We were driving from Cordoba to Granada in Spain back in the summer of 2009 when we spotted this field of sunflowers along the route. So we pulled over and ran amok among the gigantic sunflowers.
The sunflowers were as big as a real person’s head! All three photos taken with an Olympus E-450 with 14-42mm kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
These were some of the largest sunflowers we’d ever seen.
To show how big they were, we donned some of them with my son’s favourite cap and my wife’s shades, taking care not to damage the flowers.
Following six months of research and rigorous tests, TomTom’s Navigation Laboratory (NavLab) has discovered that Darth Vader’s navigation voice increases children’s happiness in the car by over 68%.
More than 300 baby and toddler volunteers took parts in Project GAGA, the NavLab research project to find the perfect satnav voice for families with small children.
Of course this has been TomTom’s April Fools’ joke.
But jokes aside, I used the TomTom 750 GPS last year during my self-drive family holiday in Germany with two young kids in tow.
You won’t believe how much fun the kids had listening to the various voices providing turn-by-turn navigation instructions from the portable navigation device.
We tried out Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpsons and Ken with the Australian accent.
But it was Darth Vader and Yoda which battled it out for the top favourite spot. Eventually, we decided the dark lord had just that bit of an edge over the benevolent Jedi master.
To be honest, I had initially thought the celebrity voices feature was a useless gimmick.
But after we had so much fun, we really liked it. The whole family had such a laugh on those long drives imitating the accents and nuances of those voices.
We were like going “Turn around where possible … <heavy breathing> … I sense your lack of faith disturbing,” and “Take the left turn … <heavy breathing> … and face your destiny, you are coming over … <heavy breathing> … to the dark side”.
New Zealand-based Valerie Cross of TomTom told me during her visit to Singapore that the All Blacks did a recording too for TomTom – who had truckloads of fun improvising around the provided script.
“The 10 most-watched YouTube videos of 2011 show that around the world, whatever language we speak, there are certain things that bring us all together around a computer screen or mobile phone — adorable babies, talented performers, and clever advertising.” — YouTube Trends Manager Kevin Allocca.
Globally, the most-watched YouTube community videos in 2011 are:
What are the YouTube community videos that netizens in Singaporeans love most in 2011? Yes, other than that remix of Singaporean General Election sensation Yam Ah Mee. Ryan Higa’s “Nice Guys” tops the list.
In Singapore, the most-watched YouTube community videos of 2011 were:
Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne could have been US$36 billion richer had he held on to his 10% in Apple in 1976.
In an Oct. 7 interview with Bloomberg, Wayne, 77, called Wozniak and Jobs “intellectual giants,” but “also felt it was going to be something of a roller coaster,” adding, “If I’d stayed with them, I was going to wind up the richest man in the cemetery.” Instead, he relinquished his stake 11 days after signing.
The $2,300 that he received in 1976 for the 10% stake would have become more than $36 billion today.
Warren Buffet would have hung on.
On hindsight, Wayne doesn’t seem to have any regrets.
He tells Bloomberg, “If I’d stayed with them, I was going to wind up the richest man in the cemetery.”
Read about Ronald Wayne and Apple’s founding in this Bloomberg story.
Anybody up for an iPad 2 crusted with T-Rex bone, 24-carat gold and 12.5 carats of diamonds? Better hurry cos’ it’s already 50% sold out and it’s only going for — £5,000,000!
Only two will be made by British designer Stuart Hughes, and one has already been sold to an undisclosed customer, so hurry before you miss the purchase of a life time.
Stuart is well-known for a series of ‘ultra-luxury’ gadgets, which includes the world’s most expensive phone – a £5,000,000 gold and diamond encrusted iPhone; and a £219,000 Macbook Air that’s coated with 24-carat gold 53 diamonds.
Check out the original story by Rob Waugh of Daily Mail.
It’s Halloween today. Here’s a selection of ghouly apps for the occasion.
There are apps for both BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook. All the apps can be downloaded from BlackBerry App World. Click on the screenshots to get to the app on BlackBerry App World.
Apps
Brief Description
Count Munchula (Free) smartphones only
The world-famous Screen Muncher just couldn’t resist getting dressed up for Halloween as a blood-sucking vampire named Count Munchula! “Munch” your BlackBerry screen and capture it as an image to post directly to Twitter, share through email, or save for later!
Screen Muncher lets you capture anything you see on your BlackBerry screen just like a desktop “print screen” on a PC. This funny, cute and useful app includes a very special “Count Munchula” sound effect, animation and vibrates every time you Munch a screen!
Pumpkin Slider (US$0.99) smartphones only
Pumpkin Slider is designed to lock your BlackBerry and prevent any unwanted key press. Even if your BlackBerry is unlocked by accident, Pumpkin Slider still locks your phone and you do not need to worry about the Send key or any unwanted key pressed. Pumpkin Slider automatically locks your BlackBerry when the screen dims.
Pumpkin Slider is fast to setup, easy to use and works with the Lock button on your BlackBerry.
Jack-O-Lantern (Free) smartphones only
Ever wanted your own Jack-O-Lantern but didn’t know how to carve one? This app is a virtual Jack-O-Lantern for your BlackBerry to help you celebrate the Halloween season. You can change the Jack-O-Lantern’s face by swiping from the left or right on the eyes, nose, or mouth. You can also change the colour by clicking on the screen. Happy Halloween!
Halloween Photo Editor (US$1.99) smartphones only
Halloween Photo Editor is a powerful image processing app that turns your photos into unique Halloween themed art. Very intuitive and easy to use. even beginners will quickly learn how to create impressive Halloweenish effects! Gear up for your Halloween celebration with this amazing photo app!
The app features 4 awesome Halloween filters, 16 unique Halloween themed photo frames and 11 cute clip art images.
Ghosty Party (US$1.99) smartphone/PlayBook
Vaporize as many ghosts of the same color as you can to get a high score, with cute halloween theme animations, bonuses, and sound effects. The more ghosts you tap at once, the more scores you will get. The more same color ghosts combo, the more scoresmultiply.
The game features an autosave function on exit or phone call, and the PlayBook version also has global online support to post your scores on Facebook.
Halloween Haunt (S$1.99) PlayBook only
Zombies, Ghosts, Mummies; oh my! Halloween Haunt is a 5 Reel Slot Machine that features up to 15 credits per line (up to 9 lines) – Changeable credit values ranging from 1¢, 2¢, 5¢, 10¢, and 25¢. Once the ‘High Roller Gauge’ is completely filled, you will gain access to even higher credit values; 50¢, $1, and $5. Slot machine symbols include ‘WILD’ and ‘SPIN & WIN’ symbols, which trigger the FREE SPIN feature. Earn your way to 50 trophies, purchase the 10 items in the gift shop, and work your way up to piles of cash like candy on Halloween!
Halloween Sounds (US$0.99) PlayBook only
Wanna scare theguy in the next cube out of his wits? Look no further! With Halloween Sounds you can play endless pranks on friends and enemies alike. 15 spooky sounds and Spooky Soundtrack which plays a creepy soundtrack and adds scary sounds on top of it. The perfect soundtrack for handing out treats, or great mood music for a costume party.
Overheard at a chiropractor’s session: the chiropractor was seeing more and more people for pains arising from usage of tablets.
Couldn’t help overhearing the chiropractor talking to a fellow patient in an adjacent cubicle as I was being put through the interferential electrotherapy treatment.
The guy started by commenting that many people going through their mid-life crisis are jumping into marathons without realising what it was going to do to their bodies many years downstream when they grow old – especially if they did not go through the necessary build-up training and if they’ve never gone through a marathon in their younger days before.
Then he went on to observe how he is seeing more and more people for pains and aches arising from the use of tablets. His chiropractic business has seen a pick up from the number of people coming in to see him since tablets started becoming popular.
Something about the weight of the device and having to hold/prop it up in one hand for prolonged periods of time while gesturing with the other hand. Now that more tablets are being introduced by the day and people are buying more and more tablets, this chiropractor must be laughing to the bank, going by his anecdotal correlation between the proliferation of tablets and the health of his business.
Maybe I should reconsider that marathon and think twice about that sleek tablet I’d just read about yesterday …
Yesterday, I posted the first three numbers of a number series and left the next three numbers blank. Here’s the answer to yesterday’s teaser.
The completed sequence is:
3, 7, -4, -30, -71, -127
Do the numbers seem unrelated to each other? The formula linking these numbers is: “ y = -15x2 + 53x – 32 ”
Try it, substitute x=1, 2 and 3 in the above equation and you should get the first three numbers (3, 7, -4) provided in the original question. Put x=4, 5 and 6 to get the next three numbers (-30, -71, -127) in the “sequence”.
If you plot the numbers on a graph, you’ll get a standard U-shaped curve (upside down in this instance) governed by the above quardratic equation.
How does one derive the equation from the first three numbers?
Here are the details for those maths geeks out there: (more…)
The guy started by commenting that many people going through their mid-life crisis are jumping into marathons without realising what it was going to do to their bodies many years downstream when they grow old – especially if they did not go through the necessary build-up training and if they’ve never gone through a marathon in their younger days before.
If you plot the numbers on a graph, you’ll get a standard U-shaped curve (upside down in this instance) governed by the above quardratic equation.
