Archive for The Net – Page 33

PayPerPost Upgrades

Gadgets are not the only thing that needs an upgrade, one popular advertising service has undergone a facelift. Yes, this post is sponsored by PayPerPost, but geekie readers also have to be updated  on the web’s latest goings-on.

To start with, PayPerPost v4.0 is a far cry from its previous version in terms of design, lay-out, and color. We geekies are very much into the form factor. If something falls short in the looks department, then it stays on store shelves. The same can be said of online properties. We at Geekie can say that we’re liking the new color scheme, see the old and new design.

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The site also streamlined their Marketplace to make it easier for the bloggers. Now bloggers no longer have to get up in the middle of the night to bid on new opportunities, the advertisers bid on their blogs.

At the landing page of your account, you’ll immediately find a list of advertisers clamouring for a review in your blog:

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There’s also no more blog approval needed, or prices set by the Advertiser. This time, as true publishers, the bloggers set their own price according to word count or links. Izea has certainly created a much more user-friendly method for social marketing.

This Week’s Picks: Of Bionic Hands and Aspiring Gloves

This week we stumbled upon another technological breakthrough in robotics, a mechanical five-fingered hand that grasps objects. Then in our search for more wonders in the land of digits and palms (not the PDA), we encountered a robotic hand wannabe.

RAPHaEL

robotic-handBe it a hefty tin can filled with processed meat, or a delicate and breakable egg — RAPHaEL can take it on. The College of Engineering of Virginia Tech created a Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments, or RAPHaEL. This bionic wonder is a fully detailed hand that is operated by a compressor air tank. This is the unique aspect of this design, as it doesn’t use motors or other devices. The pressure of RAPHaEL’s grasp depends on the compressor’s air pressure. The individual fingers are guided by microcontroller commands. This makes the design impressively precise.

See RAPHaEL in action:

Xtensor Gamer Hand Exercise

xtensor_hand_exerciserWell it’s not as brilliant as what the engineers of Virginia Tech came up with, but it’s definitely something new. The Xtensor Gamer Hand Exerciser claims that after a couple of minutes with this, um, glove — then your gaming prowess will be better. If athletes do warm up exercises before they train, then why not gamers too? This glove is like the gym for PC gamers.  Basically, this glove will stretch and train the ligaments and muscles that you use in constant mouse-clicking. It claims to prevent gaming cramps.

It’s worth a try. The Xtensor Gamer Hand Exercise is available here. For what it’s worth, the glove looks pretty hardcore.

The Latest Internet Tablet from Moses – SmartQ 7 MID

Do you remember the SmartQ 5 MID? Because if you can recall, the SmartQ 5 promised much – low price, internet browsing, PMP functionality and oodles of connectivity. Then what? It delivered little – with its sluggish ARM chipset unable to keep up with internet browsing, and so, it didn’t really manage to lure too many fans. Now, Moses is all set to welcome yet another member called the SmartQ 7 MID in its family. Yeah, the company is back with slick new renders of the SmartQ 5 successor – the SmartQ 7, with a 7-inch WVGA touch screen and WiFi connectivity.

The internet tablet also packs in two USB ports which apparently support a host of external peripherals including keyboards and hard drives. Moses also claims to have added high-end stereo speakers, a TV output, and a Linux OS onboard integrated with IM clients. Powered by a 4,500 mAH battery pack, it also claims to offer up to 48 hours of music playback. Other features include internet access and PMP functionality coupled with a high resolution 800 x 480 display. And here are the live photos of the SmartQ 7 MID with different colors to choose from.

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Now, here’s the bad news – it still uses the same 667MHz ARM11 processor as the SmartQ 5 that leads us to doubt whether it will suffer the same poor performance. Well, let’s just wait for the first reviews with the SmartQ7 to see if SmartQ have made another processor mistake.

It’s still not available beyond the shores of China, but in the meantime you can scope around other MID goodness here.

This Week’s Picks: Keytar and Guitar

We’re starting a new series here at Geekie, where we bring you a scientific breakthrough vis-a-vis the latest in consumer technology. Inspired by swimming robotic penguins and invisibility cloaks amidst the silliest gadgets, Geekie will personally handpick two of the week’s biggest online finds. This will hopefully give you a taste of tomorrow today.

THE IRREGULAR INCURVE KEYTAR

keytarA mechanism thesis over at NYU’s ITP shows that technology and art are not far apart. 12 robotic ribcages, controlled by a simple keyboard, plucks strings with guitar picks to create MIDI music. Why all that hassle of arranging steel pipes into one gigantic keytar-playing dinosaur? Well it’s just effing cool to watch. The 12 notes are pre-set, but according to thesis, you can tweak each individual string to customize the sound. I can imagine this changing the face of performance art, and actually spawning a technology and art exhibit.

LOGITECH WIRELESS GUITAR CONTROLLER

logitech-wirelessPerfect for rocking out with Guitar Hero, whether for PS2 or PS3 — the Logitech Wireless Guitar Contoller will definitely get you even more hooked to those music games. Made of wood and sporting of an authentic electric guitar feel, it may have useless metal frets and tuning pegs but those add to the oomph of this classy controller.

Considering it’s wireless, it gives good seamless control. After strumming a few bars with this baby, you’ll never want to pick up the real thing again. Grab one here for $199, or feel extra-special by picking up the Premiere Edition.

Get the Website You Want with Mr. Site Takeaway Website

There are three different ways of getting yourself a website: you can pay someone to do the design and expect to spend between $75.00 and $300.00 per page; you can design it yourself using a professional website creation tool, but I’m telling you, it’s not as easy as getting it right; or you can go to Mr. Site. And who’s Mr. Site? It’s actually Mr. Site Takeaway website. Jargon-free and easy to use, Mr. Site is all you need to get the website you want with no fuss.

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Mr. Site is perfect for individuals looking to set up an affordable personal interest or campaign  site, or entrepreneurs taking the first steps towards an online empire. No experience or web gurus required. With Mr. Site, you can have your own piece of the internet in just a few clicks away. Inside the Mr. Site Takeaway website box is a password which allows you to go through an ULTRA simple step by step process after which you’ll have a totally customized, professionally designed dot com website with cutting edge features.

Features include:

• Your very own .com address
• 150Mb web space for your webspace hosting and email inbox
• A photo gallery for displaying your pictures and art
• Phone and email support
• Music player
• Diary/Blog
• Web page password protection
• Secure Paypal shopping cart – this simply means that you can get your business online

System requirements – PC or Mac with any of the following:

• Internet Explorer 6 or above
• Firefox 1.5 or above
• Safari 2 or above

And did I mention that Mr. Site is browser based? Very well thought out reasonably well executed, isn’t it? So start your dot com empire right here with Mr. Site Takeaway website.