The Humanitarian Innovation Fund has publicized a full £150,000 large grant opportunity, intended for supporting individuals and organizations to recognize, nurture and share innovative solutions in regards to humanitarian aid. More specifically, they are looking to invest to conquer the many challenges faced by operational groups in the delivery of effective humanitarian aid.
The HIF Large Grant facility will give the money with an aim to support the development, execution and testing periods of an innovation, with an implantation period of up to 18 months (typically Stages 3 & 4).
Funding will be specified to an idea that is at any of the 5 stages of innovation, which will contribute to the advancement of relevance, appropriateness, coverage, efficiency and / or effectiveness of humanitarian aid relative to existing practices.
For more information on the subject please visit this article, or the HIF website for specific details.
I’ll be working with The Humanitarian Forum (http://www.humanitarianforum.org) to manage a…well, that’d be telling, but needless to say it’ll be amazingly fun.
So for the next month I’ll be trotting off to Notting Hill/Kensington/Posh Places and being a rather charitable bloke. Social Media Internship? Don’t mind if I do
A couple of days ago during a panel presentation at Comic-Con….an amazing thing happened.
Xbox and LucasArts unveiled the first custom Xbox 360 console with Kinect featuring a limited edition Star Wars theme. Inspired by the beloved duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, the console looks absolutely impeccable:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/5959694331/in/set-72157627120836723
Typically, the site doesn’t allow liked images, but the link shows many pictures of this geeky beast. If I didn’t need to sell some stuff to afford rent, I’d buy it in an instant. AN INSTANT.
The bundle includes:
- Kinect Star Wars game
- Custom R2-D2-themed Xbox 360 Console with custom sounds
- White Kinect Sensor
- Custom C-3PO-themed Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
- 320 GB Hard Drive
- Xbox 360 Wired Headset
- Kinect Adventures game
- Exclusive downloadable content
In a word: Wow
Not only does this new TV contain all the internet programs that you’ll probably never need (Skype on your TV?), but Samsung have pulled out all the stops for the parts that are really important; the visual and auditory ooze that manifests into your eyes and ears.
For Samsung, a company famed for their ‘…yeah it’s pretty good’ level of electronics, this TV is no exception. With a 25,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and probably the thinnest TV of it’s kind (as they’ve removed many of the ports available), you can’t deny that they’ve done it again. Without the various ports, adaptors are used for any external devices you may want to use. It looks amateurish to a degree, but it’s a problem that is quickly forgotten when you see the beautiful chrome frame hanging from your wall.
Two pairs of standard 3D glasses (3100 model) are included with the box, but it’s the remote controller that makes this special. On one side is a typically typical remote, but flip it round and you see a full QWERTY keyboard AND visual display (for when you’re typing web addresses, for instance). An optical mouse button is also included, which is surprisingly adept.
The fully internet enabled TV allows you to browse Facebook, or Twitter while watching TV (by using the tried and tested windows display) and includes many different apps that you can fill up your home screen with. This is definitely the future of TVs, and on the massive 51″ screen it looks absolutely stunning.
And more importantly, if you own a Galaxy Tab, you can use it as a remote too, for when the inevitable ‘Where’s the remote!’ situation develops…
However, there is one aspect that could be improved. The sound is dampened far too much, and even on the highest volume setting you could still do with cranking it up to 11. So speakers are recommended.
Apart from that though, it’s a fine machine, and if you can afford it I would most definitely buy this TV. I mean, it’s Samsung; when do they ever make a shoddy piece of equipment?
A Creative Writing internship for BLC Property, which means I’ll be writing all the copy for the company, as well updating the blog everyday and no doubt will dabble in some social media.
Very excited about it, even if it’s unpaid for a few months. If anything, it’s good to get out of the house for a while. When sleep breaks up the monotonous routines of life, you know you need a change…
With a high chance of staying on afterwards in a paid position, and a mere 3 days after graduation, who am I to complain?
Start on Monday, and can’t wait!
Like I take my women:
Hot, Black and melts easily in boiling water
Wait, what?
It’s a geek’s heaven.
Powered by a turbine engine from a decommissioned military helicopter, Casey Putsch has given us a car that we would all sell our mothers for: a fully working (barring sound effects), awesome Batmobile.
Pictures found on their website: http://www.kbiii.com/putschracing/?p=50
Engorgio
On myself
If you get what I mean
While reporting last week that Apple has hit its 15 billionth download, it has come to our attention that Blackberry has completed their own landmark.
In just over 2 years, the company has finally finished their 1 billionth download, which in today’s world is a relatively slow time span. While it is true that the Android Market took a similar time, the market has now soared in popularity. The same can’t be said for Blackberry, however.
A world of possibilities indeed…as long as you can handle it being very slow
Using a combination of old school computer graphics and modern augmented reality, Niklas Roy has created a new computer program that is hard to stop playing.
Without the use of any paddles, score or ultimate goal, many would call this nothing but a quick tech demo to show what can be done with old broken pieces of our childhood. He describes the game as a sort of sandbox, like GTA, but at the same time being nothing like it.
PING! Augmented Pixel takes a single live video feed, shot using a simple video recorder, and a video/audio out connected to any television. And that’s all you need. Everyone knows that the 70s was the best decade to be around in, and this technology wouldn’t look out of place then.
Take a look for yourself: http://youtu.be/eeuaqSEIiTY
We forget what Gmail used to be like. Super secretive, invite only; an elite membership of geeks who laughed at those unfortunate enough to still be using their hotmail, or even worse AOL, account.
Now of course it’s all different; with the opening of Gmail, the email service is quickly eating up the competition and has become one of the most popular services available. Much like the rest of Google’s platforms, it is utterly dominant.
And that dominance breeds necessity, at least in the eyes of the big G. So here comes the ultimate geek accessory: a fully functional, Gmail only, keyboard.
Powered by a plug-in USB, the Gboard contains 19 buttons that will quicken up any activity that you have to do in Gmail. With functions including multiple message starring, trashing and archiving, as well as mass replying, the Gboard can do everything you ever imagined a keyboard could do.
Only on sale in the States for the time being, and costing $12.99 on ThinkGeek, this is only for the die-hards at the minute. But who knows what the future may hold for Gmail…
Apple news just keeps on flooding in it seems, as they’ve announced their 15 billionth download on their infamous App Store.
Since opening in July 2008, the immensely successful store has hit 425,000 apps, garnering Apple a staggering $2.5bn. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, wrote today in a press release : “Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads.”
With an average of 75 apps being downloaded per iPhone, iPad and iPod, the App Store is clearly one that is used often. And as Apple get a 30% cut on EACH app sold, the figures really do add up.
Even though Apple have lost their injunction bid against Amazon this week, it is evident that the service has been a major cash cow, and one that will no doubt continue to raise the bar of app-related services for a while yet.
Link to article: http://gadgetcore.co.uk/blog/2011/07/07/apples-app-store-reaches-15-billion-downloads/
The latest pocket camera has been released by Samsung, and it is neither shocking, nor a drip. But not for the reasons you’re probably thinking of. The w200 camcorder, capable of recording 720 AND 1080p at 30fps, is both shock resistant and waterproof, giving users an oppurtunity to record their favourite moments in any condition.
Priced at around £120-£140, it’s an affordable bit of kit that is suitable for recording in harsh conditions; playing sports, at the beach, freefalling, canoeing, wrestling…and deep sea diving (up to 3m). The list is pretty much endless.
The camera is 5mp and weighs a measly 140g, making sure that it records high quality video wherever you are.
With an integrated USB stick, HDMI and microSD port (behind a snug little compartment), this lightweight camera will never fail you on the reliability aspect of recording. But then again, that’s Samsung for you.
Link to article: http://gadgetcore.co.uk/blog/2011/07/07/samsung-w200-hd-recorder/
