Kickstarting Rusty

I totally relate to this guy:



This was a short animated movie made by a couple of animators who work in the US, and who are trying to turn Lola and Rusty into a game for the iPad (and other platforms). If you're curious, check them out on Kickstarter.

It's spring. Finally...

Everything so much brighter, sharper, in focus. It's like a haze has been lifted. As if someone has turned up the color. And it's warmer too. And although it's been a few days now, it still feels new, fresh, and full of promise. I love it. My iPad 3, that is.

Oh, and it's officially spring.

Think Different: Apple's new tablet

This is my kitchen:

The caption was Jamie's idea. The dishwasher tablet was Sam's. The Photoshop skills (or lack thereof) were mine. You can get a better view of the Apple tablet by clicking on the photo below (and zooming in).

If Apple made dishwasher tablets, they'd be dishwasher applets...

And in case you're curious: 2 13" MacBooks (unibody), 1 13" MacBook (black), 1 13" MacBook Air, 1 11" MacBook Air, 1 each of the iPad 1, 2, and 3, 2 iPhone 4s, 2 iPod Touches, 1 iPod classic, 1 iPod mini, 1 iPod nano (1st gen), and 1 iPod shuffle (1st gen). I couldn't be bothered to get the Apple TV, the Apple Airport, or the 2 Airport Expresses in there. It'd be pretty daft to put those in the dishwasher, don't you think?

I so want this...

Regular radio-controlled watches receive a radio signal transmitted from various radio transmitters dotted around the globe. There's one in the USA, one in the UK, one in Germany, and a couple in Japan. But if you're out of range, the watch can't synch to the correct time. But this watch, announced earlier this month, uses GPS to get the time and location from the same satellites used for satnav, which means that the watch knows where you are and what time zone you're in, and can set itself to the correct (atomic) time for that timezone. And there's satellites a-plenty up there... so no matter where you are, it'll find you (though probably best that you sleep outdoors in a hammock – GPS isn't so good indoors). The inset dial at 6 o'clock is for a 2nd timezone – perfect for the frequent traveller. So I guess I'll just have to start travelling again (it's 11 weeks since I was last in an airport, let alone another timezone – the longest I've gone without my regular fix in 4 years, and I'm definitely suffering withdrawal symptoms). Sadly, it's not out till October. Sadder still is that I'd need to take out a bank loan to afford it. But it'd be so worth it. Unfortunately, there's another even more serious problem – it's solar powered, which means it's going to be pretty much useless in the UK where you have more chance of catching a wild unicorn than you have of catching a ray of sunlight.

 

I'm finally a neuroscientist!

Yep. Much to the annoyance of various colleagues, I am now a bona fide neuroscientist, having been elevated to said status by none other than a publication in the Journal of Neuroscience (ok, so it's not quite published yet, but it has just been accepted. Moments ago). Better still, this is the best work of my career. But I can't take all the credit by any means. The work was, and continues to be, a collaboration with a bunch of people at the University of Pennsylvania. So it was really Nick, Emily, and Sharon who made it happen. And more than that, they made it better. Now... I'm not one to advertise my own work (and only occasionally do I advertise any one else's), but hey, other people have made careers out of promoting themselves on Facebook, so I should at least be able to promote myself on my own blog.

Hindy, N.C., Altmann, G.T.M., Kalenik, E., & Thompson-Schill, S.L. (in press). The effect of object state-changes on event processing: Do objects compete with themselves? Journal of Neuroscience. 

Of course, the three people who read this blog (myself and, at the last count, my two parents) will be dying to know what this work is about. But I already know, which means I merely have to explain it to the other 66.67% of the readership. But they love me whatever, so it doesn't really matter what the paper's about. All that matters is that it's accepted, and it's the best thing since sliced bread, my latest watch, the iPad 3, and cold fusion.