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SignMyPad Android / iPhone app enables digital signatures, form completion (app review)
If you've found yourself caught up in the rat race, you know all too well the process: receive PDF, print PDF, collect PDF, reprint PDF from a printer with ink in it, recollect PDF, fill out PDF, scan PDF, resize PDF, take a restroom break, and finally -- struggle with your company's lackluster internet connection in a bid to send the dreaded thing back. It's hard enough to do in ideal circumstances, but try filling out an emailed document and returning it whilst on the road or during vacation. We're told that some businesspeople rank the whole ordeal up there with root canals and meeting the in-laws, but thanks to the wonders of mobile telephony (and more specifically, mobile computing), the tried-and-failed process can be one of the past. Or, so says Autriv Software Development. The NYC-based app startup has just introduced the most notable rival yet to EasySign, and while SignMyPad is hardly the only one of its kind, it's one of the few that's compatible with both iOS and Android, and offers more than just a signature stamp. Care to hear more? Head on past the break. %Gallery-129962%
TUAW's Daily Mac App: GrandPerspective
Finding large space hogging files in a complex file system like that on your Mac can be difficult. GrandPerspective, a small open source program, aims to help you find and remove space wasters quickly and easily. GrandPerspective first scans a target folder, be it your entire disk or just your iTunes folder for instance. It can then build a treemap based on the file size and type, color coding the files in a user configurable mapping scheme, showing you your file system visually. From there you can identify those files and folders that are taking up the most space. Once you've found an unusually large file you can find out what it is by hovering over it or clicking it, with file information such as name, size and file type displayed in the right hand draw. You can then either delete that file directly from GrandPerspective (if enabled in the application preferences), or reveal that file or folder in Finder. You can also zoom the treemap in or out to get more detail, as well as re-scan at any time, either just the folder selected or the whole drive to update for any changes you've made. The color mapping can be changed to color like file types, extensions, names, levels or folders, which makes grouping similar files easy. Filters can also be used to scan your files for all sorts of things like file type, size, name -- you name it, there's a filter available. If you're looking to free up disk space on your drive, GrandPerspective makes it easier to find unwanted space hogs and is certainly worth the free download. Thanks to aliasnexus0 for the suggestion.
IBM rig doesn't look like much, scans 10 billion files in 43 minutes
Someone ought to gift these IBM researchers a better camera, because their latest General Parallel File System is a back-slapping 37 times faster than their last effort back in 2007. The rig combines ten IBM System xSeries servers with Violin Memory SSDs that hold 6.5 terabytes of metadata relating to 10 billion separate files. Every single one of those files can be analyzed and managed using policy-guided rules in under three quarters of an hour. That kind of performance might seem like overkill, but it's only just barely in step with what IBM's Doug Balog describes as a "rapidly growing, multi-zettabyte world." No prizes for guessing who their top customer is likely to be. Full details in the PR after the break.
Dutch coins feature QR codes, promise 'surprises'
Governments cram all manner of bizarre imagery onto the back of currency, so really, what's a few little QR codes between treasury departments? And heck, who are we to suggest that these new coins from the Royal Dutch Mint aren't the beginning of a larger barcoded money trend? The mint is celebrating its centennial with two new QR-packing collectable coins. The codes bring their owners to the mint's website, which promises a "surprise," once the coins are officially available later this month. Some sort of cloud-based vending machine, perhaps?
IATA's Checkpoint of the Future uses biometric IDs to separate do-gooders from terrorists (video)
This, ladies and gentlemen, could be your Checkpoint of the Future -- a new airport security prototype that promises to move away "from a system that looks for bad objects, to one that can find bad people." Unveiled at the IATA's annual conference in Singapore yesterday, the setup is comprised of three, 20-foot long detectors -- one for "known travelers," one for high-risk flyers, and one for everyone else. Instead of funneling passengers through the same checkpoint, then, the prototype would use eye scanners and biometric chips to verify their identities and analyze their personal history, before dividing them into groups. People who complete and pass government background checks would waltz through the fast pass lane with their carry-on luggage in tow, whereas those deemed particularly risky would have to undergo a more intensive, full-body scan within the "Enhanced" security lane. The rest of us, meanwhile, would be directed to the "Normal" detector, which would automatically scan us for liquids, metals and everything that is evil. The IATA says this risk-based approach would reduce security lines and lower airport costs, but it would still require governments to share data on their own citizens, which could pose a major hurdle to widespread adoption. For now, the IATA and governmental agencies are still hammering away at the details and have yet to announce a pilot program, but you can check out an audio-less demo video of the prototype, after the break.
Apple unveils iTunes Match for $25 per year
Apple introduced its iTunes in the Cloud solution, which lets users access their iTunes music purchases in the cloud and share them among devices. That's all well and great, but what happens when you have a song that you ripped and did not buy from iTunes? Thanks to the new iTunes Match service, you can scan and match the songs on your computer. If a match in iTunes is found, the cloud service will automatically add it to your library. It does not upload the song, it just pulls it from the online library of iTunes music. If iTunes cannot find a match, you can upload the song manually. All songs are upgraded to 256kbps AAC DRM-free as part of this process. The service will cost $24.99 per year and will require iOS 5 on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, iPad 2, a Mac with OS X Lion or a PC with Windows Vista or 7. Uploads are limited to 25,000 songs, but iTunes purchases do not count against this limit.
Ultra-thin handheld microscope could sniff out skin cancer, forged documents
It may not look like it, but that sleek black thing pictured above is actually a microscope. Designed by engineers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, this little guy boasts a 5.3mm optical length, rendering it slim enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet powerful enough to deliver images at a scanner-like resolution of five micrometers, over a wide surface area. Fraunhofer's researchers achieved this balance by essentially tossing out the manual on traditional microscope design. Whereas most devices slowly scan areas and construct images on a piecemeal basis, this handheld uses several small imaging channels and a collection of tiny lenses to record equal sized fragments of a given surface. Unlike conventional scanner microscopes, all of these 300 x 300 square micrometer imaging channels are captured at the same time. With a single swipe, then, users can record 36 x 24 square mm shots of matchbox-sized objects, without even worrying about blurring the images with their shaky hands. The prototype is still two years away from going into production, but once it does, engineers say it could help doctors scan patients for skin cancer more easily, while also allowing bureaucrats to quickly confirm the authenticity of official documents. We can only imagine what it could do for Pac-Man. Full PR after the break.
Gold Capped: The Undermine Journal may have to close down
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house, and Insider Trader, which is all about professions. For Gold Capped's inside line on crafting for disenchanting, transmutation, cross-faction arbitrage and more, check in here every Thursday, and email Basil with your comments, questions or hate mail! The Undermine Journal is an invaluable site that a lot of auctioneers have been making great use of. I wrote about it when it was in alpha, as well as how to use its market alert to watch for cheap deals. Unfortunately, the days of having a convenient graph showing you the price history for your realm are numbered. There's a very real possibility that this service will be killed by Blizzard's new auction house interface, and we'd be back to each keeping our own spreadsheets.
Digit-Eyes identfies everything for the blind without breaking the bank
The Digit-Eyes Audio Scanner and Labeler (US$29.95) from Digital Miracles is a remarkable Assistive Technology (AT) app for the iPhone and iPod touch geared to the blind and visually impaired community. What it does is fairly straightforward once you get the big idea, but the implications of its uses are fairly mind-boggling. The app does three things. The first and simplest is, using the built in camera, scanning UPC and EAN codes found on most everything. Taking advantage of the VoiceOver accessibility capability built into the iPhone/IPod touch, it searches a database, brings back the results and reads it to you. There is also a button to search Google for more information. That's really no big deal since a variety of barcode scanning apps such as Red Laser can do roughly the same thing. You need an Internet connection for this since you are referencing the Digit-Eyes database. The second thing it does, is more compelling. Once you register for a free account on their site, you can create text labels for printing on over 50 sizes of standard Avery labels. Select a type of label and a template page is displayed full of empty boxes representing labels. In each box, type in up to 100 characters of anything you want the label to say. Once done, all your text is transformed into a .pdf page of QR (quick recognition) codes like the one shown in the upper right corner of this post. Print the page on the Avery label stock, and stick each on whatever you wanted the label to say. For example, if you typed in "Blueberries bought on July 31st", you would stick that corresponding label on a container of blueberries. Then using the Digit-Eyes app, scan the label on the container and the screen will display and a voice will read back "Digit-Eyes label read: Blueberries bought on July 31st". The database of what's behind each label is stored on your iPhone so you won't need an Internet connection to access the information. %Gallery-98575%
Pandigital PhotoLink portable scanner review
If you're anything like us, you may find yourself in need of scanning in a few last-minute receipts for reimbursement. Or maybe your oldest youngster left his essay sitting on the kitchen table, and you need to shoot him / her over a PDF on the double. Or maybe you've just got way too many tax-related documents cluttering up your basement. Point is, just about anyone could find a reason or two to invest in a scanner, and Pandigital's making things a lot easier with the PhotoLink personal photo scanner / converter. The $149.99 device was launched last week, and we've been toying with it a few days here at Engadget HQ. If you've been on the fence about buying a portable scanner, join us after the break for a few impressions along with a riveting video of this thing... well, scanning. %Gallery-97761%
Camera-equipped digital billboards scan humans in Tokyo, serve up tailored ads
Marketing managers, you best take a seat. This right here is your future, like it or not. According to a new report from one Earth's most mesmerizing cities, digital advertising billboards are being trialled in Japan that are not only equipped with cameras, but with an ability to scan passers-by for gender and age group. Once that data is collected, the billboard then flashes an advertisement that best fits the type of human walking by. So, anyone care to guess which ad gets shown when the 6PM central station train lets out?
EVE Evolved: Exploration -- Loot and plunder!
Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative and enjoyable PvE professions, combining complex probe-scanning with mission-style combat. Through exploration, you'll find hidden sites across New Eden, packed full of NPCs to kill and loot to grab. Exploration is a casual PvE element that spans all skill levels, with new players able to get involved from their first week in the game. In last week's first part of this guide to exploration, I explained how new players can get into the lucrative profession and examined one of the most popular scanning techniques. A wide range of hidden sites spawn across EVE, just waiting for a lucky traveller to scan them out. Tucked away in the depths of space, you'll find hidden asteroid belts, hacking database, archeological relics, salvaging fields and unstable wormholes. Those looking for riches will be pleased to find cosmic anomalies full of NPCs to kill and dungeon-like military complexes with a chance to drop rare and expensive loot. In this guide, I look at the different types of site you can find via exploration, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.
EVE Evolved: Exploration -- The basics
When we talk about EVE Online, it's often about PvP or the latest political intrigue in the sandbox. Less talked about is the game's core PvE gameplay, which for many players is the entire scope of their interests. I've covered a number of great ways to make ISK in previous guides, from my three-part series on trading and extensive four-part guide to research to the similarly thorough three-part guide to mission-running. Most recently I tackled the age-old art of asteroid-belt ratting in nullsec. Another of EVE's most popular PvE pastimes is exploration, where players scan out hidden mission-like sites hoping to strike it rich. Exploration is one of those things that spans players of all skill levels, with new players able to make a useful contribution and group up with older veterans. Within a week of starting the game, new players can be locating hidden complexes, doing battle with the local NPCs and hopefully finding some valuable loot. Although exploration sites use the same deadspace dungeon and combat mechanics as missions, there are a few key differences. While missions can be created at will by going to an agent NPC, exploration sites spawn randomly in space and have to be manually scanned down using probes. In this week's first part of the EVE Evolved guide to exploration, I look at the ships and equipment you'll need, and the scanning techniques typically used to find hidden exploration sites.
Russell Kirsch helped create square pixels, now he wants to kill them off
Did you know that we're only 53 years removed from the very first digital image? I know, with everyone on your street having a good 2GB of Facebook-uploaded, privacy-be-damned photos, it all seems so pedestrian, so typical. But back in the monochromatic 1950s, when Marlon Brando and Elvis were still young whippersnappers and the UK was busy crowning a new Queen, Russell Kirsch became the first man to create a digital picture, by scanning in a photo of his baby son. Now, half a century wiser, Russell is back to apologize for introducing that cursed square pixel into our lives, and to try to remedy all the jagged little edges we've been seeing on our screens ever since. According to old Rus, squares were just the logical solution at the time, but now that we can splash bits and bytes around with reckless abandon, he's come up with a new algorithm to smooth images beyond what's possible with simple squares. His new idea inserts 6 x 6 masks where there once was just one pixel, with adaptive calculations making for a more realistic representation of the underlying optical data. The sample above shows what improvements this new technique can deliver, with Russell's son doing the posing once more -- you'll find his decidedly younger visage in the 176 x 176 proto-pic after the break.
'Those Minerals' laments Mass Effect 2 probing in a hip-hop fashion
We frequently tried to find ways to keep ourselves occupied during the days we spent probing planets for precious, precious minerals in Mass Effect 2, but largely came up empty-handed. You can only scan Uranus so many times before it loses its comedic value, you know? If only we'd followed the cue of YouTube rap sensation Kabuto the Python, who spent his mining moments crafting rhymes and beats, then combining the two into a single package which we feel comfortable calling a rap song. Check the NSFW track after the jump.
Acrobat.com Mobile now available on the iPhone; free, but expensive
Adobe's Acrobat.com website is not only an online collaboration center, but also provides a way to convert files to PDF, meet live over the web, or store and share files. Now some of that Acrobat.com goodness has found its way into your iPhone. Adobe has released Acrobat.com Mobile by scanR [Free, iTunes Link], which works with an existing Acrobat.com account to give users a way to share and view documents. Users can also fax documents from the app, and iPhone 3GS owners can take photos of documents for addition to their Acrobat.com account. While the app is free, Acrobat.com Mobile users should be aware that using the app comes with a price tag. While you can scan up to 5 pages or fax 2 pages for free, all additional scanning or faxes must be purchased separately through in-app purchase. Many early reviews are stating that the app is rather slow and can be expensive once you begin creating or faxing your PDFs, so potential buyers should be aware of those facts. In addition, the app does not support the Web conferencing or online office applications that make the full Acrobat.com so useful to groups. Acrobat.com appears to be a fair first step towards integrating the iPhone and Acrobat's namesake service, but much more needs to be done before this app reaches its potential. [via The Mac Observer]
Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)
Want to know just how prevalent technology has become in our lives? Now even lab mice get Quake-derived virtual reality playgrounds to navigate instead of their old school wooden mazes. In all honesty, this appears a significant and praiseworthy advancement, as the Princeton team have succeeded in mapping brain activity right down to the cellular level, with real-time tracking of single neurons now possible. The Orwellian-looking setup above is necessary in order to keep the mouse's head immobile, and thus capable of being studied, while the animal moves around and its brain performs motion-related tasks. Go past the break to see a schematic of the scanner and a quite unmissable video of it in action.[Via Switched]
Book scanning gets a 1,000 fps turbo mode
No matter how fly or flashy modern scanners become, there's no getting away from their page-by-page assembly line style of operation. Or so we thought. The Ishikawa Komuro Lab at Tokyo University has demonstrated a prototype scanner capable of recording the contents of pages as they turn. Using a laser range projector to estimate page geometry, the camera adjusts for light and movement distortion as necessary and retains faithful copies of the original. At present it's more a proof of concept for the underlying vision processing unit than a commercial venture, but all it needs is one major manufacturer to pick it up and the paperless revolution can finally get started in earnest. [Via Plastic Pals]
RedLaser for iPhone scans for bargains
I wouldn't have thought it was possible to get an iPhone to capture barcodes clearly, but Occipital has done it with a new $1.99US iPhone app called RedLaser [App Store]. Why capture barcodes? One good use is to find better prices for a product. Scan a product in the store, then RedLaser captures the barcode and does a quick Google or Amazon search to give you quick price comparisons. I tried the app at a bookstore and my local Best Buy and was surprised how well it worked. You need pretty good light to capture a barcode, which is an issue with the iPhone camera, not the RedLaser software. You need to hold the camera steady. The best way is by holding down the button to take the picture, then release when you are steady. RedLaser gives you the option to try again, and guides you on how far the camera needs to be away from the barcode. Then RedLaser instantly goes out to the internet and gets you the price comparisons. In practice I had some misses. The camera wasn't at quite the right distance, or I was a bit shaky holding it. In most instances, however, I was able to get the barcode and see the price comparisons I was looking for. It's also important that the camera not be tilted in relation to the barcode. Try to keep everything lined up. And the app will not work at all unless you have an internet connection. It would be nice if it could store the barcodes, then go out and identify them when you have a good signal. You also get the ability to mail your product list to yourself or a friend to read it on a bigger screen when you get home. The clever technology in the app is able to sharpen the image a great deal, making the iPhone camera a feasible platform for this app. When you take the picture the barcode will look pretty fuzzy, but after a couple of seconds of processing it looks quite good, which is the magic that RedLaser accomplishes.I'd expect this will work fine for most people, but there are some negative comments at the iTunes store as well, largely, I suspect, from people who couldn't hold it steady, had bad light, or glare falling across the barcode. When I eliminated those issues, it seemed to work fine.Note: This app only recognizes US and UK UPC and EAN barcodes. It works works best on standard-sized barcodes, but I had success with some smaller ones as well.Here's are some screen shots of RedLaser in action: %Gallery-63612%
Red Steel 2 is MotionPlus exclusive, cel-shaded
As you probably already know, the latest issue of Nintendo Power blows the doors off of the recently announced sequel to the Wii's slightly disappointing, sword/gun-toting FPS launch title, Red Steel. Now that the mag has landed in a few quivering, anticipatory hands, more details about Red Steel 2 are beginning to surface.First and foremost, the title will apparently be cel-shaded -- hinted at by the sole piece of concept art we received yesterday, and confirmed by a number of scans which are beginning to creep onto the internets. Also, we recently got confirmation from Nintendo Power itself that the game will be "Wii MotionPlus exclusive," a phrase we can only interpret to mean "you need a MotionPlus dongle to play it." (Are you guys comfortable with calling it a dongle? That's such a lovely word. Don-gle.)We'll let you know when we hear even more facts about the game. And by facts, we don't mean "my brother's girlfriend's sister's stepmom goes to a beauty parlor where she read about Red Steel 2 while waiting for her bouffant to dry."[Thanks, Fernando Rocker!]
