thoughts
Latest
Brain-to-brain network allows three people to share their thoughts
There have been experiments in direct brain-to-brain communication before, but that's now extending to full-fledged networks. Researchers have developed a three-person brain network that lets participants send thoughts to each other -- in this case, to play a Tetris-style game. It used familiar technology, but in a much more scalable format.
BBC experiment lets you control iPlayer with your mind
Instead of grabbing the remote or poking at your smartphone, the BBC thinks the future of TV navigation could lie in mind control. For its latest experiment, the broadcaster is testing a brainwave reading headset developed by This Place that lets you launch iPlayer and choose programmes with your thoughts. The device uses two sensors, one on your forehead and one on your ear, to interpret electrical activity as "concentration" or "meditation." Depending on your preference, focusing your mind will trigger a contextual command, such as launching the app or selecting from one of five programmes on a scrolling carousel. Once the app lands on your chosen TV show, you simply have to "think" until a pink volume bar fills on the left-hand side of the screen. The functionality is basic, but the BBC hopes it can be adapted to assist viewers with disabilities. For now it's just a proof of concept, but maybe in the future we'll all be using brainwaves to tune into BBC Two.
Study proves that we can control each other's brains over the internet
A group of University of Washington researchers showed a year ago that brain-to-brain interfacing is possible in real life. Now, they're back after conducting a more thorough experiment, proving that their initial success wasn't a fluke. This time, the team performed tests using not just one pair, but six people divided into three pairs: one receiver and one transmitter. Just like before, the transmitters are hooked to an EEG machine (above) that can read brain waves, while sitting in front of a computer game. They need to defend a city in the game by firing cannons, but they cannot interact with it directly -- they can only transmit thoughts via the internet to their partners seated somewhere across the campus.
TUAW Deep Thoughts: How netbooks conquered the universe
Look around out there. Netbooks are not only ubiquitous, they have basically conquered all of reality. Before you do a spit take and start saying words that are unsuitable for TUAW's family friendly audience, let me remind you of Apple's iPad introduction. Steve Jobs laid out the plan for how the unit would operate: as a middle ground between laptops and mobile phones, it would allow people to browse the web, check for email, enjoy media, play games, and read. In other words, Jobs was introducing netbooks for the rest of us. Reimagining the form factor but not the functionality brought the netbook into huge demand (and basically put paid to the more traditional keyboard/screen layout). For a few hundred dollars, people could do all the basic computing they want while on the road, with insanely great battery life, and with an OS that's built for serial unitasking, in a super-comfortable form factor. Basically, Apple built a better netbook and it triumphed. This kind of appliance computing experience hides complexity from the user with minimum compromise. The user experience allows people to do certain tasks slickly, simply, and effectively. The focus isn't on ultimate flexibility, it's on convenience. Netbook computing is all about the appliance experience -- it does its job and just that job. The result was that the iPad exploded. The demand for it showed a basic truth. People liked a simple unit that even a baby or cat could operate. They could still all do the core tasks they had done on standard computers, but they could do it on the go without any training and with a unit that fit into the crook of their arm. The big question that remains is: What next? Can Apple migrate its iPad/netbook lessons to other platforms? Could we see an appliance desktop or notebook next? As I wrote in an earlier post, I think we're likely to see a computer that adapts to its situation -- on the road or at home or in the office. But while we've seen the mobile side of this story, how might home computing change? Will OS X take netbook lessons from the iPad? Some readers responded to my last post by suggesting that anyone incapable of fully operating OS X should not be using it. But when has Apple left potential customers on the table? Why shouldn't they re-jigger OS X (or a version of OS X) to create the same kind of netbook experience demonstrated by Steve Jobs at the top of this post? After all, those tasks are what most people do. Sure, there are professional users as well who would not benefit from appliance computing, but there are plenty more currently struggling away on Windows who could easily make the jump to a simplified iMac (or even Apple TV) if the choice were offered to them. Netbooks and the iPad taught us this: if the hardware is affordable, light, easy-to-use, and helps people accomplish their core tasks, the customers will be there to buy them.
Enzyme found to make fading memories fresher, old wounds painful again
There's something of a saying that you can only remember the things you try to forget, but if you'd prefer to hang on to those photographic moments from Thunder Mountain back in 1991, a gaggle of gurus from the Weizmann Institute of Science just might have the magic elixir you've been yearning for. According to a newly published study on long-term memory revitalization, Reut Shema and colleagues found that boosting the amount of PKMzeta could potentially help one recall memories that were on the brink of being forgotten. In testing, lowering the levels of PKMzeta caused rats to lose track of memories more quickly, but the zany part is that boosting levels on a specific day helped animals recall memories from days prior -- days where they weren't having PKMzeta jacked into their system. Heaven help our legal system should this ever get FDA approval for use in humans.
Aliph gets into the app game with Jawbone Thoughts voice messaging
We know, it's a bit odd to see the Jawbone name attached to something other than a Bluetooth headset or speaker, but Aliph is forging into the application game with a new voice messaging service for iOS. Called Thoughts, the software is basically like text messaging or instant messaging with voice. The free audio-based messaging iPhone app, which should be hitting the App Store today, lets you send short audio recordings to either a single contact or a group with a tap of a button. We got a chance to check it out at the D: Dive into Mobile conference this week and found the whole thing to be a really great way to circumvent voicemails or longer texts -- all you have to do is tap the name of your contact and then leave a short voice message. There's absolutely no ringing or waiting. If and when that contact responds it appears as a threaded message, and if you're in an area that isn't conducive to listening to those thrilling messages, there's also a transcription feature. The app should be hitting today, but if you need more details before tapping install, hit the break for the full press release and a short promo video.
TUAW's Daily App: Cartolina
Cartolina is an app that I noticed over on the great Drawn! illustration blog. While you might not want to get it yourself (it's the thought that counts with greeting cards, and I think that, with both cards and letters, the real thing is still better), you can't disagree that the art of this one is pretty incredible. Cartolina is originally a stationery company, printing cards and letterheads with elaborate and elegant designs on them, but they've also released an iPhone app. For US$2.99, you get access to nine different artistic templates, which can then be made into beautiful email or text messages. It's not a big deal (and it's no substitute for actually writing someone a letter -- something I already don't do enough of), but for classing up the standard congratulatory or simply nice email or text message, it'll work wonders. The app also has a built-in calendar with reminders of major events, and the app promises even more designs and features coming soon. Again, if you already have a schedule and a plan for sending greeting cards, the app probably won't interest you that much. But it's always nice to send someone a reminder that you're thinking of them, and having Cartolina around might help you do just that.
DARPA seeks out remote controls for soldiers' minds
DARPA is always on the lookout for the newest, zaniest gadgets but this time, we think it's gone too far. According to the Department of Defense's recent blog post, the military is interested in developing remote control techniques using ultrasound... for soldiers. Arizona State University neuroscientist William Tyler has been working on the project for several years, and now, DARPA is getting involved as well. Tyler and his team have developed a transcranial pulsed ultrasound capable of stimulating brain circuits from outside of the brain, and it can target deeper parts of the brain than past devices. The prototypes are small enough to be placed inside of a helmet, and the plan is to improve its spatial resolution with DARPA's new infusion of funding. We know they're probably looking to do cool stuff like make soldiers think they're nice and cool when they're actually frying in the sun, but we can't help but get the creeps from this one.
TUAW Talkcast live tonight at 10pm Eastern
Sunday night means it's time for our world famous talkcast, and tonight's going to be a good one. I'll be hosting the last pre-Christmas show, so I'm sure we'll fit in some last minute gift discussion, and we'll chat about the most popular posts of the past week, including Operation Chokehold, AT&T's thoughts on it, and the aftermath, our favorite free Mac apps of the year, and why iPhone users are delusional. And of course we'll have a nice panel of TUAWers on board -- I'm told Joachim Bean, Kent Pribbernow, and Steve Sande should be on the line to chat live. It starts at 10pm Eastern / 7pm Pacific this evening right over on Talkshoe -- it's just the thing you need to have a nice enjoyable night of Apple news discussion right before the holiday season takes over later this week. See you tonight! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the TalkShoe 'ShoePhone' VoIP client or with the free Gizmo (now a Google product) or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you soon!
All the World's a Stage: The Art of Roleplaying
This week, David returns (again) to All the World's a Stage as a newly married man, feeling particularly happy and joyful, and overflowing with enthusiasm for just about everything he loves in life.The relationship between rolelplaying and real life is a multifaceted one. If you have read this column before, you've probably seen some mention of roleplaying as a creative art form, but for some readers, it might be a bit difficult to imagine roleplaying as an art. After all, some might say, it's just a bunch of people sitting around, pretending their characters are real people, having real problems and real stories, all in spite of a game environment in which one's character can't actually affect the world in any way that matters. Problems of continuity, such as instanced dungeons in which many people can slay the same monster at the same time over and over again, make some people feel as though there's no story value to the game at all, and that anything roleplayers do is a waste of their time.The trick for roleplayers is to think of roleplaying as something more like freeform play art, in which the main point of the art isn't so much the end product that results from one's efforts (as it would be in painting, novel-writing, or composing music), but rather the thoughts, feelings, and inspiration that come to mind when we actually engage in the process of the art itself. The closest parallel to another art form might be improv acting games, where the whole point is to make things up for you and the other actors to enjoy, rather than to deliver a performance for a separate audience; but if you've enjoyed something so simple as building a sand castle on the beach, then you probably have a good sense of what it feels like to roleplay. Fingerpainting, mandala-making or even just freeform music and dancing can all give a similar feeling like what you get in roleplaying: the sheer joy of creation.Some roleplayers need no more justification for their art than that they enjoyed themselves. But others look at their own roleplaying careers and see certain things that they've taken away from their roleplaying experience over time. These things are usually not as solid as an actual painting or recorded song, but they still have a kind of solidity in the roleplayer's mind, as they positively impact his or her real life in several ways.
Researcher claims to read thoughts from neuronal activity
Mind reading developments seem to pop up every so often, but this particular case is somewhat extraordinary. How so? Probably because a University of Leicester researcher has outright proclaimed that his team "can read human thoughts from neuronal activity." Reportedly, Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga and colleagues were able to optimize a decoding algorithm and use it to "infer the stimulus from the neuronal firing," and during tests in which patients were presented with a vast database of images, the team was seemingly able to "predict what picture the subject was seeing far above chance." Beyond giving sci-fi drama creators a bit more to work with, the technology could also be used to transmit thoughts to bionic appendages in order for paralyzed individuals to better care for themselves. Still, there's quite a few ethical / clinical issues that would have to be worked out before this stuff ventured beyond the lab, but we definitely can't argue with the premise.[Via Physorg, image courtesy of University of Leicester]
Brain implant, software enables patients to think out loud
Truth be told, we've already seen instances where technology has enabled individuals to speak without speaking, but a brain implant placed into Eric Ramsey's head could certainly raise the bar in this field. The wireless electrode, which resides just six-millimeters below the surface of his brain, records pulses from 41 surrounding neurons involved in speech generation, and thanks to software developed by the associated team, those thoughts will hopefully be translated into words in the not-too-distant future. Currently, the group feels that they can accurately identify the word Ramsey is thinking up 80-percent of the time, and in the coming weeks, a computer will begin giving the patient real-time feedback so he can perfect the art of thinking out loud. 'Course, the team responsible isn't likely to be satisfied until an unadulterated conversation can take place, but it seems we're well on our way to seeing that come to fruition.[Via BBC]
First Thoughts: AirPort Extreme Base Station
I decided to jump on one of the new AirPort Extreme Base Stations primarily because both my wife and I now own MacBooks, and we both have varying levels of success at maintaining any kind of steady backup schedule. Now when I say 'varying level of success,' I mean: my wife pretty much doesn't, and I did a fairly good job back when I had an Intel iMac set up on the network to which I used ChronoSync to do incremental over-the-air backups. So what does a new AirPort Extreme Base Station have to do with our backup habits, you ask? Well, aside from the new 802.11n speeds (for which I have not quite gone ga-ga just yet), I am most interested in the new AirPort Disk feature, which allows you to plug a USB hard drive into the station for automatic mounting whenever connected to the network. Now I can have one large drive to which I can back up both mine and my wife's essentials, as well as a repository for my iTunes library to free up space for Final Cut Studio and even tinkering with Linux and (yes, sadly) Windows in Parallels for my work at our sister blog, Download Squad.I picked up the new base station Wednesday night, which I set up to relieve our trusty AirPort Express from its duties in the living room (now we have 'tunes in the basement office! hooray!). Since it's only been a few days and I'm still waiting for UPS to bring me a bouncing baby external hard drive, I thought I would post some general first thoughts on the setup experience thus far. A more detailed report is pending, and I plan on writing up how-tos for wireless backups and using this setup for a wireless iTunes library. Until then, read after the jump for some general thoughts on my initial experience with Apple's slick new base station.
OmniOutliner, OmniOutliner Pro 3.6 released
The Omni Group has finalized version 3.6 of OmniOutliner and OmniOutliner Pro, their "amazingly flexible program for creating, collecting, and organizing information." The final version itself doesn't usher in any mind-blowing new features aside from the built-in help being fully localized, but check out their release notes for all the new features they rolled out in previous 3.6 beta releases if you haven't been keeping up.Version 3.6 is a free upgrade for existing 3.0 customers, and is available from the Omni Group's site.
The Omni Group has a blog
The Omni Group has an Omni Mouth - their new blog, that is. Developers of such fantastic apps as OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle, The Omni Group is joining the ranks of software houses with blogs who want to offer up some insight into being developers, as well as thoughts on the more humorous side of their business. One post dated yesterday presents a statement from their CEO on the ground-breaking Boot Camp announcement and what it means to their app development, while another post transcribes some of the more unusual phrases heard from their support room such as: “Bananaphone," “OMG I’M IN UR BASE KILLING UR DOODZ” and, of course, “There’s a new Strong Bad email.”While it probably won't be the hottest place to find the latest Mac-related news and juicy tidbits (*ahem*), it should be a good blog to add to your newsreader if you're curious about the inner workings of one of Mac OS X's most prominent and well-known developers.
