Smart Watch of the Day

Smart Watch of the Day:

Smart Watch of the Day: The “I’m Watch,” from confusingly-named Italian company I’m, could be mistaken for Apple’s iPod Nano at first glance, but there are a couple of key differences.

1) It runs a modified version of Android 1.6.

2) It’s a lot more expensive, at around $400. (Or more, if you want to add some custom bling.)

Billed as the “the first real smartwatch,” the I’m tethers to your smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing it to play music, make calls via speakerphone, and display caller id info.

You can also check email, weather, and Facebook notifications on the watch’s 1.5″ curved display, instead of just reaching for the smartphone in your pocket.

[wired]

pantslessprogressive: Adding salt to the wounds of the new lost...

According to analysis by the Pew Research Center released Monday, younger Americans have been left behind as the oldest generation has seen wealth surge since the mid-1980s.

While it’s typical for older generations to hold more wealth than younger ones who’ve had less time to save, the gap between the two age groups has widened rapidly.

In 1984, households headed by people age 65 and older were worth just 10 times the median net worth of households headed by people 35 and younger.

But now that gap has widened to 47-to-one, marking the largest wealth gap ever recorded between the two age groups.

Add a Pinch of Salt to Your Laundry to Keep Colors Vibrant [Clever Uses]

It seems like every laundry detergent makes claims to keep colors lasting for a long time, but according to DIY blog Apartment Therapy, the easiest trick is to add a tablespoon of salt to the load. More »

The VergeCast, live at 6:30PM ET / 10:15PM GMT!

What better way to wrap up the crazy-amazing first week of The Verge than with the inaugural VergeCast? Josh, Paul, and Nilay will be live at 6:30PM ET / 10:30PM GMT, but the chat below is open now, so get comfy.

UPDATE: We have noticed that our keyboard shortcuts are interacting with Chrome in a way that makes it impossible to type anything with the letter "j" in it... which is pretty annoying. If you're having that problem, you should head directly to the actual UStream page, where you'll be able to participate normally.

Continue reading…

zu vüu style :D

JFMAMJJASOND

JFMAMJJASOND:

(Phone Company | Natal, Brazil)

(It’s July 1st, so I am running the system to send the bills to all clients, as usual. I get a caller sounding very stressed.)

Caller: “Hi there. About the bill you just send us: the due date is July 30th, but we are willing to pay this already tomorrow. Could you please change the due date for me?”

Me: “Good morning, sir. About the due date, there’s no problem to pay it tomorrow. You have 29 days left to pay it. Feel free to do it any time before the due date.”

Caller: “Yes, but I don’t wanna pay any taxes over this due to delays. So, could you please change the due date for tomorrow instead?”

Me: “Sir, you can easily proceed with the payment tomorrow with no further taxes. The reason why the due date is set as the last day in the month is so that you can pay it anytime you want. So, feel free to do it any day before day 30.”

Caller: *raised voice* “Do you just not understand? Today, it’s day 1st and your stupid financial department has set a due date that has already passed! Your company hires the stupidest people!”

Me: “Sir, could you please tell me what month is now?”

Caller: *long pause* “Hmm…”

Me: “You are aware that month number 07 is July, not June?”

Caller: *click*

Me: “Sir?”

It Keeps Saying Error

It Keeps Saying Error:

(Cellphone Store | Eau Claire, WI, USA)

(I work in a cell phone store. From time to time, we have to fix phones for people. Today, an elderly woman is asking me to look at her phone.)

Customer: “There is something wrong with my phone. Could you fix it for me?”

Me: “Sure, what’s it doing?”

Customer: “Well, it won’t make any phone calls.”

Me: “No problem. Can I see your phone for a moment?”

(The customer digs through her purse, pulls out a calculator, and hands it to me.)

Customer: “See, I punch in a phone number and nothing happens.”

Me: “Erm, did you grab this by mistake? This is a calculator, not a cell phone.” *hands back the calculator*

(The customer takes the calculator back, looks at it, then looks at me blankly before walking away.)

Battlefield 3 VGA and CPU performance benchmark test

Battlefield 3 VGA and CPU performance benchmark test: After waiting way too long before the game to be unlocked we wanted bring you guys one of our traditional graphics and processor performance articles. As such we'll take a card or ten today and have a look at DX11 performance with the newest graphics cards. We'll also show you the performance differential with a couple of different processors.

Nokia Lumia 800 review

Reviewing the Lumia 800 is a hard and, dare I say, unprecedented task. Never before have we seen a phone like Nokia's N9 — a benchmark setter in some design aspects, yet a complete dead end in terms of software ecosystem — and now the 800 arrives ensconced in a nearly identical physical body. How do you begin to grade a device that feels, superficially at least, like a cuckoo — a parasite occupying the shell that rightfully belongs to another? Well, you probably start by dispensing with such romantic notions and treating the Nokia Lumia 800 as what it is: a Windows Phone 7.5 handset with a competitive, if unremarkable, spec sheet and the full backing of Nokia's engineering, development, and marketing might.

The similarities...

Continue reading…

Robotic spider developed to explore dangerous areas

Robotic spider developed to explore dangerous areas:

Nature has inspired some impressive robot designs, with this Fraunhofer-designed spider robot being the latest example. The prototype closely mimics the movement of a spider through some pretty remarkable technology — its eight legs are modeled after a real spider's hydraulically-operated limbs, which provide great stability in uneven terrain. Some models being tested even have ability to jump — the legs operate pneumatically, which allows them to bend, extend and propel the robot through the air.

Not only is this robot extremely mobile, it's also highly rigid and very light, which is a major component in its ability to leap. Despite the impressive technology and specialized body, Fraunhofer claims that production of these...

Continue reading…

The LomoKino makes hand-cranked movies out of analog film

The LomoKino makes hand-cranked movies out of analog film:

Lomography's newest product is completely different from their usual plastic-fantastic releases: it's a hand-cranked analogue video camera. The LomoKino can take any type of 35mm camera film you can find — black and white, slide, color negative, high ISO — and uses it to make a very brief movie. It's completely unlike anything else on the market: instead of batteries or LCD screens, it's powered by a hand-crank; there's no SDHC card, you burn through an entire roll of film in just one minute. Where even modern cellphones can record 1080p video in low light while simultaneously capturing stills, this takes one minute of silent, jerky, old-school footage. In 60 seconds it snaps 144 images, fitting four skinny shots in the space of...

Continue reading…