After being in the testing phase for quite a while, Microsoft released it’s new application “Photosynth” – a software which can assemble 3D words of a photographed object. Using pattern recognition techniques, Photosynth can find similarities in the different images, create matching points and thus make a point cloud of all the images.

A small plugin available for Firefox and Internet Explorer lets you see the “synths” created in your browser. With another small program you can create and upload your own synths.

The official website describes Photosynth as the following:

Imagine being able to share the places and things you love using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the mind-blowing detail of the real world. With nothing more than a bunch of photos, Photosynth creates an amazing new experience.

Here you can see an example of some images fitted perfectly together and their point cloud:

  

There are many nice examples on the Photosynth website, try it (http://photosynth.net/) or just create your own synths!

Google’s new browser Chrome: innovative, fast, safe, the perfect all-round browser. But is it really as great as it sounds? It has got many new features, including the new V8 JavaScript engine, dynamic tabs, crash control, incognito mode, and so on.

But many people criticize the new “box for everything”, as Google calls its adress bar. As you type, it suggests websites from your history or favorites, but also websites which match your search criteria. This is realized by sending whatever you type to Google, including a unique browser ID. Using this browser ID, Google can track your internet activity all the time. There are ways to disable this tracking, but who really knows about this trick?

Now there is a German Company who used gaps in Google’s BSD license to create a full version of Chrome without any personal data transmitted to Google using the open source code of Chromium (the code on which Chrome is based) and reverse-engineering of the original Chrome browser.
The result is called “SRWare Iron”. You might try it anyway, here’s the link:

German: http://www.srware.net/software_srware_iron_download.php

English: http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron_download.php

Regarding to Google, “Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier”. Unfortunately, each Google Chrome installation contains a unique ID that allowing identifying its user. Google doesn’t make it an easy job to remove this ID.

But luckily there are nice guys out there who help you to use Chrome anonymously! You can download a little tool called UnChrome, which makes your browser clean with just one click!

Download it here

The new Mini Barebone System, produced by Shuttle, has got a touch screen in the front wall of the case. The user can control the computer without external mouse, keyboard or screen, so it can replace e.g. a HiFi system.

With its Intel G31-Express-Chipset, the mainboard can be equipped with modern Intel-Core-2-Duo-Processors and up to 4 GB DDR2-Memory. There are SATA2 interfaces for HDDs and PCI-Express slots for TV tuners. The system is available at around 300€ (US$ 450) without CPU and RAM.

Equipped with a HDMI interface and Blu-Ray drive, it would be a quite cool machine for the living room, I think. You could watch movies in Full-HD quality, listen to internet radio or all your music stored on a big hard drive, or play even games on a big 52 inch flatscreen. I’m not quite sure whether you can add one of the new graphics cards to it, since it only has a PCI-Express 1.0 slot.

Hey guys,

Just yesterday I started a new site with the best receipes for milkshakes and cocktails. I write it only in German, but the Google Translation isn’t that bad actually. I hope you like it and enjoy the drinks!

Original (German) site: http://www.multimolti.com/rezepte/

English Google Translation: Link

If you always want to have the latest stuff from my blog on your iGoogle page, just click here! You will see this page:

When you added it, it should look something like this on your iGoogle page:

Enjoy it!

The next time you see a rat crawling in your basement, it may not be as innocent as you would think. Perhaps it’s your neighbour spying on your inventory? Or the CIA checking whether you are planning terrorist activities!

Scientists have found a way to send signals to a rat’s brain and thus controlling its movements. A backpack receives radio signals sent from a nearby laptop (up to 500m away) which are sent to electrodes implanted in the rat’s brain. The brain recognises this small electrical stimulus and interprets it as an object touching its whiskers.

Continue reading…

The “Intelligent Surveillance and & Security Guard Robot” or “Samsung SGR-A1” is an autonomous guarding robot designed to protect the South Korean border. It was developed by Samsung Techwin, a subsidiary of the Samsung Group. The robot can detect intruders from North Korea, raise the alarm, and, if necessary, fire at them with its top mounted machine gun. It is the first robot to have surveillance, tracking, firing, and voice recognition systems built into a single unit.

“Until now, technology allowed these robots to conduct monitoring functions only. But now our robots can detect suspicious moving objects, literally go after them, and can even fire at them!”
Sang-Il Han, principal research engineer at Samsung Techwin

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There is a newer tutorial available which also allows Windows Update and so on, better follow this one.

You want to install Internet Explorer 7 oder Windows Media Player 11 on your Windows XP computer, but without validating your Product Key with the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) tool (I don’t ask for reasons…)? Then I’ve got the easiest hack for you to make your Windows genuine!

To bypass the WGA check, you can simply tell your computer, that the check has previously been made, and that its result is that your Product Key is correct. The information about this is stored in your Registry, so by adding some more entries to it, the installation of WMP and IE will think you passed the check.

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When you think about modern 3D shooter games, such as Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Serious Sam 2, they all require at least 2 GB of your hard drive, or even more. But they have great graphics, big levels, nice game engines and so on.

Now imagine a game which also has 3D graphics, lighting, textures, sound, enemies, nice effects, and consists of a single file with 95 KB! Doesn’t sound real, does it? But go on and try it!

Continue reading…