This seems like the kind of invention we’ve needed for a long time now-a virtual dressing room that allows you to try on clothes without all that nudity and pointless human interaction.

There are no salespeople to hard sell you into buying that ill fitting garment, you simply try it on for size via touch screen and see what you think for yourself. Here’s how it works:

The ‘Swivel’ system works by using motion-sensing technology of Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, and a live video feed as ‘mirror images’.

When users stand in front of the system, the webcam would project an image of the user on the connected screen, along with shopping categories, such as clothing, jewelry and handbags.

To try on items, users wave their hands to select categories and items. Items would be digitally overlayed on the live image of the users.

When users turn to their sides, the items would also move along with their bodies.

Swivel takes into account the body types, and would make the items appear as it realistically would. The system also gives users recommendations with their outfits.

Users may also layer items, or change backgrounds to “put the look into context”, and send an image of the final look to friends and family for approval.

The Jetsons had this technology way back in the 1960s, so why has it taken us so long to integrate this technology into our modern shopping routine?

Link

The hard-driving executive pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet — all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age.

More than one pundit, praising Jobs’ ability to transform entire industries with his inventions, called him a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci.

“Steve Jobs is one of the great innovators in the history of modern capitalism,” New York Times columnist Joe Nocera said in August. “His intuition has been phenomenal over the years.”

Jobs’ death, while dreaded by Apple’s legions of fans, was not unexpected. He had battled cancer for years, took a medical leave from Apple in January and stepped down as chief executive in August because he could “no longer meet (his) duties and expectations.”

CNN has the highlights of Jobs’ eventful life in the obituary. Link

(Image credit: Apple)

A delightful elderly couple try to figure out how to use their webcam. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to get a lot out of life. -via The Daily What

(YouTube Link)

This smart, and very affordable, little device might not turn you in to the next George Lucas, but it will definitely help stabilize your home movie making, and might help you become the next net video sensation.It’s the Pico Dolly, made for the modern era of homegrown video stars, this modular mini camera dolly can be outfitted with attachments for lights, mics, and all the peripherals you need to step up your home cinematography skills. And with a price tag of around $65, it is affordable even for someone working on a no string budget.

Link -via LifeHacker

What is a entrepreneur to do after he makes a fortune from his Flip camera company? Start his own high-tech grilled cheese restaurant, of course. Or at least, that’s what Jonathan Kaplan is doing with “The Melt” restaurant  he’s  launching. The fast food eatery will offer a variety of cheese sandwiches that can be cooked up in under a minute. Plus, customers will be able to order their food over the phone or internet ahead of time.

I don’t know about you, but I’d be happy to stop by and snack on a yummy cheese sandwich if one of these popped up in my neck of the woods.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Cornell Creative Machines Lab connected two chatbots to each other to see what would happen. You could call this a conversation, and however odd it is, it honestly makes more sense than some chats I’ve heard between real people. -via Metafilter

Link

In 1964, forward-thinker Arthur C. Clarke predicted instant global communication, e-commerce, and remote surgery. Fifty years ago, everyone had some idea of what the 21st century wold be like. Some of those ideas turned out to be ludicrously wrong. Others were eerily correct. Gamma squad has a collection of videos that show predictions of both kinds, so you can judge who was worth listening to way back then. Link

Link -via PopSci

Dave Forbes created this 60″ LED tv coat that’s powered by a 12V battery. Unsurprisingly, he designed it specifically for use at the Burning Man festival.

Personally, I’d rather carry around a tablet or laptop so I could watch television myself, but I guess I’m just greedy like that.

Link

Bill Hammack, the Engineer Guy, explains how a smoke detector works. It’s pretty geeky, which makes me marvel at the people who designed these things. Smoke detectors are very handy! Every time ours goes off, the kids run downstairs because they know dinner must be ready. -Thanks, Bill!

Since the 80s, virtual reality has been the holy grail of video gaming and entertainment.  It has often eluded the most brilliant minds who endeavored to develop it. However, two Russian brothers recently have cracked the VR code by simply putting prospective gamers inside a giant hamster ball. The ubiquitous VR headset is equipped with gyroscopes that measure the position of the gamer’s head and swivel the view of the game accordingly. Gamers enter the ball and, thanks to the wheels on which it is mounted, are able to walk indefinitely within the virtual world just as they could in the real one.

See a video of this game in action, and read about the other 8 developments at Geeks Are Sexy. Link

4) Cthulhu

Created by H.P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu is a humongous cosmic entity resembling a blend of an octopus, dragon and humanoid. Bordering on a ridiculous mishmash that would be found laughable in today’s horror scene, Cthulhu is still widely-known and loved amongst literature buffs and geeks the world over.

* The Mystery: Probably doesn’t need a list of common mispronunciations, but it’s safe to say every letter in the name other than the “l” can be pronounced one way or another.
* The Answer: Wikipedia says H.P. Lovecraft once transcribed the pronunciation as “Khlûl-hloo,” though didn’t pronounce it that way at other times. Now commonplace, the accepted pronunciation is “ka-thoo-loo;” that is, if you accept a pronunciation from a source other than the creator of the word. Lovecraft didn’t seem to have any consistent way of pronouncing it though, so we’re all better off settling on the common way described above.

You’ll also want to check out the best way to pronounce FAQ, Ubuntu, and meme, among others. Link

(Image credit: the NeatoShop)

1.

2. Bluetooth technology standards are overseen by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, a private nonprofit trade organization. The group, originally five telecommunication companies, formed around the chosen technology in order to standardize wireless communication in their various electronic components. The organization presented Bluetooth to the public in 1998. A company who wishes to manufacture anything with Bluetooth technology or use the technology in their business must become a member. The companies composing the Board of Directors are Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, and Toshiba. There are around 13,000 members today.

3. The advantages of Bluetooth technology over other systems is that it is wireless, uses very little power, and can be incorporated into a wide variety of devices. The signals are sent via very low power radio waves. The low frequency and weak power mean that devices can only communicate at a distance of about ten feet, but this is a good thing, as it means your usage won’t interfere with your neighbor’s usage (unlike WiFi). Up to eight devices can talk to each other at once, and they can communicate automatically without a user prompt.

4. The name Bluetooth came from king Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, who united Danish and some Swedish and Norwegian tribes into a single kingdom in the tenth century. The idea is that Bluetooth technology set a single standard of protocols for wireless transmission as Harald set his standard for Scandinavia. Well, sort of. Bluetooth was a code name for the project, and everyone involved knew it so well that it stuck when it went public.

5. Why was Harald called Bluetooth? The word is the English version of Blåtand, a name given to Harald, which is a combination of the old Danish words meaning “dark-skinned” and “great man”. Harald left his mark on Denmark by being the first Scandinavian monarch to convert to Christianity. He raised a monument called the Jelling Stones in the town of Jelling to memorialize his parents and declare Denmark as Christian. Harald, however, did not have a blue tooth, as far as anyone knows.

The stone shown is the one erected in the year 965, however, the rune superimposed on it is the victim of special effects.

I hope I’m not the only person on the planet who cannot understand why dining at one’s home or apartment has to be so complicated. Personally, my favorite meal situation is when I am sitting on a large boulder near timberline looking at chipmunks and pine trees, while eating a sandwich, an orange and a candy bar. The flat part of the boulder makes for an adequate table. That is my idea of dining “out”.

The act and process of preparing food, dining, and then cleaning up seems to entail too much work and too much equipment, like it was designed for the needs of a regiment of soldiers, or for a family on a large country estate in England which employs kitchen servants.  Typically, a standard kitchen with cupboards, drawers and refrigerator includes redundant and special-purpose items. There are large knives, small knives, large-size stainlessware items for serving food, small spoons, forks and knives for personal dinnerware, tiny stainlessware for olives or cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinners; there are various sizes and shapes of pots and dishes, microwavable containers and refrigerator storage containers; there are table mats and napkins; there are scouring pads, sink drain cleaning chemicals, dishwasher and/or dishwashing soap, sponges (ranging in texture from smooth to multi-surfaced artificial pads for coarse scrubbing), metal polish, stainless steal pan cleaners, sink scrubbing powders or bricks, dishwashing gloves, storage racks, bins, drawers and cupboards. And there is food: Condiments, mayonnaise, salad dressing, olive oil, vinegar, jams, jellies, frozen foods, canned foods, microwaveable foods, fresh fruit, dried fruit, milk, diet drinks, cereals of many types, coffee or tea, alcoholic beverages.

There is often wine or beer to help deal with the stress of dining.

At times, I have wondered whether food itself should be made simpler. In a gag, comedian Steve Martin once referred to an imaginary uni-food, a single substance that is all one would eat day and night, year after year. The simplicity of such an idea appeals to me. Above, I have depicted a future dining event involving seniors who eat either refurbished or uni-substance foods.

But seriously, I would be happier if the process of eating and cleaning up after a meal required as few steps as possible. Eating is, after all, simply a body function necessary for its maintenance.  If I could don some type of hat and suit that fed me, wiped my mouth, caught my crumbs and drools, I imagine I would be happy. Or, instead of having a dining suit, I would be happy having an automatic one-stop dining machine.

The illustration above shows a reasonably elegant, civilized-looking dining setup that simplifies at least some of the steps. The machine seats four.  It requires no more effort than tipping up the metal dining table – which doubles as a dish washing machine lid – when the meal is done. For this particular design to work, the dishware bottoms need magnets. I would want to study the effects of magnetism on food before I felt comfortable manufacturing and marketing my Easy-Tip Dishwashing Dining machine. What is the effect of strong magnets on food quality? Are the electrons rearranged, and if so in a good or bad way? I know for example that there are health claims made for products that enhance the quality of water when a water bottle is placed on a magnetic tray, or encircled by a flexible magnetic strip.

I have tried to think up different types of dining machines. This one, dubbed The Lonely Diner, conveniently co-locates many functions within a small space. Not shown is a pull-down computer keyboard for use with the combination TV-computer LCD screen. The Lonely Diner is designed primarily for stay-at-home, socially-inept, reclusive persons.

Other designs that might serve to integrate dining and dishwashing functions are shown above. The Kitchen Counterpart serves two individuals who eat off metal trays. When done, food scraps are tossed into a tabletop disposal, and the metal trays are folded up and slid inside the washing machine. The Tabletop Kitchen is a simpler, semi-portable design that can be placed anywhere in the kitchen. Grouped together and attached to this small appliance are water and drain hoses as well as TV, Ethernet and electric cables.

Making daily tasks more convenient is the primary criteria for many of my design efforts. The RotoTask Table Top and RotoTask Jr. are perfectly suited to the reality of lives increasingly full of distractions, which require constant tracking, juggling and multi-tasking. Often the act of eating is something we try to “fit into” our busy schedules if there is time. On the left, the tabletop rotates around a central hub containing a small dishwashing machine. Having the RotoTask appliance at home, a person can sit in one place all day, not having to search far for dishes, pans, pots, water, food, flowers, data, printer paper, pens or paper clips: everything is at hand!

Though the possibilities for various kinds of dining machines fascinate me, I need to consider that many families require a full kitchen and dining area that can serve multiple family members and friends. Moreover, most people have become dependent on and addicted to the modern belief in the need for a complicated kitchen. But if the kitchen, dinette, and dining room functions are considered an essential part of  “living” then at least the kitchen itself deserves an upgrade, one that better acknowledges modern needs! Mates might enjoy each other’s company yet find they learn little new information from each other by chatting everyday, at least less than they might learn from perusing CNN.com or Neatorama.com on the Internet. A set of sliding divider panels could be incorporated into a narrow divider wall in a family dinette. It could include a sliding LCD screen for TV and Internet. If your mate’s conversation becomes painfully uninteresting, simply shut the sliding panel and go online!

Visit Steven M. Johnson at his website.

(You Tube Link)

The USBTypewriter™ is the must have computer accessory for us old school types.

Lovers of the look, feel, and quality of old fashioned manual typewriters can now use them as keyboards for any USB-capable computer, such as a PC, Mac, or even iPad!  The modification is easy to install, it involves no messy wiring, and does not change the outward appearance of the typewriter.

Link – Via Nerdcore

We all know about the major holidays, and most of us celebrate at least a few of them. But, underneath those happy holidays that we all share, there lurks a mass of lesser known holidays that beg for our attention.

As it would happen, there exists a segment of our population that closely mirror these unsung holidays. These people work under the radar, providng society with the technology to keep life interesting. These hardworking and dedicated people, that we affectionately refer to as geeks, should get their own holiday.

Well, we’ve found some that seems to celebrate the geekiness in all of us. So, we offer these holidays in tribute to those socially crippled huddled masses that keep life advancing forward.

National Clean Up Your Computer Month – January

The geek in all of us (including you Facebookers out there) can appreciate this holiday. This is the time to take a look at our computers and give them the attention they so desperately need. We can check disk space, remove old programs, finally empty the trash, and even clean up around the computer itself. A great holiday for geeks everywhere.

Macintosh Computer Day – January 25

The Apple geeks in the crowd get to have a double computer holiday this month as January 25th is Macintosh Computer Day. If you haven’t already this month (see above), spend some time cleaning up your Macbook, MiniMac, or iMac. This would also be a great day to dig out those Apple stickers in any product boxes lying about and proudly display them. You are an Apple Geek, show it!

World Thinking Day – February 22

I did not realize there was a day dedicated to thinking. I personally believe that every day should be a day dedicated to thinking, at least on some level and at some point during said day. However, there is such a holiday, and what better day to dedicate to our ever thinking friends than World Thinking Day.

24-Hour Global Marathon for, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology – March 10-11

Geeks are not just guys – there is a very strong and dedicated segment of the population that do have double X chromosomes. The geek gals have proven to be an equal and capable group, so they definitely deserve a special holiday for themselves. What can be better than a two-day global holiday blowout that celebrates women in engineering and technology?!

Morse Code Day – April 27 (or May 24)

Geeks everywhere have heard about Morse code. Even though that has been superseded by ASCII code in most memorized tables, a tribute to the original geek code seems like a fitting way to celebrate the classic geek. From the telegraph to the cell phone, geeks have influenced our lives and given us new ways to play together online.

Geek Pride Day – May 25

It is everyone’s right to be a geek, and Geek Pride Day celebrates this on one of the most important dates in geek history, the opening day of the original “Star Wars” movie. The holiday even comes with its own geek Bill of Rights (meant to not be taken seriously, of course):

1. The right to be even geekier
2. The right to not leave your house
3. The right to not have a significant other and to be a virgin
4. The right to not like football or any other sport
5. The right to associate with other nerds
6. The right to have few friends (or none at all)
7. The right to have all the geeky friends that you want
8. The right to not be “in-style”
9. The right to be overweight and have poor eyesight
10. The right to show off your geekiness
11. The right to take over the world

Of particular interest is the last item, which just may happen at some point. (I guess it is a good thing that we are giving geeks their holidays now, it can’t hurt to be on their good side…)

Ball Point Pen Day – June 10

Pocket protectors everywhere, rejoice! Without the ubiquitous ball point pen, then geeks everywhere would have no need of the pocket protector. It would be like Superman without his cape, or Batman without his utility belt. So, I think we should really take note of this day, and everyone out there write an email to pass the word – even if ironically the emails hasten in a small way the eventual demise of the ball point pen.

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day – July 6

When you get up on a chilly winter morning and check your favorite news site and weather for the day, you should thank a geek for making sure that the server is up and running. The specialized geek responsible for doing this, is known as a webmaster, and they work tirelessly (more or less) to keep the web communicating. So, celebrate this day by taking your favorite webmaster geek to lunch. And please, keep all jokes about “downloading lunch” to a minimum.

Embrace Your Geekness Day – July 13

Some people are ashamed of their inner geek – they are afraid to be stereotyped as anti-social, and have an innate fear of fixing things for others. But on this day you can cast away your fears and embrace your desire to defrag your computer drive. Who knows, by the end of the day, you too may have an appreciation for the geek culture.

National Inventor’s Month – August

Where would we be without the geeks known as inventors? From the automobile to the TV, from the typewriter to the internet, inventors have given us ways to make our lives better and more interesting. During the month of August we can pay tribute to those inventive folks who saw the need and a way to fulfill it.

IBM PC Day – August 12

The IBM PC has probably had one of the biggest impacts on early computing than any other product, and its influence is still felt to today. Generations of geeks have cut their computing teeth on IBM PC clones, and Microsoft would not be as big as it is if it were not for the IBM PC. Geeks everywhere, wave a lighter in the air for IBM PC Day.

Google Commemoration Day – September 7

Google is everywhere, and apparently all types of geeks love (and built) Google. So it seems natural that a day celebrating Google-ness would also be a tribute to geek-ness.

Techie’s Day – October 3

Where would we be without those techie geeks that keep our office computers humming along? Without them we would soon be reduced to pen and paper, and getting a fax or email would literally take days. This October 3rd take time to appreciate your local techie geek, and give them their day by trying to avoid breaking things until at least after lunch that day.

Computer Security Day – November 30

Geeks everywhere, take note – there are such things as evil tech people, and they want to enslave your computer for their nefarious uses. Take this day to celebrate the comfort of knowing that you have taken steps to keep your computer safe. And if you need help, go find a computer geek!

International Shareware Day – December 11

Rounding out our geek holidays for the year is International Shareware Day. Shareware was created (or at least named) by uber geek Bob Wallace, and the premise is simple – try it before you buy it. This concept thrives today, where computer users everywhere download programs on a wide variety of topics daily. It just goes to show – geeks know business.

Hopefully this list of holidays will give our geeks a reason to celebrate being what they are. Without them, the world is a slower, uncommunicative, and boring place (no video games). More importantly, we all have a little geek inside of us, so we in turn celebrate ourselves.

(image credits: Flickr users Sidereal, mr.beaver, and x-ray delta one)

The Paralympics are awesome. These guys have got some major skills! The technology that allows them to perform at their best is pretty amazing, too. Take, for example, paraplegics playing hockey,  which is called sledge hockey. The first hockey sledges were tacked together from regular skates.

Now, sledge hockey players sit on sledges made of aluminum or steel. Two standard skate blades are attached to the bottom of the frame of the sled and can be adjusted based on the player’s balance and skill level. Players’ feet, ankles, knees, and hips are strapped to the sled to ensure they are properly secured. The sledge has to have a backrest, but it cannot protrude laterally beyond the armpits. Players use two sticks – one in each hand — which have a spike-end for pushing the sledge and a blade-end for shooting the puck. Sledges are 0.6m to 1.2m in length with a curved front end.

Also see innovations for Paralympic skiers, sprinters, basketball players, and more. Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mrmunchies.

Back in 1995, Clifford Stoll, PhD wrote an article for Newsweek about a emerging thing called the internet.  According to him, it was going to go nowhere.  It’s almost humorous how wrong he was.

Then there’s cyberbusiness. We’re promised instant catalog shopping–just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obsolete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet–which there isn’t–the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.

Link – via allthingsmundane

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by sish2000.

Further, the core of the technology will be the mobile camera and the placement of processed information on top of live streaming content from the camera.

We are already seeing some of it with mobile GPS applications, but 2010 will be clearly put these applications on the top shelf of mobile apps. This will allows users to get every information by integrating physical reality and virtual world.

Apple’s Tablet, the rise of online TV and more at the Link.  (Photo: Wikipedia)

Some people eat at their computers. Some smoke while computing. And some don’t change the filter on their heating and air system as often as they should. Many of us never open up our computers to see what’s inside, but that’s the first thing your computer repair expert will do. If your PC is anything like these computers, the next thing he/she will do is take a picture. The Register has six pages of these dirty, filthy pictures. Link -via Digg

Andre Walker at Griffin Law said the anonymous Tweeter targeted by the writ will get a message from the High Court the next time they open their online account.

“Whoever they are, they will be told to stop posting, to remove previous posts and to identify themselves to the High Court via a web link form,” he said.

Link

This little guy was found with a broken leg, but vets couldn’t convince themselves to put it down, so instead they gave it a bionic leg made with steel pins, nuts and bolts so she could start walking around on her own.

Cathy Jackman, a diver, spotted the tiny blue bird struggling to keep afloat off Brixham in Devon.

She plucked the distressed budgie – nicknamed Captain – from the sea and looked after him until they returned to shore.

She said: “When I first saw him he was flapping and disappearing under the water. He nearly drowned as he couldn’t take off or swim.

Link Via BoingBoing

Link

These modern fossils are hand-made in Austin by artist Christopher Locke.  Each one represents a different piece of "modern" technology that has already become extinct.

The artist has also collaborated with the local Goodwill computer and electronics recycling program, insuring that there is zero e-waste from this project.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by HeartlessMachine.

Can you imagine if, instead of “TiVo-ing” the latest episode of Lost, you were “Bongo-ing” it? “Bongo” and “Lasso” are just two of the 800 possible names the marketing folks kicked around before settling on TiVo. The final name was cobbled together from “TV” and the engineering acronym “I/O,” which stands for “input/output.” Little did they know their noun would become a verb and their oddly-named invention would forever change the way people watch television.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Evolution of Tech Logos

Everyone talks about alternative energy these days but mostly in terms of water, wind and solar. What about cars, cows and tornados?

To meet our future energy requirements, we need to rely on a huge range of alternative sources. Let’s not forget the whimsical beginnings of our efforts to harness electricity (I’m referring to the kite of Benjamin Franklin). It’s only fitting that electricity generation technologies come from left field.

Link