I just discovered (I have to admit that I had not to look very far) a small feature of the Opera browser (from version 9): the voice interface. This is fascinating, Opera accepts voice commands and can read the contents of a web page.
You have to first install a small add-in module (that is immediately downloaded from the Internet and available from a button in the icon bar of Opera) to reach these features. After a few seconds or minutes, the Internet user will be able to use his or her browser by pressing on a key to start the browser listening to your orders. Simple: Insert key, Baby open page, Insert key, and a new page opens. You must keep a relatively good American English accent, but it works quite well (even with a lot of background noise).
On the other side, you can request Baby read to listen to Opera reading the first lines of the page or the selected paragraph you previously selected.
Nota bene: I told Opera that I prefered to use Baby as a prefix to all commands rather than the bland Opera prefix; I find this cuter.
A feature that you must try too. In a free browser of very high quality.
A zoo cheetah cannot be released in the wild if it is not able to hunt. And this is the fastest running hunter - if trained. So, how do you exercise a cheetah in order to prepare it for possible wild life?
If you want the best possible Flash memory storage for your camera, you need to look for a good Flash memory card. But which one is the best? Just look at those tests:
And remember that the fastest memory cards are no longer needed if you are not using one of the biggest SLR cameras and in RAW mode. However, a fast memory card is still useful to get the data into Photoshop (if you have a really good flash card reader on your computer, not the first 13-in-1 USB reader on eBay).
With VozMe, it’s easy to have your computer read a text. In English (but also in Spanish and in Italian), you will get an MP3 file with your text read by the slightly-metallic voice of your computer.
One of the greatest minds and authors of the 20th Century just died. Arthur C. Clarke was very well known for some of his highly acclaimed books (think about 2001: A Space Odyssey and the collaboration with Stanley Kubrik on the movie with the same name). Some of them were only known to Science Fiction fans (Rendez-vous with Rama, The Fountains of Paradise, for example).
But Sir Arthur C. Clarke was also the author of significant steps for science like the observation that geostationary satellites would be the practical solution to many telecommunication issues. I can vividly remember my reading of Interplanetary Flight; an introduction to astronautics, where in 1950 he stated very clearly concepts like the multi-stage rocket or the geostationary satellite and why they should be prefered to other technical solutions.
The old man (born on 16 December 1917) was living in Sri Lanka where he appreciated the leisure of all-year-long scuba diving.
Science Fiction can no longer be the same after he left us.
Arthur C. Clarke died at the age of 90 from respiratory complications linked to the post-polio syndrome that forced him into a wheelchair for his last years.
This is a special gift to all readers from Ireland: You are continuously the country where visitors spend more time on this web site (more than 4 minute per visit) from all countries contributing more than 20 visits per month.
Special for St Patrick’s Day: If you stare at the image, the clover leaves will start moving.
Most people did not really notice this bit of information: The United States of America reached a point where 1,6 million Americans are in jail. This is nearly one percent of the 230-million population.
I am starting to believe that this is (maybe not only) a way to manage a significant part of unemployment. When a society has 1% of its people behind bars, this is becoming not only a marginal management of violence but a strategy to economic management of population. One of the first advantages there is that it has a visible impact on unemployment (jailed people do not look for a job).
Has jail become a nation-wide population control system?
2008 will be the year of the triple core CPU. AMD started to ship the Phenom chips in various configurations.
As said before, this is a great way for AMD to differentiate itself, but the prices are not expected to go down immediately. Either because AMD does not want to shoot itself in the foot or because the quantities will not be huge for a few more weeks.
Let’s wait for the next price war between Intel and AMD, remembering that most games do not take advantage of more than 2 cores.
If you have a nVidia graphics card on your PC, you can get a free download of recent games from Steam / Valve.
For a limited time, if you qualify (you only need your PC to hold a nVidia graphics card), you can donwload a free copy of the following games from Steam just by creating an account or having an account on Steam.
Portal: First Slice (11 levels of this new innovative game from Valve)
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (networked FPS)
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (FPS technology demonstrator)
Peggle Extreme (a relatively simple game inspired by old brick games)
Look! It’s a free offer for only half of the PC owners in the world.
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