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This month
labs.moto.com » Blog Archive » DIY Android Home Energy Monitor
by Spone
Lately we’ve been tinkering with deploying Android beyond the phone (using Google’s open-source Android to connect devices to each other and the web), so we thought we’d see if we could leverage the efficiency of Android on a BeagleBoard, the accessibility of wireless webcams, and the ease of a Flickr feed to a custom Google Gadget to track the ups and downs of our metered utilities.
Why webcams? While there may be a few compelling (low-cost, low-impact) products out there to monitor your electric meter, there are no comparable products for reading gas or water meters.
So until the really smart grid arrives, here’s a way to chart your whole utility spend on your own Google homepage.
October 2009
Bank Notes: a collection of Bank Robbery Notes
by karlcow
Robbing a bank is as simple as putting pen to paper. Here are actual demand notes used in successful and unsuccessful unarmed bank robberies - - accompanied by a photo of each robber and appended with details about the robbery itself.
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September 2009
Digital Photographers, Welcome Back to 1999 | PixSylated | Digital Photography, Canon Flash, Shooting Tethered
by mozkart
Why the value of still images is collapsing
It’s that old supply-and-demand thing. The supply of digital images is way, way up. At the same time, advertising in magazines and newspapers is sinking.
If you want to continue earning a living at something you already do, it’s helpful if your trade is difficult to do and expensive to get started. Photography during the film-era was this way. Every time I pushed the shutter-button a couple of bucks flew out the window. Now the cost of getting into the pro photography game is virtually nothing (aside from the cost of the camera, the computer, the software, the training… still a relatively low investment for what you’re able to accomplish). I’m grateful that HDSLR cinematography is expensive and problematic right now.
The Trib Is Dead. Long Live The Trib. For several generations, ads in magazines and newspapers were the leading consumer of commercial stills. Sorry Charlie, those days are gone. Today advertisers are increasingly moving their efforts over to web-based campaigns. It’s not personal. It’s demographics. OK. So that means that it is personal. The web, with it’s ability to provide instantaneous feedback to advertisers enables those spending the ad bucks to target their message exactly where it needs to be within minutes. For an ad placed in the wrong magazine, the response time is measured in weeks or months. Print advertising is plummeting (stats here). It’s not the economy, stupid. It’s the medium. Check out MagazineDeathPool if you’re not already a regular reader. Now is not be the time to launch a career as a magazine shooter.
August 2009
July 2009
2009 Winner | The Buckminster Fuller Challenge
by karlcow
Mobility-on-Demand systems utilize fleets of shared-use lightweight electric vehicles placed at automatic charging racks throughout a city. The CityCar and RoboScooter, both folding vehicles, along with the Green-Wheel Bicycle, minimize parking space and can be picked-up and dropped-off at any rack. Mobility-on-Demand systems maximize mobility and dramatically reduce congestion and pollution through energy and land-use efficiency.
Bits Of Destruction Hit the Book Publishing Business: Part 1
by karlcow
One massive wave crashing down is confusing enough. But when three crash at the same time, even seeing what's going on (let alone predicting how things will play out) becomes really difficult. These three big new waves are:
1. The digitization of print books by Google Book Search.
2. Increasing consumer acceptance of e-books, mostly because of the Kindle.
3. Print on demand.
June 2009
benefits of goji berries
by arunskh
The demand for Goji Berries has seen a steep rise in the health food market. The health benefits that the berries possess make them even more useful and increase their demand.
minify - Google Code
by Krome
& 8 others
Combines, minifies, and caches JavaScript and CSS files on demand to speed up page loads.
Adobe Labs - Adobe BrowserLab
by srcmax
(via)
BrowserLab provides web designers exact renderings of their web pages in multiple browsers and operating systems, on demand. BrowserLab is a powerful solution for cross-browser compatibility testing, featuring multiple viewing and comparison tools, as well as customizable preferences. Since BrowserLab is an online service, it can be accessed from virtually any computer connected to the web. Also, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4 software users have access to additional functionality such as testing local and active content.
May 2009
MYFAB.COM | Premier site de fabrication on demand, ne payez plus les intermédiaires! - myfab.com
by Line
& 1 other
Projets et fabrication d'objets design…
Magtastic Blogsplosion | The wisdom of clouds
by mozkart
(via)
Such as: “Anyone can make their own magazines for free.” Enter MagCloud, a new print-on-demand website dedicated to magazines.
It works like this: you upload a PDF of your magazine to the MagCloud website. You are then told a minimum price per copy that it can be sold it, to cover their production costs. You set a sale price above that, and make it available on the website. MagCloud processes the orders, deals with the payments, sends you your margin, and then prints out a single copy of the magazine and mails it to the customer. You have zero fixed costs, and don’t have boxes and boxes of unsold mags in your garage. Everyone’s a winner. Ish.
What is a Magazine? - Tony Silber - Blogs Consumer @ FolioMag.com
by mozkart
(via)
At the Independent Magazine Advisory Group’s sixth annual meeting in Boulder, Colorado this week, Bob Sacks, president of Precision Media Group, offered six key properties for what a magazine is.
Tellingly, his were platform-neutral:
1. It’s metered. It’s paginated. It has a beginning, middle and end.
2. It’s edited, or curated.
3. It’s designed.
4. It’s date-stamped.
5. It’s permanent. Once created, it can’t be changed.
6. It’s periodic. It has a calendar or rhythm. It has a series of issues.
Lawyer: RIAA must pay back all $100M it has collected - Ars Technica
by ericpaul
(via)
Lawyer: RIAA must pay back all $100M it has collected
Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson has now gotten involved in two more file-sharing lawsuits, including the Jammie Thomas retrial in Minnesota. But it's in the other, lesser-known case, that Nesson and a former student demand the RIAA pay back all $100 million it has collected in settlement money over the years.
Number of On-demand Titles Topped Traditional Books in 2008 - 5/19/2009 7:21:00 AM - Publishers Weekly
by karlcow
The number of new and revised titles produced by traditional production methods fell 3% in 2008, to 275,232, but the number of on-demand and short run titles soared 132%, to 285,394. The on-demand and short run segment is the method typically used by self-publishers as well as online publishers.
April 2009
Singletons and lazy loading
by Elryk
& 1 other
Solution au problème de lazy loading d'une classe Singleton.
Initialization on demand holder idiom : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initialization_on_demand_holder_idiom
Finding freelance jobs: 6 sites for talented techies | ITworld
by ERSWeb
Here we look at 6 services that promise to help you put a little cash in your pocket. You'll learn how the services work, what skills are in demand, how much you can expect to earn, and you'll get the inside scoop from freelancers who use these services.
