On the Edge of Blade Runner is a not-bad 52:16 documentary on some of the challenges of making the sci-fi classic Blade Runner eg the experience of working with troubled author Philip K. Dick.
…via Live Journal
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Ambient Devices is the maker of some very nice, info-at-a-glance, minimalistic gadgets that provide useful data in an unobtrusive manner. We’ve made note of the Ambient Umbrella that flashes at you when rain is forecast, and the Ambient Orb that glows red when your investments are under-performing. Both of these gadgets, and the Ambient Weather Beacon are nice examples of glanceable devices that do not require active participation by the user in order to understand the message.
But now we have the Ambient Clock which is an analog clock with generated hands that integrates with Google Calendar so as to display your daily appointments along the clock face. The Clock is cleverly designed, and may well prove functional, but unfortunately represents a departure from Ambient Devices’ presumed design philosophy.In order to be useful, the data points represented on the clock face must be “read”, and can’t readily be “glanced”, unless one is blessed with uncommonly sharp peripheral vision.
Ambient Devices’ devices are supposed to make life calmer by abstracting information for our benefit and communicating it subliminally – this new clock, however, is too ‘busy’ for that. Perhaps the clock and that needle gauge thingy will be sold through their new Inambient Devices Division…
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The Burj Dubai, soon to be the world’s tallest building, passed the 80 story mark over the weekend. We’ve made note of the Dubai Tower in the past – curiously, BD builder Emaar Properties is still keeping mum about the final height of the building, currently expected to be about 1/2 mile … they simply say- “The people who need to know, know“.
The 5x taller X-Seed 4000 proposed for Tokyo will likely never be built.
Burj Dubai rises to 80 levels – AME Info, October 31, 2006
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We here at GadgetManiac don’t offer health advice very often – it’s just too ungadgety – but here are 2 items that have some creds… Want to live longer? – then eat about 1/3 less calories than suggested by the DRI guidelines, and drink more red wine, or at least eat red grapes.
The Wall Street Journal had a recent article extolling the benefits of CR, which stands for calorie restriction, which is a fancy way of saying eat less. And today’s New York Times states that giving mice massive doses of Resveratrol (found in the skin of grapes & in red wine) significantly extended the lifespan of those mice.
Standard disclaimers apply – this has yet to be proven in humanoid life-forms.
Researchers Seek Key to Antiaging in Calorie Cutback – Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2006
Substance in Red Wine Extends Life of Mice – New York Times, November 1, 2006
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Taiwanese gadget maker E-Ten has a new smartphone, the model glofiish X500, which they claim is “the World’s thinnest Pocket PC Phone”. At a depth of 1.55 cm, however, the X500 is thicker than the Motorola Q, which weighs in at 11.5 mm and claims to be “the World’s thinnest full-function smartphone”. Perhaps E-Ten intended to include the words “…with GPS” in the device’s description – in that case, the X500 may well so qualify, beating out the Nokia N95. While the X500 is indeed thinner than the N95, it’s bigger in those other 2 dimensions.
Mobinaute has a good video/photo presentation of the X500 available here, wherein they show the different features & compare it to other models.
MobileBurn has a summary of the specs at the link below.
For Business or Pleasure: E-TEN’s glofiish X500 – MobileBurn, October 31, 2006
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