Scientists train robots to love punk music

We've seen plenty of robots that are capable of showing their appreciation for music, but few have as refined a taste as this trio of bots designed by a team of UK artists and scientists, which have been trained to like punk music and nothing else. That was apparently done by employing "adaptive resonance theory," which allows the robots to build up a history of patterns relating to different sounds, and analyze songs on the fly, matching the patterns against other types of music it has already listened to. As you can see in the BBC's video available at the read link below, the bot's were apparently easily able to recognize a band that they hadn't heard before and, if you hurry, you can actually check 'em out first hand, as they'll be doing their thing at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts until July 5th.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/04/scientists-train-robots-to-love-punk-music/

Roundest Spheres in the World Produced

Even with man's advancements in developing increasingly intricate microprocessors and ever taller skyscrapers, there's one thing we cannot do. We cannot make a completely perfect sphere. Sure, we can get close. But a new problem has provoked a more perfect execution. The kilogram needs to be standardized across many countries as the 120-year-old physical platinum standard is changing in mass. And deviations in measurement have screwed up the value of a kilogram across the globe.

Luckily one man could create the perfect sphere. And he could do it by hand.

Achim Leistner was an optical engineer from the Australian Center for Precision Optics, pulled out of retirement to create two perfect spheres.

Another team started by creating a pure batch of silicon-28, spun in ex-Soviet centrifuges that were once used for uranium. Then in Germany, a team grew a pure crystal from the silicon, which was sliced into blocks and sent to Leistner.

Leistner and his crew used two spinning rotors to grind the spheres by hand—a process that took several months to complete. Their resulting spheres were accurate in smoothness to 0.3 nanometers and curvature to 60 to 70 nanometers. New Scientist explains that if these spheres were increased to Earth proportions, you'd see smoothness deviations of only 12 to 15 mm and roundness variation of 3 to 5 meters.

For the full remarkable story, be sure to hit the link.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5021010/roundest-spheres-in-the-world-produced

Sony officially reveals PS3 firmware 2.40 features, coming July 2

Following months of rumors, speculation, and – most of all – waiting, Sony has officially unveiled version 2.40 of the PlayStation 3's operating system and XrossMediaBar (XMB) interface. Joystiq got a look at it in action last week and can finally unzip our lips about what we saw.

In a nutshell, the update introduces most of the features we've seen floating around as rumors for some time. Here's the short list of what you can now do without exiting from games:

* In-game XMB (a quick tap of the PS button brings it up)

* View game-specific Trophies (We'll have more on this major feature at 8AM EST / 5AM PST)

* Time / date display

* Send text messages to PSN users on your friends list

* Access accessory settings, such as Bluetooth pairing and voice changer

* View and manage downloads

* Quits game directly from an icon under the "Game" section of the XMB

* Search the web using the Google Search option under "Network" (similar to the latest PSP firmware)

* Launch directly into another game from the one you're currently playing

* Play music tracks stored on the HDD in games that support this feature

* Access a new on-screen music player interface (when listening to your own tracks in supported titles)

Sony hasn't announced a release date for its latest firmware update, stating only that it will be "very soon." The official press release says the firmware is coming July 2 (this Wednesday!). There are quite a few rumored / hoped for features that aren't finding their way into this release. There are also a number of quibbles with the functionality of the features that did make the cut. We go in-depth with our likes and dislikes of firmware 2.40 right here

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/30/sony-officially-reveals-ps3-firmware-2-40-features/

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won't play nice with Rock Band guitars

While the axe that comes with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is pretty sweet, if you were hoping to just get the game and use your Rock Band guitar, you're out of luck. Despite rumors that Activision had opened its doors to the Harmonix-made Rock Band guitar controllers, early users of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith are reporting that the Xbox 360 version game isn't being so friendly after all. The sad message: "An unsupported guitar peripheral has been detected. Connect either a Guitar Hero guitar or Xbox 360 controller and press START to continue." It's like they never even knew each other.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/01/guitar-hero-aerosmith-wont-play-nice-with-rock-band-guitars/

Life With PlayStation: Wii-like Weather and News on PS3

At today's Sony press conference, SCE president Kaz Hirai revealed new software on the way to all PS3s. Dubbed "Life With PlayStation," it's a virtual globe that can be explored to reveal weather and news. And while, sure, it sounds a lot like Nintendo's forecast and news channels (almost identical in theory, really), it also could be a lot better.

The key difference is that while Nintendo's globe is fun enough to use, it's essentially just spinning around a cartoon. The PS3's globe will not only be displayed in a far higher resolution (1080p we're guessing), but it will feature a global weather satellite image. So instead of just seeing the forecast, users will be able to see the weather.

In addition, clicking on regional news will load up a webpage, which some are interpreting to mean that Sony is more open to their news content partners than Nintendo's closed system.

And then the globe will go one step further into the future. According to Hirai:

For the primary version the application sticks to the present time but in the future we plan to build a system that can visually present stored photos and movies according to their recorded time and place, allowing users with their friends and family to enjoy the visuals in chronological order.

As usual, I'm sure it makes for a beautiful tech demo. But until we get a firm release date, it's just another PlayStation Home.


Source: http://gizmodo.com/5019861/life-with-playstation-wii+like-weather-and-news-on-ps3

Sony's PS3 movie download service rolling out Stateside this summer

Sony just released a rambling update to it corporate strategy through fiscal year 2010. An interesting read for fans and competitors alike as Sony lays bare initiatives intent on moving Sony from recovery to the "leading global provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment." Most notable in the near-term however, is word from Kazuo Hirai, chieftain of Sony Computer Entertainment, that Sony will make a movie download service available to US PlayStation 3 owners this summer -- Japan and Europe at later dates with details coming "next month," presumably at E3. Moreover, Sony expects its gaming business to achieve profitability by March 2009, the end of the current fiscal year. Of course, we already knew that Sony was prepped to deliver full-length TV shows and movies sometime in 2008 via its North American PLAYSTATION Network. But summer, eh? Judging by the increased molecular agitation of sidewalk effluence, we'd say that Sony's season of movie downloads is already upon us.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/26/sony-launching-movie-downloads-in-us-this-summer/

iLuv's i1255 desktop iPod / DVD player combo now shipping

Hey there partner, we just know that troubled look on your face is due to the inability to find yourself a DVD player / iPod dock combo that looks ever-so-slightly like an Atari console, right? If so, you'll be completely relieved to find that iLuv's CES-announced i1255 is now on sale and shipping to whomever pays the stated asking price with a non-stolen, non-maxed out credit card. If you couldn't tell, this unit acts as a vanilla DVD player and enables iPod owners to play back audio / video clips on their television or sound system without messing with additional cables. Shoot, there's even an iPod-tailored on-screen display to sort through your playlists and such. Lasso yours now for just $149.99.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/26/iluvs-i1255-desktop-ipod-dvd-player-combo-now-shipping/

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 hands-on, sorta

So here's the scene. We're at the Digital Experience show, trying to get our hands on a powered-up Sony Xperia X1. Sure, we found a unit that wasn't powered up, but that does you -- and us -- no good. Sony told us to come back in 15 minutes, so we grabbed some press kits, made a round of booths, and came back.

Sure enough, when we came back the X1 was powered up, but the nice booth lady tried to tell us that things weren't working just right and the unit was stuck on the config screen. After some jiggering, we determined the little X1 was just stuck on the touch screen calibration, and we were cruising through menus within minutes. It's pretty clear this unit wasn't ready for primetime -- you'll even see some HTC test apps in the below gallery -- but we were impressed by the screen's resolution and brightness. Windows Mobile 6.1 showed it face often in the UI, but the phone app and general utilities were looking good.

Overall, the X1 is a pleasure to behold -- it's one sexy device. That said, we'll have to wait how Sony Ericsson's user interface shapes up and just look at the pretty pictures in the gallery until mid-September.


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/26/sony-ericsson-xperia-x1-hands-on-sorta/

Westinghouse upgrades $50,000 Quad HD LCD

Las Vegas (NV) – Westinghouse has increased the size of its Quad HD LCD and slightly increased its price tag. The screen size has grown from 52” to 56” and most of us still can’t afford it.

We were deeply impressed when we saw a demonstration of Westinghouse’s 52” Quad HD LCD about 18 months ago. At the time, Westinghouse was very secretive about shipments and pricing, but we managed to learn that the display was available in very limited numbers and was offered especially to companies that have a need for high-resolution graphics displays in exchange for $50,000. Over the recent months we heard that these displays eventually dropped to about $40,000.

The new 56” D56QX1 LCD Quad Monitor is back up to 56: and officially available for purchase beginning this month. Compared to your average 1080p HDTV, the LCD has four times the resolution: 3840 x 2160 pixels produce a stunning 8.3 megapixels, which is overkill for most consumer electronics but a useful feature for 3D, medical, geological, military recon applications. The display also delivers a 1200:1 contrast ratio, 500 nits brightness and a 6.5 ms response time. Westinghouse said that D56QX1 is compatible with a wide variety of dual-link DVI video cards including ATI and Nvidia.

Quad HD LCDs are still very rare, but we have seen several announcements in recent months, including TVs a 56” version from Sapphire and Samsung’s 82” monster.


Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-38000-135.html

World’s Fastest Flashgun Can Capture An Image Of A Light Wave

Ok, this is officially the coolest image I’ve ever seen. What you see on the right is a pulse of light that is 2.5 billionths of a millionth of a second long. The image was captured by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany and the flash of laser light that made it possible lasted just 80 attoseconds. (An attosecond is one billionth of one billionth of a second.) The previous record for the shortest light pulse was 130 attoseconds set in 2007, and almost halving that number a year later is an impressive feat

But don’t expect your Nikon or Canon DSLR to pull off a cool shot like this. The team responsible for it used a laser firing extremely short pulses into a cloud of neon gas which ionized the neon atoms. This then releases electrons which the researchers were able to measure in order to produce this side-profile shot of the laser pulse.

The light pulses are produced by firing longer, but still very short laser pulses into a cloud of neon gas. The laser gives a kick of energy to the neon atoms, which then release this energy in the form of brief pulses of extreme ultraviolet light.

The trigger pulses contained only one or two oscillations of a light wave so that they packed a compact energy punch when they reached the neon cloud. To do this, the researchers had to corral the trigger-pulse photons into a tightly packed bunch using a device called a chirped mirror. These multilayered mirrors make the photons at the front of a pulse travel further than the slower photons at the rear do. That gives the back markers time to catch up, in this case producing a tight pack of photons that hit the neon atoms at roughly the same time.

To find out how short the light flashes from the neon atoms were, Goulielmakis and colleagues directed them onto a second neon gas cloud. As each flash is intense enough to completely ionise a neon atom and release an electron, the researchers could use those electrons like a flashgun, to illuminate some of the original 2.5 femtosecond trigger pulses of laser light.

Since the microscopic world is still a big mystery to us, this method might eventually allow researches to visualize the movements of electrons around atoms, or even ’see’ nuclear particles like protons.

Source: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/06/23/worlds-fastest-flashgun-can-capture-an-image-of-a-light-wave/