Technology you can wear!

1. Tech You Can Wear…Right Now

        Google's fancy head-up display (HUD) glasses, dubbed "Project Glass," has nerds and non-nerds alike excited for the future of wearable technology. At its I/O developer conference in June, Google reported that the first developer versions of the new high-tech glasses will be available early next year, at a hefty price of $1500.

        But you don't have to wait until next year (and probably much later, unless you happen to be a developer) to get your hands on wearable tech. Here are ten pieces of wearable technology that are available right now.

2. Vuzix Wrap 920AR

        Google's Project Glass glasses aren't the first HUD glasses to (almost) hit the market. That honor goes to Vuzix's Wrap 920AR glasses, which are augmented reality glasses designed to be used with a Windows PC.

        The Wrap 920AR glasses, which cost $1499, feature a near-eye display system that produces the visual equivalent of a 67-inch display seen from approximately 10 feet away. This display feature is meant for viewing videos and images--not for taking advantage of the glasses' AR capabilities. To use the AR capabilities, you'll have to connect the glasses to a PC. The Wrap 920AR glasses support both 2D and stereoscopic 3D images.

3. CuteCircuit K-Dress

        Wearable technology doesn't have to be useful, it can just be...pretty. The K-Dress from CuteCircuit is a good example of useless prettiness: it's a silk chiffon and taffeta dress featuring hundreds of embedded LED lights.

        Inspired by the illuminated couture dress from CuteCircuit that Katy Perry wore to a gala in 2010, the K-Dress has a small snap-in controller that lets you control the embedded LEDs. You can recharge the controller via USB. The dress is dry-clean only, and you need to remove the battery before taking the garment in for cleaning. You can pick up the K-Dress at CuteCircuit's website for $2373.

4. 3RD Space FPS Gaming Vest

        The 3RD Space FPS gaming vest lets you "feel what you've been missing" during your years of playing video games on a computer or game console. This vest features eight active zones (four on the front, and four on the back) that use special air impact technology to let you feel various in-game blasts as you see them on screen. According to the company, the $139 vest helps you sense the "direction and force" of bullet fire, explosions, and environmental effects, altering your strategy and amplifying the game's intensity. The vest plugs into your computer or gaming console via USB cable.

5. 3RD Space FPS Gaming Vest

        The 3RD Space FPS gaming vest lets you "feel what you've been missing" during your years of playing video games on a computer or game console. This vest features eight active zones (four on the front, and four on the back) that use special air impact technology to let you feel various in-game blasts as you see them on screen. According to the company, the $139 vest helps you sense the "direction and force" of bullet fire, explosions, and environmental effects, altering your strategy and amplifying the game's intensity. The vest plugs into your computer or gaming console via USB cable.

6. Novero Bluetooth Pendant Necklace

        Bluetooth headsets aren't terribly attractive, and holding your phone up to your ear is inconvenient. But thanks to this pretty pendant necklace from Novero, you no longer have to choose between style and convenience. Available for $348 atAhaLife.com, the necklace features Bluetooth 2.1, a MicroUSB charger, and 4 hours of talk time (or 100 hours of standby time). The necklace has an open design, with the earpiece hanging down next to the pendant. If you get a call,simply tap a small button on the pendant, swing the earpiece up and into your ear, and start talking away.

7. Silicon Micro Display ST1080

        If you like watching 1080p video, but you don't like being tied down to a screen, you can pick up Silicon Micro Display's ST1080 wearable display ($799). This large, wearable display shows you the equivalent of a 100-inch display at a distance of 10 feet. It supports 2D and 3D content, and it features 10 percent transparency (so you can walk around without running into walls). It comes with 3.5mm mono headphone jacks on either side, and comes with a small controller box that can connect to anything with an HDMI output.

8. nPulse Smart Notification Watch

        There's no reason to take your phone out of your bag or pocket to check your text messages, email, calendar alerts, or recent phone calls. Just glance down at your InPulse Smart Notification watch. The Smart Notification Watch, which costs $150 atThinkGeek and works with Android and BlackBerry devices, lets you manage all of your phone notifications from a 1.26-inch color OLED display on your wrist. You can oversee multiple inboxes, check all of your alerts and email messages, and see who's calling. InPulse is currently developing a similar watch for iOS users.

9. Lumoback

        The Lumoback is a lot like your mother: It tells you when you're slouching. Priced at$129 and available for preordering now (it's expected to ship in November), the Lumoback is a small device that you wear on your lower back; it vibrates when you slouch, so you know when you need to straighten up. It connects wirelessly to your iPhone or iPad, and tracks your movements over time so you can keep track of how much your posture is improving.

10. Personal Soundtrack Shirt

        Life is much more exciting with a soundtrack. But creating your own music and sound effects in real time as you go about your daily tasks can get old fast--and might lead to your being ushered away in a tight jacket. With the personal soundtrack shirt ($40 fromThinkGeek), however, you can enjoy the effect of having a real-life soundtrack. The shirt comes with a speaker and a wired remote, along with ten music themes (such as "Royal Entrance" and "Silent Movie Chase Theme") and ten sound effects (such as "Drum Roll" and "Laugh Track") prerecorded on an SD Card. If you'd rather devise your own personal soundtrack, you can remove the SD Card and create your own 20-sound-byte track.

11. Jawbone Up

        The Jawbone Up wristband puts a sleep-cycle tracker, a meal tracker, a pedometer, an activity tracker, and a vibrating alarm clock in one neat little iPhone-connected bracelet. The Up even vibrates when you've been sitting still too long. Sweatproof and and water-resistant, the Up looks pretty cool on your wrist, too. It costs $99, and comes in blue, black, white, and red. 

about .np registration!

It is available free of cost because Mercantile, which is maintaining primary name service for NP is providing this service free of cost and will remain so as long as Mercantile continues providing it free. MOS-NP doesn't add any cost for the services it provides regarding the domain registrations.

Domain registrations under .NP ccTLD is free of cost.

Domains are registered on a first-come-first-serve basis but terms and conditions apply.

Domains can be registered only under the following secondary NP domains: COM.NP, ORG.NP, EDU.NP NET.NP, GOV.NP and MIL.NP

Foreign companies are required to have an official presence in Nepal as a joint venture, partnership, agent, or a licensee in order to qualify to register a domain. Official documents to prove the presence will have to be submitted with the application.

It may take at least 2 working day to get your domain/s registered or modified. Though it may take longer sometimes depending on the number of pending requests.

Check the availability of the domain/s

Submit the registration template from the site www.mos.com.np with all the required information. Your service provider company can be consulted for technical information in the template.

Review the information for accuracy before submitting.

Information for .np Domain Registration

Read the "Terms and Conditions" carefully.

Required documents for .np registration:

For Official Request

A application letter written in the company/organization's letter-head pad signed by authorized officer. A copy of company/organization registration certificate issued by the respective government bodies must be dropped to the Hostmaster at Mercantile communications, Durbar Marg. Kathmandu. Online form (admin/ technical contacts and valid name servers). (Administrator's contract adress in the online form should be from the company owner)

NOTE:- A company/organisation only can select domain names based on its company/organization's name, product's name, service's name and brand name.

For Personal Request

A application request letter. A copy of the applicant's citizenship certificate must be dropped to the Hostmaster at Mercantile communications, Durbar Marg. Kathmandu in order to verify the authenticity of the applicant as only Nepalese citizens are entitled to register personal domains. Online form (Administrator's contract address in the online form should be from the domain owner)

NOTE:- Personal Domain name should be selected based only on his/her name as mentioned in citizenship certificate.

Terms and Conditions mentioned should be read carefully and follow the steps. and if you have any queries about it then kindly mail at the given address:

 hostmaster@mos.com.np

Mailing address:
The Hostmaster
NP ccTLD Registration Services
MERCANTILE COMMUNICATIONS PVT. LTD.
P. O. Box 876
Durbarmarg, Kathmandu, NEPAL

Tel: +977-1-4240920, +977-1-4220773
Fax: +977-1-4221493

GOOGLE IN NEPAL

Google Installs Cache Servers in Nepal

Google in association with Nepal Telecom, one of the largest Internet Service providers in the country has installed its cache servers in Nepal. A telecom official speaking to Nagarik News in Nepal revealed that the servers are still in testing phase and will be extended after successful months of testing in Nepal. Nearly after five months of continuous effort from NTC, the search engine giant has decided to test its servers in Nepal.

The Google cache servers have been installed in NTC office located in Jawalakhel in Kathmandu. Cache servers will help internet users in Nepal to access Google data faster. This means Google products and services such as Gmail, Youtube, G+ etc will now be accessed faster from Nepal. This will also help NTC by reducing its bandwidth access and thus reducing its cost.

A cache server, also referred as cache engine is a dedicated network server that saves Web pages or other Internet content locally. It places previously requested information in cache and a cache server speeds up access to data also reducing the demand on enterprise’s bandwidth. “After installation of Google server, Internet bandwidth use has been decreased. Even if NTC saves 1GB bandwidth, the company will save two lakhs dollars yearly” added another official at NTC.

Google engineers are in Nepal presently to install the cache servers and train NTC engineers and technicians to handle it. Previously NTC had installed Akamai Technologies server which made easier accessing Microsoft and yahoo services in Nepal.

Source :Nepaliblogger

Ball-shaped camera 'to help police and firefighters'

It's a common scenario for police and other emergency services. They need to enter a building but don't know what awaits them inside.

It could be a gunman or structures made dangerous by an earthquake.

A tennis ball-sized device made by US start-up Bounce Imaging could provide an answer. Six cameras instantly send a 360-degree picture to a smartphone.

The ball has a rubber shell that makes it bounce
 while taking pictures

The firm suggested it could sell the device for about a tenth of the cost of the cheapest rival devices.

However, a robotics expert said the technology had privacy implications.

Bounce Imaging's founder Francisco Aguilar said the device could have a range of uses. "Disaster search and rescue after an earthquake is currently left to highly specialised teams with sophisticated and very expensive equipment," he said.

"But we hope that with our technology it could be expanded to volunteers with low-cost units that could be tossed into air pockets and collapsed spaces in search of victims."

The technology is still a prototype, but it was named one of Time Magazine's Best Inventions of 2012.

'Different' tech

The Boston-based company is not the first attempt to create a ball-shaped camera; researchers around the world have been trying to make similar devices for years.

For instance, in the 1990s, scientists at Columbia University in the US developed 360-degree cameras for use in remote locations, but they depended on being attached to robots.

In 2008 Scottish company Dreampact announced it had begun work on a standalone sphere containing fish-eye lenses that could be fired from a grenade launcher - but it later abandoned the project.

The ball is equipped with various sensors, to send back other data along with photos

Others have been more successful but Bounce Imaging says they typically sell upwards from $5,000 apiece and are more cumbersome.

"The key to the design is ease of use and low cost - under $500 (£313) - relative to expensive robotic or fibre-optic alternatives that are too costly, classified, and complex," Mr Aguilar told the BBC.

He added that other similar devices required a skilled operator to manage the unit and data - but Bounce Imaging's technology was built following a "fire and forget" principle.

"After the ball is thrown, it sends whatever imaging and data it gathers back to a smartphone or tablet with an easy-to-use app.

"When you're a police officer under fire working with your tactical gloves on, it is very difficult to operate a complex, often briefcase-sized, remote terminal or viewing unit.

"It's much easier to just look on a smartphone strapped to your wrist."

He added that his company had already received calls from police, fire, industrial and mine inspection units, "even nature photographers trying to look inside animal holes".

"The unit has slots for other types of sensors - for example, smoke and temperature sensors in a firefighting model, methane or coal dust detectors in mine inspection units, and so on - so the ball can send back additional data along with the images," said Mr Aguilar.

To create a full panoramic image in the dark, the device captures light in the near-infrared range.

Paparazzi and criminals

But Noel Sharkey, an expert in artificial intelligence and professor of robotics at the University of Sheffield, said that the technology could have privacy implications.

"This could be brilliant from a photographic point of view, but it could be a further intrusion on our privacy," he said.

"You can throw it anywhere, into someone's garden for instance, and you'll be able to see everything that's going on - it's not much different from the use of a drone except that it's much more immediate.

"So if you throw it over someone's private property, it could be used, for instance, by the paparazzi or by criminals who could just throw it over the roof and get lots of images in between."

Source: BBC

New Technology Let’s You Edit Real World Paper Drawings Using Computer

You draw something on paper and it gets modified or erased through a computer – the concept that has been materialized by the engineers at the University of Tokyo, the Naemura Group. Calling the “paper computing technology”, this new system let’s users automatically erase, copy and print hand-drawn sketches on paper using a laser and UV light. What you’re essentially doing here is converting an ordinary paper into a display. Never before have we been able to control what’s on paper through a computer in real time. In a video compiled by DigInfo, you can see that a user will be able to create 3D-like text by leaving only the edges of hand-written characters or simply draw a figure by hand and it gets automatically.

The setup includes a pen that uses Frixion thermo-sensitive ink, which gets erased to a high level of accuracy, at intervals of 0.024 mm. The paper used here is coated with a photochromic material and there is DMD-driven UV projector with a 1024 x 768 pixels resolution that prints the image onto the paper. So, what we’re looking at could be a paper-based version of Google Docs in the future. We will dynamically edit a real-world paper while sitting in two different countries. Sounds great, doesn’t it? 

Usability An integral part of the guest experience

 We often joke that a hotel having a frustratingly “unusable” website is the Internet-equivalent of giving a guest the wrong room key and then closing the front desk.

As hotel websites become increasingly interactive, some guests will accept frustrating online experiences as inevitabilities; growing pains in the evolution of the web. Yet, as users’ patience wanes and they spend less time on frustrating sites, it’s time we start seeing usability for what it is: a business concern.

It’s just business

Time has proven that the brands that will win in the long-term are those that are willing to approach the interplay between technology and the customer experience pragmatically and creatively. Strategic marketers understand that digital is a two way street, and they take calculated risks with emerging technologies to gain valuable first-move advantages. Today, as the hospitality industry recovers, these advantages are more important than ever.

Users are so judgemental

Now, with the web being accessed from ever more places, a user’s subjective experience on your site has become part of the perceived quality of service. Your website is often the first employee your customer meets, so it helps if it’s easy to get along with.

Yes, your customers are unfairly judgemental, but how long do you spend on a site that makes you download a plug-in first? Worse, one that tells you it “wasn’t built for your device”. What about a site that expects you to read three paragraphs of text written for Google’s algorithm (5 years ago)? Give some thought to your own browsing habits over the next few days and you’ll see what I mean. We are constantly confronted by bad user experiences online. And more often than not, we’ll move on to find a site that’s easier to use.

Usability defined

ISO defines usability as “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”

• Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
• Memorability: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
• Efficiency: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they re establish proficiency?
• Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
• Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?

2 reasons people visit your website:

1. They are curious about you and want to find out more.
2. They want to solve a problem.

Each group has a distinct set of objectives when visiting your site which will, no doubt, impact their respective ideas of what constitutes a “good user experience”.

Curiousity

If they are curious about your business, engage them in a clear way, entice them, give them something to share, make them want what you’re selling, and let them know why you’re different than the hotel down the street. Don’t bombard them with every creative idea you’ve ever had. They’ll get frustrated and leave. Worse yet, it will make you look desperate.

Problem solving

If they just want to book a room, find their meeting, or make dinner reservations, let them do it as quickly as possible. Don’t tell them about your meeting space when they’re trying to give their cab driver directions to the hotel. They are trying to solve a problem, they’re late for something, the kids are yelling, let them get on with life.

What can you do?

So the scope of the guest experience has expanded. Guests expect a higher level of service and they expect it to begin earlier in the hotel selection process, which starts online. The primary goal of a good hotel site should be to provide accurate and accessible information in a compelling way. This goal should inform the entire design process.

Zuckerberg admits: If I wasn’t the CEO of Facebook, I’d be at Microsoft

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Palo Alto, Calif. — Entrepreneurs flocked to Stanford today to hear Mark Zuckerberg, the T-shirt wearing chief executive of Facebook, open up about the company’s early days.

Since the social networking giant’s initial public offering in May, this is one of only a handful of public appearances he’s made. It proved to be a rare window into the mind of Facebook’s young CEO, who spoke for 45 minutes before rushing off to the wedding of a close friend and fellow Facebook employee.

Zuck was interviewed on stage at Startup School, an annual conference, by the outspoken founder of Y Combinator, Paul Graham.

Advice to entrepreneurs: Take your time, “bake the product”

Don’t believe everything you hear in the hit flick, The Social Network. Zuck told the audience that he was in favor of online ads in the early days, and gave Eduardo Savarin (one of Facebook’s cofounders) full control. He said that the ads provided sufficient revenue for the team to purchase servers. This was the revenue that supported the startup’s protracted growth.

“Whenever we had money, we got another $85 server,” said Zuckerberg. “We never spent money.”

None of the founders had any startup experience, but they were highly strategic. Zuck specifically chose to bring Facebook to colleges that were already using social networks, such as Friendster or a university-owned service. It was evidence that the community was ready to share and connect online.

From the beginning, the founders were convinced that there had to be more than a simple profile page. They were always willing to devote time and resources to building out sharing features like integrating course catalogs, even if it proved to be an obstacle to growth.

“Facebook did grow quickly but it took a year for us to get a million users,” he said. “It wasn’t as quick as a lot of things grow today. Having that time to bake was valuable for us.”

In that first year, Facebook was just a hobby

It was a shock to hear that if Facebook hadn’t worked out, Zuckerberg would have joined a tech giant, rather than a startup. “I probably would have taken an engineering job…[and] always had a lot of respect for Microsoft,” he said. “A lot of people from Harvard went to work there.”

He admitted that a huge part of Facebook’s success was in its timing. People were already beginning to embrace sharing online through sites like Wikipedia. In addition, Friendster had a scaling problem, but had experienced skyrocketing growth. Graham wondered whether, if Zuckerberg had been a few years younger and Harvard’s own social network had taken off, Facebook would exist today.

Zuckerberg is convinced that going forward, we will continue to voraciously share their photos, ideas, and status updates. That’s how Facebook will remain relevant. “Ten years from now, people are going to be sharing a thousand times more a day,” he said. “Our continual mission is to build the next big thing — that’s what we live for at Facebook.”

He never intended to drop out of Harvard

“My life is a long history of people thinking I would drop out of school long before I did,” Zuck told the audience.

He recalled his decision to spend a summer in Palo Alto. After flying into San Francisco Airport, he rented a car to drive down the Highway 101. Aside from being impressed by the perpetually sunny weather, he was awed by the technology companies he spotted along the way.

At that time, Zuck said he was not convinced that Facebook would be a legitimate company.

“I thought it would be neat to be around some of these great companies,” he said. “One day we will find something [an idea] but surely this isn’t it.” Zuck said that he was honest with investor, Peter Thiel, that he did not intend to drop out of Harvard. Thiel called bullshit, and cut Facebook’s founders their first big check.

Zuck’s parents always knew he would drop out of college. He had the audience chuckling when he described a bet with his younger sister Donna on who would finish college first.

Still, the Facebook founder recommended that young entrepreneurs use their time in college to explore and develop new interests. He criticized Harvard for not encouraging innovation (this off-hand remark was met with boo’s from the audience), but admitted that this is slowly changing.

He was a psych major with a passion for Latin and Greek

Zuckerberg was fascinated by the intricacies of the human mind, and the study of classical languages. However, he admitted that he was a keen programmer at college, and rarely studied or went to class.

The hacker-filled audience was in hysterics when Zuck told the story of how he aced an art history final. He coded a quick and dirty website with about 200 images, and emailed “the study tool” to the class asking for their thoughts on the significance of each image, which was filled with information in a matter of hours. “So you crowdsourced studying,” joked Graham.

This zeal for psychology has carried over into his work at Facebook. Zuck argued that Facebook is responsible for augmenting human relationships, and is not keeping us from developing friendships in the real world.

“Humans have the capacity to maintain empathetic relationships with about 150 people,” he said. “Facebook extends that.”