Geek-Weekly

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Category: GEEK

GEEK / News

Virtual Facebook? What are we turning into?



What is the Oculus Rift? Thanks to Facebook millions of people are at least somewhat familiar with the Virtual Reality gizmo. What many want to know is what is their plan with this technology? With third-party concept, users browse an e-tailer using the Rift. After a few moments of browsing Facebook an individual clicks on a product advertised in the sidebar. He’s prompted to put on Oculus, at which point the user is immersed into a virtual Facebook marketplace, where he picks a designer bag off the shelf and turns it about as if he’s actually holding it. Combined with technology like the Connect the PC can recognize hand movements and the software responding accordingly. It’s of course just one company’s idea.
My opinion… Another social networking society fail. Continued barrios to real human interaction only breaks down the fundamental requirements for a healthy society.

Computer / GEEK

We Want Windows 9

Ok let’s be honest. Windows 8 was not what we expected it to be. Sure it has its good points but let’s face it. This is nothing short of Microsoft holding true to the belief that it’s only every other version of Windows that’s really any good at all. For myself I would say Windows 7 is my favorite. I have it on several systems now and I am completely happy with it.  Shhhh… Don’t tell anyone but I put a Windows 7 Start menu on my Windows 8 Laptop.

Windows 9, codenamed Threshold, is still a good year away or more. With that much time it will be interesting to see what they select from the successes of other past (odd number windows) to include in the new Windows 9. How about we make it a PC OS again? What do you think?

I know that Windows 8 was all about the touch screen and breaking into the tablet market. But forcing that Metro style interface on all the new PC uses was the wrong thing to do. I could also criticize the flat “clean” style but now even Apple is doing it with their latest IOS. The flat look is OK but a drop shadow under my active window would be nice. The fact is you have changed the basic fundamental functionality that so many have come to know and trust. If I have to learn a new OS then why not use UBUNTU get a MAC.

How about better gaming support? With the new Steam Box around the corner and their own OS do we need Windows? With a new OS much like UBUNTU and MINT but now having game support and compatible Office programs a basic user does not need to drink the Microsoft coolaid.

Again, it will be interesting to see what we get in 9.

GEEK / Random Thought Generator

The Internet Ghetto

Make sure that you are careful of what you click on. You could end up taking a wrong turn on the internet. Suddenly you are surrounded by seedy temptations of sex and free money then before you know it you have caught something that is not easy to get rid of.

GEEK

I miss AOL

From our site: Pretend I’m God

Do you remember America Online (AOL) in the early days when it was just AOL with a limited connection to the rest of the web? It offered games, chatting and a forum to congregate with your online friends. It was really a single point to communicate with others. But that was not enough was it? We wanted more of the internet and more websites. We did not want to be STUCK in a single system. AOL grew and gave us what we wanted and the World Wide Web was ours for the browsing. We were no longer confined to the chat rooms of AOL and we were free to explore. Today the AOL of the past is gone, a thing of the past in it oh so obsolete way.

So many great websites come and go; each day was a new web adventure. Wow the internet is big and only getting bigger. If only there was a place where we could go online and keep in touch with other, chat or start a group. a single place we could go to do it all…

Well played Facebook! The lemming are ready to receive you now.

GEEK

Is the internet slowing down?

Is it just me or does the internet seems to be slowing down? I know that I am on-line all the time but it just seems like there is an increasing slowness on the web. Home and work I feel like I am stuck in slow moving traffic on a single lane road with no way to pass. Someone tell me what is going on.

Games / GEEK

Why the SIM games fail.

Listen, I am the first one that will tell you how much I love the SIM games. Starting with SIM CITY I have lost hours of my life with this addictively creative and mind challenging game. Regardless if you play it by the book or evoke the uses of cheats so you can build the ultimate city you cannot deny the entertainment that any of these games provide.

So why do I consider them to be failures? Long term support and crapwear! I still have my old copies of SIM CITY and however compatibility on the latest PCs is sketchy at best. Not being able to even Launch the game. Perhaps it’s a challenge with a 64bit OS? It’s still frustrating. I have several other older games that do work just fine on a new PC.

Where the enjoyment is lost on PC games is this. Too long to install and all the added crap that’s installed. Some games I do not want on line or I do not want a different program running looking for updates. Let’s be honest after a short period there are NO MORE UPDATES so why do I need this application from EA on my PC? This is where the Play Stations and XBOXs excel. The games just work! Most of the time.

I find that Steam is bringing this console level of support to the PC that allows for background updates and a convenient interface. Something to think about.

What better way to breathe new life into these SIM games other than a refresh that allows for some new found compatibility.

Computer / Games / GEEK / Mobile

Top 10 Best Tech from 2013

I know that there are a lot of articles out there and I wanted to capture what I felt the top 10 tech items for 2013 were. In no particular order…

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

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Ridicule gargantuan tablets all you want. The Galaxy Note 3 may sport a gigantic 5.7-inch screen, but all that screen real estate is awesomely useful, the smartphone offers great battery life, and the included S-Pen stylus is incredibly useful if you like taking longhand notes.

A 2.3GHz processor and 3GB of RAM help power this massive device, and what you end up with is a smartphone that practically eliminates the need for a 7-inch tablet.

Massive smartphones aren’t going away—and the more we use them, the more we like them. And the Note 3 is pretty much the best “tablet phone” around.

 

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GEEK / Science

Dermal Regenerator

Dermal_regenerator The Cellular Regenerator or Dermal Regenerator is a device on Star Trek capable of speeding up the healing process of living tissue by using light. A lot of the technology we now take for granted was actually inspired by Star Trek. And when i first saw the dermal regenerator on Star Trek i thought that this doesn’t seem too far fetched. Turns out I was quite right. Fittingly It’s a technology developed by NASA that is now being adapted to do just that.  Now it might only be a matter of time before every hospital has one, heck maybe even every household.

The need to care for a population with chronic wounds is a growing challenge that requires innovative approaches. Two approaches that specifically address the identified pathophysiological processes involved in wound healing are hyperbaric oxygen therapy and light therapy.

Light Emitting Diodes (LED-technology), originally developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space, show promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. In this paper we review and present our new data of LED treatment on cells grown in culture, on ischemic and diabetic wounds in rat models, and on acute and chronic wounds in humans. Results include: in vitro increases of cell growth of 140-200% in mouse derived fibroblasts, rat derived osteoblasts, and rat derived skeletal muscle. Increases in growth of 155% -171% of normal human epithelial cells in vitro. Wound size decreases of up to 36% in conjunction with HBO in ischemic rat models. Improvement of greater than 40% in musculoskeletal training injuries in Navy SEAL team members. Decreased wound healing time by 50% of crew members aboard a U.S. Naval submarine. And finally, up to a 47% reduction in pain of children suffering from oral mucositis. We believe that the use of NASA Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) for light therapy will greatly enhance the natural wound healing process. This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center – SBIR Program.

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