The three bots go by the names Scooba Stevens, Chief Miles O'Brien, and ITSN Unger, referencing Big Daddy, Star Trek and The Odd Couple, respectively.
Very cute, but little do we know, DARPA charges us like $250,000 after slapping on a US flag sticker. [MilitaryTimes via BotJunkie]
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Google Listen is a free download for Android phones, available in the Market. If you've found a better podcast client on Android, tell us about it in the comments.
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SelfImage is an open-source tool for creating disk images. Not only can you create a simple disk image of an inactive partition but you can also create images of partitions in active use and even partitions not recognized by Windows. This allows you to use SelfImage to not only backup your Windows partition from Windows but also to create images of partitions that Windows doesn't normally recognize like a Linux and Mac OS X partition on a multi-boot system.
SelfImage is open-source, Windows only. Thanks Mike-RaWare!
Have a tip or trick you want to share with the world? Add the #tips hash tag to any Lifehacker comment you make and it will be added to our Tips pool.
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I just returned from the Microsoft campus (well, I stopped for a panini), where students from Carnegie Mellon University are showing off their awesome project, a version of D&D that runs on the Surface. Now, before you start rolling your eyes, just recognize that this isn’t just a holy grail for tabletop gaming nerds. I mean, it’s that too, but really it’s a proof of concept that shows how fun and intuitive something like this can be, and how accessible a team can make it. I honestly think that if they had these things scattered around like Golden Tee cabinets, they’d get a huge following.
The build we played with was last semester’s (it’s a student project, not a professional development), and since then there’s been a lot of bug-squashing and feature-adding, but the newest build isn’t playable. So they’ve got a short little scenario where we went from a zoomable map screen to a town where we… spotted some orcs! Roll for initiative!
Combat was straightforward, and they noted that a lot of that is being beefed up in the new version. Lots more moves, better dice, and so on. Of course there’s work to be done, but it seems really promising, and remember this is a project put together by a handful of students. They have some stated goals, but with some of the students graduating, the future of the project is uncertain (but not dire). I’m guessing Wizards of the Coast is going to pay through the nose for it — I’m sure they see what it could be with a budget and an extra couple devs working on it.
Now the take-away point here isn’t really “wow, you can play D&D on a touchscreen!” No — that’s very cool, but the point is that this kind of collaborative, intuitive gaming is something I can easily see in bars, lounges, and even schools all over the place. It doesn’t have to be D&D, though the game does lend itself to the medium well. The Surface lends itself to social activities around a table, and you could even connect multiple Surfaces over the net. This game is really just one of the first robust apps to take advantage of this in a cool, nerdy way, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more stuff like this.
Unfortunately, the cost (and bulk) of Surface units kind of limits the places to which they can be deployed. We know they’re going to have a cheaper, flatter version at some point, and it might be hard for something like this to hit critical mass before that happens.
Reactions to Google’s new social networking tool, Buzz, appear to be divided between those who think it will topple Facebook and those who have already discounted it.
If you still haven’t made up your mind yet about Buzz, here are some useful tips for customizing and automating the service so that it can work with your other social networks. We’ll also look at some ways to share messages and links via Buzz with specific groups, which could make it a useful tool for the workplace.
Even though Google Buzz works inside your Gmail account, your Google Profile also plays a role in managing the information you share on Buzz. What’s that? You didn’t know you had a Google Profile? Well, if you use any kind of Google account then chances are that you already have one.
To see if you do and what it looks like, go to the Google Profile page and click the “View Profile” button to log in. If you already have a profile, then you can customize it via the “Edit Profile” option. You can add many of your other social networks and RSS feeds. Notice the “Buzz” tab. Also, you can actually edit the URL for your Google Profile and create a vanity URL; mine is http://www.google.com/profiles/ThePaisano. Just bear in mind that you can only do this one time. Simon provided some more information on Google Profile here.
If you use Google Reader then whatever you share there shows up in your Google Buzz stream. It’s all done via the ”Shared items” feature. Look for it under “Your stuff” in Google Reader.
You can share anything you’re viewing in Google Reader by clicking the “Share” button at the bottom of every post you’re reading. (Click “Unshare” to stop sharing it)
You can set privacy controls and only allow specified groups of people to view the items you share. This could be important for those of you that are using Buzz for work.
You can manage your groups via Gmail’s Contacts. Note that selecting the “Public” option means just that: Everyone is be able to see everything you share via Google Reader and Buzz.
You can access Buzz via some new browser add-ons and extensions:
Buzz It! is a Firefox add-on that allows you to share anything you’re viewing by adding a button to your Firefox toolbar that launches the Google Reader sharing window. The install process is a little convoluted, and I don’t like the way it opens new tabs instead of using pop-up windows.
The Chrome Buzz extension for Chrome is good if you just want to view what’s happening in your Buzz stream. It does not provide any ways to share items or even post messages there.
By far, my favorite way to share items on Buzz is through Google Reader’s Shared Items “Note in Reader” bookmarklet. To set it up, just go to Google Reader, click on “Shared Items” and drag the “Note in Reader” button (located on the far right-hand side) to your browser’s bookmarks toolbar. I’ve tested this in Firefox and Chrome and it works really well.
Whenever you’re reading something online and want to share it, just click the “Note in Reader” button. A window pops up with all of the details filled out; you can also add a note. Make sure the “Add to shared items” checkbox is selected, hit “Post Item” and the page is shared via your Buzz account.
If you’re sharing links via Buzz you’ll probably want to share them with your Twitter followers, too. You can do that in a few different ways.
Twitterfeed lets send anything you share on Google Reader to your Twitter account. Just go to your Google Reader Shared Items page, copy the Atom feed and paste it into Twitterfeed. Then just authorize your Twitter account to sync them up.
Facebook’s FriendFeed can also connect Google Reader to Twitter very easily. Just click “add/edit” on your Friendfeed profile and look for the Google Reader service under “News.”
Reader2Twitter is my favorite method of synchronizing Google Reader/Buzz with Twitter because it uses the pubsubhubbub protocol to perform real-time sync. A new version has already been released that works specifically with Google Buzz. Just sign in here with your Twitter account via Oauth. You can even add your bit.ly account so you can shorten URLs and track analytics. All in all, it’s a simple but powerful little tool.
Share your favorite Buzz tips below.
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