Making the world “clickable”

New technology is being developed by a company called Nextcode that would basically allow you to use your cell phone or PDA to “click” on things you see in the physical world.

What they are developing is a way for phones to take a picture of a bar code on an item you find. The barcode is then interpreted by software designed by Nextcode, called ConnexTo, and serves up information about the item to your phone immediately. Information presented can be in the form of text, a web page, video, audio, or pretty much anything found online.

In Japan, real estate agents are already using this software on for sale signs so people can get information about a house without calling.

Currently, Nextcode is developing a project with Boston’s Freedom Trail and the Wentsworth Institute of Technology. The company plans to attach barcodes to important historic or cultural sites to help tourists and sightseers gather more information about an area or thing.

Here’s a demonstration of how it works:

In Response: “Why I am not doing this… (as much as i should be)”

This blog is kind of in response to Andrew Pope’s blog post about the video game Call of Duty 4. Basically this is just another endorsement that you need to play this video game.

I too have been wasting many hours playing this game rather than doing homework and well, blogging on here.

But I completely agree with Andrew as to why. The game is seriously the most realistic game I have ever played. The graphics are the most realistic I have ever seen. People’s faces and the way they move and act are so realistic that it sometimes looks likes a movie. In fact, the game’s intro plays out like the beginning of a movie as you are driven through a city while the opening credits roll. This is another one of recent video games with a movie-like intro (skate being the other one I can think of right now). These movie-like intros coupled with more in depth storylines will hopefully help to establish video games as a viable art form.

Is it too soon? Is it too far?

I was made aware of a controversial video game recently through this Popmatters article. The video game I am talking about is called Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

The game is an RPG that is centered around the events at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999. Players of the game play as either Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris and carry out the events themselves as they happened on that day.

To give you a little more perspective, here is the trailer for the game:

The Popmatters article addresses the issue of whether or not this game is appropriate and whether this tragic event can be examined seriously as a historic event by a video game.

Of course this event has been covered in many media outlets since, but a video game? I haven’t played the game but as far as I can tell from reviews and such the game seeks to put the players inside the minds of Klebold and Harris. It attempts to analyze why they did what they did and what were the real causes of what happened on that day.

The game’s website offers an account of some one who played the game:

“For me, this was one of the hardest games I’ve ever played. After 20 years of gaming, it’s almost natural at this point to try and immerse myself in what I play, but doing so in this case was impossible. If anything, the constant cycle of playing the game versus thinking about playing the game – the association, then dissociation – helped to sharpen the line between game and reality, not blur it. The striking grimness of the contained events, combined with the memory of their transgression, created a very real pathos towards the victims, their killers, and having to deal with consequences for those of us left in the wake. It was certainly not the self-indulgent killfest that many have deemed it.” – Dustin, SCMRPG player.

This game definitely raises a lot of questions and controversy naturally, but I really do think this was made for a positive cause of studying the psychological issues involved in that day.

The main question that we all have to ask ourselves I think is (from the website):

“Why is playing Columbine so controversial when watching or reading about it has become commonplace?”

Here’s a trailer for the documentary made about the game:

 

 

Aural drugs?

This past summer I came across a thread on a music forum that was titled “i-Doser – get high by listening to music!” Of course, my interest was piqued solely because of the ridiculousness of the concept.

I went on to find out that i-Doser is a program that uses binaural brainwave doses that when users listens to these doses they receive the same effect as taking drugs. The program has it all: heroin, cocaine, marijuana, opium, peyote, etc. The program can be downloaded for free but you have to pay for each dose

Each dose is usually about a half hour of drone noises. The doses are supposed to be listened to while laying down in a room with the lights off and through headphones. The headphones are needed because the sound alternates between each ear causing a sort of hypnotic drone noise.

I decided I should probably try one just to see what happened, so I chose the opium one and put my headphones on.

This is what it said opium would do:

“THE JOY PLANT! Opium is a naturally occurring analgesic harvested as a latex from ripe Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) pods. It has a long history of use by humans as an oral and smoked psychoactive. Opium can cause euphoria, followed by a sense of well-being and a calm drowsiness or sedation. Breathing slows, time reverses or stops… the world is a haze. While we have not been able to fully emulate the effects of opium, we have come pretty close. A favourite dose of the I-Doser technicians, this could very well be your favourite also!”

The dose starts off with an annoyingly loud beeping noise alternating between the earphones but eventually slowed down to a drone noise. During the dose I did experience a relaxing feeling but I’m pretty sure that was just from laying down with my eyes closed for half an hour. Also I thought I started to hear weird voices and music in the dose but I think that was just my mind imagining it from listening to the same droning noise for a half hour.

Overall, I didn’t really feel the way they told me I would feel. Honestly, I didn’t really expect to. I mean the whole thing seemed like a scam from the beginning especially since you have to pay every time you want to listen to a dose.

I did some research and found out from this wikipedia article that the only thing binaural waves have been proven to do, in this sense, is help people dream lucidly.

Maybe it’s because I was skeptical, though, because they say this will only work if you want it to.

Here’s some guys reaction to a Nitrous dose:

Verizon’s iPhone

Verizon Wireless recently came out with their own version of Apple’s iPhone called the LG Voyager. Depending on the service that one has, the price of the phone starts at $349.00. Discounts can be received depending on service. The phone comes equipped with:

· 2.0 Megapixel Camera with Autofocus Camera & Camcorder

· microSD™ Memory Port, up to 8GB

· Dual Speakers for Stereo Sound

· Bluetooth® Capable*

· V CAST Mobile TV

· V CAST Music

· V CAST Video

One of the features that the phone has that the iPhone does not, is that the phone actually opens up to reveal as keyboard inside. Instead of having to type everything out on the actual screen, this enables one to type faster than they might on the iPhone.