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May 17, 2012
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A team of Auckland engineering students have made history at the
worldwide finals of the 2010 Microsoft Imagine Cup competition, which
a record 300,000-plus entered this year. Vinny Kumar, Chanyeol Yoo,
Kayo Lakadia and Steve Ward of Team One Beep achieved the highest-ever
ranking for a New Zealand group when they were announced as the
third-place winners in the software design category this morning for
their project to improve education in poverty-stricken regions. Taking
heed from the One Laptop Per Child programme, the team devised
software that can send educational content via radio waves. This can
be received on any cheap AM/FM radio, passed on to a computer and
converted to its original form for viewing. Said team leader Vinny
Kumar: “The whole team is on a high. When you put this much into a
competition you always dream of getting this far but even when it
actually happens it never feels real. The most exciting thing, though,
is that the recognition our project will gain will help us make a
bigger difference in people’s lives.”
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Kiwi filmmaking just got another boost thanks to NZ On Screen, which
this week launched a selection of classic short films that you can
browse here.
It’s the first in a series in partnership with the NZ Film Commission,
intended to showcase award-winning works made here in Aotearoa.
The collection marks the first time that many of these films are
available online since they initially won festival acclaim, including
Jane Campion’s Peel, Taika Waititi’s Tama Tū and Rob Sarkies’
Signing Off. And be sure to get along to the premiere of this year’s
best shorts in Auckland tonight and Wellington next
week.
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After a bit of a hiatus, Idealog TV is officially back and better than ever. To kick things off, we headed to the TechNZ Innovation Forum, where 380 leaders in the R&D sector gathered last week to listen to legendary venture capitalist Vinod Khosler. Idealog‘s very own Vincent Heeringa was the masterful MC, so we were in prime position to capture the standout moments, starting with Lanzatech founder Sean Simpson—and keep an eye out, because we’ll have a whole raft of videos reporting from the same forum in the not too distant future.
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WordCamp 2010: It’s way more fun than band camp, and odds are you’ll
learn something new while you’re there. As the name suggests, it’s
devoted to all things WordPress, put together by users and sponsored
by none other than Idealog. Everyone, from casual bloggers to core
developers, is welcome to attend and even if you’re only thinking about using WordPress, there’s no better place to find answers to your
questions. Topics confirmed so far include security,
marcomms, community management, SEO and design, with more on the way.
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Auto pilot
Terrafugia, an aircraft company in Massachusetts, has just been given
the go-ahead to mass-produce a flying car. The two-seater aircraft is
designed to take off and land at local airports, but can be driven on
any run-of-the-mill road – it can handle highway speeds safely and
fits inside a regular garage. It transforms into a car by folding up
its wings, a process that takes less than 30 seconds. Watch it here.
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Time flies when you’re having fun, and in just over a month
Semi-Permanent will spark up winter at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. Now in
its seventh year, the annual design symposium brings together speakers
from a broad range of disciplines including graphic design, fashion,
animation, typography, marketing, fine art, music and more. A
15-strong lineup of local and international speakers including Karen
Walker and Pixar’s Andrew Gordon are not to be missed. Grab your
tickets now, and while you’re at it, check out We Can Create, a popup site where you can upload your Semi-Permanent inspired design, photograph or illustration
and be in to win tickets to the event.
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Ever imagined seeing your work screened at the Sundance Film Festival?
That dream could become reality next year with YouTube’s Life in a Day
project. In order to create a user-generated feature film, the company
is calling for people all around the world to capture a glimpse of
daily life on camera. The most compelling footage will be edited into
a documentary produced by Ridley Scott, with contributors credited as
co-directors. Find out more here.
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These space-age contraptions are about as revolutionary as they
appear. Developer Peter Treadway says his motorised shoes offer an
alternative to using the car or bus for short-haul journeys, and they
can adapt to all forms of transit. For example, when you’re not
zipping around at up to 16km/h, you can bike, drive or walk with them
on. He has entered them into the annual James Dyson Awards, and if
successful, you might soon be seeing them on the market.
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When Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci announced plans to retire
and tend his garden, nobody imagined he would re-emerge having built
the world’s largest maze. The labyrinth of bamboo hedges reportedly
covers 17.5 acres, which would make it more than five times larger
than the Pineapple Garden Maze in Hawaii, the current record-holder.
His maze will open to the public in 2012; visitors are advised to
bring their cell phones in case they need help. Apparently, a
journalist who got an early glimpse of the maze got lost on the return journey.
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The Deloitte Fast 50 is canvassing the landscape for businesses that
have mastered the art of growth. Now in its tenth year, the index is
an opportunity for businesses—large or small, public or private—to
benchmark and celebrate their success. It honours innovation and the
entrepreneurial spirit of those that make business growth look more
like an art form than science. So if you’ve mastered the art of growth
or know of a business that has, check out the 2010 Deloitte Fast 50.
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Down to an art
We hate to add too much to the iPad hysteria, but if you’ve got eight
minutes to spare you should have a squiz at this video.
Hypothetically, we could be whipping up insanely lifelike paintings
using nothing more than a finger and some hand-eye coordination. Watch it here
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On the first Wednesday of every month, the Icehouse opens up to entrepreneurs who are hungry to understand the steps to business success. You’ll get the chance to meet Icehouse executives, experts and angel investors (chairman Greg Cross just won the TechNZ Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual of the Year), and talk to previous incubator residents over a beer. It’s not just about networking, either; startups director Ken Erskine will present a seminar on five rules for successful entrepreneurship based on his ten years of experience. And did we mention that it’s all completely free? Register to attend the next session here.
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