Monday, June 30, 2014

6 Ways The Internet Is Slowly Transforming Our Minds

With the Internet permeating every facet of our working and personal lives, our minds are struggling to keep up to the development. Many of us have grown accustomed to staying online 24/7 that we feel at loss when we unplug. We need to have constant access to our messengers, social networks and apps of all kinds to feel part of the connected world.

It is no surprise that our growing dependence on this revolutionary technology is changing the way we think, especially so for Gen-Z population who grew up not realising that an alternate world existed before them.

We are often unaware of outside forces that are affecting us on the inside because they typically happen at a subconscious level. The same can be said of technologies that which have been assimilated into our lives, from the television to the world wide web. Here are some major ways which the internet have transformed our minds behind the scene.

1) Boosts Brain Function

Generally speaking, internet surfing is much more complex than reading books since the process involves finding what we want on search engines and jumping from one hyperlink to another. For this reason, when middle-aged and elderly participants were tasked to perform web searches on specific topics assigned by the researchers, the brain activity of those who had been using the internet were found to be more profound than those who rarely or never uses it.

A second brain scan was conducted two weeks later after the participants were asked to do internet searches for an hour each day for seven days. Amazingly, the inexperienced internet users now showed brain activity that was akin to those observed among participants who were already familiar with the internet.

The study proves that internet searching alone has the capability of rewiring our brain. Regions of the brain responsible for short-term memory and decision-making were activated during the second brain scan, suggesting that internet use boosted these specific brain functions.

If such short period of internet training is all it takes to improve our cognitive abilities, just imagine how much more advanced our mind is after years of exposure, not just to search engines like Google, but also to social media and a wide variety of interactive content available online. The exponential growth of user-generated content online over the past decade is a definite proof that we are becoming more creative as individuals.

2) Increases Creativity

The internet has given all of us a voice in cyberspace and the ability to connect with others seamlessly, to the extent that many of us are competing against each other to be heard. Through updating Facebook statuses, commenting and liking posts, uploading photos and videos, checking-in to places, etc, we seem to have no qualms about publicizing our personal lives despite the privacy risks they bring.

The good news is, as we crave to become popular on social media and on the internet as a whole, we inevitably become motivated to be more creative and original with our posts.

The societal shift from passive TV watching to that of active interactions on the internet has endowed us with what Clay Shirky from Wired Magazine termed as "cognitive surplus", providing us with more time on activities that requires more participation and engagement than simply watching TV.

There’s no denying that our minds are getting more inspired and more creative, what with our exposure to literally millions of creative mash-ups and clips on YouTube, clever quotes on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and just about any other wacky ideas out there on the Net.

3) Affects Self-Image

The flip side to this newfound creative release through the internet is that some of us start feeling insecure about ourselves as we compare our lives with that of our friends’ based on what they upload onto social media and networks. Remember that these posts do not give an accurate picture of lives since many put up positive things online to impress others. The outcome of such erroneous comparisons is that we get unnecessarily envious over innocuous photos of people enjoying themselves in their vacations, for instance.

Researchers have uncovered that a third of the participants felt more negatively about their lives after visiting Facebook, especially those who only browsed the site and did not contribute any posts.

It seems then that at least for some of us, our mind has now unhealthily linked our participation on social networking sites to our self worth. This is probably why we are now hearing about how obsessive use of Facebook can cause depression and how people are getting addicted to Facebook. In much of such disorders, the source of the problem stems from perceived social pressures (think "Fear of Missing Out" â€" FOMO) and underlying self-esteem issues.

4) Shortens Attention Span

With the advent and proliferation of internet technology, our ability to sustain our attention on a single subject is markedly diminished. Hyperlinks appear everywhere on the internet, encouraging us to explore websites in a non-linear fashion. Prolonged and repeated internet surfing through clicking one link after another has conditioned our mind to only briefly scan through the content for each page before jumping to the next.

We often find ourselves burrowing into another topic that caught our eye before we even finish half of what we were looking at. As a matter-of-fact, one of the biggest challenges facing blog owners is how to get internet readers to keep reading their content.

If you need proof that we’re growing to become an impatient lot (at least online), have a look at these informative statistics on our attention span and internet browsing behaviours. The study revealed that our average attention span had fallen over 30% from 12 seconds in 2000, to 8 seconds in 2013.

On average, office workers check their email inbox 30 times in an hour. It was also found that in 53,573 webpage views, 17% lasted fewer than 4 seconds while only 4% lasted over 10 minutes! Keep this up and we’ll have trouble concentrating on any one thing at a time, forcing us to turn to multitasking.

5) Encourages Multi-Tasking

With our decreased ability to sustain attention on a single task, we resort to multitasking by engaging in several things all at once. My bet is that you’re probably doing something else besides reading this article right now: maybe listening to songs, chatting online, checking out your Facebook and email inbox on separate tabs â€" or even cycling on a stationary bike.

With the rise of portable smart devices, our mind has been rewired to become stimulated only when we perform different tasks simultaneously.

While most people perceive multitasking as getting more done in less time, the negative effects it has on our cognitive abilities actually outweigh the productivity. Research has shown that multitasking actually divides our attention, resulting in greater distractions and makes us, for lack of a better term, stupider. Only a rare 2% of the population known as the supertaskers have been found to perform better with multiple workloads.

Find out if you’re one of them by attempting this online multitasker test, "Gatekeeper Task for Supertasker" developed by the researchers of the study.

6) Reprograms Memory

In a study conducted in 2011, psychologist Dr. Betsy Sparrow concluded that the World Wide Web now serves as "an external memory storage space, and we make it responsible for remembering things". In a series of four memory experiments, it was revealed that participants had the tendency to think of computer terms like "Yahoo" or "Google" when posed with difficult trivia questions.

They fared better at remembering trivia statements when they thought they were not able to look them up in the computer during the recall test. When asked to type these trivia statements into the computer and save them into different folders, the participants were actually able to remember the folder locations better than the statements themselves!

What this study sought to show is that the internet has become a form of transactive memory source, and has consequently changed the way we remember things. Hypothesised by one of the researchers of the above study in 1985, transactive memory refers to how we rely on others who are more knowledgeable on a particular subject to help us recall information.

By "outsourcing" our memory to the internet, we are no longer limited by the capacity of our human brain. Search engines such as Google have become in our mind the gateway for accessing all kinds of information.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

10 DIY Kits & Modules To Experiment With Electronics

Do-it-yourself electronics used to be the domain of the super geeky, but over the past few years things have really changed. Platforms and computers like Arduino and the Raspberry Pi have given rise to a whole new maker culture, and it’s now easier than ever to get started experimenting with, learning and building DIY electronics projects. From Arduino and Arduino-compatible boards to complete DIY electronic kits, there’s something out there for everyone.

Spark Core

With so many modules and kits available on the market, though, it can be a bit confusing if you’re not too well-versed in the subject. While it’s probably impossible to compile a definitive list of must-haves, it’s always nice to have a place to start. Here is a list of 10 fun kits and modules you should give a go.

1. LittleBits

LittleBits is a library of open-source electronics modules that simply snap together with magnets. LittleBits modules can be combined to create a large variety of different devices and projects. There are a number of different LittleBits kits available to purchase, but you can also buy individual modules as well as accessories such as mounting boards and USB cables.

There are 3 beginner kits to choose from, as well as a Space Kit designed in collaboration with NASA, and a Synth Kit designed in collaboration with Korg. With all the options available, it’s easy to get a bit confused and not know where to start with the LittleBits.

LittleBits

Fortunately, the official LittleBits website has a large repository of projects you can make, complete with instructions, that should help you get to grips with what you can and can’t do with the LittleBits kit.

[Price: $99 - $199 for kits]

2. Mirobot

The Mirobot is a DIY WiFi-capable robot that’s designed to help children and adults learn about and develop an interest for technology and programming. Mirobot’s main function is drawing geometrical shapes, and can be programmed easily through a web page-style programming GUI accessible via WiFi. Mirobot is an open source hardware platform, and so you’ll be able to modify and expand the code and designs to suit your needs.

Mirobot

In addition to being an open source hardware platform, the fact that Mirobot has Arduino at its core means that it’s going to be incredibly easy to reprogram it to do other things. In addition, the rationale behind the Mirobot’s lack of a casing is so that children and learners can see what’s going on inside the robot, to make things easier to understand. The Mirobot kit comes in both unsoldered and pre-soldered forms.

[Price: $85 pledge on Kickstarter]

3. Hummingbird Duo

The Hummingbird Duo is two boards in one: the original Hummingbird controller, as seen in the Hummingbird Robotics kit, on one side, and an Arduino Leonardo on the other side. The new dual design means that you can either use the Duo exactly like the original Hummingbird controller, or as an Arduino board with additional motor and servo shield as well as improved connectors, all of which are provided by the Hummingbird controller.

Hummingbird Duo

Like the previous Hummingbird, the Hummingbird Duo has been designed so that it’s easy and fun for all age groups. Hummingbird’s CREATE Lab visual programmer makes it incredibly easy to get started programming. There are 2 kits available, the Base and Premium kits, and components in these kits include a HS-311 Servo, Pololu Gearmotor and other useful components.

[Price: $75 pledge for Hummingbird Duo; $145 for Base Kit and $249 for Premium Kit]

4. Printoo

Printoo is an Arduino-powered platform with a twist: instead of the common, rigid circuit boards, Printoo modules and circuit boards are built on paper-thin materials that make them particularly useful for 3D printed objects and situations where weight and size are big factors. There are currently 17 different Printoo modules and circuits, all paper-thin and bendable.

Printoo also takes a page out of the LittleBits approach to electronic modules, letting you connect modules simply by plugging them together.

Printoo

The developers have also created apps that will allow you to connect your Printoo to the Internet, letting you control them or trigger actions on the Internet from anywhere in the world. This, as you can imagine, opens up a world of possibilities for your Printoo creations.

[Price: TBA]

5. AttoDuino

The AttoDuino is an Arduino-compatible module that’s basically an Arduino on steroids, as the makers claim. There are a number of interesting enhancements that are sure to appeal to Arduino users. The AttoDuino has a fast ARM M4F CPU with a built-in floating point coprossesor running at 80MHz, giving it serious grunt.

Beyond this additional computing power, the AttoDuino has built-in Bluetooth connectivity â€" you can also program the AttoDuino over Bluetooth â€" as well as onboard battery charging and voltage regulation.

AttoDuino

The integrated battery charger and voltage regulation capabilites mean that the AttoDuino can be run safely from either a battery or an external power supply, so you won’t have to worry about integrating the AttoDuino’s power needs. It also has temperature and battery voltage reading functions, so it’s easy to monitor the status of your project.

[Price: TBA]

6. Digispark Pro

The Digispark Pro is a compact and cheap USB-ready Arduino dev board. The Digispark Pro is an improvement upon the old Digispark: it still supports the more than 25 shields of the original Digispark, but with added capabilities and features. The Digispark Pro is easier to use and program, has more pins and program space, and adds features such as WiFi, Bluetooth and BLE shields. The Digispark Pro is also ready for mobile development, and comes with examples for Android and iPhone.

Digispark Pro

The Digispark Pro has a number of interesting USB-related features. Firstly, it uses the new Micronucleus USB bootloader for easy programming over USB, direct from the Arduino IDE or command line. In addition, the Digispark Pro can also emulate a USB Serial Port as well as various USB devices such as USB keyboards, mice and joysticks, and a Generic HID Device.

[Price: $10]

7. GoPiGo

The GoPiGo is a complete robotics kit for the Raspberry Pi, letting you turn your Pi into a mobile robot, complete with wheels, motors, controls and its own robust, reliable power supply. It also comes with an acrylic body so you won’t have to worry about sourcing or building your own. However, do bear in mind that the GoPiGo itself doesn’t do much beyond turning your Pi into a mobile robot; it’s up to you to take advantage of the power of the Raspberry Pi to actually make the robot functional and useful.

GoPiGo

The GoPiGo also comes with its own modified Raspbian OS, included in the kit. The acrylic body was also designed with the Raspberry Pi camera in mind, and offers two camera mounting options, either on the body or on a servo camera mount that will also turn 180 degrees. The GoPiGo was designed with easy assembly in mind, and can be put together with only a screwdriver and about 10 minutes of your time.

[Price: $84 pledge]

8. Spark Core

The Spark Core is an Arduino-compatible development platform powered by a powerful ARM Cortex M3 running at 72MHz. In addition, the Spark Core is WiFi enabled, letting you program the Spark Core wirelessly. It also has cloud functionality with the Spark Cloud. The Spark Cloud lets you access your projects from anywhere in the world, but it also gives you access to the Spark Core’s unique REST API, which lets you write software for mobile devices, computers and web applications that will interact with your hardware projects.

Spark Core

The Spark Core’s WiFi controller uses Texas Instruments’ new CC3000, with a unique Smart Config technology that makes it very easy to get projects connected to the Internet. As with most devices of this type, the Spark Core is completely open source, with all the hardware design files freely available, plus it’s also built on open source standards and protocols.

[Price: $39]

9. Touch Board

The Touch Board is an Arduino-compatible device that lets you translate touch into sound and a whole lot of other things. Basically, it’s a circuit that you can use to integrate interactivity and tactile response into a project, with the help of electric paint or any other sort of conductive material. Just connect this conductive material to any one of the Touch Board’s 12 electrodes, and the Touch Board will then trigger an action â€" basically, anything you’d be able to program with an Arduino â€" when this conductive material is touched.

Touch Board

The Touch Board has both touch and distance sensing functionality, and it also works as an MP3 player or MIDI device, translating touch into sound. There’s even a Micro SD slot so that you can completely change the sounds that the Touch Board will make just by changing the SD card. It has a 3.5mm audio output jack and is also HID capable, so you can use it as a keyboard or mouse.

[Price: $93]

10. TinyDuino

TinyDuino is a complete series of Arduino-compatible boards, the biggest appeal being their incredibly small size. TinyDuino boards pack the same amount of processing power as an Arduino Uno but are smaller than a United States quarter, making them incredibly suitable for projects where space is at a premium.

This small size is achieved by paring each module down to the basics and making them incredibly modular. The TinyDuino modules come as 20 x 20mm squares, but most of the modules can be cut into circular shapes.

TinyDuino

There are a respectable number of modules available in the TinyDuino range, from the basic core Processor Board to various shields such as a MicroSD shield, a WiFi shield, a GPS shield and a USB and ICP shield. The TinyDuino modules use small, low-cost connectors that still supports all the signals that a standard Arduino shield requires.

[Price: $39.95 for Basic Kit; $59.95 for Starter Kit]

Friday, June 27, 2014

20 Stylish Water-Resistant Watches For Summer

While the tech world is freaking out about smartwatches (2014 seems to be the year for smartwatches), a lot of not-so-smart watches are getting an upgrade in design and style. If you are looking for a watch to do just what watches do best, while still being able to rough out the summertime splashes, this post is definitely for you. Here are 20 crazy-cool stylish waterproof watches to get you ready for summer.

Most watches on the market these days are focused on functionality as well as the form. Although not all of them are completely waterproof (there is a difference between that and water-resistant) but they can survive a few friendly splashes and some of them are perfect for an evening out in town too. From classy to vibrant, elegant to just freakin’ creative, you’ll find stylish watches here for anyone’s taste.

O Clock Watches. O Clock watches are just about to hit the market with a series of vibrant silicon watches. Available in 4 sizes, 33 colors with over 60 differents faces to mix and match, these highly durable waterproof watches are perfect solution for summer! Each watch comes in a sealed pop top can.

[Get it here - Prices vary]

Past-present-future 40mm. These 40 mm past-present-future watch wants you to live in the present, literally. You see only the present time since the past is in the past, and the future doesn’t exist yet. The watch is available with either leather, silicone or stainless steel mesh band.

[Get it here - $125]

Hurricane Niben Watch. This classic and stylish watch would fit both a crazy Friday party or an official meeting on a slow Tuesday. It’s water resistant to up to 50 m.

[Get it here - $215]

Michelangelo Watch. The unisex michelangelo watch is made of brushed stainless steel and has two “crowns” or buttons. The button at the 2:00 position is the “light up” button. When pressed, the watch lights up for a clearer view of the time. It’s water resistant to up to 100 ft.

[Get it here - $100]

Braun BN0035 Watch. This watch is available in two classic colors: black and white and comes with a leather strap. It has a 30m-depth water resistance and the surface is made of scratch-resistant mineral glass. Also, its two-year warranty is a great advantage to have.

[Get it here - $300]

Time Traveller Watch. The Time Traveller watch allows you to see the time all around the globe, although you might need some time to get used to its specially designed hands. The Eiffel Tower hands gives you the time in paris, and Big Ben tells you what time it is now in London.

[Get it here - $205]

Bulbul Watches. Pebble is the first watch from Danish watch brand Bulbul. The design was inspired by the smooth contours of the pebbles found on Scandinavian beaches. It has a ten-year battery life and a double-sided Italian leather strap.

[Get it here - $450]

Take Time Watch. Take Time watch comes with a 3-in-1 concept: jeans’ loop (fob watch), handbag, or wrist. The watch is available in various vibrant colors. It’s 3 ATM water-resistant.

[Get it here - $60]

Mykonos Visus Watch. Okay, this analog watch is going to change the way you look at the time. Instead of moving hours, this one has a moving face. The single red hand remains at the 3 o-clock mark while the hours, minutes and seconds sweep past in 3 concentric circles.

[Get it here - $70]

Reveal Watch. This timekeeper reveals the current time through a looking glass the past and the future are faded out. If you are a person who likes to live in the present, this watch is made specifically for you. The rest of the design is kept simple.

[Get it here - $130]

Nate Chronograph Silicone Watch . Since its establishment in 1984, Fossil has created watches for men and women that withstand the test of time. This military-inspired Nate has a laid-back yet rugged feel with its oversized dial and sporty silicone strap to fit both humid weather and sports.

[Get it here - $115]

COOKOO Smart Watch. This smart watch would not let you to miss your call and will tell you what’s happening on your phone in real time, even if you can’t reach it at the moment. Manage time, social networks, and email box with this user-friendly cool watch.

[Get it here - $130]

Classic Cambridge. If you’re a fan of classy elegant accessories, this Classic Cambridge watch is made for you. It’s 3ATM water-resistant. Available in a tri-color strap of blue, red, and white with an eggshell white face and golden frame makes this perfect for the office and for the outdoors.

[Get it here - $195]

Classy York Watch. This Classy York watch was inspired by exclusive late night summer parties â€" bright lights, heat and excitement. Swarovski stones take the place of numbers and the leather strap makes it look great even on small wrists.

[Get it here - $149]

Time Teller P Plastiform Watch. It’s not for those who are looking to blend in, this watch takes its inspiration from the Pop Art movement and comes in bright, bold colors. Available in four colors, it boasts custom three-hand Japanese quartz movement and a molded polycarbonate case with mineral crystal.

[Get it here - $90]

Braun BN0036 Digital Watch. For most Americans, Braun is known primarily as a company that makes shavers and coffee makers. As it turns out, Braun also produces watches, and this particular design has a water resistance of 50m.

[Get it here - $310]

Hygge 3012 Series Watch. This watch uses two rotating disks instead of traditional hands to show time. The bottom larger disk indicates the hours and the smaller top disk marks the minutes. The disks are in different colors to better distinguish the hours and minutes.

[Get it here - Price not listed]

1642A Breda Watch. Breda is a fashion lifestyle watch brand defined by an all-American style with an electric twist. The Breda watch is trendy and elegant. The watch fit both men and women. It’s water-resistant.

[Get it here - $45]

Jolli Time Watch. Each Jolli Time watch consists of 4 pieces. This combination is made up of a lime-green silicone strap, pink case, purple ring and the water-resistant watch itself.

[Get it here - $74]

HyperGrand Raven Maverick Flipside Watch. The watch has industrial design and unisex style. Hypergrand watches are the piece to complete your outfit. You can also swap the band in an instant for a completely new look! It has 3ATM water resistance.

[Get it here - $129]

10 Things Windows Phones Do Better Than Android Phones

Alright, alright, calm yourselves, keyboard warriors, we know this is something most of you would probably not agree with because let’s face it, with over 80 percent of smartphone market share in the world, the Android mobile operating system leads the rest of the competition by a mile.

Perhaps because it is the OS adopted by many leading brands of smartphones, fragmentation becomes an issue that plagues Android-powered phone. Here is a post by Azzief Khaliq that argues for and against the effects of Android OS fragmentation you should check out.

Here, the Windows Phone’s fast and user-friendly OS plus its integration with Microsoft-linked products has given many users, particularly who work a lot with Windows products, a reason to consider the integrated mobile platform. On the surface, it offers the same functionality (and perhaps a bit more) as do other platforms but these are 10 features that you may find better on a Windows Phone than on an Android.

1. Quality Build Phones With Expectional Design For Everyone

The biggest ammo to join the arsenal of Windows phones has to be Nokia’s partnership. With phones ranging from $180 to $425, sporting screen sizes from 4″ to 6″, Nokia has plenty of choices not just for the budget-conscious but also those are looking for a powerful, sleek phone, for instance like Nokia Lumia 1020 with 41 megapixel camera sensor and Full HD video. You definitely can get good value for your money if you just keep your eyes open for a good alternative phone, rather than stop looking once it isn’t on a “popular” OS.

2. Gorgeous Apps

Although the Windows App Store lags behind the Play Store in terms of quantity, what counts with apps is the quality and so far Windows phones have the basic necessities covered. Windows Phone is not an open source platform and Microsoft has a stricter criteria set than Google about which apps and games can populate their respective marketplaces.

As a result, the app store responds with superior and better apps, and cleaner options, than what Android apps can offer. They are consistent, gorgeous, minimalistic and in many cases, look better than they do on Android. I’d suggest you take a look at 6tag (3rd party app for Instagram), Spotify, Skype, and Facebook.

3. Seamless Email And Social Media Integration

Windows Phone with its mission to build an end-to-end product experience for its customers, has a soild built-in social media integrated hub that they use; it’s very smooth and fluid. The People Hub gets updates from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Rather than opening individual apps one by one, all your friends’ status updates and notifications can be viewed within the People Hub.

Facebook integration on Windows Phone also makes it better than Android when it comes to tagging pictures. It also allows you to use your phone contacts as tags. You can switch between Facebook chat and normal text messaging with your contacts on Windows Phone.

4. Microsoft Integration and Support

Those who are used to Microsoft’s service and software would be glad to know Windows Phone works well with Microsoft products like Outlook.com. OneDrive Skype, Xbox, and OneNote. Unlike Android, Windows Phone comes with free Office in the OS itself. The mobile version is handy for on-the-go professionals. You can view and edit, Excel, PowerPoint and Word documents straight on your Windows Phone. It also integrates with OneDrive and users can save their compatible files on Microsoft’s cloud storage service.

5. Consistency Across All Devices

Android comes in so many shapes and sizes, so performance and quality are always a question. Windows Phone however works well on all levels of devices from the entry-level Lumia 520 to the high-end Lumia 1020 without any noticeable lag whatsoever. The minimalist design approach is applied at all Nokia’s Lumia range of devices and known for best build quality.

6. Customizations on Lockscreen

Windows Phone allows you to check out your notifications from your lockscreen. Not only you can change Background pictures in Lock screen settings, but Windows Phones also allow the integration of live apps on the lockscreen. Some of the better app integrations are Bing and Facebook. Bing displays the Bing Picture of the Day while Facebook displays photos from your albums.

You can also choose from photos of yourself or create a selection of photos to be shown on your lockscreen. Another cool thing that you could do is to configure the lock screen to display artist information when playing music.

7. Play your XBox games on Windows Phone

If you own an XBox, Windows Phone has the perfect XBox integration to help you get the most out of your games, even on low-RAM devices. Microsoft has worked hard to integrate Xbox functionality, meaning you can work with your console avatar to gain points, check your Gamerscore, message your friends and see your avatar.

Despite Android having more games, Windows Phones get Xbox games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, Jetpack Joyride, Six Guns and FIFA 14 for free. All of the games run smoothly; even on the low end Nokia Lumia Phones, playing games is a breeze.

8. Versatility of Live Tiles

Windows Phones allow users to pin whatever they want and how they want. Instead of widgets, each app on your home screen acts as a Live Tile. They give you a quick glimpse of what’s going on in each individual app. We can see the time and weather via the weather tile and notifications from Twitter, WhatsApp, SMS and email all from the main screen.

Widgets on Android are their own separate entities and their customized looks as designed by their developers. These designs thus can hardly mesh together aesthetically, especially without any form of standardization. Tiles, on the other hand, blend in and complement the overall aesthetic perfectly and they also change dynamically.

9. Offline Maps Integration

Windows Phone have HERE Maps and HERE Drive integrated to its Lumia range, basically Nokia’s alternative to Android’s Google Maps. It comes with full offline capabilities. Some Android smartphones such as Galaxy S4 also has offline navigation in Google Maps, but while Google Maps only allows you to download small areas of offline maps, you can download maps of countries with the Nokia Lumia Phones and navigate across the country without a data connection while driving.

10. Ever Expandable Storage

Most Windows Phone, even the entry level ones have 8GB of internal storage and supports a microSD card of up to 64 GB. The free 7 GB cloud storage from Onedrive makes it even better. This reduces the need to fall back on third-party online storage solutions, which may come with compatibility issues. OneDrive lets you backup content to the cloud, Windows tablets, PCs, and of course the Windows Phone.

Conclusion

While Android offers greater app flexibility, Windows Phone offers great potential, better integration over more platforms and fluidity. With the changing smartphone market, the world needs a solid platform that has quality and the potential to develop into a full range solution, that spans across mobile, desktop and the cloud. The strategies are already in place, and if Nokia and Windows Phone can weather the storm, they may one day be able to unseat Android from its iron grip of the smartphone OS market.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Steampunk Resources: 40+ Tutorials, Fonts & Photoshop Brushes

Steampunk is a genre that contains elements of science fiction and fantasy. Gaining popularity in the late 80′s and early 90′s, it becomes a reminder of the Victorian era or the era of “the Wild West” when steam engines were widely used. The defining characteristic of steampunk is an anachronism, where the artists usually adds some unusual feature that might not usually belong.

Elements of steampunk can be found in almost all art forms, such as art, literature, television and films, fashion and web design. Today, I’ve put together a cool steampunk bundle of 46 tutorials, fonts and Photoshop brushes that can be used to create your own steampunk design.

Steampunk Tutorials

Creating a Highly Detailed Steampunk Insect by Nathan Brown

Make A Steampunk Gear Using Photoshop Patterns And Effects by Courts Carter

Making of ‘Steampunk Village’ by Robh Ruppei

Create A Steam Powered Typographic Treatment by Alex Beltechi

How to Create a Steampunk Style Illustration in Photoshop by James Davies

How to Make a Steampunk Illustration â€" Tuts+ Premium Tutorial by Benjamin Mounsey

How to Create Steampunk Photography Using GIMP

Creating a Stunning Old-World Look in Photoshop by Collis Ta’eed

GIMP Steampunk Tutorial by sglider12

How to Create a Steampunk Type Treatment in Photoshop by Nathan Brown

Create a Steampunk Golden Car in Photoshop by Alexandra Fomicheva

Steampunk Fonts

New Font Creation â€" Steampunk (Standard) by Leon Freire

Octant by Christian Thalmann

Wolverhampton by Paul Lloyd

Carnivalee Freakshow, Regular by Chris Hansen

Rough Typewriter by JibbaJabba Fonts

JF Ringmaster by Jester Font Studio

NotMaryKate by Nick’s Fonts

Discorgasmique font by davidiscreative

Morgan by Dieter Steffmann

Watson by Paul Lloyd

Guttenberg MF by Richard William Mueller

Tropicana by Listemageren

James Han by Pi Luo Chiu

Steampunk font by *hannarb

Circus Ornate by Dieter Steffmann

Coffee Tin font by Rick Mueller

Show Boat by David Rakowski

Tuscan MF by Richard William Mueller

Fusty Saddle

Valk Display font by Victor Tognollo

Old Dog, New Tricks Caps by GregoryFonts

Geared by Ben Dalrymple

Quaver sans/serif by Tippletype

Deming EP by Mike Fortress

Bleeding Cowboys font by Last Soundtrack

Steampunk Photoshop Brushes

Steampunk Machine Brushes by necrosensual-art

Steampunk Designs by StarwaltDesign

Gears Vectors Brushes by redheadstock

Steampunk Brushes Vol3 by StarwaltDesign

Steampunk Brushes VOL 1 by AsunderDigital

Steampunk Brushes VOL 2 by AsunderDigital

Photoshop Brushes Steampunk by ValerianaSTOCK

50 Vintage Clock PS Brushes by FidgetResources

12 Vintage Cycle PS Brushes by FidgetResources

Brushes: SteamPunk Bizarre by hogret