Monday: November 14, 2011
Five future technologies for passenger air travel presented by National Geographic.What does the future hold for passenger air travel? National Geographic takes a look at some future technologies being developed right now. You just might be commuting at twice the speed of sound in a dart-like airplane and then arriving at the airport of the future. Do all airplanes of the future all have free in-flight wi-fi? That would be totally cool.
Monday: January 7, 2013
Disney unveils next generation guest experience in the form of digital wristbands.The new wristbands will work in tandem with a new Disney app that you can use on your smartphone. The wristband (officially called MagicBand) can be used as your rooom key, theme park ticket, photopass, payment information and even access to FastPass for quicker access to rides and attractions. So long Key to the World cards!
Tuesday: December 18, 2012
Why Google's GMail outage may be a sign of things to come.The answer is that most of the coders behind today’s popular websites and services are deploying their code when it’s ready—not at some pre-determined point when downtime may not be noticed. It’s called continuous code deployment, or some variation on that theme, and everyone from Facebook and Netflix to smaller services do it. While it may occasionally cause a few blips, those blips should be shorter and less catastrophic.
Sunday: December 9, 2012
Rumors swirling that Disney's Hollywood Studios will be getting a Radiator Springs makeover.While this news is by no means official it sounds like a formal announcement may be right around the corner. Full disclosure: I am a gigantic Disney nerd. My kids, by association, are also gigantic Disney nerds. But they also happen to be huge fans of the Cars movies. Ask us to recite any line and you'll hear the whole movie. The recently opened Cars Land in California has been met with postivive reviews from fans and non-fans of the franchise. Being that we reside on the East Coast, a trip to Florida is way more feasible than a trip out to California. Ka-chow!
Monday: November 14, 2011
Everything you never knew about Google's top secret lab where they pursue future ideas.According to the article, this magical place (dubbed 'Google X') is where Google may or may not be working on the following futuristic concepts: 1) an internet fridge that orders food when it's low, 2) driver-less cars, 3) space elevators, 4) personal assistant robots for your home, 5) networked coffee pots and gardening tools and finally 6) training monkeys to fly airplanes for special covert operations.
Wednesday: November 9, 2011
Bret Victor's not-so-brief rant on the future of interaction design.If you haven't seen Microsoft's video entailing what they think the future of technology holds, you should watch it (readily available on source URL as an embedded clip). So watch that video and then read Victor's thoughts on the matter. That being said, I do have a minor point of contention. I did get some hands-on time with a Kinect-enabled Xbox 360 this past weekend and it was a fun, dare I say, semi-magical experience. I highly reccomend Double Fine's Once Upon a Monster (even the demo is fun).
Monday: August 15, 2011
MTA releases renderings of the new Apple Store coming to Grand Central Station.The title of this article is a little misleading as there is really only one rendering to look at over on The Real Deal's website. AppleInsider has some of the other renderings, albiet in a less vibrant (and boring) form. Aside from the new Apple Store, Grand Central will also be home to a brand new Shake Shack.
Thursday: August 11, 2011
National Geographic has some stunning photos of New Zealand for your viewing pleasure.Posting this here in case anyone needs some travel inspiration. Now I've never actually been to New Zealand but these pictures sure are pretty. Also, this destination would be a good trip for you die-hard Lord of the Rings fans out there (all of the movies were shot in New Zealand).
Wednesday: August 3, 2011
An interesting video showing off the impressive CGI used in Game of Thrones.Andy Gavin has written a post with a behind the scenes video from HBO's Game of Thrones depicting how most of the locations are built using modern CGI and clever scouting. If you've watched the show (and I highly recommend that you do) some of the per-CGI moments in the video may actually take you by surprise, once you see their post-CGI counterparts.
Tuesday: July 26, 2011
Over in China beach-goers are enjoying a healthy swim in algae-filled waters.An algae bloom, or 'green tide,' has clogged nearly 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) of the Yellow Sea, Chinese authorities said Sunday, according to the state-run media outlet Xinhua. The algae blanketing the beaches belongs to a species of marine plankton known as Enteromorpha prolifera, found in waters all around the world. In the right conditions, the algae can explode into so-called macro-algal blooms, Steve Morton, a marine biologist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told National Geographic News in 2010.
Friday: July 15, 2011
Disney testing out new mug technology in an effort out to stop drink refill abuse.The rampant use of hotel guests taking advantage of their refill privelages have finally put Disney over the edge. DIS Unplugged reports that they are currently testing new mugs that have embedded RFID chips in them. If you've exhausted your free refill privelages for that day, no soda dispensed for you. Take that, thrifty guests!