GeekSugar

Google's New Virtual Reality Site Launches . . . In Real Life

GeekSugar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:30:04 -0700

Since Second Life is so five years ago, you can either stay with the same 'ole, same 'ole, or jump ship and live out your virtual reality dreams in some new digs brought to you by Google. Lively, the new VR world lets you create avatars, design and customize your "chat" rooms, and invite other users to visit, helping you make new friends to hang out with. . . virtually.

But what's different about Lively than other virtual reality sites like Second Life, is you aren't stuck on one website to roam around in. You can enter Lively from sites like Facebook (which is already up and running), other social networking sites, and blogs. Still in beta, Lively is free, but only available to Windows users running IE and Firefox. Hopefully, the Mac fans will be able to invade your virtual world soon!

New App Lets You See the World in a Whole New Way

GeekSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:33:23 -0700

Obviously, I'm all about apps. Apps that help me take better photos, look better, and even find a cab in New York (it's possible). So if I had an app that turned my phone into a virtual Looking Glass - that let me see anything from apartments for rent to how high a building is just by holding up my phone to the horizon - I'd be all over it. I'm sure you will share my enthusiasm when I tell you that this type of technology is totally within our reach with an app called Layar.

Layar allows you to see things like apartment rentals, ratings on restaurants, available jobs, and where you can go to get medical care within your preferred provider network, all just by holding up your phone in video mode. Points of interest pop up as you scroll from building to building. Really, it's kinda hard to explain this "augmented reality," so I will allow the video demo to take care of that.

To see more about how this groundbreaking new app works, just read more.

This V-Day, Send Your NYC Friends an e-Condom on Facebook

GeekSugar — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:00:51 -0800

There are a lot of things you could send your significant other on Valentine's Day, but did you ever think a virtual condom would be one of them? New York health officials are now giving you the option. Hoping to increase the use of condoms in their city, the NYC Department of Health has unveiled a new Facebook page to promote condom use, and an app that allows you to send an e-condom to your pals.

What's the deal with the e-condoms? With HIV rates in New York rising (over 100,000 residents testing positive), the need for protection is more important than ever. Officials are hoping to reach millions by using the social networking site to spread the word, allowing users to send a virtual version of its branded "city" condom, which has been handed out to 70 million people in New York so far. So for those of you who are connected to the Internet 24/7, you can protect yourself in reality. . . and now even in cyberspace as well.

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The Future Is Here: Avatar Kills Another Avatar, Faces Real Law

GeekSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:00:14 -0700

And this is when a videogame obsession becomes a problem: A woman in Japan, who was a fan of the virtual reality game Maple Story, was angry that her virtual husband in the game virtually divorced her, so she killed him. Virtually.

While she's obviously not being charged with murder, she is in hot water for illegally accessing his computer to kill her victim's character, which could be a penalty of five years in prison. Proof that breaking up is always hard to do, even if you have never even met the person.

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Would You Take an Online Appointment With Your Doctor?

GeekSugar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:00:54 -0800

I've had plenty of experiences where I had to wait what seemed like forever to see my doctor. Whether it be waiting months for a routine physical, or hanging out longer than expected in the waiting room because he's running behind. Don't even get me started on the hours I've had to take off of work because the only time I could see him is in the middle of the afternoon.

All of these circumstances made me think that a webcam-enabled visit from my doctor would be kinda cool, and a new company called American Well is trying to make that option a reality for the masses. Starting in January, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Hawaii will be offering virtual visits to their members. Patients can log-on at any time, and there will be a physician available for them to ask questions, get advice, and get prescriptions. Kinda like a phone visit, but with some face-to-face interaction. I like this idea since I'm pretty healthy, and I find that most of my appointments end up being more hassle than they are worth.

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MTV Introduces Virtual Hills and Laguna Beach

GeekSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:48:39 -0800

Earlier this month, MTV jumped on the geeky virtual reality bandwagon by introducing Virtual Hills and Laguna Beach where users can interact in the same environment as the Laguna Beach characters. You can choose your own wardrobe, meet others and shop for the hottest trends. A little FYI - MTV plans to show episodes in Virtual Laguna Beach a day before they are shown on TV so you can get your Laguna fix before everyone else.

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Party Favors for Your Geek Chic Reception

GeekSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:45:36 -0700

A geeky girl's dream wedding would include an awesome reception where everyone mingles, fills up on delish food and drink, and has a total blast while celebrating your big day. To help make this dream a reality, you'll want to check a few things off your "To Do" list beforehand. Of course you'll need music and entertainment, plus something fun to fill your guests' time. Party favors are a hit with crowds because it gives people something to do while the food line goes down and occupies the kiddies while the 'rents are busy networking your other guests for photoshop tips.

What kind of party favors would a geeky couple provide? Well, besides going green and sending your guests home with plantable trees from the Arbor Day Foundation, you can let them entertain themselves with a number of inexpensive and totally geeky gifts. For example, Rubik's cubes on the tables, or even take home Rubik's Cube Keychains will keep the nerdiest of guests focused, and will satisfy the younger geeks-in-training by keeping their hands (and minds) busy.

I have more geeky party favor ideas when you read more

Make it a team effort with crossword puzzles or Sudoku printed tablecloths or napkins. Seriously, what geek hasn't been obsessed at one point with beating the Brain Age Sudoku puzzles on their Nintendo DS? Having them show off their puzzle prowess will surely make a long lasting impression. Just by going to any custom printing shop with a tablecloth of choice and a puzzle or two, you can get a unique geeky wedding activity. Just don't forget to provide pens and/or crayons so that people can actually do the puzzle!
Handing out USB Flash drives is an uber geeky gift that you can personalize with your wedding day message. Have it engraved with your names and the date, or customize with a personal message. "Live long and prosper" would be my personal choice. Since this could get a little higher on the price scale, you can reserve the flash drives for the wedding party alone if you are running low on cash.
Since I got this as a Christmas exchange gift once, I can personally tell you about the joys of the keychain digital camera. These little guys are super fun and will hold up to a beating by your keys (if you actually keep it on your keychain). Plus, guests can take photos while at the wedding and have them to remember later. Think about designating a Flickr/Shutterfly tag (ex: Geek and Geekette's Wedding) so everyone who took photos at the event, whether it be from the keychain camera or their own, can upload and tag them properly, making a huge virtual photo album online.
Hand out pre-burned CDs of your wedding soundtrack. This is an easy and fun project to complete together before the wedding, since you can pick out tracks that you both love, select a photo for the cover, and if you have a printer that prints on CDs, like the Epson RX680, you can customize the look even further!

Be sure to check out more of our wedding coverage on I Do Sugar.
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Geeksugar Chats with Modern Day Doc Jay Parkinson

GeekSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:05:00 -0700

Have you ever imagined having a doctor that you could call, email, IM, text or have video chats with at any time of day? Well for patients of Dr. Jay Parkinson, this is not only a possibility, but a virtual reality. Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with charismatic Parkinson, who operates his high-tech practice out of Williamsburg, NY. Unlike traditional doctor's visits that include expensive fees and long wait times for treatment, Parkinson offers "e-visits," in which he uses communication technology to manage his patients. Whether it be in the form of emails or video chats, Parkinson's new-age approach to health care is not only convenient for his patients, but very affordable as well.

Mixing the old with the new, Parkinson makes house call visits (picture cute doc at your door), offers unlimited consultation on IM or email and is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm and 24/7 for emergencies. With a user-friendly website that he designed himself, new and existing patients are able to access a Google calendar that is integrated directly on the site to view Parkinson's schedule. And if you want to make an appointment, you can instantly log-in and schedule yourself an appointment in one of Parkinson's open time slots - just like that.

Working from his MacBook and an iPhone, Parkinson can access his calendar, phone numbers, email, and electronic medical records on-site using Life Record. By utilizing the latest technologies Parkinson is able to renew prescriptions on the fly and receive updates about his patients' symptoms and conditions via email. When I asked Parkinson about online security, he said that all medical records are encrypted, password protected and stored on a remote server. He said he prefers to use Adium and iChat as his IM chat applications since they are both very secure.

Considering 72 percent of geeksugar readers said they tend to use the internet instead of their doctor to diagnose medical conditions and consumers can now take cell phone pictures of their meals for nutritional consultations, it's no doubt that people are wanting "modern medicine" to catch-up with the conveniences of "modern technology"-something Dr. Parkinson has already established with his approach.

To learn more about Parkinson, you can visit his blog here and check out his artistic talents on his Flickr page - yes he's not only a doctor but a photographer as well, talk about being the real deal!

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Hospital Starts Using Wii For Rehabilitation

GeekSugar — Fri, 18 May 2007 05:33:32 -0700

We knew Wii sports was an easy way to workout and burn a few calories, but never expected hospitals to start using the Wii for rehabilitation. According to Edmonton Journal, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital is the first in North America to use the Wii technology to treat patients with movement and balance issues.

Apparently one patient in particular has progressed from his wheelchair, unable to bend at the waist or pick up things from the floor state and can now stand and play in front of a TV screen, swinging the Wii-mote like a golf club and generally have a rocking good time..

Dr. Grigore Burdea, who is a leader in computer-based virtual reality techniques in rehabilitation therapies, told the paper he thinks in five years every hospital and rehab clinic will have embraced the gaming technology for their patients. Here's more:

"People are addicted to games, but in this case, the addiction is towards a good cause," Burdea said. "Bill Gates (billionaire founder of Microsoft) would be wise to sponsor this kind of research."

Tech News Roundup - Real Live Gaming Hotel!

GeekSugar — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:30:07 -0700

San Francisco's Otaku Gaming Hotel - Kotaku
Make it so: virtual reality Enterprise hits Canada - Engadget
Paper towel holder laptop stand - Lifehacker
The boombox is back, just like Rocky - Crave
Wii crystal cooler lights up your life - Techie Diva
Camera cases from Designer Guild - Gadget Candy
Live at the Madison Square Gardens...is this WWE microphone! - Shiny Shiny
Tech Q&A: Getting Tunes Off of an iPod - Switched