Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
How to reset the software of an Android phone or device that is unresponsive.
While Android is becoming better and better with each passed year, it's hard arguing against simple facts: its fragmented nature is often problematic and can be the cause of quite a few headaches. And we're not just talking about the differences from the software version of one device to the next, but also the many, many custom skins built on top of Android, and the various chipsets they work on. As you can imagine, software developers have to consider all of these variables with their apps, and that sometimes proves too great a challenge. Occasionally, we're just talking about genuinely bad code that goes rogue and breaks something.
You're now stuck. You can reboot your device, but that last app that you thought sounds amazing broke something, and you just can't use your device properly. Worse yet, the issue is so serious that you can't even reset your device from Settings. So what do you do? Unless you've completely wiped your system partition, the easiest way to get back in business is to reset the device through its recovery. Here's how it works:
Step 1:( Access Recovery) Accessing your phone's recovery (as a beginner) always requires that it first be shut down. From a powered down state, depending on your device, you get into recovery by pressing simultaneously Volume Up or Down + Power button. That is, it depends on your particular model, and if you want to be sure you're doing it right, the best thing you can do is simply Google it. In our experience, you'll find the combo within seconds.
Showing in photo below...
Showing in photo below...
Step 2: (Different Recoveries)Once you boot into recovery, you may end up with something that looks different from what you're seeing on your left (the stock 3e Android recovery). That's because some manufacturers include their own versions of it for one of many reasons, but the good news is that the option we're looking for is always available — Wipe data.
Showing in photo below...
Step 3: (Wipe) Now that you're in, just select wipe data/factory reset or similar if your recovery is different, by using the Volume Up and Volume Down keys to move around, and the Power button to select. Some recoveries also support touch, so you can use your fingers instead.
Showing in photo below...
Step 4: (Ok that Prompt) Next, you have to okay the prompt by selecting Yes in a sea of No's. JUST DO IT.
Showing in photo below...
Here is a video for you guys
The post found here
America's giant robot will battle Japan's giant robot
IMAGE: S.N. JACOBSON
A dozen movie and TV robot fantasies are about to come to fruition: Two giant robots, one from Japan and one from the United States, will battle until only one is left standing.
A dozen movie and TV robot fantasies are about to come to fruition: Two giant robots, one from Japan and one from the United States, will battle until only one is left standing.
Japanese robotics company Suidobashi Heavy Industries has accepted MegaBots' challenge to a giant real, live giant robot battle on a undetermined date. Both companies make multi-ton mech-style robots that are controlled by humans who ride inside. (The presence of outside operators are also yet to be determined.)
The face-off is a way for MegaBots to promote its newest mech, MegaBot Mark II, which the company calls "America's first full-functional, giant piloted robot." It has some pretty big guns that can shoot paintballs at a car-denting 100 mph.
Suidobashi founder and CEO Kogoro Kurata seemed surprised by the challenge — which he readily accepted — and mocked the MegaBot's choice of weaponry. "Come on guys, make it cooler. Just building something huge and sticking guns on it. It's... super American," he says in the video. Kurata accurately notes that giant robots are part of Japan's heritage. One of the first cartoons I ever saw was Japan's Gigantor, a manga-style show that launched in 1964.
The two robots are pretty evenly matched. MegaBot Mark II is 15 feet tall and rolls around on a pair of giant tank treads. Suidobashi's mech is 13 feet tall and uses four swiveling wheels.
But there are some big differences. MegaBot Mark II cost about $175,000 to build and weighs 12,000 pounds; Suidobashi's sells for more than $1 million and is about 9,000 pounds. "[Suidobashi] is about three times faster than we are," MegaBots cofounder Gui Cavalcanti said. "Their tech is currently more advanced, but we have about a year to catch up. I think it’ll even out."
Cavalcanti, a former Boston Dynamics engineer, answered some of our questions about the upcoming bout. (He's the guy on the left in the challenge video.)
Mashable: When and where will the duel be held?
We don’t know [when] yet. They threw the ball back in our court. We're working in it. But we’d like it to be neutral territory, honestly, as opposed to just in the U.S. or in Japan. So we have to figure out where in the world that might be.
How long might the duel last?
How long might the duel last?
Probably much longer than conventional robot fighting. I don’t know if you’ve watched BattleBots. The action happens pretty fast. With so much mass moving around, this will be slower and it’ll take a little while.
Will there be rounds?
Will there be rounds?
We’re hoping for rounds, but we don’t know all the details yet.
IMAGE: MEGABOTS INC
How much autonomy do these robots have?
They are moved around by us. We use the Robot OS; Suidobashi uses V-SIDO. The operating systems interpret motions of drivers and turn them into multi-joint movements. It’s not fully autonomous; it’s robotically-aided motion, a step above being inside an Earth-mover.
Do both robots have only one human operator inside?
They have one, we have two. Matt Oehrlein and I are both in the cockpit. I’m the driver of the MegaBot and he’s the gunner. He does swiveling of the body and aiming of the weapons and I control the motion of the robot.
IMAGE: MEGABOTS INC.
How will you know when someone has won?
According to [Suidobashi's] video, it’s when we’re beaten to a pile of scrap on the ground.[Laughs.] So I think we still need to work that out.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
NASA is starting to upload 4K, 60fps videos to YouTube (VIDEO)
The vast beauty of space is about to look even more beautiful on your computer screen. Starting today, NASA will offer "4K Ultra High-Definition (UHD)" videos on YouTube, taking advantage of the site's relatively new ability to serve up 4K videos at a super smooth frame rate of 60 frames-per-second.
The first UHD video, seen above, is a (frustratingly) short tease of the beautiful moving images that are sure to come. It was posted to one of NASA's YouTube accounts, ReelNASA, which is a home for much of the International Space Station's video content.
Here's hoping they work on your computer
While we've seen some 4K videos from the ISS in the past (like this gorgeous one from the ESA, or this one posted to ReelNASA earlier this week), they have typically been time lapses made from large batches of still photos, which required lots of time and editing. NASA figuring out a way to download near-realtime UHD video means the 4K content could make it to the internet much faster. Of course, many computers still struggle to support 4K video, let alone the ones running at 60fps.
Post found here
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Secret Monitor Tricks Makes Your Computer Monitor Invisible To Others.
If you don't want want people snooping on what you're up to on your computer, then you're in luck.
A scientist has revealed how to make your screen invisible - or unreadable - to nosy neighbours.
YouTube scientist 'Brasspup', who specialises in optical illusions on the streaming site, has revealed how to modify an old LCD monitor and a pair of 3D glasses so that only the wearer of the spectacles can see what is on their computer screen.
Brusspup first prised open and removed the LCD monitor casing, before cutting carefully around the side of the screen and pulled the polarising filter off it in pieces (pictured)
In order to make the modifications, YouTube scientist Brusspup said individuals will need an old LCD monitor, a piece of polarising filter, a pair of 3D glasses, scissors, a prying tool and a craft knife.
In the video, he first prised open and removed the monitor casing, before cutting around the side of the screen.
He then stripped the layer of tough film - the top polarising filter - off the screen in pieces.
It is this film that allows users of the computer to see what is displayed on their screen.
Here, the master of optical illusions traces the shape of the 3D glasses lenses in polarising filter. It is this filter that allows the wearer of the spectacles to see the stripped screen
He then set about making the glasses by tracing round the lenses and cutting out the right shapes from a new piece of polarising film.
Brusspup removed the 3D film already in place in the glasses and replaced it with the newly cut polarising 'lenses'.
After the film was removed from the functioning monitor, it appears white to anyone not wearing the polarised glasses.
The modifications allow the wearer of the spectacles to be the only person to see what is really there on the screen.
After the polarising film has been removed from the functioning monitor, it appears white to anyone not wearing the polarised glasses
An unmodified back-lit LCD monitor typically consists of a layer of molecules aligned between two transparent electrodes and two polarising filters, which are parallel and perpendicular.
Light passes through the first filter and is blocked by the second polariser, which makes pixels appear black and explains why when the filter is removed, the screen shows white.
Content is shown on the screen (regardless of whether the filters are in place) by controlling the voltage applied across the liquid crystal layer, so that light can be allowed to pass though in varying amounts and control different amounts of light and dark in each pixel - or minute square area on the screen.
The post found here
Inside the Making of the Legendary 'Jurassic Park' Kitchen Scene
Raptors and Joe Mazzello hang out in the kitchen in ‘Jurassic Park’ (Universal)
As anyone who’s seen the Jurassic World trailers already knows, velociraptors will be making a big return to the action in Friday’s adventure sequel. The vicious dinos first tore through the big screen in Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, where they were the smartest, scariest beasts around. Nowhere were they more terrifying than in that movie’s famed kitchen scene.
The sequence, which took two weeks to shoot, happens late in the film when the imperiled kids Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) are alone in the park’s visitor’s center and being hunted by a pack of raptors. Spielberg wanted the kids “in the world of the familiar,” he explained in one of the featurettes on the Blu-ray disc, to make the sequence even scarier. “It was very important to me that there were little iconic references to things we can see in our own homes in that sequence,” said the director, who terrorized suburbia with Poltergeist a decade earlier.
Hoping to escape their predators, Lex and Tim hustle into the empty kitchen and hide behind a counter. As Sam Neill’s paleobotanist Dr. Alan Grant quips before he leaves them to find the others, they should be safe for the time being, as long as the raptors don’t learn how to open doors. The obvious bad news: Raptors are much wilier and good with their hands than Grant gives them credit for.
Watch the scene below:
In Jurassic World, the raptors are completely digital, created by effects shop Industrial Light & Magic. It’s stunning work that was actually pioneered during the production of Jurassic Park. The kitchen scene combined the impressive new computer-generated imagery with the best of more old-fashioned movie magic: puppetry and costumes.
The hungry raptors in the scene were actually played by special-effects designers inside elaborate costumes made at the famed Stan Winston effects studio. As described in the video below, the suits were developed using what the shop called “garbage bag” models, a process that began when they built an entire queen Xenomorph prototype out of a garbage bag during the pre-production of 1986′s Aliens.
Watch a video of the suit’s creation below:
The eyes and arms of the raptors were radio-controlled, but the head was maneuvered by a rod inside the costume’s head. John Rosengrant, one of the two effects supervisors to actually wear the raptor costume, notes in the video that Spielberg almost always framed the moving raptors from above the knees, so it gave the illusion of speed. In the kitchen scene, that meant shooting at angles that allowed the chrome counters to obscure the bottom halves of their legs.
Certain movements required creatures more nimble than men in suits so heavy that they had to be suspended in the air in between takes to rest. ILM was able to insert digital dinosaurs into the empty spaces left in the frame, paving the way for the trained and weaponized raptors you’ll see in Jurassic World.
The production also used digital technology for a more simple, but equally vital task: removing the reflections of the crew from all those shiny metal counters. The scene actually makes great use of the reflective surfaces when Lex struggles to shut the door of a small cubby she’s hiding in as a raptor is charging her way. Luckily, while the dinosaur has adapted to door handles, it hasn’t yet learned about mirrors, and it winds up smashing head-first into the shiny cabinet opposite Lex’s hide-out.
Raptors enjoying the foliage in ‘Jurassic Park’ (Everett)Years later, Ariana Richards still got creeped out by the sequence of events. “One of the standout moments for me was filming the kitchen scene with the raptors,” she told GamesRadar.com in 2011. “It was probably one of my favorite scenes because it has so much intrigue and suspense in it. I’ll never forget that. And to watch it, after the film was complete — it still gave me chills.”
Mazzello also remembered the scene fondly — though he actually ended up more scratched up than his character did during its production. “That was the one injury I had on set, where I’m going into the freezer and being chased — it went the wrong way and the claw of the dinosaur hit me in the head,” he told HeyUGuys.com, also in 2011. “And that was my birthday! So, that’s hard to forget — having the whole crew singing Happy Birthday while you’re lying on the ground with a bump on your head.”
Nowadays, there’d be no risk of that at all, thanks to the advances in CGI. But then again, the truly fearful look in Tim’s eyes help make the scene one of the movie’s most memorable, even 22 years later.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner wows with near-vertical takeoff (video)
Boeing 787 Takeoff Front View.
Boeing 787 Inside View
Boeing 787 First Class
Here is the crazy take off video of Boeing 787.
Hold on to your stomach. Here goes the 787-9.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is no tiny flower. The plane holds 280 passengers, has a nearly 200-foot (about 60-meter) wingspan and is over 200 feet in length. It's smaller than a 747, but you still might expect it to be a lumbering creature, raising itself into the air in a gentle arc.
The 787-9 is turning out to be the acrobat of the Boeing family. Boeing released a promotional video Thursday that shows off the plane's chops. The most stunning stunt is a near-vertical takeoff featuring the jet cruising along the runway and then climbing into the sky at a startling angle. It's the sort of thing that would have passengers clinging to their seat arms.
This article, Boeing 787 Dreamliner wows with near-vertical takeoff, originally appeared on
Friday, June 12, 2015
Best 15 Tech gifts for dad or uncle
Fitbit Charge / Charge HR
Ideal for any dad that’s trying to lose a few pounds, the $129 Fitbit Charge provides detailed information regarding steps taken, calories burned, and stairs climbed throughout the day in additional quality of sleep at night. Both devices also link up to dad’s smartphone in order to transmit data wirelessly to the mobile app and provide call alerts when someone dials the phone. If dad is really into tracking his heart rate which exercising, step up to the $179 Charge HR.
GolfSense 3D Golf Swing Analyzer
Is dad’s idea of a perfect weekend spent on the golf course? The GolfSense is a fantastic technology-fueled gift for the avid golfer. Attaching to dad’s existing golf glove, the small device analyzes his swing in real-time and provides a comparison to previous swings as well as accurate swings. With 5 hours of battery life, the $129 GolfSense device provides details such as club speed, hand speed, hip placement, backswing measurements, and a general score rating all the elements of a good swing. If dad wants to brag to his golf buddies about an amazing swing, he can share that data on social media or over email.
Apple iPad Air 2
Easy to recommend, Apple’s iPad line continued to dominate the tablet space due to size, speed and simplicity of Apple’s operating system. The $485 iPad Air 2 is no exception offering features that include fingerprint recognition, a 9.7-inch Retina display, 16GB of storage space, a speedy CPU, and a thickness that’s just over 6 millimeters. However, if dad is a diehard Android user, consider Google’s Nexus 9 tablet at $399.99. (Check Ben’s Bargains for more Apple Deals.)
Nest Thermostat
Is your dad looking to save some money on the air conditioning bill this summer or the heating bill in the winter? Check out the 2nd generation Nest thermostat, a smart home device that reduces your utility bill by turning off the home’s central air system when no one is home. At a price point of $246, the Nest is reported to pay for itself in less than two years based on energy savings. The device can be controlled over Wi-Fi using a smartphone or tablet, ideal for couch potato dads.
Nest Thermostat
Is your dad looking to save some money on the air conditioning bill this summer or the heating bill in the winter? Check out the 2nd generation Nest thermostat, a smart home device that reduces your utility bill by turning off the home’s central air system when no one is home. At a price point of $246, the Nest is reported to pay for itself in less than two years based on energy savings. The device can be controlled over Wi-Fi using a smartphone or tablet, ideal for couch potato dads.
Logitech Bluetooth Multi-device Keyboard
Polaroid Zip Mobile Instant Photo Printer
Useful for dads that like to entertain guests, the latest Ultimate Ears BOOMfrom Logitech packs quite a punch at a $199.99 price point. Offering up one of the best bass experiences in the mobile Bluetooth speaker market, the BOOM offers 15 hours of music playback as well as a water and stain resistant shell for use either indoors or outside. While one of these speakers is definitely powerful enough for a party, you can double up the speakers over wireless syncing to produce stereo sound. Friends and family can also link up to the device over Bluetooth while at a party, ideal for sharing different kinds of music.
Samsung Galaxy S6
If dad is in the market for a new smartphone, it’s tough to go wrong with the Samsung Galaxy S6 ($199.99 under contract). While battery life falls slightly short of previous models, Samsung’s fantastic revision of the Android 5.0 operating system is silky smooth and smartly designed. Ideal for media hungry dads that spend more time in the Netflix app than the email app, the 5.1-inch display is absolutely stunning at 1440 by 2560 resolution. Of course, if dad is an iPhone guy, you can’t go wrong with either the iPhone 6 ($199.99 under contract) or iPhone 6 Plus ($299.99 under contract) either. (Check Ben’s for more Samsung deals.)
Roku 3
Amazon Kindle Voyage
Does dad spend most of his time with his nose in a book? Amazon continues to dominate the E-Reader space with the $199 Kindle Voyage, an eReader with a high resolution display and battery life that lasts weeks. Replacing the Kindle Paperwhite, the Kindle Voyage offers an adaptive front light screen that automatically adjusts for daylight or the absence of light. Amazon has also added a haptic touch sensor to the bezel, thus simplifying turning the page by just adding a little pressure to the bezel. The device includes 4GB of storage page, which basically equates to storing thousands of books. If dad has an Amazon Prime subscription, be sure to remind him of one free book rental each month from the Kindle Lending Library.
Lowrance Fishfinder
Does dad spend more time on his boat than he does on land each weekend? Check out the Lowrance Elite-3X Sonar Fishfinder. Ranked number one on Amazon on the Fish Finder category, this well-liked fishfinder is ideal for freshwater and some shallow saltwater areas as well as ice fishing. The device sports a 3.5” color screen, low battery draw for extended use and a sensor that provides fish and structure detail. The Lowrance is also significantly less expensive than competing products, some of that have triple the Lowrance’s $99 MSRP.
Samsung Gear S Smartwatch
If dad has a Samsung smartphone, consider picking up the Samsung Gear S smartwatch at a $349.99 price point (or $149 under contract). Sporting a beautiful curved display, the Gear S will let dad answer phone calls like Dick Tracy as well as read texts, email, and app notifications. The device also offers health tracking features, ideal for any dad that’s looking to get in better shape.
SimpliSafe2 Wireless Home Security System
Post found here
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)