Ingenious: Mind Control On The Way

Scientists from MIT, Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have discovered that powerful magnetic field focused on an area of the brain known as the right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ) - errr... I suppose this is where I should suggest that you say temporo-parietal junction a 100 times really quickly - ahem... anyways... focusing powerful magnetic field in that region will cause people to judge outcomes but not intentions.

I don't quite understand what judging outcomes but not intentions mean, but that sounds like the start of mind control to me. So evil lawyers take note.

For more accurate information check out the link below.

via Discovery News.

Westin Art

My thirst towards artistic greatness is getting stronger and stronger so here is another one of my attempts at said greatness with my T303 at Westin KL (my advice - just look at it at this size...):

Ip Man 2

Wow, check out the new IP Man 2 trailer! Too bad it's in Mandarin. Can't find a Cantonese version. Don't understand most of the conversations. :P

FOLKS! April 29, 2010!

Ingenious: Lets go 3D all da way!

We have 3D in the cinemas. 3D is coming to home entertainment systems. 3D is coming to handheld gaming devices like the Nintendo. What is next? Lets ponder after checking out the video of a game making use of the current Nintendo DSi hardware:

I know... lets get 3D into mobile phones! Wow, I would hardly be able to contain my excitement if my highly intelligent 3D super phone will ring and the caller in a very funny pose pops up right in the middle of a very important meeting... despite me having turned the phone to silent mode.

Video via Wonderment Blog.

Evolution of the Swiss Army Knife

Has anyone seen a Swiss Army knife like the one before?
I must be getting really outdated these days. I should have known that something like this is on the way! This cool gadget does not only work as a thumb drive and pen knife combo. There is even a triangular warning symbol above Victorinox's symbol... indicating a laser pointer, perhaps? The thumb drive is securely encoded with thumb print verification. It will also self-destruct when someone tries to force the drive open! Would definitely like to see this in action in some MacGyver-Mission: Impossible combo kind of movie.

via Engadget.

What a lot of birds in the sky, Batman!

Was on a trip back from Johor last week and stopped by the Pagoh R&R for a leak. Getting out of the car was a challenge as I noticed plenty and I mean plenty, plenty, plenty of birds flying in the sky with their high-pitched sounds. I sprinted from the car to shelter worrying that I might get some bird droppings on me. Mind you, I am a magnet to bird droppings. Did another sprint to the car after I did this recording and summoned enough courage to run.

Taken with my ancient Canon A400 digital camera. Mmmm... ancient and bulky but it's there when I need it. :D

Pick and Choose The Best Humans - Coming Soon

Have you watched Gattaca before? I can't really recall the story but the gist of it was people with the best genes were selected to go up to some where in space to perform some dream jobs while those that bear inferior genes were doomed to perform mundane jobs - the kind of jobs we do now. ;)

Looks like that time is not too far off now that genome sequencing is getting more popular than ever. All kinds of species have had their genomes sequenced... including us humans. Now, scientists are looking into something more in-depth - what are the unhealthy genomes that carry diseases. At the moment, it takes US$50,000 for a complete sequencing but as demand rise, I'm pretty sure you can eventually do it at a vending machine.

Prospective employers will definitely go get their employees sequenced and kick those inferior ones out. Insurance companies will not entertain bad genome people. Life is going to get messy!

More Giant Panda Info - Why Bamboo?

With super powered computers, genome sequencing is no longer a difficult thing to achieve - we hear that a complete genome is sequenced every now and then. The recently sequenced panda genome helped to point out that a mutation in one of its genes may cause the lovely bear to abandon the taste of meat and instead go for bamboo. Way to go!

However, because pandas do not have the capability to really digest bamboo and absorb its nutrients into their bodies, they have developed a slow metabolism rate... very much like me. That's why pandas and I are fat and we tend to move around less. :P

Hopefully, one day, the pandas will evolve and become better vegetarians. :)

via treehugger.

Smartphones, Dumb Thoughts 5 - Aftermath of a Thought

IMHO, this comic would serve as a great complement to my previous thoughts about smartphones:
via GoComics.

The Amazing Washable Keyboard

Now that I'm over and done with tofu shake, I get excited all over again over some technology that should have existed during the ancient times when keyboards first appear. I don't like to but I frequently wipe down my keyboards because I can't stand oily keys. Imagine my delight now that my favourite computer company, HP (I like Dell but somehow, I don't seem to own any Dell products. Instead, I have plenty of HP stuff) is going to start selling WASHABLE keyboards! No more using cloth or that magical gel called Cyber Clean. Just dip the keyboard into fully concentrated Dettol, Bleach and detergent. Oh yeah!

via SmartPlanet.

Tofu Shake?

The weather is really hot these few weeks and since it's the end of the month and also the last day of Chinese New Year, I would like to share with you an ancient family secret - BERRY TOFU SHAKE! Just kidding. This is what strange weather can do to your mind.

But wait, my mind is not playing tricks on me! This berry tofu shake really does exist and here's the simple and easy-to-do recipe:

Ingredients:
8 ounces silken tofu
4 cups almond milk
3 tablespoons honey
3 cups mixed berries

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until thoroughly liquefied. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servingsI've not tried this before so please, if anyone did, let me know. :D

via planet green.

Smartphones, Dumb Thoughts 4 - Dumb Dumb Humans

I can't help but feel that as mobile phones get smarter, we humans become dumb and dumber. This enlightening thought came today when I am supposedly to be on-leave but people from work (mostly contractors) kept calling, disturbing my peace. I am still waiting for my one phone that will rule them all and am just using a basic slider phone - a Sony Ericsson T303 but the whole day of the ringing phone got me really irritated (especially when I tried to nap and all three times I tried, someone had to call me) and negative thoughts about having a smartphone start to form:

1. SMSes are no longer enough, we get e-mails in smartphones so that our bosses could send e-mails that they deem urgent during our bedtime - and still expect an immediate reply.
2. As if e-mails are not enough, we get task lists, calendars and reminders in even my current phone - reminder of work when we are not working.
   
3. We will be enslaved by the internet because we will be online all the time with today's smartphones and almost always on internet connections.
4. Men will have lesser sperm counts, while everyone will be having headaches because phones now have WIFI, 3G, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, CDMA, FM, Bluetooth and soon WIMAX, LTE and who knows what else?
5. Our bosses will work with Microsoft to hack into our phones' GPS system so that they know our every move.
   
6. Callers will form a new alliance where they will track what we do and only start calling during our most inconvenient times such as while we are driving, in the shower, taking a leak, having dinner, etc.
7. I'm sure there are plenty more cons out there but I can't think of any right now. My home WIFI is blocking my thoughts.
   

But alas, whatever it is, I am still getting my smartphone and shall willingly give in to all those stress (except for #1, #2 and #5... HMPH!) because... because... why? I also don't know.

The Sony TX5 Touchscreen Water, Shock, Dust and Freeze Proof Digital Camera

I used to think of owning a waterproof digital camera... during the earlier days when only Pentax and Olympus were the only companies that produce those. Nowadays, almost all major companies that manufacture digital cameras have at least one model so I lost interest in all of them until I saw this one by Sony.

By design, these kinds of digital cameras have minimal movable mechanical parts but this DSC-TX5 seemed to have a complete slide down front cover. That caught my attention. In addition to that, it also has a touchscreen that is usable underwater! How cool is that? And I would normally not blog about Sony digital cameras but since the company now includes SD memory card support, well yeah!

Other notable features for this camera: Panorama sweep (just hold the shutter button and sweep across the scene and the camera will do the stitching automatically), optical image stabilisation, touch focus, 10.2 megapixels "Exmor R" CMOS sensor, 720p video recording and a 25-100mm equivalent Carl Zeiss lens. The camera appears to cost US$350.

via Photography Blog.

Windows 7 RC to Expire in 12 days...

...according to this notice:

But we all already know. The every 2 hours shutdown shall begin 1 March 2010. So should I revert back to Windows Vista (WTF!??!!?) or go forward and purchase the expensive 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium?

Handphone Hunt #8 - HTC Desire

A very desirable smartphone... or superphone, the HTC Desire is pretty similar to the Google Nexus One. Since the latter doesn't appear to be coming here to Malaysia, we can now hope that the HTC one will. Running on the same Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon, it's got a optical track pad in place of the Nexus One's trackball. The Desire also has HTC's newly improved Sense UI running on top of the latest Android 2.1. Check out the videos below for more:

video via Phone Arena.

video via GSM Arena.