Everything's Social

Latest Updates: Boston RSS

• 

  Boston Globe Sends Readers on Mobile SCVNGR Hunt

  JP 1:45 am on July 17, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, boston globe (2), Globe, interactive scavenger hunt, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), red sox tickets, SCVNGR

  Filed under: Cell Phones, Web, Social Networking

  

  No longer content to just sit in the background and feed its readers their daily news, the Boston Globe has launched a new mobile scavenger hunt that sends its readers around the city. The ‘Boston Globe Trek’ uses SCVNGR, a location-based game system that’s similar to Foursquare or Gowalla, to challenge users to solve riddles, snap photos of landmarks, and scan unique QR codes.

  After downloading the iPhone or Android SCVNGR app, users can choose from six different ‘Trek’ challenges: romance, movies, sports, tech, photography and news box. (We know which one we’d pick.) Players then hit Bean Town to earn points and badges by answering trivia, solving puzzles, and, yes, checking in at different places along the trek. As Boston.com reports, the high-scorers in this interactive scavenger hunt will win prizes ranging from Red Sox tickets to iTunes gift cards.

  Continue reading Boston Globe Sends Readers on Mobile SCVNGR Hunt

  Boston Globe Sends Readers on Mobile SCVNGR Hunt originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   

  Reply Click here to cancel reply.

  Name (required)

  Email (required)

  Web Site

   
• 

  'Lung-on-a-Chip' Capable of Accurately Replicating Natural Lung

  JP 1:45 am on June 27, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blood vessel cells, Boston, chip (2), David Ingber, Harvard (3), human lungs, lung, microchip technology, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390)

  Filed under: Computers, Visionaries

  Researchers at Harvard and the Children’s Hospital in Boston recently combined lung and blood vessel cells with microchip technology to create what they’ve dubbed a “lung-on-a-chip.” It may sound like the name of a cannibalistic afternoon snack, but the new gadget reportedly behaves and reacts like real lung tissue, and could radically change the way in which medical researchers study human lungs.

  David Ingber, the vascular biologist leading the work at Harvard, told the Guardian that his team’s device could accurately mimic the inflammatory response triggered by pathogens, and that it could fully absorb airborne nanoparticles. Researchers are hopeful, then, that they’ll be able to use the lung-on-a-chip to study the effects that drugs and toxins have on the respiratory system without ever having to open up a human body. Ingber even predicts that the device, and those like it, “could replace many animal studies in the future.”

  Continue reading ‘Lung-on-a-Chip’ Capable of Accurately Replicating Natural Lung

  ‘Lung-on-a-Chip’ Capable of Accurately Replicating Natural Lung originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Hyperion4 Ridable Robot Tiptoes Around, Haunts Dreams

  JP 10:20 am on June 23, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, boston dynamics (3), Chiba, chiba institute, DARPA (5), impressive feats, Japan (12), nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), Robot (21)

  Filed under: Computers

  Given the unabashed awesomeness of robots, criticizing any type of bot elicits deprecatory feelings of shame. The prodigious robot specialists from DARPA and Boston Dynamics (BD) produce such astounding and extraordinary mechanical creations, though, that otherwise impressive feats of engineering sometimes seem pedestrian and outmoded. Such is the lamentable fate of one sad robot from Japan’s Chiba Institute of Technology.

  Videos of Chiba creations recently arrived on YouTube, but — despite the fact that the clips demonstrate operable robots that actually walk and hop — the devices just can’t compare to the intimidating climbers and navigators from DARPA and BD. Being overshadowed by those formidable robot pioneers certainly isn’t disgraceful, but the apparent insignificance of Chiba’s plodding, four-legged Hyperion vehicle is devastatingly compounded by another, similar creation.

  Continue reading Hyperion4 Ridable Robot Tiptoes Around, Haunts Dreams

  Hyperion4 Ridable Robot Tiptoes Around, Haunts Dreams originally appeared on Switched on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Robotic LittleDog Can Now Follow You Home... From the Depths of Hell

  JP 2:03 am on May 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, boston dynamics (3), defense advanced research projects agency (3), LittleDog, nbsp (1,601), Read (1,390), research projects agency (5), Robotic, U.S. (106)

  Filed under: Computers

  

  Robotic engineers seem to focus an inordinate amount of time constructing cute, little doggy-bots, perhaps because no one expects man’s best friend to lead the apocalyptic rebellion. Robo-dogs keep the elderly company, perform in orchestras and dance to Outkast. Some wack-jobs have even suggested that universities adopt cyber-mutts as their official mascots.

  Creators from the increasingly terrifying, X-Files-like arm of the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Boston Dynamics have worked in conjunction to develop their own cyber-canine, the LittleDog, for almost three years. When we first saw it in action, the little guy could only clumsily and painstakingly maneuver through various environments.

  Continue reading Robotic LittleDog Can Now Follow You Home… From the Depths of Hell

  Robotic LittleDog Can Now Follow You Home… From the Depths of Hell originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Elaborate Scheme Dupes Thousands of Brides and Businesses

  JP 12:51 am on March 4, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, boston globe (2), fact, lovestruck, nbsp (1,601), New England (2), proper web, Read (1,390), Web (70)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  

  Share

  By now you’re well aware of the fact that Internet swindlers have no souls. So, it should come as no shock that one group of crooks has targeted both the lovestruck and the marital industry (the latter of which, arguably, already exploits the former).

  Of late, the Web would have you believe that the Boston 411 Bridal and Home Show is the largest such convention in New England, but it is, in fact, an imaginary event cooked up by Internet charlatans. The ruse was particularly effective because it leveraged several different outlets, including Twitter, Facebook, a proper Web site, and even radio ads — all employed to lend an air of legitimacy. Police told the Boston Globe that an estimated 5,000 people had paid a minimum of $15 to gain access to the show, with some businesses handing over larger exhibitor fees, in amounts as high as $4,000.

  Continue reading Elaborate Scheme Dupes Thousands of Brides and Businesses

  Elaborate Scheme Dupes Thousands of Brides and Businesses originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Nickelback Vs. a Pickle: Latest Facebook Meme Asks the Tough Questions

  JP 12:52 am on February 10, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, Cyrus (2), dill pickle, facebook (302), Justin Bieber (2), miley cyrus (2), nbsp (1,601), onion, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Read (1,390), Scott Stapp

  Filed under: Celebrities, Web, Social Networking

  

  Share

  Because these are the kinds of things that curious minds ponder, we’re sure you’ve spent many a wee hour asking yourself if Nickelback sucks and how they could’ve ever accrued over 1 million fans on Facebook. That’s twice the size of Boston, for Scott Stapp’s sake! Well, the citizens of Facebook have heard your cry of confusion, and they’ve devised a brand new meme to finally answer the question, once and for all — random object by random object. Because doppelgangers are sooo last week, the newest trend to take over Facebook mini-feeds has users asking each other questions like: “Is nondescript, everyday household item ‘x’ more popular than inexplicably popular public figure ‘y’?”

  As Mashable reports, the latest victim is Justin Bieber, pop singer extraordinaire. According to a recently created fan page, Bieber is less popular than your average onion ring (although, considering how delicious onion rings are, that may not have been a very fair fight). The Bieber v. Onion Ring online tribunal page was created at the beginning of the month, and, before you start feeling sorry for the 16-year-old, you should know that he may stand to make some cash off of his popular unpopularity; several businesses have reportedly approached him about advertising on the platform.

  Similar sites have already been set up to take aim at other polarizing pop culture figures, like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (who, by the way, also lost to this apparently unbeatable onion ring). As for Nickelback? Well, they’re still pretty far ahead of their dill pickle opponent. We’d like to see them take on someone their own size, though — someone like the onion ring. [From: Mashable]

  Continue reading Nickelback Vs. a Pickle: Latest Facebook Meme Asks the Tough Questions

  Nickelback Vs. a Pickle: Latest Facebook Meme Asks the Tough Questions originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Harvard Students Use 'Foursquare' to Scope Out the Yahd

  JP 12:58 am on January 16, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, Cambridge (2), Foursquare (18), Harvard (3), harvard gazette, harvard students, nbsp (1,601), Perry Hewitt, Read (1,390)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  

  Leave it to those gosh darn Harvard brainiacs to come up with another way to combat the doldrums of a blistering Boston winter. As The Harvard Gazette reports, the university has recently launched a collaboration with Foursquare, the social networking mobile app, in an apparent effort to get kids out of the library, and into the campus and greater Cambridge area. Students can now use Foursquare to find, rate, and share their favorite hangouts, and to, ideally, become more active within the community in the process. Perry Hewitt, of Harvard’s Public Affairs and Communications office, believes that the initiative “will allow [the] community to engage with friends, professors, and colleagues in new ways.”

  And, since it’s Harvard, there’s a mini competition involved with the whole scheme, as well. Foursquare users can accumulate points by “checking in” at each place they frequent, and can eventually earn a special badge to honor their OCD devotion. Big-dreaming future politicians can even get their start on the service; the person who goes to a single place more than anyone else becomes its official Foursquare “mayor.”

  Continue reading Harvard Students Use ‘Foursquare’ to Scope Out the Yahd

  Harvard Students Use ‘Foursquare’ to Scope Out the Yahd originally appeared on Switched.com on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Google Data Shows the Most Obscenity-Obsessed U.S. Cities

  JP 12:55 am on November 15, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: America (15), Boston, business insider (2), East Coast, Florida (8), google (174), google trends (2), Kentucky (2), Louisville, nbsp (1,601), New York (32), obscenity case, Pensacola (2), Philadelphia (9), Read (1,390), U.S. (106), year (9)

  Filed under: Top Lists, Google, Web

  

  Last year, The Business Insider — inspired by an obscenity case in Pensacola, Florida — checked out the Google Trends data for each of the “seven dirty words.” The defense attorney in the case had planned to use Google search data to show that Pensacola’s morals were lax in comparison to the rest of the country. The research never saw the light of day, but that didn’t stop The Business Insider from performing its own analysis of search statistics to determine the most obscene cities in America.

  A year later, The Business Insider decided it was time to update the rankings, and last year’s surprise winner — Louisville, Kentucky — really cleaned up its act and dropped to number 10. Several major cities are featured on the list, including Boston and Philadelphia, but, amazingly, New York avoided placing in the top 10. Take that, other East Coast metropolitan areas!

  Continue reading Google Data Shows the Most Obscenity-Obsessed U.S. Cities

  Google Data Shows the Most Obscenity-Obsessed U.S. Cities originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  Creepy Two-Legged Robot Walks Like a Human

  JP 2:35 pm on October 30, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bipedal robot, Boston, boston dynamics (3), legged robot, nbsp (1,601), Petman, Read (1,390), Robot (21), U.S. Army (3)

  Filed under: Computers

  

  It’s not going to win any foot races, but a new robot being developed for the U.S. Army still has a leg (or two) up on its competition. The “Petman” prototype is a bipedal robot that simulates human walking (video after the break) more realistically than any other robot we’ve seen. According to Wired, the robot, which is being developed by Boston Dynamics, will be used to test how protective clothing responds during chemical warfare. It walks with a heel-to-toe motion at 3.2 mph and can maintain balance if pushed or bumped. Plus, the robot simulates human environmental and physiological factors — like temperature, humidity, and “sweating” — to provide even more realistic testing conditions.

  There’s a slew of walking robots out there, but “Petman” stands out in the crowd. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s most amazing — the ‘bot’s balance or the walking motion. Just as long as the Army is really using “Petman” to test clothing, and creating a plethora of robot super soldiers. [From: Wired]

  Continue reading Creepy Two-Legged Robot Walks Like a Human

  Creepy Two-Legged Robot Walks Like a Human originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

  
   
• 

  10 Tips for 'Retrosexing' on Facebook

  JP 1:54 am on October 21, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Boston, boston phoenix, Deidre Fulton, doctor (3), facebook (302), facebook friends (28), nbsp (1,601), networking users, U.K. (35)

  Filed under: Advice, Editor’s Picks, Web, Social Networking

  

  It’s another Saturday night and you ain’t got nobody. But, wait. Here comes a friend request from that shy one you used to French kiss in the back of the bus in junior high. The former wallflower is a doctor now. A hot doctor. A single, hot doctor. You message back. Your Saturday night just got a whole lot spicier.

  As their numbers of Facebook friends climb into the upper hundreds, many social networking users are narrowing their searches to old friends and former flames who, they hope to find, have grown more enticing over time. This practice is so common that Boston Phoenix reporter Deidre Fulton has coined a term for these vintage partner refurbishers: retrosexuals. The name has caught on like thrift-shopping in a recession, and the exploits of various retrosexuals have been documented in the pages of publications like the U.K.’s Daily Mail and Time magazine.

  We’ve all looked up former heartthrobs online and wondered, what if? Well, that’s sexy and intriguing and all — but you’ll need to tread the waters carefully. We read up on the subject and spoke to several social-networking-love-nauts to find out how these retro-hookups work, where the pitfalls arise, and how best to navigate the fish-stocked sea that is Facebook. Take a look.

  Continue reading 10 Tips for ‘Retrosexing’ on Facebook

  10 Tips for ‘Retrosexing’ on Facebook originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Permalink | Email this | Comments