fuchikoma Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 I could totally see that working. A lot of webcam security camera software can draw a mask of exactly where it sees motion on a frame. It could just detect a significant change between frames, select that cutout, with a bit of fading on the edges to blend it and replace it with some of the "most average" photos' data. This stuff was posted 3 years ago, but still seems nearly magical in comparison. Near 6 min in they remove objects from video, but I recommend seeing the whole video because it's just awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yeah, I could see that phone app working. All it would have to do is constantly record video, saving the last few seconds, and then when you take the picture it uses the recorded frames to figure out what should be behind the things you want to remove. I do think it's obvious though that that specific video is fake. For one thing the software outlined all the people, but it didn't outline the subject girl of the shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yeah if you have video it's somewhat "simple" (though cleanup required) to clear moving objects from a scene by the program figuring out what's static and what isn't. A single static image wouldn't be able to do it though, and that video was very definitely SFX . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 You're right - one picture would be impossible (or Photoshop!) but it shoots a burst of photos. Engadget explains it a bit better and they actually got to try an early version of it. That was just a concept video though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 So we're currently facing a solar storm. 0600-1000 GMT http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17295337 Honestly it's the biggest in 5 years and we weren't that concerned 5 years ago. If you are in a region where you can see the Northern lights it'll be spectacular tonight (I think only Johnny should be able to see it best to be fair). In other news while the 'drug' isn't the exact issue it seems that we can now definitely connect racism with fear. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9129029/Blood-pressure-drug-reduces-in-built-racism.html They're also finally saying that Gorillas have more genes in common with us than Chimps which honestly makes sense. There's also been research last year that suggests that short people could be missing a few genes (or they're duplicated) is the reason for them being shorter. In a sense it can explain why in a greater number of cases the later children (particularly in families with 3+kids) turns out to be shorter than the earliest ones (this of course depends on both parents ages, older sperm and egg cells aren't always the best but it's not a constant). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OFlKkqVIDs (I'm sure not being in English doesn't hurt it)I hear there's an even bigger flair due within a few years. Also 5 years ago we weren't so reliant on stuff like GPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterDex Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 With the clear weather over here at the moment, we should be able to spot a fairly magnificent display of the aurora, at least out of towns and cities. I wonder if we'll see a magnetic storm in our time that'll wipe out civilisation as we know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I wonder if we'll see a magnetic storm in our time that'll wipe out civilisation as we know it. I'd settle for Hull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 They're also finally saying that Gorillas have more genes in common with us than Chimps which honestly makes sense. Source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 They're also finally saying that Gorillas have more genes in common with us than Chimps which honestly makes sense. Source? It was pretty much on google news so here's a few sources http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/08/tech/innovation/gorilla-genome-evolution/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9130191/Humans-and-gorillas-share-genetic-similarities.html and the original with some references http://www.nature.com/news/gorilla-joins-the-genome-club-1.10185 Hate to really say it but there are some interesting bits on google's news feed if you just hit their news homepage as opposed to their crap RSS feed. There's also the news of the first picture they have of atoms in a molecule. Some university in Ohio captured that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Oh okay, it doesn't say that gorillas have more genes in common with us than chimps, it says 15% of our genes are more similar to gorilla genes than they are to chimp genes. They still think we're more closely related to chimpanzees (gorillas split from humans and chimps 10M years ago, humans and chimps split from each other 4M years ago). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 My bad, it seems as if they've corrected the article (found yet another article where they criticised the first article I'd read where the author had brought out that similarity). I didn't read the nature one till now to be honest since the newspaper failed to source it (I guess to prove their point perhaps). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 So those crazy kids over at MIT have made an LED bulb with 230% efficiency. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-efficiency.html AKA they broke the first law of thermodynamics. But not quite that simple. Basically it reaches a point where it just starts sucking up surrounding heat as well. Problem is this cooling/lighting LED only does that at very low power levels. But if they could expand it, certainly interesting applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantelope V2 Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 30 picowatts is very very low. Not sure this will ever be useful. Interesting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hey, all we need is a trillion of them and we can light a small room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577265321595882542.html#project%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB10001424052970204603004577271842684404260%26articleTabs%3Darticle I could see these becoming more popular as internet get's more widespread and people move about much more/tech savvy folks get older. Then we end up one day with creepy young Bruce Willis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) I usually love Sony, but We've already seen a lot of software go from something you buy, to something you license usage of, to a service you license as you use it (buy a month, buy 100 plays, buy 100 game coins, etc) - how long before household appliances become something you subscribe to annually? Yes, market competition should make this kind of thing irrelevant, but I've seen so much unchecked collusion I'm not optimistic - bring this in as a safety feature, or offer rebates for making your outlets "smart and eco friendly" then throw in some value-added thing like TV set social networking and bam - you're subscribing to your TV set itself... (...or "sorry, we've detected previously that this game console has been modified and in accordance with our user agreement, it will no longer receive electricity.") Edited March 16, 2012 by fuchikoma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I guess it'd be useful for hotels and airports. Especially as more n more folks bring electric gadgets n such around with them. There's no advantages to include this tech in normal homes and appliances but does come with an added cost, so I can't see it being used there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Yeah, I think you're reading way too much into it. It's like WEP or WPA for wifi. Sony isn't going to forcibly install these in your house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Sony doesn't forcibly install anything - but they would kick you off their game network if you don't agree to remove features you paid for from your console. You're perfectly free to refuse the offer, but if you want continued service, you comply. To put this in homes, they'd only need to make a wall plug adapter with RFID and maybe Wi-fi, then come up with some novel use that isn't DRM, like usage logging. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but after seeing the success of things that used to be free becoming DLC, DRM that requires an Internet connection for single-player games, or even full-price disc-based games that only come with a handful of activations, I've learned to be more pessimistic because when it comes to consumer exploitation, anything is possible. At one time I thought people would never pay money for phone ringtones. After that, I thought they'd never pay for phone wallpaper - why would you? They did. I can see a future where devices check with their manufacturer over the Internet before they'll power up - why not - it's the same thing people have been accepting in software for years and that also sounds crazy. There's nothing consumers won't put up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I see plenty of applications for Sony's authenticator thing. Security for one thing. Managing the devices of a business another big one. Charging your roommate for exactly their power usage. It has plenty of non-evil applications. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I think it's a good idea. You go out, your missus thinks she's left her hair curlers switched on, you go to the cloud and disable them. Boom. You don't want the kids to be able to watch TV past 8pm? Set the power thingy to a timer and at 8pm the TV is off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Actually, that's a really good idea. And with it identifying the devices you wouldn't necessarily even have to go to the cloud. The plug knows that it's got a curling iron plugged into it, and if that curling iron has been on for more than like an hour then the plug can figure you left it on accidentally and turn it off. Or as houses get smarter overall the house could know you're not home and turn off anything like that you might have left on by mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchikoma Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 You go out, your missus thinks she's left her hair curlers switched on, you go to the cloud and disable them. Boom. You don't want the kids to be able to watch TV past 8pm? Set the power thingy to a timer and at 8pm the TV is off. Someone reports you to a bill collector, they download a copy of your home management key from an escrow agent - like a utility company (who would have it so they could cut power for non-paying customers without killing ovens and furnaces for instance) - and then non-essential devices are cut off until you resolve the issue with them. I think it's a great idea for public outlets - though that seems like such a small niche. Maybe electric car charging stations, though that can be done without smart device authentication already. The potential for abuse is sky high though and looking at the last 10 years of tech, it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be abused. Of course it wouldn't happen tomorrow, but in a decade I could see it being a requirement for newer, higher end goods. It's as unthinkable as a game system that doesn't load physical media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I think it's a great idea for public outlets - though that seems like such a small niche. There's an awful lot of hotels and airports out there. It's not only a decently sized niche, but hugely profitable one too. I can't see your utility supplier having power over your outlets tbh. Yes cut off all electricity as is now, but having the ability to access your internal systems is a bit...nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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