TechnoSpark

wolfram alpha search engine (source-http://ambigram24.blogspot.com/)

2011-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

" Wolfram(http://www.wolframalpha.com)" is a computational search engine which gives statistical information on a query.My friend abhijeet had suggested this website.He was very impressed with the search engine, so i thought to give it a try.

I searched 'VNIT' in the engine,i was not impressed at the beginning for the simple fact that ,it portrays the information in detailed and precise form but i felt what's so great about that.

Then i browsed the website i saw that its not just a simple search engine which puts data in precise and detailed format.

Wolfram|Alpha introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers—
not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods.

It analyses data and gives conclusions.It has revolutionized the way of computing.Though it is not presently threat to google,but it might give a good competition in future.

For years Google has been there for us, serving to there level best. From

use of web browser as explorer

2011-09-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Do you know that you can access your computer using a web browser?if you dont ,i will tell you how...

firstly open any browser, then in its URL box in which you normally write your website address ,write which ever you want to access,then access...
I have accessed my c drive .I typed C:\\...then enter .You will see what is in your drive..

This is using normal explorer.

tutorial link/downloads

2011-09-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

i have just uploaded a tutorial on basic electronic components...http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7JYU24UC check it out..please post if you have any queries...

Energy-saving magnetic PCs, soon

2011-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Energy-saving magnetic PCs, soon - Times Of India: (source-TOI)

Coming soon- Magnetic computers which may use far less energy, say scientists.

A team at the University of California, which is developing such computers, claims that the future machines will rely on magnetic microprocessors which consume the least amount of energy allowed by the laws of physics.

Today's silicon-based microprocessor chips rely on electric currents, or moving electrons, that generate a lot of waste heat.

But microprocessors employing nanometer-sized bar magnets - like tiny refrigerator magnets - for memory, logic and switching operations theoretically would require no moving electrons, say the scientists.

Such chips would dissipate only 18 millielectron volts of energy per operation at room temperature, the minimum allowed by the second law of thermodynamics and called the Landauer limit. That's one million times less energy per operation than consumed by today's computers.

Brian Lambson , who led the team, said: "Today, computers run on electricity, by moving electrons around a circuit, you can process information. A magnetic computer, on the other hand, doesn't involve any moving electrons.

"You store and process information using magnets, and if you make these magnets really small, you can basically pack them very close together so that they interact with one another. This is how we are able to do computations, have memory and conduct all the functions of a computer."

Internet Download Manager

2011-09-02T12:12:00.001-07:00

Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a tool to increase download speeds by up to 5 times, resume and schedule downloads. Comprehensive error recovery and resume capability will restart broken or interrupted downloads due to lost connections, network problems, computer shutdowns, or unexpected power outages. Simple graphic user interface makes IDM user friendly and easy to use.Internet Download Manager has a smart download logic accelerator that features intelligent dynamic file segmentation and safe multipart downloading technology to accelerate your downloads. Unlike other download managers and accelerators Internet Download Manager segments downloaded files dynamically during download process and reuses available connections without additional connect and login stages to achieve best acceleration performance.

Internet Download Manager supports proxy servers, ftp and http protocols, firewalls, redirects, cookies, authorization, MP3 audio and MPEG video content processing. IDM integrates seamlessly into Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, MSN Explorer, AOL, Opera, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Firebird, Avant Browser, MyIE2, and all other popular browsers to automatically handle your downloads. You can also drag and drop files, or use Internet Download Manager from command line. Internet Download Manager can dial your modem at the set time, download the files you want, then hang up or even shut down your computer when it's done.

Other features include multilingual support, zip preview, download categories, scheduler pro, sounds on different events, HTTPS support, queue processor, html help and tutorial, enhanced virus protection on download completion, progressive downloading with quotas (useful for connections that use some kind of fair access policy or FAP like Direcway, Direct PC, Hughes, etc.), built-in download accelerator, and many others.

Version 6.07 adds IDM download panel for web-players that can be used to download flash videos from sites like YouTube, MySpaceTV, and Google Videos. It also features complete Windows 7 and Vista support, YouTube grabber, redeveloped scheduler, and MMS protocol support. The new version also adds improved integration for IE and IE based browsers, redesigned and enhanced download engine, the unique advanced integration into all latest browsers, improved toolbar, and a wealth of other improvements and new features.

TR35: Gert Lanckriet, 34 - Technology Review

2011-09-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

TR35: Gert Lanckriet, 34 - Technology Review:

Is Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" a happy song? Is "Bohemian Rhapsody" sad? Gert Lanckriet wants computers to be able to tell. Then people could search for tunes that match a particular mood or instrumental style, and an online store could make better recommendations.

Lanckriet, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, started by having his computers analyze a collection of 500 popular songs that human judges had categorized in six ways—by genre and tempo, for example. When fed a new piece of music not in the database, the computer uses that training to infer how a human would characterize it. Lanckriet continues to train the system through a Facebook game called Herd It, launched in 2009. Players listen to snippets of music and win points if they agree with the majority of their fellow users; the results are fed into Lanckriet's software.

After the software gets some more fine-tuning, Lanckriet plans to let it crawl the Web like a search engine, automatically classifying the huge amount of music available online. He's also exploring how to use the sensors in smart phones to cue up exactly the sort of music someone is in the mood for. If the phone's accelerometer detects that the user is exercising, it could choose something energetic, while sitting in a quiet room at night might lead it to choose something mellower.

Chinese Scientists Plan to Pull an Asteroid into Orbit Around Earth

2011-09-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Chinese Scientists Plan to Pull an Asteroid into Orbit Around

Earth

Last week Chinese scientists wanted to divert an asteroid away from Earth. This week, they want to pull one into orbit around the Earth. What’s possible objections could anyone have to this idea?

The notion stems from a phenomenon the researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing noticed from time to time with Jupiter. Every now and then our solar systems biggest planet pulls in an object from space, which orbits the planet for a time before jetting off into interplanetary space again.

We could do something similar with a number of near earth objects (NEOs) that will pass near Earth in the coming years and decades. None of these objects will pass close enough to be naturally captured by Earth’s gravity, but a few will come so close that a small nudge in the right direction would put them in orbit--likely a temporary orbit--around Earth.

The idea isn’t simply to flirt with cataclysmic danger, but to bring a small object (they suggest a 10-meter object called 2008EA9 that will pass nearby in 2049) into a loop around the Earth so we can study it closely for a few years. If we can get the art of capturing asteroids orbitally down to a science, we could use it to temporarily make asteroids into Earth-bound satellites (orbiting at about twice the distance of the moon), mine them for minerals, and then send them on their ways.

TECHNODOCX-VNIT

2011-09-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Techno.docx - the Paper Presentation Competition at AXIS'11. The one place for lots of new ideas and a fresh perspective on science and engineering. Starting this year, techno.docx has three sub events which shall cater to all possibilities of engineering research and phenomena growth studies. For starters, you can present a Classic Paper on either a research or review topic to a jury panel. We also have a section of the event dedicated to IDPs (Industrially Defined problems) where you shall be presented with a problem that an industry has come to face. So, get on your engineeering caps and build up the edifice of solution! Finally, there are the Case-Study type problems - a purely review like situation where an already implemented solution has to be deliberated upon. Weigh it down till it weighs you down and figure out - Why?
So there you have it! A thrilling experience guaranteed.
For all you interested in any of these, register online. NOW.

Automation:-
Topics: Industrial automation, Artificial Intelligence, Mechatronics, Domestic automated systems

Construction,Design,Safety:-
Topics and subtopics:
Transportation Engg. : Transport Systems and networks , Pavement Design ,Urban/Rural planning, Traffic flow , Highway Design, Safety and Accident Analysis.
Structural Engg. : Concrete Structures- PSC and RCC, Behaviour of Concrete and Concrete Characteristics, Reinforcements in concrete, Residual Life Assessment and Retrofitting of Structures, Bridges and Tunnels.
Geotechnical Engg. : Earthquake Engg., Foundations, Ground Improvement, Soil-Structure interaction, Mass movements and their control
Environment Engg. : Energy Efficient Buildings, Waste management, Air Quality Monitoring, Water Distribution and Treatment Systems, Pollutants.
Hydraulics & Geo-mapping : Boundary Layer Flows, Hydrology, Flood Forecasting, Design of Channels, Fluid Dynamics and Drag, GIS and Remote Sensing.

Power systems-Topics: Renewable energy, Energy Harvesting, Smart grids and Energy efficient systems

software and electronics:-Topics: Renewable energy, Energy Harvesting, Smart grids and Energy efficient systems

visit
http://axisvnit.org/technodocx.php for more details

mail your queries at technodocx@axisvnit.org

Ashish Kulkarni +91 95614 00941
Salman Modak +91 90040 73617
Abhishek Gupta +91 90499 49575
Digvijay Patil +91 90212 93447
Sai Saket +91 89560 93606

Catch the Designs - Latest designs,Concepts,Art: Bento Laptop - All in one

2011-08-31T19:21:00.001-07:00

Catch the Designs - Latest designs,Concepts,Art: Bento Laptop - All in one:

Bento is quite an a concept by René Woo-Ram Lee. It’s includes a tablet, a PC, external hard drives and a smartphone. Now combine the power of these to have fully customizable Bento Laptop! The Box accommodates all the gear to work as one whole unit or individually; as you see fit.

Features

Laptop with 15″ OLED screen

11″ tablet and 4″ phone sit in shallow depressions

Solar powered lithium-ion battery

1TB SSD drive

Optogenetics: Controlling the brain with light

2011-08-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Google gravity

2011-08-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Google sketch up

2011-08-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Google sketch up is the new application of Google which has appeared very interesting to me, as always google applications have lived up to their expectations.Google sketch up is an open source version to well known CAD ,software used to create three dimensional images and design.Guess what it is easier to use,i can guarantee you that if you sit with for a half an hour ,you will be able to make your own 3D design.It is a small sized app and very convenient to make 3D design.Once a design is made,the designer has the flexibility to make images of the design in different angles in JPEG format. The various tools are easy to understand ,there are templates available to use directly ,saving your time.There are measuring tools ,just in case you want your design to have proper dimension ratio.

This is one of the design ,i came across

It is easy to make a design in sketch up, the few tools which might be new to user are 3 D projection tool and offset tool .

you just use projection tool to drag in the direction of projection needed

Apart from this others are self understandable .

People all over the world have used this software to design things which are not technical, just to pass their time.It has become the new 'Paint'...

Hats off to Google for making such a dynamic and useful application...I personally feel everyone should try this application once.

Mobile Phone History | Invention story of Mobile Phones

2011-07-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

Mobile Phone History | Invention story of Mobile Phones

Mobile Phones have proved themselves to be one of the greatest gifts to the mankind. They have become an indispensible part of our lives. But going back in time, owning a mobile phone was confined to members of affluent class. All thanks to cost cutting techniques and innovations over a period of time; mobile phones are now affordable for everyone. With a plethora of mobile phones sets flooding the market, they are not just catering to the needs but are acting as status symbols for many.

Origin of this gadget is quite interesting. Starting from bulky mobiles phones which were as long and heavy as one’s forearms, to ultra thin and techno savvy handsets, mobiles phones have covered a long way so far. It all started with the basic telephony. Alexander Graham Bell was the first one to patent telephone in the year 1876. This technology was developed using the equipment designed for telegraph. Calls were connected with the help of operators. And a pillar of the mobile telephony came into existence when Charles Stevenson invented radio communication in early 1890s for keeping contacts with the offshore lighthouses. Marconi transmitted signals over the distance of 2 kms in year 1894. And Fessenden capably broadcasted music through radio by 1906.

And the following development was merger of radio telephone technology. In 1926, first class passenger trains, running from Berlin to Hamburg used the technology. These radio telephones were also used for air traffic safety as well as in the passenger airplanes. At the time of Second World War, German tanks made great use of these radio telephones too.

Two way radios was an ancestor of the mobiles phones. These radios also known as the mobile rigs, were fixed police cruisers, ambulances, taxicabs before advent of handheld mobile phones. Since the mobile radios were given connection to telephone network, one could not dial these from the home phones. And slowly this technology gained popularity among the mobile radio users.

Later versions of these radio phones incorporated cigarette lighter plugs and were called bag phones. Fixed in the vehicles, these gadgets were either used as portable two way radios or mobile phones. And then in 1940s, Motorola came with new developments in mobile phones. And this is how Walkie Talkie was born. Large, bulky and battery operated, this Handie Talkie soon found a way to US military.

Another turning point came in the history of mobile phones when the base station for mobile phones came into being. Engineers from Bell Labs developed the base stations in 1947. The same year, W. Rae Philip and Douglas H. Ring developed hexagonal cells for these mobile phones. But an engineer, Porter from Bell Labs, suggested positioning of the cell towers at corners of hexagons instead of center. He also argued for the directional antennas, for transmitting or receiving the signals in the three directions, into adjacent hexagon cells.

In 1956, Ericsson Company released the earliest full automatic cellular phone system called MTA in Sweden. Though this gadget was operated automatically but due to its bulkiness, could not really hold the users interest for long. It is surprising to hear that this mobile phone weighed around 40 kgs back then. And then improved and lighter version of the same phone was introduced in 1965. This was known as MTB and used the DTMF signaling.

Soon in 1957, Leonid Kupriyanovich developed experimental model of wearable mobile phones in Moscow, operating with the help of base station. This young engineer had earlier developed the radio phone known as LK-1. The battery life of the wearable mobile phone by the young inventor lasted for around 20-30 hours. Weighing 3 kg, it worked within the distance of 20 to 30 km from the station. Later he patented the mobile phones and also came up with a version of pocket mobile phone that was just of 0.5 Kgs in the same year.

Then again automatic pocket mobile phone was developed in 1966 at Bulgaria. Called RAT-0.5, phone coordinated with the base station known as RATZ-10. And further developments in the field of the cellular phones were witnessed in 1967. It was decided that every mobile phone would be catered to a base station throughout its life. Though this was not that novel concept, need of one base station at least broke continuity of the automatic services to the mobile phones. After three years, in 1970, another engineer Ames E. Joel invented automatically operated call handoff technology. This system allowed the mobile phones to pass through cell areas while making a phone call without any loss of conversation. This was the time when the mobile user could use the gadget without any disturbance.

Further in year 1971, AT&T Incorporation projected mobile phone service that was approved by FCC later. Another development in the history of mobile phones was registered with ARP network’s success launched in Finland. It was the earliest commercial cellular phones and was known as Zero Generation mobile network.

Invention of mobile phones that closely resembles today’s mobile phones is credited to Martin Cooper, employer and researcher of Motorola. He initially developed cellular phone named Motorola Dynatac in 1973. With 5 inches width and 9 inches length, this 2.5 pounds weighing phone carried around 30 circuit boards in it. With recharge time of around 10 hours, talk time of 35 minutes, this phone gave comfortable talking experience to the users. One could listen, dial and talk on this mobile phone but what was missing was display screen. With passing time, refinements were made and these mobile phones improved by leaps and bounds.

With introduction of Global System for the mobile communications, radio spectrum could be used effectively. The technology gave great voice quality, international roaming facilities along with compatibility with ISDN systems. And further for providing coverage to the remote areas that ISDN, GSM and cellular phones could not offer, satellite phones came into being. Base station for the satellite phones were built in the geostationary satellites. And now there is no place on the planet that is untouched by the mobile phones.

technology/Satellite History | Invention Story of Satellites

2011-07-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Satellite History | Invention Story of Satellites

It all started with basketball-sized pack of technology known as Sputnik 1. World’s first ever satellite was launched on October 4, 1957 by Soviet Union. Weighing 183 pounds, it took around 98 minutes to orbit Earth. While launch of the satellite was just a single event, it marked the beginning of space age and steered new military, political, scientific and technological developments.

The seed of its invention was sown back in year 1952, when International Council of Scientific Unions came to a decision of establishing July 1, 1957-December 31, 1958 as International Geophysical yr. It was decided so because scientists knew solar activity cycle would be at high points around this time. And eventually, council took up a resolution calling launch of the artificial satellites during International Geophysical yr. for mapping Earth’s surface.

White House declared plans of launching earth orbiting satellite and requested proposals from different governmental research agencies for undertaking development in July 1955. Vanguard proposal by Naval Research lab was picked for representing U.S during International Geophysical yr. And launch of Sputnik revolutionized everything. The technical achievement of Sputnik was that it did not just grab world’s attention but America’s public off-guard too. The size of this satellite was impressive as compared to Vangaurd and anticipated payload of 3.5 pounds. Additionally, public feared Soviet’s ability to commence satellites also translated to capability for launching ballistic missiles that could be used to transfer missiles from Europe to U.S. After that, Soviet’s had hit back with launch of Sputnik II on November 3, 1957.

Also, immediately after the launch of Sputnik 1, Defense department of U.S retorted to political disturbance with fund approval for Satellite project. Later as an alternative to the Vangaurd, work was initiated on Explorer project. Eventually, U.S launched Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958.

And the race into space did not end here; new way of viewing earth came into being. First ever aerial pictures were taken centuries ago by a hot air balloonist. Balloons were used for gathering military intelligence at the time of U.S civil war until their non immunity to gunfire was noticed. After that, many attempts were made to view ground from height including use of little cameras, kites or pigeons too. But effective aerial photography was not initiated until passenger on airplane snapped a scene of ground in year 1908.

Another revolutionizing element that the satellites brought was cellular telephones. These telephones have made communication not easy but handy too. Staying connected is easy as a pie with these phones. In the year, 1976 February, COMSAT launched MARISAT, a new type of satellite for offering mobile services to US Navy and all other marine clients. And in no later time, Europeans also commenced MARECS series for providing same services in 1980. Maritime organization UN international had funded INMARSAT in year 1979. And INMARSAT leased MARECS and MARISAT satellite transponders initially but soon in 1990 October started its own satellite named INMARSAT II F-1. Third generation of the satellite has been commenced too.

The contract of building an aeronautical satellite was given to General Motors in mid 1970s but was cancelled soon and IMARSAT provided the service. Perceived as means of offering traffic monitoring and telephone services on ships initially but it has offered a lot more than that. Gulf War brought the technology to public notice.

Many companies have worked hard to present version of Personal Communication System with the use of satellites in the Low Earth Orbits (LEO). As compared to initial LEO satellites, these systems orbited around 500 miles below belt. Among most ambitious LEO systems, Iridium by Motorola ruled the roost. At an altitude of 400 miles, it planned to start 66 satellites in the polar orbit. All the six orbits had 11 satellites each. And it started offering communication services of the cellular phones back in 1998. Apart from the large scaled LEO systems, there were many small ones too. But these companies planned to provide limited services, basically radio and data determination. Classic of these was known as ORBCOM which has now become a global leading provider of cellular data communications based asset management, tracking and remote controlling.

By 20^th century’s end, around 2,200 satellites were orbiting the planet with many of them offering scientific data with shots of earth that were not even imagined before. Along with latest imaging techniques, satellites bestow ordinary human beings with super sight. Remote sensing uses aerial photography and lets humans’ view, which is otherwise not possible with an unaided eye. Different techniques allow identification of vegetation, soil, seasonal crops, mineral resources and changes brought around by floods and storms. These are also use for detecting surface temperatures, finding out groundwater movements. The key ability of remote sensing device is that it can see energies in the wavelength that is not visible to the human eye. Remote sensing, which is just a step child of space age, is prying many innermost secrets of Earth.

google/recent events/The Pluses and Minuses of Google+

2011-07-03T04:33:00.000-07:00

It’s clear that Google has created an interesting suite of tools and is trying to take advantage of how people rely on their social networks to discover new content.These days, you may rely on your social networks to find the latest news or funny cat videos rather than using search. Google+ clearly is an attempt to move with the times.But does it work? The short answer is that there’s a lot of potential in Google+. We’ve heard that before — Google Wave was a tool that had nothing but potential. But it was hard to define what Wave did in a way that made sense to the average user. In some ways, Google+ falls victim to the same problem. Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages. We’ll start with the pluses:

Google+ uses “Circles” to help you group people into categories and makes it easy to share content with specific people. I have circles for my friends, my family and my professional peers. Creating circles is easy and Google+ uses a simple drag-and-drop interface to let you add people to each circle. You can add the same person to multiple circles if you like.

Sharing using circles is a breeze. If I want to share a funny story about my day, I may only want my friends and family to see the post and keep the rest of the world in the dark. No problem, I just select those circles when I create the content and everyone else is spared my anecdote. Or I might choose to share it with the world and keep the post Public, meaning anyone could read about my hilarious misadventures.

The hangout feature is a blast. Hangouts let you create a video chat room with up to nine other people. Whomever is talking — or speaking more loudly than anyone else — takes center stage. As one person finishes speaking and someone else begins to chat, the main video feed switches automatically. Considering most of the people I know on Google+ right now are tech journalists, this feature makes it feel like you’re hopping from one podcast to another.

The Android integration is great, particularly for huddles. Huddles make it easy to create a social group on the fly. Imagine you want to organize a quick get together among friends but you don’t want to broadcast it to the world at large. Creating a huddle lets you send messages to this specific group while excluding everyone else. Everyone in the group can read and respond to messages, turning the huddle into a party line. This is sort of what Twitter was supposed to be and what services like Beluga are doing now.

Sharing photos is easy. You can create photo albums, tag people and share images with whichever circles (or the public at large) you like. I have some images that anyone can see and others that only my friends have access to. And if you have Google+ on your phone, the instant upload feature makes it insanely simple to share a photo snapped by your phone that very second.

Now let’s look at some of the minuses as I see them:

It’s still a little confusing, though nowhere near as mystifying as Google Wave was.

Many of the features in Google+ are in other social networking sites or services. Facebook lets you create filters (though it’s not quite as easy or intuitive as it is in Google+). Beluga lets you create quick messaging groups among a set number of people. Google+ might be a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist. I’m not sure there’s enough there to compel people to use it in place of (or in addition to) other services.

Sparks, a Google+ service that pulls links related to your interests, hasn’t blown me away yet. I can’t see it replacing Google Reader or other RSS services for the moment. But maybe that will get better as time goes on.

I know a lot of people who have multiple email addresses, apparently. I don’t see an easy way in Google+ to consolidate these addresses into a single contact. I know I can do that in gmail and fix the problem that way but it would be nice to be able to do it in Google+. There may even be a way to do it and I just haven’t seen it yet.

Pulling content from other sources such as Facebook, Flickr or even YouTube isn’t intuitive. And it’s a little perplexing that YouTube compatibility isn’t built in at the beginning considering it belongs to Google. You can share videos on your Google+ stream but you have to upload them — you can’t just link to a YouTube account. I hope Google adds in a YouTube feature in a subsequent version of Google+.

It’s also difficult to really see the full potential of Google+ with such a small number of users. I don’t count that as a minus — Google wants to give the product a field test before unleashing it upon the world at large. But it does mean that getting a handle on exactly how useful all the features will be once the service goes gold is a bit tricky.

For the moment, Google has put a freeze on invitations to the network. I know that’s frustrating for people who really want to give the service a try but it makes sense from a quality assurance perspective. Will Google+ manage to do to Facebook what Facebook did to Myspace? We’ll have to wait and see

technology/NASA lander prototype ditches the manpower for an autonomous flight

2011-07-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

Hear that? Those were the giddy giggles of some very happy scientists down at NASA's Alabama-based Marshall Space Flight Center. Besting its previous June record for autonomous flight, this prototype robotic lander hovered for nearly half a minute at a height of seven feet before parking itself safely on the ground. Conceived as a joint project between NASA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, the intelligent bot is slated to go where its parachuting, aero-braking cousins can't -- like the Moon, or an asteroid. Future tests are on deck for the self-propelled lander to hover up to one hundred feet over the short span of a minute -- no doubt its current feat is pretty neat, but we wouldn't want to be the unsuspecting dolt who walked under it without his infrared goggles on.

technology/Thin film coating makes everlasting energy a piezoelectric possibility

2011-07-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Let's be honest, it's no big secret that we're running out of dead dinosaurs to fuel our lives. And with recent natural catastrophes proving atomic energy isn't what you'd call 'safe,' it's a good thing the researchers down at the RMIT University in Melbourne have been hard at work figuring out how to turn you into a self-sustained energy source. Marrying piezoelectrics with a thin film microchip coating, those scientists Down Under have for the first time identified just how much energy your pressure can generate. This is certainly not the first time the tech has been put to use -- Orange UK's been doing something similar, albeit bulkier, for the Glastonbury fest each year. What are some practical uses, you ask? Imagine a gym powered by a sea of workout-hamsters, each producing significant energy from the soles of their feet. Curious for more? Try a pacemaker that runs solely on blood pressure, or a laptop charged by banging out Facebook updates. Who knows, maybe even RIM can put this to use in its next Storm. Just sayin'.

internet/recent/Google's New Social Network: Google +

2011-06-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Google's New Social Network: Google +

It is weird, I have yet to see Google +, Google's newsocial network, myself. I was on the pre-invite list but for some reason, the invite never came and I am locked out. It is very weird for me to write about something that I did not experience first hand and also very weird for me to not have access to a new Google product early.

That being said, everyone else at Search Engine Land has been having a blast teasing me about having access to Google Plus. The SEL team has been 'huddling', 'sparking' conversations, creating 'circles' without me, and even doing 'hangouts' without me - so I feel a bit left out.

Okay, in all seriousness, the reviews seem fairly positive. Since I cannot give you a first hand recount, I recommend reading Danny Sullivan's Google + review and Greg Sterling'sfirst look.

Google has a very easy to understand overview of how Google + works over atgoogle.com/+/learnmore/ - so check that out.

Technology/recent events/innovation/UK scientists invent 'artificial petrol' that will cost Rs 14/litre

2011-06-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

UK scientists invent 'artificial petrol' that will cost Rs 14/litre -

British scientists have developed a low-cost and environment-friendly "artificial petrol" which may cost around Rs. 14 a litre and could be available at pumps in as early as three years.

The scientists who are refining the recipe for the new hydrogen-based fuel said it will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol.

The "artificial petrol" is expected to cost around $1.50 a gallon or 19 pence (about Rs. 14) a litre.

With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on the wallet, the Daily Mail reported.

Professor Stephen Bennington, who led the team involved in the project, said: "In some senses, hydrogen is the perfect fuel. It has three times more energy than petrol per unit of weight, and when it burns, it produces nothing but water.

"Our new hydrogen storage materials offer real potential for running cars, planes and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons."

According to the report, the first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price "petrol" could be on sale in three to five years.

Energy from hydrogen can be harnessed by burning the gas or combining it with oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity. But current methods of storing hydrogen are expensive and not very safe.

To get round this, the team from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Oxford, University College London and Oxford University have found a way of densely packing hydrogen into tiny beads that can be poured or pumped like a liquid.

Stephen Volker, of Cellar Energy, which is developing the technology, said: "We have developed micro-beads that can be used in an existing gasoline or petrol vehicle to replace oil-based fuels.

"Early indications are that the micro-beads can be used in existing vehicles without engine modification. The materials are hydrogen-based, and so when used produce no carbon emissions at the point of use, in a similar way to electric vehicles."

The scientists also noted that a tankful of the artificial petrol, which has yet to be given a brand name, is expected to last 300 to 400 miles, in line with conventional fuel.

10 Open Source Alternatives To Photoshop

2011-06-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

10 Open Source Alternatives To Photoshop: "However there are several alternatives to Photoshop and you can get similar features if not all, in the Freeware and Open Source alternatives.

Six Revisions has put up a list of 10 Excellent Open Source Alternatives To Photoshop, where they list our several useful alternatives which are pretty good. The alternatives include:

GIMP
Krita
Paint.NET
ChocoFlop
Cinepaint
Pixia
Pixen
Picnik
Splashup
Adobe Photoshop Express
Definitely a huge list of alternatives to Photoshop"

cool gadgets/technology/YikeFusion: same design, heavier frame, less expensive

2011-06-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

YikeFusion: same design, heavier frame, less expensive

Enlarge- Some of you may be familiar with the YikeBike. For those you who are not familiar with the YikeBike it is a computerized bike that can be folded up and packed away when it is not in use. The bike, which looks like it belongs to a classic cartoon character, allows users to tool around on the sidewalk much faster than most of us could walk, or even pedal on a standard bike.

Sci'con Repair Kit Promo - Buy S-Case seat bag at 30 Euro get for free over 35 Euro of gear ! - www.e-sciconbags.com

The standard version of the YikeBike weighs in at 10.8kg or 24 pounds, which is about the same as a Brompton folding bike. That low weight comes with the help of a carbon fiber body. The carbon fiber is lighter than other materials on the market, but it also makes the bike fairly expensive. Anyone who wants to buy the original YikeBike would have to pay $3,800.

If $3800 is not in your budget then you should be glad that Yike has created the Fusion. The Fusion is significantly less expensive, at $2000, because it is made from an aluminum composite, which makes it notably heavier at 14kg or roughly 31 pounds. This change of materials in the frame has added about seven pounds. This less expensive bike still carries over the same design from the original YikeBike, and features the same 450-watt motor. That motor will take you about six miles in total with a top speed of 14mph.

Enlarge

Since both the YikeBike and the YikeFusion are meant only for short-term commutes the extra weight should not be a significant issue for the majority of users, who could stash it in the trunk of a car or rolling suitcase. The YikeFusion is already on the market.

technology/supercomputer/recent events/Japanese Supercomputer Unseats Chinese Supercomputer, Is Now the World's Fastest

2011-06-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

Japanese Supercomputer Unseats Chinese Supercomputer, Is Now the World's Fastest

K Computer RIKEN

A Japanese supercomputer is now the world’s fastest, unseating the previous record-holder by nearly a factor of four. The K Computer, based at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS) in Kobe, can perform 8 petaflops — that’s 8 quadrillion calculations per second.

The next-best computer is China’s Tianhe-1A , which set a record at 2.6 petaflops last fall. The U.S.-based Jaguar computer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is now in third place with 1.75 petaflops.

K Computer topped the newest TOP500 List of the world’s fastest supercomputers, announced Monday at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg. K Computer, built by Fujitsu and entirely made in Japan, has 672 racks equipped with a current total of 68,544 SPARC64 VIIIfx CPUs, each with eight cores. It will eventually have 800 racks and will be capable of performing 10 petaflops, according to a news release from RIKEN. RIKEN and Fujitsu plan to have the computer fully operational by November 2012.

At least two American 10-petaflop machines are set to come online next year — IBM is building Mira, based at Argonne National Laboratory, and Blue Waters, based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is getting a 20-petaflop IBM model called Sequoia.

K computer will be used for global climate research, meteorology, disaster prevention, and medicine, according to RIKEN.

technology/cool gadgets/Spy-Like Sunglasses Shoot and Share Videos |

2011-06-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

A pair of camera-equipped shades makes secret video as easy as walking down the street

Now Wear This At four ounces, Eyez are only slightly heavier than everyday sunglasses. Claire Benoist

Rather than let life pass you by, save it. With the camera-equipped Eyez glasses, users can share point-of-view video without the clunky cameras and nettlesome file transfers that rabid uploaders typically endure.

The Ray-Ban-style shades capture an extra-wide 130-degree field of vision through a half-inch fisheye-like lens, which is masked as a grommet on the right side of the frame. A 0.2-inch high-def sensor captures images, and then a low-power one-gigahertz processor compresses the video. The footage is either saved into onboard flash memory or beamed from a 2.4-gigahertz Wi-Fi/Bluetooth radio to your smartphone. An app controls the camera remotely and acts a host through which footage streams to Facebook, YouTube or the Eyez homepage. The setup gets power from a molded lithium-polymer battery in the frame’s left arm.

As cellular radios continue to shrink and become more efficient over the coming years, Eyez may eventually be able to connect, stream, and share from anywhere without relying on a cellphone.

Max. Resolution: 720p video; one-megapixel stills
Capacity: 16 gigabytes (up to four hours of video)
Battery Life: Up to three hours
Price: $150

gadgets/Prototype dual-screened 2-in-1 Android smartpad from Imerj preview

2011-06-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

From the front it looks like yet another plain smartphone -- dark, nondescript, and maybe a little like an iPhone 4 that's had its right-most extent sliced off. Pick it up, though, and you realize this little thing isn't so nondescript. In fact, it feels oddly substantial, with a strange bevel cutting around the edge and a curious amount of heft. And then you flip it open. Suddenly it's a little tablet, two screens forming one 6-inch slate bisected by a few millimeters of bezel.

Shades of the Echo? Sure, but this is actually a very different device to hold, and a very different device to use. The software customizations built over Android 2.3, the bezel gestures, the proper multitasking, all make this into a unique device that feels incredibly familiar yet altogether different. It's a prototype device from Imerj and Frog (formerly known as Frog Design) something that's months away from production and hasn't even been blessed with a model designation more specific than "2-in-1 smartpad." So, is this poncho-clad Phone with No Name a legitimate threat to the established families of devices that own our little wireless San Miguel? Or, will it ride straight off into a sunset of obscurity when it launches? Read on to find out.

Gallery: 2-in-1 smartpad prototype from Imerj and Frog Design

technology/camera/Digital Camera Guide

2011-06-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Digital Camera Guide

So, it's time for a digital camera huh? Well, buying one can be more than a little difficult. What types of features should you look for? Well, this guide will tell you that plus get you a little more familiar with what these cameras are capable of.

Megapixels
When it comes to megapixels, the more the better. I recommend a minimum of 2, but 3 or 4 is great. We did a test to see if a camera with 2.3 megapixels (actually 1.92 - 1600 x 1200) could produce a good quality 8x10.

Turns out it can, if you have the right paper and printer. We used HP Premium Plus photo paper with an HP 970 series printer and made a fantastic 8 x 10. Remember, I was a professional photographer before I got into computing, so I know a good print when I see it :-)

The resolution at 8x10 (we had to crop in to make the picture proportional to 8x10) was only 150 DPI. Most printers would not make a real good 8x10 at that resolution, but this one did. So, if you want to be sure you can get good 8 x 10s, you may want to go with a 3 megapixel camera or better (that gives you around 200 DPI at 8x10 size, still not quite the optimum 300 DPI, but it looks good with the right printer).

Optical vs Digital Zoom
You've probably noticed that most digital cameras have both a specification for digital and optical zoom. Pay the most attention to the optical zoom.

The optical zoom magnifies (zooms in) using glass. The digital zoom basically crops out the edge of the picture to make the subject appear closer, causing you to lose resolution or to get an interpolated resolution (i.e. the camera adds pixels). Neither of which help image quality.

Finally, make sure you get enough (optical) zoom. A 2x zoom isn't going to do much for you. A 3x is the average you'll find in most digital cameras will probably be good for most uses. More on lenses later.

Connection
How does the camera connect to your computer? If you have a USB port in your computer, you'll want a camera that can connect via USB as opposed to a slow serial connection.

On the other hand, if your computer doesn't have a USB port, is there a serial connector available for the camera you're looking at? If so, is it a special order and how long does it take to get it?

Storage
What does the camera use to store images with? If it uses a memory stick, make sure you consider buying additional sticks when you get your camera. A typical 8 meg memory stick that comes with a 2 megapixel camera only holds 5 or 6 images at the camera's best quality.

Some cameras use a 3.5 inch disk for storage. Be careful of these!
Although it may sound like a good idea, a 3 megapixel camera at high resolution produces a 1 meg file (compressed!). That's only 1 picture per disk.

Here's a few more things to look out for when trying to make your digital camera purchase.

Picture Formats
When you're trying to decide on which digital camera to get, check and see how many different picture formats it supports.

You want something that can produce both uncompressed (usually TIFF) and compressed (usually JPEG) images. I personally use the high quality JPEG setting on my camera for most of my shooting. TIFFs are just too big and the difference in quality is not ascertainable by mere mortals.

You also want to be able to shoot at a lower resolution than the camera's maximum. That way, If you're running short on memory, you can squeeze a few more shots on your memory stick.

Auxiliary Lens / Flash
This was a biggie for me. While a 3x zoom may work for the "average" user, I needed something that allowed me to do some wide angle work as well as have a good telephoto lens.

So, the camera I purchased a few months back was a Nikon Coolpix 990 (note that this isn't the only camera that can accept lenses). It has auxiliary lenses that screw into the filter ring on the front of the lens. I now have an ultra-wide fisheye lens plus a nice telephoto.

In addition to lenses, I wanted a good flash. The flash that is built into most of these cameras gives you a top range of 15-20 feet - at best. I wanted a camera that could take a powerful auxiliary flash (again, the Nikon isn't the only camera that fits this requirement, but I liked it better than the rest). If you need more reach than the small built in flash can deliver, then make sure you can attach an external flash to any camera you consider.

As an added bonus, if you get a camera that can take an external flash, you can place that flash on a bracket and eliminate red-eye.

Flash Distance
Speaking of flashes, make sure you check the distance the built in flash is good for. You don't want a camera with a wimpy flash that only travels a few feet (well, unless you can get an external flash for it as described above).

Battery Type
This may not sound important, but it is. Anyone who owns a digital camera can tell you they eat batteries the way a sumo wrestler eats at a buffet.

Make sure the camera can run on regular (or rechargeable) "AA" type batteries. You don't want a camera that eats through expensive lithium batteries every 10 shots or so.

One thing to remember about digital cameras, they do eat through batteries. I recommend getting some Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable for it. I have some for mine and they have saved me a fortune.

Final Notes
Choosing a digital camera isn't easy. There's a huge selection out there and only you can determine which features you need.

For instance, if you shoot wildlife photos, a small 3x zoom probably isn't going to cut it (unless you can attach auxiliary lenses to it). If you shoot lots of close-ups, make sure the camera has some sort of macro capability. If you shoot big group photos indoors, an external flash may be necessary.

My advice is to make a list of things you want to be able to do with the camera then go to somewhere that can help you make a good purchase decision.

Finally, buy the BEST camera you can possibly afford. Or wait until the price drops on one with the type of features you want.