0 FIFA

 FIFA (finally) Reconsiders Using Video Technology

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has certainly been one to remember. With it's fair share of upsets, black horses and of course terrible refereeing. Now is the ref truly to blame for your dollars lost, or should FIFA be to blame for refusing to adopt a technology that every other competitive sport on the planet is (including Starcraft) in Video Replay technology?

Now my team went out in a blaze of glory (read, slaughtered by the Germans) on Sunday night, and while that one disallowed goal may have not impacted the final embarrassing scoreline, it begs the question, why oh why hasn't FIFA already used the 4th official for something other than nothing?

Well, apparently FIFA has made an about turn. FIFA's president Sepp Blatter claims they will reconsider the option and that they will take on board again the discussion of including technology in the football field. In his words: "Something has to be changed".

It took the world's largest and most important football competition, tons of human error and a billion vuvuzelas for them to reconsider. Well, either way, England would have been knocked out anyhow.

What do you think? Yay or Nay to goal line and video replay technology?

0 The Wafflesicle Maker

The Wafflesicle Maker Has Changed Breakfast Forever

Forget everything you ever thought you knew about waffles. Because Lolly, a waffle maker that produces 9.4-inch waffle cones on a stick, has changed everything. Can I interest you in a wafflesicle? Of course I can.

Lolly, from Triangular Concept, can crank out four of these delicious-looking treats in under two minutes. Which is good, because that's about how long it'd take me to down the first batch and be ready for the second. [Triangular Concept via TheTrendhttp://www.thetrendygirl.net/2010/06/lolly-nest-pas-prete-de-se-coucher.html

0 Robot Boy Deserves a Robot Kit

Every Robot Boy Deserves a Human-Exterminating Toy Robot Kit

Here, ready to be snapped out of their packaging, are the endo- and exoskeletons of the 3-foot tall Myon robot. This is the sort of toy that suburb-dwelling, human-killing robot youth will get for robot Christmas in the year 2030. 

 

The humanoid bot is the creation of Frackenpohl Poulheim, an industrial design outfit based in Cologne, Germany who sought to create a robot with modular design. All that means for us it that the robots will be able to replace their own heads if we manage to pop one off during the Great Robot Uprising of 2022.

 

0 Apple's New Mini Gets Torn Apart

Apple's New Unibody Mac Mini Gets Torn Apart

Looks like the folks at iFixit have already torn apart Apple's new Mac Mini right down to its pretty little ports.

According to iFixit, these are the highlights of the teardown:

* Departing from previous generations, the Mini's unibody top enclosure is machined from a single block of aluminum.
* With a simple counter-clockwise twist, we were able to gain access into the Mini's internals. Gone are the days of the putty knife. You will be missed, old friend!
* Removing the RAM is very simple this time around, requiring only the simple prying of two clips.
* The fan doesn't have too much work to do, since the new Mac Mini is the most energy-efficient desktop, running on less than 10 watts at idle!
* There are two blind holes in the case of the Mini that are meant for the ends of Apple's custom U-shaped logic board removal tool. We just used two Torx screwdrivers. We call them the "Mac Mini logic board removal tool."
* In keeping with its space saving design, the fins directing air toward the vent hole are slanted to allow for better fan placement.
* The new Mini's power supply churns out a minuscule 7 Amps at 12V. Compare that to the 25.8 Amps at 12V cranked out by the iMac Intel 27", and you can understand how they fit the power supply inside the Mini.
* The Mini's 3/8" woofer dome won't be popping ear drums anytime soon.
* Apple had to get creative with the antenna placement because they switched to unibody     construction for this Mac Mini.

For more pictures and details, check out iFixit's complete teardown. [iFixit]

0 Energy Curtain

Energy Curtain Havests The Sun’s Rays

Windows lets sun shine in.  Conversely, curtains keep the light out.  The Energy Curtain makes the best of both worlds by harvesting the sun’s rays and uses it to power the fabrics light emitting fabric.  So, effectively the conceptual product keeps the sun out on hot summer days while providing light and cutting down on your energy consumption – a triple whammy.  Now, only if they can come up with an efficient solar cell.

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0 Canon Legria

Canon Legria HF M31 Review

After setting the standard for premium HD camcorders in 2008 with the HF10 and its derivatives, Canon’s 2009 models didn’t quite whet our appetites so much. But the company doesn’t rest on its laurels, and 2010 has scarcely begun before we’re seeing the first examples of the next generation trickle through. First to reach TrustedReviews is the mid-range Legria HF M31, top of a trio of siblings which includes the HF M36 and HF M306. 


The HF M31 is essentially another enhancement of the Legria HF20 and HF21. Like the latter, it relies on a 1/4in CMOS sensor with a gross 3.89-megapixels, uses a Canon HD lens with the same specifications, provides a 15x optical zoom, and integrates an identical DIGIC DV III image processor. The HF M31 has 32MB of flash memory built in, which is enough for three hours of footage at the top quality mode. This shoots Full HD resolution AVCHD at the maximum possible 24Mbits/sec data rate. The HF M31 also sports a slot for SD memory, should you need more storage. So in this respect it’s identical to the HF20. 

The biggest news is not the core specifications, then. What has changed is the control interface. With the HF M31, Canon has followed Sony and Panasonic and switched to a touchscreen LCD. In regular shooting mode, there are three onscreen buttons. One simply switches between camcorder and camera modes. The other enables onscreen buttons for operating the zoom and toggling recording, so you can use the camcorder two-handed from a more waist-oriented position.

The final FUNC button calls up the camcorders settings, and this menu has been totally redesigned from previous Canon camcorders for easier touchscreen operation. The initial screen presents just 12 options in two screens, which you can switch between with a finger flick across the screen, in a similar fashion to an Apple iPhone’s main app interface. 

The first screen provides access to focusing, white balance, exposure, mic level, program modes, and the full menu. The second screen offers controls for zoom, AGC, the video light, the Pre REC function, digital effects and image stabiliser settings. Although most of these operate in the same way as with other Canon camcorders, there are some new additions. The focus and exposure options take full advantage of the touchscreen, providing one-touch operation where you simply indicate which point within the frame you would like to use as reference. However, Canon doesn’t provide the facility to combine the two into a single action, unlike Sony and Panasonic. You can also operate both with onscreen sliders, if you prefer.