In this unorthodox demonstration video Chrome UX designer Glen Murphy destroys a Cr-48 Chrome OS notebook. Since Chrome OS relies on the cloud to store data, it doesn’t matter what happens to your computer. Get it?
Tag Archives: experiment
Experimenting with concentrated sunlight results in the deterioration of virtually anything
Can’t get enough of BBC’s Bang Goes the Theory series. This time host Jem Stansfield travels to the Solar Furnace Research Facility in Southern France to witness the incredible power generated by highly concentrated sunlight. At the core of the “sunshine” temperature can rise to 6,300 degrees Fahrenheit and is powerful enough to almost instantly burn through wood and even melt a rock! Watch a dangerously cool demonstration above.
[Via Gizmodo]
Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project
Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.
Life in a Day, a YouTube compilation video to be largely edited by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and executive produced by director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner), will attempt to tell such a story. It’s being hailed as a “historic cinematic experiment” that relies on you (yes, you) to contribute to the short film. If you want to participate in the effort, all you have to is capture events that happen in your own life on July 24 and upload your video to the Life in a Day channel by July 31. Here are some suggestions from Google: “You can film the ordinary — a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary — a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.” Head over to the channel for other ideas that may inspire you. So here’s the deal: If your footage is selected to be put into the film, you’ll be credited as co-director and if you’re lucky you’ll get to attend the premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with 19 others. If you don’t make the final cut, Google reminds you that your submitted footage will live forever on the channel “as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.” Sappy, but it’s true! It’s so easy to do these days, you might as well give it a shot. On the 24th, whip out your Flip cam and take your dog for a walk. Who knows, maybe you and Scrappy will make it big. Need some words of encouragement? Look after the break for a pep talk from Ridley Scott; the Nike shout-out aside, it should get some creative juices flowing.
[Via YouTubeBlog] Continue reading Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project
A 2.5 year old uses the iPad for the first time
What happens when you give a two and a half year old one of the most technologically advanced gadgets to come out in quite some time? Telstar Logistics founder Todd Lappin decided to find out for himself by conducting this fun experiment. Here are some of his findings:
As you can see, after geeking out on my Sutro Tower homescreen, she took right to it — including figuring out how to enlarge some of her favorite iPhone-legacy apps to 2x to display full-size on the iPad screen. If you’re good at understanding kid-speak, you’ll also notice that she immediately saw its potential as a video-display device. She lamented the lack of a camera, and wondered about its potential for playing games.
On the downside, she had the same frustration as many adults, where touching the screen-edge with your thumb while holding the iPad blocks input to all home screen icons. Notice also that she was confused by the splash page for FirstWords Animals, her favorite spelling game: Because the start button looked like a graphic, rather than a conventional button, she couldn’t figure out how to start the game.
Oh, here’s one he forget to mention: She’s so freakin’ cute!
[Via LaughingSquid]
Google to offer ultra high-speed broadband network across the U.S.
Google is a search engine. Google is a browser. Google is a cell phone OS. Google is an ultra high-speed broadband network. Google is planning on launching a fiber-based 1 gigabit broadband network to homes and businesses across America at “competitive prices.” Why are they doing this, you ask?
Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine. New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world. Openness and choice: We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.
In other words, this is an elaborate experiment for Google, to test the waters and see what happens when more people have access to blazingly fast Internet speeds. They are in the game to “help make Internet access better and faster for everyone.” The plan will be offered to “at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people” in the coming months. If you’re interested in becoming a candidate, watch the preview video after the break and visit Google’s Fiber for Communities page.
[Via GoogleBlog]
Continue reading Google to offer ultra high-speed broadband network across the U.S.
Elephant takes on travel bags in the name of durability
Watch in awe as this 10,300-pound elephant takes on a series of selected name brand travel bags to test their durability. It took 14 minutes to crack open a $545 Tumi; eight minutes to open a $218 Delsey; one minute to open a legendary $240 Samsonite, and twenty minutes to open a $99 American Tourister; and the $320 Victorinox was found to be uncrackable. Though this is by no means a scientific way of testing a bag’s durability, it is interesting to find that some of the lesser expensive luggage bags survived longer than the expensive ones.
[Via Gizmodo]
Experiment: Public urination bin
The Wheelie Bin Urinal, designed by Stephan Bischof (from England, obviously).
This “Wheelie Bin Urinal” is a provides a place to go potty in the street, and it’s ingeniously disguised as a trash can.
For now, it’s just an experiment to see if (and when) people would use these trash can-turned-urinal stations when they’re out and about. In fact, “early prototypes of the bin were installed on busy roads in the Lewisham borough of London, in which people’s frequent interactions with the bins were documented.” You gotta see this to believe it after the break.
[Via Gizmodo; DesignBoom]
Mouse runs through Quake maze
Scientists at Princeton are conducting experiments to study the neurons of mice. What better way to do it than strapping a mouse to a suspended ball and having it run through a computerized maze based on a level from Quake 2?
[Via Gizmodo]
Freezing Mentos in icecubes to make explosion labeled hoax, pranksters cry everywhere
The folks at Steve Spangler Science have finally shut and bolted the door on the famous prank that if you freeze Mentos inside icecubes and place them in Coke a crazy explosion will follow. Everyone knows that if you put a Mentos by itself in a cup of Coke a chemical reaction will occur. However, the sneakier ploy of freezing them inside icecubes and then dropping them in Coke, waiting for them to melt and create a mess does not work. Check out the video above to see for yourself and find out why.
[Via Gizmodo]