Samuel Liew’s Blog

For three weeks now, Android fans have been fidgeting impatiently. Specifically, ever since ASUS chairman Jonney Shih took the stage at last month’s AsiaD conference and teased the next-gen Transformer tablet. Though he only gave us a quick glimpse, he recited a laundry list of specs: a 10.1-inch display, 8.3mm-thick body, mini-HDMI output, microSD slot and an update to Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of the year, if not sooner. Not to mention, it’ll be the first tablet packing NVIDIA’s hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, making it the first-ever quad-core tablet.

Well, that day has come, and so have the juicy details. We just got word that the tablet will go on sale worldwide in December, starting at USD$499 with a beefy 32GB of storage, moving up to USD$599 for a 64GB model. (That signature keyboard dock you see up there will cost USD$149.) In addition to those basic specs Mr. Shih revealed last month, we now know this has a 1280 x 800, Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass display with a 178-degree viewing angle and a max brightness of 600 nits. It also packs 1GB of RAM, GPS, a gyroscope, SonicMaster audio and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. Rounding out the list is an 8MP shooter with an auto-focusing f/2.4 lens and a back-illuminated CMOS sensor that captures 1080p video. Touch-to-focus is also an option here, and ASUS claims a 30 percent boost in color enhancement over competing tabs.

As for battery life, we initially heard reports of 14.5-hour runtime, but ASUS is now saying the tablet alone can squeeze out 12 hours thanks to a 22Wh battery, and that the dock will add an additional six hours of juice. In addition, the slimmed-down, 1.2-pound dock brings all the other benefits the last-gen model offered, including a touchpad, USB 2.0 port and full-sized SD slot. Software-wise, it’ll ship with Android 3.2 and apps such as SuperNote and Polaris Office, and we’re told we’ll learn more about that ICS update in “early December.”

In terms of design, you may have already noticed the Prime sports the same spun aluminum digs as the company’s Zenbooks, though this is the first time we’re seeing clear, close-up shots of it — and in two colors, no less! At 8.3mm (0.33 inches) thick and 586 grams (1.29 pounds) without the dock, it’s a smidge skinnier than the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, which means, unsurprisingly, that your old Transformer dock won’t be compatible.

Finally, ASUS coated both the display and metal cover with a hydro-oleophobic coating that makes it more fingerprint-resistant. For now, we’ve got photos below and if you can wait a few more weeks, we’ll most definitely be putting this thing through its paces in a full review. And if you’re looking for something a little less expensive, well, the original Transformer should be getting Ice Cream Sandwich soon, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Santa brought a few holiday rebates.

[Source]

First, we have recycled sewage water called NEWater. Now we have recycled artificial meat from sewage called PoopBurger. True story.

Population boom equals food shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria.

The researchers then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the poop meat red with food coloring and enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef.

Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions, not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.

The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces. They hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories.

[Source: digitaltrends]

Despite what some detractors say, torrents have plenty of legitimate uses — one of which is helping organizations distribute digital content at little or no cost. That’s especially important for a non-profit like Khan Academy, which is why its partnership with BitTorrent Inc. makes perfect sense.

Khan Academy is a provider of free, online educational videos. A wide range of subjects are covered, including physics, biology, trigonometry, calculus, and economics. The academy’s vault currently includes more than 2,000 videos, and all are now accessible via BitTorrent apps. Founder Salman Khan told TorrentFreak, “BitTorrent is a great platform to help us fulfill our mission of providing world-class education to anyone, anywhere.”

If you’ve got either uTorrent or BitTorrent installed, just install the Khan Academy app and get studying! Best of all, you’ll also be helping out by seeding content and giving back to the community while you watch.

Source: Khan Academy and BitTorrent partner to deliver P2P educational video

After coming across this article on Gizmodo (Most Days I Feel Like This PayPal Automated Support Bot), I had to try it out myself. Apparently, this has been fixed by the company that is running the AI behind the bot, but I still had some fun with it.

This is called street-smart. Giving a third-party’s number instead of her own, then saying that she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

This bot CAN keep a secret ;)

Very well-constructed last response.

AI still can’t handle any form of simple sarcasm until it is bluntly stated.

Are you seriously giving your company’s number to a bored person?

I should have said I don’t give refunds XD