Monday, January 21, 2008

MIT Sketching

An amazing simulations software. Note the screen he's using!

Bill Gates last day at Microsoft - CES 2008

Bill Gates will be moving from a Microsoft full time employee to become employed full time at the foundation. This would be the first time for Bill to leave microsoft since he was 17.

You might want to rethink online dating

To give an idea how much can photoshop do for you!

Reuters Technology Week

Tattoos that change shape and the robot that takes order from a monkey.
Plus, using the sweat of Swedes to heat a building.
Manoush Zomorodi reports.


Philips inroducing the foldable screen, Polymer Vision.

The new Readius Polymer Vision is to be released by the end of 2008. It has a 5-inch foldable electronic paper screen. First releases will equip a black-and-white display, but the future seems to be very colorful!

Americans living abroad can now cast their votes online

via JESSICA BERNSTEIN-WAX, Associated Press Writer.

"Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing overseas voters, will hold its first global presidential preference primary from Feb. 5 to 12 with ex-pats selecting the candidate of their choice by Internet as well as fax, mail and in-person at polling places in more than 100 countries.
Democrats Abroad is particularly proud of the online voting option — which provides a new alternative to the usual process of voting from overseas, a system made difficult by complicated voter registration paperwork, early deadlines and unreliable foreign mail service."
"The online system is incredibly secure: That was one of our biggest goals," said Lindsey Reynolds, executive director of Democrats Abroad. "And it does allow access to folks who ordinarily wouldn't get to participate."
"U.S. citizens wanting to vote online must join Democrats Abroad before Feb. 1 and indicate their preference to vote by Internet instead of in the local primaries wherever they last lived in the United States. They must promise not to vote twice for president, but can still participate in non-presidential local elections."

Introducing Nanoscope | iPod Projector

Introducing the Nanoscope, an ingenious way to convert your iPod to a mini projector TV.

Facebook Storing your information

Following a complaint by one of its users, Facebook is to be investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office. The user was unable to fully delete their information from Facebook servers.

Facebook allows you to deactivate your profile making it inaccessible. However, the profile information is kept on the servers in case the user wishes to reactivate their account!

Facebook noted that its policy is in "full compliance with UK data protection law".

"We take the concerns of the ICO [Information Commissioner's Office] and our user's privacy very seriously and are committed to working with the ICO to maintain a trusted environment for all Facebook users and ensure compliance with UK law,"

Cell-Phones may result in disturbed sleep!

A recent study Funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum suggests radiation from the handset can cause insomnia, headaches and confusion. The study included 35 men and 36 women with ages between 18 and 45. Those exposed to radiation took longer to reach a deep sleep level, and spent the least time in the deepest level.

Read more at BBC

Friday, January 18, 2008

Microsoft defends accusation of patent violation in China




Zhongyi Electronic Ltd., a 100-employee hi-tech Chinese firm is suing Microsoft corp for using technologies from it's core Product, Zhengma. The product allows internet users to convert Chinese words typed in the Roman alphabet into Chinese characters.

Microsoft countered Zhongyi claim on Friday

"Microsoft has fully performed its obligations including paying Zhongyi the license fees in accordance with the license agreements," the statement said.

According to Zhongyi, Proceedings in the case began on Tuesday in the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

Read Full article REUTERS.

Best of CES 2008 | Azentek Car PC

The New Atlas CPC-1200 double-din Car PC. Also single-din version available (CPC-1100). Has lots of features including dual-core processor, 6.5” Touch-Screen LCD, navigation, and automobile diagnostics capabilities. The older version CPC-1000 does the same thing and comes with 120GB Hard Disk!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Hi-tech robot cat!

An amazingly smart cat! After some training this cat was able to utilize a robot to be able to move around. Watch the video and let me know what you think!

Buy Your Gadgets with a "Put Option"!


A few new companies are offering their gadgets with a put option. A Los Angeles-based company is offering it's clients a "guaranteed" buyback plan for electronics.

"For a fee paid when you buy a device -- $9 for an iPod, for instance -- you get the right to sell it to TechForward at a predetermined price that depends on how long you keep it. If you sell an iPod after a year, for example, you would get $40; after another year, $20." More at CNN

HDMI Switch Box

I use the iogear 4-port automatic hdmi switch with remote with Logitech Harmony 720 Universal Remote. HDMI switch boxes are becoming even more popular with the increased popularity of High Definition components.

Today most HDTV's or HD Receivers are equipped with one or two HDMI ports. What if have more components with HDMI ports. You have two choices, either settle down for a lower quality connection, or spend some cash buying an HDMI Switcher. Some switchers are equipped with four HDMI inputs, and also include Infra Red capability, meaning you can easily control it with a good universal remote, A handy cool gadget.



MacBook Air or Dell XPS M1330?

The new MacBook Air with it's multi-touch control panel, ultra slim design, and a solid state hard drive will surly grasp all the attention but is it really worth it's price?

You might want to check out the new Dell XPS M1330. With the same price tag and one extra pound to carry around you get double the memory, 7 hours of mobile power, stereo speakers, and a lot more ports including HDMI Not to mention the led display.


DELL XPS M1330
MacBook AIR
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache) 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4MB shared L2 cache
OPERATINF SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate, with Media MAC OS
WEIGHT, SIZE Starting at 3.97 pounds (1.8 kg).
31.8 x 2.31 to 3.38 x 23.8 cm

Starting at 3.0 pounds (1.36 kg)
32.5 x 0.4 to 1.94 x 22.7 cm

SYSTEM COLOR Tuxedo Black Check the link at the bottom.
LCD PANEL AND WEBCAM LED - backlit 13.3" UltraSharpTM WXGA display with TrueLifeTM (includes 0.3 MP camera) 13.3-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen LED
1280 x 800 pixels
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz 2GB (onboard)
HARD DRIVE High Reliability: 64GB Solid State Drive 64GB solid-state drive
OPTICAL DRIVE CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive) Option: External MacBook Air USB SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
WI-FI WIRELESS CARD Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n)
BLUETOOTH WIRELESS Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR) Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
SOUND OPTION Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition Headphone out, microphone, mono speaker
BATTEREY LIFE Delivering up to 7 hours of mobile power Up to 5 hours wireless productivity
I/O PORTS 2 USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin connectors
IEEE 1394a
RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100)
Video: HDMI
ExpressCard 54 mm slot 8-in-1 removable memory card reader
Audio jacks: Stereo in & headphone/speaker out (x2) dual digital array mics
Micro-DVI video out with support for DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite
One USB 2.0 port
LINK DELL MAC

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Solid State Hard Drive

A solid state hard drive is a hard drive without any moving parts. It has many advantages over regular hard drives. The main advantage is speed. since there is no actual moving physical parts, the hard drive speed is no longer limited to the speed of mechanical movements. The only dissadvantage is it's price tag, a 64GB SSD would go somewhere around $1000 USD.

MacBook Air Preview




Read more from WIRED News.