Browsed by
Category: Uncategorized

Lofi lock that is activated by your phone light

Lofi lock that is activated by your phone light

There’s lots of different door locks out there that use manual keypads, RFID card, biometric device, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. Mirko Pavleski shows off an arduino powered door lock that works by correctly timing a light pulse for an exact number of milliseconds.

I wouldn’t call it the most secure kind of lock since it only requires a single timed light pulse. A more secure solution would be a pattern of on/off lights. While clever, it’s likely vulnerable to ‘shoulder surfing’ by others watching from a distance with a detector (even if it was UV). This would be true at night when the light would be quite visible. But it’s a fun idea.

Google Maps new Immersive View and AR Live view

Google Maps new Immersive View and AR Live view

I love mapping software, and the Google Maps teams has done some amazing work. It’s not just mapping and route-finding to more incredible things like Google Earth and Google Earth VR. They’ve got features that auto-update store hours, update street speed limits by reading the road signs, how crowded transit routes are, and trips. Now they’re adding a new immersive view.

Say you’re planning a trip to London and want to figure out the best sights to see and places to eat. With a quick search, you can virtually soar over Westminster to see the neighborhood and stunning architecture of places, like Big Ben, up close. With Google Maps’ helpful information layered on top, you can use the time slider to check out what the area looks like at different times of day and in various weather conditions, and see where the busy spots are. Looking for a spot for lunch? Glide down to street level to explore nearby restaurants and see helpful information, like live busyness and nearby traffic. You can even look inside them to quickly get a feel for the vibe of the place before you book your reservation.

It starts rolling out in Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo later this year with more cities coming soon.

There’s also a new Live View that has AR elements to help you orient yourself to destinations. What’s interesting is that people with vision problems are now finding it very helpful.

It’s a reminder that really innovative things can come from helping those with disabilities and re-affirming the value of their lives. That’s a fundamentally different approach than the alternative.

Links:

Scalpers and the Apple Vision Pro

Scalpers and the Apple Vision Pro

Scalping on tech items has been going on since people lined up outside stores for the first gaming consoles. It is not much different than ticket scalpers. But having the audacity to try and scalp items that are not even out of stock and available for immediate pickup is pretty out there. But here’s exactly one of these craigslist sales happening here in even lowly Portland.

I know, they’re probably counting on people not checking. I know they’re likely banking on the particular model selling out and grabbing a sale from a desperate person needing one that day. You only need to get one person to make money after all…

How to Cut a Michelin Star Rated Onion

How to Cut a Michelin Star Rated Onion

I’m not great a cutting onions – but man this guy sure is.

Senpai Kai walks you through all the different kinds of ways to make Michelin Star rated cuts and when you might use them. His other videos show you how to make other Michelin star versions of various dishes. It’s interesting to see how it is all made.

You’ve…got to…watch this…Mister!

You’ve…got to…watch this…Mister!

William Shatner played some big roles. Everyone knows him as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, or the panicky passenger in the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20000 Feet, or his bizarre foray into cover songs. He also had some offbeat roles like Incubus – filmed entirely in the dead-on-arrival created language of Esperanto.

I recently watch The Outer Limits season 2 episode 2 titled “Cold Hands, Warm Heart”. He plays an astronaut – which is some real-life foreshadowing of his later roles. It’s also got some really good Shatner over-acting in it and definitely worth a watch for people wanting to see some of his early ultra-cheese.

Prenuvo: The age of full body scans?

Prenuvo: The age of full body scans?

Sadly, we do not have medical tricorders like they do on Star Trek. Devices that could quickly and safely scan your whole body and give you a diagnosis. The closest things we have today are MRI or CT scans, but those kinds of scans are not usually done unless there is a problem suspected. They’re not generally available to the public without a doctor’s orders because they have been very expensive, require trained doctors to read the results, and carry their own risks such as radiation for CT’s and chemical toxicity if chemical contrast is used.

But maybe things are changing.

Prenuvo is starting to offer MRI scans to the general public that can detect more then 500 conditions such as congenital defects that might go unnoticed and early stages of cancer. Despite being fairly new, it’s already started saving lives – especially for people in stage 1 cancer when there may be absolutely no symptoms.

This is particularly important for me because I had not one, but two independent stage 1 cancers. The worse part, just like Julianne Santarosa in the article, I had no symptoms. My first cancer was found via a routine exam; and during the investigation for the first cancer I got a MRI scan that revealed the second. I had surgery very quickly for both and it appears we successfully caught it before it spread. I’m now in a 5 year monitoring period, but the early detection definitely and massively improved my odds of survival.

Right now Prenuvo is open in a few major cities, but has expansion plans to many other cities. Personally, I plan on making use of them if I make it through my 5 year monitoring phase for my current cancer recovery.

They offer different plans which includes a torso scan for $1799 and a full body scan for $2499. For the price of a holiday trip, I think it’s an absolutely worthwhile diagnostic tool.

Links:

Resources for Black Friday

Resources for Black Friday

Shopping on Black Friday is not as simple as “Buy it because it’s the cheapest price all year!” You have to actually do your homework to figure out which items are actually a good buy.

Here’s some great resources to help you figure it out.

Check out the Black Friday ads to make your plan:

The first thing you should do is be prepared for Black Friday before it comes. You’ll do this by starting a few weeks in advance by reading through the ‘leaked’ Black Friday ad scans and seeing if there is any deals you’re interested in.

Check the reviews:

Sadly, it’s all too common for review sites to be purchased and largely just paid advertising. Anything endorsed by Twitch streamers, celebrities, or any online personality through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc – are almost 100% guaranteed to be paid advertising. Websites that are reliable and accurate one year turn into paid promotion sites with shocking regularity. You need to check who owns the sites and see if the founders are still standing behind their reviews.

  • Hardware Unboxed – Good rating site that’s probably best for its gaming monitor reviews
    • Monitors Unboxed – A dedicated subchannel of Hardware Unboxed that is just monitors.
  • RTings – good for TV’s and monitors

Tools for reviews:

Jean Restout’s Pentecost

Jean Restout’s Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all assembled together in one place. Suddenly, there came from heaven a sound similar to that of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages,[c] as the Spirit enabled them to do so.

Now staying in Jerusalem there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven. At this sound, a large crowd of them gathered, and they were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

They were astounded and asked in amazement, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? How is it then that each of us hears them in his own native language? 

So many things happen around the octave of Easter that it’s easy to be overwhelmed and miss the important and deeply rich events.

Pentecost (Hebrew Shavuot, Greek pentekoste fiftieth) was an annual Jewish festival marking the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat. It is also called “the day of the first ripe fruits” (Numbers 28:26), and in the Greek Scriptures is the name used for the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 11:16) or Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22). Shavuot unfolded ‘seven full weeks after Passover from 16 Nisan, the day when they offered a sheaf of barley (Leviticus 11:15).

According to Jewish tradition, the day of Pentecost correspond to when the law was given to Moses at Sinai and Israel became a people apart. The apostle Paul draws a comparison of this event by saying that the Christians are a ‘holy nation’ (1 Peter 2: 9) a kind of first fruits to God (John 1:18), met on a heavenly Mount Zion as part of a new covenant (Hebrews 12: 18-24; Luke 22:20).

Jean Restout II’s Pentecost is currently housed in the Louvre (room 924, Sully Wing, Level 2), but was originally painted for the Abbey of Saint-Denis which is outside of Paris and is definitely a painting you should see if you get a chance. Click below for a bigger image.

Links:

Halloween Organ Concert

Halloween Organ Concert

The Old Church downtown is a concert hall and has a number of cool things. One of the fun things is their free lunchtime concerts. They have started live casting them on YouTube, which is even more convenient.

The October concert for the last 2 years has usually an organ concert by Michael Barnes in which he plays classic spooky organ music like the ones below. Plus a guest performer with some more folk classics.

  • Funeral March of a Marionette (Charles Gounod)
  • Toccata and Fuge in D Minor (Bach)
  • Scherzo from Grand Sonata in E Flat (Dudley Buck)
  • March of the Dwarves
  • Have you seen the Ghost of John?
  • Addams Family Theme
  • Rondo Alla Turca (Mozart)