Daniel Regueira Blog »

05-16-2012

Just got in to the Duolingo beta

Before I say anything watch this TED talk:

Wasn’t that guy awkwardly hilarious? If you’re going to TLDR this one then I’m sorry for you. For those of you that watched it. Thanks for staying around. And you’re welcome.For those of you that didn’t watch here’s a short couple of notes:

This guy worked on the team that made Captcha. That thing we all hate.
Then they made Re-Captcha which is it’s own small business that uses that same system to digitize old books
Now they’re applying this technology to a service that offers you language classes for free, while helping translate online articles into the language(s) you’re learning.

It’s in beta right now and I just got admitted. Thought I’d share a couple screenshots with you.

First you start with super simple stuff to start learning. If you’re really good at a language skip through this part.

Then you move on to the cool part, translating articles online (like wikipedia).

If you don’t know certain words, just hover over them with your mouse.

You can sign up for the list here. Right now they’re offering Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Chinese. I suggest you sign up soon. This is gonna blow up in a couple years.

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05-10-2012

Lytro’s New Camera

Say hello to the Lytro. A really really really cool new way to take photos.

This new fangled doohickey is what’s called a “Light Field” camera. Now, Lytro isn’t the first company to offer one of these cameras, but, it’s the first to offer them for sale to the general public. But forget all that. Let’s get into what makes this camera super cool.

The main feature that light field technology can boast is allowing you to focus your photos after they’ve been taken. Yes. After. Lytro calls this the “Living Picture” because even after you’ve imported it to your computer and posted it online, you, your friends, viewers, or whoever sees them, can refocus the image to whatever point they want. Wicked.

(Also check these photos of the new iPad taken by the Lytro from New York Times blogger Nick Bilton)

(And this NPR article/audio)

A well know Austin photographer, Trey Ratcliff, said this about the Lytro in a post on G+:

“I like to bend technology around to my will for the sake of art. And this Lytro CAN do something really cool that no one is really talking about. I’ve dipped in and see that there are 9 files generated for every photo. By re-working these and changing the package of presentation, you can craft something AWESOME. And, whenever I am allowed to share it, you will see what I mean.”

Not sure what exactly this is supposed to mean, but he’s hinting at some potential for 3D technology. Whether we’ll actually see that or not remains to be determined but the possibility is most certainly there. And it would be awesome.

Ultimately it’s a super cool concept, and I’d love to get my hands on one and check it out. The general consensus from reviewers though, is that it isn’t really ready for mass use just yet. It’s a really cool camera, and if you want to be the guy or gal who’s got that cool new thing that they love to show off then go ahead and drop $400 for an 8gb one.

I’d still recommend against it. As always 1st gen. products just aren’t that great and it’s always good to give the product a year or two to mature some. Some common complaints about the Lytro now are that the screen has to be viewed straight on and that the glare can be a problem.

For me, definitely not worth it yet. Being a broke college kid God knows I can’t afford to drop five hundo on a camera like this. I’d much rather drop big money on these Persol’s or this $2000 lens that I’ve been mouthwatering over

I’ve embedded a review by a very trusted source of mine (dpreview) check it out if you’re considering buying the camera still.

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04-20-2012

Cosmos, photo-style

Found this awesome work by a photographer from Texas (lives in NYC now) named Ignacio Torres, and this particular body of work I saw featured on Chase Jarvis’ blog.

This body of work is called “Stellar” and I love it for a number of reasons:

First off I love it because of how much this is inspired by people like Carl Sagan

“This project began from the theory that humans are made of cosmic matter as a result of a stars death. I created imagery that showcased this cosmic birth through the use of dust and reflective confetti to create galaxies.”

Any of you that know me personally, know that I have an almost creepy fascination with Carl Sagan. (Can you really blame me though? He was probably one of the coolest scientists of modern times, an undercover pothead, and he totally sounds like Agent Smith when he talks).

Carl Sagan was awesome because he brought science, in particular the cosmos, to the forefront of American culture, and played a role in many NASA missions.

Furthermore, Ignacio’s conceptual basis behind this series is uniquely creative:

“The models organic bodily expressions as they are frozen in time between the particles suggest their celestial creation. In addition, space and time is heightened by the use of three-dimensional animated gifs. Their movement serves as a visual metaphor to the spatial link we share with stars as well as their separateness through time.”

Juxtaposing physical bodies next to what conceptually is supposed to be space dust that (in the distant past) formed the Sun, Earth, and all living things on it (those same bodies) is something that is profoundly beautiful in both an artistic and scientific sense, and is what makes this series so freaking awesome.

I really like that these photos are gifs. The three photo 3D image really makes these photos stand out in all the right ways, emphasizing the “star dust” and the frozen positions of the subjects.

You can see their bodies (and shadows) from different angles too.

Even the dessert scenery gives it the proper feel (for me at least) because when I think of observatories or large telescopes, I think places like New Mexico and Arizona.

Dude, has made an awesome series of photos that I thought I’d share. Here are my favorites:

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04-11-2012

What the Plus! Google+ for the Rest of Us

If you’re one of the people who are wondering what the point of Google+ is, and why people rushed to it so much, then you’re like me. At first, I followed the tech geeks to the beta testing and loved it because it was so exclusive, after a while it lost its luster a little bit. I know most, if not all, of my friends still feels this way today, “Facebook is so much better ,” they say.

If you still think that way, then you should read this book.

The problem with this mindset is that people approach Google+ as a Facebook replacement rather than an independent concept in its own right. In his book, What the Plus! Guy Kawasaki highlights what makes Google+ a completely different concept than other social media, as well as the strengths of Google+ over Facebook and Twitter functionally.

Kawasaki uses these “3 P’s” when it comes to social media:

Twitter = Perspectives (News, short and timely info)

Facebook = People (Friends & Family)

Google+ = Passions

Firstly the fundamental error people make is to restrict their post to just their circles, rather than making them public. Making them public opens them up to the wide range of people exploring Google+, and even though there are many jackasses on the internet it’s still a wonderful place to interact with people.

Furthermore, there are pre-made Circles that many people have shared already. The book links to many helpful places, including somewhere to find awesome pre-made circles here.

Ultimately this book costs just $3 for a Kindle or iBook edition and is well worth it. It’s also a pretty quick read and not too time consuming, and at the same time it’ll probably change you social media life for the better.

If you want more insight into Guy Kawasaki you can watch this video which is an awesome interview with him by Seattle photographer Chase Jarvis (who is the man) or just google him…

Daniel out.

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04-02-2012

Translations: Readings of Poetry from Abroad

Sumptuous poems were read, yesterday at noon, outside the Harry Ransom Center. Speakers came up and read selections of both original and translated works by foreign poets.

“When performing the reading, I was just going crazy, bringing that Caribbean flare to it you know,” said Urayoán Noel, a poet and assistant professor at the University of Albany, of his performance, “and though the structuring can be formal, I was trying to add the vernacular soul to it.”

The event, Poetry on the Plaza, takes place regularly in front of the Ransom center. Every event has a particular theme, and a list of guests performing or reading poems. The theme of yesterday’s event was translation; the pieces were written by poets from parts of Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond.

A crowd of bystanders gathered and grew slowly as the event went on from one reading to the next. A student next to me had just gotten out of class in the middle of the event and stopped for a few minutes to listen. “This is a pretty relaxing thing to do before heading to class,” she said.

Noel asserted, “the company here is great, I’m about to talk to Marilyn Hacker who is an amazing poet in her own right and has done some fantastic work similar to what I read today,” he said, “really, some great poets are here.”

Check out more about Urayoán here.

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