You can't beat Google's news homepage when it comes to getting a snapshot of the most important stories in the world. Or can you? It turns out you can. Newsmap presents Google's news feed pictorially, giving the most important stories proportionally more prominence on the screen.
Wanna Turn Yourself Into A Vampire This Halloween!!!
If you’re like me and you can’t get enough of the Twilight series, Halloween may be a good time for you to bring out your inner vampire to life through Photoshop. Transform yourself into a vampire by giving yourself devil’s eyes or darkening your makeup to create the effect of horror. Your friends will probably not even recognize you with the new look!!!
1.) How to create vampire teeth!!!!
Before:
After:
Try it out at: http://www.createblog.com/photoshop-tutorials/14211-how-to-make-realistic-vampire-teeth
Posted on: October 31, 2009
Posted by: Holly Vu
Encyclopedia of Earth
Need some reliable information about Earth but don't know where to look? Check out the Encyclopedia of Earth,the environmental science version of Wikipedia! It contains over 4,000different articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and other approved experts, who collaborate and review each others' work. The language is purposefully non-technical so students, teachers, and the general public can understand. The Encyclopedia of Earth interface looks like this:
Another interesting fact about The Encyclopedia of Earth is that it belongs to the larger Earth Portal, which is a constellation of subject-specific information portals that contain news services, structured metadata, a federated environmental search engine, and other information resources. The site’s cousins are Earth News and Earth Forum,where one can leave comments on posted articles. The EoE was launched in September 2006 with about 360 articles, and as of October 2008 had over 4,000 articles.
Encyclopedia of Earth contains 15 exciting collections of interesting articles! Don’t try reading everything in one sitting. You’ll be here for days!
If you are really enthusiastic about the subject matter, you can help add to the site by becoming a copy-editor! You will review articles and get to preview them before they can be viewed by the public.
Go check it out! The link is: http://www.eoearth.org/ .
Posted on: October 30, 2009
Posted by: Jennifer Lu
An Excuse to Wear Sunglasses at Night
Video eyewear projects a personal, virtual wide-screen view
You can't carry your wide-screen TV with you, so the Vuzix Wrap 310 video eyewear (available this fall) lets you bring the experience with you. The sunglasses-style Wrap 310 allows viewing a 16:9 wide-screen video from portable DVD players, laptop computers, portable media players, mobile phones with a video output and all iPod and iPhone models.
According to Vuzix, the Wrap 310's twin high-resolution video displays project an image that's equivalent to a 52-inch wide-screen TV when viewed from 9 feet away. The glasses also have removable noise-isolating earphones and can run for up to six hours on a pair of AA batteries.
The Wrap 310 has a composite video input, and optional VGA and specific component adapters will be available. It's also PAL and NSTC compatible, works with most 3-D video formats and has an on-screen display for adjustment.
The Wrap 310 also has independent left and right focal adjustment and fits over most prescription eyeglasses.
Posted on: October 29, 2009
Posted by: Pavan Datta
Weapon Technology
Have you ever wanted to Learn about the newest weapons? Well, you should visit: http://www.futurefirepower.com for the latest technological inventions in the field of weaponry.You can also watch related videos demonstrating the power of such weapons.
Posted on: October 28, 2009
Posted by: Noora Mosafaei Shirazi
Coolest Computer Mice
Being surrounded every day at the offfice only by sober and gray items doesn't seem too interesting, not even motivational. In such places, like offices or classrooms, where serious things should happen, some colorful and break-the-monotony elements are required. Of course, not a yellow dressed secretary is the colorful element needed in your office, but you could try a colorful mouse with a special design. If you work everyday with the computer, and you are sick and tired of its beamless look, you could try make it look better with a new sleeve or why not, by attaching it a new mouse?
People's creativity is unlimited, and those very creative people, in most of the happy situations get to work as designers for companies, and they have the possibility of expressing their creativity in an useful manner. They design objects or software applications for the public, and by using their creativity, they create unique, out-of-the-box products.One of these companies who has a good team of designers is Pat Says Now. This company is a Swiss manufacturer of computer mice.
And here is the most expensive computer mouse. This mouse is set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds and it is cast from 18K white gold. This mouse is a 3 button wheel optical mouse design, which can be connected either to a PC or to a Mac and has a 3 year warranty.
If you can afford the most expensive mouse, maybe you would like that mouse to work on the most expensive mouse pad. This mouse pad has been created by professional technicians with Formula 1 and it is hand-made in England. The special thing about this mouse is that is made of carbon fiber and it also has a leather mouse area. It displays the F1 ( Formula 1) logo, and this contributes to the high price tag of this mouse pad.For the coolest computer mouse, the most expensive mouse pad is the perfect choice
Posted on: October 27, 2009
Posted by: Shahriar Habibagahi
mp3 players
Anybody who is even remotely in tune with technology knows about iPods. They're everywhere. The "touch," the "nano," the "shuffle," the "classic," whatever it is, it has "iPod" written on it. I have nothing against iPods, but to be honest, it's nice to see a little variety.
So if you're willing to fight the standard and are in the market for a new mp3 player, consider some of the alternatives:
Sandisk Sansas:
Sandisk is famous for making memory cards, in fact it's practically a household name, but did you know they make some pretty hip mp3 players? I personally own four, and I'm a big fan. Although the interface isn't necessarily as nice as iTunes might be, it's easy enough to load music on with a simple drag and drop in explorer. In addition you can easily sync them with Windows Media player.
In particular I would recommend you check out the "Sansa Clips," these portable mp3 players are honestly one of the most durable things I've ever had the pleasure of owning. They have a built in clip (for when you're on the go or hittin' the gym), and although they look flimsy they really can take a beating. Dropped it at least a dozen times and it still keeps trucking along. Best of all is the price. You can get your hands on a Sansa Clip for as low as $20.00 if you shop around; it's incredible!
Microsoft Zune:
Microsoft's mp3 player is marketed as an alternative to the iPod. Apparantly one of the coolest things about these things is that you can wirelessly sync them to a PC (or I assume a Mac as well). It also gives the user access to the Zune Marketplace, which is quite different from iTunes.
Because these things ARE supposed to competitive with iPods, they have iPod-like prices, ranging from $80 - $300+ dollars depending on what model/size you prefer. I would definitely say that these things have their merits, and they are certainly a viable alternative to iPods, so if you're in the market you should definitely check them out
So those are just a few alternatives. There are various other mp3 players sold by iriver, Dell, etc. but I most certainly do not know enough about them to market them to you. I definitely encourage you all to check 'em out and look up some reviews before you commit to anything though, because an mp3 player is quite an investment.
Posted on: October 27, 2009
Posted by: Jonathan Kuo
Virtusphere
VirtuSphere
The VirtuSphere is a virtue reality locomotion simulator. Thisinvention is truly revolutionary because it allows people to play INSIDE theirvideo games.
How it works:The Virtusphere consists of a 10-foot hollow sphere, which isplaced on a special platform that allows the sphere to rotate freely in anydirection according to the user’s steps. Wearing a wireless, head-mounteddisplay the user is able to walk and run being immersed into virtualenvironment. The movement by the user is replicated within the virtualenvironment. The same hardware set can be used for different applications bychanging only the software applications.
More importantly, theVirtusphere isn’t only for gamers. It has many other uses such as:
Military
law enforcement
Gaming and entertainment
Health and fitness
Education and museums
Architecture andconstruction-site 3D model walk-through
Multi-Touch technology has introduced a remarkably better way to interact with your portable devices — all using gestures. It all began with the iphone, and then the ipod touch and macbook pro. Now another milestone brings gestures to the desktop with a mouse that’s unlike anything ever before.
Seamless Multi-Touch Surface
Magic Mouse — with its low-profile design and seamless top shell — is so sleek and dramatically different, it brings a whole new feel to the way you get around on your Mac. You can’t help but marvel at its smooth, buttonless appearance. Then you touch it and instantly appreciate how good it feels in your hand. But it’s when you start using Magic Mouse that everything comes together.
The Multi-Touch area covers the top surface of Magic Mouse, and the mouse itself is the button. Scroll in any direction with one finger, swipe through web pages and photos with two, and click and double-click anywhere. Inside Magic Mouse is a chip that tells it exactly what you want to do. Which means Magic Mouse won’t confuse a scroll with a swipe. It even knows when you’re just resting your hand on it.
Laser-Tracking Engine
Magic Mouse uses powerful laser tracking that’s far more sensitive and responsive on more surfaces than traditional optical tracking. That means it tracks with precision on nearly every surface — whether it’s a table at your favorite cafe or the desk in your home office — without the need for a mousepad.
Wireless
Magic Mouse connects wirelessly to your Mac via Bluetooth, so there’s no wire or separate adapter to worry about. Pair Magic Mouse with your Bluetooth-enabled Mac and enjoy a reliable and secure connection up to 33 feet away. When you combine Magic Mouse with the Apple Wireless Keyboard, you create a workspace free of annoying cables.
And because Magic Mouse is wireless, it can venture beyond the confines of your desk. A quick flick of the on/off switch helps conserve battery power while Magic Mouse is tucked in your bag. Even when it’s on, Magic Mouse manages power efficiently, by detecting periods of inactivity automatically.
Make one great gesture after another.
Multi-Touch technology on the iPhone and iPod touch introduced a breakthrough way to interact with your content. Magic Mouse, with its Multi-Touch surface, does the same thing for your Mac. When you use gestures, it’s as if you’re touching what’s on your screen. For instance, swiping through web pages in Safari gives you the feeling of flicking through pages in a magazine. And scrolling with Magic Mouse isn’t your everyday scrolling. It supports momentum scrolling (similar to iPhone and iPod touch), where the scrolling speed is dictated by how fast or slowly you perform the gesture.
Magic Mouse is an advanced point-and-click mouse that lets you click and double-click anywhere on its Multi-Touch surface.
Two-button click
Magic Mouse functions as a two-button mouse when you enable Secondary Click in System Preferences. Left-handed users can reassign left and right click, as well.
360° scroll
Brush one finger along the Multi-Touch surface to scroll in any direction and to pan a full 360 degrees.
Screen zoom
Hold down the Control key on your keyboard and scroll with one finger on Magic Mouse to enlarge items on your screen.
Two-finger swipe
Using two fingers, swipe left and right along the Multi-Touch surface to advance through pages in Safari or browse photos in iPhoto.
Give it your personal touch.
Maybe you want scrolling but don’t want swiping. Or two-button clicking instead of one. Whatever the case, Magic Mouse works the way you want it to work. All you do is go to the Magic Mouse preference pane in System Preferences to enable or disable features.
The ambidextrous design of Magic Mouse means it fits comfortably in your right hand if you’re a righty or in your left hand if you’re a lefty. And left-handers can easily swap left and right button functionality using System Preferences.
System Requirements
Bluetooth-enabled Mac computer
Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0
Existing keyboard and mouse for setup
Posted on: October 25, 2009
Posted by: Amy Patel
WINDOWS 7!!!
ITS HERE! Yesterday marked the release of Windows 7. Some people are really excited, and some people didn't even know there was a new windows coming. For those of you who are wondering "what's the deal?" here are a few quick facts provided to us by Microsoft:
Get quicker access to all of your stuff—use Pin and Jump Lists to keep the programs and files you use the most right at your fingertips.
Manage devices more easily—manage printers, cameras, music players, and other devices from a single, consistent, place.
to see it in action, check out Microsoft's "seven second demos" on their website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/what-is-windows-7.aspx
Posted on: October 23, 2009
Posted by: Lindsay Coley
Keeping Your Computer Safe
If you're reading this blog, you most likely live on campus. And if you have a computer in your room, whether it's a desktop, laptop, MacBook, or Mac Pro, you've probably hooked it up to the internet.
Thus, if you're reading this blog, you probably have installed that mysterious little program called TrustedInstaller.exe, SafeConnect, or PolicyKey, all of which are names for the same program, which I will call PolicyKey. You get this warning, and then download this file. It doesn't seem to do anything, and yet magically you suddenly have internet access! What happens? How does it work? And most importantly, what does it do?
If you're like me, you hesitate to install programs unless you know what they do. Well search the internet all you want, and there's very little information about PolicyKey out there, other than it is the Product of Impulse and is a Network Access Control (NAC) product. What does that mean?
We are blessed with a blazingly-fast on-campus network. We are better than DSL, Cable, or even Verizon's FiOs offering. We are very fortunate in that regard. Unfortunately, with great speed comes great responsibility, and that means we are also an attractive target for viruses, botnets, and other forms of malicious software. And because we're all connected to each other, if one person on your floor has a virus, that virus will quickly spread to everyone unless you are protected. A virus that has taken over the network is not only dangerous to you, since it could facilitate identity theft (and take out loans in your name, or worse), but it also slows down, attacks, and damages the university's network. Therefore it is in everyone's interest to stop the spread of viruses.
Therefore to use the residential network, you are required to have virus protection software installed. PolicyKey is the method the university has chosen to enforce this.
Here's how it works. When you access a website, your request to view that document goes through a UCLA server, which checks to see if you are a permitted user of that system. If you are, it lets it through.
If you are not, you will be asked to identify yourself first by logging in with your UCLA username and password. What happens next depends on your operating system:
If you are running Windows, you will be asked to download PolicyKey. Once this software is downloaded and is allowed to communicate with the Impulse servers, you will be unlocked and have full network access.
If you are running Mac OS X, you have to download PolicyKey as well, however at the time this post is written it does not enforce anything on this platform.
If you are running a flavor of Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Kubuntu, Gentoo, or Red Hat just to name a few) then you do not have to install anything; instead you have to periodically log in every couple of hours.
So if you're running Mac OS X or Linux, you are up and running! If you're running Windows, a few more things happen:
PolicyKey downloads a list of authorized antivirus programs and rules for how to detect them. At the time of this writing the list includes at least Sophos, including the free UCLA-provided edition, McAfee, TrendMicro, EZAntivirus, Symantec (Norton), Panda, AVG, AntiVir, Authentium, Avast, Microsoft OneCare, BitDefender, Kaspersky, SpySweeper, Nod32, and ZoneAlarm.
PolicyKey also gets a list of required Windows Updates - these include the Windows Firewall and all the latest service packs for the version of Windows you are using.
PolicyKey checks to ensure that all virus definitions are up to date.
If all of the following are true, it sends a message to Impulse, identifying your computer and the specific antivirus software you have running. Impulse then unlocks your computer and you have unrestricted network access for a while. PolicyKey checks frequently (every second) to ensure that these conditions are still valid, and notifies Impulse if any of these conditions ever fails. Your computer must check in periodically to maintain this access, which is why the software must be running in the background.
So what's the take-away from all this?
At no time does the current version of Impulse PolicyKey access or send any of your private files to anyone - not Impulse, not UCLA, not anyone.
The only things it enforces are antivirus programs and updates. It does NOT scan for peer-to-peer filesharing applications, illegally downloaded software, or non-genuine versions of Windows. HOWEVER, and this is a big disclaimer, this does NOT in any way mean it's okay to do any of this! It just means you do so at your own risk.
The rules it is enforcing are common sense. Keep your computer up to date and that helps you. And what's good for your computer is good for everyone's computer.
Hopefully this was able to answer some of your questions, or put any suspicions or nagging doubts to rest. Happy safe computing everyone!
Posted on: October 22, 2009
Posted by: Michael Vysin
Create Your Own Wallpapers
Think that awesome, artsy wallpapers are only found online made by some mysterious internet artists? Well, with this awesome flash website, you can produce your own wallpapers with those same artistic elements with simple drag, drop, and scale actions. Check it out at:
http://wallpapers.x3studios.com/
Posted on: October 21, 2009
Posted by: Ross Camua
TRICK or TREAT
Halloween is quickly approaching, but eek you don't know what to do! Well, no need to panic, here are some recommendations on how to spend the scariest night of them all :)
OR if you absolutely are broke, just party in Westwood or Santa Barbara!
Posted on: October 20, 2009
Posted by: Christina Nguyen
The future of gaming
How would you like to play a game on the big screen in a movie theater? That's what Sony, PlayStation 3, and game developers Naughty Dog brought to attendees for their special cinema event promoting their new game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
While players played the game, the audience could watch the gameplay as if it were an interactive movie. Using a 4K digital projector, the images were so clear that it looked real, and it would be a surreal experience to actually be able to play a game projected on such a large screen like a movie. Pretty soon, movies will actually become games that can be interactive with the audience. Players can be a part of the movie by actually playing through it. Now that would be an exciting movie.
Posted on: October 18, 2009
Posted by: Michelle Auyoung
Clockman
Clockman is an alarm clock that can talk. It has large square face and an oversized button on its head. When it talks, Clockman shows various facial expressions. Clockman comes 4 different colors, each one representing a blood type and personality. It's a really talkative alarm.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTE0ODMyODY4.html
Posted on: October 17, 2009
Posted by: Wen Tsai
Flowerpot EYE
Is your dorm room a little too boring? Check out this concept flower pot that lets you "see" the roots through the soil!
For all those plant lovers who wish to see their plants growth with the passing day designer Olga Kalugina has popped up with the smart, really smart flowerpot. Eye is an inventive flowerpot that enables you see the root system of plants. Defining humidity of the soil, light level, soil conditions and the ambient temperature the flowerpot shows the development stages of the plants and help us to understand a plant better.
Posted on: October 16, 2009
Posted by: Eric Wang
Single Serving Websites
Since the cost of bandwidth and registering a domain name has recently fallen dramatically, more and more personal websites are popping up. However, another type of website rising in popularity is what's known as a "single serving" website: a site with one page, one purpose, and little else besides that. More often than not, the site's URL tends to be a pretty good description of what the website is about. Below is a list of 10 funny, useful and or just plain pointless single serving websites.
Posted on: October 15, 2009
Posted by: John Golden
Don't Spend Money On Antivirus
Ever since the advent of this technological era ... there have been a multitude of viruses and trojans lurking around in the interweb. Whenever we purchase a new computer we get usually a free trial version of a well known anti-virus software such as Norton or McAfee. Life is good. However, when that dreaded "You have 30 Days Left" pop-up appears, stress can escalate as the numbers slowly count down to the day your computer is once again "unprotected." Luckily, it's not a one way street and immunity and protection of your beloved computer can be achieved without ripping a hole in your wallet.
There are a lot of Anti-Virus softwares out there that come with a free version that allows you the same protection as expensive brands.
Need a unique gift for someone in your life? Check out The Sound Advice Project! The Sound Advice Project takes your choice of words and creates a tangible, wearable keepsake by mimicking the shape of the soundwaves of your voice with beads.
Originally created as outlet for parents to encourage and support a drug-free lifestyle for their children, there is no limit to the sentiments you can record and display as a bracelet. And with a selection of different bead and cord colors, it's a fashionable choice, too. Priced at $25. {http://www.thesoundadviceproject.com/}
Posted on: October 12, 2009
Posted by: Amy Li
Pulling a FAST one?
As if airport screening didn't already have enough rules and checkpoints. Now, you may be subject to an interview each time you fly. On top of that, you'll be standing on top of a Wii balance board. As part of this $20 million project funded by Homeland Security, a modified Wii balance board (along with some auxiliary equipment) will be able to detect each of your nervous displacement gestures and shifty eye movements, as innocent as you may be. This will determine whether you will be subjected to any secondary screening. Practice those interview skills, folks!
Quickly find what you’re looking for—use Windows Search to find a specific file, program, or e-mail in a few seconds.
Stay entertained effortlessly—with Windows Media Center. You get one place to enjoy your photos and music, watch and record live TV, and watch free Internet TV.
