Posts Tagged ‘geek’

As modern art galleries expand their collections to include digital exhibits, restorers are being forced to learn increasingly complex techniques to maintain them. Unlike paintings, where teams of experts match colors and use old brush techniques to touch up a decaying piece, digital art and the technology used to create it often becomes obsolete over time. This was the challenge faced by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York when it became one of the first institutions to acquire a web-based artwork — The World’s First Collaborative Sentence by Douglas Davis.

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How galleries are learning to restore digital art

Adobe has just released Lightroom 5, the latest version of its professional photography software for OS X and Windows. If you’ve been taking part in the Lightroom 5 beta you already have a good idea of what to expect, but just to recap, lossy DNG Smart Previews let you work on your RAW images while shedding the big disk space footprint they require, and editing features like radial gradients, a new healing brush, and automatic straightening of distorted images (a feature called Upright) are the other big headline additions this time around. Continue reading…

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Adobe releases Lightroom 5 for $149

We’ve already seen what the next generation of dogs will look like in Call of Duty: Ghosts , and the latest trailer shows what we can expect from the game’s underwater environments. At a pre-E3 livestream event, developer Infinity Ward revealed a new level for the upcoming blockbuster, dubbed “Into the Deep,” which has players scuba diving while piloting remote-controlled torpedoes. “That’s one of my favorite levels,” said Infinity Ward’s Mark Rubin, “shows great new tech and interesting gameplay.” Don’t worry, though, Ghosts ‘ newly-named canine star Riley was also at the event, where it was revealed that the dog would be able to take commands via a headset . Call of Duty: Ghosts is slated to launch on both current and next-generation..

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Dive into the deep in the latest ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ trailer

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. Lego just made an announcement that will have geeks around the world salivating: Beginning in September, the company will release a 1-foot-tall Star Wars Ewok Village , complete with tree houses, rope ladders and of course, our favorite furry friends. That’s not all — this week the toy maker also unveiled plans for a new Lego museum in Denmark that looks like a big pile of toy bricks. In other blocky building news, the world’s first carbon-negative building brick was just unveiled in the UK, and Studio Liu Lubin created an awesome set of stackable Tetris-style micro houses in China. And in green transportation news, Tesla announced that it will add a fourth car — a compact SUV — to its electric vehicle lineup , and Japan just unveiled a new prototype of its ridiculously fast 310MPH maglev train

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Inhabitat’s Week in Green: 310MPH Maglev train, full-color 3D printer and a car that boasts an astounding 1,300MPG

Samsung’s stock-Android Galaxy S4 was announced at Google I/O and HTC’s stock One was unveiled at the D11 conference , but apparently those two companies won’t be the only ones to offer flagship phones without custom skins. AndroidGeeks has reported (with Android Central confirming ) that the Sony Xperia Z will also be sold in the Google Play store in a “Google Edition,” foregoing Sony’s software customizations but maintaining identical hardware specs. For now, rumors point to the “Google Edition” Xperia Z being available only in the US Google Play Store, with a possible announcement later this month. It’s actually a little surprising to see Sony lag behind both Samsung and HTC in announcing a stock phone — the company has…

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Sony reportedly creating ‘Google Edition’ Xperia Z, following Samsung and HTC

Ever since joining Google+ early last year, The White House has become more and more involved with the social network. And with word spreading amongst Earthlings about an asteroid (with its own moon, no less) zipping past the planet sometime around 5:00PM ET, the executive mansion of the US couldn’t have chosen a better day to discuss the topic. As part of its ongoing “We the Geeks” series on Google+, The White House will be hosting a Hangout today where it plans to talk about asteroid characterization, identification, resource utilization and more. As you’d expect, there will be a some knowledgeable people present to spark the conversation, including NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, former astronaut Ed Lu and, of course, Bill Nye. So, if you plan to fly swing by later, be sure to set a reminder for 2:00PM ET, as that’s when the Hangout is expected to begin.

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The White House hosting a ‘We the Geeks’ Hangout later today, plans to talk asteroids

This particular rumor has been swirling for a while already, but Reuters says its own sources are now backing it up: Samsung will switch from an ARM-based design and use Intel as the supplier of the processor inside at least one version of its next 10-inch slate, the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. Word is that Samsung will run Android off Intel’s latest x86 Atom architecture, Clover Trail+ , which we’ve so far seen in just a handful of smartphones including the Lenovo K900 and ZTE Geek . By way of corroboration, Korea Times is reporting the exact same Galaxy Tab 3 rumor and has also quoted an anonymous Intel employee who claimed that the number of Atom engineers based in Korea has ballooned from six last year to as many as 50 personnel today. They’re said to be working on “Samsung-related projects with a mission to customize circuits for adaptation in Samsung products” — which certainly doesn’t sound like typical Intel behavior

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Samsung’s next Galaxy Tab will have Intel inside, says Reuters

At midnight last night Netflix released the highly-anticipated fourth season of Arrested Development , and series creator Mitch Hurwitz has now posted an open letter thanking fans for their support — and offering some viewing suggestions as well. In the handwritten note — made out to “our friends, fans, supporters, detractors, haters, enemies, and arch enemies,” Hurwitz expresses his gratitude on behalf of everyone involved with the creation of the new season. “We are all so grateful for another chance to bring these characters to life,” he writes.

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‘Arrested Development’ creator releases thank-you letter to fans, recommends watching new season in order

Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire . Steve Wozniak pioneered the personal computing industry with the Apple I and II . In a throwback to our 31st issue of Distro , we’ll take a very thorough look at the mind and habits of the Woz.

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Steve Wozniak discusses his dependency on a MacBook Pro and his affinity for transistor radios

Rachel writes, “My chap and I are dedicated steampunks and geeks. My chap Andy also happens to be the owner of a very tidy laser cutter! Put the two together and you end up with our fabulous tribute to Nikola Tesla in the form of a beautiful laser etched vase entitled Souvenir of Wardenclyffe featuring a super illustration via Leo Blanchette.        

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Laser-etched Tesla "Souvenir of Wardenclyffe" vase

The Spanish firm Arbore offered these custom Escher-inspired floor tiles back in 2011; from the looks of things, they’re still available. It’s a very well-executed conceit, done in hardwood. Diseño geometrico inspiración Escher (via Geekologie)        

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Hardwood Escher tesselated interlocking lizard tiles

Is Russell Holly a seer of the future, or did he just manage to get lucky? That’s the question we’re currently kicking around at Engadget. You see, when he first revealed that a Galaxy S 4 would be introduced at Google I/O with stock Android, we quickly dismissed it as something that’d never happen in a million years. Then it came true the very next day.

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Rumors persist of HTC One with stock Android, despite the official denial

HTC may follow Samsung’s lead and produce a “Google Edition” of its latest flagship smartphone running stock Android. According to sources that spoke to Russell Holly at Geek , work on a version of the HTC One without its Sense software customizations is underway, with a US launch said to be “imminent.” Holly previously leaked accurate information on the Galaxy S4 Google Edition ahead of its announcement at the I/O conference. HTC’s chief product officer Kouji Kodera told The Verge last year that the company is “very proud of HTC Sense,” and would “like to continue shipping it on every device.” However, Kodera was one of many employees to recently leave HTC , and earlier this year the company released the First smartphone with the option… Continue reading…

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HTC One ‘Google Edition’ with stock Android reportedly in the works

Alan sez, “Two items here on the same theme: Ruben Bolling, comic author of Tom The Dancing Bug, contributor to JoCo Funnies, etc. has a raffle posted on his blog. If you donate to the American National Red Cross through a page he has set up, you will be entered into a drawing for a        

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Geeky tornado relief fundraisers

Jolla has just unveiled its first smartphone, called “The Movement,” which will go on sale this year for €399 (roughly $510). Running the company’s MeeGo-derived Sailfish OS , The Movement features a 4.5-inch display, a dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, removable back covers, 16GB of onboard storage, and a microSD slot. According to Jolla, the handset will be “compliant” with Android apps, although it’s not sure how many apps will be supported, nor is it clear where users will download the apps from. At present, the launch is limited to a select few European countries, but Jolla says it’ll expand availability in the future

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Jolla prices first Sailfish OS smartphone at €399 for a 2013 launch

Samsung appears to be making good on its promise to port Galaxy S4 features to the Galaxy S III . A test Android 4.2.2 update, discovered by SamMobile , includes the lockscreen effects and widgets, enhanced screen modes, updated settings, and new S Voice control features found in Samsung’s new flagship. Samsung previously said it would include updates that were “not dependent on hardware,” ruling out gestures like Air View and the smart TV remote app. Continue reading…

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Galaxy S III software leak reveals potential S4-class upgrades

Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire . This week’s edition of our regular session on inquiry chats with the nation’s first Chief Digital Officer, Rachel Haot .

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NYC’s Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot on borough hopping with Google Maps and the Macintosh II

Matthew says: “Using backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, a construction company in Belize has destroyed a Mayan pyramid built over 2300 years ago.”        

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2,300-year-old Maya pyramid bulldozed for Belize road project

A reboot of astrophysicist Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Journey hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson is finally on its way to television. On Monday, Fox made an official announcement during its advertising upfront presentation at New York’s Beacon Theatre, reports The Los Angeles Times . The series has been in the works for years , and will be making its long-awaited premiere sometime in 2014. Continue reading…

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Neil deGrasse Tyson’s remake of Carl Sagan’s ‘Cosmos’ headed to Fox in 2014

Alex sez, “Algoraves are parties where people come together to dance to algorithms. It generally involves some live coding but any producers making music “wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive conditionals’ are welcome. Generally some aspect of the algorithmic processes are visible, but the focus is actually on the        

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Algoraves: dancing to algorithms

Etsy maker CthulhuWakeUp made this stonking chestburster necklace pendant, and granted an interview to the Girl Gone Geek blog about his art: Practicing digital sculpture in my own time, I came up with the Cthulhu pendant and I really wanted to do something with it. I put it up in kickstarter and raised money to        

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Chest-burster pendant

Attention HTML5 virtuosos: Mozilla is thirsty for your talents. So much, in fact, that the outfit is baiting developers with a free smartphone in the hopes they’ll return the favor with fresh Firefox OS apps. In order to qualify for a device, you’ll need to submit a proposal to Mozilla outlining the app you wish to build or port to its new mobile platform. If your pitch is accepted, the company will hook you up with a free Geeksphone Keon to thank you for your labor

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Mozilla offering free phones in hopes of bolstering Firefox OS app development

The European Commission has accused Motorola Mobility of abusing its standard-essential patents against Apple in Germany. The Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to the company over a misuse of its GPRS patents, which has seen Motorola pursue injunctions against Apple products instead of properly licensing the technology. Continue reading…

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Motorola warned by EU over patent abuse against Apple

It’s that time of year again: the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is scheduled to peak tonight through tomorrow morning, and NASA will be live streaming the annual celestial spectacle beginning at 9PM. Astronomer Bill Cooke will be on hand taking questions from webcast viewers. For those who prefer to catch a glimpse in person, the space agency says (as usual) that your best bet is traveling someplace far removed from bright city lights. The shower will continue through dawn, with NASA expecting between 40 and 60 meteors per hour “under ideal conditions.” The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs each year as the Earth passes through the debris of Halley’s Comet, often resulting in fireballs and other mesmerizing visuals.

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NASA to live stream peak of Eta Aquarid meteor shower Sunday tonight starting at 9PM EST

If you thought House of Cardinals was a spot-on spoof of Netflix’s political drama House of Cards , just wait until you see what aired Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC. The spoof, titled House of Nerds , brings together an ensemble cast of power players from the nation’s political and cultural power centers; “Washington and Hollywood,” Spacey says, reprising his role as the Machiavellian Frank Underwood. “Some new faces, some old faces, some new faces on old faces.” Unlike Underwood, some of those faces include Washington’s actual leaders from both sides of the aisle, including Senator John McCain, a cursing Rep.

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Watch this: Kevin Spacey becomes a real-life political puppet master in ‘House of Nerds’