SPIEGEL Surfs the Web SPIEGEL Surfs the Web
The random, often sublimely strange combination of offers and ads that floods in-boxes everywhere have inspired fits of rage, spam poetry and now an online art installation. Spamgraffiti, created by Texas artist David Chien, visually tags the 25 most recent spam emails received by a specific address he's set up. New spam starts out on top, then gradually migrates to the bottom as more arrives, and each "page" of art is fully updated within five minutes. "Penile implants and more." "Come get your daily dose." "100 percent herbal Viagra!" You've seen the message, but have you seen it in the form of art?
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Getting up can be torture for those people biologically inclined to sleep in late. SPIEGEL ONLINE can't call the boss for you to tell him you'll be in around 11 a.m., but we have found a Web site listing the top 10 most annoying alarm clocks. The winner? Well, Clocky , of course. The bizarre little contraption has plush carpeting and comes with wheels. "When you hit Clocky's snooze button, he will roll off of the nightstand, fall to the floor, and run around the room, searching for a place to hide. When the alarm sounds again, you have to get out of bed to find it and turn it off." Hmm. Then again, maybe you can just look for a job with a late shift.
Google's Mars Landing
With the online search industry firmly in its grip on Earth, Google is looking towards the stars in its hunt for new business opportunities. Next up appears to be Mars. At mars.google.com , Web surfers can explore the Red Planet from the comfort of their own desk. The site offers photographs of Mars as well as relief maps and infrared images of the Martian surface. There's probably no better way to trace the voyages of Mars Pathfinder, Europe's ill-fated Beagle 2 or NASA's Viking 2, which made the first ever trip to Mars in 1975. And who knows -- with all of its detailed photos and maps, could a Google surfer become the first to discover signs of life on the planet?
Thought-Controlled Computers
No keyboard, no mouse and no joystick, and they are still playing pong on a computer screen. Admittedly you do need an awful lot of cables and a headset that looks like a 1970s shower cap, but being able to operate a computer by thought process alone is still pretty impressive. Another video shows how the technology can also be used for typing.
The technology, which is called a Brain Computer Interface or BCI, is the result of a state-funded cooperation between the US and Europe. And snce both the well-respected Fraunhofer Institute and Berlin's Technical University are involved, it must be for real. After cerebral electric activity is picked up by electrodes attached to the scalp, signals are then transformed into computer commands. The long-term aim is to allow a mouse pointer to be controlled by brain waves, or tools which can be used for patients suffering from quadriplegia.
