Google Earth is a tool that useful . It can show the picture of every place , many street view , tell the way that you want.
Ex. picture
My school (Sorry, I can't fine my house T_T)
วันจันทร์ที่ 16 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2556
Google Map - Google Earth
If you want to know the way in travelling , you must use some tools. A tool in the all , it is Google Earth.
Google Earth is a tool that useful . It can show the picture of every place , many street view , tell the way that you want.
Google Earth is a tool that useful . It can show the picture of every place , many street view , tell the way that you want.
Google Maps-Street view
If you will traveled , How did you know real place that you will traveled ? For I , I use Google Maps-Street view.
In Google Maps-Street view . It can explain about Environment , people and everything in place that you want to travel.
Example : I want to travel at Japan.
Open wepsite of Google Maps-Street view
Mount Fuji
Ex.picture
Nijo-jo Castle
Ex.picture
Adachi Museum of Art
Ex.picture
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go
Ex.picture
Microphone Turns Your Fingertip Into A Speaker
Touch your finger to someone's ear, and they'll hear your recorded message whispering to them.
Turn your body into another kind of wonderland: A new invention from Disney Research lets you record messages to your friends that they can hear only if you touch your finger to their ears. That is, your finger and your friend's ear together form a speaker that lets your friend hear your message.
The trick depends on a special microphone that Disney Research engineers invented. Named Ishin-Den-Shin for the Japanese term for "tacit understanding," the microphone records sounds and then renders them into a high-voltage, low-current, inaudible signal. The only way to hear the sound is to have someone hold the microphone and touch his or her finger to your ear. The sound is also able to move through more than one body, so if Alice is holding the microphone, Bobby can touch Alice's shoulder and Christy's ear to transmit the message to Christy. You can watch the Ishin-Den-Shin at work in a video from Disney Research.
Bodies are able to transmit sounds as electrical signals, Trevor Cox, an acoustic engineer at the University of Salford in the U.K., explained to the BBC. Cox also told the BBC that using a system like Ishin-Den-Shin probably feels pretty magical.
So what is Disney planning to do with this new magic? It's not immediately clear. Disney Research makes a lot of neat things that aren't immediately practical, such as devices that turn potted plants into touch-controlled devices. (I tried one such "control orchid" at SIGGRAPH 2012 and wavered constantly between "This is cool" and "This is weirdly useless.") But you never know when findings in one field will translate to another, and we hear playing around is the best way to learn.
The trick depends on a special microphone that Disney Research engineers invented. Named Ishin-Den-Shin for the Japanese term for "tacit understanding," the microphone records sounds and then renders them into a high-voltage, low-current, inaudible signal. The only way to hear the sound is to have someone hold the microphone and touch his or her finger to your ear. The sound is also able to move through more than one body, so if Alice is holding the microphone, Bobby can touch Alice's shoulder and Christy's ear to transmit the message to Christy. You can watch the Ishin-Den-Shin at work in a video from Disney Research.
Bodies are able to transmit sounds as electrical signals, Trevor Cox, an acoustic engineer at the University of Salford in the U.K., explained to the BBC. Cox also told the BBC that using a system like Ishin-Den-Shin probably feels pretty magical.
So what is Disney planning to do with this new magic? It's not immediately clear. Disney Research makes a lot of neat things that aren't immediately practical, such as devices that turn potted plants into touch-controlled devices. (I tried one such "control orchid" at SIGGRAPH 2012 and wavered constantly between "This is cool" and "This is weirdly useless.") But you never know when findings in one field will translate to another, and we hear playing around is the best way to learn.
Big Pic: Frog That Got Too Close To A Rocket Will Make You Laugh, Cry
This frog launched into the air by the LADEE rocket will fill you with emotions you didn't know you could produce, is what I'm saying.
So: Space Frog. What can we say about this Space Frog? A quick eulogy perhaps, since this frog, which apparently got too close to the LADEE spacecraft launchpad last Friday, almost certainly went splat shortly after this photo was taken.
But also, it's hard not to laugh, because ha, Space Frog, right? A frog, launched into the air by a spacecraft on its way to the moon. Comedy.
Apparently the launchpad at Wallops/Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport uses a pool of water to blunt the sound of a rocket firing and prevent damage to the platform. Space Frog was there, perhaps, enjoying his evening, when the rocket launched, propelling him into the air.
But Space Frog will remain, permanently floating in this photograph, and forever in our hearts and minds. Godspeed, Space Frog. Godspeed.
But also, it's hard not to laugh, because ha, Space Frog, right? A frog, launched into the air by a spacecraft on its way to the moon. Comedy.
Apparently the launchpad at Wallops/Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport uses a pool of water to blunt the sound of a rocket firing and prevent damage to the platform. Space Frog was there, perhaps, enjoying his evening, when the rocket launched, propelling him into the air.
But Space Frog will remain, permanently floating in this photograph, and forever in our hearts and minds. Godspeed, Space Frog. Godspeed.
GE's Silent MRI Scanner Has Hit The Market
Quiet scans for everyone!
GE Healthcare says they're ushering in a future full of silent MRIs with Silent Scan, a new way to reduce noise in MRI scanning that just hit the commercial market. The press materials are a little coy about how this actually works, but say that it's a "radically new" way to acquire magnetic resonance data: "in combination with proprietary high-fidelity gradient and [radiofrequency] system electronics, noise is not merely dampened; it is virtually eliminated at the source."
GizMag explained it this way:
Basically, it's a software update that changes the way the scanner acquires the image.
According to GE, the typical MRI scanner generates 110 decibels of noise when it's hard at work, which is about the same noise level as a rock concert or a steel mill. One study found that certain MRI scanners could get up to 118 decibels at their loudest point. The Silent Scanner system, which reduces the volume of the scanner to normal background noise levels, quiet enough to have a conversation over. It's now commercially available in their 1.5T and 3.0T scanners (the T refers to the unit tesla, the way to measure the strength of a magnetic field), and has been used in a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich.
MRI scanners do a good job of imaging the brain to help doctors find potential health problems. But the experience of actually sitting in one leaves something to be desired. Aside from being cramped and claustrophobic, MRI scanners can get LOUD.
GE Healthcare says they're ushering in a future full of silent MRIs with Silent Scan, a new way to reduce noise in MRI scanning that just hit the commercial market. The press materials are a little coy about how this actually works, but say that it's a "radically new" way to acquire magnetic resonance data: "in combination with proprietary high-fidelity gradient and [radiofrequency] system electronics, noise is not merely dampened; it is virtually eliminated at the source."
GizMag explained it this way:
First, acoustic noise is essentially eliminated by using a new 3D scanning and reconstruction technique called Silenz. When the Silenz protocol is used in combination with GE's new high-fidelity MRI gradient and RF system electronics, the MRI scanning noise is largely eliminated at its source.
According to GE, the typical MRI scanner generates 110 decibels of noise when it's hard at work, which is about the same noise level as a rock concert or a steel mill. One study found that certain MRI scanners could get up to 118 decibels at their loudest point. The Silent Scanner system, which reduces the volume of the scanner to normal background noise levels, quiet enough to have a conversation over. It's now commercially available in their 1.5T and 3.0T scanners (the T refers to the unit tesla, the way to measure the strength of a magnetic field), and has been used in a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Dogs Are Perfectly Happy To Socialize With Robots
Dogs will interact with social machines. But will dogs assist the robots in taking over the world?
In the centuries-old best friendship between dogkind and humankind, humans are apparently easily replaced with robots. Seemingly loyal canines are totally willing to interact with cold, hard machines, according to a new study in Animal Cognition, gazing lovingly at their robot faces and finding hidden foodstuffs that the robot pointed to. Robots, stop taking things away from us!
The study investigated whether or not dogs would be willing to interact with an unfamiliar robot. It found that the dogs would interact with a cyborg--if the robot seemed like a social being, as evidence by its ability to talk to the dog and its owner.
The PeopleBot telepresence robot used in the study looks a lot like "piece of gym equipment with a white gloved hand attached to it," as the study's press release notes. It would be hard for a dog to actually mistake it for a human being.
For the "social" condition, the robot, which has a movable arm and a touchscreen for a face, was programmed with pre-recorded words and sentences spoken by a human voice. The dog's owner would walk into the room and shake hands with the robot, and walk around the room talking with it, to indicate that the robot was a social being. The robot would then call the dog's name and drop food on the floor for it. The asocial robot would make beeping sounds instead of calling the dog by name, and the dog's owner would type on its keyboard instead of talking to it.
While the dogs didn't interact with the robot to the same extent that they normally do with humans, they spent more time hanging out near the robot or looking at its touchscreen head when the robot behaved socially. They were better at finding hidden food in the room when the social robot pointed to it, rather than the asocial one, though neither held a candle to the results when a human pointed to the food.
The study's authors write that dogs "can provide information on how to construct an efficient and believable social robot partner." Before you build a robot maid or gardener, test how much your dog likes it, is what they're saying.
The study investigated whether or not dogs would be willing to interact with an unfamiliar robot. It found that the dogs would interact with a cyborg--if the robot seemed like a social being, as evidence by its ability to talk to the dog and its owner.
The PeopleBot telepresence robot used in the study looks a lot like "piece of gym equipment with a white gloved hand attached to it," as the study's press release notes. It would be hard for a dog to actually mistake it for a human being.
For the "social" condition, the robot, which has a movable arm and a touchscreen for a face, was programmed with pre-recorded words and sentences spoken by a human voice. The dog's owner would walk into the room and shake hands with the robot, and walk around the room talking with it, to indicate that the robot was a social being. The robot would then call the dog's name and drop food on the floor for it. The asocial robot would make beeping sounds instead of calling the dog by name, and the dog's owner would type on its keyboard instead of talking to it.
While the dogs didn't interact with the robot to the same extent that they normally do with humans, they spent more time hanging out near the robot or looking at its touchscreen head when the robot behaved socially. They were better at finding hidden food in the room when the social robot pointed to it, rather than the asocial one, though neither held a candle to the results when a human pointed to the food.
The study's authors write that dogs "can provide information on how to construct an efficient and believable social robot partner." Before you build a robot maid or gardener, test how much your dog likes it, is what they're saying.
World's First 'Invisible' Skyscraper Is Not Made Of Metamaterials, Sadly
Still really weird and cool, though
We've long been interested in the progression of invisibility, which, for us, usually relies on crazy foundations like metamaterials. So when we heard that U.S.-based GDS Architects was working on an invisible skyscraper in South Korea, our ears perked up. Turns out it's not invisible in the scientific sense—it's just designed to appear that way.
GDS received permission this week from the South Korean government to begin construction on the Tower Infinity, located just outside of Seoul. It's a huge (1,476 feet tall), glassy structure, and when it's finished, it'll have the third-highest observation deck in the world. (The highest is the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China.)
The invisibility trick is achieved by using optical cameras paired with an LED facade on all sides of the building. The idea is that the cameras will capture what's behind the tower and then the facade will host a projection of that image, so it'll feel like you're looking right through it. It's the same basic idea as the "invisible computer monitor" trick, except updating live thanks to the optical cameras.
GDS received permission this week from the South Korean government to begin construction on the Tower Infinity, located just outside of Seoul. It's a huge (1,476 feet tall), glassy structure, and when it's finished, it'll have the third-highest observation deck in the world. (The highest is the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China.)
The invisibility trick is achieved by using optical cameras paired with an LED facade on all sides of the building. The idea is that the cameras will capture what's behind the tower and then the facade will host a projection of that image, so it'll feel like you're looking right through it. It's the same basic idea as the "invisible computer monitor" trick, except updating live thanks to the optical cameras.
The tower will have three different vertical sections, dividing the tower into thirds. Each section has six sides, to make it easier to display an accurate image behind it. (With fewer sides, it would be near-impossible to make sure the invisibility trick works well from all angles.)
A Device That Converts Sunlight Into Hydrogen Fuel
Canned sunshine!
Editor's Note Although batteries are great for some things, they aren't quite up to storing large-scale solar power for later use. That's why many people are trying to make fuel from light instead.
"The idea is to take the energy in light and store it as a fuel we can use later. So we made the GRAFSTRR (Gravity-Fed Solar-Thermochemical Receiver/Reactor)—a 1,000-pound cylinder of insulated steel, about 3 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall. In the lab, 10 lamps simulate only 10 to 20 kilowatts of sunlight. (In the real world, though, tens of thousands of small mirrors across a field would reflect sunlight into the reactor.) The light enters the top of the reactor and passes through a circular quartz window that keeps out air, which can contaminate the chemical reaction inside. At the light’s most concentrated and hottest point—3,000°F—it enters the reaction cavity.
Fifteen hoppers drop zinc oxide powder into the cavity. When the radiation there hits the zinc oxide, it breaks the bond between the zinc and the oxygen, making free zinc. In the future, a second reactor would use the zinc to strip the oxygen from water, making hydrogen gas.Theoretically, we could capture about 40 percent of the energy, but in lab experiments to demonstrate the design, we get less than 3 percent. Our reactor is mostly a proof-of-concept, but I think it could be scaled up in my kids’ lifetime.”
--Erik Koepf is a mechanical engineer. He worked on the reactor as a graduate student at the University of Delaware, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
This article originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of Popular Science.
"The idea is to take the energy in light and store it as a fuel we can use later. So we made the GRAFSTRR (Gravity-Fed Solar-Thermochemical Receiver/Reactor)—a 1,000-pound cylinder of insulated steel, about 3 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall. In the lab, 10 lamps simulate only 10 to 20 kilowatts of sunlight. (In the real world, though, tens of thousands of small mirrors across a field would reflect sunlight into the reactor.) The light enters the top of the reactor and passes through a circular quartz window that keeps out air, which can contaminate the chemical reaction inside. At the light’s most concentrated and hottest point—3,000°F—it enters the reaction cavity.
Fifteen hoppers drop zinc oxide powder into the cavity. When the radiation there hits the zinc oxide, it breaks the bond between the zinc and the oxygen, making free zinc. In the future, a second reactor would use the zinc to strip the oxygen from water, making hydrogen gas.Theoretically, we could capture about 40 percent of the energy, but in lab experiments to demonstrate the design, we get less than 3 percent. Our reactor is mostly a proof-of-concept, but I think it could be scaled up in my kids’ lifetime.”
--Erik Koepf is a mechanical engineer. He worked on the reactor as a graduate student at the University of Delaware, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
This article originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of Popular Science.
Angry Birds Playground: Rovio catapults gaming into the classroom
Michael Gove may not approve, but Finnish firm says its new educational programme is 'trying to do something meaningful and good with these characters'
The words of education secretary Michael Gove earlier this year, in a speech that took a further potshot at the thought of children who "while away hours flinging electronic fowl at virtual pigs".
Perhaps he's more of a Candy Crush Saga man. Unsurprisingly, there was no role for Angry Birds in Gove's plans to reform the UK's national curriculum, but his comments were disappointing for two reasons.
First: for the assumption that playing a popular game and learning to code were mutually exclusive activities, and ignoring the possibility that the former could lead to the latter, with the right resources and encouragement.
Second: what Gove's speechwriters thought was a witty rhetorical jab at an easy scapegoat belied a lack of awareness of the educational ambitions of Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, which have been public for some time.
The company has worked with the likes of National Geographic, NASA and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on science-related books and educational materials around past Angry Birds games, but now it's launching something more ambitious called Angry Birds Playground.
Developed in partnership with the University of Helsinki and based on the Finnish national curriculum, it's an educational programme covering maths, science, music, language, arts and crafts, physical education and social interaction.
Aimed at children around "kindergarten" age in Finland – around six years old – the programme's materials will include books, posters, game cards, a five-string instrument and physical games as well as digital content.
The programme was unveiled in China last week, where it will be launching first in a Shanghai early-learning centre.
"It's not just games we're talking about here: it's a full 360-degree approach to learning, where games are just one part of it. It's not learning by sitting down and playing with a digital device," says Sanna Lukander, Rovio's vice president of learning and book publishing.
"There's a real substance to it, and a healthy balance between rest, play and work. We feel it's necessary to talk about healthy nutrition and physical exercise, as part of this approach to learning, balance and wellbeing."
The University of Helsinki will remain involved with Angry Birds Playground, training teachers to use the programme, incorporating their feedback into future versions of it, and researching how effective it is.
It's about more than just exporting Angry Birds in educational clothes, then: this is about Finland exporting its educational philosophy and expertise, and using a popular brand to do it.
"We're not just putting a sticker on something, We're combining two brands. One is Angry Birds with its global reach and people recognising the characters and being motivated to learn more," says Lukander.
"But the other brand is a long legacy of work done in Finland by educational experts, and beautiful co-operation between the authorities, schools and book publishers."
She also stresses that digital games are just one element of Angry Birds Playground, with board games, sports and physical activities taking a high priority alongside elements that even a traditionalist education secretary might appreciate.
"We are studying the formats of the content carefully. We certainly believe a traditional book is good for certain parts, and also that it's important for children to use pen and paper," says Lukander.
"We also want the children to start learning about music through composing themselves, so we have the five-string instrument. It's a real instrument, not a toy. We already see them enjoying the feeling that they can accomplish something, and of music as something composed by people."
Digital elements will range from games and mobile content through to collaborative activities designed for interactive whiteboards in classrooms.
"What's most interesting is to promote the very open and wonderful dialogue that the Finnish authorities have with schools and textbook publishers," says Lukander.
"There are countries where the authorities take the decisions and let people in schools know how things should be run, but here we have an open dialogue, and work on the national curriculum together."
Meanwhile, Rovio will continue the other side of its book publishing business, working with partners like National Geographic on Angry Birds books that include educational content.
That company is releasing a new "Science Behind the Saga" book this week, for example, tying in with the release of Rovio's Angry Birds Star Wars II game for smartphones and tablets.
"I love the Society and working with their books department: they really know how to tell stories with a twist that engages children," says Lukander, emphasising again that Rovio's books business is more than a licensing cash-in.
That is the key point about something like Angry Birds Playground, though: the fact that however serious its educational intent is, the programme is also promoting a series of paid games and its hundreds of commercial spin-offs.
I suspect it will be a divisive issue for parents and teachers alike: some seeing it as unacceptable commerce in the classroom, and others seeing it as a pragmatic attempt to use children's favourite characters to help them learn as well as play.
Is Rovio concerned about Angry Birds Playground being seen as just another way to sell the Angry Birds brand?
"It's definitely something that has to be discussed, because that's not how I see it. I see the characters as engaging and motivating, because I work on the publishing side," says Lukander.
"We have authors writing beautiful stories about these characters and their world. I see them as literature. And some characters that are born from literature may also have some commercial aspects attached to them later on. I don't see that as any kind of threat."
She points to Harry Potter and – in Finland – the Moomins as existing examples of popular literary characters being used in schools to get children reading stories, and talking about some of the issues they raise.
"I could understand the concern if people thought we had the wrong people working on education content, but we have educational specialists working on this," says Lukander.
"This is not a licensing thing, and Rovio is not a games company any more. It's a media company, and like many other media companies, it has an educational arm. We're trying to do something meaningful and good with these characters."
Samsung's first smartwatch could soon be obsolete as second version looms
Lukewarm response to first version of Galaxy Gear unveiled earlier in September means new product is being readied for display at CES or MWC, says Korean site
Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch released earlier in September could be obsolete within months as it works on a new version. according to reports from Korea.
The Gear was unveiled on 4 September amid huge anticipation about the potential of "wearable computing" at the IFA show in Berlin.
But early responses were lukewarm, with testers pointing to the stated battery life of just 25 hours, and the limited number of devices with which the Gear can communicate - presently just the Galaxy Note 3 "phablet" and Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, though more are expected to be added.
The launch was seen by some as having been rushed after rumours emerged earlier in the year that Apple was working on an "iWatch" - reckoned to be a smart watch of some form. That was reinforced after the US company registered the iWatch trademark in Japan, and last week described a new "M7" processor in its new top-end 5s iPhone which could be used to monitor movement.
At the time of the Gear launch Ian Fogg, director for mobile and telecoms at research company IHS commented that the Gear was "a prototype masquerading as a commercial product—and because of that, it is unlikely to be successful in the market." He said that "the device exhibits multiple shortcomings, including a high price tag, a short battery life, its status as a companion device and its limited compatibility. The bottom line is the Galaxy Gear smartwatch probably will not succeed in the market and Samsung will need to try again with a more refined product."
Other testers noted that there was a noticeable time lag in trying to operate the device's tiny touch screen, and that the menus were unintuitive. The inclusion of speakers, a microphone and a camera puzzled them - and the $299 price was criticised as too high.
Now a report in Daum, based in Samsung's homeland of South Korea, suggests that the Galaxy Gear was "just the first… to determine the market reaction" and that an upgraded version, perhaps to be announced in January at the US Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or March's Mobile World Congress (MWC), would also offer location-based services via a built-in GPS chip.
Samsung had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.
The smartwatch and broader "wearable computing" categories are expected to become an important market. But analysts have been less persuaded by Samsung's launch into the market.
IHS reckons that smartwatch shipments will hit 268,000 in 2013, of which a large number will be from the Californian company Pebble, which has shipped more than 100,000 units and is on sale in a number of US retail chains, and Sony, which has launched its second-generation smartwatch.
IHS says that shipments will rise sharply in 2014, but only to 2.6m units. "In the longer term, shipments are expected to reach much higher volumes, with units rising to nearly 39m units in 2018," it notes.
Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch released earlier in September could be obsolete within months as it works on a new version. according to reports from Korea.
The Gear was unveiled on 4 September amid huge anticipation about the potential of "wearable computing" at the IFA show in Berlin.
But early responses were lukewarm, with testers pointing to the stated battery life of just 25 hours, and the limited number of devices with which the Gear can communicate - presently just the Galaxy Note 3 "phablet" and Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, though more are expected to be added.
The launch was seen by some as having been rushed after rumours emerged earlier in the year that Apple was working on an "iWatch" - reckoned to be a smart watch of some form. That was reinforced after the US company registered the iWatch trademark in Japan, and last week described a new "M7" processor in its new top-end 5s iPhone which could be used to monitor movement.
At the time of the Gear launch Ian Fogg, director for mobile and telecoms at research company IHS commented that the Gear was "a prototype masquerading as a commercial product—and because of that, it is unlikely to be successful in the market." He said that "the device exhibits multiple shortcomings, including a high price tag, a short battery life, its status as a companion device and its limited compatibility. The bottom line is the Galaxy Gear smartwatch probably will not succeed in the market and Samsung will need to try again with a more refined product."
Other testers noted that there was a noticeable time lag in trying to operate the device's tiny touch screen, and that the menus were unintuitive. The inclusion of speakers, a microphone and a camera puzzled them - and the $299 price was criticised as too high.
Now a report in Daum, based in Samsung's homeland of South Korea, suggests that the Galaxy Gear was "just the first… to determine the market reaction" and that an upgraded version, perhaps to be announced in January at the US Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or March's Mobile World Congress (MWC), would also offer location-based services via a built-in GPS chip.
Samsung had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.
The smartwatch and broader "wearable computing" categories are expected to become an important market. But analysts have been less persuaded by Samsung's launch into the market.
IHS reckons that smartwatch shipments will hit 268,000 in 2013, of which a large number will be from the Californian company Pebble, which has shipped more than 100,000 units and is on sale in a number of US retail chains, and Sony, which has launched its second-generation smartwatch.
IHS says that shipments will rise sharply in 2014, but only to 2.6m units. "In the longer term, shipments are expected to reach much higher volumes, with units rising to nearly 39m units in 2018," it notes.
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