2006-04-26
Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's History
Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's History: "What the experts were able to ascertain from their brief encounter with Kennewick is that he did not look like a Native American. In fact, a Middle Tennessee State University researcher says Kennewick's facial features are most similar to those of a Jaanese group called the Ainu, who have a different physical makeup and cultural background from the ethnic Japanese.
2006-04-25
Scientists Make Major Finding On Potential Cure For Type 1 Diabetes
Scientists Make Major Finding On Potential Cure For Type 1 Diabetes: "A major finding, which represents an important step toward a potential cure for type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, has been made by a research team at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI). The team, led by Matthias von Herrath, MD, an internationally recognized expert on the molecular basis of type 1 diabetes, used a combinatorial treatment approach in laboratory mice and found it reversed recent onset type 1 diabetes in the majority of animals tested.
Nano Machine Switches Between Biological And Silicon Worlds
Nano Machine Switches Between Biological And Silicon Worlds: "Scientists have created a molecular switch that could play a key role in thousands of nanotech applications. The Mol-Switch project successfully developed a demonstrator to prove the principle, despite deep scepticism from specialist colleagues in biotechnology and biophysics.
2006-04-24
The Ladybag remembers your stuff with RFID
The Ladybag remembers your stuff with RFID: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables
We carry handhelds so we don't forget what we've got to do, but what happens when we forget our handheld? Six students from Canada's Simon Fraser University don't have an answer, but they have developed the latest in purse technology to help prevent the aforementioned situation from occuring to the ladies. The Ladybag's function is fairly simple: an RFID scanner in the bottom of the bag will display a LED-lit icon of whatever it is you didn't remember to embagify. (It'll also display emoticons of how your bag thinks you're feeling, depending on how you're holding and handling it.) Of course, if you're like us and frequently forget your bag when out and about, you'd do best to skip the Ladybag (or Manbag, as it were) and make like us: find a keeper.
We carry handhelds so we don't forget what we've got to do, but what happens when we forget our handheld? Six students from Canada's Simon Fraser University don't have an answer, but they have developed the latest in purse technology to help prevent the aforementioned situation from occuring to the ladies. The Ladybag's function is fairly simple: an RFID scanner in the bottom of the bag will display a LED-lit icon of whatever it is you didn't remember to embagify. (It'll also display emoticons of how your bag thinks you're feeling, depending on how you're holding and handling it.) Of course, if you're like us and frequently forget your bag when out and about, you'd do best to skip the Ladybag (or Manbag, as it were) and make like us: find a keeper.
Grow a grass armchair
Grow a grass armchair: "
Spring is springing, and you're in the market for some lawn furniture. Why not grow yourself a grass armchair? UK furniture store Purves & Purves has one all ready to get growing in your yard.
The package includes 14 cardboard frames, and a humungous pack of grass seeds. You fill in the frame with soil, seed and water every day. After ten days you've got yourself the greenest seat on the block.
Just make sure you pick the right spot, because this thing ain't moving. The Grass Armchair'll set you back £65 and looks quite popular - it's out of stock at the moment.
Spring is springing, and you're in the market for some lawn furniture. Why not grow yourself a grass armchair? UK furniture store Purves & Purves has one all ready to get growing in your yard.
The package includes 14 cardboard frames, and a humungous pack of grass seeds. You fill in the frame with soil, seed and water every day. After ten days you've got yourself the greenest seat on the block.
Just make sure you pick the right spot, because this thing ain't moving. The Grass Armchair'll set you back £65 and looks quite popular - it's out of stock at the moment.
2006-04-21
Tiny Reactor Boosts Biodiesel Production - Forbes.com
Tiny Reactor Boosts Biodiesel Production - Forbes.com: "A tiny chemical reactor that can convert vegetable oil directly into biodiesel could help farmers turn some of their crops into homegrown fuel to operate agricultural equipment instead of relying on costly imported oil.
'This is all about producing energy in such a way that it liberates people,' said Goran Jovanovic, a chemical engineering professor at Oregon State University who developed the microreactor.
The device - about the size of a credit card - pumps vegetable oil and alcohol through tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, to convert the oil into biodiesel almost instantly.
By comparison, it takes more than a day to produce biodiesel with current technology.
'This is all about producing energy in such a way that it liberates people,' said Goran Jovanovic, a chemical engineering professor at Oregon State University who developed the microreactor.
The device - about the size of a credit card - pumps vegetable oil and alcohol through tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, to convert the oil into biodiesel almost instantly.
By comparison, it takes more than a day to produce biodiesel with current technology.
2006-04-19
Nanotube sheets come of age
Nanotube sheets come of age: "They're soft, strong, and very, very long.
Large, transparent sheets of carbon nanotubes can now be produced at lightning speed. The new technique should allow the nanotubes to be used in commercial devices from heated car windows to flexible television screens.
'Rarely is a processing advance so elegantly simple that rapid commercialization seems possible,' says Ray Baughman, a chemist from the University of Texas at Dallas, whose team unveils the ribbon in this week's Science1.
Nanotubes are tiny cylinders of carbon atoms measuring just billionths of a metre across. They are light, strong, and conductive. But for years their promise has outweighed their utility, because the complicated processes involved in making devices from nanotubes were too slow and expensive to be used in large-scale manufacturing.
But now, nanotubes have gone into warp drive. Baughman's team can churn out up to ten metres of nanoribbon every minute, as easily as pulling a strip of sticky tape from a reel (see video ). This ribbon can be up to five centimetres wide, and after a simple wash in ethanol compacts to just 50 nanometres thick, making it 2,000 times thinner than a piece of paper.
The ribbons are transparent, flexible, and conduct electricity. Weight for weight, they are stronger than steel sheets, yet a square kilometre of the material would weight only 30 kilograms. This is basically a new material," says Baughman.
Large, transparent sheets of carbon nanotubes can now be produced at lightning speed. The new technique should allow the nanotubes to be used in commercial devices from heated car windows to flexible television screens.
'Rarely is a processing advance so elegantly simple that rapid commercialization seems possible,' says Ray Baughman, a chemist from the University of Texas at Dallas, whose team unveils the ribbon in this week's Science1.
Nanotubes are tiny cylinders of carbon atoms measuring just billionths of a metre across. They are light, strong, and conductive. But for years their promise has outweighed their utility, because the complicated processes involved in making devices from nanotubes were too slow and expensive to be used in large-scale manufacturing.
But now, nanotubes have gone into warp drive. Baughman's team can churn out up to ten metres of nanoribbon every minute, as easily as pulling a strip of sticky tape from a reel (see video ). This ribbon can be up to five centimetres wide, and after a simple wash in ethanol compacts to just 50 nanometres thick, making it 2,000 times thinner than a piece of paper.
The ribbons are transparent, flexible, and conduct electricity. Weight for weight, they are stronger than steel sheets, yet a square kilometre of the material would weight only 30 kilograms. This is basically a new material," says Baughman.
High efficiency flat light source could be the end for the light bulb
High efficiency flat light source could be the end for the light bulb: "April 19, 2006 The end of the lightbulb is nigh! Scientists studying organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have made a critical leap from single-color displays to a highly efficient and long-lived natural light source. The invention is the latest fruit of a 13-year OLED research program led by Mark Thompson, professor of chemistry at USC and Stephen Forrest of the University of Michigan. If the device can be mass-manufactured cheaply - a realistic expectation, according to Thompson - interior lighting could look vastly different in the future. Almost any surface in a home, whether flat or curved, could become a light source: walls, curtains, ceilings, cabinets or tables. Since OLEDs are transparent when turned off, the devices could even be installed as windows or skylights to mimic the feel of natural light after dark - or to serve as the ultimate inconspicuous flat-panel television...
2006-04-18
Bunnyocalypse - Marshmallow Bunny Apocalypse :: Marshmallow Peeps
Bunnyocalypse - Marshmallow Bunny Apocalypse :: Marshmallow Peeps: "Through the Easter season (and until the marshmallow bunny supply runs out), BUNNYOCALYPSE presents a gallery of episodes detailing the on-going Marshmallow Bunny Apocalypse. New episodes will be posted as they become available -and- a gallery of visitor submissions is in the works. For now, enjoy the episodes...
2006-04-14
Seed: Prime Numbers Get Hitched
Seed: Prime Numbers Get Hitched: "In 1972, the physicist Freeman Dyson wrote an article called 'Missed Opportunities.' In it, he describes how relativity could have been discovered many years before Einstein announced his findings if mathematicians in places like Göttingen had spoken to physicists who were poring over Maxwell's equations describing electromagnetism. The ingredients were there in 1865 to make the breakthrough—only announced by Einstein some 40 years later.
Print me a heart and a set of arteries
Print me a heart and a set of arteries: "A new 'bioprinting' technique uses droplets of 'bioink' -- clumps of cells a few hundred micrometers in diameter that behave just like a liquid. This means that droplets placed next to one another will flow together and fuse, forming layers, rings...
The Remains of Lady Be Good
The Remains of Lady Be Good: "In early November, 1958, a British oil exploration team was flying over North Africa's harsh Libyan Desert when they stumbled across something unexpected… the wreckage of a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) plane from World War 2. A ground crew eventually located the site, where a quick inspection of the remains identified it as a B-24D Liberator called the Lady Be Good, an Allied bomber that had disappeared following a bombing run in Italy in 1943. When she failed to return to base, the USAAF conducted a search, ultimately presuming that the Lady and her crew perished in the Mediterranean Sea after becoming disoriented. The British oil surveyors found that the desert environment had preserved the aircraft's hardware astonishingly well; the plane's 50 caliber machine guns still operated at the pull of the trigger, the radio was in working condition, one of the engines was still functional, and... (More Inside)
2006-04-13
ScienceDaily: High Efficiency Flat Light Source Invented
ScienceDaily: High Efficiency Flat Light Source Invented: "Scientists studying organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have made a critical leap from single-color displays to a highly efficient and long-lived natural
The invention, described in the April 13 issue of Nature, is the latest fruit of a 13-year OLED research program led by Mark Thompson, professor of chemistry in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Stephen Forrest, formerly of Princeton University and now vice president for research at the University of Michigan.
'This process will enable us to get 100 percent efficiency out of a single, broad spectrum light source,' Thompson said.
If the device can be mass-manufactured cheaply - a realistic expectation, according to Thompson - interior lighting could look vastly different in the future. Almost any surface in a home, whether flat or curved, could become a light source: walls, curtains, ceilings, cabinets or tables.
The invention, described in the April 13 issue of Nature, is the latest fruit of a 13-year OLED research program led by Mark Thompson, professor of chemistry in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Stephen Forrest, formerly of Princeton University and now vice president for research at the University of Michigan.
'This process will enable us to get 100 percent efficiency out of a single, broad spectrum light source,' Thompson said.
If the device can be mass-manufactured cheaply - a realistic expectation, according to Thompson - interior lighting could look vastly different in the future. Almost any surface in a home, whether flat or curved, could become a light source: walls, curtains, ceilings, cabinets or tables.
High Efficiency Flat Light Source Invented
High Efficiency Flat Light Source Invented: "A group of chemists and electrical engineers succeeds in making a prototype white-light organic LED. Assuming the development of a waterproof backing, the advance could bring major changes in indoor lighting.
2006-04-12
Sweet Sounds of Stradivarius
Sweet Sounds of Stradivarius: "Noboby made violins like Antoni Stradivari, but two Swedish researchers are going to give it a try. Yet even they admit that whatever it was that made a Strad a Strad, technology is unlikely to match it.
2006-04-10
New Scientist Tech - Breaking News - Battery electrodes self-assembled by viruses
New Scientist Tech - Breaking News - Battery electrodes self-assembled by viruses: "Genetically modified viruses that assemble into electrodes could one day revolutionise battery manufacturing.
Researchers in the US have created viruses that automatically coat themselves in metals and line up head to tail to form an efficient battery anode – the negatively charged component that channels electrons to generate current. These nanowires could be used to make revolutionary new forms of lithium-ion batteries, the researchers say.
'Now it's simply a matter of designing the other components, and we'll be able to form batteries by simply pouring all the ingredients together and letting them self-assemble,' says Angela Belcher, a biological engineer at MIT who led the research. 'Plus we can make them at room temperature in very safe conditions, instead of the high temperatures and dangers usually associated with battery production.'"
Researchers in the US have created viruses that automatically coat themselves in metals and line up head to tail to form an efficient battery anode – the negatively charged component that channels electrons to generate current. These nanowires could be used to make revolutionary new forms of lithium-ion batteries, the researchers say.
'Now it's simply a matter of designing the other components, and we'll be able to form batteries by simply pouring all the ingredients together and letting them self-assemble,' says Angela Belcher, a biological engineer at MIT who led the research. 'Plus we can make them at room temperature in very safe conditions, instead of the high temperatures and dangers usually associated with battery production.'"
Damn Interesting » Germany's Pleasure Dome
Damn Interesting » Germany's Pleasure Dome: "In the northeastern portion of Germany, about thirty-six miles southeast of Berlin, a passenger train and shuttle service delivers men, women, and children to the door of one of the most voluminous structures on the planet. They arrive throughout the day and night, every day of the year. The enormous dome stands 350 feet tall, and encloses 194 million cubic feet of space. It was originally commissioned by CargoLifter AG as a hangar for their heavy-lift airship concept, but their dirigible was never developed, and the company went bankrupt in 2002. The following year, Malaysian Tanjong company purchased the gigantic building and filled it with something never before seen in northeast Germany: tropical paradise."
2006-04-07
Evergreen's $8.50 DN-2000 MP3 player
Evergreen's $8.50 DN-2000 MP3 player: "Filed under: Portable Audio
Japanese Co. Evergreen is no stranger to the cheap and crap-plasticy product. Now they combine their love of the two and apparent hatred for human-kind in this $8.50 DN-2000 MP3 player targeting the ill-fated shores of Japan, and perhaps, beyond. It runs for 5-hours on a single AAA battery and supports 1GB SD cards. You realize of course, that we are now at the dawn of disposable MP3 players don't you? Gawd save our souls.
Japanese Co. Evergreen is no stranger to the cheap and crap-plasticy product. Now they combine their love of the two and apparent hatred for human-kind in this $8.50 DN-2000 MP3 player targeting the ill-fated shores of Japan, and perhaps, beyond. It runs for 5-hours on a single AAA battery and supports 1GB SD cards. You realize of course, that we are now at the dawn of disposable MP3 players don't you? Gawd save our souls.
2006-04-04
So Much for the Giant iPod
So Much for the Giant iPod: "
Did you like the 'giant iPod seen from the Moon' story as much as I did? Oh well.
Did you like the 'giant iPod seen from the Moon' story as much as I did? Oh well.
2006-03-30
Anti-gravity Effect? Gravitational Equivalent Of A Magnetic Field Measured In Lab
Anti-gravity Effect? Gravitational Equivalent Of A Magnetic Field Measured In Lab: "Scientists funded by the European Space Agency have measured the gravitational equivalent of a magnetic field for the first time in a laboratory. Under certain special conditions the effect is much larger than expected from general relativity and could help physicists to make a significant step towards the long-sought-after quantum theory of gravity.
The Electric Violin
The Electric Violin: "March 26, 2006 The violin is one of the oldest of instruments with roots going back 7000 years, arriving in its current form 500 years ago. So classically trained musician Tricia Ho felt that it was time to redesign the classical instrument with 21st century ergonomics and an interchangeable frame system that allow the player to customise the violin to suit their style and reduce musculoskeletal disorders in player’s necks and shoulders. “Coming from a background of classical violin training I have many friends who experienced problems gripping a traditional violin”, said Ho, a student at the University of New South Wales...
Megaphone Helmets & the astonishing power of blogs
Megaphone Helmets & the astonishing power of blogs: " A week ago, Richard mailed me about some funny hats he'd seen on eBay, and I wrote this post about them, which Mark at Boing Boing kindly linked to. Today, the auction finished. The pair of hats, which had failed to get a starting bid of £45 when Richard spotted them, sold for £820. That's $1,434, and the winning bidder has a feedback score of 119.
2006-03-29
BUSlink's 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive PRO 2 Series
BUSlink's 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive PRO 2 Series: "Filed under: Storage
We're not exactly sure when BUSlink launched a 64GB -- that's gigabyte, yes -- flash drive, but it's right there on their site, plain as day, handily and smugly smacking down even the largest of flash drives, available for purchase for $5,000. Apparently they've also got a 32GB (not shown) and 16GB drive for $1,500, but seriously, if this isn't some kind of sick joke catering to our obsession with solid state memory, you know exactly which one it is we'll be promptly devouring as soon as we can sell off enough excess gear and internal organs to afford it. You can run an OS off a flash drive, right? Ok, good.
We're not exactly sure when BUSlink launched a 64GB -- that's gigabyte, yes -- flash drive, but it's right there on their site, plain as day, handily and smugly smacking down even the largest of flash drives, available for purchase for $5,000. Apparently they've also got a 32GB (not shown) and 16GB drive for $1,500, but seriously, if this isn't some kind of sick joke catering to our obsession with solid state memory, you know exactly which one it is we'll be promptly devouring as soon as we can sell off enough excess gear and internal organs to afford it. You can run an OS off a flash drive, right? Ok, good.
2006-03-27
iPod Ad Visibile From Space
iPod Ad Visibile From Space: "
So you people might have laughed at the idea of rooftop advertising, but some say Apple is taking it seriously and is launching an ad that will be visible on Google Earth and Google Maps. From Boakes.org: 'The sheer size of the publicity stunt is difficult to comprehend. It covers 893240 square metres; roughly equivalent to eighty football pitches. The ad, which depicts Apple’s flagship iPod product has been constructed on the site of an abandoned mineral mine in remote western Australia. It has been in development for almost two years.' The image shows what it looks like on Google Maps.
So you people might have laughed at the idea of rooftop advertising, but some say Apple is taking it seriously and is launching an ad that will be visible on Google Earth and Google Maps. From Boakes.org: 'The sheer size of the publicity stunt is difficult to comprehend. It covers 893240 square metres; roughly equivalent to eighty football pitches. The ad, which depicts Apple’s flagship iPod product has been constructed on the site of an abandoned mineral mine in remote western Australia. It has been in development for almost two years.' The image shows what it looks like on Google Maps.
Choxpics Print on Chocolate
Choxpics Print on Chocolate: "
If you liked Choco Logo, you will love Chocpix. They say, 'In every bar of tasty white chocolate is a hidden, detailed picture - revealed by simply holding it up to any bright light. All kinds of images can be captured in a Chocpix bar... detailed photographs, artwork, cartoons, logos. The intricate photographs are made up solely from the finely detailed thicknesses of chocolate.'
If you liked Choco Logo, you will love Chocpix. They say, 'In every bar of tasty white chocolate is a hidden, detailed picture - revealed by simply holding it up to any bright light. All kinds of images can be captured in a Chocpix bar... detailed photographs, artwork, cartoons, logos. The intricate photographs are made up solely from the finely detailed thicknesses of chocolate.'
Programmable Liquid Container lets you customize your cola
Programmable Liquid Container lets you customize your cola: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household
We used to think it was pretty sweet that we had two flavor options in each package of Nerds candy, so the idea of a customizable soda with an almost infinite combination of fragrances, flavors, and colors has us understandably excited. Massachusetts-based IPIFINI (the bold is part of the branding) has exceeded our wildest dreams with their Programmable Liquid Container, which contains small, flavor additive-filled (or paint-filled, for the home improvement set) 'buttons' around the periphery of the plastic container. Consumers press the appropriate buttons to create different flavors from a common base, such as cherry vanilla cola or raspberry tangerine lemonade, or get even wilder with aroma and food coloring options. IPIFINI claims to already be licensing the technology around various industries, so don't be surprised to see sodas and coffees (and probably some alcopops too) in the near future that let you choose your level of buzz
We used to think it was pretty sweet that we had two flavor options in each package of Nerds candy, so the idea of a customizable soda with an almost infinite combination of fragrances, flavors, and colors has us understandably excited. Massachusetts-based IPIFINI (the bold is part of the branding) has exceeded our wildest dreams with their Programmable Liquid Container, which contains small, flavor additive-filled (or paint-filled, for the home improvement set) 'buttons' around the periphery of the plastic container. Consumers press the appropriate buttons to create different flavors from a common base, such as cherry vanilla cola or raspberry tangerine lemonade, or get even wilder with aroma and food coloring options. IPIFINI claims to already be licensing the technology around various industries, so don't be surprised to see sodas and coffees (and probably some alcopops too) in the near future that let you choose your level of buzz
2006-03-24
How to set up free VPN
How to set up free VPN: "A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a great way to share files and access remote machines. Over at Computer Networking Help there is a tutorial that'll show you how to set one up.
I've had numerous members here email me about writing an article on setting up a secure, inexpensive, home VPN solution that they could use to share files between their home and office computers while they were at work. After speaking with many different people on the subject, I decided that most of them were running Windows XP for their operating systems and Linksys brand routers. That being said the following article is based on the above specifications and will involve no extra cost in setting up the VPN connection.
Configuring a free VPN solution in your home [Computer Networking Help]
Comment on this post
I've had numerous members here email me about writing an article on setting up a secure, inexpensive, home VPN solution that they could use to share files between their home and office computers while they were at work. After speaking with many different people on the subject, I decided that most of them were running Windows XP for their operating systems and Linksys brand routers. That being said the following article is based on the above specifications and will involve no extra cost in setting up the VPN connection.
Configuring a free VPN solution in your home [Computer Networking Help]
Comment on this post
How to set up free VPN
How to set up free VPN: "A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a great way to share files and access remote machines. Over at Computer Networking Help there is a tutorial that'll show you how to set one up.
I've had numerous members here email me about writing an article on setting up a secure, inexpensive, home VPN solution that they could use to share files between their home and office computers while they were at work. After speaking with many different people on the subject, I decided that most of them were running Windows XP for their operating systems and Linksys brand routers. That being said the following article is based on the above specifications and will involve no extra cost in setting up the VPN connection.
Configuring a free VPN solution in your home [Computer Networking Help]
Comment on this post
I've had numerous members here email me about writing an article on setting up a secure, inexpensive, home VPN solution that they could use to share files between their home and office computers while they were at work. After speaking with many different people on the subject, I decided that most of them were running Windows XP for their operating systems and Linksys brand routers. That being said the following article is based on the above specifications and will involve no extra cost in setting up the VPN connection.
Configuring a free VPN solution in your home [Computer Networking Help]
Comment on this post
eBay of the day: Megaphone Helmets
eBay of the day: Megaphone Helmets: " Just look at the picture. There's really nothing more to say. A pair of immeasurably awesome megaphone hats from the 1950s. Includes a pair of shoulder-mounted battery packs which can also be used to transmit morse code through the hats. Ebay item #6045938976, 5 days to go, £45 starting bid. Awesome. (Thanks Richard)
2006-03-23
Linux-based iSetBox from Media Systems does it all
Linux-based iSetBox from Media Systems does it all: "Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs
It might sound a bit more like an Apple fanboy wish list than an actual product from a Bulgarian company named Media Systems, but the iSetBox looks like it'll turn a few heads either way if ever makes it to market. The device claims to be an all-in-one entertainment center, and we really can't find much that isn't in this box. It includes a CD and DVD writer, can record analog and digital TV, offers a web browser and email client, and can even has a 6-in-1 card reader to further its media inputs. If that wasn't enough, the Linux-based unit can listen to and record digital and analog radio, sports Ethernet networking, and has a myriad of digital and analog inputs and outputs to further its reach into your home's media devices. If you find the unit still lacking, you can add WiFi, Bluetooth or other niceties via a PCI card. The whole box is controlled via a single remote control, which can create playlists of the numerous media formats supported. It's hard to imagine something this feature-filled ever making it to market, but we sure wouldn't mind if it did.
It might sound a bit more like an Apple fanboy wish list than an actual product from a Bulgarian company named Media Systems, but the iSetBox looks like it'll turn a few heads either way if ever makes it to market. The device claims to be an all-in-one entertainment center, and we really can't find much that isn't in this box. It includes a CD and DVD writer, can record analog and digital TV, offers a web browser and email client, and can even has a 6-in-1 card reader to further its media inputs. If that wasn't enough, the Linux-based unit can listen to and record digital and analog radio, sports Ethernet networking, and has a myriad of digital and analog inputs and outputs to further its reach into your home's media devices. If you find the unit still lacking, you can add WiFi, Bluetooth or other niceties via a PCI card. The whole box is controlled via a single remote control, which can create playlists of the numerous media formats supported. It's hard to imagine something this feature-filled ever making it to market, but we sure wouldn't mind if it did.
Whale song reveals sophisticated language skills
Whale song reveals sophisticated language skills: "Humpback whales' complex crooning has its own syntax – similar to human language's hierarchical structure – a new analysis reveals
Samsung aims to bring solid disks to market
Samsung aims to bring solid disks to market: "Filed under: Storage
Not that it should come as much of a surprise that the largest flash memory manufacturer in the world would be dabbling in solid state disk drives (SSD), but once Samsung gets their legal ducks in a row we don't have any reason to believe they won't make good on taking that 32GB NAND SSD we saw appear at CeBIT to the consumer market. The demand is obviously there for a laptop drive that, according to Samsung, would consume less than 5 percent of the juice of regular hard drives, and weigh less than half, not be nearly as susceptible to shock or climate, or emit the same heat or noise. No, it won't be cheap (yet), but sooner or later flash memory will be the only thing anyone uses, and Samsung really wants to get this show on the road already.
Not that it should come as much of a surprise that the largest flash memory manufacturer in the world would be dabbling in solid state disk drives (SSD), but once Samsung gets their legal ducks in a row we don't have any reason to believe they won't make good on taking that 32GB NAND SSD we saw appear at CeBIT to the consumer market. The demand is obviously there for a laptop drive that, according to Samsung, would consume less than 5 percent of the juice of regular hard drives, and weigh less than half, not be nearly as susceptible to shock or climate, or emit the same heat or noise. No, it won't be cheap (yet), but sooner or later flash memory will be the only thing anyone uses, and Samsung really wants to get this show on the road already.
2006-03-22
Gigabyte's GN-BT06T Bluetooth Media Adapter
Gigabyte's GN-BT06T Bluetooth Media Adapter: "Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless
We spied this little GN-BT06T device from Gigabyte while browsing the FCC today and like what it has to offer. Basically it's a Bluetooth media receiver, but it works both ways. Not only does it take music from your audio player and pump it to your Bluetooth headphones, but it can also use music from your computer and jack into your stereo. We're not sure when this will be available or what it'll go for, but we like where it's headed.
We spied this little GN-BT06T device from Gigabyte while browsing the FCC today and like what it has to offer. Basically it's a Bluetooth media receiver, but it works both ways. Not only does it take music from your audio player and pump it to your Bluetooth headphones, but it can also use music from your computer and jack into your stereo. We're not sure when this will be available or what it'll go for, but we like where it's headed.
2006-03-21
Scientists synthesize plastic suitable for printing electronics
Scientists synthesize plastic suitable for printing electronics: "Filed under: Displays
A team composed of academic and corporate scientists from the US and UK have succeeded in creating a conductive plastic that could soon lead to the cheap printable electronics that we're often promised but have yet to see. Researchers from Merck, PARC, and Stanfords University and Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory were able to tweak the structure of a regular organic polymer to create a so-called 'semi-conducting polythiopene,' which improves upon standard silicon in that it can be laid down using simple inkjet printing techniques while at the same time producing less waste. Although the new material will never replace silicon as the choice for hardcore computing applications, the fact that this team has already created transistors with the new technology may mean that the promised land of ubiquitous, disposable e-paper is closer than we think.
A team composed of academic and corporate scientists from the US and UK have succeeded in creating a conductive plastic that could soon lead to the cheap printable electronics that we're often promised but have yet to see. Researchers from Merck, PARC, and Stanfords University and Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory were able to tweak the structure of a regular organic polymer to create a so-called 'semi-conducting polythiopene,' which improves upon standard silicon in that it can be laid down using simple inkjet printing techniques while at the same time producing less waste. Although the new material will never replace silicon as the choice for hardcore computing applications, the fact that this team has already created transistors with the new technology may mean that the promised land of ubiquitous, disposable e-paper is closer than we think.
2006-03-20
IBM's Magic Block: voice recorder with speech recognition
IBM's Magic Block: voice recorder with speech recognition: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Portable Audio
If IBM is ever able to manufacture it's Magic Block voice recorder, it'll make just about every other recorder obsolete overnight. The Magic Block is a concept for a digital voice recorder that includes a few handy features -- such as biometric security and an intriguing design that limits accidental recordings -- and one function that makes it unique: built-in voice recognition software that can recognize both spoken words and the actual speaker, allowing a user to search for text as well as for comments from specific speakers. Since IBM already makes speech recognition software, we assume this is something that may be more than just some pie-in-the-sky design. Then again, given that a top IBM exec recently declared that there's 'no such thing as the next big thing,' maybe the company has already given up on actually bringing new products like this to market -- though we really hope not.
If IBM is ever able to manufacture it's Magic Block voice recorder, it'll make just about every other recorder obsolete overnight. The Magic Block is a concept for a digital voice recorder that includes a few handy features -- such as biometric security and an intriguing design that limits accidental recordings -- and one function that makes it unique: built-in voice recognition software that can recognize both spoken words and the actual speaker, allowing a user to search for text as well as for comments from specific speakers. Since IBM already makes speech recognition software, we assume this is something that may be more than just some pie-in-the-sky design. Then again, given that a top IBM exec recently declared that there's 'no such thing as the next big thing,' maybe the company has already given up on actually bringing new products like this to market -- though we really hope not.
2006-03-17
Fore-Edge Painting
Fore-Edge Painting: "
Add 'fore-edge printing' to the collection of interesting things you can do with print.
Martin Frost, who has produced more then 3000 such paintings since 1970, explains, 'Unlike the spine and covers of a bookbinding, the page edges are not usually decorated, however…
A fore-edge painting is where the page block is fanned and an image applied to the stepped surface. If the page edges are themselves gilded or marbled, this results in the image disappearing when the book is relaxed. When refanned, the painting magically re-appears.'
Add 'fore-edge printing' to the collection of interesting things you can do with print.
Martin Frost, who has produced more then 3000 such paintings since 1970, explains, 'Unlike the spine and covers of a bookbinding, the page edges are not usually decorated, however…
A fore-edge painting is where the page block is fanned and an image applied to the stepped surface. If the page edges are themselves gilded or marbled, this results in the image disappearing when the book is relaxed. When refanned, the painting magically re-appears.'
2006-03-15
Sharp DC2J1DZ115 - world's smallest WiFi module
Sharp DC2J1DZ115 - world's smallest WiFi module: "Filed under: Wireless
Is there a reason for Sharp to boast that its DC2J1DZ115 is the world's smallest WiFi module? After all, unlike the world's smallest MP3 player, this isn't a product consumers can actually buy. However, smaller WiFi modules mean smaller, cheaper (we hope), lower-power WiFi devices, so as far as we're concerned, the smaller the better. Now let's get these modules into cameras, phones, PDAs and DAPs ASAP!
Is there a reason for Sharp to boast that its DC2J1DZ115 is the world's smallest WiFi module? After all, unlike the world's smallest MP3 player, this isn't a product consumers can actually buy. However, smaller WiFi modules mean smaller, cheaper (we hope), lower-power WiFi devices, so as far as we're concerned, the smaller the better. Now let's get these modules into cameras, phones, PDAs and DAPs ASAP!
Inveneo Communications Systems IT hardware uses alternate energy sources
Inveneo Communications Systems IT hardware uses alternate energy sources: "Filed under: Wireless, Networking
An entire IT infrastructure powered by alternative energy sources has completed testing in Uganda and is now available for deployment to developing countries or areas where power and broadband options are limited. Inveneo intends their Communications Systems, which are composed of a Hub Station with satellite, cellular, or wired Internet connection and Communications Stations for local use by end users, to be adopted by governments, NGOs, and charitable organizations in conjunction with cheap PCs for delivering ubiquitious networked computing access. Communications Stations are connected to the Hub through long-range WiFi connections, with all the hardware cheap to maintain thanks to open-source software and hydro, solar, wind, or bicycle generator options for power. The Inveneo gear is supposedly available immediately, although their online store is closed as of this writing, so pricing remains a mystery. [Warning: PDF link]
An entire IT infrastructure powered by alternative energy sources has completed testing in Uganda and is now available for deployment to developing countries or areas where power and broadband options are limited. Inveneo intends their Communications Systems, which are composed of a Hub Station with satellite, cellular, or wired Internet connection and Communications Stations for local use by end users, to be adopted by governments, NGOs, and charitable organizations in conjunction with cheap PCs for delivering ubiquitious networked computing access. Communications Stations are connected to the Hub through long-range WiFi connections, with all the hardware cheap to maintain thanks to open-source software and hydro, solar, wind, or bicycle generator options for power. The Inveneo gear is supposedly available immediately, although their online store is closed as of this writing, so pricing remains a mystery. [Warning: PDF link]
Curvy experimental keyboard from Israel
Curvy experimental keyboard from Israel: " Remember the Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeee - the crazy looking MIDI keyboard system built from a hacked, painted ergonomic QWERTY keyboard? Eitan Shefer, an industrial designer from Jerusalem, liked the concept so much that he redesigned it as his final year project. He's made a really great video [google video link] which explains the whole thing, including the relative keyboard layout - you don't press a key to get a specific note, but to get one relative to the note playing at the moment. Great for widdly guitar solos, not (I think) so great for chords. Full details of the project are on Eitan's website. Also on the Samchillian tip (ha!), this page has some interesting videos of Leon (the inventor) playing a $$$ Yamaha Disklavier grand piano with the Samchillian.
PSP gets price cut, GPS, camera, VoIP and future media download service
PSP gets price cut, GPS, camera, VoIP and future media download service: "Filed under: Gaming, GPS
Looks like those GPS add-on rumors were true. Now that Ken Kutaragi's PlayStation business briefing has ended we can tell ya that a new GPS receiver (PSP-290) with game support will indeed drop this “autumn” with a new GPS-enabled Hot Shot Golf title loaded-up for first release. Sony also let fly a new USB-attached PSP-300 EyeToy camera add-on for September launch which will support a new video and VoIP chat service coming in October. Also of note is the announcement of a new digital distribution system (HUB?) allowing users to download “games and applications” directly to Memory Stick – an early use will be for downloading and playing PSone games (via new emulator) directly off your memory cards, although specifics around that service have yet to be announced. Rounding things out are the announcements that a future firmware release will bring Macromedia Flash compatibility and a new RSS Channel function to save and playback internet radio and video content. All this and the PSP base-unit price will be cut to $199 by the end of the month. Still no mention of that rumored Sony Mail client or NAND drives, but then that’d just be greedy at this point, eh?
Looks like those GPS add-on rumors were true. Now that Ken Kutaragi's PlayStation business briefing has ended we can tell ya that a new GPS receiver (PSP-290) with game support will indeed drop this “autumn” with a new GPS-enabled Hot Shot Golf title loaded-up for first release. Sony also let fly a new USB-attached PSP-300 EyeToy camera add-on for September launch which will support a new video and VoIP chat service coming in October. Also of note is the announcement of a new digital distribution system (HUB?) allowing users to download “games and applications” directly to Memory Stick – an early use will be for downloading and playing PSone games (via new emulator) directly off your memory cards, although specifics around that service have yet to be announced. Rounding things out are the announcements that a future firmware release will bring Macromedia Flash compatibility and a new RSS Channel function to save and playback internet radio and video content. All this and the PSP base-unit price will be cut to $199 by the end of the month. Still no mention of that rumored Sony Mail client or NAND drives, but then that’d just be greedy at this point, eh?
2006-03-13
For The First Time: Longevity Modulated Without Disrupting Life-sustaining Function
For The First Time: Longevity Modulated Without Disrupting Life-sustaining Function: "Within a hormone-triggered cascade of molecular signals that plays a crucial for a wide range of physiological functions, researchers for the very first time have identified a protein that functions specifically to extend lifespan and youthfulness -- without disrupting fertility, immunity or the organism's response to stress.
Easy Up, Not-So-Easy Down: Builders Replace Bridge In Only Days Using Lightweight, ...
Easy Up, Not-So-Easy Down: Builders Replace Bridge In Only Days Using Lightweight, ...: "Using new fiberglass-polymer materials, contractors in Springfield, Mo., have just subjected a decaying, 70-year-old bridge to a makeover that was as quick as it was dramatic. Instead of snarling traffic for two to three weeks while they repaired the crumbling deck, girders and guardrails by conventional methods--laying plywood, tying steel rebar and pouring concrete--the workers used pre-fabricated plates and cages developed by a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported university-industry partnership to finish the job in a mere five days.
Doodle Search: New Software Can Hunt Through Online Catalogs Using Only A Sketch
Doodle Search: New Software Can Hunt Through Online Catalogs Using Only A Sketch: "Working with support from the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Imaginestics, a company located in West Lafayette, Ind., has created 3D-Seek: a new kind of search engine that lets users find items in an online catalog without ever needing to know the items' names, part numbers or keywords.
Live from CeBIT: Hands-on with the Samsung Q30 with solid-state disk
Live from CeBIT: Hands-on with the Samsung Q30 with solid-state disk: "Filed under: Laptops, Storage
Things are drawing to a close (for us) here at CeBIT. However, we just couldn't pass up the chance to run our fingers over that modded, Samsung Q30 laptop which tosses out the traditional hard disk drive (and fan) in favor of a solid-state disk (SSD) throwing down 32 mad GBs of heat and vibration-free storage. After all, it's not everyday we get to hold a silent, 2.5-pounds light, 0.7-inch thin, laptop with 12.1-inch display in our mits. Click on for a few shots including the SSD nekkid, next to its mechanical brethren.
Held comfortably in one hand -- hardly any torque on the wrist.
Yeah, we know, it says 16GB...must have plugged all the thirty-two's into the prototypes.
Things are drawing to a close (for us) here at CeBIT. However, we just couldn't pass up the chance to run our fingers over that modded, Samsung Q30 laptop which tosses out the traditional hard disk drive (and fan) in favor of a solid-state disk (SSD) throwing down 32 mad GBs of heat and vibration-free storage. After all, it's not everyday we get to hold a silent, 2.5-pounds light, 0.7-inch thin, laptop with 12.1-inch display in our mits. Click on for a few shots including the SSD nekkid, next to its mechanical brethren.
Held comfortably in one hand -- hardly any torque on the wrist.
Yeah, we know, it says 16GB...must have plugged all the thirty-two's into the prototypes.
2006-03-10
TomTom Buddies lets you track your friends on the road
TomTom Buddies lets you track your friends on the road: "Filed under: GPS
Back in the day, if you wanted to gather a group of drivers into a convoy, you kept in touch by CB radio. With TomTom's new Buddies feature, you can finally toss that relic and stay in contact with Sodbuster, Pig Pen and Rubber Duck via GPS. Once you add a Buddy, you can track each other in realtime, share points of interest and send instant messages (though we really hope you don't do a whole lot of IMing behind the wheel). And if you need a little privacy as you roll into Chi-town, you can hide your twenty and tell your good buddies they can catch you on the flip-flop.
Back in the day, if you wanted to gather a group of drivers into a convoy, you kept in touch by CB radio. With TomTom's new Buddies feature, you can finally toss that relic and stay in contact with Sodbuster, Pig Pen and Rubber Duck via GPS. Once you add a Buddy, you can track each other in realtime, share points of interest and send instant messages (though we really hope you don't do a whole lot of IMing behind the wheel). And if you need a little privacy as you roll into Chi-town, you can hide your twenty and tell your good buddies they can catch you on the flip-flop.
2006-03-09
Matrox TripleHead2Go gives your laptop 3 more screens
Matrox TripleHead2Go gives your laptop 3 more screens: "Filed under: Displays, Laptops, Peripherals
Just when we thought adding a second external display to our laptop would be the ultimate in desktop luxury, Matrox has thrown us for a loop with the TripleHead2Go, a box that -- you guessed it -- lets you add up to three external displays to almost any Windows PC. Like Matrox's earlier DualHead2Go, the device connects to your computer's VGA port and tricks the PC into believing that the three 19-inch displays now gracing your desk are actually one mammoth 3840x1024 display (and, yes, you can still use your laptop display, giving you a total of four screens). The TripleHead will be available in April for $299, which seems like a small price to pay to get behind three screens. Of course, that price doesn't include the actual displays themselves -- or the bigger desk you'll need to buy to hold them.
Just when we thought adding a second external display to our laptop would be the ultimate in desktop luxury, Matrox has thrown us for a loop with the TripleHead2Go, a box that -- you guessed it -- lets you add up to three external displays to almost any Windows PC. Like Matrox's earlier DualHead2Go, the device connects to your computer's VGA port and tricks the PC into believing that the three 19-inch displays now gracing your desk are actually one mammoth 3840x1024 display (and, yes, you can still use your laptop display, giving you a total of four screens). The TripleHead will be available in April for $299, which seems like a small price to pay to get behind three screens. Of course, that price doesn't include the actual displays themselves -- or the bigger desk you'll need to buy to hold them.
2006-03-08
NEC's "KotoHana" LED flower knows how you feel
NEC's "KotoHana" LED flower knows how you feel: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We were just saying to ourselves the other day, 'man, if we just had an LED flower that could sense our emotions... then we'd be happy.' Well dreams do come true, because NEC is going to be presenting their KotoHana (the talking flower) at CeBit this year. It's pretty hard to tell what's going on here, but there seems to be a 'Sensibility Technology' that recognizes the user's feelings, and then tells the flower over a wireless connection. The system works over the internet, so that even from far away the flower's LEDs can light up to reflect your true feelings to that special someone.
We were just saying to ourselves the other day, 'man, if we just had an LED flower that could sense our emotions... then we'd be happy.' Well dreams do come true, because NEC is going to be presenting their KotoHana (the talking flower) at CeBit this year. It's pretty hard to tell what's going on here, but there seems to be a 'Sensibility Technology' that recognizes the user's feelings, and then tells the flower over a wireless connection. The system works over the internet, so that even from far away the flower's LEDs can light up to reflect your true feelings to that special someone.
UltraCell's UC25 / XX25 two-day laptop fuel cell
UltraCell's UC25 / XX25 two-day laptop fuel cell: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops
We've been hearing the siren's call for fuel-cell laptops for what already seems like too many years now, but we'll admit nothing whets our appetite like the promise of two day run time, which is exactly what UltraCell claims they're showing off in their UC25. It's only a pre-production model designed for military purposes right now, but UltraCell apparently had it going on at IDF in SF this week, and hopes to commercialize their products by the second half of this year. Hot, as always, but until we've got them powering our respective Vaios, PowerMacBooks, and OQO / UMPCs, we're gonna have to continue wearing the skeptic's hat and hoping for a real product and not just a whole lot of hydrocarbon-free smoke, so to speak.
We've been hearing the siren's call for fuel-cell laptops for what already seems like too many years now, but we'll admit nothing whets our appetite like the promise of two day run time, which is exactly what UltraCell claims they're showing off in their UC25. It's only a pre-production model designed for military purposes right now, but UltraCell apparently had it going on at IDF in SF this week, and hopes to commercialize their products by the second half of this year. Hot, as always, but until we've got them powering our respective Vaios, PowerMacBooks, and OQO / UMPCs, we're gonna have to continue wearing the skeptic's hat and hoping for a real product and not just a whole lot of hydrocarbon-free smoke, so to speak.
Ipodmame brings Pac-Man to the iPod
Ipodmame brings Pac-Man to the iPod: "Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Love it or hate it, you've got to admit that the iPod would certainly be a lot more fun if you could play Pac-Man on it. And now, thanks to the ipodMame project, you can. A subset of the iPodLinux project, iPodMame aims to bring the MAME game emulator to iPods, allowing owners to play classic games on their audio players. Currently, the emulator is confirmed to be able to run Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man on the nano and iPod with video. Other classic games supported by MAME are also supported, so you should be able to play Pengo and -- yes! -- Joust on your iPod.
Love it or hate it, you've got to admit that the iPod would certainly be a lot more fun if you could play Pac-Man on it. And now, thanks to the ipodMame project, you can. A subset of the iPodLinux project, iPodMame aims to bring the MAME game emulator to iPods, allowing owners to play classic games on their audio players. Currently, the emulator is confirmed to be able to run Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man on the nano and iPod with video. Other classic games supported by MAME are also supported, so you should be able to play Pengo and -- yes! -- Joust on your iPod.
2006-03-07
Citizen rolls out (literally) Eco-Be mini-bot
Citizen rolls out (literally) Eco-Be mini-bot: "Filed under: Robots
Now this is more like it! Unlike more agressive and downright frightening bots such as the BigDog (and if you don't think it's frightening, be sure to check out the video!), Citizen's Eco-Be is an inch-tall robot powered -- of course -- by a watch battery. Looking for all the world like a shrunken Zippo, Eco-Be is capable of rolling back and forth, executing side-to-side turns, and very little else. Bring it on, Citizen! We'll tackle this one with one pinky. Just don't let it call BigDog in for help!
Now this is more like it! Unlike more agressive and downright frightening bots such as the BigDog (and if you don't think it's frightening, be sure to check out the video!), Citizen's Eco-Be is an inch-tall robot powered -- of course -- by a watch battery. Looking for all the world like a shrunken Zippo, Eco-Be is capable of rolling back and forth, executing side-to-side turns, and very little else. Bring it on, Citizen! We'll tackle this one with one pinky. Just don't let it call BigDog in for help!
2006-03-06
Advertising On Chocolate
Advertising On Chocolate: "
If you liked the chocolate business card, you will love all this other wonderfully sweet branded stuff from Choco Logo. 'Due to the special printing technology very fine details can be printed. We can even use artworks with grayscales and therefore practically print any black & white photo.'
If you liked the chocolate business card, you will love all this other wonderfully sweet branded stuff from Choco Logo. 'Due to the special printing technology very fine details can be printed. We can even use artworks with grayscales and therefore practically print any black & white photo.'
2006-03-03
Custom Photo Pencils
Custom Photo Pencils: "
Nothing groundbreaking here, just a bunch of really nice pencils with custom photo imprints.
Nothing groundbreaking here, just a bunch of really nice pencils with custom photo imprints.
2006-02-28
Hermann: another round of pulling the perfect pint
Hermann: another round of pulling the perfect pint: "Filed under: Household, Robots
Pulling the perfect pint -- manually or otherwise -- seems to be something of a long standing obsession across the pond, and more than one beer-pouring robot and device has been whipped up in occasion of this grand pursuit. The latest, Hermann, is the fruit of the efforts of one Professor Thomas Weber and his 23 scients students at the Dutch Technical University of Darmstadt, whom set out to design a robot that would cost under £53 ($92 US) that could pull the perfect pint. Can Hermann really do it? Weber says so -- but he's not sharing sharing much in the way of the secret of their success. (The device pictured is David Stevenson's homer, from 2004.)
Pulling the perfect pint -- manually or otherwise -- seems to be something of a long standing obsession across the pond, and more than one beer-pouring robot and device has been whipped up in occasion of this grand pursuit. The latest, Hermann, is the fruit of the efforts of one Professor Thomas Weber and his 23 scients students at the Dutch Technical University of Darmstadt, whom set out to design a robot that would cost under £53 ($92 US) that could pull the perfect pint. Can Hermann really do it? Weber says so -- but he's not sharing sharing much in the way of the secret of their success. (The device pictured is David Stevenson's homer, from 2004.)
US Army testing Stryker robot tank
US Army testing Stryker robot tank: "Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Engineers with the US Army recently completed tests on a 20-ton unmanned Stryker vehicle, intended to be used as part of a convoy. In the tests, the robot vehicle was able to follow a manned vehicle at speeds averaging 22 miles per hour, topping out at 40 on straightaways. The robotank was also able to detect obstacles laid down by the lead vehicle and maneuver around them. One of the big advantages of the vehicle appears to be the ability to operate without GPS, instead relying on terrain data sent from the lead vehicle and data gathered from on-board sensors; soldiers will remain in the vehicles for now, but in the future, these mech-warriors could be used for tasks like resupplying forces in dangerous environments.
Engineers with the US Army recently completed tests on a 20-ton unmanned Stryker vehicle, intended to be used as part of a convoy. In the tests, the robot vehicle was able to follow a manned vehicle at speeds averaging 22 miles per hour, topping out at 40 on straightaways. The robotank was also able to detect obstacles laid down by the lead vehicle and maneuver around them. One of the big advantages of the vehicle appears to be the ability to operate without GPS, instead relying on terrain data sent from the lead vehicle and data gathered from on-board sensors; soldiers will remain in the vehicles for now, but in the future, these mech-warriors could be used for tasks like resupplying forces in dangerous environments.
Pretty view but watch that first step
Pretty view but watch that first step: "The view in from GEO on 4/12/2018
And from the vicinity of the bitter end, 100,000 kilometers out
Higher res versions can be found here (GEO) and here (100,000 k). The simulated view can’t be beat.
Via Celestia, a steller open-source astronomy application.
And from the vicinity of the bitter end, 100,000 kilometers out
Higher res versions can be found here (GEO) and here (100,000 k). The simulated view can’t be beat.
Via Celestia, a steller open-source astronomy application.
Researchers Unlock How Cells Determine Their Functions
Researchers Unlock How Cells Determine Their Functions: "Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have discovered a molecular mechanism directing the fate and function of cells during animal development. The findings could hold promise for the advancement of cancer and stem-cell research.
2006-02-27
gizmag Article: Motorola invests in Micro Fuel Cell Power Source for Mobile Products
gizmag Article: Motorola invests in Micro Fuel Cell Power Source for Mobile Products: "November 9, 2005 Motorola has made a strategic investment in North American micro fuel cell developer Tekion with a view to the inevitable rise of the fuel cell as a power source for mobile products. Tekion is driven by the mission to take mobile devices 'off the grid'. By integrating advanced battery technology with micro fuel cell technology, Tekion is creating a new 'personal power source', known as the Formira Power Pack, that will fit inside mobile products and enable consumers to stay connected for as long as needed. Tekion's technology provides a competitive advantage for portable electronic products in the power range of milliwatts to 50 watts and energy range of 10 to 100 watt-hours. Several products and markets fall within these power and energy levels including: industrial handheld computers, satellite communication devices, notebook PCs, and other mobile products.
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Bacteria Turns Styrofoam into Biodegradable Plastic
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Bacteria Turns Styrofoam into Biodegradable Plastic: "Bacteria are everywhere, silently going about their business of breaking down cellulose, fermenting foods or fixing nitrogen in the soil, among a host of other activities. Given their ubiquity and diversity of functions, biotechnologists have been searching for new uses for different strains of the microscopic organisms, such as consuming oil spills or even capturing images. Now biologists at the University College Dublin in Ireland have found that a strain of Pseudomonas putida can exist quite happily on a diet of pure styrene oil--the oil remnant of superheated Styrofoam--and, in the process, turn the environmental problem into a useful, biodegradable plastic.
2006-02-22
Quantum computer works best switched off
Quantum computer works best switched off: "A quantum computer program has produced an answer without actually running - can the crazy world of quantum mechanics get any weirder?
"
"
Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick puts digital TV on your screen
Pinnacle PCTV USB Stick puts digital TV on your screen: "Filed under: Portable Video
Adding a digital TV tuner to your laptop is now as easy as putting a thumbdrive into a USB port -- if you live in Europe or Australia, that is. Pinnacle Systems has launched the PCTV USB Stick, a tiny digital tuner that looks like a thumbdrive, and comes with a handy remote and software to save shows in DivX and other formats. Plug it into your USB port, and you have full access to terrestrial digital broadcasts using the DVB-T standard, which has been adopted in much of Europe and Australia. The rest of us will just have to settle for BitTorrent.
Adding a digital TV tuner to your laptop is now as easy as putting a thumbdrive into a USB port -- if you live in Europe or Australia, that is. Pinnacle Systems has launched the PCTV USB Stick, a tiny digital tuner that looks like a thumbdrive, and comes with a handy remote and software to save shows in DivX and other formats. Plug it into your USB port, and you have full access to terrestrial digital broadcasts using the DVB-T standard, which has been adopted in much of Europe and Australia. The rest of us will just have to settle for BitTorrent.
2006-02-21
Magazine in a Bottle
Magazine in a Bottle: "
(image: Gizmag)
Australia's iLove magazine will distribute copies hidden behind the the labels on water bottles. The 32 page A7 magazine will include 10 pages of advertising per issue with the circulation of each edition reaching 2,000,000 by March, 2005 and will be distributed though grocery chains.
(image: Gizmag)
Australia's iLove magazine will distribute copies hidden behind the the labels on water bottles. The 32 page A7 magazine will include 10 pages of advertising per issue with the circulation of each edition reaching 2,000,000 by March, 2005 and will be distributed though grocery chains.
Best Slashdot Comment .. Ever
Best Slashdot Comment .. Ever: "Well maybe not ever but it’s pretty good.
Does the firm (that would be Liftport - Editor) have any ideas on how to avoid tremendous death and destruction if this immensely long cable were to fall to the Earth, possibly hitting certain areas twice as badly if it were long enough to wrap more than once around?
Yes. They’re going to deploy a massive cushion [wikipedia.org] around the Earth, consisting of a total of about 5000 trillion metric tons of gas. Roughly 78% will be nitrogen, and 21% will be oxygen.
If the cable breaks, the lower half will encounter this cushion at extremely high velocities, ripping it apart and causing it to flutter harmlessly to the ground.
No news about whether or not they’ll patent the idea.
Haw.
Does the firm (that would be Liftport - Editor) have any ideas on how to avoid tremendous death and destruction if this immensely long cable were to fall to the Earth, possibly hitting certain areas twice as badly if it were long enough to wrap more than once around?
Yes. They’re going to deploy a massive cushion [wikipedia.org] around the Earth, consisting of a total of about 5000 trillion metric tons of gas. Roughly 78% will be nitrogen, and 21% will be oxygen.
If the cable breaks, the lower half will encounter this cushion at extremely high velocities, ripping it apart and causing it to flutter harmlessly to the ground.
No news about whether or not they’ll patent the idea.
Haw.
2006-02-20
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Xerox PARC Takes on Clean, Green Technology
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Xerox PARC Takes on Clean, Green Technology: "The Palo Alto Research Center, the storied Xerox subsidiary responsible for many of the computer world's breakthrough technologies, is making a move into clean technology and sustainable products and services. It's a watershed moment of sorts: the birthplace of today's user-friendly computing wants to be the birthplace of tomorrow's clean and green innovations.
PARC, as it's more commonly known, recent launched a Clean Technology Initiative, focused on key areas of clean and sustainable technologies: solar, energy distribution, energy conservation and efficiency, clean water, air quality, and some paper-reduction technologies (the latter, of course, aimed at Xerox's core business).
The initiative evolved over the past year, like many PARC projects do, as a grassroots initiative based on 'the instincts and interests of PARC's research community,' Jennifer Ernst, PARC's communication manager, told me recently. The group brought in speakers and held roundtable discussions to learn more about the sustainability and clean-tech space. 'We started carving out places where we thought we could make a difference.'
The first result of those efforts, just announced, is a partnership with SolFocus, Inc., which is developing concentrator photovoltaic systems. SolFocus aims to employ PARC technology to cut the cost of solar power
PARC, as it's more commonly known, recent launched a Clean Technology Initiative, focused on key areas of clean and sustainable technologies: solar, energy distribution, energy conservation and efficiency, clean water, air quality, and some paper-reduction technologies (the latter, of course, aimed at Xerox's core business).
The initiative evolved over the past year, like many PARC projects do, as a grassroots initiative based on 'the instincts and interests of PARC's research community,' Jennifer Ernst, PARC's communication manager, told me recently. The group brought in speakers and held roundtable discussions to learn more about the sustainability and clean-tech space. 'We started carving out places where we thought we could make a difference.'
The first result of those efforts, just announced, is a partnership with SolFocus, Inc., which is developing concentrator photovoltaic systems. SolFocus aims to employ PARC technology to cut the cost of solar power
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes -- [ BIOTECHNOLOGY ] -- A handful of genes that control the
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes -- [ BIOTECHNOLOGY ] -- A handful of genes that control the body's defenses during hard times can also dramatically improve health and prolong life in diverse organisms. Understanding how they work may reveal the keys to extending human life span while banishing diseases of old age: "You can assume quite a bit about the state of a used car just from its mileage and model year. The wear and tear of heavy driving and the passage of time will have taken an inevitable toll. The same appears to be true of aging in people, but the analogy is flawed because of a crucial difference between inanimate machines and living creatures: deterioration is not inexorable in biological systems, which can respond to their environments and use their own energy to defend and repair themselves.
air to water technology goes mobile
air to water technology goes mobile: "February 20, 2006 With around 20% of the world’s population struggling to get adequate supplies of safe drinking water, the rapid evolution of air-water technology (which extracts water from the air) could well become one of the most significant enabling technologies in the history of mankind. We’ve already awarded the invention of the century, but we believe air-water technology is close to being equally as significant as it will enable man to begin to reconsider the cultivation of vast tracts of previously inhospitable land. Believe it or not, there are approximately 4000 cubic miles of water in the earth’s atmosphere, which accounts for why it rains, why air conditioning units extract water from the air, and how Atmospheric Water Technologies’ machinery manages to extract thousands of litres of drinkable water per day from thin air. We wrote up the technology in detail 18 months ago, but things have changed a lot in the short time since that first article. Now the company produces an AW100i model which combines water extraction from the atmosphere with a built-in icemaker to make a unit that can be powered from a generator and produce 50 litre of ice and 50 litres of drinkable water per day. More significantly, the company has now developed a mobile version of its air-to-water machine known as the aw1000m (caution: large WMV video file).
The Segway creator's next entrepreneurial spin - Feb. 16, 2006
The Segway creator's next entrepreneurial spin - Feb. 16, 2006: "San Francisco (Business 2.0) - Dean Kamen, the engineer who invented the Segway, is puzzling over a new equation these days. An estimated 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water, and an estimated 1.6 billion don't have electricity. Those figures add up to a big problem for the world—and an equally big opportunity for entrepreneurs.
To solve the problem, he's invented two devices, each about the size of a washing machine that can provide much-needed power and clean water in rural villages.
'Eighty percent of all the diseases you could name would be wiped out if you just gave people clean water,' says Kamen. 'The water purifier makes 1,000 liters of clean water a day, and we don't care what goes into it. And the power generator makes a kilowatt off of anything that burns.'
To solve the problem, he's invented two devices, each about the size of a washing machine that can provide much-needed power and clean water in rural villages.
'Eighty percent of all the diseases you could name would be wiped out if you just gave people clean water,' says Kamen. 'The water purifier makes 1,000 liters of clean water a day, and we don't care what goes into it. And the power generator makes a kilowatt off of anything that burns.'
Petabyte disks coming in 5 years?
Petabyte disks coming in 5 years?: "Filed under: Storage
Mmmm, 1.2 petabytes (1,024 terabytes) of storage on a single tiny disk. Just imagine the bragging rights if you sported that kind of er, package in your pocket. Well, that's what inventor Philip Michael Thomas claims to be packing via his non-contact optical spintronics approach to data storage. See Thomas has succeeded in coaxing electrons to spin in the same direction as opposed to current data storage methods which are hapless in the face of electron flip. Controlling the spin allows for smaller, higher capacity devices with prototypes expected in two to three years and commercial products in five. Perpendicular schmerpendicular, bring us spintronics!
Mmmm, 1.2 petabytes (1,024 terabytes) of storage on a single tiny disk. Just imagine the bragging rights if you sported that kind of er, package in your pocket. Well, that's what inventor Philip Michael Thomas claims to be packing via his non-contact optical spintronics approach to data storage. See Thomas has succeeded in coaxing electrons to spin in the same direction as opposed to current data storage methods which are hapless in the face of electron flip. Controlling the spin allows for smaller, higher capacity devices with prototypes expected in two to three years and commercial products in five. Perpendicular schmerpendicular, bring us spintronics!
2006-02-17
Wright This Way: iPod Shuffle RAID
Wright This Way: iPod Shuffle RAID: "So, what do you do when you and some friends are all getting iPod Shuffles? You make a RAID array out of them, of course! Follow along as we explore new depths of geekery...
2006-02-16
The top 10 weirdest USB drives ever - Fosfor Gadgets
The top 10 weirdest USB drives ever - Fosfor Gadgets: "USB drives comes in thousands of designs and colors, but these 10 are extraordinary weird. Or what do you think? Go ahead, check them out. They are weird! Promise. Hehe."
First full motion stamp out in The Netherlands
First full motion stamp out in The Netherlands: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
The exchange rate between the euro and dollar must have jumped significantly since we last crossed The Pond 'cause TPG Post in Holland just issued two regular-costing 39-euro-cent stamps...with moving images. These unique plastic stamps use lenticular technology to lace twelve film stills together to replay the winning Olympic races of two skating legends (in Holland anyway). These stamps are available now from the Dutch post office. No doubt we'll get some wavy flags any day now.
The exchange rate between the euro and dollar must have jumped significantly since we last crossed The Pond 'cause TPG Post in Holland just issued two regular-costing 39-euro-cent stamps...with moving images. These unique plastic stamps use lenticular technology to lace twelve film stills together to replay the winning Olympic races of two skating legends (in Holland anyway). These stamps are available now from the Dutch post office. No doubt we'll get some wavy flags any day now.
2006-02-15
Scientists develop their own lightning ball machine
Scientists develop their own lightning ball machine: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Apparently we've been missing out in the big city because the real fun seems to be had on the farm where, if you're lucky, you can spy a hovering ball of lightning during a thunderstorm chasing a cow or causing some such mayhem. It turns out this semi-freaky ball lighting stuff is thought to be a result of a lightning strike which kicks up dirt when it hits the ground and then slowly burns off the minerals as a slow moving fireball. Of course scientists can't leave well enough alone, so some researchers in Israel have built their very own fireball machine using the magnetron from a domestic microwave. The device drills into a solid, and when it pulls out it brings with it a 3-cm floating fireball that quivers like a jellyfish and floats in the air, but only lasts a few milliseconds. The developers of the device are hoping they can use the lightning balls for practical applications, but we're looking forward to a little bit of Mario-style Fire Flower firepower.
Apparently we've been missing out in the big city because the real fun seems to be had on the farm where, if you're lucky, you can spy a hovering ball of lightning during a thunderstorm chasing a cow or causing some such mayhem. It turns out this semi-freaky ball lighting stuff is thought to be a result of a lightning strike which kicks up dirt when it hits the ground and then slowly burns off the minerals as a slow moving fireball. Of course scientists can't leave well enough alone, so some researchers in Israel have built their very own fireball machine using the magnetron from a domestic microwave. The device drills into a solid, and when it pulls out it brings with it a 3-cm floating fireball that quivers like a jellyfish and floats in the air, but only lasts a few milliseconds. The developers of the device are hoping they can use the lightning balls for practical applications, but we're looking forward to a little bit of Mario-style Fire Flower firepower.
2006-02-14
Elecom's 4GB 0.85-inch HDD thumb drive
Elecom's 4GB 0.85-inch HDD thumb drive: "Filed under: Peripherals
Sure there have been USB flash drives beyond 4GB for a while now, but they'll cost you an arm and a leg, and as the iPod continues to demonstrate -- for now at least -- sometimes a bit of miniature HDD is the best way to go. With that in mind we have the MF-DU204G 4GB USB thumb drive from Elecom, based on a 0.85-inch HDD but still retaining most of that flash drive charm. Too bad we don't know the price, since that's most of the reasoning behind the endeavor, but while Samsung and Apple are busy pushing flash memory prices down, 0.85-inch might be our best bet for a while.
Sure there have been USB flash drives beyond 4GB for a while now, but they'll cost you an arm and a leg, and as the iPod continues to demonstrate -- for now at least -- sometimes a bit of miniature HDD is the best way to go. With that in mind we have the MF-DU204G 4GB USB thumb drive from Elecom, based on a 0.85-inch HDD but still retaining most of that flash drive charm. Too bad we don't know the price, since that's most of the reasoning behind the endeavor, but while Samsung and Apple are busy pushing flash memory prices down, 0.85-inch might be our best bet for a while.
Seagate announces first 12GB 1-inch hard drive
Seagate announces first 12GB 1-inch hard drive: "Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Storage
We're getting all too accustomed to hard drive makers squeezing more and more data into smaller and smaller spaces, but there's still something really sweet about the news that Seagate's rolling out a new 12GB 1-inch drive called the ST1.3 that's 23% smaller than their current 1-inch drive yet squeezes in 50% more storage capacity. They're aiming these drives squarely at mobile phone makers, so brace yourselves for announcements of a whole bunch of 12GB cellphones in the weeks and months after Seagate starts shipping these things (they're saying it'll be Q3 of this year).
P.S. - Yeah, we know that flash is where it's at for portable devices, but it'll be a while before it's feasible (from a cost perspective) to put 12GB of flash into a cellphone.
We're getting all too accustomed to hard drive makers squeezing more and more data into smaller and smaller spaces, but there's still something really sweet about the news that Seagate's rolling out a new 12GB 1-inch drive called the ST1.3 that's 23% smaller than their current 1-inch drive yet squeezes in 50% more storage capacity. They're aiming these drives squarely at mobile phone makers, so brace yourselves for announcements of a whole bunch of 12GB cellphones in the weeks and months after Seagate starts shipping these things (they're saying it'll be Q3 of this year).
P.S. - Yeah, we know that flash is where it's at for portable devices, but it'll be a while before it's feasible (from a cost perspective) to put 12GB of flash into a cellphone.
2006-02-13
So this is the video iPod, eh?
So this is the video iPod, eh?: "Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Ok everyone, what do you think the odds are that Apple so nonchalantly let loose some images of the full-screen iPod video the very day after ThinkSecret's supposed confirmation on the video iPod hit the wires? Did we mention the Photoshop metadata in the images' EXIF tags? No, we're not at all prepared to call this a 'leak,' but we'll definitely attest to this being a very nice rendering of what we hope could be the 6G iPod.
Ok everyone, what do you think the odds are that Apple so nonchalantly let loose some images of the full-screen iPod video the very day after ThinkSecret's supposed confirmation on the video iPod hit the wires? Did we mention the Photoshop metadata in the images' EXIF tags? No, we're not at all prepared to call this a 'leak,' but we'll definitely attest to this being a very nice rendering of what we hope could be the 6G iPod.
2006-02-10
Swiss Army Knife gets a built-in MP3 player
Swiss Army Knife gets a built-in MP3 player: "February 7, 2006 The Swiss Army Knife has been one of the most sought-after gadgets by technophiles for 115 years, and it’s pleasing to see that Victorinox is still updating and innovating. Not long ago it added USB memory/a to one of the variants and has now gone one step further. The new s.beat digital audio player is an all-in-one 4GB digital audio player and USB storage device incorporated into a full-metal Swiss Army Knife. Built with the same level of precision the Swiss are renowned for, the knife and MP3 comes with a lifetime warranty. Now go try to peel an apple with your MP3 player!..
MobiBlu DAH-1500i: still small, now with 2GB
MobiBlu DAH-1500i: still small, now with 2GB: "Filed under: Portable Audio
Remember that 'world's smallest' digital audio player: the MobiBlu DAH-1500? Well, it just got a bump to 2GB and still includes MP3/WMA audio support, an integrated FM radio, built-in mic for voice recording, and itty-bitty OLED display packed into a 14.4- 0.63-ounce pendant. Not only that, but Wal-Mart lost their exclusive rights to sell 'em so go ahead, click the 'read' link and stick it to the current whipping boys of the free-market by placing your $160 pre-order direct with Amazon. Mmm, feels good.
Remember that 'world's smallest' digital audio player: the MobiBlu DAH-1500? Well, it just got a bump to 2GB and still includes MP3/WMA audio support, an integrated FM radio, built-in mic for voice recording, and itty-bitty OLED display packed into a 14.4- 0.63-ounce pendant. Not only that, but Wal-Mart lost their exclusive rights to sell 'em so go ahead, click the 'read' link and stick it to the current whipping boys of the free-market by placing your $160 pre-order direct with Amazon. Mmm, feels good.
Pandora's Squeezebox compatibility unleashes freshness on your playlist
Pandora's Squeezebox compatibility unleashes freshness on your playlist: "Filed under: Home Entertainment
We've all done it, gotten in a musical rut with no hope of escape, piling Journey record upon Journey record in a sort of trippy yet destructive cycle. Pandora can create a whole new station of streaming music based on a favorite artist or song, determined by 6 years of research by their crack team of song listeners, which it then describes its reasoning for and shoots out to your Squeezebox for full-on stereo enjoyment. Slim Devices is currently offering a free 90-day trial for Squeezebox owners, who can keep the service going for $36 a year, not a bad price to pay to finally Escape that Infinity rut you've been Captured in for Generations.
We've all done it, gotten in a musical rut with no hope of escape, piling Journey record upon Journey record in a sort of trippy yet destructive cycle. Pandora can create a whole new station of streaming music based on a favorite artist or song, determined by 6 years of research by their crack team of song listeners, which it then describes its reasoning for and shoots out to your Squeezebox for full-on stereo enjoyment. Slim Devices is currently offering a free 90-day trial for Squeezebox owners, who can keep the service going for $36 a year, not a bad price to pay to finally Escape that Infinity rut you've been Captured in for Generations.
2006-02-08
Council for Secular Humanism
Council for Secular Humanism:
Please pardon the politics; the list of 14 characteristics was compelling.
"We are two-and-a-half generations removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, although constant reminders jog the consciousness. German and Italian fascism form the historical models that define this twisted political worldview. Although they no longer exist, this worldview and the characteristics of these models have been imitated by protofascist regimes at various times in the twentieth century. Both the original German and Italian models and the later protofascist regimes show remarkably similar characteristics. Although many scholars question any direct connection among these regimes, few can dispute their visual similarities."
Please pardon the politics; the list of 14 characteristics was compelling.
"We are two-and-a-half generations removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, although constant reminders jog the consciousness. German and Italian fascism form the historical models that define this twisted political worldview. Although they no longer exist, this worldview and the characteristics of these models have been imitated by protofascist regimes at various times in the twentieth century. Both the original German and Italian models and the later protofascist regimes show remarkably similar characteristics. Although many scholars question any direct connection among these regimes, few can dispute their visual similarities."
2006-02-07
TiVo Super Bowl stats: people actually watched the game
TiVo Super Bowl stats: people actually watched the game: "Filed under: Home Entertainment
TiVo has released its annual ranking of Super Bowl viewer data (you know, the stuff they compile by spying on everything you do), and for the first time, more viewers replayed parts of the game than the commercials. According to TiVo, the Steelers' 'gadget play' touchdown beat out all of the commercials for viewership. Meanwhile, despite tons of pre-game hype, Jessica Simpson's steamy Pizza Hut commercial didn't even rank in the Top 10, which was led by Ameriquest's two spots, and also included Leonard Nimoy's Aleve ad and four spots from Anheuser-Busch.
TiVo has released its annual ranking of Super Bowl viewer data (you know, the stuff they compile by spying on everything you do), and for the first time, more viewers replayed parts of the game than the commercials. According to TiVo, the Steelers' 'gadget play' touchdown beat out all of the commercials for viewership. Meanwhile, despite tons of pre-game hype, Jessica Simpson's steamy Pizza Hut commercial didn't even rank in the Top 10, which was led by Ameriquest's two spots, and also included Leonard Nimoy's Aleve ad and four spots from Anheuser-Busch.
Transistor Laser Functions As Non-linear Electronic Switch, Processor
Transistor Laser Functions As Non-linear Electronic Switch, Processor: "The transistor laser invented by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has now been found to possess fundamental non-linear characteristics that are new to a transistor and permit its use as a dual-input, dual-output, high-frequency signal processor.
Computer Use Deleted As Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Cause: More Common In Assembly Line Work
Computer Use Deleted As Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Cause: More Common In Assembly Line Work: "The popular belief that excessive computer use causes painful carpal tunnel syndrome has been contradicted by experts at Harvard Medical School. According to them, even as much as seven hours a day of tapping on a computer keyboard won't increase your risk of this disabling disorder.
Coretta Scott King dared to stand out and seek a better way
Coretta Scott King dared to stand out and seek a better way: "Today is Coretta Scott King’s funeral. Each of us has been impacted by her life. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King changed the face of US business by advancing the causes of us all. Equality and respect are necessary preconditions for participation in government, business, and society.
When faced with a difficult situation, injustice, and unfairness, we have a choice. The choice is very simple. Live with the unfairness and the peer pressure. In short, tolerate the status quo. Or step up and stand out, dare to say no.
Many people focus on being popular or fear being noticed. Others benefit from the status quo. These individuals are incented to tolerate the status quo or fear suggesting a better way.
Coretta Scott King and her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., looked at what was and dared to dream… They dared to share their vision. In sharing vision, they inspired others. Because of their dream, each of us is better off and has more opportunities.
Dreams of equality of opportunity help each of us in business. They spread like wildfire, trickle down, spread upward, and cross-pollinate with other ideas as well as what currently exists.
When faced with a difficult situation, injustice, and unfairness, we have a choice. The choice is very simple. Live with the unfairness and the peer pressure. In short, tolerate the status quo. Or step up and stand out, dare to say no.
Many people focus on being popular or fear being noticed. Others benefit from the status quo. These individuals are incented to tolerate the status quo or fear suggesting a better way.
Coretta Scott King and her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., looked at what was and dared to dream… They dared to share their vision. In sharing vision, they inspired others. Because of their dream, each of us is better off and has more opportunities.
Dreams of equality of opportunity help each of us in business. They spread like wildfire, trickle down, spread upward, and cross-pollinate with other ideas as well as what currently exists.
WebServUSB server on a thumbdrive
WebServUSB server on a thumbdrive: "Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals
Here's a handy product for purveyors of online content of questionable legality- the WebServUSB, which lets you host a web, ftp, or mail server from any Windows PC and make a quick, clean getaway in case you start feeling some heat. Available in capacities from 128MB ($90) to 1GB ($400), this thumbdrive supports CGI/Perl, PHP/Python, MySQL, Java/Javascript, Flash, RealAudio, and Windows Media, and doesn't interfere with user accounts on the host PC. You can't really host a multimedia-rich site from one of these, but we're sure there are plenty of legitimate uses for this product - we just can't think of any off the top of our head. Readers?
Here's a handy product for purveyors of online content of questionable legality- the WebServUSB, which lets you host a web, ftp, or mail server from any Windows PC and make a quick, clean getaway in case you start feeling some heat. Available in capacities from 128MB ($90) to 1GB ($400), this thumbdrive supports CGI/Perl, PHP/Python, MySQL, Java/Javascript, Flash, RealAudio, and Windows Media, and doesn't interfere with user accounts on the host PC. You can't really host a multimedia-rich site from one of these, but we're sure there are plenty of legitimate uses for this product - we just can't think of any off the top of our head. Readers?
Blueye merges Bluetooth phones with audio players
Blueye merges Bluetooth phones with audio players: "Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio
Unless you use your cellphone to listen to music (and we know you don't, even if you're flashing the SLVR), or use a hydra-headed contraption like the Plantronics MX-100 headphones, you've probably missed a few calls when you've been cranking the tunes. At the very least, you've had to deal with the dreaded headset shuffle, as you frantically swap earbuds or cram your phone over your ear. UK company Mavizen has come up with what may be a better solution, in the form of the Blueye, a Bluetooth device that you connect to the earphone jack of an audio player and then pair with any Bluetooth phone. You then connect a headset to the Blueye, and listen to your music. When a call comes in, Blueye mutes the music and routes the call directly to the headset. Of course, there are some tradeoffs: the music is just muted, not paused, and you're stuck using a wired headset with your Bluetooth phone. But unless you really do use a musicphone as your main source of sounds (and we're not saying there's anything wrong with that), this could be reasonable solution. Or you can just keep missing calls. That's what voicemail's for, right?
Unless you use your cellphone to listen to music (and we know you don't, even if you're flashing the SLVR), or use a hydra-headed contraption like the Plantronics MX-100 headphones, you've probably missed a few calls when you've been cranking the tunes. At the very least, you've had to deal with the dreaded headset shuffle, as you frantically swap earbuds or cram your phone over your ear. UK company Mavizen has come up with what may be a better solution, in the form of the Blueye, a Bluetooth device that you connect to the earphone jack of an audio player and then pair with any Bluetooth phone. You then connect a headset to the Blueye, and listen to your music. When a call comes in, Blueye mutes the music and routes the call directly to the headset. Of course, there are some tradeoffs: the music is just muted, not paused, and you're stuck using a wired headset with your Bluetooth phone. But unless you really do use a musicphone as your main source of sounds (and we're not saying there's anything wrong with that), this could be reasonable solution. Or you can just keep missing calls. That's what voicemail's for, right?
2006-02-06
Model jet gets all Top Gun
Model jet gets all Top Gun: "Filed under: Transportation, Wireless
Once you watch a scaled-down jet fire its afterburners and push 280 MPH, you can pretty much forget about ever enjoying your dinky little RC model again.
Once you watch a scaled-down jet fire its afterburners and push 280 MPH, you can pretty much forget about ever enjoying your dinky little RC model again.
Easy-Glider drags you along while keeping it green
Easy-Glider drags you along while keeping it green: "Filed under: Transportation
Rollerblading always seems like so much fun when we see people zipping through the Park, but the whole self-propulsion thing kind of turns of off, which is why we've been waiting for a device like the Easy-Glider. Basically an electric motor attached to a wheel attached to a handlebar, the Swiss-made Easy-Glider Deluxe propels whatever its towing with 380 watts of eco-friendly power, and even recharges itself while cruising downhill (probably not fully). The less-athletic among us can decide to forgo the 'blades or skateboard altogether and step up to what we'll call the 'touring package,' which attaches a small wheeled footbridge to your ride. Prices range from a steep $1,025 for the Standard without footbridge to an even steeper $1,315 for the Deluxe with, not to mention the hefty shipping charge you'll have to pay to import one from Switzerland.
Rollerblading always seems like so much fun when we see people zipping through the Park, but the whole self-propulsion thing kind of turns of off, which is why we've been waiting for a device like the Easy-Glider. Basically an electric motor attached to a wheel attached to a handlebar, the Swiss-made Easy-Glider Deluxe propels whatever its towing with 380 watts of eco-friendly power, and even recharges itself while cruising downhill (probably not fully). The less-athletic among us can decide to forgo the 'blades or skateboard altogether and step up to what we'll call the 'touring package,' which attaches a small wheeled footbridge to your ride. Prices range from a steep $1,025 for the Standard without footbridge to an even steeper $1,315 for the Deluxe with, not to mention the hefty shipping charge you'll have to pay to import one from Switzerland.
More Advertising on Band-Aids
More Advertising on Band-Aids: "
I wrote about ads on Band-Aids before, and just came across another nice example done by Arnold for Volkswagen.
I wrote about ads on Band-Aids before, and just came across another nice example done by Arnold for Volkswagen.
2006-02-03
Advertising on Eggs
Advertising on Eggs: "
This is what advertising boils down to (har har): you can now laser-etch your message on eggs, thanks to Egg Fusion. In their own words, 'If the shear number of potential impressions isn't enough to grab your attention (over 50 billion eggs sold in the retail channel each year), the interaction consumers have with your message should.'
This is what advertising boils down to (har har): you can now laser-etch your message on eggs, thanks to Egg Fusion. In their own words, 'If the shear number of potential impressions isn't enough to grab your attention (over 50 billion eggs sold in the retail channel each year), the interaction consumers have with your message should.'
The USB Memory Stick stick
The USB Memory Stick stick: "Filed under: Peripherals
Kind of like the ThumbDrive before it, the USB Memory Stick maybe takes things a little literally. They're a little more raw than the Hardwood USB drives, but if there's one thing for sure it's that your stick -- be it 128, 256, 512MB, or 1GB -- won't be the same as your friend's, even if they too have a USB Memory Stick stick. Except, you know, their both being sticks and all. Prices range from EU72 to 189 ($87 - 228 US).
Kind of like the ThumbDrive before it, the USB Memory Stick maybe takes things a little literally. They're a little more raw than the Hardwood USB drives, but if there's one thing for sure it's that your stick -- be it 128, 256, 512MB, or 1GB -- won't be the same as your friend's, even if they too have a USB Memory Stick stick. Except, you know, their both being sticks and all. Prices range from EU72 to 189 ($87 - 228 US).
The mighty and mysterious Waterphone
The mighty and mysterious Waterphone: " A while back Peter revealed the orgasm-inducing Blaster Beam as the source of some of the weird noises in Star Trek: The Movie. Other sounds came from Richard Waters' Waterphone, which also makes unearthly noises Poltergeist, The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Richard invented it in the late '60s, and he's hand made over 1,000 since then. It's a series of tuned brass rods attached to a base filled with water. The rods are played with a violin bow, and moving the instrument makes the water shift to bend the notes and create 'acoustic, schiziosonic, modulations'. There are three nice waterphone samples here a the Freesound Project - it's a really familiar sound that you might have never been able to quite place.
There are videos of Richard Waters playing his waterphone here, and intrepid Interspecies Music pioneer Jim Nollman uses his to attract killer whales by playing it in the sea. Unfortunately, the cheapest waterphone Richard makes costs $800...
There are videos of Richard Waters playing his waterphone here, and intrepid Interspecies Music pioneer Jim Nollman uses his to attract killer whales by playing it in the sea. Unfortunately, the cheapest waterphone Richard makes costs $800...
New design for transistors powered by single electrons
New design for transistors powered by single electrons: "Scientists have demonstrated the first reproducible, controllable silicon transistors that are turned on and off by the motion of individual electrons. The experimental devices, designed and fabricated at NTT Corp. of Japan and tested at NIST, may ha...
2006-02-02
The Electronic Bath Water Cleaner
The Electronic Bath Water Cleaner: "Filed under: Household
We love bathtime as much as the next guy, but we usually tend to run a fresh tub full of water before we turn on a podcast and settle in. Well apparently in Japan, bath water is a precious commodity that is passed on from generation to generation, and bathtime isn't used for cleaning, but for relaxation, so we're kind of glad to know that Japanese households have an option like this Electronic Bath Water Cleaner to keep that special liquid fresh and sparkly. The unit can run through 10 liters of water a minute and sells for around $425.
We love bathtime as much as the next guy, but we usually tend to run a fresh tub full of water before we turn on a podcast and settle in. Well apparently in Japan, bath water is a precious commodity that is passed on from generation to generation, and bathtime isn't used for cleaning, but for relaxation, so we're kind of glad to know that Japanese households have an option like this Electronic Bath Water Cleaner to keep that special liquid fresh and sparkly. The unit can run through 10 liters of water a minute and sells for around $425.
Analog TV shutdown all but set for 2009
Analog TV shutdown all but set for 2009: "Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Mark your calendar for February 17, 2009. That's the date set by Congress, as part of a sweeping budget-cutting bill, that broadcasters will be mandated to shut down their analog broadcasts (both the Senate and broadcasters had previously agreed to the date, so the bill now only awaits the President's signature to become law). However, if you can't bear to part with that old Philco or Admiral, you won't have to toss it. The government will be setting aside $1.5 billion in subsidies to help consumers get converters to allow older analog sets to receive digital broadcasts. And, no, you can't request a piece of that to pick up a 60-inch plasma, so don't even think about it.
Mark your calendar for February 17, 2009. That's the date set by Congress, as part of a sweeping budget-cutting bill, that broadcasters will be mandated to shut down their analog broadcasts (both the Senate and broadcasters had previously agreed to the date, so the bill now only awaits the President's signature to become law). However, if you can't bear to part with that old Philco or Admiral, you won't have to toss it. The government will be setting aside $1.5 billion in subsidies to help consumers get converters to allow older analog sets to receive digital broadcasts. And, no, you can't request a piece of that to pick up a 60-inch plasma, so don't even think about it.
RIP Telegram
RIP Telegram: "
After 145 years, Western Union shut down its telegram service. Here's an obituary. I think they should've announced it in advance and give everyone an opportunity to send their last telegram. Oh well. I actually sent a telegram once, for my grandfather's birthday. By the way, telegrams like the one below were once used for advertising.
After 145 years, Western Union shut down its telegram service. Here's an obituary. I think they should've announced it in advance and give everyone an opportunity to send their last telegram. Oh well. I actually sent a telegram once, for my grandfather's birthday. By the way, telegrams like the one below were once used for advertising.
Spraypainted Advertising Dogs
Spraypainted Advertising Dogs: "
First dogs, then cows, then this again. A German radio station sprayed its call letters and motto on dogs; The Spunker says the paint is washable.
First dogs, then cows, then this again. A German radio station sprayed its call letters and motto on dogs; The Spunker says the paint is washable.
Hama's new Mobile MediaSafe VSV 2 due for CeBIT '06
Hama's new Mobile MediaSafe VSV 2 due for CeBIT '06: "Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Portable Video
CeBIT is still more than a month away, but we're already seeing a few announcements, and the new PMP offering from Hama doesn't look too shabby among them. The Mobile MediaSafe VSV 2 is a followup to last year's slightly less impressive VSV-20, though it still includes the nice card reading abilities and the inexplicable remote of its predecessor. The VSV 2 has a 30GB HDD, 3.5-inch screen (if our trig serves us correctly), 10 hour battery, and can support Windows Media 10 DRM, along with DivX and MPEG 4. The 1-inch thick player also can act as a DVR when hooked up to your TV, and includes an FM tuner and integrated mic to round out the package.
CeBIT is still more than a month away, but we're already seeing a few announcements, and the new PMP offering from Hama doesn't look too shabby among them. The Mobile MediaSafe VSV 2 is a followup to last year's slightly less impressive VSV-20, though it still includes the nice card reading abilities and the inexplicable remote of its predecessor. The VSV 2 has a 30GB HDD, 3.5-inch screen (if our trig serves us correctly), 10 hour battery, and can support Windows Media 10 DRM, along with DivX and MPEG 4. The 1-inch thick player also can act as a DVR when hooked up to your TV, and includes an FM tuner and integrated mic to round out the package.
2006-02-01
Combi's "Roanju Auto Swing" maglev baby rocker
Combi's "Roanju Auto Swing" maglev baby rocker: "Filed under: Household
Given our irrational fear of maglev elevators, we sure wish Combi's new maglev-powered 'Roanju Auto Swing' for babies had been around when we still young gadgeteers, as it might have helped us adapt to such a scary new technology. While it's too late for us, at least the modern baby will be able to benefit from nearly silent swinging operation as well as seven pre-loaded tunes, plus an ergonomic design on the deluxe model. Apparently a light push is all it takes to get the Roanju swinging for fifteen minutes, although at $580 for the standard and over $600 for the deluxe, we think we'll just stick to the much cheaper method of harnessing our toddlers to slow-moving ceiling fans (note: the previous parenting tip was brought to you by Blogging Baby).
Given our irrational fear of maglev elevators, we sure wish Combi's new maglev-powered 'Roanju Auto Swing' for babies had been around when we still young gadgeteers, as it might have helped us adapt to such a scary new technology. While it's too late for us, at least the modern baby will be able to benefit from nearly silent swinging operation as well as seven pre-loaded tunes, plus an ergonomic design on the deluxe model. Apparently a light push is all it takes to get the Roanju swinging for fifteen minutes, although at $580 for the standard and over $600 for the deluxe, we think we'll just stick to the much cheaper method of harnessing our toddlers to slow-moving ceiling fans (note: the previous parenting tip was brought to you by Blogging Baby).
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