3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

New Rumors Suggest HTC One Early Availability
13 Best Classic Children’s Book From All Over the World
The Quantified and Augmented Self
GOQii Fitness Tracker Outsources Your Stats to an Indian Personal Trainer
LEGO Robot Breaks the World Record at Solving Rubik’s Cube

New Rumors Suggest HTC One Early Availability

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT

It seems like HTC can’t ever get a break, with their most recent product launches delayed by weeks, but this year we may see a bolder, more timely HTC launch.

The last two HTC flagship phone launches have been plagued by delays. The HTC One X and HTC EVO LTE were both delayed in 2012 due to patent squabbles with Apple, then the HTC One was delayed in 2013 due to camera production issues.

Both of these delays struck a nasty blow not only to HTC’s sales numbers, but also to customer faith in the brand. HTCs Spring launch is usually squared off against the newest Samsung phone launch, so the slightest delay is disastrous as Samsung is waiting for impatient customers with open arms.

Apple has typically been the best example of successful product launch, with most of their iPhone and iPad launches running like clockwork. Apple will hold an event to announce and show off their newest gadget, then pre-orders will start a week later, and the phone ships the week after that. Apple fans know that that they never have to wait long once the phone is announced, and Apple’s numbers reflect that confidence.

Recent news suggest HTC may by trying to set a new standard for device launches by having the All New HTC One available within minutes of the launch announcement on March 25th.

The only known retailer to make this announcement is Carphone Warehouse, but such a statement suggests there will be stock available for sale the day of, so there shouldn’t be anything stopping other retailers from having similar availability.

Such a bold launch strategy would help HTCs sales in leaps and bounds, especially considering their device will be announced and available for consumer purchase before Samsung even gets a chance to make the Galaxy S5 available for pre-order.

The availability is still not confirmed, though, with other vendors suggesting the phone will be available a few weeks later. A mid April launch could mean that the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S5 may have the same launch weekend, which could be tough with the way Samsung’s marketing budget dwarf’s HTCs.

Either way, if HTC can have a quicker product turnaround this year and avoid taking the hit from yet another delay, they may yet sell a phone or two.

Source: BGR

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13 Best Classic Children’s Book From All Over the World

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Each country and even regions has their own fairytales and what they consider to be the ultimate classic children’s book. While it’s impossible to actually decide what are the best, here’s an attempt at doing so.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, and Christopher Robin. No need to say more.

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

In the book version of the wooden boy, it’s a bit harder to like him because he’s quite selfish and spoiled.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A story about the meaning of life, the nature of love, and the beauty of existence.

The Moomins Series by Tove Jansson

The author is Swedish-Finnish, writing about a family of carefree, funny-looking creatures called the Moomins, which have become much more than just literary characters.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy M. Montgomery

Published in Canada back in 1908, the story of the orphan growing up on a farm on Prince Edward Island became a lot more than a local hit – much more like an international classic.

A Bell for Ursli by Selina Chonz

A Swiss story about a kid who lives in the Alps, searching for a bell so he can lead the spring procession through his village.

Sruwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

10 Stories about children with morales learned the hard way.

Goodbye, Rune by Marit Kaldhol

A Norweigan story about a girl named sara and her coming to terms with the death of her friend Rune.

The Cholito Series by Oscar Colchado Lucio

A Peruvian book about a little boy named Cholito who travels the world.

The Gardens of Dorr by Paul Biegel

A Dutch fairytale about the princess searching the lost gardens of Dorr for the flower that will turn back into her beloved.

The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay

A koala named Bunyip Bluegum, a penguin named Sam Sawnoff, and a sailor named Bill Barnacle defending a pudding from theives.

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng-en

A Chinese tale about the adventures of a Tang Dynasty priest and his disciples searching for a Buddhist Sutra.

Grandmother Apple by Mira Lobe

An Austrian story about Andi, a little boy without a grandmother, so he imagines one that takes him on adventures.

Via: Diana Bruk

For a bit more on Children’s books, check out ‘What if Video Games became Children’s Books‘ or the super successful gallery of Children’s books tattoos.

The Quantified and Augmented Self

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PDT

His motion is all tracked. His meals are logged. When he wakes up, he knows how long he was in REM sleep. He is, the most connected man in the world.

Mankind currently takes part in this study of averages. We refer to these average metrics as medicine, academics, fitness, labor, etc. Look up your symptoms on WebMD and you’ll find out what the average person typically has when they have similar conditions. Take any standardized test, and you’ll be told where you fall compared to the general collective.

But what about you?

Where should you fall? Does your body react the same way to spicy foods as everyone else? What should your resting heart-rate be? How much is your labor worth? How intelligent are you really? Most of these questions have been answered in the past by taking snapshots of millions of different people, usually during doctors appointments–blood pressure, weight, height, etc–and then comparing that data to the averages found to from everyone else’s personal data.

We are now in a place in history where these metrics can be defined by the individual. Instead of knowing where we fall compared to others, we can collect enough data to know ourselves, instead of this massive conglomerate of collective averages.

Leading the charge in this effort is the Quantified Self and individuals like Chris Dancy. Chris Dancy has been dubbed “The Most Connected Man in the World.” He is wearing 3-5 tracking devices at any given time, often more. He tracks his heart-rate, his skin temperature, his sleep, his eating, and his activity level.

Chris doesn’t just stop at biological tracking, though. He tracks everything he does all day–from using the toilet to using social media (not the most drastically different tasks)–in Google Calendar. This lifestyle has helped Dancy lose 100 pounds and significantly increase his access to his own data by participating in what he refers to as “knowledge lockering.”

Dancy records and saves details of everything. If he were to want to recall a conference call he was on last month, he would be able to pull it up in evernote and know what decibel he was speaking at and what his heart-rate was at any given moment during the call.

In a time when many people are unsure about wearables such as Google Glass or Samsung Gear, Dancy is plowing full speed ahead, confident it is the future of productivity. He believes that if companies don’t start tracking more employee metrics, the employees themselves will begin collecting this data for their own competitive reasons.

The workforce is slow moving, though so such changes may be a long way off, but many may find his arguments for an “augmented self” to be very persuasive. There is definitely a backlash, though, and not everyone will be accepting of technology playing such a central monitoring role in our everyday life.

We have already seen discrimination against people wearing Google Glass, causing comparisons to be drawn to the fictional story of the Deus Ex video games that take place in a dystopian world where cybernetic enhancements are commonplace, but very socially divisive.

Such a world is years away, but those comparisons definitely help point out important questions that will need to be answered before everyone becomes as “augmented” as Chris Dancy, or even moreso. We are getting closer and closer to replacing human function with prosthetics for amputees, but it is inevitable that the prosthetics will eventually be stronger and more capable than the original limb.

For now, most of us can be content with simple self quantifications like steps, sleep, and food, but as technology advances, it may become way easier–and more necessary–to look more like Chris Dancy, just so we can keep up.

Source: Wired, Mashable

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GOQii Fitness Tracker Outsources Your Stats to an Indian Personal Trainer

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 01:45 PM PDT

Outsourcing solves a lot of problems nowadays, especially since it costs companies a lot less money than if they found a solution to their problems locally. In this context, why not oursource your fitness stats to a qualified trainer?

That is exactly what the developers of the GOQii fitness tracker are planning to do with their device. Unlike other wearable tech companies who sell their fitness trackers at a sometimes steep price, the manufacturers of GOQii are willing to offer this device for free to anyone interested. In a strategy similar to Amazon’s, this company doesn’t want to make money from its physical products, but from the services that go with it.

Gaming entrepreneur and GOQii founder Vishal Gondal demonstrated how the fitness tracker works using Swapnil, a personal trainer based in Mumbai, India. One morning, Swapnil asked Gondal how he slept, and the the answer didn’t quite characterize someone focusing on fitness: “Feeling tired. Should I get a Red Bull?” Swapnil suggested against that, while also recommending Gondal to try some natural carrot juice with a shot of ginger instead. Swapnil’s last question, “Did you get time for a run?” is nearly rhetorical, as the Indian personal trainer already knows that Gondal hasn’t taken too many steps that day.

Future users of the GOQii fitness tracker should rest assured, as their GPS data is not visible to the personal trainer, despite being collected by the device itself. That’d be something like stalking, and there are plenty of other methods out there to do that.

Gondal finally admits the truth: “I haven’t run so I haven’t replied to the message. This is playing in my mind that I have to reply. Ok, I’ll tell him now.” Using the GOQii app on his Windows Phone Nokia, Gondal replies to his personal trainer: “Yes. Running tomorrow for sure.”

The founder of the company is also very optimistic about where this fitness tracker and service is heading: “In the future we’re going to have a tsunami of personal data coming up. We’re creating a new breed of professionals whose job is to decipher human data and guide people.”

As said before, GOQii is looking to raise money from the service, rather than from the device, so it offers 6 months of daily personal training for $99 with each free device that they offer. The number of personal trainers will surely raise from the current 50, and hopefully, so will the number of subscribers.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Samsung Gear Fit and Voyce, a fitness tracker for dogs.

LEGO Robot Breaks the World Record at Solving Rubik’s Cube

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 01:15 PM PDT

LEGO bricks and robots are only a few of a geek’s favorite things, so any projects bringing them together is bound to be successful, especially if involves breaking a world record.

CubeStormer 3, as this LEGO robot is known as, can solve Rubik’s cube in 3.253 seconds. Any way you look at it, that’s a great improvement over the previous record of 5.27 seconds. Ironically enough, that was established by the same team that built this robot using its predecessor, CubeStormer 2.

Inventors Mike Dobson and David Gilday exhibited their creation at the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham, England, and they also demonstrated how incredibly quick the LEGO Mindstorms robot is at solving Rubik’s cube. Gilday explained that “Our real focus is to demonstrate what can be achieved with readily available technology to inspire young minds into taking a greater interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

By “readily available technology,” Gilday refers to the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone that provided the robot the brains necessary for breaking the world record. If the inventors are going down that path, I assume that the next world record will be established using a Samsung Galaxy S5. The two developers also used ARM-processors in tandem with the Galaxy S4. More precisely, the smartphone analyzed the cube using a custom Android app and determined how many moves the robot should make to solve the puzzle. The ARM processors, on the other hand, were in charge of moving the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 bricks according to the solution dictated by the Galaxy S4.

Gilday also pointed out that “We knew CubeStormer 3 had the potential to beat the existing record but with the robot performing physical operations quicker than the human eye can see there’s always an element of risk. Our big challenge now is working out if it’s possible to make it go even faster.”

Watch the following video to witness CubeStormer 3 solving the puzzle in record time. It’s quite needless to say that the video, despite being very short, is very impressive. The current record will be really hard to beat, even for this team of inventors, but that doesn’t meant that they shouldn’t use their creativity at something else, especially if it’s based on LEGO and robots, again.