CCHits: Digg-Clone Site for Creative Commons Music

CChits is a web-app meant to help people find and share cool music that's been released under Creative Commons licenses. It's built on Ning, a site that makes it easy to clone and customize web applications; in this case, CChits clones the popular link-sharing site Digg.

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Ray Kurzweil: Machines Will Match Human Intelligence By 2029

"I've made the case that we will have both the hardware and the software to achieve human level artificial intelligence with the broad suppleness of human intelligence including our emotional intelligence by 2029," he said.

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Nokia Morph

Nanotech future

From the press release:

Nokia and University of Cambridge launch the Morph – a nanotechnology concept device

New York, US and Espoo, Finland — Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched today alongside the “Design and the Elastic Mind” exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA’s official website.

Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces.

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Google's Android SDK Videos

Google has videos with some cool demos of applications for their Android platform for mobile phones.

"The Android platform is a software stack for mobile devices including an operating system, middleware and key applications."

Android

The Open Handset Alliance

"Find your music in the computational universe"

WolframTones uses cellular automata to create musical compositions.

Extraordinary Flowers

New York City artist Katinka Matson uses a scanner and Photoshop to create "surreally real" images of flowers.

"New technologies equal new perceptions. We create tools and then mould ourselves through our use of them."

"Images created by scanning direct-to-CCD cut away layers, and go to a deeper place in us than our ordinary seeing and vision."

Blind Shrike

I just read Richard Kadrey's great novel Blind Shrike that is available for free online at The Infinite Matrix.

With the help of a blind swordswoman, tattooed Spyder begins a gleefully dark journey from the alleys of San Francisco to the depths of Hell, from the Bardo Lounge to the Bardo Realm....

Plantronics Unveils Industry's First Bluetooth® Stereo Headset that Switches Between Music Devices, Laptops and Mobile Phones

Plantronics, Inc. introduced the Pulsar^TM 590, a Bluetooth stereo headset that lets users listen wirelessly to music and movies with excellent audio quality and switch seamlessly to mobile phone calls with the single touch of a button.

Available with a universal Bluetooth audio adapter, the Pulsar 590 provides immediate wireless compatibility for any device with a headphone jack, such as laptops, home stereos, MP3 players, including Apple iPods, and multimedia devices, such as Sony PSP.

"The Pulsar 590 demonstrates the desirable look of Plantronics' new design initiative and underscores our commitment to providing diverse Bluetooth offerings that deliver quality sound, are easy to use and provide long-wearing comfort," said Renee Niemi, vice president of Mobile and Entertainment at Plantronics.

Robot Snakes

SnakeRobots.com shows the work of inventor Dr. Gavin Miller who is studying snake locomotion. He wants to use snake robots for search and rescue missions.

"By attempting to build robots that emulate and perhaps match the capabilities of their biological counterparts, it is possible that we will create useful tools capable of carrying sensors, taking samples, and making physical changes in a wide variety of environments."

Fuel Cells for Mobile Phones

One of the limiting factors for mobile phone technology has been the power supply.
Advanced smart phone features like audio, video, and text messaging drain lots of power and future features will use even more power. Mobile fuel cells may be the power supply of the future for mobile computing and smart phones.

According to a NanoMarkets report, the mobile fuel cell market could be $2.7 billion by 2012.

NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu Laboratories have developed a methanol fuel cell prototype portable recharger for 3G FOMA handsets that will allow eight hours of continuous talk time. We should see fuel cell portable rechargers on the market soon.