Daily Bits

noemi

Where Do You Update Your Facebook Status?

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facebook addict
At work? In the living room while watching TV? In bed?

I don’t know about you, but I am online pretty much throughout my waking hours. I have a convenient excuse reason, too: I work online! I am not addicted to the Internet. Neither am I addicted to Facebook. It just so happens that I need these tools for work. Just because I update my status all the time does not mean anything. I’m not like those people who update their Facebook status from – you guessed it – the loo!

Where is this coming from? I just read a press release from AIS Media, a digital agency that recently conducted a survey on where people usually update their status on Facebook; that is, where they are physically located when the access their Facebook accounts.

I don’t know what they were thinking, but they did ask a very personal question in the survey: “Do you ever use Facebook on your mobile device while you’re in the bathroom?”

I suppose the survey was anonymous as, according to AIS, 27 percent of their respondents answered yes. Of those who answered yes, 54.4 percent were women while 45.6 percent were men. More so, those who do use their mobile devices in the bathroom to update their Facebook status mostly fell in the 30 to 49 age category.

AIS, being focused on social media marketing, had some pretty important-sounding conclusions:

While it may seem humorous to survey people about their Facebook usage while in the bathroom, the results underscore the proliferation of consumer social media usage and their strong need to stay connected. For businesses and brands, social media offers an opportunity to engage potential customers like never before.

They’re probably right, but I think it means one thing: we need to get a life. (Ooops, did I just say we?)

Perfect Valentine’s Gift: A Tweet-ring

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Not everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day, but for those of you who do, here is a great idea. We’ve seen just how technology has invaded our daily lives. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are being incorporated into t-shirts, shoes, and whatnot. You may, of course, opt to choose these items as your gift for your partner on Hearts’ Day, but why go the ordinary route when you can do something (relatively) unique?

This is where tweet-rings come into the picture. Some guys in The Netherlands have decided that some tweets are meant to last forever. Cheesiness overload, I know, but I guess they’re really targeting those who are in romantic bliss. In any case, they are offering a service wherein you can have your favorite tweet engraved on a ring. You can choose from stainless steel, silver, or titanium.

Following true Twitter tradition, the maximum number of characters is 140. They even make a concession for non-Twitter users. If you do not have a favorite tweet or you do not use Twitter at all, you can choose whatever text you want on the ring – as long as you are under the 140-character limit. (Nice of them, but it defeats the tweet-ring purpose, doesn’t it?)

Here are two sample rings.

Steel tweet-ring

Here is a tweet-ring “in action”.
tweet-rings-woman-steel-full

They are both made of stainless steel – which is obviously the cheapest. I have to say that I like the idea of engraving a great tweet, but the problem is that I have more than one favorite tweet. At 89 euros a pop for a stainless steel ring, that’s going to be a bit pricey!

You can buy your tweet-rings from their web site.

Facebook Phone in the Works?

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facebook-phoneRumor has it that Facebook is trying to break into the mobile phone market. The news is not so new, as the rumor has been going around since last year. However, it is no secret that this market is booming in every location in the world. Mobile phone deals are all over the place, with telecommunications companies trying to catch the attention of the plethora of customers out there. Of course, Mark Zuckerberg and his cronies are going to give that piece of the pie a try!

Not too long ago, the Facebook CEO had tried to put the rumor to rest. Reeking of sarcasm, he went on about “novel” the idea was – of Facebook creating a mobile phone. While sarcasm may be enough for some people to shut up, there might be some truth in the speculation. Apparently, there have been some leaks providing more substantial information about Facebook’s mobile phone.

One of the most commonly cited sources for this rumor is Pocketnow, who reported specific details on a smartphone which they believe to be the first Facebook phone:

“An Android smartphone built to make messaging faster and smarter. It’s designed around the way people naturally communicate and has Facebook built into its core. The homescreen features multiple entry points to different Facebook functions, while a dynamic widget displays a feed of status updates, albums, videos and photos.”

Now one can say that just because the phone is supposed to have Facebook built into its core, it does not mean that it is going to be a Facebook phone. After all, everyone simply wants to use Facebook on their mobile devices. However, the manufacturer immediately went on the defensive and removed all references to Facebook after the rumors circulated; obviously in the hopes that the rumors will be dispelled. I say a little too late, buddies! I will not be surprised to see a Facebook phone of some sort as part of mobile phone deals before the end of this year. What’s your prediction?

A Whole New World of (Biotic) Games

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Just the other day, I had the chance to play World of Goo for the first time. Yes, I know that’s a really old game, but some of us have to work. 😉

Anyhow, the experience was a strange one as I didn’t immediately get the concept. Little blobs of black goo (sometimes white) bouncing around just didn’t tickle my fancy, so I didn’t really end up playing it for long. For those of you who are interested in this kind of gameplay – the weirder the better – then you will like these new “biotic” games.

A team in Stanford University led by Ingmar Riedel-Kruse have come up with a bunch of biotic games based on – surprise – biological processes. The main player is paramecia. Quick bio review: paramecium is a kind of unicellular ciliate protozoa. It moves – just like a caterpillar – because of the cilia covering it all over. Now do you see where this can go?

So the scientists had a lot of free time in their hands and decided to have some fun. The games they created are:
‘Enlightenment’, ‘Ciliaball’, ‘PAC-mecium’, ‘Microbash’, ‘Biotic Pinball’, ‘POND PONG’, ‘PolymerRace’, and ‘The Prisoner’s Smellemma’. I cannot even begin to imagine how these games will work, but here is a video that will aid your imagination in case you are in the same boat as I am.

Fancy a biotic game of Pac-Man or soccer? Maybe Ingmar and his team will play nice and let you have a go at their games. I think I will stick to my “traditional” games.

Wear This Shirt and Forget Batteries

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If Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Jong Min Kim (Samsung Electronics) are successful, we might not to lug around heavy batteries for our mobile devices anymore. The two guys, together with their teams, have unveiled a prototype of their pet project – a flexible energy storage device. This flexible energy storage device is made of zinc oxide nanowires which are incorporated into fibers that are used for everyday clothing. In other words, we just might have shirts and dresses that can function as batteries!

The concept is not that new, actually, but others before this current team were unable to make prototypes that were light enough. In making this new prototype, though, the team made use of supercapacitors which are so tiny that they make the idea feasible. More than being light, these supercapacitors are also very flexible, making them perfect for clothing material.

Of course, more than the flexibility and wearability, we are also concerned about the power capacity of these supercapacitors. Well, the good news is that they can be recharged very quickly and almost endlessly. Even better, the zinc oxide nanowires can be recharged by the person’s heartbeat or a light wind. So if you need to recharge your batteries – literally – you just need to walk a little faster to increase your heart rate and get a bit of wind blowing on the shirt! It does sound too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Since this is all in the development stage, we might not see “battery shirts” in the market any time soon. One thing that is bugging me though: I wonder how much they will sell for?

Photo via Me and Him

Starship Edelweiss: Trekkies Considered Yourselves Warned

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starship
I am serious about that warning for hardcore Star Trek fans out there. I saw this video YouTube, and the word starship caught my eye. Of course, I just had to watch the video. Then again, I should have heeded the red flags that were going up all over the place because of the “electronica” tag associated with it.

Now I don’t know if it’s just me, but there is something not right about the whole concept. Mr. Spock must be turning in his grave right now! Just take a look at the video and tell me if I am overreacting or what.

So what do you think of Edelweiss’s spin on starships, space, and science fiction in general?

Anyhow, the song has been around for a while – since the early 90s. The band Edelweiss is from Austria and it seems that they are not together anymore today. (I wonder if Trekkies had anything to do with that?)

To be fair to the musicians, the line about beaming up to the stars is on repeat in my head. Maybe there is something wrong with me!