Web/Tech

Can A Beautiful Mind Create a Beautiful Face?
A team of scientists recently developed software that, using a carefully tested and proven understanding of facial proportion, greatly improves the attractiveness of your face without damaging your defining features or whether people will recognize that the picture is of you.

Ever seen a picture of yourself that was a little too good? You’re still you, just a tiny bit better than the real-life you. That’s what this software supposedly does.

The inventor says this technology could become a product or web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by the software.

So, if there was an “optimize portrait” button on Facebook, would a lot of people use it? Probably.

Here is a short video.

Here is a direct link to the video.

Related Articles:
December 18, 2008
Can A Beautiful Mind Create a Beautiful Face?
A team of scientists recently developed software that, using a carefully tested and proven understanding of facial proportion, greatly improves the attractiveness of your face without damaging your defining features or whether people will recognize that the picture is of you.

Ever seen a picture of yourself that was a little too good? You’re still you, just a tiny bit better than the real-life you. That’s what this software supposedly does.

The inventor says this technology could become a product or web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by the software.

So, if there was an “optimize portrait” button on Facebook, would a lot of people use it? Probably.

Here is a short video.

Here is a direct link to the video.

Related Articles:
December 18, 2008
Turn Talking Into Typing, Automatically

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 gets it right. Finally speech recognition that is surprisingly accurate, even with little or no training. Here is a 20-second video of me talking – and it typing.

I wrote about using dictation before. This is different, because it gets smarter as you use it. There are easy ways to edit results, and the program learns from each correction.

For me, I know it works because I find myself using it to create drafts of many things. And if it wasn't easier and more convenient than typing … I wouldn't use it. Instead, I often wait to create the draft at the computer with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The writing ends-up sounding more natural if the first draft was spoken.

This program has matured nicely. Earlier versions were temperamental and took a long time to train. This one worked out-of-the-box. I use it with a simple usb microphone (not even the noise-canceling headset they include). It also works with my handheld Olympus voice recorder.

Give it a try.

November 12, 2008
Turn Talking Into Typing, Automatically

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 gets it right. Finally speech recognition that is surprisingly accurate, even with little or no training. Here is a 20-second video of me talking – and it typing.

I wrote about using dictation before. This is different, because it gets smarter as you use it. There are easy ways to edit results, and the program learns from each correction.

For me, I know it works because I find myself using it to create drafts of many things. And if it wasn't easier and more convenient than typing … I wouldn't use it. Instead, I often wait to create the draft at the computer with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The writing ends-up sounding more natural if the first draft was spoken.

This program has matured nicely. Earlier versions were temperamental and took a long time to train. This one worked out-of-the-box. I use it with a simple usb microphone (not even the noise-canceling headset they include). It also works with my handheld Olympus voice recorder.

Give it a try.

November 12, 2008
“Now” Widget
I saw this and spent some time watching the items change.

It's got lots of
tickers and content that change as you watch. You just weren't aware
that you would enjoy knowing how many emails are being sent or spam
emails being received. There are also recent news updates from The New
York Times, CNN, Newsvine, top Google searches of the day, and lots
more.

Here are some tidbits from the background audio patter.
- "Welcome to Now," the computer says.
- "How about a big bowl of Now?"
- "Please keep your hands inside the moment."
- "Your hair has grown 5 millionths of centimeter in the last second."
- "It is Now in all timezones."
Very clever and well-done.

Below is a limited version. The link to the complete version is below.

Click to play with the full widget. Here is a screenshot of it – and, yes, that is me in the middle.
November 9, 2008
“Now” Widget
I saw this and spent some time watching the items change.

It's got lots of
tickers and content that change as you watch. You just weren't aware
that you would enjoy knowing how many emails are being sent or spam
emails being received. There are also recent news updates from The New
York Times, CNN, Newsvine, top Google searches of the day, and lots
more.

Here are some tidbits from the background audio patter.
- "Welcome to Now," the computer says.
- "How about a big bowl of Now?"
- "Please keep your hands inside the moment."
- "Your hair has grown 5 millionths of centimeter in the last second."
- "It is Now in all timezones."
Very clever and well-done.

Below is a limited version. The link to the complete version is below.

Click to play with the full widget. Here is a screenshot of it – and, yes, that is me in the middle.
November 9, 2008
Staying Informed and Up-To-Date
Last week I went to visit my son, Ben, at a Duke University parents weekend. This April, I will return for my 25th reunion. A lot has changed since I was in college.

One of the biggest changes I noticed was how much information the Internet puts at each person's fingertips, regardless of where they are on campus. Doing research no longer means a trip to the library. And books, magazines or newspapers are a distant second-place to online research and news items.

Staying informed is a big part of my business as well. I used to receive several newspapers daily; and my morning routine started by scanning them cover-to-cover and clipping items that might be of interest to me are someone I knew. I rarely read a newspaper anymore, except when I'm on airplanes.

Now, my daily routine uses news-feed readers and web sites to access a wide variety online content. This is a great way to sort, sift, filter, and act on relevant information.

So, this week, I want to share some of the news sites that I find useful.

News Aggregators:

These
are sites that combine news from many sources and create an updated
mash up of information it gives me a quick view into what's happening
each day.

The Basics: There are no surprises here; still Google News and Yahoo! News are so good that I have to list them anyway.

Next Generation: Some of the newer aggregation sites are quite clever. Here are a few that I really enjoy:
- NewsCred: Easily personalized to pick sources and rank by credibility.
- Topix: Comprehensive and well categorized. Has a nice look and feel. Uses RSS well.
- Newser: Nice summaries and related links. Uses pictures well, too.
- Daylife: an example of an intelligent content service platform (read: little human editing).
- Newsvine: well done; with social-sourced news flagging.
- Regator: Specialty is organizing and finding blog posts.
- Slate: A little different than the others; more editorial content.
Slate has a number of interesting features. Today's Papers summarizes current newspaper coverage. Another summarizes current magazine stories. And a third, called Today's Business Press, does just what you'd expect.

All three are quick to read and well done.

Also worth checking: Digg, Technorati, and Techmeme.
November 2, 2008
Staying Informed and Up-To-Date
Last week I went to visit my son, Ben, at a Duke University parents weekend. This April, I will return for my 25th reunion. A lot has changed since I was in college.

One of the biggest changes I noticed was how much information the Internet puts at each person's fingertips, regardless of where they are on campus. Doing research no longer means a trip to the library. And books, magazines or newspapers are a distant second-place to online research and news items.

Staying informed is a big part of my business as well. I used to receive several newspapers daily; and my morning routine started by scanning them cover-to-cover and clipping items that might be of interest to me are someone I knew. I rarely read a newspaper anymore, except when I'm on airplanes.

Now, my daily routine uses news-feed readers and web sites to access a wide variety online content. This is a great way to sort, sift, filter, and act on relevant information.

So, this week, I want to share some of the news sites that I find useful.

News Aggregators:

These
are sites that combine news from many sources and create an updated
mash up of information it gives me a quick view into what's happening
each day.

The Basics: There are no surprises here; still Google News and Yahoo! News are so good that I have to list them anyway.

Next Generation: Some of the newer aggregation sites are quite clever. Here are a few that I really enjoy:
- NewsCred: Easily personalized to pick sources and rank by credibility.
- Topix: Comprehensive and well categorized. Has a nice look and feel. Uses RSS well.
- Newser: Nice summaries and related links. Uses pictures well, too.
- Daylife: an example of an intelligent content service platform (read: little human editing).
- Newsvine: well done; with social-sourced news flagging.
- Regator: Specialty is organizing and finding blog posts.
- Slate: A little different than the others; more editorial content.
Slate has a number of interesting features. Today's Papers summarizes current newspaper coverage. Another summarizes current magazine stories. And a third, called Today's Business Press, does just what you'd expect.

All three are quick to read and well done.

Also worth checking: Digg, Technorati, and Techmeme.
November 2, 2008
Election Tools

With the election coming in less than two weeks, I wanted to share some of the election websites that I check for updated information about how the race is going.

The first website (called Five-Thirty-Eight.com) is graphically compelling, contains lots of updated information, and is done by someone whose primary job is communicating statistical information. The name comes from the number of electoral votes.

The second website (called Real Clear Politics) has a lot more news, and I like the summary showing how much of a lead each candidate has in contested states. Here's an example of that chart.

And, here is a link to the top-10 election tools on the web.

October 26, 2008
Election Tools

With the election coming in less than two weeks, I wanted to share some of the election websites that I check for updated information about how the race is going.

The first website (called Five-Thirty-Eight.com) is graphically compelling, contains lots of updated information, and is done by someone whose primary job is communicating statistical information. The name comes from the number of electoral votes.

The second website (called Real Clear Politics) has a lot more news, and I like the summary showing how much of a lead each candidate has in contested states. Here's an example of that chart.

And, here is a link to the top-10 election tools on the web.

October 26, 2008