Rolling Stones tour with phones

You might get a buzzing ear after a while, but at least you can claim listening live to the Rolling Stones. The British rock band is the first to use a technology that allows fans listen in on a live concert.

By dialling a tollfree number you can listen to them perform all down the line in real time for $1.99 per seven minutes.

The Stones are the first to use a new technology called Listen Live Now, which is backed by Hollywood talent firm Creative Artists Agency, tour promoter Live Nation, and veteran artist manager Marty Erlichman.

The technology will debut Friday when the band takes the stage in Paris.

It should just a matter of time (short time) till you can watch events like these live on your phone.

By: Gregor | Friday, July 28 at Friday, July 28, 2006 | |

India rejects $100 Laptop, stupid move!

Acording to The Register, India has decided against getting involved in One Laptop Per Child scheme, which aims to provide kids in developing countries with a simple $100 machine.

The success of the project depends on support, and big orders, from governments. The loss of such a potentially huge, and relatively technically sophisticated market, will be a serious blow. The Indian Ministry of Education dismissed the laptop as "pedagogically suspect". Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee said: "We cannot visualise a situation for decades when we can go beyond the pilot stage. We need classrooms and teachers more urgently than fancy tools."

Banerjee said if money were available it would be better spent on existing education plans. Banerjee told the Hindu: "We do not think that the idea of Prof Negroponte is mature enough to be taken seriously at this stage and no major country is presently following this. Even inside America, there is not much enthusiasm about this."

Once again we are stuck in the dilemma of the digital divide. And India s response is an interesting one, as it clearly shows that even if the technological portion of the digital divide could be bridged, there are still far more other aspects which need to be taken into account.

What good is the $100 laptop if there are no sufficient teachers, or teaching facilities? For a developing country to spend a couple of million dollars for a product which has not proven its benefits is a risky choice.

But on the other hand, for the first time, technology is easily available and should perhaps motivate and stimulate the development of education and computer literacy. And with the usage of the $100 laptop, countries can narrow down the digital divide, even if only a few schools take on this project. India s argument, to set up schooling and teaching systems first is potentially a bad strategic move, as this development will take a very long time, during which they could have had the chance to develop computer literacy and accessibility.

At least Nigeria has ordered 1 Million machines, showing great support and confidence for this project to become beneficial.

Pic by Colin Daniels

By: Gregor | at Friday, July 28, 2006 | |

High-tech bikini combats sunburn

SmartSwim UV bikini features a digital UV meter built right into the garment. The idea is to warn the wearer about the dangers of sunburn and how long you should stay in the sun without getting hurt.

With interest in the risks from skin cancer high, this little number should sell well. Apparently it is made out of 100 per cent top quality Lycra and available in three colours, Techno Silver, plus black or white.

Not only is the meter itself waterproof, it should last for years on its CR2025 batteries. On more moderate days, the belt onto which the meter is mounted can simply be removed.

There are even smarter swimwear products out there for all those hi-tech beach goers. Wonder how the common Camps Bay or Clifton mob would react to this state of the art tech-fashion bikini.

Check out all these sunburns including the world famous Gregoogle sunburn, pity they havent developed the UV detecting speedo!

Showing off cleavage, breasts, bikinis once again!

By: Gregor | Wednesday, July 26 at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | |

Intelligent carpet can autodiscriminate

Watch your step! Your weight, your pace, your age and even your gender could now be analysed whilst walking along the office hallway to meet your future employer. Well, that depends if the employer is looking for an overweight, middle aged, semi fast paced male or rather a bulimic, underweight teenager.

The Inquirer refers to this as a new form of automated prejudice, to make business decision-making far more efficient.

Experts predict that in business recruitment, especially in the City of London, the process of snap decision-making could be streamlined to achieve faster judgements.

The intelligent carpet, invented in Japan, can tell bosses or market researchers the age, sex and weight of the person walking across it. The prototype carpet can differentiate between people in their 20s and 60s with nearly 100 per cent accuracy, according to a story on Nikkei.net. The carpet can determine a walkers gender with up to80 per cent accuracy, the inventors claim, since males and females have different centres of gravity.

The research team developing this carpet hopes to improve on its prototype so it can be used in such places as shops to analyse shopping patterns or entertainment venues to provide audience data.

A layer of silicone rubber with built-in electrodes embedded in the carpet measures the changes in electrical resistance and current flow caused by a person walking across it. Analysis of the data collected can determine foot size, stride, walking speed, weight and centre of gravity of those ambling innocently along.

Happy striding!

By: Gregor | at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | |

Ronaldo - haha, what a useless toy

...but it does show the physical instability of soccer players...

By: Gregor | Monday, July 24 at Monday, July 24, 2006 | |

Cursors come to life, watch your head!

Just when you thought that we enter virtual realism only when sitting in front of our computers. Now virtual realism is really becoming real, no computers needed, just a little bit of wind.

The cursor visible on this image is not a photo manipulation, but actually a kite. And it does create a very perplexing image, but it must be even more confusing when walking along the road seeing a massive cursor hovering in the sky.

According to windfiredesigns, very little is known about this kite. It was sighted during the 2005 Burning Man festival. Quadline control, asymmetrical framing, invisible stainless fittings, and opposed-bow tensioning for the sail make this incredible kite look digitally pasted right into the sky. It was designed by Tim Elverston and is a high-end addition to the WindFire collection which marks the beginning of the WindFire OS Series.

Check out OhGizmo for other cool gadgets!

By: Gregor | at Monday, July 24, 2006 | |

Reconnected, rejuvenated, ready to blog

So here I am. Back, in front of the keyboard, the network connection, back, inside the blogging portal which I feel so safe and cosy in. And after a month of no internet connection, no blogging, I must say, it is good to be back! But it also has been a great break.

Whilst touring the cape winelands, eating masses of sushi and taking in every mountain and sea view available, I did manage to do a still shoot for a great television production called Cooked and a lingerie shoot for the Condenast publications Glamour. I used the Digital Daylight Studio in Cape Town, which offered an amazing working environment. Other than that, it was a very relaxing break.

Enough personal Gregoogle babble, look out for some interesting posts and to start of slow I will just add this link for you to look at and contemplate about.

By: Gregor | at Monday, July 24, 2006 | |