Philipp Lenssen built a page that grabs pictures randomly from Yahoo Images that happen to be in the shape of letters, and uses them to spell out whatever you type.
Moooove Over Wi-Fi, RFID -- Danish Cows Form Bluetooth-Mesh Network
Bluetooth-enabled cows in the Netherlands have been configured to form a Bovine Bluetooth-mesh system whereby the location and health of each animal is communicated from cow to cow, then eventually back to a central server.
Celebrity Designers to Unveil PSP Accessories At L.A. Fashion Show
A March 14 fashion show in L.A. called -- folks, I'm not making this up -- "Pret a PSP" will feature Sony PlayStation Portable accessories designed by Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, Henry Duarte, Coach, LRG, Jennifer Lopez, Kimora Lee Simmons (of Baby Phat fame), Heatherette, Charlotte Ronson, (wb) waraire boswell, Jenni Kayne, Autore, Kidada and others. The overpriced goodies will be modeled by Maggie Rizer, Kirsty Hume, Anouck Lepere and Alek Wek.
Need 5.7 teraflops of performance to crunch your expense report? You're in luck. IBM plans to make its famous Blue Gene supercomputing available for use by anyone with giant bags of money. Users will be able to access the massive system remotely over a dedicated VPN.
You bought a smart phone so you wouldn't have to carry two gadgets -- a PDA and a phone. The smart phone does it all, but -- sadly -- the screen's too small for web surfing and the keyboard too tiny for touch typing. Enter WebRacer, a $225 mini laptop that serves as a bigger screen and keyboard for your phone. Sure, it's another gadget to carry. But your phone will appreciate it.
I told you recently about Honda's "first-ever" motorcycle GPS system. Now TomTom has come out with another "first-ever" GPS navigation system for motorcycles. And this one looks way cooler.
Best Reason Yet to Buy a Sony Ericsson Phone: RC Cam Robot-On-Wheels
A new camera on wheels rolls around and takes pictures -- all controlled by you via your cell phone keypad. The ROB-1 streams back video to the phone via Bluetooth, and even has a tiny headlight for when it's rolling through dark and scary places -- which can be up to 50 feet away. When you want to take a picture, just snap away as you normally would with the phone, and ROB-1 grabs the shot.
Freakishly lifelike humanoid robots will greet and interact with visitors to Japan's World Exposition opening later this month. The robots, created by Kokoro and Advanced Media, speaks multiple languages and even raps, bee-atch. Called "Actroid," the robots look like Japanese women and speak Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean. They can make realistic facial gestures appropriate to what they're saying, and even crack jokes. And, presumably, kill wives before taking their place.
Why the Internet Was Invented: So PETA Could Kick j.Lo's Butt
PETA hates Jennifer Lopez so much they've launched a web site devoted to blaming the multi-talented Latin beauty for all animal cruelty ever committed.
You might not be shocked to learn about a new web site devoted to freeware. But how about -- wait for it! -- a print magazine? Free Software Magazine is about freeware and the "ethics and philosophy surrounding it." I guess that makes sense because, without ethics and philosophy, all software is free... The magazine plans to overemphasize Linux, Apache, and Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird. The software covered is free, but the magazine isn't. A monthly subscription costs $6.95 per issue.
Samsung will be showing a new 7-megapixel camera phone at CeBIT starting Thursday. Called the Samsung SCH-V770, the phone goes on sale by this summer. They haven't built a camera into a phone, but a phone into a camera. I want one. (props to Gizmodo for the photo)
If only E.T. had this service, he would have been able to "phone home" for only $3.99 per minute. Call (900) 226-0300 and your voice will be beamed into deep space. TalkToAliens.com enables you to call E.T. via an "Intergalactic Transmitter" parabolic dish antenna 24 hours a day. The project has been in development for over five years. The antenna is pointed into the area of space with the highest density of regional stars and, most likely, planets. The company is working on systems for zapping your e-mails and IMs into space as well.
Now you can use pedal power to charge your phone, thanks to a new product currently available in Japan that lets you charge your phone using electricity generated by you pedalling your bicycle. (props to Engadget)
Kosher Cell Phone - Like Having A Rabbi In Your Pocket
A phone company in Israel has come out with a cell phone (approved by rabbinical authorities) that has been tweaked to help Orthodox Jews keep the faith. It's main feature is the lack of features. SMS, video and voice-mail applications have been disabled.
I try to ignore the Apple rumor mill, simply because it's so active. But I can't resist this one. The company is rumored to be toiling away on a "Mini" laptop small enough to fit in your pocket that runs a "lite" version of Mac OS X.
START SOMA, an art gallery in San Francisco, will host the opening of THE VIDEO GAME ART SHOW, which will explore the "iconic connections between video games and New Art." (I guess it wouldn't make sense to explore the icon connections between video games and OLD art...) The opening begins at the Blue Cube in San Francisco at 6pm and runs until 2am. The event coincides with the Game Developers Conference at the city's Moscone Center and will feature networked games, wall projections a "gaming cinema," and even an appearance by the Suicide Girls, according to the curator.
Company Not Playing With Full Deck - Offers SMS Psychic Tarot Readings
A company called Leapwave, which is a mobile phone on-demand text messaging portal, has added live psychic tarot readings to its list of services. To access the service, you enter a given keyword into the body of a text message and send it to a 5-digit number. Each service is accessible via a different keyword or a different 5-digit number.
Philips Polymer Vision scientists are making enormous progress on the quality and usability of flexible screens that are ideal for mobile phones. Better yet, they're ramping up the capability to mass produce them by 2007.
Ohio Law Would Require License, Fee and School to Sell On eBay
Legislators in the state of Ohio have apparently gone nuts. New legislation has been introduced in the Ohio state house that would require anyone selling on eBay to post a $50,000 bond, undergo a one-year auctioneer apprenticeship, pay a $200 fee, attend an approved auction school and act as a bid-caller in at least 12 old-school auctions. That seems like a lot of work just to sell a french fry that looks like Nixon. Next they'll probably require mail carriers with the post office to deliver all e-mail.
I Like Big Bucks -- Sir Mix-A-Lot Does It Again With Ringtone
Versaly Entertainment says it has sold -- for, you know, actual money -- some 500,000 copies of a ringtone called "Pick Up the Phone" recorded by Sir Mix-A-Lot of "Baby Got Back" fame.
The End of Anonymity: Scientist Able to ID PCs on the Web
A University of California researcher claims (in his doctoral thesis) that PCs connected to the web can be identified individually over the Internet, theoretically ending the anonymity of PC users. The technique reads "microscopic deviations" in PC clocks, identifiable in the times stamped onto outgoing packets, which are as identifiable as fingerprints, apparently.
Mad scientists at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan recorded and posted a video of a robot dinosaur they plan to unleash at the 2005 World Expo March 25. They've built two dinosaurs -- a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Parasaurolophus with a nasty disposition. The robots, which are nearly life-size and weigh about 80 kilograms, walk about one mile per hour. Here comes the video.
