Annalee Newitz at eTech 2005 talked about some interesting facts: how sex drives innovation. The Silicon Valley Watcher gives an account of this: She starts with the equation: "Everybody wants porn + nobody will admit it + everybody loves tech = innovating ways to look without being seen.". She sta...
O\'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference
O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference explores the emerging consumer and enterprise ecosystems around location-aware technologies--ecosystems that increasingly impact the way we work and play. Location-determining technologies like GPS, RFID, WLAN, cellular networks and networ...
Using PS2 pads to control missiles
According to Michael Macedonia (CTO of the government-owned U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation), games gains more and more respect for training armed forces. A short column in Gamasutra deals with this issue. My favorite part is the following: Currently in use is a missile system int...
Get high IN virtual worlds
After ordering pizza and taking picture, virtual worlds (in video games) now allow you to get high, according to the NYT. In Narc, which is rated M, or Mature, for ages 17 and older, players control one of two narcotics officers, partners who were once separated after one became addicted to drugs. ...
A Faraday cage for your cell phones
(via), a tool to prevent yourself from being tracked: The mobile phone pouches "Silver" and "Copper" act as Faraday cages, completely shielding the phone and preventing it from sending or receiving signals. (...) The pouch prevents the user being located or having their movements followed. Even tur...
And now elephants send SMS
Nice story on engadget As part of a campaign by NGO Save the Elephants, pachyderms in Kenya are getting in on the action, as well. They’re being fitted with specially designed GSM/GPS collars that hold what are essentially mini cellphones, which are programmed to send SMS messages to farmers’ mobil...
Odor Alarm Clock
I was unaware of this kind of technology (I am not so much into odor stuff, maybe I should contact my friends in this domain...). I stumbled across thisscent-based alarm clock. "This clock is essential to a refreshing morning. It begins emitting a fresh morning fragrance 30 minutes prior to the ala...
When design takes neuro-stuff into account
Having a former background in cognitive sciences /neurosciences, I have still some old knowledge to understand when neurostuff pops in my radar. There seems to be new trend lately: the future use of neurosciences/neuropsychology/neurocognition to design and as a news resource to build better user-c...
SMS Server tools
For people who might be interested in sending and receiving short messages using a simple file-based interface and one or more GSM modems: SMS Server tools. A nice tutorial is provided here. ...
Tangible Computing at eTech
Even though I could not make it to eTEch 2005, there are plenty of ways to be aware of what happen there. Chris Heathcote and Matt Jones was one of the talk I would have attended. Both are very interesting people I just know from their blogs. Those guys work at Nokia and their 'recordable and distr...