The greatest criticism of the Olympus E-P1, E-P2 and E-PL1 has undoubtedly been their autofocus speed. But a new firmware update increases AF speeds across these models by a promised minimum of 15%—that's using any lens you like. More »
I know these underwater ocean cities are technicially not private islands. However, essentially they are no different than Private Island resorts, plus they are just so cool.
Forty years from now, Australia, as well as the rest of the world, could look dramatically different — possibly even underwater. Facing these future challenges urban planners are designing ‘Ocean Cities’ that aim to addres what could happen when land begins to disappear.
This particular ocean city evolves into a collection of organisms with specialized functions like energy generation and sustainable food production that work together to form a new underwater city. Ocean City is just one of many designs in a competition to design Australia’s future.
For those of you in Wisconsin, apparently there was a heckuva meteor that lit up the skies there around 10:00 p.m. local time April 14, an hour ago as I write this. WKOW has reports and some great shots of it. It was terrifically bright, and there are reports of sonic booms being heard. Some reports are saying that was the sound of impact, but I doubt it; it’s far more likely to have been from the supersonic passage of the rock through the air.
If you have links, reports, or pictures, feel free to leave a comment. If you have good measurements of it (including where it was on the sky with some precision) then report it to the International Meteor Organization, which can help lead scientists to find meteorites if there are any. It also allows scientists to estimate the orbit of the object, which can help tie it to known objects like asteroids or comets.
I have to add this: I found out about it because an old post of mine about a fireball over Wisconsin in 2007 suddenly was getting a lot of traffic and new comments. Someone must have linked to it (currently I don’t have the stats so I’m not sure who did, but thanks whoever it was!) and people are leaving great reports about it.
Anyway, hopefully folks’ll find this post and leave comments here. Welcome!
One must thank all those street rod aftermarket suppliers for introducing their own Mustang II-style front suspensions over the last couple decades. After all, were it not for them, this peach of a 1978 Mustang II Ghia would likely have long ago been cut up for its bits. Instead, it survives,
You may have heard about the launch of Apple's iPad, and how the device seems to be drawing a lot of interest from healthcare circles. It's not only seen as something clinicians can use to chart patient encounters, but also as a tool for patient education.
The newly expanded Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children in Orlando and St. Luke's Health System in Boise, Idaho, last week began testing a customized version of an app called Medical Video jLog from Eagle, Idaho-based Unity Medical, Health Data Management reports. Florida Hospital for Children will employ iPads as a way of explaining tests such as CT scans and MRIs to children with videos and interactive question-and-answer features. St. Luke's has loaded its iPads with with about 20 educational videos on topics such as heart and vascular procedures and physical therapy.
"This application will support our patient resource specialists in ensuring that children and their parents understand and feel comfortable with important medical procedures and mitigate any potential fears or concerns they may have," Marla Silliman, administrator of Florida Hospital for Children, says to the Orlando Business Journal.
For more information:
- see this Health Data Management news brief
- read this Orlando Business Journal article
Related Articles:
iPad 'commandments': 'Mobile, capable and handy' device could be a breakthrough
Engaging patients with simple technology
Did you notice that little option to "get Gizmodo in your inbox" over on the left side, above all the writers' names? It means that you can sign up for our freshly redesigned newsletter and receive Gizmodo's top stories daily. More »
A few weeks back I wrote about a volunteer training class at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores. The class was to recruit volunteers to help out at the avian hospital during the spring nesting season.
I decided to volunteer one day each week to help care for baby birds that are brought in. Most [...]
NASA Announces Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century
"Following the President's remarks, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will host a conference overview, beginning at 3:45 p.m. EDT, with Norm Augustine, chair, Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee and John Holdren, assistant to the President for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The conference overview and the four concurrent conference sessions, beginning at 4:25 p.m., will take place in both the Operations and Checkout Building and in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will host a conference wrap-up with the four panel moderators at 5:40 p.m. in the visitor complex's Astronaut Encounter Theater."
Feud Over NASA Threatens America's Edge in Space, Wall Street Journal
"Even the Florida summit sparked friction. White House aides initially encouraged lawmakers to organize the event, but then decided to do it themselves. Aides to Mr. Obama then promised to reserve tickets for any members of Congress who wanted to attend, according to legislators and staffers. But invitations were later limited, according to a White House email this week that blamed Democratic Congressional leaders and apologized for "any misunderstanding."
Keith's note: Apparently all manner of space advocacy groups have mananged to get tickets - and are bragging about that fact - yet rank and file KSC employees are not as lucky.
Thanks to the House of Representatives passing the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010, Caller ID spoofing will be outlawed. Sure, you may prevent your number from being seen, but no more pretending that you're calling from another phone: More »
This girl is sitting on—or in—Chairless. Chairless is most certainly not just a nylon strap. No, it's a "seating device for the modern nomad." Yeah, it's a chair that fits in your pocket. More »
Earlier today, Twitter CEO Evan Williams confirmed that an official Twitter app will be made available for Android devices. No word on whether it'll be a brand new app or a ported version of recently acquired Tweetie. [Android Police] More »
Got few dozen ship and train horns, 620 gallon air tank, gasoline powered air compressor, MIDI board, and unmatched patriotic fervor? Then you've got The Great American Horn Machine. Presenting God Bless America, as it was meant to be heard: More »
The Bosch Power Box 360 isn't the prettiest boom box around, but it may be the ruggedest: its aluminum and rubber roll case makes it impervious to falls and, hopefully, apocalyptic fall-out. More »
When the Dallas Cowboys blew up Texas Stadium this week—punting accident—they had the good sense to put in a 3D camera rig inside. Click and drag to move the camera around. And turn up the sound. Boom! UPDATE: Due to some technical difficulties, the video apparently isn't loading on Giz, but if you hit the following link you will get to experience it in all its glory, so check it out. [DallasCowboys.com] More »
CONFERENCE
100 anni di idee futuriste nel cinema
[100 Years of Futurist Ideas in the Cinema]
April 21-22, 2010
Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa di Napoli
- With the partecipation of Paolo Bertetto, Gianni Rondolino, Augusto Sainati, Giovanni Lista, Sandro Bernardi and others.
Comitato Nazionale per le celebrazioni
del centenario della pubblicazione del Manifesto del Futurismo
100 anni di idee futuriste nel cinema
Convegno di studi
Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa
ia Suor Orsola, 10 – 80135 Napoli
Sala degli Angeli
21-22 aprile 2010
Programma provvisorio
Mercoledì 21 aprile – ore 15,30 – 19,30
Francesco De Sanctis (Rettore dell’Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa)
Apertura dei lavori
Emma Giammattei (Preside della Facoltà di Lettere)
Indirizzo di saluto
Giovanni Lista (CNRS, Paris)
In che senso è stato futurista il cinema futurista?
Paolo Bertetto (Università La Sapienza, Roma)
L’irradiazione del futurismo nel cinema
Antonio Costa (Università IUAV, Venezia)
Le folli notti dell’ingegner Norsen. Ovvero: futurismo export-import
Pausa
Antonio Somaini (Università di Genova)
Cinématique e cinématisme. Il confronto con il futurismo nel cinema e negli scritti di Ejzen_tejn
Mario Franco (Accademia di Belle Arti, Napoli)
La macchinolatria
Giovedì 22 aprile – ore 9,30 – 13
Gianni Rondolino (Università di Torino)
Sarebbe stato davvero possibile un cinema futurista?
Carmelo Marabello (Università di Messina)
Macchinemondi: Afriche lontane, antropologie futuriste e altre allocronie nel cinema di Corrado D’Errico
Pausa
Augusto Sainati (Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli)
Linee, chiazze di colore, musica cromatica: il cinema senza il cinema
Marco Pistoia (Università di Salerno)
Riflessi e rifrazioni”futuriste” tra anni Sessanta e anni Settanta
22 aprile – ore 15,30 – 19,30
Sandro Bernardi (Università di Firenze)
Cinema del terzo millennio, il ritorno del montaggio dinamico futurista
Sandra Lischi (Università di Pisa)
Pixel in libertà. Le eredità dei futurismi nell’arte elettronica
Tommaso Pomilio (Università La Sapienza, Roma)
Tsukamoto: il (non)futuro dell’uomo di ferro
Pausa
Cosetta G. Saba (Università di Udine)
Artefatto poliespressivo: l’opus filmico e non filmico di Matthew Barney
Massimiliano Gaudiosi (Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli)
“Visione-sensazione”: il futurismo e lo spazio-tempo cinematografico
In space, no one hears you flip-flop, opinion, Eric Sterner, Washington Times
"There is no truly free commercial market for human spaceflight to low-Earth orbit. The current supply-and-demand curves do not intersect without massive government intervention. So-called space tourism to the International Space Station existed only because the Russian Space Agency was willing to sell government capacity to wealthy elites at the margins. (The same cannot be said for suborbital space, which is experiencing truly revolutionary developments in technology and free-market economics.)"
Keith's note: Oh, so let's just throw up our hands in defeat and walk away simply becuase of the way things are right now, eh? How about shifting the government-only monopoly to transport of crew and cargo to the ISS to one that is open to the private sector where market forces of supply, demand, competition, and innovation can work their magic? I continue to be baffled by how many Republicans, including my very good friend Eric Sterner, seem to have zero faith or interest - in seeing the private sector earn a role in the exploration and utilization of space - as it has had in virtually every other aspect of our society over the past several centuries.
Republicans have tried to spur economic development in space - and have met with only partial success. But they tried, to their credit. Yet, when a Democrat tries, they seek to stop him before he even has a chance to try. Go figure. At least Eric sees that another region of space i.e. "suborbital" is a place where market forces can create excitement and value. Hmm, why is that, Eric? People used to call this the "ignorosphere".
Our favorite photo blog's subject today is the ISS and journeys to and from it. This one stands out: mealtime in space. Its familiar and alien at the same time. [The Big Picture] More »
It was 2008 when we got our first peek of where Google Earth was really going, from a simple topographical mapping service to a full-on 3D world simulator. That update brought us realistic buildings. This one brings spectacular detail. More »
Obama to offer hope to local space workers during KSC visit, Orlando Sentinel
"Senior administration officials have told members of the Florida congressional delegation that their efforts could bring as many to 5,000 jobs to KSC by 2012, twice the number that Constellation would have generated. And though how they arrived at those figures is unclear -- one of the many unknowns in the new NASA plan - they've gotten the attention of the local aerospace community."
Keith's note: According to Washington sources the Administration is prepared to support one additional year of shuttle operations with the addition of two flights to the existing manifest. They are reluctant at this point to go further due in great part to resistance on the part of Charlie Bolden. Bolden is still holding out for the continuation of Constellation - beyond the Orion "Lite" proposal currently being offered. Stay tuned.
