Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Gizmodo Australia

REGULARS

Sydney's Future Zoo Wants To Use Augmented Reality, Robots And Drones

Western Sydney University (WSU) and Sydney Zoo are collaborating with the goal to deliver “one of the most technologically advanced wildlife experiences in the world” with the assistance of a hackathon.

Speaking with Gizmodo Don Wright, Manager of WSU’s “Launch Pad” program and Zoo Hackathon Coordinator, revealed the possibilities for technology use within the zoo. We’re talking everything from augmented reality to cheetahs chasing drones.

ONLINE

What Is FTTdp?

CAMPBELL SIMPSONYESTERDAY 1:30 PM

The five-letter acronym on every telco nerd’s mind at the moment — FTTdp — stands for fibre to the distribution point. Sitting somewhere in between fibre to the node (FTTN) and fibre to the premises (FTTPor FTTH) in speed, cost and complexity, it’s a new potential technology that may feature heavily in the future of the NBN. It promises to be cheaper than FTTP, faster than FTTN and equally quick to roll out.

ENTERTAINMENT

This Person And Their BB-8 Car Just Won Star Wars Fandom

GERMAIN LUSSIERTODAY 12:00 AM

Many people consider themselves big Star Wars fans. But how many of those people not only have a ton of creativity, but the guts to put it out there for the world to see? This California resident is all that and then some.

ENTERTAINMENT

The BFG Is Revealed In The Magical New Trailer For Steven Spielberg's Latest Film

GERMAIN LUSSIERYESTERDAY 11:30 PM

Video: The latest trailer for The BFG, Steven Spielberg’s first film ever released by Disney, is here. And it looks just as whimsical as that previous sentence makes it sound. Based on the Roald Dahl book, it hits theatres June 30.

ENTERTAINMENT

This Transformer Xiaomi Tablet Is More Than Meets The Eye

DARREN ORFYESTERDAY 11:00 PM

Every tablet maker is always looking to out do the competition. Usually that means progressively thinner and more powerful hardware, but Xiaomi decided to flip the script and turn one of its tablets, the Mi Pad 2, into a full-on Transformer.

ENTERTAINMENT

Watch This 45-Minute Documentary On The Making Of Disney's Zootopia

GERMAIN LUSSIERYESTERDAY 10:30 PM

Video: The year is still relatively young, but one of the biggest surprises on the big screen has to be Zootopia. The early footage looked OK, but no one could have guessed Disney Animation had made one of their best films in decades.

GADGETS

Aspiring Artists Can Make Like A Dutch Master With The LUCY Drawing Tool

JENNIFER OUELLETTEYESTERDAY 10:00 PM

Artist David Hockney once stirred up controversy by asserting that many of the great Dutch masters — folks like Vermeer and Ingres — had relied on optical drawing aids to create their masterpieces. Now everyone can channel their inner Dutch master with the LUCY drawing tool.

ENTERTAINMENT

New Smaller Roku Stick Makes It Easier To Watch TV Without Annoying Your Roommates

ALEX CRANZYESTERDAY 9:30 PM

The Roku Stick has always been a fantastic device. It’s as small as a Chromecast, but doesn’t require an entire additional phone/tablet/laptop to work. It just wedges Roku’s excellent smart TV OS into a HDMI stick, which is just a tad big three times as large as a thumb drive.

SCIENCE & HEALTH

LA Will Face Blackouts In Summer Due To Its Gigantic Natural Gas Leak

ALISSA WALKERYESTERDAY 9:00 PM

Though the catastrophic natural gas leak outside of Los Angeles has been contained, the repercussions are still far from over, according to a new report. For weeks leaders of the region’s utility companies have been warning customers about potential disruptions to their energy service. Today, they’re telling Los Angeles to brace for blackouts this summer (winter in the southern hemisphere).

ONLINE

Why Hackers With Sketchy Pasts Should Avoid 'Hack The Pentagon'

KATE KNIBBSYESTERDAY 8:30 PM

The US Department of Defence launched a new program last week, “Hack the Pentagon”, to reward hackers for pointing out security flaws in some of its public-facing websites. It’s a bug bounty, the same kind of program that most big tech firms use to encourage hackers to help instead of harm. The program budget is $US150,000 ($195,387), so rewards will be small, especially compared to private bounties.

SOFTWARE & DESIGN

Coolest Art Nerds Ever Taught A Computer To Create A Rembrandt

DARREN ORFYESTERDAY 8:00 PM

The painting below looks almost exactly like the work of the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt, and as far as science and mathematics is concerned, it is a Rembrandt. But instead of oils and brushes, researchers from Microsoft and other organisations used data points and 3D printing.