Saintel's Daily
The thing is.. Wait did we really start this off with the thing is? Alright this blog will be about all things new and intense. I will cover everything from Technology, Video Games, Movies, Music and Sports. Thank you for reading.
TianTai County ChiCheng 2nd Primary School’s Epic Design
4 hours ago
by Rubens Saintel
in Technology
In my day tracks were outside in the back of the school. Then again, back in my day we didn’t have wi-fi everywhere either. Things have changed a whole lot. We have cars that can park and drive themselves. Some even have built in wifi. Things that were once impossible are now the norm. However a track on the roof of a school is something I sure never ever thought of. I don’t think anyone in the states has either. The folks at LYCS put the track field on the roof, not only because it saves space and reduces the project’s overall footprint, but it also provides children an great environment.
The four level school is organized around a hollow nucleus where further activities take place and windows cut out of the outer envelope infuse the classrooms and offices with plenty of natural light. Whilst we have some concern about the levels of pollution in Tian Tai county, (we hope it’s not as bad as Beijing) this model design promotes learning and cultivation of all aspects of life – the arts, sports, culture, tradition and ethics.
The project for the TianTai County ChiCheng Second Primary School is one of the most unique designs I’ve ever seen. The design focuses on great architecture and mixed with real function. Lifting the running track gave the school 4 floors instead of 5.
Send to KindleNew York keeps it real: New Drivers’ licenses hard to fake
11 hours ago
Forget Holograms, water marks and big bold words stating that someone is “UNDER 21.” New York doing things it’s own way. Starting in July, they will be rolling out a very retro license. Residents of the state will be getting hard polycarbonate cards with black and white photos. No more color pictures. Officials in New York say that this new design license will be able to stop sophisticated counterfeit market. J. David Sampson executive deputy commissioner of the State Department of Motor Vehicles said “We see the New York driver’s license as the first line of defense.”
There are features that will make the licenses virtually impossible to forge. So say officials. The new licenses are laser engraved on rigid polycarbonate. That means it will not be easily altered or fabricated. The new cards are so stiff that they sound like a CD when dropped. The elements of the new license are fused together into what the department calls “a solid, monolithic structure that cannot be separated into layers and tampered with.”
New York promises the license will have the most counterfeit and tamper-resistant document technologically available” with some 30 security features, including embedded fine lines, variable patterns, micro-lettering. The licenses would cost almost $1 more per license to produce and print. The department said that cost would not be passed on to drivers. It also said the waiting time for new licenses would not change.
Send to Kindle1st look at iPhone 6: Sort of
1 month ago
We know that Apple has a U.S. Patent showing that it has been working on an iPhone with flexible wraparound display. The people at the great tech magazine T3 have created a 3D rendering of such an iPhone. The rendering is complete with specs. The flexible wraparound display has 1615×1800 resolution. There is no Home button. In fact all but the power button appears to have a virtual.
Click below to see what iPhone 6 could look like:
Send to KindleXbox 360 is the best-selling system in the for the 27th consecutive month
1 month ago
Microsoft’s gaming console has remained the best-selling system in the United States for the 27th consecutive month, according to new data from NPD Group. The Xbox 360 sold 261,000 units in the U.S. in March, beating out Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii U. As a whole, physical sales were down 10% year-over-year from $1.1 billion in March 2012 to $992.5 million in March 2013. Software sales remained almost flat at $554.8 million, only inching down just 1% from a year ago. The steepest decline came from hardware sales, which dropped a whopping 32% to $221.6 million. Portable consoles are said to have experienced a “stronger decline” than traditional ones, however sales of the Nintendo 3DS grew an estimated 9% year-over-year.
Send to KindleVerizon Messages is not just another iMessage or WhatsApp clone
2 months ago
Does iMessage and WhatsApp have competition? Verizon has a new cross-platform text messaging app for Android and iOS devices. Is this news to you? Well this is the 4th update to the app. The application is similar to Google Voice as it lets you send and receive a text message from a PC, smartphone or tablet. The thing that might give you reservations is the text are stored on Verizon’s cloud for up to 90 days. Unlike services from WhatsApp and iMessage, the application uses a smartphone’s phone number instead of a username. Although Verizon Messages has a leg up on other text messaging apps; it is still not better than Google Voice. You can get the same features from Google Voice and a host of other text apps out there but if you’re on Verizon Wireless and want to give it a try, Verizon’s Messages application is available now in Google Play and the iOS App Store. Check out the cheerful demo below.
Send to KindleNew York City gets new payphones… Wait payphones?
2 months ago
While Apple and Samsung fight over your heart. New York City is taking another route. The city is reinventing the Payphone. They held a contest for the design that would be used. The new design is a sleeker that not only looks good but changes the way people expect to use a payphone. The winner of the contest was NYFi. The NYFi is more than a payphone it is an interactive portal. You can get directions, pay for parking, buy services. Also as a bonus each NYFi has a built in a hub for free wireless internet access to the public.
There will be two models of the NYFi. One that is the size of a directory in the mall. That one is 10 feet tall and will be used in commercial districts. There will also be a smaller model for districts where payphones usually not permitted. Both models however will feature multiple interfaces that are touch screen. A simple to use touch interactive screen and when not in use, people will see interactive advertising.
The NYFi will use open source software to run. While I think that is a great idea and will foster growth in development of new interactive programs for the payphone. It can also lead to many hacker attacks, since by nature it is open source. That said NYFi promises to take advantage of apps already on the market. NYFi will replace a whole host of kiosks from bus ticket machines, MetroCard machines, bicycle share stations. I am sure it will also do a great job at replacing what it was designed to do in the first place, payphones.
Send to KindleAutomatic lets your car tell you whats going on with it
2 months ago
There is an app for that is not only a fun catch phrase. Noticeably apps are more and more being paired with tangible real world products. One such case is with an app called. Automatic. The app and product is are a new car accessory kit. They connect to your car so that you can understand what is going on with you beloved technical. The accessory plugs into your car’s service part.
What you may not know is every car in the US since 1996 comes with this service port. The official name is OBD or on-board diagnostics. The OBD gives you information the car’s speed, gas and detailed error reports. So, if this information gets sent from the port to the Automatic adapter which intern sends the info to the app on your iPhone. The information can help you save money on gas as well as find out what that “check engine light” means. Not only that but what a solution is to fix the issue and information about good mechanics nearby.
The app Automatic beeps when it detects rough braking, speeding or rapid acceleration. These are all things that kill your gas. At the end of the week the app gives you a driving score. If you are competitive this part could motivate you to get better scores and in doing so save gas/money. A very OnStar type safety feature of the app is it’s ability to send out a free crash alert to emergency services with your name, location, and vehicle description. Automatic Link costs $69.95 and the company has started taking pre-orders today and expected to ship it in May. Get it before it sells out.
Send to KindleHacker Brings Harlem Shake To Your iPhone SpringBoard
In the this is getting out of hand field. The Harlem Shake has made it to the iPhone jailbreak community. Filippo Bigarella, developer behind Springtomize2 has manged to bring the meme to the SpringBaord of your jailbroken phone.
Send to KindleGalaxy S IV may be the iPhone killer you have been waiting for
2 months ago
The Samsung Galaxy S IV will be my next smartphone. As a long time iPhone user that is hard for me to say but Apple has not been innovative as of late. The new features they claim to have are ripped off hard working developers on Cydia. Samsung continues to do new things with their phone that Apple has yet to even think about. The GS4 (Galaxy S IV) will have two very cool features when it comes out. The first is called “Smart Scroll,” which will allow users to scroll through screens on the device’s display automatically as their eyes near the bottom of the screen. Not sure how much battery this will take to work right. Just think if Siri was always on all the time. The other new feature which actually sounds cool is called “Smart Pause,” which pauses any multimedia playing on the device when the user’s head turns away.
GSM Israel was the first to published screenshots from the U.S. version of Samsung’s Galaxy S IV. Samsung’s Galaxy S IV will be unveiled during a press conference next Thursday in Time Square New York City. The GS4 will have a 5-inch full HD Super AMOLED display, an eight-core 1.8GHz processor, up to 64GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera and Android Jelly Bean. I for one can not wait to get my hands on it.
Send to KindleApp Review: PressReader
2 months ago
PressReader is one of the few apps out there that go above and beyond what is advertised. The app has most major publications from around the world.
Press reader is on on almost every mobile format from Android to iPhone and more. PressReader means you can have all your publications with no compromises in quality. The large screen of a tablet like the iPad works best if you want to read the paper. If you are on the go in the morning like me, I suggest that you use the iPhone. I use the app like a podcast. Every morning on the drive or metro to work. It reads me USA Today. Before I was only able to fit sections into my day. Now I can hear the who thing read. PressReader has auto-delivery of newspaper and magazine subscriptions. With over 2,300 newspapers and magazines from 97 countries in 55 languages, you will find something to read.
Pro: 2,300 newspapers and magazines from 97 countries in 55 languages. PressReader is the best app of its kind.
Con: You need internet connection for PressReader to read you the publications. It would be helpful for those that ride to metro or subway to not have to steam content.
Cost: Free to play up to $29.95 to commit.
Aye/Nay: This is a Aye. This is a slick easy to use program that has mountains of content. $0 to start, it’s worth it.
iTunes Link: PressReader
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