Last weekend I attended Barcamp Brighton 3. For the uninitiated like me, a BarCamp is an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants — often focusing on early-stage web applications, and related open source technologies, social protocols, and open data formats. Read more – ‘Talking QR.app at Barcamp Brighton 3’.
My new toy the Sony DSC-N2 Digital Camera (10.1MP, 3x optical zoom) 3" LCD is an awesome little toy. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2 is an upgrade of the existing DSC-N1 model. The Sony N2 derives its higher ten mega pixel resolution from a 1/1.7" CCD imager, rather than the eight mega pixel 1/1.8" imager used in the previous camera. This is coupled with the same popup Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar zoom lens, which offers a 3x optical zoom range equivalent to 38-114mm on a 35mm camera. Read more – ‘Sony DSC-N2 Digital Camera’.
Swiss design company Rinspeed, makers of the Rinspeed Splash have created a true sports car which transforms into a hydrofoil speed boat capable of a very respectable 50 kph. Under the ultra-light carbon-composite skin lies much more than just an agile and lively sports car. The Rinspeed Splash is the true incarnation of a really cool and fun sports toy. At the push of a button a cleverly thought-out hydraulic mechanism transforms the sports car into an amphibious vehicle. A highly complex integrated hydrofoil system enables the Splash to fly at an altitude of about 60 cm above the water. Read more – ‘Rinspeed Splash Hydrofoil Car’.
The Moller Skycar is a prototype personal VTOL aircraft a "flying car" called a "volantor" by its inventor Paul Moller. Its proposed features would include 275 mph (442 km/h) cruise speed, 375 mph (603 km/h) maximum speed, eight redundant, low-emission Wankel engines for safety, residential garage size, fuel consumption like a big car, a parachute for the whole machine and road capability for short distances (to be driven to a vertiport). Although current plans call for use of alcohol fuel, cheap, lightweight fuel, such as liquid hydrogen, could be used as an alternative to gasoline, as in the Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE, although the lower energy density will limit range. Read more – ‘Moller Skycar’.
From the creator of Wordpress, Matt Mullenweg, and developed in collaboration with Dougal Campbell, Ping-O-Matic is a service to notify different search engines that your blog has updated. Update pinging is a great way to increase your exposure, and there are so many different services that want that data, it is a daunting task to visit each site in turn and manually ping. Ping-O-Matic neatly fills this requirement. Read more – ‘Ping-O-Matic’.
