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Sing to your computer to find music: An Australian computer scientist says that the next generation of search engines will be able to retrieve music for you when you sing a song to your computer. She said that 'in the next three or four years it should be on the computer of everyone who is a music...; Tags: Wireless &, Telecom, Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation, Computers &, Internet; Blog posts 2007-07-29
Zoom liquid lenses for digital cameras: Researchers at the University of Central Florida UCF have developed zoom lenses which closely replicate the working of the human eye. These adaptive lenses should be manufactured at a dramatically smaller size than conventional zoom lenses without compromising clarity. After being granted no less than 5 U.S. patents, the UCF...; Tags: Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation; Blog posts 2007-07-23
Wave your hands to control your TV: Two engineers from the University of Wollongong, Australia UOW, have developed a box that will replace your TV remote control. You'll just have to wave your hands to control your electronic gadgets. Their box contains a camera that recognizes your hand signals and translates them into electronic commands for your...; Tags: Wireless &, Telecom, Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation; Blog posts 2007-07-22
Virtual choir singing on the Web: A computer scientist of the University of Manchester wants to combine his knowledge of networks and his love for choral singing to create Europe's first Virtual Choir. Dr. Barry Cheetham 'is looking for funding to drive forward a project that will bring together amateur and semi-professional singers across Europe for...; Tags: Wireless &, Telecom, Leisure, Computers &, Internet; Blog posts 2007-07-21
BigBelly, a solar-powered trash compactor: The National Public Radio NPR recently reported that the Chicago Park District has installed 25 solar-powered trash compactors to keep the beaches clean and safe. The BigBelly units look like ordinary trash cans, but can hold up to 4 to 6 times as much trash as ordinary units. And because...; Tags: Leisure, Health &, Medicine, Energy &, Environment; Blog posts 2007-07-18

Using Flickr to edit your photos: What can you do with millions of images? Computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University CMU think you can use web images to add realism to your photos. For example, the goal of one of their projects, named 'Photo Clip Art,' is to insert new objects into existing photographs by querying...; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Leisure, Social Sciences; Blog posts 2007-07-11
Eco-friendly ice creams: According to The Scotsman, Mackie's of Scotland has bought 3 wind turbines for £2.5 million to produce ice creams made with 100% renewable energy. The two new turbines ('Ice' and 'Cream') will join the existing one ('Mackies') and make enough 'green' electricity to produce every tub of ice cream sold...; Tags: Leisure, Energy &, Environment; Blog posts 2007-07-07
A boxer who packs a real punch: Ricky 'The Hitman' Hatton retained yesterday his IBO Light Welterweight boxing title by beating Jose Luis Castillo in four rounds in Las Vegas. Is this because he really hits his opponent very hard? According to engineers from the University of Manchester, the answer is a definitive yes. They showed that...; Tags: Science &, Nature, Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation, Energy &, Environment; Blog posts 2007-06-24
A nanotechnology-powered electric SUV: If you live in California, you'll be able to buy an electric SUV by the end of the year. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that this electric SUV will be using NanoSafe rechargeable, nano titanate batteries developed by Altairnano. The future SUVs will have an autonomy of more than 100 miles...; Tags: Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation, Energy &, Environment; Blog posts 2007-06-12
AI behind virtual Van Gogh: Jason Green, CTO of Florida-based Medical Development International MDI, has applied artificial intelligence to produce fine art. 'Using highly sophisticated programming, Green has programmed his computer with the ability to produce original, three-dimensional paintings rivaling present-day masters.' It's hard to know if it's art, but it sure is high-tech: the...; Tags: Leisure, Computers &, Internet; Blog posts 2007-06-10
Digital privacy behind virtual walls: Ubiquitous computing was the only subject discussed at the 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on May 13-16, 2007. As reports the National Post, in the future, everything will be a computer. As ultra small computers can now embedded in virtually everything, pervasive computing applications...; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Leisure, Robotics, Social Sciences, Wireless &, Telecom; Blog posts 2007-05-27
From Platform Disturbia to Platform Utopia: Padmasree Warrior is the CTO of Motorola, managing thousands of engineers, and is one of the most powerful women in business. She also writes an excellent blog, Bits at the Edge.In one recent entry, she wrote that the next decade is about the Mobile Revolution. She discusses the value of...; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Leisure, Social Sciences, Wireless &, Telecom; Blog posts 2007-05-25
Virtual kayaking: According to Technology Review, researchers at Hokkaido University have developed a new way to create the feel of flowing water in two 3-D virtual-reality simulations, one for fishing and another for kayaking. Mimicking fluids is a difficult task using the complex Navier-Stokes equations. And these equations need to be running...; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Engineering &, Innovation, Leisure; Blog posts 2007-05-24
Nanotechnology on the catwalk: This event didnt take place in Paris or Milano, but at Cornell University during their Cornell Design League fashion show on April 21. Its now official: "nanotechnology has entered the fashion world." Fashion designers and fiber scientists have unified their efforts at Cornell to show a two-toned gold dress and...; Tags: Nanotechnology, Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation; Blog posts 2007-05-03
OLEDs for clothing and lighting: An international consortium led by the University of Bath has started a 3-year project to bring organic light emitting devices OLEDs to the mass market. They want to produce electronic displays that fit on clothing. The project, named Modecom, is partially funded by the European Union, and has some very...; Tags: Science &, Nature, Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation, Energy &, Environment; Blog posts 2007-04-19
Replace smileys with your face: According to Technology Review in "The New Face of Emoticons," computer scientists from U.S. and Taiwan have found a new way to personalize your messages. You just need a picture of you -- preferably with a neutral expression -- and their software will show your mood to your correspondent and...; Tags: Leisure, Engineering &, Innovation, Computers &, Internet; Blog posts 2007-03-30
Bandit-based algorithm to play Go: You know that computers can beat humans at lots of games. But so far, humans are still better than the most powerful systems when playing at Chinese strategy game Go. The reason is simple: computer brute force cannot be used because sequential approaches simply do not work for many reasons....; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Leisure, Science &, Nature; Blog posts 2007-02-26
Maps for hiking on Mars: When the first astronauts land on Mars in about 20 years, they will have good tools to explore the planet. Using data provided by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera HRSC onboard ESAs Mars Express and transformed into 3-D computer models, the first hiking maps of Mars have been produced. These topographic...; Tags: Leisure, Science &, Nature, Space &, Aerospace; Blog posts 2007-02-14
A 'beauty function' for a better look: Computer scientists have already tried to digitally enhance our images. Today, lets look at the Beauty Function developed by researchers at Tel Aviv University TAU and who promise a more beautiful you. Their program was based on a survey of 300 men and women who were asked to rank pictures...; Tags: Computers &, Internet, Engineering &, Innovation, Leisure, Beauty Function, Karin Kloosterman, Tommer Leyvand; Blog posts 2007-02-07
A robot for your digital camera?: According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and NASA Ames will release in March a $200 robot which will transform your digital cameras into powerful image-makers without your help. Attached to almost any model of digital cameras, the Gigapan robot platform will take continuous snapshots of a...; Tags: Robotics, Engineering &, Innovation, Leisure, robot, GigaPan team; Blog posts 2007-02-02