I'm not a big fan of anything subterranean, but every time I'm in NYC, for practical reasons, I take the subway.
This time around, it was also because I wanted to find out if the City Transit NYC Subway Guide iPhone app was worth $2.99. I ended up catching something else which, by itself, totally made the one-hour ride from Manhattan to the Bronx worthwhile.
As express train No. 5 started to leave 59th Street and Lexington Ave., two dudes who looked just like regular New Yorker-on-holiday riders turned on their boombox. One called out: "Hi everybody, what you're about to see is the most amazing thing. If you don't like it, boo as much as you want. But if you do, clap and please show your support." Seeing some people taking out their cameras, he added, "You can take video all you want, as long as you pay us."
Without further ado, the two took turns performing the most amazing breakdance I've seen. It was just coincidental that I had my iPhone video on and managed to capture the whole thing. What I didn't capture was the fact that their dance inspired some regular riders to stand up and show off their own moves. I totally heart NYC for this.
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(Credit:
Nero)
It's fairly easy to use iTunes to get music, photos, and video onto your iPod. But what if you've got a video that you didn't buy on the iTunes Store? Or you want to get those files onto a PSP--or a Nokia phone? How about getting 6-megapixel photos from your camera to your Sony Ericsson Walkman phone? It's for those sort of digital back-and-forths that Nero's created Move it. The new Windows software lets you transfer most digital photos, audio, and video files between a variety of portable devices using your PC as the middleman.
According to Nero, Move it will offer compatibility with a wide range of devices including the iPod and the PSP. The aim is to make transfers as close to plug-and-play as possible--to that end, the software will automatically convert and transcode files to preoptimized formats and resolutions as necessary. Also of note: Move it can interface with online social networks and sharing sites such as MySpace and YouTube. (Nero is pledging free downloadable updates that will add interoperability with more devices and services.)
Notably, Move it is only compatible with DRM-free files. Don't expect to use it for ripping DVDs or transferring iTunes Store videos to non-Apple products.
There are plenty of commercial and freeware programs around that do exactly the same sort of thing. (Check out Format Factory, for instance.) But Nero's hoping that Move it's ease of use and wide-ranging compatibility will set it apart in the mass market. The software will soon be available in two forms: as a shrink-wrapped box in stores for $50, or as a download for $40.
My questions to you: Would you consider Move it as a worthwhile addition to your digital toolbox? Perhaps more importantly: do you think Move it would be recommendable to your non-techie friends? Or do you have a suggested freeware alternative?
"Is there any reason not to buy an iPod?" It's such a common question for us, and the answer is usually, "Yes and no, but mostly yes." There are heaps of other players out there that don't cut the condiment, but more and more are starting to compete.
(Credit:
Crave UK)
An illuminous contender for your digital music dollars this month is TrekStor's daftly named i.Beat move S, from the company that brought you the pseudo-racist i.Beat Blaxx.
This is a flash-based MP3 and video player with support for MP3, WMA (including DRMed stuff), and WAV only, though it wouldn't actually play our CD-quality WAV files. Little AVI videos can be converted using some bundled software. It's also got a radio and comes in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities, but isn't expandable.
We've got one in to look at and we're not exactly blown away. The 38mm screen is about as attractive as Kelly Osbourne bathing in rotting organs, and the interface conjures similarly grotesque emotions.
... Read MoreWhen you think of the words "hydrogen highway," your mind tends to conjure up images of silent cars whizzing down the road in an environmentally friendly manner.
You don't think about trying to squeeze into a seat between a 300-pound man and a woman with 18 grocery bags. But this scenario might be more realistic.
A GM hydrogen car. Good luck filling up.
(Credit: Mike Kanellos)CalStart, an alternative-transportation advocacy group, has signed five contracts with bus companies to develop and study fuel cells, as well as other components for making hydrogen buses. The $24 million project is partly underwritten by federal grants.
The SunLine Transit Agency in Coachella, Calif., for instance, plans to street-test a hydrogen bus being built by American Fuel Cell. The fuel cell in the car comes from UTC Power and lithium ion batteries. AC Transit in the Bay Area, meanwhile, will stress-test hydrogen buses with UTC to identify the weakest points in hydrogen drive trains. BAE Systems will develop a hydrogen-diesel hybrid.
Car manufacturers such as Toyota Motor, General Motors, and BMW have proven that hydrogen cars work. (Toyota and GM have fuel cell hydrogen cars. The fuel cells strip electrons from hydrogen molecules to power batteries. BMW, meanwhile, has a hydrogen combustion engine in which hydrogen is ignited in cylinders sort of like how gas is ignited today.) Check out our test drive of a hydrogen Mercedes here.
The tough part is the infrastructure. Hydrogen is expensive to make and difficult to transport, and few hydrogen stations exist. Some processes for producing hydrogen can also emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.
Buses can get around some of these problems. City buses drive a limited number of miles a day, and they typically don't drive very far from a maintenance station. Put a hydrogen-manufacturing station and pumps in a central location, and you could serve a city. Las Vegas is already trying this. (The University of California at Berkeley has a hydrogen station too.)
(Credit:
Sarnoff Labs)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to that club you were thrown out of, they come up with another way to keep you behind the rope.
Touted as a "non-invasive" approach to checking ID, iris scanners rely on pattern recognition of the image reflected from the iris's convex cornea--which, when converted into a digital template, will give you away every time.
The problem with conventional iris scanners is that they require the subject to hold still and submit. Now, a new-fangled unit produced by Sarnoff Labs in New Jersey can reportedly identify up to 20 subjects per minute as they casually stroll through a recognition portal.
The new biometric system, dubbed Iris On the Move (IOM), shoots photos at slightly different distances and in different directions using an array of high-resolution cameras synchronized with an infrared strobe light that blasts the subject's face 30 times per second.
The manufacturer claims that at least one of these photos will result in a clear, high-definition image of the target's iris, which can then be checked against a bad guy database.
You can forget the shades too. Apparently neither glasses, contact lenses, or even goggles will fool the system.
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