The navigation system, shown recently at SIGGRAPH‘s E-tech event, works by using a handheld device that is capable of both navigating and vibrating, sending you complex navigation cues that follow the curvature of the road or path. It gives much more detail that the usual “go straight”, that can potentially make you walk into telephone poles, or drive off a cliff, if you’re not too careful.

View the introduction video to HAPMAP here.

The device provides haptic feedback that mimics sliding handrails, and could be particularly useful for the visually impared. This system can help them sucessfully navigate winding paths, because not only does it provide right and left-turn navigation cues, it is also able to provide subtle cues for a winding route.

With motion capture cameras, the haptic feedback is controlled automatically in real-time, that enables you to navigate on the go. The HAPMAP is designed as a small, easy-to-use device and I certainly want one in my pocket when it gets released.

I’ve always felt it funny how conventional navigation systems never account for small details and only gives you the big picture. I certainly find it funny that it would tell you to go straight on a winding road, but perhaps the HAPMAP can change the way we navigate for the better. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing if the device will take on.

Originally released last year for the iOS, Viber is now finally being released for Android. The application is available for free and boosts a number of functions that makes you all the more connected with your friends and family, provided that they are also using the app.

Calls and text messages are for free, being limited only to the availability of an internet connection, it all depends on your phone’s data plan (or indeed access to a WiFi connection). Phone calls also sound much better than your regular call. The app requires no registration and even allows you the use of your existing phone number and contact list.

For text messages, there is a built-in function that allows you to reply directly to a message without opening the app. You can also view call logs in-app from non-Viber calls and you can set Viber as the default dialer for all applications.

There is also cross-platform support, which means you can make calls to your all your buddies, regardless of whatever OS their phones are running. Sounds like a sweet deal to me!

I think there’s going to be some competition with existing apps like Skype and WhatsApp, but by far Viber sounds to be the best app of its kind yet.

RD Mute is here to help with that. It’s an Android Phone app that mutes your phone when it’s turned upside down.

Basically the app works by turning the sound off your phone when you out it face down. Flip your phone over and the sound turns back on again and you can get back to whatever you were doing.

The best thing about the app? It’s absolutely free and requires no setup to use. (Rather than having to pay US$5 for Tasker, which can do the same thing, and then some)

RD Mute also has a little extra function, and though it seems unrelated to the basic function of the app, it’s still pretty cool. The app can mute your phone while you are driving, so you don’t get distracted by any incoming calls or text messages. You can pick the speed at which you want your phone to mute itself, and even send a text to your friends so when they call you they know you are driving and that you’ll call them back soon.

The text feature only applies to the driving mode though, and that’s if you’re going at 50mph or more.

It would be great if the text feature could be integrated into the regular ‘face-down-mute’ function of the phone, say if you had your phone face down for 10 or 15 minutes it could text your friends to let them know you are unavailable.

Still, RD Mute is an awesome Android app. You can get it here from the Android Market.

This amazing new material is now being developed by the researchers in Arizona State. It is said to be self-diagnosing and self-healing, which means that it can detect the presence of damage and regenerate itself.

The material uses “shape-memory” polymers; materials that turn into a specific shape when heated to a certain temperature. View the video to see and example of how this works. The polymers are embedded with a fiber-optic network, that serves as both a sensor for damage and a heat delivery system.

The way the material works is when there is damage to the material (eg a tear or crack), an infrared laser transmits light through the fiber-optic network and delivers thermal energy to the problem spot. That triggers the shape-memory polymers, which are programmed to toughen up to 11 times. The shape-memory effect can also close up a crack or tear and regain an amazing 96% of the material’s original strength! The most amazing thing is that the material can self-heal while in use!

Just think of the applications such a material could be put to, such as implantable medical devices, especially if failure of such devices may mean certain death.

This time, the augmentation is not on the visual, but on your taste buds.

At SFC Open Research Forum 2010, Keio University’s Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory revealed the TagCandy, a food texture augmentation system.

How it works is just through a basic speaker system that subtly vibrates to create different textural sensations in your mouth. Just stick a lollipop into the device and suck on it, to be able to experience the different textures or ‘flavours’, such as fizzy soda, crisp sensations. This is where the augmented reality concept comes up, with some unorthodox ‘flavours’, such as fireworks and an airplane, which are flavours that don’t exist in real life.

The device took home two awards at the 2010 International Student Virtual Reality Contest. Users of the device at the say that the fizzy soda sensation is very realistic, and that the fireworks textures were fun.

Check out the presentation video of the device here.

I think this is a very interesting device. I can imagine the various uses for it, such as enhancing redily available candy flavours or applying dynamic texture to normal flavours (carbonated meat, anyone?). I’d love to try that fireworks one.

This new program is able to scan a person’s face and then searches the web for all the photographs of that person.

The software, developed by Israel-based Face.com, is thought to be accurate 90% of the time and is already in use by some 5000 developers, although they have not disclosed their reasons of use for this software.

The way the program works is by scanning the position of a person’s eyes, nose and mouth and selects images based on those features in the same position. This software basically allows you to search for anyone, anywhere on the web, through any photo, including Flickr images and YouTube videos.

Up until now, similar software has only been available to government organisations (such as the border patrol) or those developing social networks.

Personally, while I do see this as an advancement (i.e. making photo tagging on Facebook that much easier), I also see it making people very uneasy, as some may see this as a gross invasion of privacy.

What do you think? Should there be laws set up about this kind of thing, or is it up to the onus of the users?

How to locate explorer.exe

"Do you want to end explorer.exe?"

How To Kill Windows Explorer (Windows 7/Vista/XP):
Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc (-Ctrl-Alt-Del no longer brings up the Task Manager in Windows 7, it brings up an interim screen) to bring up the Task Manager and click on the Processes tab, then find all instances of explorer.exe and press “End Process” to kill them.
After killing Windows Explorer, you will notice that the taskbar has disappeared, and you will no longer have any access to the Start Menu. The only access you have is the Task Manager itself.

Note: If after you kill Windows Explorer, you get something like “Dr Watson (Not Responding)”, kill it as well.

Press "Enter" to restart explorer.exe

How To Restart Windows Explorer (Windows 7/Vista/XP):
Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc (/Ctrl-Alt-Del) to bring up the Windows Task Manager, then from the menu, click on File > New Task (Run …), type in “explorer” and the Windows taskbar should regenerate itself before your eyes. You will now have Start Menu access and everything is back to normal.

Homework:

You can easily practise this now by following the steps above to kill Windows Explorer, then restart it again. As a precaution, save your work before doing this but generally Windows is more resilient to explorer crashes these days compared to the days of Windows 95, so the crash itself should not take down other running applications.

Disclaimer: In a less than perfect Windows installation, killing Windows Explorer may cause system instability, and causes other applications to crash. So, try this on your system if you have a stable system that you have confidence in. You are on your own in this, be warned.

Read the disclaimer above, cross your fingers, and do this at least once as HOMEWORK, so that you can remember how to apply this when the real thing happens. Repeat as many times as necessary – especially if you are a slow learner.

The official music for this article is here, courtesy of The Rolling Stones. No, I am not really a big fan but strangely this great proggie by the name of Taskbar Shuffle reminds me of this long forgotten song. So turn up the volume and let Mick Jagger and gang take you back to a point in time when TVs rule and the internet was unheard of, while you read this short review.

Taskbar Shuffle v2.5
Type: Freeware
OS: Windows Vista/XP/2000/NT/9x
Note: Not for Windows 7, as taskbar shuffling is already a feature.
Homepage: http://nerdcave.webs.com/
Download: http://nerdcave.webs.com/
Size: 505KB (taskbar_shuffle_2.5.zip, portable version)

This program has 2 functions actually – shuffle the taskbar and rearrange the icons in the system tray.
The portable (non-installer) version’s  zipped file is just 505KB, so it gets extra points for being small.

Do The Taskbar Shuffle: “You move it to the right, yeah!”
If you’re on Windows XP or Vista (Why?), and you are jealous of Ubuntu users who can switch programs on the taskbar at will while yours are stuck into place like a nail in the wood, then you should really have a look at this nifty thingie.
I’d been using it for a while now and it does its job well, doesn’t crash, doesn’t use much resources and doesn’t need a system tray icon to announce itself. All the signs of a very well written program.

It’s especially useful after a Windows Explorer crash when you notice that programs aren’t in the sequence you opened them. Don’t you just hate that? At least, I do. Which is why I got hold of this thing – to have it enforce a pecking order in my taskbar and make Windows Explorer crashes tolerable.

And it also makes my Windows XP a bit like Windows 7.

How to use it? Easy!
You click and hold the mouse button on the program you want to move in the taskbar, and then you move it to the left or right as Mick Jagger sang in the song. That’s why we have his song playing in the background.

Pros:
-It has non-installer version, ie it’s portable! (One extra Kong for this!)
-It is tiny
-It can also rearrange icons in your system tray (which I’d just notice, while writing this!)

Cons:
-It does not auto play Harlem Shuffle in the background.

Final Score:

Rating: 4.5 Little Kongs

NetBalancer allows you to prioritize how bandwidth should be distributed among applications. You specify whether you want to give an application Low, Normal, or High priority and set a Limit for them, if necessary.

The Free version allows you to set rules for up to 5 different applications, which is usually more than enough. For my case, it’s managing my Browser, Bit Torrent speed and a few of my online games (which naturally gets High to ensure absolutely minimum lag when playing).

Although not very powerful compared to other solutions, its a very simple, and most importantly FREE, way to set up your computer so that downloading doesn’t choke other applications on your computer.

However the limitation is that this app only works on the computer it’s installed in. It does absolutely nothing for other computers on the network. For those facing problems with bandwidth hogging housemates, you will need to look into router-level QoS settings, which is a whole different beast alltogether.

If you have 5 minutes, download the app now, set up a few rules and you won’t have to bother about having to pause downloads if you want to stream video or music ever again.