You may not be familiar with the company Tronical but you will know their work because they are responsible for Gibson’s Robot Guitar tuning systems. Well judging by this video it appears that Tronical are about to launch some standalone systems that can be retrofit to pretty much any guitar be it a Les Paul [...]
Category: Reference
Magical Electronic Glasses Automatically Switch from Regular to Bifocal
Here’s one of the coolest products from CES: PixelOptics glasses that automatically change into bifocals when you tilt your head.
This is a godsend for those of us ‘of a certain age.’ Who wants to reveal their crotchety oldness by wearing glasses with that telltale boundary in the lens between close-up and faraway vision? Not me.
PixelOptics comes to the rescue with these electronic glasses, whose breakthrough emPower lenses use a layer of transparent liquid crystal to electronically change the lens’s optical properties to suit either nearsighted or farsighted vision.
When you’re looking straight ahead, your head is usually close to level, and a tiny accelerometer automatically sets the lenses for faraway vision. Tilt your head down to read something, and the lenses adjust for near vision. If that auto-change capability doesn’t appeal to you, you can manually adjust the visual properties of the glasses.
When we visited PixelOptics at CES, company reps told us the PixelOptics emPower lenses, manufactured by Panasonic, use exactly the same lens-grinding techniques as conventional glasses, bringing the total price of a pair of glasses down to a relatively reasonable range. They told us after you’ve charged the glasses in their inductive charger, the battery will last for three days.
The downside? You have to pay $1,200 for a pair of these glasses, considerably more than the fanciest conventional bifocals. Another slight issue is that charger felt awfully cheap and flimsy for a $1,200 product, but that would be easy enough to fix.
Those quibbles aside, it’s hard to believe the glasses’ designers fit all those sophisticated electronics and circuitry inside the temples of these futuristic specs. And just think — you won’t have that annoying line across your field of vision, nor will you need to adapt to that weird feeling of wearing bifocals.
Take a look at the stylish frames in the gallery below; they’re looking good, and exude quality. Sign me up now, because PixelOptics says they’ll be available in April.
(Via Mashable!.)
The 9 Types of Computer Viruses To Watch Out For in 2011
Everyone dreads being the recipient of a computer virus, but not everyone minds studying them. There are researchers who spend a lot of time looking into different types of computer viruses and related security threats in order to determine how they’re programmed, how they do damage, and how they spread. Personally, I find this field interesting, and I enjoy reading about the different types of viruses in existence.
But even if you don’t know much care, basic knowledge about security threats can be useful. It’s sometimes hard to know how a risk must be dealt with before you know its consequences. With a computer virus, however, the consequence is sometimes complete loss of your data or identity theft – so it’s best to learn sooner rather than later!
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Google Chrome 8 – Introducing The Chrome Web Store
Cloud computing is all the rage these days. Google’s ‘everything’s a web app’ outlook has finally taken a hold over the Chrome browser this week with the release of the much-anticipated Chrome Web Store (see our news story by Steve on it).
Comparable to Apple’s App Store and Google’s own Android Marketplace, the Chrome Web Store allows you to install and run Chrome-specific applications within tabs. If you want to try it out for yourself, you’re going to need the latest version of the recently updated Chrome browser for Windows, Linux or Mac.
Web Apps Explained
We love internet-based applications here at MakeUseOf. If you’re an avid reader you’ll probably notice we produce a couple of articles related to these per week, and for good reason. Services like Google Docs and Microsoft Web Apps are web applications that provide functionality on a par with locally installed software. Thanks to browser advancements, these applications are becoming more powerful, varied and genuinely useful.
The Chrome Web Store installs web apps that are specific to the Chrome browser. This doesn’t mean that Chrome is the only browser to support web apps, as I’m sure you’re aware. Google Docs and other similar services function just as well on other browsers.
One advantages of using Chrome is the ability to create shortcuts to these web apps, so they will function and appear much like software you have to install. If you discover an app that you like at any point, simply launch it, click Chrome’s options button, Tools and then Create Application Shortcuts.
What’s Included?
The store itself not only allows you to download fabled web apps, but also Chrome Extensions and Themes for the browser. Developers are also able to charge a fee, so don’t be surprised to learn that it’s not all free.
Web apps are separated into 9 different categories, and there is already a decent selection populating each category with plenty of free apps to get you started.
Interestingly if you do decide to download a paid app then you have 30 minutes after purchase to cancel your payment. You can do this once per app, and it offers a nice ‘try before you buy’ element to the store.
Chrome’s ability to synchronize bookmarks to your Google Account has also received an update. Settings, extensions, themes and web apps can now all be kept up to date with your account. This means you can then log in from a different Chrome browser on any platform (Chrome OS included) to see your own familiar setup.
Installing and Removing
Once you’ve found an app, extension or theme that takes your fancy (like the totally awesome TweetDeck, for example) you’ll be able to install it quickly via the Install button on the item’s page. New applications that have been installed can then be launched from any new tab (Ctrl+T).
On the same page you will find some information about what you are installing, including version number, date of the latest update and what (if any) services or local data the application or extension accesses.
Any paid apps that you happen to purchase are handled via Google Checkout, and as previously mentioned have a 30-minute ‘cooling off’ period in case you’re not happy.
To remove an app simply open a new tab and right click the app you wish to remove. Choose Uninstall and it’s gone. You may also have noticed that on this menu you can choose to open web apps as regular tabs, pinned tabs or even full screen.
Conclusion
The Chrome Web Store is an exciting addition to Google’s cloud movement, and a great way to boost productivity online. There’s a decent selection of applications available already, and this number is only set to grow.
If you’re wondering which apps are worth checking out, then keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming article. If you’ve found any web apps that you already can’t live without then why not tell us all about it in the comments.
(Via MakeUseOf.com.)
Want an Apple 1 in prime condition? Be prepared to pony up
The listing of a 1976 Apple-1 computer in a Christie’s sale ’caused quite a stir – especially over the estimated price of £100,000 – £150,000 ($US160,300 – $US240,450),’ reports ‘IT Wire’ (http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/home-it/43431).
(Via MacMinute.)
The Official Google Voice App is Here
The heavens parted and the gods smiled upon tech fans this Tuesday, November 16. No, we’re not talking about The Beatles finally landing on iTunes (although that was also pretty cool) — Apple has finally blessed the official Google Voice app for the iPhone, and you can download it for free right now.
It’s a big year for Google Voice — the service finally went out of invitation-only beta and opened its doors to the public at large, followed by two third-party apps that take advantage of the service (GV Mobile+ and GV Connect) being blessed with admission to the App Store yet again. The only thing that remained was an official app from Google themselves, and now that wait is over.
Surf the web anonymously.
Anonym is a tool for surfing the web with Safari using publicly available anonymous proxy lists.
No more need to search the Internet for public proxies. No more need to set up manually the network preferences. No more need to open the browser to check the proxy server. No more need to use the terminal shell ‘whois’ command to get information about physical proxy location. Everything comes built-in in Anonym, with a very simple and clear interface. For free. Download
(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)
No Agenda – Show Banned by NASA
This Episode’s Executive Producer: Carrie Schön
Art By: Jesse Anderson
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No Agenda Survey Results
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Show Notes here.
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(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)
How to build a Mac for £300
The two Steves, Jobs and Wozniak, built the Apple brand on its synergy between hardware and software. 25 years on, you pay a premium for that.
It’s £599 for the cheapest Mac Mini. £1999 for an entry level Mac Pro. But since 2006, new Macs have had a very similar internal architecture to Windows PCs. The same Intel CPUs, the same Nvidia graphics.
Since then, people have been hacking together Macs in their bedrooms. They call them Hackintoshes; PCs that run OS X for a fraction of the price of a brand new Mac. My aim was build the cheapest, usable Hackintosh possible.
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