Sleeping In Class: Help!

Written By: Brandon Marchek

There are two things especially important to most college students. Their laptops...and sleep. After late night hang outs, those early morning classes become painful and those long breaks in between even more painful. Some students can find themselves with nothing to do between classes, except sleep. I’ve seen it. They curl up on a bench, or on the floor near their next class...many times without a pillow.

Hafsteinn Juliusson has found a way to solve this problem, while keeping technology on the move...the NapBook, a computer bag that doubles as a pillow. Although professors may not appreciate it if students starting whipping out pillows and falling asleep in class, it would be a step up for those students using their book bags to sleep on during those midday naps. Its a simple thought of attaching a pillow to the top of a computer bag. Its almost a surprise it hasn’t been thought of yet.

Unfortunately for American students, this product is still not available in the US. In fact, this stylish Apple product is only available in remote Apple stores across Iceland. Hopefully they will make their way overseas soon. However, I’m sure you could expect to pay Apple prices for it, so it might be worth it to just bring a pillow to class.

Frosty's Worst Nightmare

Written by: Brandon Marchek

Its already started to snow in Dayton, Ohio...only an hour north. And if you were up early this morning, you might have seen a small dusting of snow on the ground here in Cincinnati. Winter is well on its way.

Each week, I go from gadget site to gadget site finding those unique technological wonders worthy of talking about...or at least mentioning. This week, with the dramatic climate change, I’ve found something, perhaps, worth purchasing...Ice Melting Stair Treads.

Designed to be extremely durable, these outdoor waterproof rubber treads can be placed on any outdoor staircase, or sidewalk and will heat up to melt two inches of snow per hour. Those who have spent hours of snow each winter know this is an awesome idea. Not only does it keep your sidewalk clean and safe, it also saves you time, and perhaps money if you prefer to put bags of salt down to melt the snow.

I haven’t had the chance to watch one of these works, but the idea alone is genius...especially for a society that is becoming increasingly lazy. If you don’t want to spend the time, or you are physically incapable of shoveling snow...for approximately $150, you can find this product in various formats online.

Target Gift Cards: A Little Too Much?

Written by: Brandon Marchek

This holiday season, Target is going a little crazy with its newest gift card design. Previous cards have been designed with reflective surfaces, cakes and candles, and other variations including the well known Target logo. However, this year, Target plans to go one step further...turning a camera into a gift card, or perhaps a gift card into a camera.

The new design on the Target gift card is actually a 1.2 Megapixel digital camera with an 8 MB memory. Definitely a unique idea. It also comes with a USB cord, driver disk, instruction manual and a voucher for 40 free prints at Target photo centers.

If I wanted a camera, I would probably want to just have a camera. With a 1.2 Mega pixel chip, its almost worthless in todays standards with cameras starting above the 5 megapixel range. I’d almost just want to get a regular gift card, with the option of the 40 free prints...you could bypass a few steps and it would be much easier. It seems to me, that its basically a camera with a barcode.

I do give them some credit, however, it is a novel idea. Maybe a stepping stone for those without camera phones (which is basically the new norm anyway...but there are still some without). The picture quality won’t be that great, but for on the spot photos, I guess its a start.

Can’t Find That Perfect Picture Spot?

Written by: Brandon Marchek

If you don’t take that many pictures, then finding those great locations again might not be a problem. However, if you take hundreds of pictures like me on any given day, then finding those spots might be a bit more difficult. You can also count on forgetting the shutter speed and aperture settings as well.

Unless of course, you have a GPS built right into your camera. Its a different feature, but one that I find particularly useful. Built within the new Nikon CoolPix 6000 is a GPS that tracks the latitude and longitude of any shot you take, as well as the shutter speed, time and aperture. No longer will you have to remember the location of your shots (although you probably will if the shot is good enough), the camera will do it for you. So, in case you’re traveling on an unfamiliar trail, and snap a few photos, remembering where you took them won’t be a problem.

Also, the camera includes this information in the photo’s data file, so helping other photographers find the same place will be a breeze. Once you upload it to photo sites like Flickr or Picasa, the information will be displayed on global map. However, if you want to keep your special spot a secret, you can always turn off the GPS.

This camera also boasts full manual and automatic features, 13.5 megapixels and low-light shooting up to ISO 6400. Add that to Nikon’s impressive photography name, and you have an impressive point-and-shoot camera. Although it is a bit pricey for point-and-shoot, starting at $500, for what you are getting its reasonable. My 8 megapixel, ISO 1000 camera, without GPS was almost $100 cheaper, and had less features.

It will be interesting to see where Nikon will be headed next.

Flying Machines with Artificial Intelligence: Is this really good idea?

Written by: Brandon Marchek

Stanford scientists feel accomplished, and in a way, they should. They have successfully created a flying machine that has taught itself to fly, who wouldn’t be pumped?

Like boys with toys on steroids, these scientists have equipped their four-foot long helicopters with artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Mix that with the help of a human controlled helicopter and voila, the AI taught it to fly. The AI helicopter was able to pick up on and perform flips, rolls, knife edge turns and inverted hovers. Some maneuvers were so impressive that they may have out performed the capabilities of most real helicopters.

Companies are starting to contact the research group in hopes to make these helicopters fit into surveillance and mapping. The current price tag? $4,000 dollars. Which, all things considered, isn’t that bad. But is it really a good idea?

My thoughts, no. In a world of increasing technology, and a need to fill voids, these helicopters might find themselves thrown into the commercial world, and AI placed on fixed wing aircraft, replacing pilots. History has shown that small breakthroughs like this don’t stay small for long. Soon, companies and scientists will want to put AI on everything.

It a fixed environment, like a factory, where AI machines can be locked down and monitored by a human presence...it might be beneficial. However, in a different environment, where AI is free to roam the skies on the belief that it will stick to what its supposed to, it might be a different situation.

In a world where emphasis is being placed on computer attack, would you really want something being computer driven? Even if only placed in the civilian world for surveillance and mapping, or the transportation of passengers, a flying machine can be dangerous. I could be paranoid, but there are some places AI shouldn’t be, and thats in the sky.