Lauren McCarthy has designed a Happiness Hat.
The rather unflattering naff looking Happiness Hat was created by Lauren McCarthy to help train people in ‘Improved Social Interacting’!
The Happiness Hat, sounds like a sweet name doesn’t it? In reality it’s anything but sweet.
The Happiness Hat uses a bend sensor which is attached to the cheek to measure the size of the wearers smile, it then sends the information to an Arduino micro-controller. If the Arduino controller detects that the hat wearer is not wearing a large enough smile, it sends a signal to a servo motor on the back of the hat which drives a metal spike into your head!

Is the Happiness Hat a good idea? Or is it seriously barmy? Do we really want people smiling at us all the time just because they are wearing the Happiness Hat? Their smiles won’t be genuine, they will be false, based on the fear of receiving a sharp pain to their skull!

When I first read about Lauren McCarthy’s Happiness Hat, I thought it was a joke - actually I’m still not sure it’s real!
I am not the smiliest person, I have a naturally miserable face, but I don’t think I’ll be wearing the Happiness Hat, I think the mere thought of not having a spike driven in to my head is more than enough to put a smile on my face.

Posted on ZEITGEIST

The Wine Connoisseur

Computer scientists in Germany have developed an application for the iPhone that turns the phone into a remote control for their self-constructed car.
Using the app, iDriver, the driver can operate the steering, brakes, and accelerator pedal by simply stroking of the mobile phones touchscreen.

A video camera on the dashboard transmits a signal to the iPhone, allowing the iDriver user to see everything in front of the car, and to adjust the car in the direction of their choice.
The commands are transmitted from the iPhone via radio to the power transmission in the car. The iDriver user is able to park a car on the ground level from as far away as the fourth floor of a building.
The remote control and the car called ‘Spirit of Berlin’ were constructed by the Artificial Intelligence Group at Freie Universität and powered by Appirion UG in Berlin, Germany.
The group is investigating how autonomous vehicles may change our lives in the future.
Professor Raúl Rojas, who directed the project, said one day we could all be dropped off and picked up by driverless taxis, which would remove the need for everyone to own a car.

Hmm, this sounds interesting in theory, but I’m not sure about the reality. Although being dropped off and picked up by a driverless vehicle may mean no more driving round and round car-parks looking for a vacant space, I think I prefer driving myself, and this should be left to the world of James Bond.

Posted on ZEITGEIST

The Wine Connoisseur

Apple have unveiled the worlds first button free mouse today.
The new Apple Magic Mouse with multi-touch is sleek, shiny and has no buttons or scroll wheel. Instead the whole of the top shell of the mouse is a sensitive multi-touch surface enabling users to navigate simply with the lightest touch of their fingers.
The Mighty Mouse goes on sale today for £55, but it will come free with all of the newest Mac computers.
A spokesman for Apple said, “We’ve reached another milestone by bringing gestures to the desktop with a mouse that’s unlike anything ever before.”

The Mighty Mouse works in much the same way as the touch screen on the iPhone and iPod touch. The entire surface of the mouse acts like a giant button. Clicking anywhere on the mouse will have the desired effect, and right clicking is achieved by simply tapping the corner on the upper right side.

To scroll up and down documents, webpages etc, you sweep your finger vertically over the mouse, to move left and right toy sweep your finger horizontally.
The mouse also captures the pace of the scroll and will continue the momentum of the action when the user lets go.
A two-fingered swipe lets users browse their music in iTunes or pictures in iPhoto. Users can also zoom in on a screen by holding down the control button and scrolling upwards.

A laser tracking engine means it can be used on most surfaces without a mousepad.
A spokesman for Apple added, “It works wirelessly using Bluetooth, so you don’t have to worry about cables or adapters cluttering your workspace.”

It is possible to customise the Magic Mouse with built-in software, to alter the tracking and scrolling speed, and to changed the right click for left handed use.
Users can also switch these features off if they want a simple point and click accessory.
The Mighty Mouse was released today alongside an updated iMac desktop computer line, which have 21.5″ and 27″ screens, speedier processors, and better graphics. Prices start at £949.

I love Macs. We have had quite a few over the years, both desktops and laptops.

I love the look of the Magic Mouse, but I don’t think I’ll be buying one. At the moment when I’m using the laptop I struggle to use a Mighty Mouse, which is almost uncontrollable and seems to have a mind of its own.
When I’m using the desktop, I use a wonderful Logitech mouse, which may not look as cool as an Apple mouse but it is perfectly behaved and very obedient. In fact if it hadn’t been poring with rain all day today we were going out to buy another Logitech mouse for the laptop.
I’m sure some there will be lots of people who’ll love the new Apple Magic Mouse with Multi touch - but I won’t be one of them.

Posted on Zeitgeist

Life in France

The Hubble space telescope has captured lots of spectacular new images, one of which resembles a beautiful celestial butterfly.

Swirls of pink and red gas resemble beautiful butterfly wings

The image shows vast streams of gas racing at over 600,000mph from a dying star.
The image is just one of several spectacular new shots taken by the orbiting Hubble telescope since it was repaired and upgraded in by shuttle astronauts in May 2009.

A group of five galaxies

The massive globular cluster Omega Centauri

Since the repairs, Hubbles new camera is reportedly ten times better, and its digital “film” was built by a British company, e2v Technologies of Chelmsford, Essex, England.

Star bursts into life in the Carina Nebula

These images are amazing. I wish I had a telescope, nothing as advanced as Hubble but something I could use out on the terrace to gaze at the stars.

Life in France

An industrial robot maker in central Japan has opened a ramen noodle shop where two robot arms work as hi-tech chefs to feed and entertain the customers.

The robot dishes up 80 bowls of noodles on a busy day ay the Fua-men noodle shop in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.
Kenji Nagoya, the owner of the noodle shop and a robot manufacturer, says that nobody gets it as accurate as the robots. He said, “The benefits of using robots as ramen chefs include the accuracy of timing in boiling noodles, precise movements in adding toppings and consistency in the taste.”

Kenji Nagoya’s robot factory opened the Fua-men noodle shop less than a month ago to showcase its latest robotic technology.
The noodle shop, which sells a regular noodle bowl with a pork broth-based soup for 7 dollars, is yet to make a profit, partly due to the large investment in the research and development of the robotic arms.
The restaurant is getting a lot of attention and building its reputation.
Customers say the noodles taste as good as those made by humans.
Yoshikazu Yamada, a first-time Customer at Fua-men said, “I don’t feel any difference in taste between this ramen and those cooked by a human chef.”

Humans are not completely out of work at Fua-men though as they do have to prepare the soup base, take orders, and receive customers money.
But the robot arms take care of every other aspect of the restaurant. The machines are pre-programmed to boil noodles, pour the soup into the bowls, and sprinkle the toppings.
Customers can watch the whole process of the automated ramen-making, which takes one minute and 40 seconds per bowl.
During downtime, the robots entertain customers by demonstrating various tricks.

I’ve always wanted to visit Japan, and hopefully I will one day. This noodle making robot is cool! I can’t wait for the day when having a robot at home is the norm, I could definitely do with a robot to look after me.

RICHARDS REALM

Adventurer Bertrand Piccard unveiled The Solar Impulse, a £60 Million solar powered plane, in Zurich, Switzerland, yesterday.

Inventors hope the solar powered aircraft will be the first plane to fly round the world powered entirely by sunlight.
The Solar Impulse is part of a £60million bid to make flight history. The Solar Impulse has the wingspan of a Boeing 747, and will fly day and night using 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries, and four electric motors. It won’t use any fuel. The average flight speed is 44mph.
The prototype plane only weighs 1.6 tons with four ten-horsepower electric engines, it is due to take part in test flights over the next two years.
Bertrand Piccard said, “It will be an ambassador of renewable energies.”

Hmmm, solar powered, good for the environment … blah blah blah, but an average flight speed of 44mph. It’s not a perfect machine is it.

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

I really like this transparent kayak, it looks pretty cool.

Here’s the official gumph ~
This canoe-kayak hybrid has a transparent polymer hull that offers paddlers an underwater vista of aquatic wildlife and waterscapes unavailable in conventional boats.
Seating two people, the sturdy canoe hull is made of the same durable material found in the cockpit canopies of supersonic fighter jets.
Easy to maneuver, the wide canoe displaces a greater amount of water for more surface stability, and the paddlers sit lower to the deck, resulting in better balance.
Adjustable seats allow paddlers of different heights to personalize their leg room.
With a lightweight anodized aluminum frame, it can be easily stored or transported to and from the water.
Includes two double-headed paddles, a water bailer, and two flotation devices.
For ages 16 and up with parental supervision on calm water and while wearing a U.S. Coastguard-approved life vest.
Weight capacity 425 pounds. Made in the U.S.A. 33 1/2″ W x 133″ L x 11″ D. (40 lbs.)
Price $1,600.00 available from Hammacher Schlemmer

The Wine Connoisseur

The Motoman Robot SDA10 a dexterous dual-arm industrial robot, can cook a traditional Japanese flour pancake, Okonomiyak.
The SDA10 was designed to operate independently alongside humans in the workplace. The 135-centimeter (4.5 ft) tall, 220-kilogram (480 lb) industrial robot has 15 joints, 7 in each arm, and one in the torso, which allow a wide range of motion for the job, whether it be on the factory floor at the kitchen counter.

The Motoman Robot showed off its skills in a demonstration at the International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition in Tokyo today.
The Motoman Robot was developed by Osaka-based robot makers Toyo Riki Co.
As a chef, the Motoman SDA10 relies on speech recognition technology to take verbal orders from customers. Using standard kitchen utensils, the robot mixes the okonomiyaki batter, pours it onto the iron grill, forms it into a round pancake-like disk, flips it, puts it on a plate when done, and applies condiments.

Motoman Robot Makes Okonomiyaki

I love pancakes, they are one of my favourite foods.
I love robots.
I think you know where I’m going - I want a Okonomiyaki making Motoman Robot.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE!

Scientists at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have reportedly developed interactive data eyeglasses which will bring your computer even closer than ever before.
The innovative glasses don’t just read back information in one-way fashion on to the lens of your glasses, they are a bidirectional communication tool.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s objective for the interactive data eyeglasses is to track the movement of the eye, to allow your retinas to scroll through menus, flip through options, and zoom in and out on a map.
A microdisplay will be necessary as well to make these glasses fully functional.

Wow - imagine being able to surf the internet simply by moving your eyes, initially it sounds like a good idea to me, but then again, maybe not. I can’t see things that are right in front of me, so I think these glasses would give me a bit of a headache.
I’m happy sticking to my traditional computer screen … for now.

The Wine Connoisseur

Moazzam Begg, 41, a British man who spent two years in Guantanamo Bay as a terror suspect, is reportedly set to appear as himself in a computer game based on the US detention camp.
Moazzam’s appearance in the Xbox 360 game could make in an estimated £3 million.

Rendition: Guantanamo, which is expected to go on sale in October, allows players to control a detainee who is trying to shoot their way out of Guantanamo Bay.
Moazzam Begg, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, England, is portrayed in the game as the head of an organisation helping the suspect to escape.

Human rights activist Moazzam Begg was thrown into Guantanamo Bay on Cuba in 2003 after the CIA held him in Pakistan.
He claims he was tortured before he was finally freed without charge in 2005.

Moazzam Begg said any money he receives, from Rendition: Guantanamo, will be donated to charity fighting for detainees rights.
He said, “The software firm approached me with the idea for a Guantanamo game.
“I’m involved to make sure it is as true to life as possible.”

Zarrar Chishti, director of the Scottish firm spending £250,000 to produce the game, said, “We checked with police and security services.
“We didn’t want MI5 knocking our door down.
“We are expecting an extreme reaction to the game in the US. But we think it will sell well in the Middle East.”

Life in France