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Nike launched a new iPhone app yesterday called True City (iTunes link) with the slogan “Make the hidden visible.” The app provides hyper-local, real-time information for 6 European cities. It combines expert curation of news and events info, crowdsourced information discovery (with a chance to become an official guide), push notifications, QR codes printed and posted around the city and apparently a little Augmented Reality. Of course True City also lets you learn about shoes you can buy.

It was built by AKQA, the same design firm that made the truly useful Augmented Reality app for the US Postal Service that lets you see if an object you’re holding up to your computer will fit in a postal shipping box.

Sponsor

Design blog PSFK says that with the app, Nike appears determined to build “an army of hyper-local, mobile-connected advocates.“

Can an apparel company’s app compete with local content from companies specializing in that kind of work? As one reviewer wrote on the iTunes store, “Do you want bar recommendations from Nike? Nice app but no content. Will never compete with the likes of Yelp. Pointless really.”

Presumably the expert contributors for each city will try to help overcome these limitations. Would you be interested in a handful of select people recommending places, events and news for your local area? As one component of a larger hyper-local news and events source that sounds great to me. In fact, I think it’s a model that would serve any location based social network well.

The Downside of Corporate Portals Into Your True City

Nike may very well be able to dazzle a substantial number of users into using the app with its remarkable design, but there is still some concern about building your connection to your local area through the sterile lens of a marketing campaign. There are certain important but unpleasant things that seem unlikely to be served up on such a platform. Nike’s app makes the hidden visible, right?

Nike’s home town of Portland, Oregon for example, is a major hub of international sex trafficking. Matters like that are far more likely to be reported about by institutions that place the public interest of their communities, namely newspapers, than they are by mobile marketing apps, no matter how cool, hyper-local, curated, crowdsourced and augmented they may be. The True City campaign says it’s performed “all with Nikeʼs unmistakable irreverence” – but I think that just means it’s sassy advertising.

None the less, the technology and strategy is an interesting data point in the unfolding history of hyper-local, mobile technologies.

Discuss

When it comes to 3D television, I don’t see it. Literally. The technology that’s supposed to convince me that a 3D image exists when I look at a 2D screen doesn’t work for me.

Nor does it work for a small but significant percentage of the population—4 percent to 10 percent, depending on which expert you ask. Millions of people like me are being left behind by content and hardware companies as they move to 3D.

I don’t mean to complain. It’s not the end of the world. Flat-viewers, like me, can watch 2D versions of 3D content. I saw “Avatar” in the non-3D version. As a bonus, the theater was nearly empty—the 3D showing down the hall was more crowded. Plus, we didn’t have to wear those dorky glasses.

Of course, we are social beings, and not being able to view 3D means that group or family outings to 3D showings are awkward for the flat viewers, who may have to sit through a showing that will cause headaches or just look bad to them. But the flat-viewer’s experience with 3D imagery can vary. While I find viewing 3D imagery uncomfortable, Daniel Terdiman, another person at CNET who can’t see 3D, saw the 3D version of Avatar and wore the 3D glasses. It looked fine to him, just not 3D.

Manufacturers are mute
At CES this year, the trend toward 3D in home television sets was unmissable, but there was no mention by the manufacturers of how this move would affect flat viewers. I was curious how the hardware companies, which fight for every point of market share jealously, could cavalierly ignore the large number of us who won’t like this new direction. It’s a lot of market. How are they planning to deal with losing it?

Oddly, none of the HDTV manufacturing companies I reached out to could provide a direct comment on this topic, but I did talk with people familiar with the industry and with an optometrist who has a vested interest in promoting the growth of 3D content viewing.

Bruce Berkoff of the LCDTV Association and formerly a marketing executive at LG, noted that for all the hype around 3D, the television manufacturers are not really investing much in putting products on store shelves, nor are they expecting consumers to pay for it yet. Adding the capability for televisions to display alternating images for stereoscopic viewing through electronic shutter glasses is not expensive. It’s the glasses themselves that are, and only a few 3D-capable sets actually come bundled with them. So consumers will be able to soon buy televisions ready for 3D without spending much.

Berkoff, and everyone else I talked to about 3D TV, reminded me that a good 3D TV is also a good 2D TV. You should be able to turn off the 3D display features and view content designed specifically for 3D but in 2D: You just show the view for only one eye. If the refresh rate of the program is high enough, you should not notice much of a difference in picture quality.

Get your eyes examined
From the optometrist’s perspective, the inability to process stereoscopic imagery is, for many people, a treatable condition. Dr. Brad Habermehl, president of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, told me, “You don’t have to be a 3D refugee if you get to the root of the problem. The majority of stereo-blind people really can be helped.”

Habermehl says that there are methods to teach people to see in 3D. Using graduated methods and physical aids (lenses) as “training wheels,” he says, people can eventually learn how to “point both eyes to focus on the same space.” It’s like riding a bike. Once you learn, the training wheels come off and you can’t imagine not doing it. “Vision is definitely learned,” he says. “That’s what vision training is.”

The doctor sounded to me suspiciously like a spokesperson for the 3D television manufacturers, or at least a recipient of some marketing dollars from them. But he’s not. “It would be nice if they would fund us,” he said. But after reminding me that “Avatar” had already made $1 billion in box office receipts, he added, “I don’t think the industry is worried about this.”

Personally, I have no interest in undergoing medical treatment just so I can spend more money on consumer electronics. Although Dr. Oliver Sacks, in a compelling New Yorker article, Stereo Sue, did make me wonder what my kind is missing. (Related reading: Fixing My Gaze, by Sue Barry, a subject of Sacks’ story.)

And regardless of whether you see in 3D or not, the technology is inexorably changing the visual language of movies and television shows. When directors create shows for 3D, they can’t rely on cinematic methods viewers are used to in 2D for conveying action, depth, and movement. Hard cuts and swooping camera moves can disorient viewers new to 3D. The new standard of practice is to lock down the camera and move the action around it, instead of the reverse, which is the case in today’s 2D movies. Good 3D movies today will appear subtly more stately and cinematic than 2D shows.

The future of the 3D feature
For all the hype at CES, 3D for the next few years is likely to be a “feature” in the new crop of TVs, according to Gary Merson of the HDGuru3D site. “It’s not black-and-white to color,” Merson says. “It’s a feature, like Internet connectivity and stereo.” He also points out that the content is not there yet, and that many consumers have only recently upgraded their tube televisions to HD flat screens.

For people like me, for whom the world is flat, this feature can not roll out slowly enough.

This story originally appeared on CNET

To put this into perspective, the S&P 500's total adjusted market cap is just $13.5 trillion according to the latest data sheet from Standard & Poor's. That means China's forex reserves could buy 18% of the S&P500.

Furthermore, if they were to keep growing at the current rate (even though they probably won't), within five years they could theoretically buy half of the S&P500. Now that could be some seriously massive fund flow, even if it isn't likely to happen or even possible.

The funny thing though is that if somehow it did happen, and wasn't blocked, such a major purchase would essentially be the union of the American economy with China's. Imagine that. It would probably make war an even dumber notion between the two nations even if it lead to some massive political clashes.

Note that it wouldn't be a 'takeover of America' either. The oft-ignored statistic is that American households have over $50 trillion of private net wealth alone, far more than the U.S. government has debt and far more than China has reserves. So it's not like Americans wouldn't be able to still own the majority of their country either.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Economist: Just Because China Is Kicking Your Ass Doesn't Mean It Must Be A Bubble
• Why Google Wasn't Winning in China Anyway
• Morgan Stanley: China's Central Bank Has Tightened And Now Everyone Will Follow

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

As a sign of how devastated Haiti is after the earthquake, the team of Children’s Hospital Boston employees, including Shannon Manzi, Emergency Department pharmacist, David Mooney, MD, MPH, director of Trauma Program and Gary Fleisher, MD, Children’s pediatrician-in-chief is still attempting to land with their supplies in Haiti; they left the United States more than 24 hours ago.

Their plane flew all the way to the airport in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, only to be turned away last night as there were no lights or traffic control to guide the aircraft safely. They were  diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands to refuel, but the team hopes to make a second attempt today.

We’ll post updates as soon as we receive them, so keep checking back for the latest news.

Read some tips from Children’s psychiatrist Stuart Goldman, MD, about how to talk with your children about the situation in Haiti.

Déjà remplacée par la Punto Evo dans la gamme Fiat, la Grande Punto s’apprête à passer également la main chez Abarth dans les semaines à venir. Et le menu ne s’arrête pas à l’esthétique…

–> Retrouvez toute l’actualité en continu des marques du groupe Fiat sur les Fils News: Chrysler/Lancia, Fiat, Alfa Romeo.

–>Ci-dessous un premier rendu signé Alvolante.it. Si la voiture de série, qui est prévue dès février en Italie au prix de base de 19 000€ , ressemble effectivement à ce rendu, l’évolution de la face avant fera davantage l’unanimité que sur la Punto Evo…

-D’après ce même site, l’Abarth Punto Evo devrait conserver les feux arrière sans leds de la Grande Punto. Pourquoi? Mystère… Tout le reste, notamment à l’intérieur suit la même évolution qu’entre les deux générations de Fiat.

-C’est mécaniquement que les évolutions sont les plus attendues, et de côté l’Abarth ne devrait pas décevoir avec sa boite double-embrayage associée au 1.4 Multiair en 170 cv., et même en 200 cv. sur la « esse esse ».

-Voilà qui fera plus envie aux amateurs de vraies petites sportives que les citadines déguisées révélées aujourd’hui; la Clio S et la Corsa Color Race… 

A suivre très rapidement maintenant, avec probablement d’autres fuites ou des photos officielles dès les prochains jours!

Nouveau: pour profiter facilement et rapidement des notifications de nouveautés sur le site, pensez à vous abonner via Twitter. Chaque modification, nouvel article ou nouvelle vidéo sur notre chaîne Youtube, fait l’objet d’un Tweet immédiat!

by Gary Nabhan

Editor’s note: This marks the launch of Climate Change and Food Culture, a series of posts by Gary Nabhan about how climate change threatens to stamp out some of the globe’s most celebrated foodstuffs, and along with them the farming and cooking cultures that created them.

——————-

Dazzling diversity under threat: a woman sells peppers in a Central Asian bazaar. Most Turks live on the water’s edge in the far western reaches of their vast country. But many of the spices that perfume the air in Turkey’s famous urban bazaars come from the nation’s southeastern farming areas of Sanliurfa and Kahramanmaras. In fact, spices from this region rank among the most highly prized condiments and herbs you can find in any spice emporium anywhere.

As I wandered through the Misir Carsisi Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, and the Kemeralti Bazaar at the western terminus of the Silk Road in Izmir, I could see the chile powders, pastes and dried fruits from Sanliurfa and Kahramanmaras proudly and prominently displayed.

Urfa and Maras peppers from Turkey have the same international fame that Aleppo (Halaby) peppers do from Syria, Tabascos do from Louisiana, or Habaneros do from the Yucatan. But their prices are soaring and supplies are becoming scarce—not merely because of international demand, but because of drought and agricultural water scarcity triggered by global climate change.

The same climate-driven pressures are affecting the survival of the Halaby pepper and its traditional farmers near Aleppo, Syria. In the past three years, 160 Syrian farming villages have been abandoned near Aleppo as crop failures have forced over 200,000 rural Syrians to leave for the cities. This news is distressing enough, but when put into a long-term perspective, its implications are staggering: many of these villages have been continuously farmed for 8000 years. As one expert puts it, this may be the worst long-term drought and most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilizations began in the Fertile Crescent many millennia ago.

One of Turkey’s gifts to the globe’s cuisine: ground Maras pepper at the celebrated Misir Carsisi bazaar in IstanbulThe thousands of tourists and residents who purchase Urfa and Maras chiles in Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar may not yet realize it, but their access to these world class spices is being disrupted by climate change. Since 2007, rains in some forty Turkish provinces, northern Syria and eastern Iraq have been 30 percent to 40 percent of their normal levels. The drought in southeastern Anatolia has reduced harvests by 80 percent. In Syria, 60 percent of the agricultural lands have been affected by these droughts.

In Iraq, 2 million rural residents have been left without water. Many irrigation canals remain dry, as the only water reaching rivers like the Euphrates is being usurped by cities upstream. Downstream on the Tigris-Euphrates delta, saltwater intrusion is making domestic water unpotable. Between the three countries, perhaps five million people have been directly affected.

Peppers are perhaps the most widely-used spice, condiment and vegetable in the world, but the devil is in the details. Many folks cannot tolerate the heat of a Bhut Jolokia or Habanero, but prefer the milder, smokier aroma of a Urfa or Chilpotle. And yet, we can no longer take unrestricted globalized access to such culinary treasures for granted. Our own patterns of consumption and proliferation of greenhouse gases are endangering the very things that give us pleasure.

Think about it. The loss of farmers from Saliurfa, Kahramanmaras and Aleppo—far away places you may have never heard of before—is our own plight. Our food security and access to treasures of world food culture are linked to their water and land security. One heirloom chile pepper blinking out may not be all that great of a loss, but the cumulative loss of food biodiversity driven by climate change will touch us all.

Related Links:

The Investor Game of Chicken

Climate and Race

A water perspective on Copenhagen and beyond

The freshest movies on Netflix Watch Instantly come via Starz Play, an arrangement where Starz resells Netflix their movie licenses. As predicted, studios are playing hardball with Netflix, and Disney movies could be the first to poof from instant streaming.

Disney’s currently in negotiations with Starz for the rights to its movies over the next few years, and it wants a lot more money from people who watch Starz online—like through Netflix—and if things go badly, it could mean no more Disney or Dreamworks movies on Netflix streaming, according to Bloomberg. (Of trivial, probably inconsequential, note: Steve Jobs is the single largest shareholder of Disney, owning 7 percent of the company, so there is a mild conflict of interest.)

It looks like a rough patch for Netflix and its ambitious plans for Watch Instantly, now obviously the focus of its business. (Why else would Netflix give up a whole month for new releases from Warner Bros. in exchange for better streaming rights? And notice the switched tab arrangement on the Netflix homepage, putting Watch Instantly first.) Expect these battles for streaming rights to repeat themselves with basically every major studio, and expect them to get bloodier. Nobody’s conquered internet video, at least not the way iTunes wrapped its arms around digital music, but Netflix is, in many ways, damn near the closest, a fact not lost on the major studios. And they’re not going to make it any easier for another company to wield that kind of power. [Bloomberg]

Now that everyone knows the iSlate is real, the question is: what the hell is this thing going to be like? How will it work? What will wow us about the iSlate that we never really expected?

A tipster just dug up some great details about a new multi-touch gestures that may help answer these questions [CrunchGear summarized many other cool gestures here]. Obviously, we don’t know if Apple will use this technology, but patents from a company they previously acquired, Fingerworks, reveal two patents that might apply to the new Apple Tablet.

The first one enables you to write on a touchscreen in the same way that you would a piece of paper.

You clench your fist and pinch your thumb and index finger together like you’re holding a pen (see image above). Now, if you press your hand down to the tablet with this position, you can now write like you would on a piece of paper. Of course, it might be weird at first: you’ll probably hate the fact that you don’t have anything in your fingers, but we all thought the same thing about not having a keyboard. I’ll take the wait-and-see approach: if this does land itself on the iTablet, it’s definitely something I could see myself using. From the patent itself:

[0129] FIG. 15 is a proximity image of a right hand in a pen grip configuration. The thumb 201 and index fingertip 202 are pinched together as if they were holding a pen but in this case they are touching the surface instead. Actually the thumb and index finger appear the same here as in FIG. 14. However, the middle 203, ring 204, and pinky 205 fingers are curled under as if making a fist, so the knuckles from the top of the fingers actually touch the surface instead of the finger tips. The curling under of the knuckles actually places them behind the pinched thumb 201 and index fingertip 202 very close to the palm heels 206, 207. The knuckles also appear larger than the curled fingertips of FIG. 14 but the same size as the flattened fingertips in FIG. 13. These differences in size and arrangement will be measured by the pen grip detector 17 to distinguish this pen grip configuration from the closed and flattened hand configurations.

Another patent enables the touchscreen to identify if you are typing or if you just happen to have your hand on the screen. Similar to the way the iPhone detects that you are holding your phone up to your face to talk, this may be a small feature that goes a long way towards improving usability of the iSlate.

[0295] The typing recognition process described above thus allows the multi-touch surface to ergonomically emulate both the typing and hand resting capabilities of a standard mechanical keyboard. Crisp taps or impulsive presses on the surface generate key symbols as soon as the finger is released or decision diamond 792 verifies the impulse has peaked, ensuring prompt feedback to the user. Fingers intended to rest on the surface generate no keys as long as they are members of a synchronized finger press or release subset or are placed on the surface gently and remain there along with other fingers for a second or two. Once resting, fingers can be lifted and tapped or impulsively pressed on the surface to generate key symbols without having to lift other resting fingers. Typematic is initiated ether by impulsively pressing and maintaining distinguishable force on a key, or by holding a finger on a key while other fingers on the hand are lifted. Glancing motions of single fingers as they tap key regions are easily tolerated since most cursor manipulation must be initiated by synchronized slides of two or more fingers.

There is good reason to believe that Apple will be introducing a new language of touchscreen technology with the launch of the iSlate. The pen technology definitely has potential, and we’re excited to see whether it is implemented.

All of the information above comes from the US Patent website at http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Fingerworks.AS.&OS=AN/Fingerworks&RS=AN/Fingerworks.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Kevin Schopfer, the same delusional, megalomaniac architect behind NOAH is back with the Boston Arcology (BoA) floating city concept for Boston Harbor. I’m not from Boston, but my guess is that their reaction would be: “this is wicked retahded.”

But I digress. If constructed, the BoA would be LEED certified and be capable of housing 15,000 people distributed in hotels, offices, retail, museums, condominiums, and a new city hall. Of course, there would also be sky gardens and some sort of public, carbon neutral transportation system that would eliminate the need for cars.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Schopfer’s progressive thought process on this design, but there has to be more emphasis put on feasibility. Even if all of the construction goals could be accomplished, how much do you think something like this would cost? [Schopfer via Yanko Design via Inhabitat]

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There is no doubt that Americans are getting ready for electric-vehicles. According to a study released by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., electric-vehicles could account for up to 16 percent of new vehicle sales in New York City by 2015 – a figure that shows that major cities will be the first to get electric-car charging hubs.

If McKinsey’s estimates hold true, New York could see a total of 70,000 electric-vehicles over the next five years.

“Understanding the consumer perspective — both the early adopters and the rest of the market — is critical to achieving the electric-car breakthrough,” said Stefan Knupfer, the boss of McKinsey’s automotive and assembly practice in the Americas. “That’s why we carried out extensive market research in three megacities around the globe.”

Paris is expected to see electric-vehicles representing 9 percent of new-car sales by 2015, while Shanghai should see 5 percent.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

AFP
Wednesday , January 13th, 2010

One person was killed and scores injured last week as
police clashed with villagers in eastern China over the forced eviction
of farmers from rural lands, residents and a human rights group said
Tuesday.

The violence began last Thursday when about 100 hired
thugs beat farmers who had resisted eviction in the city of Pizhou in
Jiangsu province, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human
Rights and Democracy said.

It said the farmers from Hewan village had refused to move off lands where local authorities want to build a chemical plant.

“One woman was killed and another woman was severely injured
by dozens of thugs hired by the township government,” a Hewan
resident who gave only his surname, Yang, told AFP by phone.

Full article here

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The Hasty Pudding Theatricals of Harvard University has chosen actress Anne Hathaway as the 2010 Woman of the Year.

Award festivities will be held Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m. when Hathaway will lead a parade through the streets of Cambridge. Afterward, the president of the theatricals, Clifford Murray ’10, and the vice president of the cast, Derek Mueller ’10, will roast the actress and present her with her Pudding Pot at 3:15 p.m. at the New College Theatre, the Hasty Pudding’s historic home in the heart of Harvard Square since 1889. After the roast, several numbers from the Hasty Pudding Theatrical’s 162nd production, “Commie Dearest,” will be previewed at about 3:40 p.m., followed by a press conference at about 4:10 p.m.

The Man of the Year event will take place on Feb. 5.  The recipient of this year’s award will be announced next week.

For more information about the events, please contact the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ press manager, D.J. Smolinsky ’11. He can be reached at 516.729.7858 or by e-mail at [email protected].

The awards are presented annually to performers who have made a “lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment.”  Established in 1951, the Woman of the Year award has been granted to many notable entertainers, including Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Elizabeth Taylor, and, most recently, Renée Zellweger. The Man of the Year award was established in 1963. Its past recipients include Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Bruce Willis, and, last year, James Franco.

Continuing to emerge as one of Hollywood’s most engaging talents, Hathaway shot to stardom in films such as “The Devil Wears Prada.” She went on to receive nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance in Jonathan Demme’s recently acclaimed “Rachel Getting Married,” for which she was named best actress by the National Board of Review.

Hathaway has impressed audiences with her range as an actress, from her lauded dramatic performances in “Becoming Jane,” “Passengers,” and “Brokeback Mountain,” to her comedic turns in such films as “Get Smart,” “The Princess Diaries,” and “Ella Enchanted.” Hathaway also took to the New York stage last summer in Shakespeare in the Park’s production of  “Twelfth Night,” playing Viola.

Hathaway will next star in the ensemble romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” to be released in February, and as the White Queen alongside Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” hitting theaters in March.

Director Garry Marshall has said of her, “The multi-talented Hathaway is a combination of Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn, and Judy Garland.”

To purchase tickets to “Commie Dearest,” contact the New College box office at 617.495.5205. The show opens Feb. 5 at the Man of the Year ceremony and continues in Cambridge until March 7. Performances are each Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.  The company then will travel to New York to perform at Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse on March 12 and 13 at 8 p.m.  The tour continues to the Hamilton City Hall in Bermuda for performances on March 18 to 20 at 8 p.m.

WGN Radio/Chicago Cubs play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes has been named the 2009 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

This is Hughes’ eighth Sportscaster of the Year honor and his fifth in Illinois, having previously won the award in 1996, 1999, 2006, and 2007. Hughes was honored as Wisconsin’s Sportscaster of the Year in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

“Pat Hughes has a tremendous connection with Cubs fans through WGN’s powerhouse signal,” said Tom Langmyer, Vice President/General Manager of WGN Radio.

“He is a pure play-by-play artist who also brings out the magic in his partner, Ron Santo.”

The 2010 season will be Hughes’ 15^th season with WGN Radio and the Cubs and his 28^th season of broadcasting in Major League Baseball.

The award will be presented during the first week of May in Salisbury, North Carolina.

About Chicago’s WGN Radio 720

Chicago’s WGN Radio 720, the 2009 IBA Large Market Station of the Year, is dedicated to being the #1 source of Chicagoland entertainment, news, sports, and information.

WGN Radio is the official broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Blackhawks, and Northwestern University and celebrates over 85 years of broadcasting in Chicago.

For more information or to listen online visit wgnradio.com.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon will rise on DVD on March 20, 2010. On Friday, Summit Entertainment announced the date when TwiHards will be able to sink their teeth into the second DVD in The Twilight Saga.

The DVD will feature bonus material, including commentary with director Chris Weitz and editor Peter Lambert, a six-part behind-the-scenes documentary, and band rehearsal footage and music videos Muse, Death Cab for Cutie, Anya Marina, and Mute Math, the production company said in a statement.

The DVD will retail for $32.99 and the Blu-Ray for $34.99. Both go on pre-sale Jan. 26.

Eclipse, the third film in Twilight film series, opens in theaters on June 30.

I sometimes ruminate over how to meld astronomy, computers, and preaching to the public. There are lots of ways to make astronomy interesting and accessible, and lots of people turning those possibilities into realities.

One of the most interesting and clever ways to do this has been done by Jim Bumgardner: he’s created a piece of software that takes the positions of stars in the sky, maps them, and then has it make an ethereal musical tone whenever a star crosses the meridian (the imaginary line in the sky that connects due north, through the zenith, to due south). He calls it the Wheel of Stars, and it’s really very soothing and wonderful.

As he puts it:

As the stars cross zero and 180 degrees, indicated by the center line, the clock plays an individual note, or chime for each star. The pitch of the chime is based on the star’s BV measurement (which roughly corresponds to color or temperature). The volume is based on the star’s magnitude, or apparent brightness, and the stereo panning is based on the position on the screen (use headphones to hear it better).

I see this as being very useful in planetaria between shows, as a screen saver, or as a projector in a kid’s room. Things like this make me smile. I like clever people; they make the world a far more interesting place.

China, Asia | Outsider Architecture

Massive ice sculptures loom over visitors bundled up against the -15 degree Celsius weather, paired with giant snow carvings a few miles away looking down on the festivities of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.

An annual event, the Festival is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festival, holding the 2007 Guinness Record for largest snow sculpture: a two part piece of Niagra Falls and a Crossing of the Bering Strait (a migration of the First Nations, the population residing in Canada prior to European colonization) that totaled 250 meters long, 8.5 meters high, and composed of over 13,000 cubic meters of snow.

First organized in 1963, the Festival was often interrupted over the years due to the Cultural Revolution. It picked up again, this time as an annual event, in 1985. The official starting date is January 5th, lasting until February 15th, though weather permitting, the exhibitions often open a week earlier and run until March.

Each year has a different ‘theme,’ past themes including the Beijing Olympics, Chinese tourist sites, ‘Prosperous China and High-Flying Longjiang’, and ‘Friendship between China and Russia.’ The Great Wall (doubling as an ice slide), pyramids, sphinxes, terra cotta warriors, a Disney castle, towering pagodas, enormous Buddhas, and gardens are only a handful of the creative sculptures and carvings to have been a part of the Harbin Festival.

It is a competitive event, with teams coming from all over the world-the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, South Africa, France etc. During the nights of the month-long festival, lights from inside and outside of the sculptures brilliantly illuminate a variety of architectural styles, fanciful castles, mythological and historical figures, ice lanterns and slides.

Fireworks light up the sky on various evenings while the dazzling multicolored ice sculptures light up the entire ground. The ice is procured from the surface of the frozen Songhua River, then intricately carved, many of the sculptures receiving a douse of deionized water to produce an entirely transparent look. Swimming in the Songua River, Yabuli alpine skiing, an ice-lantern exhibition, ice golf, and ice archery are just some of the featured activities popular of the Festival.

During CES 2010, we were able to catch up with Ryan Biden of BlackBerry, and he was able to give us a live unboxing of the new BlackBerry Presenter device. For those unfamiliar, the BlackBerry Presenter hooks up to a monitor, projector, or display, and allows you to wirelessly give a PowerPoint presentation using a file stored directly on your BlackBerry, with no need for a PC. It’s a great idea, and you can check out the device in this episode. We will also have a demo of the device in our next episode of Bleeding Edge TV.

Here’s how to get the show:
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|Download| – iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| – Apple TV High Resolution
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Tags:
blackberry,
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keynote,
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