FocuSoft Tech Blog

NASA’s new virtual tours of the Space Station and new Mars Rover exactly approximate the sensation of not being in space Posted: 08 May 2009 07:43 PM PDT NASA’s grabbed Microsoft’s fancy Photosynth software once again to build virtual tours of the International Space Station and a full-scale model of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover. The interface lets you dive through endless, 3D-oriented photographs of the station’s modules, both inside and out, and gives a really good impression of the size and complexity of the lab-on-wheels NASA is prepping for a 2011 mission to Mars. It’s not like being there, but it’s a good way to kill a lazy Saturday morning. [Via PhysOrg] Original post: NASA’s new virtual tours of the Space Station and new Mars Rover exactly approximate the sensation of not being in space

Long exposure shows Roomba’s path around your living room Posted: 08 May 2009 06:50 PM PDT This is very interesting as well as being just a cool picture. By working out how long it took for a Roomba to go through a room, turning the lights out and figuring out the exposure settings, this photographer managed to catch the path of the sucker throughout the whole process. That's pretty cool, but now all I can think of are other ways of tracking the little bot. Webcam on its "head"? Merge multiple normal exposures? Attach a sharpie to its "tail"? So many experiments to do, and I don't even own a Roomba! I guess when I move to my new hardwood floor apartment, I can track my Fukitorimushi. [via Doobybrain, Daily What, and Gizmodo] Original post: Long exposure shows Roomba's path around your living room

Harman Kardon Jumps on the Blu-ray Player Bandwagon [Blu-ray Players] Posted: 08 May 2009 06:30 PM PDT Known mostly for its lavish—and expensive—home theater gadgets, Harmon Kardon will be releasing its first Blu-ray player, the BDP 10, sometime in May for $940. The BDP 10 will be able to play back 1080p/24 video, and will also support BD-Live and BonusView capabilities for Blu-ray movies that contain that extra online content. Also, not only will the player have the standard analog audio outputs, but also it will come equipped with coaxial and optical audio outputs, HDMI v1.3a, a composite video output, USB ports, and an Ethernet jack. Although the May release of the BDP 10 is for Europe only, Harman Kardon is expected to announce a release date for North American sometime soon. [Harman Kardon via Electronista] See more here: Harman Kardon Jumps on the Blu-ray Player Bandwagon [Blu-ray Players]

What Marissa Mayer said about Google and Twitter Posted: 08 May 2009 06:18 PM PDT There have been a couple of posts today speculating about what Eric Schmidt and his team said about Twitter at a company press event in Mountain View, Calif., on Thursday. I have the verbatim text, which I thought might be helpful to post below for the record. The precise question to Schmidt was about the evolution of Google’s thinking on what some people call micro-messaging. “Is this code for Twitter?” Schmidt asked. “The term I’ve been using is micro-blogging.” Yes, it was code for Twitter. From there, Schmidt bounced the question to search products chief Marissa Mayer, who explained that Google was interested in the possibilities for micro-messaging/micro-blogging, particularly from the search perspective. She said: “What’s really happening in Twitter is that there are a lot of clues in it in terms of what’s happening that’s interesting overall. It’s similar to what we see in Google Trends, where people will often type what they’re interested in into the search box, and we can make some predictions off of that. So we are interested in being able to offer, for example, micro-blogging and micro-messaging in our search. Particularly in Blog Search and possibly in Web Search, but we don’t have any particular plans to announce.” Not a lot surprising here. As you might expect for a search company, Google wants to find some way to mine and analyze the exploding volume of information being churned out by the micro-messaging world (read: Twitter). As Mayer suggests, figuring out what’s trending in real-time could have implications for how Google orders other kinds of search results, whether it’s in news, blog or Web search. Nothing was said about Google creating a competitor to Twitter, nor was it implied. Which is not to say Google’s isn’t planning such a think. The company would be negligent if it wasn’t at least talking about how to beat Twitter. But its executives definitely aren’t talking about it to us. – David Sarno [via LATimes.com]

Why Doesn’t Balancing Barn Home Fall On That Little Girl? [Architecture] Posted: 08 May 2009 06:00 PM PDT I don’t want it to fall on her, but I don’t understand how this Balancing Barn building is gonna work, if 50% of it hangs over a slope, in “free space.” Modern country houses are crazy, because since Frank Lloyd Wright built that house over that waterfall, everyone and their mom has wanted to do radical new things to meld new structures with the grass, trees, hills and streams that were here eons before we walked upright. Commissioned by a group called Living Architecture, the Dutch firm of MVRDV, with the British firm Mole Architects, came up with this 30-meter-long baby, half of which does not sit on anything. Here’s all I could get from the description at Dezeen: At the midpoint it starts to cantilever over the descending slope; a balancing act made possible by the rigid structure of the building; resulting in 50% of the barn being in free space, and giving a wide view over the Suffolk landscape, adjacent lake and surrounding gardens. But still, if you and all your drunk friends decided to go to the end and jump up and down, wouldn’t that house tip over, and hurt the girl and the sheep who idle and graze nearby? If no, then why not? I’m gonna guess the answer has something to do with long steel beams stuck down deep in the earth at the non-floating end. Then I’m gonna walk away, and try not to think about that poor little girl. [Dezeen] Read the original: Why Doesn’t Balancing Barn Home Fall On That Little Girl? [Architecture]

SOBEaR Is the Perfect Gift for Sorority Girls Who Don’t Know Their Limits [Robots] Posted: 08 May 2009 05:30 PM PDT Touted as a responsible robot bartender, SOBEaR is a DIY teddy bear with a built-in breathalyzer that’ll only dispense liquor depending on how drunk you are. In order to put him to work, patrons must press the “breathe + pour” button on his foot, which will then prompt the user to blow into his face. Using LED lights as a visual scale, SOBEaR will then determine how wasted—or sober—you are, and will then proceed to pour your drink in accordance to your current level of sobriety. If you’re completely smashed, SOBEaR will know to only pour you a drink from the bottle of cranberry juice in his right hand. Don’t like the way he operates? Just replace the cranberry juice with some moonshine—let’s see how long it’ll take you drunks to figure that one out. [jmsaavedtra ] More here: SOBEaR Is the Perfect Gift for Sorority Girls Who Don’t Know Their Limits [Robots]

Nuts: Twitter Inventor About To Launch His Next Project, Code-named Squirrel Posted: 08 May 2009 05:02 PM PDT Almost immediately following Twitter coming back from a planned downtime this afternoon, co-founder and current chairman Jack Dorsey sent out a tweet letting his followers know that he was, "Getting ready to embark on something new and entirely different. Excited!" Dorsey is getting ready to launch his next startup, he's confirmed to us. As the guy who actually invented Twitter, this is notable. Though Dorsey declined to comment on what his new startup is right now, we hear from a source knowledgeable about the new company that it's code-named Squirrel. Here's what else we know so far: It's a service that allows anyone with an iPhone to become a merchant. Just like the wireless credit card swipers you see at certain shops and restaurants, you can carry around your iPhone and take payments. Apparently, the idea is that this will allow any individual to take credit card payments on a mobile device, kind of like what PayPal does for the web. Squirrel is both a physical device add-on to the iPhone as well as an iPhone app. Ingeniously, the device derives enough power from the physical swiping of the credit card to then read the card, so it requires no external power from the iPhone or anywhere else. The physical device apparently looks something like an acorn, thus the code name Squirrel. But Dorsey is not leaving Twitter. He told me just now, "I'll never leave Twitter, it's my life's work and baby and I'll always be a major part of the endeavor, strategically and operationally.  But, I do have some other ideas I'm pursuing and yes, we're going to launch soon." Twitter was Dorsey's idea when he was an engineer at the company Odeo, a podcasting company which current Twitter CEO Evan Williams ran at the time. Odeo ran Twitter as a side project for a while, before realizing that it had more potential than Odeo itself did. Twitter became the company, and Dorsey became the CEO. But there was always some question as to whether or not that role was a good fit for Dorsey, and so a few months ago, Williams and he swapped roles, with Dorsey taking the role of Chairman. CrunchBase Information Jack Dorsey Squirrel Twitter Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Here is the original: Nuts: Twitter Inventor About To Launch His Next Project, Code-named Squirrel

Bye Bye Giz, Earth, It’s Been Great [Notes] Posted: 08 May 2009 05:00 PM PDT Today’s my last day working for Giz, and in turn, my last day on Earth. Here am I sitting in a tin can, far above the world. BUT SERIOUSLY. As much as I would like to end this signal week in Gizmodo history, Get Me Off This Rock week, by hijacking a decommisioned shuttle and spending the summer in orbit, work must go on. I’m heading over to Popular Science (where I worked before Giz, actually) to be the editor of their website. All of you millions of Giz folks are now required to come check out PopSci.com after every Giz visit, y’hear? I’ve had a great time writing for all you guys, and I’ve done some stuff I wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else. To all the Giz crew who I couldn’t convince to join me in my hijacked (I’m doing it) Shuttle (Brian wouldn’t come because the Internet connection is lousy), best of luck to you here on Earth. You’re all the best. With Love, Space Mahoney Read more: Bye Bye Giz, Earth, It’s Been Great [Notes]

Tip Us, Follow Us on Twitter [Announcements] Posted: 08 May 2009 04:20 PM PDT Twitter, Twitter, Twitter—we tweet our thoughts all day. And if you love FocuSoft, come follow our tweets today, hey! If you just can’t get enough of FocuSoft—or maybe our site is blocked at the workplace—you can receive the most interesting stories, breaking news and most popular posts by following us on Twitter. You can also help us report the news by tipping us (via @iuliusg) with awesome deals coming up, inside scoops, DIY hacks, and whatever else you think is cool. In return, we’ll tweet our every thought, bowel movement, song lyrics stuck in our heads, and a lot more crap we think is awesome and are just dying to share, in our own individual Twitter accounts—which you can also find by clicking the Twitter links next to our names in the masthead (the column on the left). [Follow FocuSoft on Twitter here.]

Update: Seeqpod Fire Sale To Microsoft Not A Done Deal. Posted: 08 May 2009 04:05 PM PDT Earlier today, I wrote a post wondering whether music-search engine Seeqpod had finally sold itself to Microsoft because of a suggestive link on its homepage linking to Microsoft Search. Some other bloggers noticed also. Since then, I've been able to confirm that no acquisition has closed and that talks continue. Seeqpod is indeed speaking with Microsoft, but not about an outright acquisition. Rather, it is trying to negotiate a piecemeal sale of its technology assets and find new jobs for its core technology team. And while Microsoft seems to be interested in the largest chunk of Seeqpod's assets, the company is speaking with other large search companies in hopes of finding a home for the other pieces. These assets include its targeted crawling system for finding playable media on the Web, its search index of 14 million playable search results and 500 million associated text pages, its recommendation and discovery system, five related patents, and the teams associated with each of these technologies. The fact that Seeqpod is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy makes this sort of fire sale easier to pull off. As far as the pending lawsuit with the music industry which forced it to seek protection under bankruptcy in the first place, there is no plan to settle at this point in time and "become an ATM machine" for the dying music industry, says my source. So why would Microsoft want to touch Seeqpod, even with a ten-foot pole? It's underlying search technology can be applied to many other areas besides music search. Seeqpod actually got its start at Lawrence Livermore Lab and genomic search (matching genomic sequences to diseases, symptoms, and even foods), so there are health search applications. But more broadly Seeqpod's technology is around "playable search." It can bring back playable media results (audio and video, primarily) for practically any search term. That is the kind of technology and team that could help Microsoft's general search engine. CrunchBase Information Seeqpod Microsoft Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Original post: Update: Seeqpod Fire Sale To Microsoft Not A Done Deal.

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