Shared posts

04 Aug 01:19

Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills

by Lavinia
Darren.oakey

I wanna live here

architecture Villa Padma Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills

With a privileged location oceanfront on the picturesque Cape Yamu on the east coast of Phuket, Villa Padma unveils panoramic views towards the Phuket foothills. According to the official description, guests at Villa Padma will be welcomed by the display of colors from the lush greenery of the mangrove forest into a laid-back holiday retreat. The main building features four extravagantly sized bedrooms positioned privately amongst unique living areas to enjoy and share with friends and family.

design Villa Padma Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket FoothillsThe most appealing element of the entire villa is probably the 25-meter pool with submersed beds: “An evening cocktail can be shared in the water fringed sunken sala before dining under the uniquely luminescent ox bone chandeliers in the vaulted fore-room. The poolside parlor at the heart of the villa is the perfect rendezvous for guests to exchange tales of their day’s adventures“. Other captivating features include a generously-sized game room, home cinema system, BBQ pavilion and extensive garden play area.
exterior Villa Padma Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 2 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 4 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 6 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 7 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 8 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 9 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 10 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 11 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 12 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 13 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 14 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 15 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 16 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 17 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 18 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 19 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 20 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 21 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 22 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 23 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 24 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills Villa Padma 25 Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills

You're reading Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills originally posted on Freshome.

The post Exotic Thailand Villa Unveiling Panoramic Views of the Phuket Foothills appeared first on Freshome.com.

22 Jul 10:45

Watch the Gymnast Bot Land a Quadruple Backflip

by peter ha

We've seen this bot before. Just this past March, we witnessed it stick a near impossible landing. And now it's stuck a quadruple backflip, which by all accounts appears to be it sixteenth feat of heroism. What can't this little guy do? Nothing.

Read more...

    


22 Jul 07:58

You Won't Believe What Happens When You Light These Chemicals on Fire

by Casey Chan

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed Mercury(II) thiocyanate (Hg(SCN)2) and Ammonium chromate (NH4)2CrO4 together and then lit it on fire? NO?! What's wrong with you? It's unbelievably hellish and impossibly alien combined with one burning force of what the horrifically kraken insane.

Read more...

    


16 Jul 13:11

Top notch AI system about as smart as a four-year-old, lacks commonsense

by Darren Quick

Researchers have found that an AI system has an average IQ of a four-year-old child (Image...

Those who saw IBM’s Watson defeat former winners on Jeopardy! in 2011 might be forgiven for thinking that artificially intelligent computer systems are a lot brighter than they are. While Watson was able to cope with the highly stylized questions posed during the quiz, AI systems are still left wanting when it comes to commonsense. This was one of the factors that led researchers to find that one of the best available AI systems has the average IQ of a four-year-old.. Continue Reading Top notch AI system about as smart as a four-year-old, lacks commonsense

Section: Computers

Tags: Artificial Intelligence, University of Illinois

Related Articles:
16 Jul 12:34

Top notch AI system about as smart as a four-year-old, lacks commonsense

by Darren Quick

Researchers have found that an AI system has an average IQ of a four-year-old child (Image...

Those who saw IBM’s Watson defeat former winners on Jeopardy! in 2011 might be forgiven for thinking that artificially intelligent computer systems are a lot brighter than they are. While Watson was able to cope with the highly stylized questions posed during the quiz, AI systems are still left wanting when it comes to commonsense. This was one of the factors that led researchers to find that one of the best available AI systems has the average IQ of a four-year-old.. Continue Reading Top notch AI system about as smart as a four-year-old, lacks commonsense

Section: Computers

Tags: Artificial Intelligence, University of Illinois

Related Articles:
15 Jul 22:23

This Impossibly Thin Table Stores Wherever You've Got an Inch of Space

by Andrew Liszewski

This Impossibly Thin Table Stores Wherever You've Got an Inch of Space

How often do you really use that dining table in your apartment? Most meals are probably consumed in front of the TV, or at a restaurant. And sure, it's handy for the occasional dinner party or tax audit, but the rest of the time it's just wasting space. So reclaim a good 40 square of your pad with this incredibly thin folding table by Lodovico Bernardi that practically disappears when you turn it sideways.

Read more...

    


15 Jul 22:10

Nothing Has Ever (Or Will Ever) Look as Fun as This Driftable Go-Kart

by Andrew Liszewski

Razor can be as proud as they want for making scooters cool again, but what the company will really go down in history for is this creation: a go-kart called the Crazy Cart that turns anyone at the wheel into a master drifter.

Read more...

    


10 Jul 06:48

Steroids

A human is a system for converting dust billions of years ago into dust billions of years from now via a roundabout process which involves checking email a lot.
10 Jul 06:46

ISO 8601

ISO 8601 was published on 06/05/88 and most recently amended on 12/01/04.
10 Jul 06:42

Authorization

Before you say anything, no, I know not to leave my computer sitting out logged in to all my accounts. I have it set up so after a few minutes of inactivity it automatically switches to my brother's.
10 Jul 06:41

Is It Worth the Time?

Don't forget the time you spend finding the chart to look up what you save. And the time spent reading this reminder about the time spent. And the time trying to figure out if either of those actually make sense. Remember, every second counts toward your life total, including these right now.
10 Jul 06:32

Settled

Well, we've really only settled the question of ghosts that emit or reflect visible light. Or move objects around. Or make any kind of sound. But that covers all the ones that appear in Ghostbusters, so I think we're good.
04 Jul 23:43

Larry Hardiman

"The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'."
04 Jul 10:49

Hexbug nano V2: Now they climb as well

by Stuart Miles

Hexbugs, the small vibrating critters that your kids no doubt love but you find rather creepy, have just got a little more disturbing - they can now climb walls.  Innovation First, the company behind the original hexbug micro robotic toys, has come up...

04 Jul 10:38

Octopus inspires silent propulsion system for boats and subs

by Ben Coxworth

Fraunhofer's prototype propulsion system

Along with their writhing tentacles, octopi and squid sport another interesting feature – they swim not by swishing a tail, but by expelling a jet of water. This allows them to move very quickly and quietly. Scientists from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation have now copied this system, in a propulsion system that could ultimately find use in boats, recreational watercraft, or submarines. .. Continue Reading Octopus inspires silent propulsion system for boats and subs

Section: Marine

Tags: Biomimicry, Boats, Fraunhofer, Submarine, Watercraft

Related Articles:
04 Jul 10:10

New programming language makes turning GPUs into supercomputers a snap

by Ryan Whitwam
GPU
Harlan is a new programming language designed from the ground up to make GPU computing easier.
03 Jul 22:24

Abraham Lincoln

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
03 Jul 12:26

Galileo Galilei

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
28 Jun 11:50

How to install Plex on non-jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

by tomek

plex on apple tv 2 3 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

Last week we reported that Plex now runs on non-jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 thanks to PlexConnect, a clever little hack that allows a fully-functional Plex client on non-jailbroken ATV2 and ATV3. We also posted a tutorial on how to get it working on your little black box using a Mac. Below is an installation guide for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.

(via PlexConnect wiki)

Note: This guide can also be used with firmwares prior to 5.2 and those with Apple TVs on wireless connections, just use some common sense for changing the DNS on the ATV and leave the subnet mask and router settings as they are (the screens are slightly different for this bit only).

  • Ensure that your PlexConnect machine always has the same IP address

In order for PlexConnect to work the Apple TV has to have its DNS server changed to that of the ATV. In order to ensure that the device’s IP does not change you need to need to either set a DHCP reservation or static IP in your router for the device and then make a note of it. Click here for a Lifehacker guide on how to set this up.

  • Configuring your ATV

1. On your Apple TV, go to Settings -> General -> Network -> Ethernet (if you are connected via wireless select that instead)

plex apple tv 2 3 installation mac 04 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

2. Make a note of the current DNS server (you will need to add this into your PlexConnect settings later) and then click on the ‘configure DNS’ button:

plex apple tv 2 3 installation mac 05 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

3. On the ‘configure DNS’ screen click on the ‘manually’ button:

plex apple tv 2 3 installation mac 06 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

4. On the ‘configure DNS’ screen change the IP address to that of the local IP of the device that you are running the PlexConnect application on and then click on the ‘done’ button (if you are using a firmware prior to 5.2 and it asks you to configure the IP address of your router and the subnet mask, leave them unchanged):

plex apple tv 2 3 installation mac 07 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

5. It should return you to the previous network configuration screen, check that the DNS server is set to manual and that the IP address is now that of the machine that you are running PlexConnect on:

plex apple tv 2 3 installation mac 08 How to install Plex on non jailbroken Apple TV 2 and Apple TV 3 [Windows tutorial]

  • Downloading, installing and configuring PlexConnect
  1. Download Python 2.7.x from here and install it (PlexConnect is not designed to work with Python 3.x. so please ensure you install the correct version)
  2. If you are running a firewall (Windows or otherwise) ensure that you create a rule for python.exe
  3. The developers will be releasing point versions (e.g. v0.1, v0.2 etc) of PlexConnect but until then you can always download the latest zip from Github here (do not expect support on any branches as they are either running test or outdated code)
  4. Once you have downloaded the zip file, place it in a directory of your choosing on the machine you wish to run PlexConnect on and unzip it.
  5. Double-click the “PlexConnect.py” file to start PlexConnect
  6. You should see output in the command window as PlexConnect starts.
  7. Open the Trailer application on your Apple TV and you should see the PlexConnect interface appear.
  8. Enjoy!

Note: WHS requires some extra steps:

  1. Go to IIS Manager, under ‘sites’ make sure there are no sites running on port 80.
  2. Go to Windows Firewall and create a new ‘Inbound Rule’ for python.exe to allow it access to the internet.

 

Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!
Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!

26 Jun 10:52

10 Bar Bets You'll Never Lose (But Might Get You Punched in the Face)

by Eric Limer

Gambling might be risky, but not if you know you're going to win. Then it's just free money. If that sounds up your alley, conman extraordinaire Richard Wiseman has yet another set of "bets" for you to try out on your friends. The ones that won't assault when they get wise to what you're up to, anyway.

Read more...

    


23 Jun 11:07

Virtuix Omni Takes Virtual Reality In Every Direction

by Ross Rubin
Omni

Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive. Follow him on Twitter @rossrubin.

Now that there are enough wearable sensors on the market to track one activity per day each week, we’ve seen some sensor-based products turn their attention to chilling out already. There’s the Melon headband that helps determine how you best focus, Phyode’s W/Me wristband that aims to monitor a broad aspect of your physical state, and the PIP that uses a combination of software and biofeedback to help you learn how to de-stress.

At least one project owner is gearing up to add another technological tool to the active arsenal. Part videogame accessory and part exercise equipment, the Virtuix Omni was inspired by the success of Kinect a few years ago, itself a response to the “Wiimote controller” that defined Nintendo’s last gaming console. While both products get you off the couch, they don’t necessarily give you any place to go once you’re there.

Just like virtual reality goggles expand the viewing area beyond what is possible with conventional displays, the Omni expands where one can walk in conventional rooms where games are played. It is an omnidirectional treadmill. Indeed, the success of the crowdfunded Oculus Rift virtual reality headset that netted over $2.4 million on Kickstarter convinced inventor Jan Goetgeluk that the funding site would be a good route to market for a technology that had seen a lot of IP patents filed but few consumer products. Backers, many of whom were undoubtedly idle on their chairs as they pledged, were driven by promise (and perhaps a bit of guilt) to meet the initial funding goal in three-and-a-half hours. Two weeks and still with a month to go, the campaign has raised $860,000.

As is the case for Oculus, gaming is only the first market for Omni, which can be used in simulations, training and other applications. Even better, unlike the Oculus Rift, which has elements of input and output and requires that games be modified for compatibility, the input-only Omni is compatible with PC games out of the box and is much easier to demonstrate. Nevertheless, while both products are slated to ship in consumer versions in early 2014, VR is still a niche market.

Part of the reason for the reality check relates to the Omni’s size (about that of a standard treadmill although it’s designed to be disassembled quickly) and price, which will be around $500 or $600. That will make it more expensive than either of the next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft launching in the fall, with the latter including a souped-up version of Kinect. In addition, while using a Kinect can also require a wide berth, the Omni has its share of encumbrances during use, including a belt and shoes that require special soles. (The company is partnering with an existing shoe manufacturer for the uppers.)

And competition is already using crowdfunding to compete with the Omni. A simpler, smaller and cheaper omnidirectional surface called the WizDish developed in London dispenses with the Omni’s frame and integrated sensor. The WizDish is expected to ship before the end of the year for less than $300, but a demonstration video on its Kickstarter page has a first-timer stepping onto it as one a wet bathtub surface with a remote voice urging the user to be “really careful.” In these early days of omnidirectional treadmills, the feature sets — as well as some of the users — will struggle for balance.


22 Jun 11:42

E Ink unveils 1.73-inch flexible e-paper smartwatch display

by Brittany Hillen

The company E Ink offers a variety of electronic paper displays in many different sizes, some of them flexible. As smartwatches, such as the well-known Pebble and its various competitors, gain in popularity, E Ink has announced a new 1.73-inch e-paper display that it is aimed specifically for them. The display is flexible, and will be first available in Sonostar Smartwatch.

Sonostar

Later this week, the Sonostar Smartwatch will be unveiled at Computex, and was developed in part by Transmart, a subsidiary of E Ink. The display will find its way into other smartwatches in the future, though if other devices are slated to get it, they haven’t been announced yet. Says E Ink, the display was made specifically for both watch and smartwatch apps.

E Ink’s Director of Product Management, Giovanni Mancini, said: “The joint development between Sonostar and Transmart is the perfect example of the how E Ink can help its customers get their product to market. E Ink displays enable unique products that capture the customer’s imagination. Our business development team has the expertise to help our customers design the displays into their products in ways never before thought possible.”

The 1.73-inch display is now available in the company’s Mobius line, and based off of E Ink-developed flexible TFT technologies. The display doesn’t do color, instead offering 16 levels of greyscale. The resolution is good for a smartwatch, coming in at 320 x 240 pixels. Like other electronic paper displays, it can be read in sunlight.

E Ink boasts that the flexible nature of the small display better enables it to conform to the shape of the wearer’s wrist, making room for more design options, as well. One of the design options includes the ability to cut the display into whatever shape is needed. Finally, the 1.73-inch e-paper display also requires little power, something necessary due to the small batteries in smartwatches.


E Ink unveils 1.73-inch flexible e-paper smartwatch display is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
22 Jun 10:13

Old Ideas Are Better Than The Idea You Just Thought Of

by Jake Knapp
Light Bulbs

Editor’s note: Jake Knapp is a design partner at Google Ventures where he helps startups with product strategy and design. Follow him on Twitter @jakek.

It drives me crazy every time I hear about Mailbox, the fancy-pants email app that Dropbox bought for a gazillion dollars. I mean, come on, it’s such an obvious idea — the app’s killer feature is “email snoozing.” It’s basically organized procrastination, and it’s been around since David Allen’s Getting Things Done, if not longer. There’s even been a plug-in called Boomerang for years that allows you to snooze your email in the browser. I could have taken that old idea, quit my job and made my own beautiful email-snoozing iPhone app. And then I would have been rolling around atop piles of thousand-dollar bills in Dropbox’s fancy headquarters. It’s aggravating.

You can probably spot the flaw in my thinking: It’s a ton of hard work to take an old idea and make it amazing. And the older an idea gets, the less motivated one might be to do that hard work.

Some ideas are stacked up on shelves because, for one reason or another, they’re just bad. Others are set aside because, while they might be good, they’re either really hard to execute or the team isn’t ready to pursue them. Or maybe the timing isn’t right or the person who had the idea doesn’t know how to convince others of its merit. Regardless, once an idea begins to age, it can be difficult to tell whether it has potential. All old ideas are then sullied with the bad-idea funk and people forget how promising those good ideas once were. After a while, it’s hard to tell them apart.

All old ideas are then sullied with the bad-idea funk and people forget how promising those good ideas once were.

This is a pattern I’ve seen a lot. In the last year, I’ve worked with more than 50 startups on design projects at Google Ventures. Our design team comes in to help when a company is stuck on a big problem. And it often turns out that the company has a good solution somewhere on that idea shelf, collecting idea dust (which is practically impossible to get off your clothes, by the way).

So while I’m happy to help teams look at new ways to solve a design problem, I always encourage them to bring old ideas out first. It makes sense: The team has probably been thinking about the problem for weeks, months and maybe even years. They’ve had endless hours of opportunity for inspiration to strike: sitting on the train, standing in the shower, or waiting in line for the bathroom at a San Francisco Giants game.

Time and again, buckling down on an old idea yields impressive results. For example, a few months ago our design team worked with the designers and founders of CustomMade, a company that connects people looking for anything from custom woodworking to custom jewelry with the makers who can actually build it. We were trying to figure out how to help more people successfully post their custom projects.

We had a great new idea that we carefully designed, refined and prototyped. But we also decided to pursue something else – an old idea that CustomMade already had but never implemented. We took that old idea, worked out some of the kinks and prototyped it, as well. Then we recruited some real customers and tested the two prototypes, head-to-head.

Guess what? The old idea was better. It was easier to understand and more straightforward. It just hadn’t ever been executed all the way. Now CustomMade buckled down, hammered out the details, and built and launched it. In the real world, the old idea performed even better than in our tests, boosting CustomMade’s monthly project posts by 300 percent.

Making the decision to double down on something old — especially something that hadn’t worked yet — can be difficult. New ideas are fun, and they’ve got that new idea smell. It’s easy to get excited about them. As CustomMade CEO Mike Salguero said, “Building something new is far more tempting.”

But even famous inventors got famous with old ideas. Take Thomas Edison and the light bulb. Greatest invention of all time, right? And the universal symbol for having an idea. But wait. The light bulb was invented in 1840 — seven years before Thomas Edison was even born. So while he didn’t invent the light bulb, he figured out how to make it commercially viable. How? By creating a vacuum with the recently introduced Sprengel pump, invented by… you guessed it, some dude named Hermann Sprengel. The light bulb wasn’t a brand-new idea for Edison. It was an old idea that was difficult to execute on. It was the Mailbox of the 1800s.

So the next time you’re stumped, the next time you don’t know how to proceed, the next time you’re tempted to invent new ideas, take a good long look at your old ones. There might be a light bulb in there somewhere.


18 Jun 11:12

Skype Rolls Out Free Video Messaging to Skype for Mac and iOS

by Jordan Golson
skypelogo.jpgSkype has rolled out its new video messaging service, originally introduced as a beta back in February, to all users. Previously, Skype users could only use 20 messages per month without subscribing to the more expensive Skype Premium plan. Now, all users can send unlimited free video messages.
Video messaging is now available to all Skype users. You can send and receive as many video messages as you want – completely free of charge. Video messages can be received and viewed on any platform or device running Skype.

Skype Video Messaging adds another great way to keep in touch with friends and family during life’s most meaningful moments. Send a video message to your friends and family today—it’s easy. You can capture a fleeting memory, create a heartfelt reminder or simply tell a friend or family member "wish you were here" even when they aren’t online.

Skype for iOS and Mac are available free. [iPhone, iPad, Mac]
    


24 Mar 05:12

Free access to the U.S. Netflix online movie catalog has been restored

by Tunlr
This is a beta version, don’t expect a smooth ride since there may still be bugs. You still need to purchase a Netflix membership plan though, Tunlr doesn’t grant free access to paid content. gatekeeper.tunlr.net/login