On March 17, 2011, the Allen Institute for Brain Science released its latest updates to resources available through the ALLEN Brain Atlas data portal. These include new data and feature enhancements for three resources.
Highlights include:
• ALLEN Human Brain Atlas now includes microarray data for two complete adult human brains, with approximately 1,000 anatomic samples per brain. New features include the Brain Explorer® 3-D viewer and enhanced data search and navigation features. Learn more.
• NIMH Transcriptional Atlas of Human Brain Development has been expanded to include RNA-Seq data and exon array data for discrete anatomic samples from 25 donors spanning development, as well as additional ISH data spanning postnatal development. New features also include:
o Addition of differential and correlative search functions
o Enhanced heat-map interactivity and navigation for transcriptome data
o Side-by-side viewing of ISH data with nearest matching Nissl sections
• NIH Blueprint NHP Atlas now includes downloadable microarray data from substructures of the hippocampus and amygdala from four postnatal developmental stages.
2011年4月13日水曜日
Sony Reader Pocket Edition
No matter how slick an e-reader's physical design, it's hard to resist the urge to touch the screen, as you would on an iPad. But you can easily use the screen to navigate with the Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350SC.
Like its larger siblings in Sony's line of e-readers, the Reader Pocket Edition employs Sony's unique optical technology to allow fingers to tap away.
The Reader Pocket Edition has a 5in E Ink Pearl display, the same kind of screen as on the third-generation Amazon Kindle but 1in smaller. Not surprisingly, the device weighs less, too: At just 155g, the Pocket Edition is easy to hold in one hand while you're curled up on the couch for a reading session.
The optical-technology touchscreen uses infrared sensors to detect where your finger is; it compares that information against a matrix that identifies your finger's position and what action you are trying to accomplish, and then performs that action. The result is striking. I found the display brighter and dramatically sharper than Sony's previous touchscreen technology, with better contrast and clarity, as well as crisp greyscale images. Furthermore, I could make selections with featherlight touches to the screen. Previously, Sony used a resistive touch overlay on its Touch Edition PRS-600; the effect was unfortunate, with muted responsiveness, a persistent glare and fuzzy text.
In use, I found the touch navigation terrific and natural in feel. You simply touch to turn pages, and touch to get one of the 12 pop-up dictionaries, including conversion dictionaries for French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch, plus American and British English.
A simple row of buttons that lies beneath the screen consists of page-back and page-forward buttons, a zoom button, a font button and an options button. At top is the power switch, while the built-in slim stylus is at the upper right.
Among the options is the ability to adjust the contrast and brightness ratio further - a first among the e-readers we've seen. You can also choose from among six font sizes, from XS to XXL. If you opt for the last of those sizes, however, expect to do an awful lot of page turns on this petite unit. People with poor eyesight would do better to consider the 6in Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-650BC.
The unit also now charges via the increasingly common micro-USB port; previously, Sony used mini-USB. The e-reader has both Memory Stick and SD card slots, and 2GB of on-board storage.
One of the Reader platform's strengths is its support for the ePub e-book standard, which allows you to buy books from Sony's own store (you upload to the device after downloading books to the Mac/PC Sony desktop client) and other stores with ePub, as well as to download books from libraries.
One of its weaknesses is its pan-and-zoom approach to reading PDFs (though its PDF handling is still an improvement over that of the past).
Another weakness: No 3G or Wi-Fi. By contrast, the latest Amazon Kindle with Wi-Fi and 3G is US$189 - $40 less - and adds an extra inch to the screen to boot. You pay a steep price for the slick design of the highly portable Pocket Edition.
Australian Macworld's buying advice.
Among the small, 5in-screen e-reader set, Sony has leaped to the head of the pack. If you want your e-reader in a paperback size, the Sony Reader Pocket Edition is the best model you can get.
Ad-Supported Kindle
Who does Amazon think it's fooling with a meager $25 discount on an ad-supported Kindle? Ad-supported e-books are where it's really at.
The $114 Kindle with Special Offers ships May 3, and limits ads to the device's screensaver and main menu. Amazon has no plans to stuff ads inside e-books, says Amazon vice president of Kindle content Russ Grandinetti. Grandinetti told Business Insider that the company is "pretty skeptical" that ad-supported e-books are something people would want.
Am I the only one who thinks this is too bad? If e-books could be had for cheap--or even free--in exchange for the occasional ad, I'd download them by the dozen.
In theory, the nice thing about e-books is that you can build a huge library in a portable package. But if each e-book costs about the same as its dead-tree counterpart, then you're really just paying an extra $114+ for the convenience. It's no more conducive to building up a library in terms of cost, just space.
Ad-supported e-books could change all of this.
Publishers could work with advertisers to set a fair price on eyeballs, and then use the Kindle's web connectivity to adjust ads in real time. Ad support could also be added to the Kindle platform on phones and tablets. And instead of starting from scratch with a special "ad-supported Kindle," ad-supported e-books would be able to take advantage of the already-established Kindle market.
Ad-supported e-books would also keep users in control. Grandinetti told Business Insider that the Kindle strives to "disappear" while you're reading, and that ads in e-books would create a jarring experience. But I think users can decide whether that's an important factor while reading. Sure, I may not want to see an ad for a fishing expedition in the middle of Moby Dick, but I've got no problem learning about an upcoming Harry Potter movie while reading J.K. Rowling's latest book. The Kindle with Special Offers forces you to look at an ad every time you grab the device. Unless you want to look like a cheapskate, giving this e-reader as a gift is out of the question.
People who want nothing to do with ads, of course, would still be able to purchase ad-less books for the same dead-tree book price they're purchasing them for now.
So I hope Amazon will reconsider its unwillingness to place ads in e-books. The Kindle with Special Offers is a clever maneuver that gives Amazon one more advantage over the competition, but it doesn't go far enough.
The $114 Kindle with Special Offers ships May 3, and limits ads to the device's screensaver and main menu. Amazon has no plans to stuff ads inside e-books, says Amazon vice president of Kindle content Russ Grandinetti. Grandinetti told Business Insider that the company is "pretty skeptical" that ad-supported e-books are something people would want.
Am I the only one who thinks this is too bad? If e-books could be had for cheap--or even free--in exchange for the occasional ad, I'd download them by the dozen.
In theory, the nice thing about e-books is that you can build a huge library in a portable package. But if each e-book costs about the same as its dead-tree counterpart, then you're really just paying an extra $114+ for the convenience. It's no more conducive to building up a library in terms of cost, just space.
Ad-supported e-books could change all of this.
Publishers could work with advertisers to set a fair price on eyeballs, and then use the Kindle's web connectivity to adjust ads in real time. Ad support could also be added to the Kindle platform on phones and tablets. And instead of starting from scratch with a special "ad-supported Kindle," ad-supported e-books would be able to take advantage of the already-established Kindle market.
Ad-supported e-books would also keep users in control. Grandinetti told Business Insider that the Kindle strives to "disappear" while you're reading, and that ads in e-books would create a jarring experience. But I think users can decide whether that's an important factor while reading. Sure, I may not want to see an ad for a fishing expedition in the middle of Moby Dick, but I've got no problem learning about an upcoming Harry Potter movie while reading J.K. Rowling's latest book. The Kindle with Special Offers forces you to look at an ad every time you grab the device. Unless you want to look like a cheapskate, giving this e-reader as a gift is out of the question.
People who want nothing to do with ads, of course, would still be able to purchase ad-less books for the same dead-tree book price they're purchasing them for now.
So I hope Amazon will reconsider its unwillingness to place ads in e-books. The Kindle with Special Offers is a clever maneuver that gives Amazon one more advantage over the competition, but it doesn't go far enough.
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