Dutch debate via Twitter

Twitter is still a big uprising power on the internet, and many politicians are seeing the power of this tool. On Wednesday 2nd of June at 20:00, many Dutch politicians (Femke Halsema, Boris van der Ham, Alexander Pechtold, Maxime Verhagen, Jan Kees de Jager, Mei Li Vos, André Rouvoet, Mariëtte Hamer and many more) are going to debate via Twitter.
The debate organized by RTL (a Dutch channel) and is led by parliamentary reporter Frits Wester. Politicians and voters will debate on key issues ahead of the elections on June 9th.

Another Dutch channel NOS has opened a special Youtube account were people can upload their questions.

These are excellent examples of the usage of modern communication tools, in order to inform people and letting them actively participate. It will be interesting to see if the target group is actively being reached.

iNotePad

Although the success of the iPad is hard to match manufacturers are developing new devices to compete with this device.
A new competitor for the iPad is called the iNotePad.
It is widely compatible with pen, pencil, even crayon.

Just like the movies!

Top: Arnold Schwarzernegger as the T-800

Bottom: Claudia Mitchell with her prosthetic arm

Have you ever seen Terminator 2? The answer to this question is most likely yes. In this awesome movie, I won't go into detail but there were two different sides to the story. The first side was based around the question: what if we could use technology to help us. The second side was based around the question: was what if the technology turns against us. In this blog I will explore some of the possibilities of helping technology.

Many of the brave soldiers who return from active duty, return with severe injuries such as the loss of a limb. DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is doing active research for these soldiers who lost their arms or legs. I recently saw video footage on YouTube from Claudia Mitchell and I got more interested in this technology, because this is the future of prosthetic limbs. To be able to use a prosthetic limb such as hers, surgery is required. During this surgery they reconnect the nerves which are left over and still intact, with muscles and skin. This method is developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at Northwestern University and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Dr. Gregory Dumanianat Northwestern University Division of Plastic Surgery and is called targeted muscle reinnervation. Once the operation is successful, a special prosthetic is being build, which can connect to these newly replaced muscle endings. And after a lot of training, people are able to do everyday chores.

So how can technology help us?
This is possible because new technologies are enabling us humans to create and invent new things. Which lead to producing smaller components so these prosthetics are getting more lifelike both visually and functionally.

Below I posted the video.


A quick overview of the prosthetic arm.


Links:
The movie contains a scene in which the T-800 (Arnold Schwarezenegger) shows his robotic arm. (warning, not for small children!)Watch the clip here.
DARPA's prosthetic challenge nets first prototype
Cutting Edge Prosthetic Arms
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
More about DARPA
Report from Washington Post
Story in telegraph.co.uk
Special from CNN
ABC news report
Claudia Mitchell, Bionic Hero
Targeted reinnervation

UPDATE
Just a YouTube clip

Media players

For some time now, the electronic manufacturers have been releasing different kinds of media players. This blog post explains why they are so popular what people are looking for in media players and the future of these devices.

What is a media player?
A media player is a device which enables you to play digital content from various sources like hard disks, flash drives, a local network (LAN) or the internet on your television screen without the use of a computer. To be able to play your media files, it is important that the device supports the right codecs.

Popular or not?
Media players are very popular, that's why manufacturers are smothering the consumers with various kinds of media players. Which brings a lot of difficult choices and many differences between the devices. Should you buy one with a network connection or maybe one with Wifi, can it handle media all media files like .mkv files for full 1080p movies, is the manufacturer posting new firmwares regularly, does it accept NTFS formatted devices, is the user interface nice, what are the other possibilities with the device etc. Not only the names and functions differ, also the quality of the devices.

Are the manufacturers encouraging to download movies?
The answer is short and simple; YES! Definitely no questions about that.
The real question is not if they are silently promoting this, but what can they do to prevent this. (leave a comment with your thoughts on this). However, many manufacturers are integrating digital services like Netflix and Youtube, to expand the media possibilities of their device.

Which is the best media player?
One of the best selling media players is the Popcorn Hour, because of the many possibilities this device has to offer. The device supports .torrent files, the ability for an internal hard disk and supports almost all possible media formats. However there are other devices which are very good, one could look for the media players from Asus or Western Digital. But still my advice would be: look for a device which meets your wishes and look it up on the internet for user feedback and reviews.

Are established brands controlling the market?
Well, this question has a mixed answer, the famous brands of media players are good for a reason, however it is important that the device meet's your requirements. The brands of famous electronic manufacturers, then no brands do not stand for quality every time.
Recently Sony has entered this segment with their SMP-U10. Was it a smart move, definitely not! Where to begin? The interface is bad, people are not waiting on a simplistic device. It doesn't support NTFS formatted devices and the support for HD content (which is crucial in this day and age) is leaving a unsatisfied feeling.

So let me know which media player you own and how satisfied you are with the device.

YouTube TV alternative?

This month YouTube exists for 5 years, Congratulations! Because the number of YouTube users is still rising, it is interesting to know why. The answer is quite simple, the content of YouTube is changing rapidly. In the beginning people uploaded funny video's and home video's to share with others. After a while people realized that it could also be used for more than that and people started to make video's just for YouTube.
I thought it would be interesting to see which direction modern day television is going as it is being integrated with online content. To produce a TV show the first thing you need is a television station that wants to air the show and a lot of money to produce the show.
However to produce content on the internet you just need a camera or webcam, it's as simple as that. There are different types of content which are produced in a professional way, some are part of a series like Riese and I Heart Vampires, others are more like short comedic sketches like produced by the station and take180.
So are people changing their ideas about television and turning more towards the internet? Yes, many television shows are losing viewers due to the fact that there is little innovation and little user input. On the other hand, internet has a big user input. People adapt to satisfy the users needs and users can leave a comment on which the channel can choose to reply or ignore.
The integration of internet in the TV is becoming a reality Philips introduced it to the big market with their Philips NetTV and recently Sony made a deal with Google to integrate Google's services in the new televisions. This means that the internet is being integrated into your living room. Which leads to a new type of medium were television and internet are combined.
An example of a YouTube clip which could never be seen on television.