‘Cities at Night’ uses ISS photos to map light pollution
The Cities at Night project organizers began compiling hundreds of thousands of nighttime photos of metropolises taken from the ISS in order to study light pollution last year. NASA even asked the public for help to sort through millions of images to be used for the initiative. Now, Cities at Night has already helped confirm that the source of the diffuse glow around cities visible from space (first spotted by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) is none other than street lighting. That diffuse lighting is separate from lights emanating from buildings and vehicles, but scientists couldn’t determine its exact origin from low-res satellite photos alone.
All of the images in the project’s archive (like the one above) have been “calibrated using the stars in the background sky over the ISS, as well as ground-based measurements of the night sky brightness.” This apparently makes it possible not just to spot diffused lighting, but also to map out light pollution. The study conducted by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain and the Cégep de Sherbrooke in Canada also revealed that countries in Europe with the highest public debts also have the highest energy consumption connected to street lighting. That said, you really should visit the Cities at Night website even if you couldn’t care less about light pollution. Its gallery, full of nighttime pictures taken by astronauts and geo-referenced on a world map, is definitely worth a few hours of your day.
PS: The project organizers want to “create a Google maps style map of the world using pictures taken by astronauts from the International Space Station” and are now trying to raise $56,000 via Kickstarter to make that happen. If they reach their goal, they’ll use the money to develop their own platform to host the map, which anybody can access.
[Image credit: NASA/ESA]
Filed under:
Misc
Source:
International Astronomical Union, Cities at Night
Tags: citiesatnight, iss, lightpollution, nasa, space
Parallels’ remote PC access works with games and your Apple Watch
Parallels’ Access app just became considerably more useful… even if you’re bent on goofing off. The company has released version 3.0 of its remote access tool, which includes experimental support for playing your PC’s games on your iOS device. If you’re determined to play League of Legends or Skyrim on your iPad, you can create custom touch controls to make the experience relatively enjoyable. The iOS camp also gets a little extra fun through an Apple Watch app that lets you start remote connections from your wrist.
You’ll see plenty of practical improvements for both Android and iOS users, of course. There’s a universal file manager with support for both local and cloud-stored files, and you can transfer large files from your PC to your mobile gear without leaning on a third-party service. You can even look at your mobile photos from the desktop view, in case you want computer-based backups before you get home. As usual, you’ll have to subscribe to Parallels Access to get the benefits beyond the 14-day trial run — it’ll cost you $20 per year if you’re merely curious, or $35 if you’re committed for at least two years.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Gaming, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source:
Parallels (1), (2)
Tags: android, applewatch, gaming, ios, mac, mobilepostcross, parallels, parallelsaccess, pc, remoteaccess, smartwatch, software, windows
Computers can categorize buildings into architectural styles
Even if you’ve never heard of “Byzantine,” you can probably tell a Byzantine church from a Gothic one. Judging style differences is nearly impossible for a computer, however, and researchers from the University of Massachusetts want to fill in that gap. They used geometric matching, crowdsourcing and machine learning to teach an algorithm how to spot similar styles in buildings, furniture and other objects. That’s something that could be incredibly useful for historians with mountains of photo archives, or game designers who need to auto-fill a level with historically accurate furniture.
After surveying around 2,500 people and checking over 50,000 responses, the team determined that users were 85 percent consistent in categorizing styles. With that info in hand, they developed an algorithm that compared the shapes of objects, distance components and matching elements. Spotting matching elements like domes on a church was the hardest part, so the group used crowdsourced responses from human participants to teach the machine.
The result? The program is nearly 90 percent efficient in spotting stylistic differences, on par with humans. Researchers used it to separate buildings into distinct historical styles labeled by experts as Gothic, Baroque or Asian, to name a few. The algorithm can then apply those labels to other structures, greatly automating the identification process. It could also be used for film special effects or game design to help artists quickly and accurately populate scenes. And yes, it could potentially do facial recognition so that machines can tell Sarah Connor apart from, say, Sara O’Connor.
Filed under:
Robots
Source:
UMass
Tags: Algorithm, CrowdSourcing, HIstorical, MachineLearning, Recognition, UMass, video
HTC Re on sale for just $99
Looking for a camera to capture those awesome moments during what’s left of the summer? Sure you could use your smartphone camera but sometimes you just wanted a easily pocketable dedicated camera that you can rely on. If so, look no further than the HTC Re and if you’re quick, you’ll be able to get it at a cracking price.
Best Buy has added the HTC Re to its Deal of the Day promotion meaning you can get HTC’s portable camera for just $99, a saving $100 on the recommended retail price of $199. If you’re interested, the promotion is on the retailer’s website (although it may also be available in-store) with free delivery and a free Shutterfly 8 x 8 photo book.
The photo book will let you turn all those moments you capture into a permanent memory and lets you add up to 20 pages of photos in a photo book free of charge. Looking at the Shutterfly website, this costs up $60 so the promotion is a significant saving.
Back to the HTC Re and HTC’s camera is equipped with a 16MP sensor and as we covered in our HTC Re review, it is easy to use, has a long lasting battery and offers excellent image quality. It’s not all perfect (as low light pictures could do with an improvement) but at $99, it represents excellent value for money.
Head over to the Best Buy website below to buy your HTC Re at the promotional price now!
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus will both feature 3,000mAh batteries according to leak
There isn’t long to go until August 13th, the day that Samsung will officially launch the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and possibly another (as yet) unknown device at its Unpacked event. There’s been a steady stream of leaks in the last few weeks about both devices, and today’s leak is about battery capacity.
Both the GN5 and GS6e+ sport 3000mAh batteries. pic.twitter.com/yHcWg8Hj75
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 11, 2015
Thanks to @evleaks, who is seemingly intent on regaining his crown in the leaks business, we now know that both the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will both sport 3,000mAh batteries. Fans of the Note series of smartphones will probably be disappointed that the battery has been whittled down to just 3,000mAh, 240mAh lower than what last year’s Note 4 offered. The smaller battery, coupled with the lack of MicroSD card support, could be the last straw that drives long-time fans of the Note series away from the Note 5. Time will tell, and we don’t have long to wait to find out. What do you think about the Note 5 only having a 3,000mAh battery? Will the more energy-efficient processor make up the difference?
Fans of the original Galaxy S6 Edge wanting a larger screen and a bigger battery will be happy to see a 3,000mAh battery in the S6 Edge Plus. Is it a big enough upgrade though from the 2,600mAh battery seen in the original, though? And will you also purchase the rumoured physical keyboard accessory?
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: @evleaks (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus will both feature 3,000mAh batteries according to leak
Huawei’s Nexus smartphone may offer global LTE support
While Google’s Nexus smartphones usually come equipped with top-of-the-line hardware, their popularity can be largely attributed to the pure Android experience that they offer. But this time around, Huawei is going to give you one more reason to get excited about the upcoming Google flagship – it could be compatible with LTE bands worldwide.
According to BGR India, the Huawei-made Nexus will feature a single PCB for all bands, making it the world’s first Global LTE capable smartphone. Usually a country either has FD-LTE or TD-LTE frequency bands, therefore, smartphone companies manufacture country-specific handsets. Those travelling from one country to another often face network issues if their handset is not compatible with the frequency bands of the new country.
“In order to save costs, manufacturers instead have different variants for different regions. However this is something only Google would do,” a Huawei source was quoted as saying.
It is not clear whether Huawei is using Qualcomm’s RF360 technology that promises to deliver one global LTE solution for bands of multiple frequencies.
Earlier, we had reported a leaked video that showed the design and specifications of Huawei’s upcoming Nexus smartphone. According to rumours, the Huawei Nexus will come with a 5.7-inch QHD display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, 13.1-megapixel rear camera with laser focus, 4GB of RAM and NFC support. Needless to say, it will run Android M out-of-the-box.
Source: BGR India
Come comment on this article: Huawei’s Nexus smartphone may offer global LTE support
Add Google Cast to your Fire TV with an $8 app
Buyers remorse can be a terrible thing as you always wonder if you’d have been better off picking the other device when stood in the aisle at Best Buy. Thankfully if you’ve got $7.99 lying around and kinda regret grabbing Amazon’s Fire TV, then help is at hand thanks to YouMap. The app enables you to trick the hardware into thinking that it’s a Chromecast, letting you mirror your Chrome browsing or push YouTube clips straight from your smartphone. The app works for both the Fire TV and the stick, and while it won’t give you all the functionality of Google’s video dongle, you’ll at least be able to see how the other half live.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Google, Amazon
Via:
Liliputing, AFTVNews
Source:
Amazon
Tags: Amazon, App, Chrome, Chromecast, FireTV, FireTVStick, google, hdpostcross, mobilepostcross, YouMap
ICYMI: Real wizard wands, another remote car hack and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: Another car hacking job, this one by the University of San Diego, is showing just how vulnerable our smart cars can be. And if you’re sick of people stealing things off your desk, check out this rubber-band shooting desktop sentry. And most importantly of all, a new Kickstarter is bringing wand dueling to life with a more complicated version of laser tag. And yes, it is the best thing to happen to me this year.
In case you hadn’t seen this epic fisherman moment: A drone hobbyist posted this video to shame the fisherman who cast at, then caught his drone. However I think it’s amazing.
If you come across any interesting videos, we’d love to see them. Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd.
Filed under:
Misc, Transportation, Wireless, Science, Internet
Tags: carhacking, drone, engadgetdailyshow, engadgetvideo, fishermen, HarryPotter, icymi, InCaseYouMissedIt, kickstarter, rubberbands, UAV, UniversityofSanDiego, video, wands, wizard
Qualcomm confirms we won’t see the Snapdragon 820 till H1 2016
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There are plenty of rumours that would have us believe that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor is going to be powering out devices before the end of the year. Unfortunately for those rumours, Qualcomm has all but shot down any notion that this will happen after announcing its new generation of GPU architecture, the Adreno 5xx series. In its press release for the Adreno 5xx, Qualcomm says that the new GPU will debut in the Snapdragon 820 along with the new Spectra image signal processing unit, and that we won’t see the Snapdragon 820 till H1 2016 – or at least, we won’t be seeing devices with it inside till then.
That is probably a little bit of a bummer of some who were hoping that there would be a performance bump to look forward to before the end of the year, particularly seeing as devices with the outgoing Snapdragon 810 have been releasing right from the start of the year. Still, it’s not like we don’t have something to look forward to – Qualcomm talks about what improvements their new architecture is going to allow which include:
- up to 40% lower power consumption;
- 40% faster graphics performance compared to the Adreno 430;
- 64-bit virtual addressing for sharing virtual memory;
- 4K video recording at 60 frames-per-second;
- Spectra image signal processing unit, which allows for three simultaneous cameras and hybrid autofocus
H1 2016 can’t come soon enough. What do you think about not seeing the Snapdragon 820 till H1 2016? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Qualcomm via XperiaBlog
The post Qualcomm confirms we won’t see the Snapdragon 820 till H1 2016 appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
[Deal] Pre-order your own Mini Drone today for only $65
Drones are all the craze nowadays. From an annoyed fisherman casting the perfect line to grab one out of the sky, to them appearing during NFL pre-season practices, they are cropping up more and more. On a lower level, there are many of these “pocket” drones that are making it easy for just about anyone to grab one.
Today’s deal is a pre-order offer for one of those handheld drones. If you’re interested in getting a drone for yourself, this deal may be for you. The SKEYE Mini Drone not only fits in the palm of your hand, but also is equipped with an HD camera so that you can record everything that you’re flying over.
Here are some of the other features that can be found with the SKEYE Mini Drone:
- Embarks on night flights w/ included LED lights
- Flies w/ precision-controlled steering
- Performs flips, barrel rolls & aerobatic tricks
- Pulls off smooth maneuvers thanks to its high thrust & low weight
- Boasts outstanding stability w/ 6-axis stabilization
- Captures quality HD photos & video footage from high in the sky
- Features 4 coreless motors
- Includes beginner & advanced flight modes
Te pre-order the SKEYE Mini Drone for yourself, head on over to the AndroidGuys Deals page, and get your order in for only $64.99. Once released, this bad boy will cost about $100, so go ahead and save yourself some money by pre-ordering ahead of time.
You can find this, and many other great tech bargains through our Deals Page. Backed by Stack Commerce, there are daily promos, giveaways, freebies, and much more!
The post [Deal] Pre-order your own Mini Drone today for only $65 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
AIVAnet 