Walyou

Walyou

Link to Walyou

MOCAheart, a cardiovascular health tracker for the masses

Posted: 21 Nov 2014 06:00 AM PST

MOCAheart

MOCAheart is a ECG tracking device that will help you monitor your own body, but with a twist that makes it way more useful and easy to read.

Sedentary life, although all too common, is not the best for our health. For those who need a little extra help with awareness and taking care of their own bodies, here comes MOCAheart, a gadget recently funded on KickStarter that is up to the task. MOCAheart doesn’t try to be like every other tracker and measure heart rate, blood oxygenation, and so on (although it can, if that’s what you want), but provide information based on their special proprietary format, the MOCA INDEX that is easier to read, and more useful to work around if you’re not a doctor.

The MOCA INDEX is derived from the velocity of blood moving through the body, using pulse transit time to indicate a reading, and calculate from that whether a person’s blood pressure is regular or not. This differs from other methods that use pulse transit time by being less complicated, and in the end, more useful. But if the concept is hard to grasp, check the video the MOCA team did where they do this gadget proper justice.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at Heartbeat Authentication May Unlock Smartwatch Mobile Payments and Bungie Bares Their Big Heart To Liver Transplant Patient.

Bionic Bird is a Drone That Looks Like a Bird, Flies Like a Dream

Posted: 21 Nov 2014 04:00 AM PST

Bionic Bird

As drone usage becomes more widespread, one company has created the Bionic Bird which resembles a real bird in every single way.

Quite quickly, we are seeing drones go from just an enthusiast’s passion to a serious form of surveillance and product transport. However, a huge problem with these unmanned drones is that not only can they be big, clunky and rather unsightly, but their size (and the spinning rotors that many come equipped with) can be a serious source of danger.

So if we want to use drones to undertake some serious, stealthy spying or if we want to move things from one place to another safely, this is a problem that’s going to have to be eliminated. With the Bionic Bird, one team may have just found a solution.

As the name suggests, the big selling point about the Bionic Bird is that it’s biomimetic. What that means is that it mimics a real bird; from its aerial control to the way that it flaps its wings. So convincing is its bird-like movement that the Bionic Bird can even successfully trick other birds into thinking that it’s one of them.

And that’s a huge deal. Not just for the aforementioned health and safety reasons (arguably, actual birds are less likely to get hurt by a drone with wings instead of rotors and if it’s something they don’t feel threatened by) but because it’s less likely to get knocked out of the sky, it helps the drone better serve its purpose.

It’s also handy that the Bionic Bird is controlled via Bluetooth 4.0. You can control it from your smartphone or tablet (iOS for now, Android support will go live early next year) so you’ll be able to walk around and fly it instead of being cemented behind a control booth. One downside to this is that it only has a range of 100 meters, so that’s something to be considered.

This all said, the Bionic Bird Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign is up and running, having already surpassed its $25,000 goal (it sits at $100,000 at the time of writing). The device will retail for $149 but securing one through Indiegogo will bag you one for $100 with guaranteed delivery before Christmas.

Source: Bionic Bird Indiegogo Page

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories, Swing Copters, the new game from the creator of Flappy Bird, Angry Birds: Transformers is out now for Android devices

 

Walmart Got Tricked Into Selling PS4s for $90

Posted: 20 Nov 2014 12:45 PM PST

Walmart

There are no limits to human ingenuity, and in case you needed more proof, then how about learning that Wal-Mart has tricked into selling PS4 for $90 when the video game console wasn’t even on sale.

And no, you’re not going to get it that cheap not even on Black Friday (which for some reason is tomorrow in Romania, instead of November 28). The whole mishap is the result of a terrible price-matching policy. Walmart went overboard and included e-tailers into its price-matching campaign, and when you’re measuring your strength against such companies as Amazon, there are one or two things that can go wrong. Really wrong!

Seeing how the Seattle-based e-tailer is also listed among the companies Walmart is willing to match their prices against, some Amazon members with a registered selling account proceeded to creating PS4 sale listings at an incredible price. The world’s largest retailer was thus determined to offer Sony’s video game console cheaper than that by a cent. The scammers ended up paying less than 25% of the console’s real price.

“This shows that consumers are clever enough to understand how they can take advantage of that,” explained Haydn Simpson, head of brand protection for consulting firm NetNames.

“This is one example of the many unethical and even illegal methods that some consumers use to game the system,” added Joe LaRocca, president and founder of RetaiLPartners.

This happens a week after Sears listed Wii U bundles at $60 due a glitch, which enabled some Walmart customers to price-match it and get it for that much.

To prevent further fraud, Walmart has locked down its price-matching policy. “We can’t tolerate fraud or attempts to trick our cashiers,” declared Wal-Mart, in a statement. “This kind of activity is unfair to the millions of customers who count on us every day for honest value.” In other words, clever buyers will no longer be able to take advantage of Walmart’s benevolence.

“It is generally a hassle because usually either the store clerk or the cashier is not authorized to approve the price match,” explained Edgar Dworsky, founder of advocacy site ConsumerWorld.org. “You have to call over the store manager or a supervisor.”

While such things won’t happen again in the near future in Wal-Mart’s backyard, there’s no guarantee that the retailer has steered clear from danger, as scammers can always find new ways of tricking companies.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the white Nyko Xbox One/PS4 charger, or Sony’s record PS4 sales.

Super Smash Bros. Ported To TI-83 Calculator

Posted: 20 Nov 2014 04:00 AM PST

Super Smash Bros TI-83 title image

You can settle it in Smash. And you can also settle it in Smash on a calculator through an awesome port made by a TI-83 homebrewer.

Super Smash Bros. will be making its triumphant debut this week on the Nintendo Wii U, but silently on another orthodox platform too. Omnimaga forum member, Hayleia, has been busy making a version of the all-star Nintendo bash, called Super Smash Open, for the Texas Instruments' TI-83 series of calculators that's available for download right as we speak.

Why would you opt for a version of Smash Bros. that you can only pick two characters, Fox and Falco from Star Fox, and none of the frills that come with the Wii U one? Well, you wouldn't. But it is an amusing port for all things. One that is being continually worked on by Hayleia, and who is currently seeking for more folks to help with its further development.

The project is both free to download (it even has a two-player mode, albeit one where you have to share a calculator to play) and free to improve, so if you've got the programing know how, you might be able to expand the roster and fix it up with a few more gaming options.

Similar TI-83 calculator portings of Portal and Pokémon have been made in the past from devoted homebrewers of the hardware, and you can find more of their projects over at TI-Planet, a website dedicated in rounding up similar homebrew software for the TI-83.

Source: Tiny Cartridge

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter! And keep it right here to read about more geeky inventions from around the Internet, like this 3D printed Super Mario animated cloud pendant or fan-made Castlevania board game.

Comments system

Disqus Shortname