Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Aug 31

I recently went to watch the much-talked-about Expendables movie - and was it as good as they say?

Well, the only reason I am writing this review is to stop anyone else paying to see it when it’s really best to wait until it comes out on DVD if I’m honest!

I only went to see it due to the 2 magic words: ‘Bruce’ and ‘Willis’.  And however sexy he looked in his little suit - he was barely a cameo role - as was Arnie who was in the film even less than Mr Willis!

I loved all the action-hero films of the 80’s and 90’s - so was drawn to this film due to all the old favourites in there from Die Hard, Commando and Rocky - as well as the new kid on the block; Jason Statham.  However, this was a disappointment.

The Plot:
I can’t say it any other way than the storyline was terrible.  There were several characters who weren’t even famous to begin with which seemed a bit weird as the others were all such long-termers in the movie world.

All of the baddies were ‘movie nobodies’ and even 2 of the ‘good guys’ were so un-important that they may as well have been acted by the same person - nobody would have really noticed!

Dolph’s character had a pointless role of ‘loose cannon turned baddie turned goodie again’ with really only the slimmest of connections to the main story - which itself was rather predictable and flimsy!

Basically these guys are a gang of heavies who go in and get things (like hostage situations) sorted asap - and that’s how the film opens.  They then get propositioned by the very handsome Bruce Willis to help out with a problem on an imaginary Central or South American Island - which they turn down - but then go and do anyway after the ’sexy’ Governors daughter helps them out.

Needless to say the bad guys all die and the good guys get barely a scratch after lots of explosions and fights (and a few corny gags).

The Good Bits:
Some of the fight scenes did have me on the edge of my seat, however.  I was so involved with the fighting and watching the really ‘nice’ injuries (like heads totally blown off, arms hacked off, etc) that the film went really quickly and it all made up for the fact that I couldn’t really hear what a lot of the characters said (but then that was always a problem with Stallone anyway!).

Conclusion:
Wait for the DVD release so you can fast-forward all the terrible biker/tattoo den scenes and the equally terrible airplane CGI effects - and then put the subtitles on so you actually know what they are saying!

My cinema viewing took place in a room with less than 100 seats and there were barely 20 or us in there on a Friday night!  I can’t believe its a Number 1 Box Office Hit! 

Go watch Scott Pilgrim vs The World insteadand add this to your Love Film listings! 

posted by admin on Aug 16

Hello Again - and what a great time to be at the fore-front of the latest inventions and technology!

Almost every day, there is an announcement about something great to advance our thinking or challenge our current ways of thinking - the future looks so different - if only we would make the change!

Looking back over time Adam Park takes us through his top 10 Tech Milestones That Changed The World for a glance at the past - and hopefully they can take us places in the future!

Add to this some of the following technological information here from Susan, as she details her best 25 Startups Revolutionizing Biotechnology. Even small things can make a huge difference!

Staying with the prefix ‘bio’ - take a look at the amazing advances and technology involved with Mike’s great article on: Massive Future MRI Machine Promises to Unravel the Secrets of Human Biochemistry! Great stuff!

Moving on to inventions today - read on if you want to know about something new: Coming Soon to a Classroom Near You: 10 Things To Know About Robot Teachersby the converted Erin Lenderts! Now I’m not sure if these will ever really take over in mainstream schools - but the idea for smaller groups or adult learners could really be a good thing!

And, if you ignore all the adverts at the top - scroll down to a very thorough article by Rick Cole as he reviews the difference between to very similar in-car technologies: Garmin vs TomTom. Worth a peak if you are considering a sat nav in the future.

And finally - How to use Twitter in a way I hadn’t really thought off: Sharons719 offers us 50 “Healthy” Ways to Use Twitter. Very interesting!

And on that note - get back outside and enjoy the nice weather before winter sets in!

posted by admin on Jun 12

Your searches may go up into space - but your local services and community can get the benefits.

I have used directory enquiries and service and product listings before on the Internet - but why not start using these to promote and recruit your local workers, friends and businesses - and maybe even yourself!

It’s all ‘eco’ this and ‘emissions’ that these days - so why not take advantage of the online services and websites that are trying to cater for these new lifestyles and get your business promoted closer to home - or find a great builder/plumber/handyman that you can trust!

Imagine if you could find a local builder down the road that everyone loves - or a babysitter around the corner that everyone trusts?  When you are new to an area, you can’t normally get your hands on this kind of information for months or even years.

Just Moved To Edinburgh?
I mean - say you just moved to a new city and needed a good car mechanic - you normally have 2 choices: 1) pick one at random that you live close to and hope for the best, or 2) trust a local you bump into in town to give you good advice!

However these days - you can check a website that has got years and years of recommendations on it - so you aren’t just down to guess work and good luck.  You can actually use a trusted source that has been regularly updated and improved over the years: so type in Edinburgh MOT into a website like TouchLocal.com (a local business online directory) for example, and it will come up with all the recommendations from past customers.

And of course you can have your say too.  Why not let everyone know that you received great service in a out-of-town restaurant?  Or that you got some great advice from a local shop owner in town.  Have your say and make sure other new residents get a fair deal too!

Is It All Listing After Listing?
No.  These days you can get information from all sorts of mobile sources - like the Twitter directory enquiry service that Touch Local also offer - to save you thumbing through giant yellow pages and the like. 

For example, you can just tweet something like Caterer In Chiswick or Edinburgh Accountant to their given Twitter account and instantly receive a contact name and number for what you want that second! No more searching for ages for 1 then finding 3!

Local doesn’t have to mean slow and old-fashioned these days.  Local means community spirit and loyalty.  And these great community supported sites are the way forward in today’s eco climate.

They also offer other services on their site to hold this all together like an ‘expert’ Q & A section where you can ask any questions to local ‘experts’ - or apply to become and expert yourself!  Also there is a messaging service and a sort of social networking area where you can stay in contact with other people in your community for advice or just chatting between friends and colleagues.

These types of sites could be great way to add eco credentials to your business as well as getting your services recommended to a wider audience of supporting and life long clients!

Think Business - Think Local

posted by admin on Jun 6

Imagine holding up a box of LEGO to a screen - and seeing a 3D image of the fully assembled model!

That is exactly what you can do right now, not just with that one ‘toy’ brand but with dozens of others - and the technology doesn’t just stop at games and gadgets - this new world of imaging could be appearing right in front of you in the street!

Soon, we won’t have to just guess what things will look like when made, we won’t have to guess where that repair store is on a busy high street - and you won’t even have to take your chances in a new restaurant without seeing the reviews of it’s past customers!

Augmented Reality (AG) - although first invented in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland - was truely brought to life in 1999 with the use of software that detected and reacted to ‘markers’ for image tracking.  Then it was developed the following year as a great way to bring text books to life with 3-dimensional images being more helpful than flat pictures - and basically - why stop there?

AG has been used for years on the TV - and watching the football teams pop up on screen as the players ‘warm up’ is a classic example; and showing the ’finish line’ over the river in a boat race is another ‘everyday’ use.  But we didn’t want an inanimate object - we wanted to be in charge of the images.

Initially driven by sales of merchandise, these AG software packages allowed consumers to ‘play’ with their gadget before buying it so to speak.  They could see images of their preferred product and even turn it around to see it from all angles before spending any money - even comparing the finished product to a similar one.

This is a huge step forward from the AG systems that need head mounted displays (HMD’s) to work.  Think back to when we thought that seeing computer information on the inside of your glasses was amazing - now it looks like you don’t even need the glasses!

The Future:
Well, think about films where computer screens seem to be on a whole table, the wall or even ‘floating’ in mid air and you can use your hands to move sections of it.  This could be coming very soon.

There are currently people working on whole room set-ups (spatial displays) that will allow you to overlay certain images into the space given - say for example looking at a new bathroom suite in your actual bathroom - try before you buy type of thing!  A new kitchen, lounge, office suite - the list is endless once you think about it.  But obviously it will have scientific uses first, like designing new hospitals, spaceships and whole environments maybe?

It is already being used in manufacturing - where the HMD’s contain step by step instructions that are triggered by the component parts and medical breakthroughs are also allowing layers of the human body to be seen simultaneously by surgeons to complete operations faster and safer.

So rather than a virtual reality - where you step into a computer generated world - this new reality is where the computers move into your world, and hopefully improve it!

However, I can imagine a hacker getting in to one of the programs and then a HMD AG fan could find New York City with wild animals or even aliens around every corner!

Source: BBC Focus Magazine.

posted by admin on May 27

Every Olympic Games host seems to think it’s a great idea to have one - so why not the UK?

Infact - they haven’t stopped at just the one - they have created a pair of the little things: Wenlock and Mandeville! 

The story goes (and yes, they have a story) that they were drops of molten metal that fell during a welding activity of one of the stadiums, were welded into ‘toys’ for an appropriately happy family - and then ran off on rainbows to cheer up the whole world!

Apparently, the whole event can’t be televised and promoted by just using the Olympic Games logo or wording - we need these very shiny cycloptic aliens with taxicab lights on their heads to do it instead!

So after nearly 2 years of artistic collaboration and (apparently) 40 focus groups worth of discussion - all in top secret - they were revealed to the nation on a rather slapdash early evening chat show!

As always, the celebrity who has been put in charge of promoting them has plenty to say about the meaning behind this tiny part of one mascot and that tiny part of the other - but to everyone else - they are just 2 cartoon characters!  Whether the bracelets mean so-and-so on the left wrist (heaven forbid they were on the right wrist), or the shape of their feet represent something-or-other, the public probably don’t really mind.

All they care about is the money spent on such a trivial thing when the country is in financial strife as it is.  And they are still reeling after the disastrous and unwelcome original 2012 logo was unveiled - and estimated to have cost around £400,000!

So, the Mascots: Are they fun?  Are they worth the money?  Will they make more people visit the UK and it’s events?

Apparently their main aim is at children - to help the younger generations to relate better to the Games, rather than it being viewed as a more ‘adult’ event - and seeing as millions of kids in the UK will be affected by the Games, the events and the influx of thousands upon thousands of tourists into their towns - I suppose we have got to soften the blow a little bit!

And I suppose as there are 2 of them - you can have a ‘favourite’ one, or just make your parents buy 2 toys instead of just the one!  Great for a pair of novelty slippers!

Well, we need to make some money to pay for the Games, so this wasn’t a bad marketing ploy!