Here's an innovative, simple, and exciting application to Google Glasses: foreign language augmented reality that translates text like real-life subtitles. Technology MacGyver Will Powell assembled a working concept of the product from a list of consumer electronics, and demonstrated it in a video of himself in conversation with his sister. Check out the video below. We've also pasted his description of the convoluted process the product takes to translate, below the video.Latest Blog Entries
Cool: Google Glasses-Inspired Eyewear Translates Foreign Language Into Real-Life Subtitles
Posted On 25 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Here's an innovative, simple, and exciting application to Google Glasses: foreign language augmented reality that translates text like real-life subtitles. Technology MacGyver Will Powell assembled a working concept of the product from a list of consumer electronics, and demonstrated it in a video of himself in conversation with his sister. Check out the video below. We've also pasted his description of the convoluted process the product takes to translate, below the video.No Comments
Screw Objectivity: Study Finds Opinionated Journalism Boosts Civic Engagement
Posted On 25 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Veteran journalists who sing the praises of objective reporting have steadily lost ground to the media's new guard of proudly opinionated voices, from broadcasters such as MSNBC and Fox News, to the growing menu of online news blogs. There's been endless theorizing over whether objectivity should dominate reporting in the 21st century, but what does the evidence say? A new experimental study [pdf] finds that opinionated reporting is better at motivating the politically unengaged than objective reporting.No Comments
Could Romney Really Ban Porn?
Posted On 24 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Republican Presidential front-runner, Mitt Romney, may hold the most unpopular stance in American history: he wants to ban as much porn as he can. A 2007 video (below) of Romney promising to place porn filters on every new computer have resurfaced after his legal adviser "assured" President Reagan's anti-porn legal crusader that Romney sticks by his pledge to curtail porn and resumes prosecution under latent federal obscenity laws.No Comments
News Corp Announces Business Plans To Disrupt Education: “Amplify” Mobile Technology and Assessment
Posted On 23 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
News Corp, Home of Fox News and one the world's most powerful media entities, has announced its long-awaited plans to disrupt education. Former New York City education chancellor and CEO of Amplify, News Corp's new k-12 education division, will attack education reform through technology, with three specific strategies: assessment via mobile tools, curriculum design, and the online distribution of resources via AT&T-powered tablets. "The strategy of Amplify is to fundamentally change the way we think about delivering education in the K-12 space," says Klein, who will be revealing more information about on the ambitious project at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco, September 8-12.No Comments
An Easy Alternative to Business Cards: Instant Email
Posted On 22 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Exchanging business cards is like breaking up with a significant other: you both smile, say you'll keep in touch, and never speak again. Ditch the inefficiency and cost of paper with a very simple alternative: have your new contact send you an email before you part ways. I've been experimenting with this method for a month with splendid results: I never miss a contact, never worry about messages getting caught in spam filters, it's easier to transfer contact info into my gmail contacts, and the conversation is readily teed up for a reply.
For 90% of interactions, the instant email strategy works wonders; for the other 10%, use a combination of iphone card-scanning and todo list to ensure I don't waste the valuable time expended networking. Below are a few tips to make the whole process work smoothly, plus some advanced tips on making sure you follow-up 100% of the time.No Comments
Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics About Privacy Hysteria
Posted On 22 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
It is frighteningly easy to dupe the public with statistics, since most journalists and readers aren't trained in all the sophisticated ways pollsters can make subtle changes to research that make a gigantic difference in the outcome. Recently, a near-paranoid picture of the American public made its way around the media cycle, thanks to a "study" by TrustE, a web security company, on privacy. Since we know you want to be intelligent readers, and you can't always depend on journalists to recognize a bad statistic, we thought we'd show you how to spot a misleading study using the report's glaringly bad methodology.No Comments
Epic Insensitivity: @NRA And @Celebboutique Cause Uproar Over Aurora Tweets
Posted On 20 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Earlier today online fashion store Celeb Boutique tweeted the above in what just may be the most disturbing incident of insensitivity following last night's tragic shooting in Aurora, Colo. But they weren't the only ones. The National Rifle Association, apparently unaware of the news, posted this colossally ignorant tweet this morning, "Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?"
These utterly tone deaf messages underscore the problem of hiring social media gurus who don't maintain their basic civic obligations to follow the news.No Comments
Reddit Transforms Into Incredibly Informative Real-Time News Source For Aurora Shooting
Posted On 20 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Victims and witnesses of last night's horrific shooting in Aurora, Colorado have turned to Reddit for support and news updates, transforming the online news aggregator into one of the best sources of information on the evolving story.
A continuously updated board of victim status and their current hospital sits atop a rolling update of critical news, including pictures, video, and essential information about the situation, making it quite possibly the quickest way to get essential news for those needing information on potential victims (more informative than the government websites and local news channels). The incredible outpouring of eyewitness journalism and support has turned the humble news aggregator into an impressive source of information in the midst of a national crisis.No Comments
Screw Bottled Water: Subscription Refill Service, Vyykn, Aims To Crush Plastic Waste
Posted On 18 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
Bottled water is 2,900 times more expensive than tap water and burdens America's environment and oil market with the equivalent of 37,800 gas guzzling delivery trucks. The House of Representatives alone spends nearly a million tax dollars a year on bottled water.
The funny thing is, bottled and tap water are nearly identical, separated mostly by a fancy label that triggers our psychological susceptibility to perceive a better taste from a prettier presentation. A new company, Vyykn, aims to end America's addiction to bottled water with a subscription refill service, which allows customers to fill up on oxygenated and filtered water for a yearly fee of $30.No Comments
Coursera Aims To Make America’s Higher Ed System Interactive And Public, Secures $22 Million
Posted On 17 Jul 2012 By Gregory Ferenstein. Under: Uncategorized.
The dream of two Stanford professors of making America's higher education system interactive and universally accessible just got one step closer, with an extra $3.7 million in funding ($22mm total) and 13 new university partners, including Caltech and Duke. "I think the reason for the huge enrollments is that these are real courses," says Co-founder Andrew Ng, who met up with TechCrunch at the Annual Aspen Ideas Festival*. With an expanded university roster, a swelling piggy bank, and 1.5 million users, Coursera has become a major player the recent surge of universities and for-profit education organizations looking to dominate the web.No Comments
