How to build your family tree on the Web
Researching your family tree seems as easy as conducting a Google search, but there’s actually much more work and fact-checking involved, if you want to do it right.
Ancestry.com is no longer the only option when it comes to searching digital archives, connecting with others and compiling a family tree. A new crop of geneaology sites popping up on the Internet are providing some alternatives. MyHeritage and Archives.com are two useful sites that have great layouts and access to plenty of documents. On these sites you can find census records, scanned birth, marriage and death certificates, family photos and newspaper clippings, and compile these into a beautiful, digital tree.
MyHeritage uses the social web to broden your family tree using living, distant relatives plus census records.(Read More…)
Courtesy - Mashable.com - Article By - Kate Freeman
Google : Zeitgeit 2012 : Year in Review
Liquid metal used to create ultra stretchable wires.
A new type of conductive wire uses a gallium and indium liquid metal alloy inside an extremely thin elastic polymer tube to create a wire which can be stretched to up to eight times it’s size without losing electrical conductivity.
The wire could be used for headphone cables or phone chargers, and can be mass produced using current methods. The cable might not yet make it to market though - if the cable is cut the liquid metal leaks out, causing a possible hazard.
Check out a video of the cable being stretched here.
(via 8bitfuture)
iOS 6 adoption surges after release of Google Maps app
New data shows that since Google launched its iOS mapping application, there has been a 30 percent bump in people upgrading their devices to Apple’s newest mobile operating system.
(via cnet)
‘Metapaper’ blocks Wi-Fi signals.
French researchers have developed a wallpaper able to block Wi-Fi signals, while still allowing FM radio waves and emergency frequencies to pass through. Known as metapaper, it is able to filter out 99% of all waves coming from the outside.
Possible uses could include creating quiet spaces inside movie theaters or hospitals, or for the ultra paranoid it could be used to stop the neighbors stealing your Wi-Fi or hacking into a wireless home network.
The snowflake patterned wallpaper can be covered with traditional wallpaper. The makers are pushing it as a ‘healthy alternative’, citing studies showing that overexposure to electromagnetic waves could cause adverse health affects.
(via emergentfutures)
Source: CNN
The Computer That Stores and Processes Information At the Same Time
The human brain is an extraordinary computing machine. Nobody understands exactly how it works its magic but part of the trick is the ability to store and process information at the same time.
That’s entirely unlike conventional computers which store information in random access memory or on hard disc and shuttle it back and forth as required to a central processing unit.
The time and energy all this takes is the thing that ultimately limits conventional computing performance, the so-called von Neumann bottleneck. Essentially, it is this that prevents conventional computers from approaching the performance of biological ones.
Source: youtube.com
Nielsen’s new Connected Devices study is out:
- Social Media — 44% of 18-24 year olds and close to 50% of 25-34 year olds are visiting social networking sites on their smartphones during both commercials and programs while watching TV.
- Seeking Information — 36% of people 35-54 and 44% of people 55-64 use their tablets to dive deeper into the TV program they are currently watching.
So the older folks are relying on search to make their experience of TV richer, while the youths are relying on each other.
(via emergentfutures)
Source: stoweboyd
New WiFi protocol boosts congested wireless network throughput by 700% | ExtremeTech
Engineers at NC State University (NCSU) have discovered a way of boosting the throughput of busy WiFi networks by up to 700%. Perhaps most importantly, the breakthrough is purely software-based, meaning it could be rolled out to existing WiFi networks relatively easily — instantly improving the throughput and latency of the network.
(via emergentfutures)
Source: underpaidgenius
New DARPA RFP Calls for All-In-One HUD that Sees Through Smoke, In The Dark and In Broad Daylight
DARPA wants a multi-band head-up display, which could be mounted to a helmet or a weapon scope, that combines several wavelengths of light into one image.
Sunny? No problem—the camera can see in visible light. Smoke bomb blocking your view? No sweat; the camera can see thermal infrared signatures. The system would also have near-infrared capability to help users see through darkness.
A new DARPA project called the Pixel Network for Dynamic Visualization (PIXNET) seeks proposals for new sensors that can do all of this in one package. A successful proposal would be small, lightweight, low-power and low-cost, said Nibir Dhar, DARPA program manager for PIXNET.
The system would communicate wirelessly with Android-based smart phones to fuse the images together, like you can see in the inset above. The warfighter would see a scene with visible imagery, thermal sensitivity and near-IR capability all in one.
Existing sensors are a good starting point, but they’re not advanced enough to combine multiple functions the way DARPA wants. Combining reflective and thermal bands will be a challenge, not to mention making it ultra-portable. “What we really need are breakthroughs in aperture design, focal plane arrays, electronics, packaging and materials science,” Dhar said.
(via DARPA Wants Cheap Head-Up Displays That Work In Any Kind Of Light | Popular Science)
(via emergentfutures)
Source: popsci.com
Crystal caves photographed by Carsten Peter
The geologic processes that create lead and silver also provide raw materials for these naturally occurring crystals in Mexico.
(via enochliew)
Video: Foxconn's factory workers get an Apple Store
Video: Foxconn’s factory workers get an Apple Store
FORTUNE TECH: TECHNOLOGY BLOGS, NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM FORTUNE MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 4, 2012
The company’s first retail outlet in Shenzhen, China, employs 250, draws huge crowds FORTUNE
iPad Mini Already Installed in Car Dashboard [iOS Blog]
iPad Mini Already Installed in Car Dashboard [iOS Blog]
BEST OF TECHNOLOGY | NOVEMBER 2, 2012
Just hours after the iPad mini went on sale, car audio specialists are already installing it in the dashboards of cars. This example, first noticed b… Read more
Apple accused of hiding U.K. 'apology' with code
Apple accused of hiding U.K. ‘apology’ with code
BEST OF TECHNOLOGY | NOVEMBER 4, 2012
No matter how large their screen resolution is or their browser window is, visitors to Apple’s U.K. Web site may struggle to see the ‘mea culpa’ state… Read more
