Google has acquired reCAPTCHA and plans to use the system for digitizing books. Wait… what? CAPTCHA is the method of requiring a user to type in a visually obscured word to prove they are human. How can this digitize books? The answer is a bit obscure and takes some time to discover, but you’ll have fun along the way.
The Google blog links to a Google TechTalk video on Human Computation as an example of how they plan to use their new acquisition. It’s embedded below but at 51 minutes we figure most won’t watch it all so we…
Hack
Are you human? Then type out this book
Hack
The Blind Juggler
The Blind Juggler is a robot that juggles or bounces balls in a controlled manner without any sensory input. It is basically just a linear actuator with a paddle on the end to smack the ball back into the air as it returns to the ground. The crazy thing is, it is doing this based purely on pre programmed math. There are no sensors telling it to make any adjustments. While we could envision this functioning, we would never have expected it to be as stable as it is. You can see in the video above that they can…
Game
How to build a life-sized electronic game
We’re very impressed with [Steve's] Electronic Snowball Fight game. It consists of two life-sized players standing opposite of each other. Each can throw a snowball or duck, the object is to hit the other person and not get hit yourself. He’s utilized a lot of good building techniques that could be easily adapted to other types of game play.
For the outlines of the players, [Steve] took pictures of himself standing, ducking, and in a throwing motion. Each picture was used to generate an outline which was then stenciled onto some Masonite. He then drilled holes along the outline…
Software
KMPlayer 2.9.4.1435 Final
KMPlayer is a korean movie and audio player that supports a wide range of codecs and file formats It has full VCD DVD playback functionality KMPlayer is a versatile media player which utilizes all kinds of video information and subtitles to bring the best video experience through software hardware options and recognition of various display devices The player provides a strong hybrid structure efficient for interconnecting various directshow filters winamp input amp dsp plugin and internal filters The most outstanding feature is that the player has the full control of filter connections to prevent a media playback from being messed…
Software
DirectX End-User Runtimes 9.27.1734 Redistributable (August 2009)
Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full color graphics video 3D animation and rich audio DirectX includes security and performance updates along with many new features across all technologies which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX APIs At the core of DirectX are its application programming interfaces or APIs The APIs act as a kind of bridge for the hardware and the software to quot talk quot to each other The DirectX APIs give multimedia applications access…
Software
Realtek AC’97 Audio Driver 6.305 for Vista/ Windows 7 (32/64 bits)
Realtek AC 39 97 Audio Driver for Windows Vista supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC101 up to ALC861 It is used as onboard sound on many motherboards Compatible with ALC 101 201 202 203 250 650 655 658 850 chipsets It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available Featuring four 16 bit two channel DACs and a stereo 16 bit ADC the ALC850 is an AC 39 97 Rev 2 3 compatible multi channel audio CODEC designed for PC multimedia systems The ALC850 incorporates proprietary converter technology and fully meets performance requirements for…
Software
Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility 9.1.1.1019
The Intel R Chipset Software Installation Utility installs Windows INF files to the target system The INF files inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality such as AGP USB Core PCI and ISAPNP services This software can be installed in three modes Interactive Silent and Unattended Preload Interactive Mode requires user input during installation Silent Mode and Unattended Preload do not This software also offers a set of command line flags which provide additional installation choices The command line flags are not case sensitive INF files outline to the operating system how to configure…
Cisco Systems
links for 2009-08-27
BGP Policy Accounting
The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) policy accounting (PA) feature allows you to account for IP traffic differentially by assigning counters based on community list, AS number, and/or AS_PATH on a per input interface basis.
(tags: bgp ccie-r&s)
SmarterFox: Browse Faster
Good Productivity Tool!
(tags: plugins extensions widget blogging firefox wordpress addons)
Basic MPLS
This post if from IPexpert's CCIE Blog>. and written by Rick Mur. Great post and worth the read!
(tags: mpls ccie-r&s ccie-sp bgp ipexpert)
How BGP Routers Use the Multi-Exit Discriminator for Best Path Selection [IP Routing] – Cisco Systems
MED was discussed…
Hack
Arduino based synthesizer
[Jacob] is working on his final project for the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. Based around Arduino, the quality and quantity of his build notes make this a fascinating read and there are several examples to listen to.
The project features a brilliant idea for input: He uses a 1/8″ TRS connector (mini-jack) whose tip is the input to the DAC of the Arduino. There are conductive pads in the shape of a keyboard that you touch the tip of the connector to in order to complete the circuit. Alternatively, the other two conductors on the connector deliver power…
Hack
Arduino USB host shield
Circuits@Home has been journaling their development of a USB host mode shield for Arduino, which could bring a veritable explosion of mass storage, keyboard input and countless other peripherals (and a corresponding raft of new hacks) to the platform. Currently at the prototype stage, a ready-made shield and library are forthcoming, so keep checking back. Meanwhile, for embedded developers wanting to learn the ropes of USB, the in-progress articles will likely provide some valuable insights.
[thanks Kersny]
Cisco Systems
Voice Resource Roundup
I have been multitasking like a mad man. When I have the opportunity to do so, I like to use resources that get me right to the point, are of high quality, and are accurate- Even if I have to pay for them. This brings me to the reason for my post today. Today I am reaching out to you, the reader.
As I have mentioned in previous posts I am working on the instructor certification for CIPT1. In order to do so I must of course know the content in and out, which usually means going over the Cisco…
Hack
Neo Geo mini arcade
[Pocket Lucho], the builder of mini arcade cabinets, is back with another build. This time it’s a miniature Neo Geo arcade machine (translated). The build is very compact and neat. He attached the control panel and the PS one display using magnets to make the wiring more accessible. It has video out and second player input too. You’ll find an assembly video embedded below along with a trial run.
