Johnny Chung Lee over at Carnegie Mellon University has come up with something amazing and relatively simple at the same time. Using a Wiimote, some IR LEDs on a pen stylus form factor and clever software, you too can have a functional multitouch (up to 4 pens) interface.
Welcome to the 21st Century people! We're finally going to realize the dream of ubiquitous computing and it's starting all with multi-touch technology. First the iGesture pads, then the iPhone, and now Microsoft has a demo of an awesome application of this technology in what they call the Microsoft Surface. I can't wait to have one of these in my pad! The visual sync is stunning in it's simplicity!
"That plan proved highly unpopular, splitting astronomers into factions and triggering days of sometimes combative debate that led to Pluto's undoing."
- Link
Man, I would like to have seen that days long slap fight up on youtube.com.
...has the largest set of balls I've ever seen. He was a guest speaker at the White House Press Correspondents Dinner and completely roasted the president, while standing only a few feet from him. Cohones.
I found this on Slashdot. It's a online test which finds the effective speed at which your auditory system runs. I scored at 37 milliseconds on my first and only try and I'm 29.
I can't remember wanting something so badly after seeing it quite as much as I want one of these interfaces. I can see a future of tactile programming inside UML flow diagrams. My God! It's full of char *'s!
When is the future going to get here?
Japan has been kicking the "big three's" collective behinds in the Auto Market for years and now the consumers in the US are speaking out. They want lower costs, higher quality and more reliability. Not very suprising, huh?
Speaking of a well built vehicles I found this amazing video of a torture test on a Toyota Diesel Pickup. It's hard to believe it took that much damage and was able to drive still. I think this is my new standard for a "heavy-duty" truck.
There's some good stuff in the article about why it costs so much to produce cars here. Did you know you spend over $1000 per car, just to cover health expenses for the workers on these American brands? Some people though are taking this information and drawing the wrong conclusions, like "we need nationalized healthcare in order to lower our production costs!". This is an awful idea because it only hides the cost of healthcare for the auto makers and it raises the cost of healthcare for everyone who is made to pay for it (though they will not directly benifit more from paying more). That is embodiment of the practice of letting other people bare the costs of your existence.
Color me somewhat impressed. Tivo has stepped up to the bar and wow'd me with their new DVR series. It's capable of alot of things which are really enticing. Check out that backpanel connectors shot. It's like pornography to me.
