The Steam...controller?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Steam platform, it is simply a method of digital distribution for computer games. In other words, instead of going to a store and buying a physical copy, you buy the game using Steam, Steam delivers it to your PC, and you even play it through Steam. It incorporates many console ideas such as friends lists, trophies, and multiplayer through the service.

It's not a small time operation. Developed by Valve who also created the seminal Half-Life series, along with other critically acclaimed titles such as Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead, it has made Valve's founder, Gabe Newell, A billionaire, and Steam is the de facto model for any type of digital distribution.

That's right, a *billionaire*

Now, Valve has announced a Steambox stand-alone console (as opposed to software you install on any machine), but most intriguingly, they have introduced a whole new type of gaming controller that looks like the ones you'd find for a console now, but without sticks or the standard buttons. It is also said to offer new levels of haptic feedback, pinpoint precision, and complete configuration.

The reason I'm writing all this? I'm not convinced from the images alone. I've heard great things but I just can't get past the renders. Time will tell about the success of this new model that's being introduced, but...look at that thing! Not like I have the time to use one anyhow.

The incredible prosthetic leg

Below is an embedded video from last night's CBS evening news which shows an incredible achievement in prosthetic limbs. Keep in mind that this isn't the first mind-controlled prosthetic add-on, however I will hold off on providing any links as we will be talking later in the semester about prosthetic, mind-controlled hands and even a computer that can be controlled by the mind of someone who is completely paralyzed.

Either way, incredible strides have been made in robotic limbs and I believe it will only be a few years before  we begin to see truly usable replacement limbs.

A little more about the Dvorak keyboard

Now that many of you had the chance to try out the Dvorak keyboard, or at least a soft, on-screen version of it, I would like to point you to this article on The Straight Dope - a website that debunks common myths and legends - that provides further information about the origins of its development, as well as discussion of research that implies the Dvorak keyboard may not be all its cracked up to be.

An actual Remington mechanical typewriter!

You'll remember we discussed that it was originally developed in the 1800s to lessen the chance of the mechanical arms of a typewriter getting jammed up. We don't need that anymore, but familiarity breeds loyalty and we still use it today. The image above, a Remington which was the first company to massproduce typewriters, comes from this very interesting article over at AnandTech that is actually reviewing an ergonomic keyboard, but starts with a history of QWERTY.

Speaking of the Surface

While most people would now associate the Microsoft Surface with a tablet, that wasn't their first intent. You may remember in class we mentioned that multitouch was championed at the consumer level by Apple but at the commercial level by Microsoft. The way they did that was through the development of a relatively large, interactive table called the Surface. Some are even here in Las Vegas.

It's capabilities are remarkable, however its development languished in light of portable offerings from Apple that could do many of the same things, and Microsoft turned it into a tablet design instead. Take a look at the video below; it starts slow, but seeing what their tablet could do is even now remarkable. Still, the Courier tablet would have been a nice development as well.

The new Microsoft Surface tablets are announced!

If anyone is using a Microsoft Surface tablet (or has at least heard of them), the next generation of those tablets has been officially announced!

The linked article has some good information, and it looks like there have been some major upgrades to the line including processor power which was significantly improved, as well as internal storage. Surface tablets haven't sold so well thus far, for several reasons: They have a desktop component, meaning you have the tiled, metro-style layout, but oftentimes selecting a tile sends you into another, desktop-like environment, taking you away from the reason you have a tablet in the first place. There has also been confusion between the two models of Surface, the RT and Pro models. The RT model was an underpowered economy version of the more powerful Pro line, although from reading the article while they drastically improved the RT model, they are manufacturing less of them. The Pro line allowed true, laptop-like productivity options, the RT less so. People also didn't like having to pay extra, sometimes a lot extra, for the keyboard covers, even though the iPad required the same.

The Metro Interface

But, it looks like the improvements are a major step in the right direction. They ave both received major upgrades in power and usability, plus, they come in purple! As far as a tablet actually being able to replace a laptop, these new versions of the Surface might be the first time it can actually be done.

Ron 'Typewriter' Mingo!

In the last class we discussed the reasoning behind the current keyboard layout as we know it today, and how it was developed to prevent jamming up the arms on mechanical keyboards. But this post will share a video that could make you think it might not have been so necessary in the first place.

In the last year of the 1970s and through the first few years of the 1980s, there was a television show called 'Real People' that attempted to showcase ordinary people with extraordinary stories or talents. Even my uncle Herb made an appearance on the show!

But the person we want to address today is none other than Ron 'Typewriter' Mingo, who at the time held the record for the fastest typist in the world at 160 words per minute, and this was on  purely mechanical typewriter! Below is the segment from Real People showing him typing in front of a class, supposedly to inspire them to do well in school. He even manages to work in the manual carriage return (that is an actual, literal carriage return). I'm just amazed he didn't jam up the typing arms of that machine.

Also, Tom Hanks is well known to have a massive mechanical typewriter collection, and even wrote them an ode in the New York Times. That's dedication!

Well? Who's done it?

iOS 7? Anyone? Anyone taken the plunge into the no-longer-skeuomorphic design? What do you think? Have you had the chance to use it? Has it made your experience easier? Harder? Used to it already? If you've used it, let us know in the comments!

Careful now...

Everyone knows that if you're searching for or visiting sites that contain questionable material, such as sites that distribute warez or passwords, that you are opening yourself up to a wold of malicious software. These types of damaging programs like viruses and trojan horses (which we'll learn all about) are prevalent enough without going to sites like those.

But what if you're just trying to find out about a celebrity? See what movies they've been in? Or perhaps just looking for a nice wallpaper for your desktop? Well, you'd better be careful then too, depending on who you're searching for. It turns out that some celebrities are more likely to lead to a computer virus on your machine than others.

So if you're looking for Phil Collins' daughter or any of these other celebrities, you'd better be careful. And use good anti-virus software, even if you're on a Mac.

Who would have guessed?

With the announcement of the new iPhone, one of the biggest bits of news - for reasons I haven't yet figured out - is that will come in a not-quite-rainbow of colors. In fact, it was mentioned in class that some will be available in gold. And the most popular color according to the the pre-orders? Yellow. Go figure.

Color is a big deal to Apple and its products, and has been all the way back to the original iMac, which was available in colors like, and I'm not kidding about this, 'Blueberry.'

It was also true of the iPod nano which came in a spectrum of hues,even the original iPhones would tease consumers with an early version of color, that is, black and white. Strange the current iMacs don't come in colors but who knows? We may see it yet.

The only color I would ever consider getting is orange. Sadly, there's never been a phone in that color as of yet. But I'm waiting.

Robots. Creepy, creepy robots.

OK, so I mentioned in class on Friday that I would show you some videos of robots to see how far we've come in the field, and to illustrate the concept of the Uncanny Valley that we will talk about later in the semester (so I'm not going to go into detail about it here, although you can read about it at the link).

The robots I am showing are not the familiar or cute ones that we see in movies, such as R2-D2, Johnny 5, or Wall-E, or even the ones we occasionally use in our houses, like the Roomba. The ones you will see below are the ones that are attempting to narrow the gap between human and robot, and work towards the goal of integrating robots into society and letting them act as helpful companions.

As you will see, we're not there yet, but we're getting eerily close. Take a look at the videos below, see what you think, and offer your feedback in the comments. And remember, you can only make something that isn't human look human to a point, after which it actually starts to look *less* human. And we'll learn why later.

Another behind the scenes tour.

Last time it was Google, now it's Microsoft. If you want to get an interesting behind the scenes tour of some Microsoft offices, there is a post at businesinsider.com that walks you through some of the campus in Redmond. It's so big people have to take shuttles to get around.

In fact, while the article doesn't say it, the Redmond campus of Microsoft is over 500 acres! A massive, sprawling pseudo-metropolis complete with all the accouterments of a city including stores, athletic facilities and a movie theater.

Microsoft West campus

Most technology companies provide a very supportive for their employees, providing many amenities, including the things I mentioned above at no charge, as well as food and sometimes even such things as car washes, dry leaning, and even massages as part of their employment.

I'm not such a big fan of the high-five hallway, though.

Not a bad job if you can get it.

I thought it had been discontinued already

Apparently, if you're one of the...many? Few? people who still carry around an iPod classic, it's time as an official product may be coming to an end. This isn't terribly surprising as all electronic devices eventually reach the end of their officially supported lifecycle, and the company that manufactures them decides it's no longer in their best interests to provide parts and service for said device. For some things, the support can continue for a very long time; the original Atari 2600, originally released in 1977, was supported all the way into the 1990s. Apple even has a support page for 'Vintage and Obsolete Products.'

I've never owned an iPod, but it, along with iTunes that was released later, revolutionized digital music. It was by no means the first digital media player, but it was certainly the most important. I do still have many (MANY) legacy electronics hanging around, below is the pocket color TV I had all the way in the early 80's! It still works, but of course gets no signal since we're on digital broadcasts now.

One other thing I should mention: In the article linked above, the author mentions the carrying capacity of the original iPod (160 GB) and says that's one of the reasons he keeps his. While it is true that t had more capacity than current models, that is due to the fact it uses an actual spinning, mechanical hard drive - similar to what you would find in your PC - as opposed to solid state storage that has no moving parts, like a flash drive. The problem is, those mechanical drives are prone to failure and impact, and we moved away from them for portable storage pretty quickly.

Either way, the moral is if you still have an original click-wheel iPod, you should hang on to it.