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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Google Glass Wannahaves, Your Moment Is Almost Here



Google Glass Wannahaves, Your Moment Is Almost Here

Are you anxiously wondering if you've successfully talked your way into early access to Google Glass, the company's wearable augmented reality technology? You can just about stop holding your breath. Almost.
"Over the next few days," Google wrote in a post on the Project Glass Google+ page, "we’ll be sending out invitations to our Explorer Program through Google+ and Twitter. So, keep a lookout for tweets and G+ posts from @projectglass and +Project Glass to see if you’ve been invited."
Some background, if you've been living under a rock: A few weeks back Google sent out an open call for applications to its Explorer Program, inviting anyone to explain what they'd do with a Google Glass unit by using the hashtag #ifihadglass on Google+ or Twitter. The Explorer Program was a chance to get your hands on the earliest version of the wearable tech unit, the very same one that many preordered at last year's Google I/O conference for $1,500
While the contest was aimed at bringing on adventurous "explorers," it also naturally caught the attention of businesses looking to be on the forefront of wearable tech marketing. "At the moment, our Explorer Program is only for individuals," the post explained. "However, we are working on connecting with businesses in other ways." 
The suggested utilizations of Google Glass covered nearly every field imaginable, from medicine and education to gaming and extreme sports. Some highlights included augmented reality-assisted surgery, amateur astronomy and stargazing with visual overlays, and real-time language translation with on-screen subtitles, as ReadWrite's John Paul Titlow points out.  
As with many new tech innovations, there are also a number of ways Google Glass could be put to far less productive ends — a list that runs the gamut from uncomfortable infringements of privacy to downright creepiness. Some entries, few of which are likely to have gained much traction with Explorer Program judges, include watching and creating pornography with Google Glass, surreptitiously recording the opposite sex, and Google-stalking people you just met.
The scope of Project Glass appears to be wider than Google may have imagined, which means that some of these potential privacy snarls are already attracting real-world attention. Just last week, lawmakers in West Virginia introduced a bill that would ban Glass while driving, and that's only the first of what will likely be many legal issues down the road. 
Image courtesy of Google

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5 Socially Unacceptable Things You're Going To Do With Google Glass


John Paul Titlow March 11th, 20135 Socially Unacceptable Things You're Going To Do With Google Glass

The nerds are so excited. Our Internet-augmented, face-computer-wearing future is just over the horizon. Leading us there will be Google Glass, the first iteration of this particular sort of wearable, semi-immersive computing experience. If the product is successful, it will merely be the beginning.  
The anticipation is understandable. If having Internet-connected computers in our pockets can transform our world, just imagine what wearing them on our faces will do. The prospect of everything from augmented reality games to futuristic surgery has people pumped for the days head. It's all very cool, but there's another side to Google Glass: the creepy factor

See Also: 10 Compelling Ways People Plan To Use Google Glass

For every exciting use case, it seems there's at least one social or policy-related concern. How will this impact privacy? Will we even have privacy in the future? When will we overcome the social stigma of face-mounted computers? Will we?
It will be some time before these questions shake out, a process that will continue as the technology evolves beyond Google's audacious first stab at it. In the meantime, here are five socially unacceptable things we expect some of Glass's earliest adopters to get into. 

1. Surreptitiously Recording the Opposite Sex

Glass will likely be popular among doctors and academics, but there's another class of people just as eager to get their hands on it: Perverts. 
Smartphones already allow us to shoot photos and videos of strangers in public, if we want. But there's a simple social barrier: it's difficult to discreetly aim a phone's camera at somebody. Take the phone out of the equation and you remove that problem as well. 
Now, instead of awkwardly staring at people one find attractive, they can just take a photo or video. The potential examples here range from the relatively innocent to the highly unnerving, with most of them likely falling into the latter category.

Note: As one helpful commenter politely pointed out, the above heading presumes that people are only attracted to members of "the opposite sex." This is clearly not the case.  We fully expect people from all walks of life to do creepy things with Google Glass, regardless of their sexual orientation.

2. Ignoring Your Family At Dinner 

If you thought ignoring your loved ones in favor of scanning banal tweets was easy with your smartphone, just wait until it's connected to a heads-up display. But unlike our phones, Google Glass will at least create the illusion that you give a damn about the lives and feelings of those you profess to love the most. 

3. Watching Porn — And Creating Your Own!

It goes without saying that if you give the population a device with a screen that connects to the Internet, they're going to watch videos of people having sex on it. If those WiFi-connected kitchen appliances and thermostats had screens, people would undoubtedly watch porn there too. With heads-up displays like Glass, it will be easier and more discreet than ever. 
I couldn't find any research illustrating the extent to which smartphones have led to a rise in homemade porn, but there's no way there isn't one. Just look at Vine. The handful of Glass-wearers who do manage to get lucky will surely use the device to make filthy home movies. Just be careful with those unexpected incoming Hangout requests. 

4. Google-Stalking People You Just Met

Even though they have the technology, Google isn't including facial recognition in Glass, because they know precisely what kind of weird shit you would do with it. That, and the massive privacy freakout that would ensue isn't something they (or anybody) are ready for. 
Maybe someday. In the meantime, you'll have to manually Google the person you just met. You'll have to be inconspicuous with the voice commands, but with a Google-connected heads-up display Google-stalking new acquaintances has never been easier.

5. Alienating Your Friends At The Bar

The first person in your social circle to show up wearing Glass will certainly get a lot of "ooh's", "ahh's" and questions about how the device works. They'll wow their friends one-by-one as they allow them to test it out for themselves. 
Over time, those very same friends, one-by-one, will disappear as they realize that this gadget addict is constantly watching YouTube videos, verbally Googling things to settle debates and generally being douchier than anyone can handle. 
Original photo of jogger by Lululemon Athletica

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Top 10 Windows 8 Features No. 10: Refresh and Reset


Scott M. Fulton April 23rd, 2012

Yes, there really are 10 important and beneficial changes you'll find in Microsoft Windows 8, beginning with Refresh. Let's just say it's closer to perfect than Windows Backup. Refresh is Microsoft's first real attempt to address Windows' most touchy consumer pain point: Reinstallation as a solution to problems that no one can diagnose or understand. Now, there's a chance that with this partial installation feature, you can have Windows start over without losing absolutely everything, including your applications and the files in your libraries.
In this 10-part series, 26-year veteran Windows tester Scott Fulton walks you through the best features, faculties and functions of Windows 8.
Perhaps you've seen the famous comic posted to Oatmeal.com titled How to Fix Any Computer. Not to give away all the secrets of the comic's trenchant forensic analysis, but Step 2 of the Windows side of the equation is unfortunately familiar to just about any Windows user: "Reformat hard drive; reinstall Windows."
A PC operating system is like steel wool. You can't use it in even the slightest way without mutating it. Installing a new program typically alters the System Registry, which to many Windows veterans even looks like steel wool. Inconsistencies in the Registry can affect the entire system, and much of the last 17 years of Microsoft's development of Windows has been devoted to adjusting, accounting and compensating for these discrepancies so that folks don't have to reinstall Windows every time something goes wrong. System Restore (a form of which premiered with Windows Me) was created to overwrite a newer, possibly damaged Registry with an older, hopefully undamaged copy, in hopes that the system could pretend the changes suspected of damaging the system never happened.
It's taken well over a decade for Microsoft to guide the evolution of Windows software to a state where applications are maintained separately from the operating system. We're not quite there yet, though we're close enough now that Microsoft feels comfortable introducing this useful "partial reinstall" feature to Windows 8.
Called Refresh, it's based on the Windows Image Manager (WIM) services introduced with Windows Server 2003 R2. Refresh replaces the kernel files in Windows, overwriting the existing installation with a new and freshly compiled image of the operating system. But using WIM, it adds back the separately maintained components from the new architecture of Windows 8, including existing WinRT "Metro-style" apps you've already installed. So you don't have to start all the way at square one, though it won't necessarily take you all the way back to where you started.

Test Setup

My test computer for this experiment is a quad-core Intel Core i5 2500K desktop system. I purposely did not use a fresh Windows 8 Consumer Preview installation, but rather one where I'd made software installations and changes, including:
  • Microsoft Office, after I authored several documents and made some settings changes. I expected to have to reinstall Office, but I wondered whether it would remember me afterward;
  • The Visual Studio 11 beta, plus some of the SDKs that go with it;
  • Mozilla Firefox, along with some settings changes that I believed should get stored in a safe directory that survives the operation;
  • A third-party screen capture utility called Screenshot Captor whose stored settings I also suspected should survive;
  • A third-party utility I use to install software directly from ISO images of discs, called Virtual CloneDrive;
  • Some Metro-style apps.
I also made the kind of adjustments that an ordinary user would make. I changed the Desktop wallpaper - which, for Windows 8, applies only to the Desktop mode. I moved a Vista-style Desktop clock gadget from the left to the right of the Desktop (would it get moved back left, or would it disappear altogether?). I also changed my Metro and Start screen background color from crimson (go Sooners!) to cyan (umm, go Seahawks). And I tweaked the network settings to add more sharing features to my homegroup.
I chose these actions to give me clues as to what parts of Windows get overwritten during Refresh. Since this operation will probably be undertaken only when Windows is acting weird, you should actually want some parts of Windows to be wiped clean. If too many things survive, the bad behavior might survive as well.

Test Results

The Refresh process consumed about 20 minutes - a little slower than the original install, but still well within reason. It wasn't long ago that a Windows XP installation could take more than three hours.
For the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, here's what I noticed immediately after Refresh:
1. My Desktop wallpaper was the same, as were customizations I had made to Windows Explorer (such as "View hidden files and folders"). This indicates that at least some Registry entries survive Refresh. Not all entries, however: My Control Panel, which I intentionally reset to View by Large Icons, reverted to View by Category. Administrators will want a hard-and-fast rule for which settings need to be checked and reset, and can be counted on to survive Refresh.
2. My Desktop gadget disappeared, suggesting that contents of the Windows folders were completely overwritten. That's actually good, because misbehaving components may be parts of system drivers or even malicious actors placed in system folders to feign legitimacy.
3. The Metro color reverted to crimson, even though my Metro backgroundcolor remained cyan as the Refresh program was announcing success for the initial sign-in. Easy enough to change back, but the point is that the surviving data for the Desktop and the victim data for Metro appear to have come from two different places.
4. The Metro Start screen and Lock screen pictures stayed the same.Evidently, Metro doesn't store all of its data in the same place. This may pose some interesting problems with respect to System Restore (not Refresh), and the possibility that rolling a system's status back to a previous restore point may not restore Metro with the same integrity as it restores the Desktop.
5. The homegroup had to be rejoined, although Metro did remember the homegroup password. This is important for a slightly esoteric reason: If you have a dual-boot PC that also boots with Windows 7 (many people will, and I do), changes you make to the folders that Windows 8 includes in shared libraries appears to impact whether those same folders remain shared in Windows 7. I have no clue why or how this is so, but since Windows 8 folders start life as private and unshared (as they should be), rejoining the homegroup may mean you have to make adjustments in Windows 7 the next time you boot it up. This quirk may go away with the final edition of Windows 8.
6. Third-party application data ("AppData") was cleaned from its hidden folder. That's both a surprise and a big deal, because it means that not only will you have to reinstall your programs, but you'll have to start over with your settings. If you had a huge store of bookmarks in Firefox, and you weren't syncing it via some cloud service, it's probably lost. And if you had certificates, serial numbers or other data affirming your rights to use commercial software packages, they may be gone as well.
7. The contents of users' Documents folders remain intact. This is as Refresh's warning promises. When I installed the Visual Studio 11 beta, I had it create a number of sample files. Even though I typically keep my "My Documents" folder on a completely separate drive (which has saved me more times than I can count), VS tends to put its help files in the local "My Documents" folder on the system drive anyway. That said, they were intact, even though Visual Studio itself was not. Still, this is a good thing, because getting VS functionality back from here takes only minutes.
8. There's a nice "Removed Apps.html" file on my Desktop listing everything that Refresh had to remove, which I can print out and use as a checklist.
9. My IE10 Desktop home page reverted to Bing.com. Yeah, I caught that, Microsoft. Sneaky devils.
10. My Windows ID remained intact, as it now must in order for me to be able to log onto Windows 8 again. This also means my Xbox Live account remained intact, and Windows 8 games like PinballFX were able to sign in for me. For some users, having the Xbox Live profile will be item No. 1 on the checklist. However, things stored locally - such as my high scores on PinballFX - did not join the party.
One of the first programs I had to reinstall was Screenshot Captor, in order for me to take pictures for this report. The program was able to find my saved settings, which do not rely on the Registry. On the other hand, Firefox thought it was being installed in a completely clean system. So evidently, the rules for reinstalled programs needing a re-education in Windows will be... complicated.

Refresh or Reset?

The big question for many users will be whether Refresh will be any more of a timesaver than what Windows 8 now calls Reset. Reset is a fast way to start over with a completely new and unadulterated installation of Windows 8. Whatever settings you may have had are removed.
The "Reset your PC" warning (shown above) states, "All your personal files and apps will be removed." That's not exactly correct. If you sync your files using cloud services such as Apple's own iCloud, Box.net or Dropbox, or if you keep your important files on a separate drive, naturally, those files would survive even a Reset operation.
Reset wipes the My Documents folder when, and only when, it cohabits the same device as the system folder. Microsoft should consider selectively revising this warning. Perhaps: "All your personal files and apps stored on the same device as Windows will be removed." Even that may be harsh, because (we've been told) the new Windows Store may be called upon to reinstall lost Metro apps.
For me personally (this will not be the case with everyone), the difference between Refresh and Reset is minimal. Reinstalling Windows has become as common for me as, say, washing the car. If I have a tool that polishes the chrome for me so I don't have to, I might appreciate it a bit, but I won't call it a lifesaver.
But for most Windows users, anything that reclaims an hour or more of valuable work time will be as good as gold. If Refresh works as well in the final edition of Windows 8 as I believe it will, fewer folks may find themselves, as the Oatmeal chart so quaintly put it, quietly weeping.

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

How to Get Gum Out of Your Hair


Getting gum in your hair is usually a horrible thing that results in tears, a trip to the barber and an unplanned hair cut. But there are easier and less costly ways to remove that gum. Try one of the following methods the next time disaster strikes you.

EditSteps

Peanut Butter Method

  1. 1
    Buy "smooth peanut butter." The more oil content in it, the better. You usually want 80 grams of fat per 100 grams of peanut butter. Do not buy the "crunchy" brands since they have less oil content.
  2. 2
    Apply peanut butter over the affected area. Mix it in with a toothbrush since this is quicker and less messy than using fingers.
  3. 3
    Use the toothbrush or comb to work the peanut butter in. Use long strokes down and outwards. If necessary, use a large spoon behind the affected hair to act as a firm base to brush the peanut butter on. If the gum is spread out, use more peanut butter. The whole idea is to dissolve the gum with the oil in the peanut butter.
  4. 4
    Use a dry towel to pull on the peanut butter. The peanut butter will come out with the gum. The less dried out the gum is, the easier it will be to get it out!
  5. 5
    Wash out the peanut butter with a good shampoo. Lather the shampoo in hair well before rinsing it off.
  6. 6
    Throw out the tooth brush/comb and the soiled tea towel, or wash the tea towel thoroughly.

Hair Silicone Drops Method

  1. 1
    Apply silicone generously. Slightly work it into the gum.
  2. 2
    Let it sit for 30 seconds to a minute.
  3. 3
    Gently comb the gum out of your hair.
  4. 4
    Wash your hair with shampoo and lots of lather.

Cooking Oil Method

  1. 1
    Take any kitchen cooking oil (olive, canola, vegetable) and apply it to the gum and surrounding hair. Wait two or three minutes.
  2. 2
    Use a comb and gently comb the gum out of your hair.
  3. 3
    Wash your hair with shampoo.

Ice Method

  1. 1
    Soak your hair in salt water. This helps lower the temperature that the ice melts at and therefore makes the gum easier to remove from hair.
  2. 2
    Ice the gum for about fifteen minutes by putting ice cubes on it.
  3. 3
    Remove the gum. It should be hard enough to pull off after being iced.

Vaseline Method

  1. 1
    Spread the Vaseline around the area of the gum.
  2. 2
    Grab a wide tooth comb. Comb the gum and most of the Vaseline out of your locks.
  3. 3
    Wash your hair with shampoo. See How to Get Vaseline out of Your Hair.

Adhesive Remover Method

  1. 1
    Purchase an adhesive remover. Any adhesive remover from a medical supply store will work.
  2. 2
    Using your finger, rub the adhesive remover on the area covered in gum.
  3. 3
    Wipe it off a with paper towel. This method also works on clothes and other fabrics.

Other Common Methods For Removing Gum From Hair

  1. 1
    Spray on hair mousse. Apply as much mousse as you need to cover the entire area that the gum is stuck in. Use a comb and gently comb the gum out of your hair.
  2. 2
    Use toothpaste. Gradually put pea sized amounts of toothpaste in your hair until the gum starts to come out. Wash your hair with shampoo.
  3. 3
    Spray on WD-40. Spray small amount on fingers and rub into your hair. Wipe it off with a paper towel.
  4. 4
    Use eucalyptus oil. Soak a cotton pad in Eucalyptus oil. Wipe the pad through the chewing gum and the gum will "melt" off. This also works for chewing gum in carpet and on clothes.
  5. 5
    Rub the area with alcohol. Rub alcohol into the affected area and it should come off in about a minute or so. Wash your hair with shampoo.
  6. 6
    Use a combination of hand lotion and mouth wash. Rub the gum covered area with hand lotion and rinse with mouth wash. The gum should be gone in about 5 minutes.
  7. 7
    Apply some mayonnaise. Rub the gum-covered area with mayonnaise and rinse.
  8. 8
    Use cold cream. Apply cold cream to the gum and pull it out. Wash your hair with shampoo.

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