Gizmodo: first

First Recording of Computer Music Found. Verdict: Catchy, But You Can't Dance to It

Kit Eaton — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:21:00 EDT

A recent dig around in the BBC's archives has resulted in an unexpected find: recordings made in 1951 of a Ferranti Mark 1 computer playing tunes. Predating what was thought previously to be the first (on a Bell Labs IBM mainframe in 1957) the tapes were made during a recording of Children's Hour in Manchester University. The Ferranti was the first commercially available general purpose computer, and can be heard beeping through God Save the King, Baa Baa Black Sheep and In the Mood... slowly, and a bit scratchily since the recordings are 57 years old. Interestingly, the software was written by a chap called Christopher Strachey, a friend of Alan Turing. Click on to the BBC link to hear this bit of History in action, and marvel how far we've come since. [BBC via The Inquirer]

World's First OLED Lamp

Jason Chen — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:45:00 EDT

We're not sure why someone would want to make an OLED desk lamp at this point in time, what with the technology being relatively new and somewhat expensive right now, but OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and designer Ingo Maurer have done just that. This lamp, called "Early Future", is made up of ten distinct OLED tiles measuring 132 x 33 mm each. There's no price on this as far as we can see, but it's going to be a while until people will actually be buying these OLED lamps anyway. For now we'll stick to illuminating our offices with the soft glow of four LCD monitors. [OSRAM via OLED Info]

FIRST! D-Link Goes All 802.11n Draft 2.0

Mark Wilson — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:45:32 EDT

The Wi-Fi Alliance has passed their first two draft 2.0 applicants in the never-ending race to full 802.11n certification. The D-Link Xtreme N Router and Xtreme N Notebook Adapter both passed the Alliance's testing, and now tower over their wireless kingdom, mocking all of the 1.0-certified brethren with full 2.0 certification. And 2.0 matters to you because it's guaranteed compatible with the final draft.

Don't expect the Alliance to get their act together with that final draft until sometime around 2008 or even 2009. Still, if you want your current 802.11n setup to be compatible with the future of Wi-Fi, these D-Link products are the best guarantees on the market until more certified 2.0 products are announced.

Press Release [PRnewswire]

FIRST Robotics Competition: Like Battlebots with Fewer Saws

Adam Frucci — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:15:00 EDT

This weekend was the FIRST robotics competition at the Javits Center here in NYC, an event where groups of students compete to see who built the best robot in the six-week competition window. How it works:

The core of the high school–level FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is the design and building of a robotic competitor. Each year in early January, FIRST unveils the competition or "game" at an annual kick-off event that is beamed by NASA satellite to auditoriums all over the world. This is the first glimpse students get of the game they will have to design their robot to play.

Working in teams, students have just six weeks to create their robot. They get the opportunity to work with programmable radio controls, pneumatics, motors, electrical circuits, mechanics, machining, web design, computer animation, computer assisted design, and other technologies—just like professional engineers and technologists do.

Our intrepid videographer Richard Blakeley braved the far west side to get the scoop. Above, check out a video of the heat of battle, with another video after the jump with more details on exactly how the competition works. These kids are totally awesome, and you can't help but feel excited about the future when you've got geniuses like this lined up to run the world.

–Adam Frucci with video by Richard Blakeley

FIRST Robotics Competition [NYC/NJ First]

Nintendo Wii First Startup + Surprise!

Jason Chen — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 17:13:26 EST

Here's what the Nintendo Wii looks like the first time you start it up. Enter in the time, date, name, and what language you speak (I had problems with that one). One cool detail is how the controller vibrates when you scrub over various clickable UI elements.

The surprise? Nintendo calls us to tell us they're coming with an ice cream truck full of Wiis! – Jason Chen