The CellularRecombomat: a cellular automata video synth that plays itself

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308413494/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

When von Neumann created the first system of cellular automata in the '40s it was purportedly to study self-replicating robots. It's taken this long for someone to finally figure out his true intentions: powering trippy video synthesizers. Enter the CellularRecombomat, a masterful example of circuit bending featuring a VTECH Lesson One, a Zenith portable DVD player, and cellular automata circuit board from synth extraordinaire Critter and Guitari. The genetic parameters (algorithm, width across the grid, and generation lifespan) are adjusted by three antenna-mounted optical sensors based on what's happening on the screen, meaning this thing effectively plays itself. But, for a little hands-on manipulation, the silver spheres on either side can be touched and caressed to "freak out the video sync and audio in wondrous ways." Check out a video of those wondrous ways on display after the break.

[Via MAKE]

Continue reading The CellularRecombomat: a cellular automata video synth that plays itself

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Toshiba aims to deliver laptops with Cell-based graphics this year (not using Intel graphics)

by Donald Melanson, posted May 9th 2008 at 3:39PM

Toshiba has been touting its Cell-based SpursEngine graphics chip for some time now, but it looks like its finally starting to get a bit more specific about when we can expect to see it in actual products. According to Register Hardware, Toshiba will begin offering the chip in some of its multimedia-oriented notebooks sometime this year, with TVs and DVD players set to get it by the fall of 2009. The chip itself, for those not up to speed, uses its Cell-based technology (specifically, four of the Cell's Synergistic Processing Element cores) to handle some heavy-duty graphics processing, including upscaling standard definition content to high-def levels, something Toshiba has apparently taken to calling "super-resolution." Now word on what sort of premium (if any) we can expect to pay for such wonders, but Toshiba is apparently betting pretty heavily on the technology as part of its post HD DVD strategy.

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Toshiba's SpursEngine chip dominates in transcoding demonstration

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 9th 2008 at 9:19AM

Toshiba has let us know just how incredible its SpursEngine SE1000 chip really is, but all that talk has never amounted to much -- until now. Packed away in a dusty corner of Computex 2008 was Corel's demonstration booth, which just so happened to have a few rigs set up with a Cell-optimized version of its DVD MovieFactory application. One station utilized the SE1000, while the other relied solely on a 3GHz Intel Core 2 Quad CPU to transcode 1080p H.264 video to 480p. According to onlookers, the SpursEngine-based machine completed the task nearly twice as fast as the hamstrung opponent, proving that maybe Toshiba does have something worth waiting for on that PCI-Express card. Too bad there's still no mention of a price.

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Meebo Launches Multi-Tiered Meebo Marketing Platform

Source: http://www.centernetworks.com/meebo-marketing-advertising-platform

Today at the Conversational Marketing Summit in NYC, Meebo will announce the launch of the "Meebo Marketing Platform". There are four components to the Meebo Marketing Platform which include: Meebo MediaBar, Meebo SparkAds, Link Sharing, and a partnership with 33Across. The goal of the marketing platform is to connect brands with Meebo users but more importantly for Meebo users to share the ads with other Meebo users and make the ads viral. What could be better for a brand than a person sharing an advertisement with a friend?

The Meebo Mediabar is a rich media ad panel that can run basically anything in the space from games, applications, feeds, and digital goods. Next is SparkAds which are text ads that will drive clicks to brand sites. Link Sharing currently allows for a way to share and discover links between friends and now will be used as a viral system where advertisers seed their links and then Meebo users push them around the network. The 33Across partnership allows advertisers more in-depth analysis of the campaigns run on Meebo.

What I didn't see in the notes was whether 33Across helps to increase conversion while the ads are running and whether immediate user feedback is reported. This is the key with any ad campaigns on conversational sites. People will react and it's critical that the brand is monitoring public channels for the feedback so they can optimize in real-time accordingly.

The initial brands signed to the "Meebo Marketing Platform" include: Havaianas, Sony Electronics, Universal Pictures, and the band Weezer.

I plan to watch this launch closely as viral advertising will continue to slowly grow this year. If brands maximize this type of advertising, it could change online advertising as a whole. The idea of sharing an advertisement could almost be seen as an endorsement by the sending user and could push the receiving user to actually interact with the ad. Real-time monitoring and updating is the key for success with this new type of online advertising.

This April, Meebo hired a chief revenue officer who is located in NYC. Also check out our interview with Meebo founder Seth Sternberg.

Editor's note: Meebo competitor eBuddy is a CN sponsor.  Additionally, the news above was embargoed for Monday 9am, but the embargo has been broken and so we will post now per Meebo's direction.

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SafeManuals Saves You When You Need a Product Manual

Source: http://www.centernetworks.com/safemanuals-product-manuals

SafeManuals offers product manuals for nearly 900,000 products. I tested five products in different categories using products in my home and SafeManuals had all of them. Currently, over 3,600 brands are listed on SafeManuals in hundreds of categories.

Some manuals are offered in multiple languages including: English, Spanish, Portugese, Chinese, German, Italian and French. The English on SafeManuals is very poor. I guess it doesn't matter as long as you can easily navigate the dropdown menus to find the product you need a manual for.

What makes SafeManuals interesting is that the manuals are all user-submitted. I don't think I've seen this before on a manual download site. Instead of SafeManuals doing the work to find the manuals, users submit them into the proper buckets for product, category and language.

Another site we recently reviewed (with video demo) in the same category is Wirewize. Wirewize goes beyond just the manuals to offer customized setup advice for cables and remotes.

There's a pretty neat widget which allows you to embed product manuals on your site. The widget can be customized to only show specific brands or products.

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