navigation.

That's exactly what the folks at MirrorPilot have done, becoming an excellent alternative to the bulky gadgets that fill your vehicle and block your field of view.

I can't understand why so many people drive around with a GPS navigator screen right in the middle of their windshield... maybe it's just me that thinks seeing the road is more important than showing off your gadgets to vehicles driving on your tail.

The Mirror Pilot solves all those issues, and you can leave it in your vehicle without attracting unecessary attention.

[MirrorPilot]

Dropbox - Online Virtual Disk

If you can't wait any longer for the official Google Drive then you should really check out: Dropbox.

It's an online virtual disk drive that keeps your files in sync wherever you may go, and allows easy sharing of files and folders with your colleagues and friends.

It's extremely easy to setup and use, and from what I've seen - I think every other similar services should be worried about it.

Check the demo video and sign up at the site.



[Dropbox]

GPS WiFi Web Server for iPhone/iPod

If you're tired of waiting for a viable GPS solution for your iPhone or iPod Touch, check this video:

GPS en Wi-Fi pour l'iPhone et l'iTouch
Uploaded by GPSAndCo

[video]

The GPS receiver has a built-in webserver and you just need to connect to it via WiFi. No need to install software on your iPhone. The entire application runs via web browser - and it looks snappy too.

Very interesting, not only for iPhones but for other mobile devices as well. As long as you have WiFi and a Browser, you should be able to simply use it.

MSI Wind Hopes to Blow Eee PC Away

After Asus hitting the jackpot with the Eee PC, everyone else is racing to launch similar models.

MSI Wind is no exception, and it comes packed with a nice set of features:

• 10-inch display
• Intel Shelton'08 platform
• CPUs 1.0GHz - 1.6GHz
• 2.5-inch HDD or SSD
• 1GB RAM
• 7h battery life - allegedly

However, the Asus Eee PC is not standing still, with new models announced with up to 20GB SSD flash disk space, and the new Intel Diamondville/Atom pltaform to be introduced in May, and possibly WiMax/HSPDA options before the end of the year.

Shockwave Traffic Jams [Video]

Have you ever wondered why sometime traffic just slows to a crawl without any apparent reason?

Here's what happens, seen in a test track where 22 vehicles traveling at 30kph demonstrate the shockwave effect of slow downs.


[video]

Make 3D - 2D to 3D Conversion

Well, just because converting a 2D photo into a 3D space isn't easy it doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

That's what the Make 3D project from Stanford University does with quite a degree of accuracy .


[video]

You can upload your own photos and check how it looks in 3D, using VRML and Adobe Shockwave, or just watch a 3D fly by inside your 3D photo using Flash.

ECS to Launch Eee PC Killer

While I'm still waiting for the new improved Eee PC 900 to arrive (more resolution at last!) it seems ECS is not waiting any longer to jump onto the sub-$500 sub-notebook bandwagon.

ECS has announced their 11" sub-notebook G10IL.

besides the mandatory sub $500 price tag (which you can read as: $499.99) it comes packed with quite an interesting range of extras:

• 11" LCD
  
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
  
• Ethernet port
• VGA connection
• 56k modem
• HSDPA 7.2 (YES!!!)

And, although not confirmed, it's expected to ship with WiFi 802.11a/g and Bluetooth. And just like the Asus Eee PC, it has no optical drive - who needs it anyway?

There's still no info regarding the CPU/chipset, but for that price range, it's expected to use VIA chips.

Well, we can always dream it will launch with the new Intel Atom platform, which would provide an unbetable cost/performance ratio.. :)

Gmail Chat Secret Emoticons

We all know the regular Gmail Chat Emoticons, however, there are a few others you can use if you want to impress your friends.

These undocumented Gmail smileys/emoticons only work in the new version of Gmail and can be disabled in the chat section from the settings (note the cool permalink).



You can make: a diabolic creature }:-), a crab V.v.V, a wince>.<, a broken heart </3, a kiss :-x and a mustache :{.

Some other smileys still: :(:) is a pig, :(|) is a monkey, and :* is equivalent to :-x, (thanks BunnyHelper713)


We now have a bell, thanks to a tip from "someone." Just enter:  +/'\

Also, just noticed that the \m/ shows a radio icon on one of the emoticon themes.

And don't forget all smileys/emoticons change according to what "theme" you choose on Gmail's Chat - even these "secret" ones.

Secret ones keep popping up, just received a tip for a robot (android?) one. Just type [:|] and you'll get this:

... and last but not least: the elusive poop icon in Gmail chat has been discovered! (thanks to a tip from an anonymous reader.)
You can "poop" on you Gmail chats by entering:  ~@~

Also, in case you didn't know yet :

• surrounding a text with * turns it *bold* (as reminded by Cameron)
• surrounding a text with _ turns it into _italics_ (Thanks to Raoul)
• surrounding a text with - turns it into strikethrough
  

(you can combine them to write bold italic, for example: _*bolditalic*_ )


P.S. Gmail has officially introduced smileys in Gmail (and added few more to their gmail chat.).
P.S.2. Now you can enable even more "secret emoticons" in Gmail in the Labs section.


Update: learn how to type alt-code symbols ☺☻♥
Also: there's a new post showcasing all the iPhone and iPad emoji symbols.
And: the pile of poo is now a standard unicode character.

Galactica Last Supper

Amazing photo. The Last Supper, Battlestar Galactica style! :)



via [Flickr]

Crosswind Landing

Just when you thought you had seen everything... Check out this failed landing attempt.
A few more inches and it might have been a real disaster.

NRK Broadcasts via Torrents

Heres a state TV broadcaster that doesn't fear using the new technologies to their advantage. Instead of persecuting their viewers, NRK (from Norway) has decided to release ont of their most sucessfull TV shows via Bit Torrent.

The episodes are available in a standard high quality format, and without any DRM or other nonsense limitation.

Considering the high number of seeders, broadband users can download each episode in just a few seconds or minutes, proving - once again - the excellence of torrents in providing a large number of users with large files without requiring expensive servers.

This technology makes it possible for us to make our content available in a very high quality without having to invest in large server farms and expensive bandwidth.

The series "Nordkalotten 365" is about an hiker that walked through northern Scandinavia for a year, all alone.

What are other broacasters waiting for?...

[NRK via Boingboing]

Mythbusters Gatling Tree Chopping

I love Mythbusters. I love gatling guns (since I saw Predator.)

So, why shouldn't I love their tree chopping test using one of these amazing guns, capable of firing 3,000 rounds per minute (yep, that's 50 per second.)



I just wonder how much each bullets costs... eheheh

Surface Demo Game - Firefly

Slowly but steadily, we begin to see how the new multitouch interfaces will forever change the way we interact with computers.

Though these applications are certainly just "entertaining", they are definitely the first step into bringing these technologies to our homes.

Check the sample video from sarcasticgamer:



After that, the sky is the limit.