Google puts its self-driving cars to use as commuter vehicles

Technology is at its best when it makes people’s lives better, and that’s precisely what we’re going for with our self-driving car project. We’re using advanced computer science to try and make driving safer and more enjoyable. Our vehicles, of which about a dozen are on the road at any given time, have now completed more …

Take my Rorschach test – and then learn it’s history, effectiveness, how it shouldn’t be used

Two inkblots below. After looking at each one tell me what you think they look like (my answers at bottom).   I first came across the Rorschach inkblot test when I was training to be a clinical psychologist. I was shown a series of cards containing inkblots and asked to say what they looked like …

Photos – parachutist breaks speed of sound in free-fall, planets in the sky, glaciers

 

Meet the ‘bots’ of Wikipedia

ClueBot NG, as the bot is known, resides on a computer from which it sallies forth into the vast encyclopaedia to detect and clean up vandalism almost as soon as it occurs. It is one of several hundred bots patrolling Wikipedia at any given time. Its role in repairing the Supreme Court article illustrates how …

Amazon Studios selects four TV projects for online streaming – further Netflix competition

Just a month after we brought you news that Amazon Studios was calling for original comedy and children’s series projects, the company announced today that it has selected its first four projects, choosing three comedies and one children’s show. The company has switched its focus to four TV projects, they are:   The 100 Deaths of Mort Grimley – Where …

Japanese government begins plans for driverless driving by 2020

Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry will soon embark on a project to realize an “autopilot system” for automatic driving, a system for guiding motor vehicles on expressways without human assistance. The system is expected to contribute significantly to such goals as alleviating drivers’ fatigue, preventing road accidents and easing traffic congestion. It would be for vehicles …

The skydiving keynote of Project Glass at Google I/O

    More on Project Glass: Google Glass launches for US-based I/O attendees $1500 and shipping early 2013 More Google Glass details: experimenting with connectivity options, control possible via voice   // Thx – Matt Anderson

Kickstarter project: build an environmentally friendly-er surfboard

My project is all about environmental and community responsibility.  I’m a custom surfboard builder that wants to help make a change in our toxic industry while also taking action to help protect a rare California coastal habitat. The technologies required to make a better surfboard are no longer experimental, they’re high quality and available for …

Music Video – My Country from tUnE-yArDs…crazy but interesting (with kids)

My Country – by tUnE-yArDs Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the music project of New England native Merrill Garbus. When performing live, Garbus creates drum loops on the spot, and layers these with ukulele, voice, and electric bass (played by Nate Brenner).

The untold story of American superheroines

Yesterday, I wrote about the need for women writers and artists in comic books, highlighting a very successful Kickstarter project, Womanthology. The project was so successful that they have an offshoot. A documentary about female super heroes that premiered at South by Southwest 2012: Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines traces the fascinating evolution and …