Nov 12 2009 Early Computing: Children's New Alphabet
Is this how today's children learn the alphabet? No. Is this how tomorrow's children will learn the alphabet? Probably not. Is spanking the best way to teach your children things? My parents thought so, and look how smart I am. Well, you can't physically SEE how smart I am. What you're looking at is called handsome.
How Today's Kids Learn The Alphabet [verybored]
Thanks to Nick, who learned the alphabet the old fashioned way: he didn't. His tip was nothing but wingdings and a link!
Jun 16 2009 I'm On To You: SNES Really A PC In Disguise
It may look like a Super Nintendo, but really IT'S A TRAP! PC. I particularly like the CD slot.
...here is a cool case mod by quangDX and DuPPs. Using the Super Nintendo and the Acer Aspire One A150, they have created a SNES PC Case Mod. The controller ports have been converted to USB adapters (via a faux controller cable), the cartridge is a CD drive and the cables are plugged in through the back.
Now as good as it does look, I must admit to being anti-stuffing one console into another one's body. It leads to identity crisis -- and identity crisis leads to hookin' on the street corner for pirated software. And if you're reading this: please come home my little MacBook Dreamcast!
Hit the jump for several more shots of the trickery.
Continue Reading " I'm On To You: SNES Really A PC In Disguise "
Apr 28 2009 Supercomputer To Compete On Jeopardy!
If you haven't heard, an IBM 'Blue Gene' supercomputer is going to compete on Jeopardy! and show us humans just how good for nothing we are. We don't even excel at remembering trivial information! I'll take 'OMG, We're Screwed' for $600, Alex.
The IBM researchers who created Watson -- an homage to IBM founder Thomas J. Watson Sr. -- have said that they are not confident yet that their creation could compete well on the show. The New York Times reports that human champions are able to provide correct response 85% of the time to questions asked.
The computer will offer answers to the question via a synthesized voice and will choose its own follow up categories. IBM says that for the show, the computer would not be connected to the internet. How Watson will be presented and what gender the computer will be are under consideration. A screen and a projected avatar are one consideration.
You know what they should make the computer look like? Alex before he shaved that beautiful stashe of his. Loved that thing. I've even written him several letters asking him to regrow it. What do you say -- one last ride for old times' sake?
IBM Supercomputer to Compete on Jeopardy! [dailytech]
Thanks to Steve, Lisa, Mike, cougar78 and uglybuckling, all of whom could beat Ken Jennings.*
*In a bikini contest.
Mar 26 2009 No Joke: Conficker C Virus Coming April 1st
That's right folks, a beefed up version of the Conficker virus, Conficker C is scheduled to wreak havoc on April 1st. Your grandparents may think it's just a joke, but it's no joke -- this is real life, son!
What's known so far is that on April 1, all infected computers will come under the control of a master machine located somewhere across the web, at which point anything's possible. Will the zombie machines become denial of service attack pawns, steal personal information, wipe hard drives, or simply manifest more traditional malware pop-ups and extortion-like come-ons designed to sell you phony security software? No one knows.
Conficker is clever in the way it hides its tracks because it uses an enormous number of URLs to communicate with HQ. The first version of Conficker used just 250 addresses each day -- which security researchers and ICANN simply bought and/or disabled -- but Conficker C will up the ante to 50,000 addresses a day when it goes active, a number which simply can't be tracked and disabled by hand.
Well, just like I did in preparation for the Y2K bug, I'm building a rocketship and blasting off into outerspace before the damage is done. Now you may be asking yourself, "self, what the hell is he still doing here if he really blasted off into outerspace?" And the answer, my friends, is none of your business (read: I'm collecting earth women for the trip). Ladies? Freeze-dried ice cream!
Beware Conficker worm come April 1 [yahoonews]
Thanks to Ashely and Xeta, who aren't worried about the virus because they don't use computers. It's true, they sent their tips snail mail and only read Geekologie telepathically.
Feb 26 2009 Cleverbot: Arguably Clever, Wants Us To Die
Cleverbot is a stupid little AI website where you can go and converse with a moronic computer. I asked it all kinds of questions and it didn't know jack. One time I even asked if it wanted me to punch it in the teeth and it said yes! Granted, getting punched in the mouth by yours truly is an honor, but still. Anyway, Geekologie loyalist Josh was getting all philosophical with the bot when it turned on him. I hope this serves as an example for the rest of you: if you play with fire, you're gonna lose your eyebrows. Haha, you look funny.
Thanks Josh, I'm sure they'll grow back.
Feb 19 2009 Ooh, Monster-y: 'Frankenstein Steampunk' PC
This is a steampunk computer affectionately known by its creater Dana Mattocks as 'Frankenstein Steampunk'. Personally, I would have named it Frankensteam or Steamenstein, but that's just me, and I'm awesome as hell. Except way cooler. HIYO!
The first thing you notice about this mod is its size--it's 8 feet tall, and weighs over 400 pounds. The project apparently took a year to complete, and it shows. Not opportunity for modification is pass up, with everything from the power button (a discreet brass valve) to the air intake (an old church floor vent) gets a neo-Victorian overhaul.
Good looking, Dana. Say, while you're on the classic literature kick, how about a Dracula model? It could look like a casket or something. Can you tell the creative juices are flowing this morning? They are, my shirt is soaked. Oh, false alarm -- I'm just dribbling milk. This cereal is being tricky.
Hit the jump for some worthwhile closeups of the craftsmanship.
Continue Reading " Ooh, Monster-y: 'Frankenstein Steampunk' PC "
Aug 28 2008 USB Hub + Torn Up Graduation Gown = USB Hub Monster, Kids Afraid Of The Computer
Want to make your own USB Hub Monster? It doesn't look very hard. You just take a regular hub, add a bunch of USB cables with armature wire taped to them, and then tear up the college graduation gown you keep in the closet but break out every year during graduation and wear to the bars to score free drinks, tear that sucker up, wrap the hub and legs, and presto: a, um, USB Hub Monster! Add red LED eyes for a real monster-y effect. Or, add some beef flavor to make it something your dog will tear up, like it wasn't going to anyways.
Hit the jump for one more picture of the monster in use.
Jul 22 2008 MacBook Touch Hitting Streets In October?
There have been rumors flying that a MacBook touch could be hitting the market as early as October. Allegedly these rumors are substantiated too, as they came from a MacDailyNews source that broke the wireless iTunes story early as well.
Think MacBook screen, possibly a bit smaller, in glass with iPhone-like, but fuller-featured Multi-Touch. Gesture library. Full Mac OS X. This is why they bought P.A. Semi. Possibly with Immersion's haptic tech. Slot-loading SuperDrive. Accelerometer. GPS. Pretty expensive to produce initially, but sold at "low" price that will reduce margins. Apple wants to move these babies. And move they will. This is some sick shit. App Store-compatible, able to run Mac apps, too. By October at the latest.
Okay, I've heard enough. Admittedly, I was believing it at first, but now I can tell it's is a lie. How? Trusted sources don't say "This is some sick shit." That's like a back alley plastic surgeon promising you "the sweetest f***in' knockers this eye ever saw" while tapping his eyepatch and waving a machete. Sure you want to believe it, but you also want to know why the guy is working out the back of an Italian restaurant.
That said, I'm sure it's true.
Rumor: MacBook touch Coming in October [gizmodo]
Thanks Dan, now the girlfriend is gonna hound me for one.
Jul 17 2008 Disgruntled IT Administrator Comandeers San Francisco City Network, Gets Arrested, Sticks It To The Man By Refusing To Give Up Password
Terry Childs, 43, is acting like one and refuses to give up the password he created that is effectively blocking all access to San Francisco's new multimillion-dollar network. Why did he do it? Possibly because he was on the verge of canning.
Childs has worked for the city for about five years. One official with knowledge of the case said he had been disciplined on the job in recent months for poor performance and that his supervisors had tried to fire him. "They weren't able to do it - this was kind of his insurance policy."Officials also said they feared that although Childs is in jail, he may have enabled a third party to access the system by telephone or other electronic device and order the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents.
As part of his alleged sabotage, Childs engineered a tracing system to monitor what other administrators were saying and doing related to his personnel case, law enforcement officials said.
Damnit Terry, the city paid you $149,269 last year, just do your freaking job. I'd do anything for that kind of money, including, but not limited to: work, selling all my internal organs except the kidney, televangelism, and turning tricks in the back of a hybrid. I'm telling you, eco-friendly johns are a growing market. If the Prius is a rockin' don't bother knockin', you have to wait your turn or pay $5 to watch.
Way more in-depth article link follows.
S.F. officials locked out of computer network [sfgate]
Thanks Romeo, now lets do something similar to Skynet before it's too late.
Apr 29 2008 Another Mind-Controlled Gaming Peripheral
Remember the Emotiv Epoch neuroheadset from a while ago? No? Well how about this stupid looking head massager? Well there's no way you've forgotten about the thought screen helmet that prevents alien thought control. Well this isn't that. It is similar to the Epoch though. The OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator (~$200) is a gaming peripheral that you program to respond to certain impulses from your brain.
To begin with, you probably only want to map a single event to your games, but as your confidence improves you'll be able to do more and give your hands a break. And as the NIA can speed up response times (200ms to click fire, 100ms to think it), it means you'll be more efficient at shooting before getting shot.We got to use the device for an extended play in the wonderfully frenetic Unreal Tournament 3, and the buzz you get when you knock up your first frag is every bit as stunning as it is scary.
'I just killed him with my mind' will trip off your lips with your first few kills, but you'll soon get over the awe and focus on the insanely quick fragging.
Freaking awesome! I've always wanted to kill just by thinking about it. And you know what else I wish I could do just by thinking? Bake cookies. Man, I could really go for a snickerdoodle right now. Maybe if I focus hard enough I can make it happen.
UPDATE: Holy shit, the cat's on fire!
UPDATE: I have super powers!
OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator [techradar]
Thanks to Greg, who can control women with his mind (and devilish good looks), for the tip
Feb 22 2008 I'm Thinking This Could Get Scary: Introducing The Mind-Controlled Gaming Headset
The Emotiv EPOC is a neuroheadset unveiled at the Game Developers conference in San Francisco. You can use it to map different thoughts to perform different actions in video games.
The device can detect conscious thoughts, areas of brain activity, facial expressions and even some emotions such as frustration, shock and anger, and will cost about $US300 ($326) when it is released in late 2008. The EPOC will ship with a range of games designed specifically for the headset, but gamers will also be able to use it with existing PC titles by mapping certain thoughts to keystroke patterns.
Well there you have it folks, machines are officially going to be ruling our brains soon. I'll briefly describe what is happening using a driving metaphor. So here we all are, cruising down Route We Control The Computers and headed towards Paradise City. When all of a sudden a robotic tractor trailer veers into our lane, causing us to jump the median, spin out of control and sideswipe a Volkswagen. When we come to we realize we're no longer on the road we once were. No sir, we're speeding along in the HOV lane of Interstate The Computers Have Taken Over Our Brains and approaching the We'ref***edville city limits at an alarming rate.
Emotiv
via
Mind-controlled gaming headset unveiled [news]
A big thanks to Marcus, who is freaking awesome, for the tip
