Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Virginia Tech Survivor Created An App To Help Others Thwart Campus Crime

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-virginia-tech-survivor-created-an-app-to-help-others-thwart-campus-crime-2013-11

Kristina Anderson VA Tech

On April 16, 2007, a gunman entered Kristina Anderson's French class on the Virginia Tech campus and opened fire, killing 11 of her classmates and her professor. Thirty-two people died that day in total.

Anderson survived three gunshot wounds — two to her back and one to her foot. Since that horrific day, she has been a dedicated advocate for college safety, the Washington Post reports.

Part of her advocacy was the creation of LiveSafe, a smartphone app aimed at stopping campus crime.

Here's how it works:

Users can report non-emergency incidents, such as theft, car accidents, harassment, vandalism or mental health concerns, with the tap of a finger.

Users can also send photos, audio or video to police through the app, or chat directly with a member of the campus police department.

Public safety officials collect all of the tips to get a more comprehensive view of what’s happening on campus and interact with students who send in tips.

According to the Post, LiveSafe is already being used at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of New Hampsh! ire, amo ng other schools.

You can watch Anderson talk about her experience on that day in April below:

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This 13-Year-Old Teaches MIT Graduates About Technology

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/13-year-old-teaches-technology-at-mit-2013-11

Quin Etnyre

Quin Etnyre, a 13-year-old tech expert, teaches graduate students at MIT all about Arduino, an open source platform for controlling electronics.

We first saw the news on BBC

Etnyre is also the CEO at Qtechknow, a startup that sells starter kits for Arduino.

The 13-year-old has created numerous projects, but one especially notable one is the FuzzBot.

The FuzzBot is an Arduino-based robot platform. Etnyre programmed the FuzzBot to detect walls, hands, and has a swiffer duster attached to the back for cleaning. 

But when he's not running his company, Entyre teaches an Arduino class at MIT. Some say he's one of MIT's most in-demand teachers

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Forget The Playstation 4 And XBox One, This Device Actually Lets You Run Around Inside Video Games

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/virtuix-omni-product-test-2013-11

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The Virtuix Omni is a virtual reality gaming platform that lets you walk, run, and move around like you're actually in the game.

It's hands down the most immersive gaming experience we've seen so far. The simulator is currently available to pre-order at $499.

Just strap yourself into the Virtuix Omni platform, put on the Oculus Rift headset, and get ready to run. You have to physically move your body to advance in whatever game you're playing.

So, with the help of CEO Jan Goetgeluk and his Virtuix Omni team, we headed over to the Engadget Expand conference to experience first-hand how this platform works.

Produced by William Wei & Justin Gmoser

SEE ALSO: We Beat The Crap Out Of A 'ShatterProof' iPhone With Hammers, Drills, And Sanders

Follow Us: On YouTube

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The Prettiest iPad Drawing App Now Has the Prettiest Stylus Companion

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-prettiest-ipad-drawing-app-now-has-the-prettiest-st-1466927735

The Prettiest iPad Drawing App Now Has the Prettiest Stylus Companion

Have you used Paper by 53 Design? It's that iPad drawing app that is so decked out in pretty, design-y, feel-good-ness that it makes all who use it feel like Matisse. Well, now its creators have put out an equally gorgeous stylus.

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China's Nubia offers Android phone with Snapdragon 800 and 16GB storage for $330

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/19/nubia-z5s-lte-mini-china/

It was only just over a month ago when ZTE's premium brand Nubia made its debut launch in the US, and today the company's already launching follow-up models in China. Starting with the Z5S, this is essentially the Z5 (or simply the 5 in the US) packed with some new goodies: a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 SoC, a 5-megapixel front camera, a dedicated camera button, 4K video capture, a multi-purpose infrared remote feature and rare support for all three 3G networks in China (China Mobile's TD-SCDMA, China Telecom's CDMA2000 and China Unicom's WCDMA).

The rest of the phone is pretty much the same as before: 5-inch 1080p (443ppi) LCD, 2.67mm bezel, 7.6mm thickness, 2GB RAM, 2,300mAh battery, and a 13-megapixel main camera with f/2.2 aperture plus digital image stabilization.

There's also a Z5S LTE that supports both FD-LTE Band 3 plus China's TD-LTE Band 38/40. Additionally, its main camera is enhanced with an f/2.0 aperture with optical image stabilization, and voice calls should be clearer on the other end courtesy of the three microphones for noise cancellation. This model starts from CN¥3,456 (about US$570) with 32GB storage, but if you don't mind using 3G only then the Z5S starts from just CN¥1,999 (about US$330) for the 16GB version.

Interestingly, the Z5S costs -- maybe intentionally -- the same as the similarly specced Xiaomi MI3, except Nubia is already taking orders on November 26th via JD.com (delivery to within China only, sorry!), whereas Xiaomi is still waiting for the slightly faster Snapdragon 800 variant before it can ship the WCDMA and CDMA2000 flavors of the phone later this year (the MI3 is currently only available with Tegra 4 plus TD-SCDMA radio). And of course, it's just a matter of time before Nubia brings these over to the US market.

Last but not least, you have the 4.7-inch Z5S mini and Z5S mini LTE. Unlike their larger siblings, these two are more similar to their predecessor in terms of specs. These include the 2.67mm bezel, microSD expansion, 13MP/5MP camera combo, swappable back cover and the support of the three 3G networks in China. The main differences are the newer 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 chip, a new IGZO 720p display, a smaller 2,000mAh battery (instead of 2,300mAh) and a slightly different appearance -- the main camera is now off-center, for instance.

There's no word on which LTE bands the Z5S mini LTE supports just yet, but interested folks should start saving up CN¥2,345 (about US$390) for the 32GB model. As for the budget conscious lot, the 3G-only Z5S mini starts from just CN¥1,499 (about US$250) with 16GB storage, and it's also available for purchase in China starting on November 26th. Again, stay tuned for US availability.

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Engadget Chinese

Source: Nubia (Chinese)

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