The Android Story

The Android Story. [INFOGRAPHIC]

A creative infographic showing timeline of various Android OS versions and updates right from the first Android 1.0 to the recent Honeycomb.

Evolution

People talk about the evolution as if the aim is to find the perfect combination of services. While it is obvious that some approaches are better than others i think one fact that get ignored a bit is that the use case and medium of the internet is always changing. The needs of social media will continue to change as long as there is social media.

Brainwaves and Android? YES PLEASE!

Brainwaves and Android? YES PLEASE!

KDDI Android App Reads Brain Activity: "
Were you ever curious about how much neural activity happens in your brain? Some time in the near future, you wouldn’t have to go to a hospital and do some tests to get the answer. KDDI, one of Japan’s premier telecommunications companies, has its R&D lab developing a portable biofeedback system that measures brain waves. It only has two hardware components: a special headset and an Android smartphone.

This is how it works. The headset (actually more of a headband) has several small sensors that can directly detect neural signals from your brain. Part of the device is a clip that attaches to one of your ear lobes and measures your pulse. You put on the contraption, pull up the associated app on your Android phone, and play three different 30-second games.
As you go through the games, the sensors pick up your neural activity and then the data is wirelessly transmitted to the smartphone and analyzed by the Android app. At the end of each activity, you’re presented with a graph that describes the state of your brain while you were playing.
The two factors measured in the graph are level of concentration or focused-state and level of meditation or relaxed-state. A diagram is also shown which maps out which parts of your brain were active during the game.

KDDI publicly demonstrated this technology at this year’s International Modern Hospital Show. The apparent thrust is towards neural technology applications in medicine. You’ve probably seen the various medical calculator smartphone apps available online but this technology surely makes a much farther leap.
via engadget

No More Google Labs

This is the sadist thing I have read all day! Google labs is part of what made Google so open and inviting to those who wanted to use upcoming products.

No More Google Labs: "Google's blog announced a surprising decision: Google Labs will be closed. It's not April Fools' Day, so it can't be a hoax.

'While we've learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we're to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead. In many cases, this will mean ending Labs experiments — in others we'll incorporate Labs products and technologies into different product areas. And many of the Labs products that are Android apps today will continue to be available on Android Market,' explains Google.

It's all about focus and prioritization, the same reasons why Google Health and Powermeter were discontinued last month. Google's CEO, Larry Page, says that Google will focus on the core products (search and ads), on the products that 'enjoy high consumer success' (YouTube, Chrome, Android) and on some new products (Google+, Commerce, Local).


Google was all about experimentation and launching new projects early to get feedback and iterate. Google Labs was the place where many of the most important Google services started: iGoogle, Google Maps, Personalized Search, Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Groups. Right now, there are 56 Google Labs products and many of them are really useful: Google Body Browser, Google Scribe, Fast Flip, Android App Inventor, Aardvark, Google Goggles, Google Moderator, Google Code Search.

While Gmail Labs, Google Maps Labs, TestTube will continue to exist, it's sad to see that the service that showcased Google's latest innovations will disappear.

Black hole cat. Stealin ur Gravity

I saw this the other say in the science building and couldn't help but take a picture.

Stream of Consciousness

I believe this is the best illustration I have ever seen of the stream of consciousness. This images shows how something such as a painting can spark a thought process that leads you to similar words and concepts as well as spacial things such as shapes and colors.

Then a Miracle Occurs

I saw this today and thought it was really poignant. This is how a lot of people try to make their arguments.