How to Make a Mirror That Tells You the Weather

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Cool Smart Mirror – Informs About Weather

Much progress has been taken place in the internet of things and with great headway in the field of technology; we tend to live in the future where everything has a tendency to be Wi-Fi compatible. A boring normal mirror can be boosted into a cool smart mirror which could inform you about the weather while one seems to be watching your reflection.

One of the most well-known stop in the making of everything in our lives `smart’, is the mirror.It could be expensive to get a smart mirror and hence creating one could be quite economical. All that one would need is some glass and some support for the mirror, together with a monitor for the display accompanied by a Raspberry Pi for the smarts.

Max Braun, Google engineer for instance had built a smart mirror earlier in the year and presently web developer, designer as well as tinkerer Zach had developed an identical gadget which tends to add voice commands together with verbal responses which seem to sound like a very simple J.A.R.V.I.S.

The manufacturers had developed their own mirror from a sheet of glass together with support. The option lies with the user intending to develop one by following the instruction or by purchasing a custom mirror which has been developed for this purpose.

One Way Mirror/Monitor/Computer

Thereafter one could build a frame for the mirror keeping in mind that the frame too needs to hold a monitor. This could be huge; hence one would require a thick frame to hide it. Moreover you would also require building a section in the frame to grip the mirror.

Eventually you need to install everything and plug it in and then you could have your own smart mirror. A magic mirror is essentially a frame, a one-way mirror, a monitor together with a computer – Raspberry Pi. All that is needed is a-

•  Computer screen which can be taken apart 
•  An observation mirror or a glass together with a mirror film 
•  A Raspberry Pi having a casing and micro USB power cord 
•  A SD card – 8GB 
•  Network adaptor, for Wi-Fi 
•  Wood frame – boards, screw, glue, paint, drill 
•  HDMI-to-VGA adaptor based on if the screen tends to have HDMI or not 
•  A mouse together with a keyboard with USB 
•  An alternate computer to fix OS and stuff

Enhancement of Self-Confidence

One ought to know not to take the measurements for the mirror till you have opened the screen which would tend to be smaller when the plastic is removed. Moreover when you have the screen, ensure that the contacts tend to be on one area on the sides and not straight back. Should they be straight back, one could envisage an issue if the need to hang it later on the wall arises.

The smart mirror has the tendency of providing plenty of useful data for those getting ready to leave their home in the morning, comprising of the date and time, together with the weather, future events on their calendar as well compliments. What one would need most in the morning more than a reminder of caffeine is an enhancement of self-confidence.

Amplify Your Mood with the New Google Home

Say hello to the new smart speaker from the tech-giant, the “Google Home” which is listed under the “Made by Google” product line up. Priced at around $129, the Google Home is a direct competition to the Amazon Echo which has been in the market for a while. So does it have what it takes to be the new favorite? Here’s a quick review of the latest Google Home!

Hardware Specifications: 

Standing at 5.62 inches or 143 mm tall and 3.79 inches or 96 mm in diameter and weighing at around 480 grams, it has a cylindrical shape with 4 LEDs on the top of the device programmed to indicate battery life. The upper surface is also equipped with a capacitive touch panel which allows play/pause music, adjusting volume or opening up the Google assistant. Powered by the same ARM processor and WIFI module present on the Chromecast, it is a pretty compact device that turns your residence into a Smart Home. The base comes with an interchangeable cover with various colors like carbon, copper, snow, marine, mango and violet.

Know Your Companion: 

Google Home seamlessly controls home devices and products like Nest Thermostat, Philips, IFTTT and SmartThings. It also behaves like a Chromecast and using voice commands it can stream audio and video to compatible devices. So if you feel lazy, you can just ask the device to adjust the room temperature or play your favorite TV show for you from your bed! It is rumored that Netflix is working on adding voice commands to their apps and soon Google Home will support it.

The Google assistant supports YouTube, Pandora, Google Play Music, IHeart Radio and Tunein. It comes with a feature viz. “My Day” which lets the assistant access information about the daily schedule of the user. Before heading out of the door you may ask “Ok Google, How’s the weather?” and it will say it loud for you. Consider a situation that you may have more than one speaker in your home; Google clarified that the devices comes with a dual microphone set up and the one which hears the voice best will wake up.

It is context aware which makes it far easier to talk to. Conversations with the device seem a lot easier compared to Amazon’s Echo. However it can access information from only one Google account. This may considered as a minute drawback as nowadays everyone has more than one personal account. Hope it gets fixed soon.

The Final Verdict 

So should you buy it? If you are out in the market for a portable speaker then the Google Home is definitely a wise choice. It has great quality sound output and a compact design. It excels in what it is meant to do i.e. provide a seamless interconnection between devices and play quality music. Yes, it doesn’t come cheap but it delivers for the price point. There are alternatives in the market but a product from a tech-giant like Google is always preferable.

A New Twist on Airplane Wing Design

In one of his greatest work “Codex on the Flight of Birds”, Leonardo da Vinci provided some unique study with almost 500 sketches of flying machine, which is the basis of modern Airplane technology in the contemporary society. The Wright brothers have accomplished the maiden powered flight over hundred years ago, which was controlled by using pulleys and wires to twist and bending of the wings, made of wood and canvas.

Although this system is a quite different one, that is propelled by hinged flaps and the ailerons, which are being used in most of the aircraft since its inception. The aircraft technology has developed in many ways in the last few decades and witnessed some of the most advanced elements in the design and technical know-how.

Now the engineers from MIT and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have developed some hi-tech enchantment, with a new version of bendable and “morphing” wing. This new technology is having some unique features and simplified process of manufacturing that reduces the consumption of fuel by improving the aerodynamics of wings. Some of the features of this basic concept are as follows:

• The fundamental principle at the back of this new concept is the simple use of an arrangement of tiny and lightweight structural components, which are referred as “digital materials” and can be assembled into almost infinite assortment of shapes. This is such a simple structure manufacturing that can be compared even with the formation of configuration with the help of Lego blocks. The separate pieces are quite strong and rigid in nature, but it can be noted; the precise choice of sizes and the materials and most importantly the geometry of the assembling of pieces, which allow for the exact tuning of suppleness of the shape.

• According to researchers; the building up of such large and intricate structure, from an arrangement of tiny and indistinguishable building blocks, which have the exceptional grouping of strength, flexibility and light weight, simplifies the manufacturing process to a great extent. This modular structure is also providing the greatest ever simplicity in both the assembly and the disassembly of the construction that means; when the structure is not been needed, it can be dismantled and the entire structure can be taken apart by segregating its separate component parts, which can be reassembled and used for creating some other kinds of structures.

• Being the composition of different tiny parts; repairing process is also very easy and can be done in a very simple manner e.g. just by replacement of the damaged subunits in a very comfortable manner. The “skin” or the outer coat of the wings is also enhancing the performance of the structure. This “Skin:” is made with the technology of overlapping strips, made of flexible materials and layered as bird’s feather or somewhat like fish scales, which allows the pieces in moving across, while the wings flexes but still provide the most smoothened outer surface. It is ascertained that the primary use of this technology can be for making of tiny and robotic aircraft at the initial stage.

Google Now Lets You Control Your Phone Using Harry Potter Spells

Are you an ultimate Harry Potter fan? Has it been your childhood dream to get a magical Hogwarts experience? Harry potter is not only a story or a name it is an experience which has won the heart of millions around the world. If you’ve never missed on Hogwarts and have been an Android user, them Google has the best thing for you. Google’s new applications allow Android users to change their mobile devices into a magical experience. Using this application you can easily convert your phone into your personal wand. Using a variety of Harry Potter spells you will be able to control your Android device.

Spells to activate phone functions 

Using Google voice assistant you can use this latest software by pressing the microphone icon or by saying ‘Ok Google’. Certain Latin spells like Silencio or Lumos you will be able to active a few phone functions. In the wizarding world of Hogwarts Lumos adds light to the wands and by using these spell Android users could turn their flashlights on. Similarly, Nox is another wizarding spell which will turn the flashlight off. Silencio which is used to add a silencing charm at Hogwarts will immediately turn the device’s silent feature on.

This innovative Google application is a tie up with Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts. Google is trying to incorporate some new features to the Google Maps. Using the Google Street View users will be able to view 1926 New York, and four different US locations from the film. Although this is not the first time that Google made a tie up with a film. Google’s previous was with tie up with Star Wars, and Android users got the opportunity to enjoy the Jedi Lightsaber Game. The spells in the Harry Potter application is the coolest feature, and is being extremely well recived by the audience.

Be a wizard and tour New York 

This team up has proved to be a marvelous and efficient promotion for the much anticipated ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them’, Harry Potter prequel. Android users are having fun with this latest feature by using their phones as wands and casting magic spells. Who doesn’t want to be a wizard? Getting a taste of the magical Hogwarts experience has been a dream of people around the globe, and by this software you can be a wizard and cast some spells. The prequel of this world famous movie series is set in the 1920’s in New York.

Using the Google Maps feature you get to visit the gothic environment in New York of 1926. Moreover, users will also be able to explore the real locations of today’s New York City using Google Street View. Harry Potter fans will be able to visit Steen National Bank, the meeting point of Jacob Kowalski and Newt, Magical Congress of USA, the underground Blind Pig, and the enchanting apartment of Queenie and Tina Goldstein, who play two primary characters in the prequel. There are trillions of Hogwart fans around the world, and many have desired to get a magical experience. If you want to get anything close to the real experience try out this amazing Google application.

Firefox Disables Loophole That Allows Sites to Track Users via Battery Status

We are living in a society, where the science and technology have taken a great leap forward and developed the most outstanding invention of the computer and the internet, which have now become such an issue that a little bit of touch of these can be seen in almost everywhere in our life.

The web surfing in the computer or other devices, with the help of the internet, is a very common issue in our life and people of almost all color, class, nationality are now accustomed with these technological advances, which cannot be avoided, due to its useful characteristics. To cater the web world, the user needs to take the help of a browser that can play the role of perfect vehicle in surfing process.

The Firefox is one such browser, which is considered as one of the most popular ones and being used by millions of internet enthusiasts, across the world. It is popular, not only for the colorful look or name but for the user-friendly features, which are time to time developed by a strong professional team. Recently Firefox disabled one of its features, considered as a loophole because it allows various websites to track the specific user through the status of the battery use.

The Issue at a Glance

The battery status feature of the Firefox is having some loopholes and these are now being fixed or disabled by the organization to provide a sigh of relief for its millions of users from being opened to the users, who want to get the details of the internet user. Some of the features of this fixing of loopholes are as follows: 

•  The said feature is known as “battery status API’ that allows various websites to request information about what amount of battery life has left of a specific visitor and these are; whether the device is plugged in or not, what time the battery will take to be exhausted and the percentage of remaining charge. 
•  The browser is having the features that were helpful for websites to offer some of the lesser energy sensitive versions sites for their visitors, who are having less battery power remaining e.g. a mapping site may download a smaller amount of information or a social networking website could put out of action its auto-playing video. 
•  Only in 2015, the Guardian, renowned newspaper of international repute, reported with various instances that researchers have discovered that someone can easily abuse the specific feature, which may helpful in tracking down the browsing on the internet. 

Now Firefox has disabled this battery status feature in a bid to help their potential users to get rid of the problem of getting tracked by other sites, which is a great threat to their personal security and dignity. Although they have already repaired this loophole, there are others in the market of browsers, who are now considering of repealing some of their features, which may help the internet lovers to get proper immunization from internet threat of being tracked by any websites or personnel of questionable identity.