iPad Mini, Kindle Fire, and Nexus 7 Blend Test

The rash of affordable tablets are sure to have put these new touchy computers on the top of many people’s holiday wish lists, but which one to get? Sure you can look at speed tests, browser tests, and even drop tests, but Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec and star of one of the greatest viral marketing campaigns to ever grace the Internet, has a better idea. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

For those of you unfamiliar with the online antics of Blendtech, yes, the Wildside blender is very real.

Nokia Uses Orchestra to Create Ringtones for Lumia Windows 8 Phones

Most ringtones suck. Yeah, even I couldn’t dance around that one with a bunch of flowery language. Fortunately, one company has finally decided to do something about it.

Nokia has partnered with audio production company Epic Sound and hired the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra to record 25 original compositions (dubbed “miniatures”) for use as ringtones in their phones. A few of these recordings are already available on the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920. As it turns out, classical music snippets are the second most popular category of ringtones.  Nokia sound engineer Aleski Eeben explains that the new tunes were designed from the ground up to be “distinctively ring tones: they are short, and they all have a functional sounds element.”

So, why the orchestra? Your standard ringtones are cranked out by synthesizers in a studio. Asbjoern Andersen of Epic Sound explains:

“There’s a lot of thought, effort and new ideas put into the devices – not only in terms of the hardware, but also in the overall user experience and design of the products.

The Nokia mobile sounds are heard around a billion times a day, so a lot of work is put into ensuring that they would stand repeated listening in a lot of different environments and to give the products a unique, organic sound you don’t normally hear on mobile devices.”

Frankly, the new line of Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices have been the only smartphone to really catch my attention this year, particularly the Lumia 920. A refreshing change from the traditional black slab running something vaguely resembling Windows 3.1, these new color coordinated pocket computers really tickle the lizard-like bit of my brain looking for the latest shiny thing. It’s good to hear (er, no pun intended) that these new handsets are going to be as easy on the ears as they are on the eyes.

Source: The Telegraph

NASA’s First Spider in Space Passes Away

The worlds first (known) Spidernaut passed away on the morning of December 3rd, less than a week after having been relocated to the “Insect Zoo” exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Nefertiti, a Johnson Jumper spider, was one of a batch of creepy-crawlies delivered to the International Space Station in July as part of the YouTube Space Lab series of experiments. There she learned to adapt her native hunting practices to zero gravity and capture less lucky spaceborne insects.

After a 100 day stint on the orbiting laboratory, Nefertiti returned to Terra Firma in October. Under the watchful eyes NASA, the spidernaut successfully readapted to a gravity-centric world.

Nefertiti was moved to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. on November 29th. It seems that living in the spotlight would be the heroic fly-sucker’s undoing. Actually, this species of spider only has a typical lifespan of one year. Nefertiti was 10 months at time of death. The space bug’s remains will remain on exhibit at the museum.

Let Nefertiti stand as an example to all the rest of you creepy bugs out there: You can do it! Get the hell off my planet!

As Software Adapts and Changes, So Must Our Criticism. Scribblenauts Remix (iOS) Re-Reviewed

Software is much more fluid and organic today than it used to be. Developer updates pushed to an constantly connected audience frequently changes a program from it’s initial form in response to fan feedback or developer inspiration. Critical analysis of software must adapt to these new rules of the road in order to maintain relevancy and usefulness. Fortunately documents on the Internet can have their ones and zeroes rearranged to keep pace with the medium and continue to provide pertinent information.

With this in mind we have appended our article “Review: Scribblenauts Remix (iPhone/iPad): Wet Stinky Angry Birds vs Lazy Zombie Robot Ninjas” to better reflect the current content and price point of the title. We have also changed our original score of 4/5 to a 5/5.

3D Printed AR-15 Rifle Receiver Fires Six Live Bullets

Defense Distributed, the folks behind the Wiki Weapon project, have achieved a new milestone. Following the repossession of their Stratasys Mojo 3D printer, the intrepid group has soldiered on in their quest to produce the world’s first 3D printable firearm. In the following video Defense Distributed takes a a 3D printed lower receiver for an AR-15 rifle out to the firing range. The weapon fires six rounds before breaking.

The design used is from MakerBot’s free public repository for 3D models, the Thingiverse. The “Reinforced AR-15 Lower Receiver” model was produced by user HaveBlue, but had not actually been tested as a part of a gun before.

While perhaps not performing up to the standards Defense Distributed had hoped, the test firing of this part has led the group to gather invaluable data for use in refining the design.

Two weeks ago, Defense Distributed applied for 501(c)(3) tax exemption status. According to Wikipedia, 501(c)(3) exemption applies to “corporations, and any community chest, fund, cooperating association or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, to promote the arts, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.” Organizations operating under 501(c)(3) status are frequently referred to as “Friends of…”

Struggling to Survive Live in Indie Survival Horror Sim Miasmata | Twitchy Tuesday

We’re going indie on this Twitchy Tuesday’s live stream with the beautiful new survival game Miasmata. Prepare to take a tumble off a hill while searching for drinkable water with myself and The Mrs. on our quest to create a cure for the plague. Of course it’s not all falling and drowning. Somewhere out there in this tropical paradise turned graveyard a… thing… is hunting us.

The show’s over for this week, but you can relive all the spills and chills below as we strive to survive yet another live broadcast. Experience the magic we preach about everything wrong with modern, big budget gaming and shriek like little girls at the sudden appearance of The Creature. Really! Honest to God live screaming.

The Future Of Robotics | The Technology Report

The Lou formerly known as The Great One launches his new video project today, The Technology Report, so click your like buttons together and give him a warm welcome.

I’m going to be trying something new by moving into the mid 20th century by using video reporting.  Seems like video is what all the kids are watching these days, so let’s see how it goes.  I’m sure I’ll get better as I get some practice at this, so please hang in there as we at GUO work out the details.  A thousand thanks to my video producer and technical assistant, Michael Krutzler.  Please feel free to comment here or on YouTube.

Cambridge story:  http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/humanitys-last-invention-and-our-uncertain-future/

Humand Rights Watch and Harvard Law:  http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/19/ban-killer-robots-it-s-too-late

Robot Combat League via Entertainment Weekly:  http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/20/robot-combat-league/

Water Found On Mercury | Out Of This World Weekly

Mercury is hot.  800 degrees Fahrenheit hot during Mercury’s 29 Earth day long daytime.  The extremely close proximity to the Sun makes this the least likely place in the Solar System to find water.  Even so, NASA’s Messenger mission to Mercury has used 2 instruments to confirm water on that planet with the help of the Arecibo radio telescope here on Earth.  It seems that ice water is able to exist on Mercury in deep craters near the poles of the planet.  These craters never see sunlight and thus never reach the excruciatingly hot temperatures that would melt the ice almost instantly.  Since there is no atmosphere on the planet, the heat on the day side is not distributed through the atmosphere to the polar regions.  This unexpected discovery is mirrored by the discovery of water in the form of ice on the Moon, which has also been found in deep craters near the poles that never see sunlight. 

Deal! Cthulhu Christmas Calendar is Free for iOS Today

December is a maddening time of the year. You got the crazy shopping, insane decorating, nerve-racking family visits, and upsetting bankruptcy paperwork all crammed into a 31-day period were everyone is expected to be nice and love one another. In such mind rending times, why not commit to a quiet minute each morning with the original gods of madness, Cthulhu and Friends?

Cthulhu Christmas Calendar comes to us from Red Wasp Design, the folks behind the turn-based tactical iOS game Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land. In this new advent calendar app you’ll greet each new day with a shriek as Big C, Nyarlathotep, and all their crazy buddies greet you with adorably insane artwork and break your sanity with a bit of trivia from the H.P. Lovecraft created mythos. Best of all, this celebration of Christmas madness is free today!

Do some pointy-clicky over at iTunes and grab Cthulhu Christmas Calendar and Cthulhu Christmas Calendar HD today. You’d be mad not to!

Behind the Blog: December 1, 2012

Well, that was a trying month if you’re unlucky enough to be living in the Northeastern United States. Good to see you and yours again! We’ve been sitting down here pounding away at our keyboards yammering on and on about the latest flotsam and jetsam of geekery to wash up on the shores of the Internet. Man, I bet you missed a bunch of stuff what with the lack of electricity and all. Lucky for you I’ve got this slide projector all set up with a fresh batch of clips about how we made it all. Wait… Were are you going?

Come on! It’s getting cold out there and I won’t take “No” for an answer. Seriously. Now sit down. Good. Now I’m just going to put these handcuffs on and… Perfect! Now, if you’ll direct your attention to this first slide, you’ll see all the pain behind the posts, the thoughts behind the themes, and the numbers behind the nuance. Welcome to Behind the Blog!