Don’t Touch That!

You’ll get your fingerprints all over my …….!

Well, George Kokkinidis at Design Language News decided that he was going to do just that! He wiped clean his iPad and started using an app (being sure to get his fingerprints on the screen) and then photographed his fingerprints on the screen.

Can you tell what apps he’s using in these two examples?

Hit the jump to see the answer and the rest of the apps.

THIS IS “JEOPARDY!”

For those of you not familiar with the game “Jeopardy!” it’s a simple game of trivia between three contestants. The host (Alex Trebek) reads a clue, and the contestants must answer with a question (e.g. “What is…”). For each correct answer, they receive money and for each incorrect answer they lose money. After two rounds, the game enters into “Final Jeopardy” where the contestants are given a topic and allowed to wager as much money as they have accumulated throughout the game. This is where the famous theme song comes into play. The contestants are given the clue and get 30 seconds to write their answer down.

Why all the facts about Jeopardy you ask? Well remember back in 1997 when a computer made by IBM dubbed “Deep Blue” defeated the world renowned chess champion Garry Kasparov? Well, IBM is back at it again. They’ve created Watson, a supercomputer built to play Jeopardy!

Wired covered the announcement that the games will air in February. A one round practice round was conducted and after 1 round Watson was beating Ken by $1,000. Wired reported that after the practice round “[n]one of the three contestants appeared rattled. Of course, Watson lacks the capacity to get rattled.”

I’ll be sure to set my TiVo to record these episodes. Am I smarter than a supercomputer?

Modern Day “Dead Drops”

“A dead drop or dead letter box, is a location used to secretly pass items between two people, without requiring them to meet.” – Wikipedia

Wondering why I’m referencing something that sounds like a 1950s spy technique on my chic and up-to-date blog? Because Aram Bartholl has created modern day “dead drops” throughout NYC.

So, if you see someone awkwardly leaning up against a wall, be aware that they might be partaking in secret file sharing. As someone mentioned in the comments section, you might want to bring a cable so you don’t break off the USB stick.

My only concern here is about viruses. What happens if someone is malicous and places something on here to infect any machine that gets attached to it? It’s great idea, but I won’t be running to NYC to plug in my computer! I’ll stick to writing my name on small pieces of paper…

via SwissMiss

How We Spend Our Time Online

What do you do on the Internet on your computer? I check Facebook, play games, and check and write e-mails. But what does everyone else do? And what do they do the most? Well, the Nielsen-Norman Group conducted a study to find out.

What do you do on the Internet on your phone? I check e-mail, Twitter, play games, and listen to music. How does this differ to the computer? Overall, quite a bit… [but don’t pay attention to the colors, cause unfortunately they don’t correlate.]

UPDATE: NNG has published a follow-up study which uses a different method of analyzing the time spent online with Mobile devices.

via Mashable

Quote of the Day – May 17, 2010

“And with iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”

-President Obama, May 9, 2010

iPhone(s) Piano

OuiCestBon has taken the time to perform for us a beautiful song on the piano. However, instead of a Baby Grand, he’s using iPhones.

You’ll notice at the beginning he’s struggling with keeping all of the phones lit-up. If you watch his left hand it makes many mistakes, goes to show you a few things about the important of haptic feedback…

via SwissMiss

Real Guitar “Guitar Hero”

A new game is coming for PS3 and Xbox 360 called Power Gig: Rise of the SixString which allows the “musician” to use a 6 string full-fret guitar. You can also plug the peripheral/instrument into an amp and rock out.  Don’t hold your breath, the game is slated to come out in Fall 2010.

via Gadgetell

Samsung Dual View TL220

Find a problem, and create a design to fix it.  That’s exactly what the people at Samsung have done. Presenting the Dual View TL222:

I mean, I’m sure we’ve all taken a photo of ourselves and others and tried to guess or not if we’re in the frame. The only bad thing about this is that the advertisement doesn’t depict this self-photo taking…

 

Dual Screen Laptop

One thing that I’ve loved about my new job is my huge monitor! Which is great, considering that my laptop screen refuses to go beyond 1024 x 768. So when I saw this design of a laptop [coming by the end of this year] I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Of course I have two concerns with this design: size & weight. It weighs 12 pounds, which is double what my current laptop weighs [and almost 3 times what my cousin’s dog weighs]. It doesn’t look like they tried to make the thing very light. Look at how thick the keyboard area is! But hey, for those really strong computer geeks on the go, this is the perfect device!

via Core77

Credit Card Both Ways?

Wait! Does this mean I can put my credit card in either way?????  It would still be easier to just wave my phone over some pad.