So I was reading a great little article by Joel at Joel on software and came across the link to the site for the software his company makes.

It’s something I, and likely you, thought we made up together, maybe it was on your couch while we played on a PS1 and said, “Man, I don’t know how to get this darn malware off my computer, but as I live in northern Saskatchewan and have minimal access to a decent tech head how in the heck am I gonna fix it?!”

So Joel who apparently lives where there is tech support (NYC) came up with a neat little networking/remote assistance app. so that your genius Uncle Milt (and I’m not even going to tell you what a salmon would call him!) can help you over the web.

It looks like the difference between the software/link Joel provides and the remote assistance bit of Windows is that Copilot is for regular people to help regular other people. Kind of the 37 Signals of remote assistance. Whereas the Windows Remote Assistance software, seems to be for the above average user, who wants to take more time to do the same operations.
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The Redmond house recently launched the first commercial version of its operating system dedicated to people that program robots. The software development kit is called “Microsoft Robotics Studio” and according to the company it is suitable both to people playing with robot toys and to people using industrial robots professionally.

Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group, commented that personal computers and robots are closer that what most people think: “I believe that robots represent the next era of PC technology. Today, is your PC a robot? You probably would say no. But PCs are starting to include cameras and microphones, primarily for person-to-person communication. Once they are on board, there’s no reason they can’t be used by other pieces of technology. If cameras can do visual recognition – so your PC knows when someone walks in the room whether it’s you or not and changes its behavior accordingly – is it a robot, then? Maybe. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever had a really bad experience while using your computer? Are you frustrated with the dearth of blue screens that pop up all the time? Spam and malware got your goat? As much as you would like to take a hammer out from the toolbox in the shed, you simply cannot bring yourself to smash the monitor to smithereens as there just isn’t enough money in the coffers to pick up a new one. What are some of your alternatives? In addition to taking a time out from using computers, you can always pick up the Screen Smasher software.

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GPS lovers have a very interesting new service on the Internet, and it is called EveryTrail. The online platform is based on user created content to display information about hundreds of trips around the world. The users feed their GPS data, with the possibility of adding audio comments, pictures or even videos to specific locations. The result, as you can imagine, is a very appealing experience, both for the people going outdoor and creating the stuff and for the would-be travelers that prefer to choose a trip carefully at the comfort of their home using the EveryTrail site. Read the rest of this entry »

Most robotic kits that we see in the market these days are pretty simple as they come pre-fitted from the factory, ready to be played with out of the box. All you need to do is insert some batteries, and perhaps run a program off a CD for the more complex offerings and you’re good to go. Not the Bioloid Multi-Bot Robot Kit though - this bad boy ships in it’s most basic format and arrives naked in this world just like us, but it does have a cool array of limbs that can be fitted in any way you like ala Lego bricks in order to create more than just a bi-pedal humanoid Transformer-like robot.

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YouNeverCall, an online cellphone retailer, decided to break new ground in terms of business by moving into the virtual one. They have a ready market of 1.5 million potential customers by jumping straight into the Second Life online community, offering a fully functional in-game cellphone for free. These virtual cellphones in Second Life are meant to be more than an accessory that offers meaningless fun - YouNeverCall will incorporate actual cellphone features in the virtual world by enabling them to ring, and there is no need to download any additional module to snag one for yourself. All you need to do is to head on here to get your very own virtual cellphone.

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Many of us already carry around an iPod Video or a Sony PSP, and more often than not we keep ourselves entertained with games, music, and movies on those multimedia-enabled devices. Popping in a game or listening to audio is pretty easy, but video is an issue where transferring your favorite holiday experiences to the small screen could take up way too much time, and the impatient world around us is one that simply cannot wait long enough. Enter the InstantVideo To Go device - this unique peripheral might look like a USB TV dongle with a single glance, but it actually performs a totally different function.

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Tired of the boring Macintosh OS X login screen? Seeing the same thing every time you turn on your computer can get a little monotonous.

This hack not only lets you change the text on your OS X login screen, but gives you step-by-step instructions on how to change the general appearance.

You can even replace the silver Apple Computer logo with a Lauren Weiss photo if you want.

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