IT-blog

Goolge Chrome Easter Eggs -- chrome rullz!

2008-09-04T23:28:00.002+03:00

We are all exited with release of new internet browser by Google -- Google Chrome, which is still not specific on software development but it's first moves are not bad, especially Google Earth is very interesting software product.
So what is the first surprize with the Google Chrome? Google Chrome is able to show some sort of famous graphics - just type about:internets in address and Google Chrome will show you something. Maybe it's some kind of non easy way of turn on screensaver? Who knows, will see what else will be discovered in Google Chrome in future.

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JavaScript performance says Google Chrome is the fastest browser ever!

2008-09-03T03:30:00.001+03:00

Presented yesterday the very first browser of the Google Corp. is available for downloading a few hours. And of course lot's of people wanted to know how fast is it?
Though it still in beta phase, Chrome showed pretty interesting results. Lars Bak, Google engineer and responsible person for Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine, said Chrome "many times faster than the rivals at running JavaScript, the programming language that powers Google Docs, Gmail, and many other Web applications". That's promising, but what's the real benchmarks? They are very convincing:

• Richards: OS kernel simulation benchmark, originally written in BCPL by Martin Richards (539 lines).

• DeltaBlue: One-way constraint solver, originally written in Smalltalk by John Maloney and Mario Wolczko (880 lines).

• Crypto: Encryption and decryption benchmark based on code by Tom Wu (1,689 lines).

• RayTrace: Ray tracer benchmark based on code by Adam Burmister (3,418 lines).

• EarleyBoyer: Classic Scheme benchmarks, translated to JavaScript by Florian Loitsch's Scheme2Js compiler (4,682 lines).

Update: Google Chrome (ChromeSetup.exe) - is finally available!

2008-09-02T19:56:00.004+03:00

Here is the very First screenshot of Google Chrome (ChromeSetup.exe):

Google Chrome (ChromeSetup.exe)

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Last update on availability: as promised - Google gave us this new browser. It's free for download here http://www.google.com/chrome! Google Chrome rullz!

HP Thync - what can be universal remote control

2008-05-28T23:22:00.001+03:00

Resource Dvice, dedicated, high-tech devices and concepts, posted on their pages conceptual designs for the remote control (PRC), which is called HP Thync.

A special feature is its universality concept, with its help, the idea developer David Chacon (David Chacon), it will be possible to control all devices in the house.

Unlike conventional compact PRC, which is easy to lose in the house, but it is convenient to keep and use just one hand, HP Thync are more and more difficult, because the work involves embedded with the menu and graphical user interface on-screen that is already quite resembles the concept from the movie "Click".

On the timing and the very possibility of commercialization project has not yet been reported.

Source: Dvice

The biggest drawing in the world created by GPS and DHL

2008-05-25T14:12:00.005+03:00

There are all sorts of creative uses for GPS, but here's a fellow who says he sent a self-designed GPS "device" in a briefcase to DHL with express travel instructions. He plotted the shipment's movement and ended up with the drawing you see above. We're a bit confused. First, he says he developed a GPS device with extended tracklog and battery time. Okay, but... using what, exactly?

Also, we've received some things from DHL, and we have a hard enough time just getting them to deliver stuff to the right address, let alone make circles in the Caribbean in the name of art. To be fair, his documentation looks complete, so serious kudos to him if this is all for real. Peep the travel instructions document that he says he gave to DHL along with shipping receipts and video after the break.

Specs of NVIDIA's GT200 chip: 1 billion transistors in just 576 mm2

2008-05-21T02:36:00.001+03:00

GeForce GTX 260/280 GPUs are based on the GT200 (NV60) core and will be built using a 65 nm manufacturing process at TSMC. Nvidia has come up with a huge die measuring 24 x 24 mm, resulting in a die area size of 576 mm2.

This area is almost 100 mm2 larger than Nvidia’s previous 90 nm high-end GPU (G80) and a consequence of 16 processing blocks (G80 came with nine blocks, eight were enabled for GTX models, six for GTS versions) and a new 512-bit memory controller, which replaces the old 384-bit model (the GTS260 will integrate a 448-bit version).

The current G92 or GeForce 8800GT/8800GTS512/9800GTX/9800GX2 CPUs are built in a 65 nm process and end up at a die size of 330 mm2. The original G80 (NV50) GPU, better known as the GeForce 8800, was manufactured in 90 nm and delivered a die size of 484 mm2.

With its new GPU generation, Nvidia is going to continue on the safe route and plan with enough spare transistors for 240 shader units (actually, 240FP+240MADD). Just like ATI's graphics parts and Sony Cell processor, this should not be considered odd. Keep in mind that the G92 chip debuted with 112 shader units and, after production had ramped up, Nvidia unlocked all the shader and texture units to create GeForce 8800GTS512, followed by the 9800GTX and GX2.

The same will be the case with the GeForce GTX 280 and 260. The GPU will have 15 processing units (240 shader processors) available on the GTX280, while the GTX260 will come with 12 units for a grand total of 192 shader processors. This may be an indication for the complexity involved in manufacturing such a part – especially if you think about the fact that Nvidia has a tradition of designing its GPUs completely in software and a massive supercomputer system in Santa Clara, California. The company always has been proud of the fact that every GeForce chip you buy essentially is “first silicon.”

Our sources state that the manufacturing cost of the GT200 die is somewhere between $100 to $110 per piece. It is pricey and you will be getting a lot more processing logic inside this core than with any other semiconductor part in the short history of the IT industry.

Typically, the CPU die spends about 66-80% of its real estate on cache and the remainder on logic; in the world of GPUs it is vice versa. Our sources indicated that the number of transistors on the GT200 will settle somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 billion – north of 900 million and south of 1.1 billion.

The production cost of a chip is determined on the amount of chips that fit on a wafer. In light of the fact that a 300mm (12") wafer carried less than 120 G80 GPUs, Nvidia will see even fewer GT200s, apparently about 100, according to what he heard.

We can't wait to lay our hands on one (or two) of these babies, and we'll share our impressions as soon as possible.

Pants with embedded keyboard for geeks

2008-04-25T07:32:00.001+03:00

Okay, so maybe tapping that space bar repeatedly in mixed company wouldn't be entirely appropriate, but if you've actually managed to mingle with fellow civilians while rocking these, they aren't likely to mind. Dreamed up and designed by Erik De Nijs, these über-geeky pants boast a built-in keyboard that's apparently Bluetooth-enabled.

Beyond that, you'll also find sewn in speakers, a pocket made especially for travel mice of all flavors and a "joystick controller" strategically located just behind the front zipper (saywha?). Hate all you like, we just penned this very post on a pair of these bad boys. Only kidding.

Designer Erik De Nijs, has stitched together this eye catching pair of “Beauty and the Geek” jeans. These “modern shaped trousers which are often worn by youngsters..” are the perfect solution for Googling quick exits while running from the fashion police. Built into the knees are a pair of crotch rocking speakers, around the back you have the added convenience of a back pocket for your “mouse”, and for you gamers, there is a joystick controller located just behind the front zipper. As usual, there are additional pics after the jump.

Intel Netbook Eco PC - how it looks like? See photos below

2008-03-23T01:35:00.001+02:00

As you may noticed now lot's of companies trying to produce small form-factor PCs or notebooks to be like ASUS with their Eee PC. So intel's (almost a clone of Classmate PC) new small and hopefully cheap notebook Eco PC is looking like this:

Sony: The very first product

2008-02-01T15:48:00.000+02:00

When it was founded in May 7, 1946 the first product of Sony was not a Walkman, A Walkman or a television but it was an electric rice cooker.

Brainchild of Ibuka one of the co-founder the electric rice cooker was made by merely interlocking aluminum electrodes which were connected to the bottom of a wooden tub, was a primitive product. The result depended heavily on the kind of rice used and the weight of the water. Tasty rice was a rarity, as the rice cooker produced mostly undercooked or overcooked rice.

Like Zoom? How about 13.4 Gpixel photo?

2007-09-03T15:55:00.000+03:00

So you find images from your new 10 Megapixel shooter clear, well here is a glimpse of the future. The above video is of 13.4 Gigapixel photo. 1 Gigapixel = 1000 Megapixels or 1 billion pixels. The photo is of Harlem, New York city, no matter where you zoom in, it's always crystal clear. It can clearly depict a person's face 20 miles away. I wonder how much RAM the computer is having.

http://view.break.com/360208 - Watch more free videos

Best Computer Viruses Over 25 Years

2007-08-31T23:04:00.000+03:00

ELK CLONER, 1982: Regarded as the first virus to hit personal computers worldwide, "Elk Cloner" spread through Apple II floppy disks and displayed a poem written by its author, a ninth-grade student who was designing a practical joke.
BRAIN, 1986: "Brain" is the first virus to hit computers running a Microsoft Corp. operating system - DOS. Written by two Pakistani brothers, the virus left the phone number of their computer repair shop.
MORRIS, 1988: Written by a Cornell University graduate student whose father was then a top government computer-security expert, the virus infected an estimated 6,000 university and military computers connected over the Internet. Although viruses had spread over the Internet before, until "Morris" none was widespread.
MELISSA, 1999: "Melissa" was one of the first to spread over e-mail. When users opened an attachment, the virus sent copies of itself to the first 50 people in the user's address book, covering the globe within hours.
LOVE BUG, 2000: Also spread via e-mail attachment, "Love Bug" exploited human nature and tricked recipients into opening it by disguising itself as a love letter.
CODE RED, 2001: Exploiting a flaw in Microsoft software, "Code Red" was among the first "network worms" to spread rapidly because it required only a network connection, not a human opening an attachment. Although the flaw was known, many system operators had yet to install a software patch Microsoft made available a month earlier to fix it.
BLASTER, 2003: "Blaster" also took advantage of a known flaw in Microsoft software and, along with the 2003 "SoBig" outbreak, prompted Microsoft to offer cash rewards to people who help authorities capture and prosecute the virus writers.
SASSER, 2004: "Sasser" exploited a Microsoft flaw as well and prompted some computers to continually crash and reboot, apparently the result of bad programming. Although "Sasser" is hardly the last malicious software, the ones since then have generally received less attention as networks install better defenses and profit-minded virus writers try to avoid detection and removal of their works.

DIY: install AMD Barcelona by yourself

2007-08-23T10:25:00.001+03:00

Russian ATM machine works fine on pirated Windows

2007-06-08T18:59:00.000+03:00

Windows Vista may have sold millions of copies but in Soviet Russia our ATM's run on pirated version of Windows.

10 most commonly used online passwords

2007-04-26T15:45:00.000+03:00

In PC Magazine's upcoming May 8th issue they have listed the top 10 most commonly used passwords online. So in case you are using any one of them change it ASAP. Having a hard time deciding on the right password, download the SecurePassword Generator plug in for Firefox.

1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. blink182
10. (your first name)

22 MPH with the fast Boots from Russia!

2007-03-18T07:31:00.000+02:00

UFA, Russia — Being a star engineering student at the top-notch science university here wasn’t enough to exempt Viktor K. Gordeyev from his physical education class.

Mr. Gordeyev, a specialist in airplane piston engines, sweated it out with everyone else, running laps in lumbering heavy boots in this town in the foothills of the Ural Mountains.

He vowed to find an easier way. Eventually, he found one — or at least came close. Mr. Gordeyev invented a gasoline-powered boot that looks like pogo sticks that strap to your shins, and they work on the same principle as the air-cushioned basketball shoe.

But rather than being dismissed as a crackpot invention, his boots — which use tiny pistons — became classified as a Russian military secret until 1994.

Now, they have been held up as a symbol of both Russia’s deep and rich scientific traditions and the country’s inability to convert that talent into useful — and commercial — merchandise outside of the weapons business.

Many government officials, Russian scientists and economists are focusing these days on the need to generate new sources of growth to diversify the country’s economy away from oil — the unsteady source of Russia’s recent prosperity.

And there is a growing consensus that entrepreneurialism has promise but faces serious obstacles, including no vibrant mechanism to bring together venture capitalists, inventors and entrepreneurs to develop viable commercial products.

In February, President Vladimir V. Putin implored the country’s most prominent businesses to branch out and invest in innovation and science. German O. Gref, the minister of economic development, often says Russia’s scientific base distinguishes it from other emerging market economies in India, China and Brazil, even though Russia is often compared to them.

But as part of a series of pointed articles, the Russian edition of Popular Mechanics magazine argued that Mr. Gordeyev’s thwarted attempt to commercialize the shoes is a symbol of the country’s failure to tap its considerable scientific talent for profitable business ideas.

The dream Mr. Gordeyev conceived in 1974 to run faster and jump higher without getting tired might never have become a popular option for commuters or even caught on as a sport. But unlike the Segway, the American-invented self-balancing scooter, it never had a chance.

Instead, the boots became a military secret, as generals envisioned soldiers running swiftly and effortlessly alongside armored vehicles.

The boots were declassified in 1994, and Mr. Gordeyev and his partners imagined growing rich by selling their invention to a lazy public. Instead, the company went out of business in 2006.

Like the boots, Russian scientists are still trying to gain traction in the capitalist world. A company in Saratov making a novel transport airplane with no tail, called the “flying saucer,” never got off the ground.

Russia also has other examples of good ideas later bungled in the process of commercialization. The Russian inventor of the Tetris video game was unable to patent his invention, and thus lost out on huge amounts of money. Russian engineers invented submersible pumps for oil wells, but failed to invest in their development; now Russian companies buy Western models from Halliburton.

And, in contrast to the United States, venture capital firms and start-up companies in Russia have not congregated near technology universities. Russian computer programmers, successful in Silicon Valley, are best known at home for hacking.

“Venture capital firms are starting to work here, but as a rule, if something comes to their attention it is an exception,” said Igor R. Belousov, a Hewlett-Packard executive who coordinates the company’s research at Russian universities.

Meanwhile, natural resources account for 80 percent of Russia’s export revenue; crude oil and natural gas alone account for 65 percent.

To encourage foreign companies to invest in cities rich in scientific talent, Mr. Gref’s ministry is setting up technology parks with tax breaks in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk.

In another example, Boris V. Gryzlov, the speaker of Parliament, said in February that his political party, United Russia, should help Russian inventors find markets for their ideas. The program is called the Idea Factory.

Like so much else in Russia these days, it envisions a big role for the Kremlin in venture capital; some 30 committees would recommend scientists for state grants. That approach is not surprising, given the country’s history of channeling industrial innovation into its military — the first home of Mr. Gordeyev’s shoes.

For now, though, the boots remain a curiosity, without the wider distribution their owners hoped for.

“Everything that would happen in an engine happens when you step down” in the boots, said Rustam D. Enikeev, the dean of the faculty of internal combustion at the Ufa State Aviation Technical University.

A step down compresses air in the shoe as in a typical sneaker, said Mr. Enikeev, who was a designer on the project. But then, a tiny carburetor injects gasoline into the compressed air and a spark plug fires it off. Instead of fastening a seat belt, the institute’s test runner, Marat D. Garipov, an assistant professor of engineering, strapped on shin belts at a recent demonstration. Then he flicked an ignition switch.

Before running down a university corridor, he jumped in place a few times to warm up the engine. Mr. Garipov then ran laps for about 10 minutes, going about 12 miles per hour, with the two-stroke boots emitting small puffs of exhaust.

A test runner once topped out at 21.7 miles per hour, despite the risk of being sent off-balance.

The tanks in the shoes hold a third of a cup of gasoline each and will take the runner three miles; that means the boots get about 70 miles per gallon.

But even after years of research, gasoline-assisted running remains dangerous.

“The worst situation is when the spark fires as the runner just lands, and the force of the blast is absorbed by his body,” Mr. Garipov explains flatly.

The two powerful engines tend to throw a wearer off balance or cause knees to buckle.

Mr. Gordeyev, the inventor, now 61 and retired, disagrees that the boots are dangerous and still has visions of their mass adoption. “We’ve been running in them for years and we haven’t had one trauma,” he said in a telephone interview. “The latest version operates smoothly. It will become a device for moving humanity. It’s a means of personal transportation.”

First, the institute tried to interest the Soviet Army.

“We ran in the corridor of the general staff building, in front of the generals” and the minister of defense, Mr. Enikeev said. “They liked it, and were even a little frightened.”

An order came down for the paratroop command to test the boots, and the design became classified. This gave the university access to government laboratories in Moscow, including those of the space agency.

One result of the Russian space agency testing was a calculation that the energy in calories used to move the two-pound boot at a run would exceed the energy input from the gasoline engine. That meant, it was more tiring to run with the motorized footwear than without it, undermining the original rationale.

Only if the weight could be reduced to below 2 pounds per boot would the wearer have a net energy gain. So far they have failed at this.

After the shoes were declassified in 1994, when capitalism was beginning to sweep across Russia, the inventors decided to market the boot.

A former student, Anfis G. Saibakov, formed a company called Ekomotor to design a user-friendly version. He imagined people might want to commute in the boots, as they do on bicycles or rollerblades. None of this happened.

When Mr. Saibakov demonstrated the boots at Disney World in Florida in 1998, safety came up as a concern, he said, and the company lacked money to fine-tune the product.

“They don’t have characteristics that would allow an ordinary person to use them,” Mr. Saibakov said glumly, admitting that running in the shoes would always mean “taking certain risks.”

“They should work like a Kalashnikov,” he said. “Reliable in anybody’s hands.”

Via NY

Install Windows Vista from a high speed USB 2.0 Flash Drive

2007-03-01T19:00:00.000+02:00

I've been thinking about writing a post about "How to install Windows Vista from a USB Flash Drive" for a while but just never got around to doing it. What got me thinking about it was a post on Josh's board (windowsconnected.com) about running WinPE from a bootable USB Flash drive and it seems to me like there's be a lot of folks that would want to install Windows Vista entirely from a USB Flash drive as well.

WHY INSTALL FROM USB FLASH DRIVE?
Why would someone want to install a client OS from a thumb drive instead of a DVDROM or over the network? One reason: Performance. Installing Windows Vista from a high speed USB flash drive is in my experience the easiest & fastest way to complete a Windows Vista install. This is much faster than using a DVD, gigabit ethernet, or possibly even some external USB 2.0 hard drives, due to differences in access speed & transfer rate. To put this into perspective, y'know how installing Windows on a Virtual PC virtual machine from an .ISO CD image is really, really, really fast? Imagine something roughly just as fast, except for doing installations of the OS on to actual workstations.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Here's some step-by-step instructions on how we do this, some of which was adapted from Josh's instructions, again, kudos to Josh.
Acquire an ultra-fast USB 2.0 flash drive
The drive I and my coworkers recommend is the Apacer 4GB Handy Steno USB Flash Drive HT203, 200X Hi-Speed USB 2.0. It's the fastest USB 2.0 Flash Drive that we've found - it has a read speed of 25MBytes/sec. & a write speed-14MBytes/sec and also works great as a ReadyBoost cache. You can get them from $56.99 each:
http://www.directron.com/ht2034g.html

Incidentally, once you've got Windows Vista up and running, you may want to consider getting an ultra-fast SDFlash card, installing it into your laptop or desktop, and leaving it there as a ReadyBoost cache. Why? It can't hurt and they're so cheap that it's worth getting. I personally got a SDFlash card for every one of my machines - the A-DATA 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card, 150X Turbo SD Card has a read

speed of more than 22.5MB/s and a write speed of more than 15MB/s. You can get them for $19.99 each:
http://supermediastore.com/adata-2gb-sd-secure-digital-card-150x.html
Format the Apacer Flash Drive
Run CMD.EXE and type the following. Note: This set of commands assumes that the USB flash drive is addressed as "disk 1". you should double check that by doing a list of the disks (type "list disk") before cleaning it. If you have multiple hard drives, like an SDFlash drive or a Multibay drive, you could end up wiping your second drive using this command.
(This was a warning that Josh added to his post along with the following commands that I copied from him, so kudos to Josh)

diskpart
select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit

Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive
Simply issue the following command to start copying all the content from the Windows Vista DVD to your newly formatted high speed flash drive.
xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\

And that's it. Boot up the machine, have it boot off the USB drive, and watch how fast the installation completes. If you thought Windows Vista installed quickly before (usually 20-25 minutes per install of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition) then let's see how you like having Windows Vista install in less than 5-10 minutes. The slowest part of the install will probably be the computer waiting for you to type in information in the setup fields, and even that can be automated using the Windows Automated Installation Kit.

10 Annoying Vista Problems

2007-02-17T05:08:00.000+02:00

Partners are annoyed by the abundance of software and hardware incompatibilities surfacing as Windows Vista is deployed to more early adopters.

The Redmond, Wash., software giant launched Vista and a companion update called Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update to the market on Jan 30.

That update, KB929427, handles some of the more problematic application incompatibilities, but the nightmare is far from over, partners say.

It's typical for these conflicts to appear shortly after an operating system is released. The big problem with Vista is not only the number of incompatibilities with existing applications but also the lack of drivers for critical hardware components and hardware peripherals, partners say.

One partner said he is surprised by the lack of Vista drivers available for basic hardware components that keep a PC running.

"Customers upgrading Vista in place may find getting support for existing hardware very challenging," said Phil Aldrich, North American Microsoft Practice Manager for Dimension Data North America, a $3.1 billion solution provider.

"Tons of vendors haven't done Vista drivers and that's left a big hole in support. I can understand when it comes to printers and scanners, but when we're talking about hard drives, chipset controllers and video cards, things that run the PC, it's surprising," he said. "It's not just peripherals but primary component manufacturers aren't ready, and that unusual compared to the previous releases [of Windows]."

According to various solution providers contacted by CRN, here are the 10 biggest problems faced by early adopters of Vista out of the gate:

1. Lack of available drivers from ISVs causing application conflicts;

2. Lack of available drivers for existing and new peripherals and hardware components;

3. Buggy drivers;

4. New security feature often flags existing applications as suspicious and interrupts service;

5. Few applications aside from Vista and Office 2007 take advantage of user account control;

6. Customers are confused by Office 2007's ribbon-like user interface;

7. The OS automatically recommends which Vista versions is best for each PC's configuration. This will cause small businesses to download different versions of Vista;

8. Benefits of Vista and Office 2007 running together are not obvious. Partners and IT staff need training for maximum ROI;

9. Deployment isn't easy. Partners should use either Business Desktop Deployment tool, "lite" BDD no-charge tool or other tools;

10. Hardware doesn't run Windows Vista well.

Some speculate hardware and software manufacturers have invested little in updating their current products because they expect most customers will buy a new — and associated products — to run Vista.

Aldrich maintains, however, that many installed PCs are properly equipped to handle Vista and Office 2007 and the idea that customers must buy new PCs is a myth.

Partners and IT pros are also facing problems with peripherals.

"There's not enough drivers out there. Peripherals manufacturers are not all up to speed with Vista, so be careful what you buy," said Anthony Rodio, chief marketing officer at Supportsoft, a Redwood City, Calif., partner that provides helpdesk support for Windows Vista to enterprises and consumers. "People want to use the functionality in Vista and there are some multimedia, video and sound devices that support Vista, but many peripherals have to catch up."

He noted, for example, that Microsoft's own recently released Zune is not Vista compatible. And he added that one of his technicians recently bought an up-to-date webcam for Windows Vista and it didn't work.

The lack of available Vista drivers for existing software applications is a nightmare, partners say. They don't understand why Microsoft and its ISVs have dragged their feet for so long in developing drivers for existing applications.

The Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update is a package of updates released on Jan. 30 that fixes application compatibility issues with applications like Adobe Photoshop, AVG AntiSpyware, Google Desktop 4 and Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.,5.

But that Vista patch introduced problems with another version of Roxio one partner is using. He reported it to Microsoft but it hasn't been resolved yet.

"So many things just don't work and won't ever work and that's the problem," said Brian Bergin, president of Terabyte Computer, Boone, N.C. "Smartphones, fingerprint scanners, video drivers and both ATI and nVidia's [cards] are questionable at best, not to mention [that] many business applications don't work. Microsoft did such a horrible job of working with vendors on legacy XP-Windows 2000 application-hardware compatibility that everything is up in the air."

One of the beauties of Vista is the added security, but in order to use it, you must have updated hardware and drivers for applications," said Aldrich. "And none of the large ISVs have done it."

New security features in Vista are compounding the incompatibility issues, Supportsoft's Rodio said.

"Windows security is nice, but it may interrupt some existing applications you are running, like a travel service or something that Microsoft flags as spyware and interrupts," Rodio added. "It will likely disrupt stuff you've done in the past."

Incompatibilities dominate the list of most common complaints registered against Windows Vista since it shipped on Jan. 30, say several partners who support consumers and SMB and enterprise customers.

Many ISVs have pledged to release Vista drivers in the second half of 2007 but partners should expect a flood of support calls for customers who deploy this year, experts say.

Paul DeGroot, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, a newsletter in Kirkland, Wash., said it's not surprising to him that hardware manufacturers are not investing in new Vista drivers for older hardware.

Although some maintain that Vista runs happily on a Pentium 4 with at least 512 megabytes of RAM, he and others expect most customers will migrate to Vista through new PC purchases.

"I'm guessing that most of the hardware manufacturers will initially ship drivers for Vista only for new products that they're shipping about now because there wasn't demand in the marketplace for Vista drivers. In addition, Vista will be heavily related to OEM sales, and the OEMs may be selling compatible accessories with new PCs, so the aftermarket business will see less Vista-specific traffic

MugMouse: drink coffee from your mouse...

2007-01-25T08:42:00.000+02:00

In this jet age where everything is revolved around speed and the pace at which thing work its refreshing to see that some people actually want to slow things down and smell the coffee. Take the case of this amusing invention called the MugMouse. It has been deliberately created as “ SLOWEB peripherals that aims to provide an alternative to the fast global flow of information and is concerned with rhythms of consumption.” Well in layman’s terms it’s just a coffee mug that doubles up as a computer mouse. It works on infrared and it connected by USB cable. You click by pushing the whole mug towards the table, as the bottom the mug is a mouse button. Holding 150 ml of your favorite hot drink (and keeping it that way via a heater), this mug could be the next best thing for those who are content with the slow speed of this mouse.

Though still in a conceptual stage the practicality of the MugMouse is rather questionable, for I’m sure sooner or later there will be coffee spill all over the desks!

Gold-coated nanoparticles act as cancer killers

2007-01-03T18:31:00.000+02:00

Nanotechnology is definitely here to stay. It's being touted in all kinds of scientific pursuits these days. One of the most revolutionary may just be in the realm of fighting cancer.

Nanoshells, as they are being called, are gold-coated nanoparticles that would be placed within tumors and then remotely exploded with infrared light. The good catch is that the nanoparticles don't die but the cancer cells do. More importantly, unlike chemotherapy and radiation, this kind of treatment doesn't harm other cells because it is engineered to target only the cancer cells.

Scientists also say that the nanoshells could be used as infrared imaging devices, perhaps as a first-step microscopic X-ray of a tumor. The one possible danger is that the infrared light is shone through the patient's skin, perhaps causing some form of reaction. But, scientists say, that reaction will be mild compared to the havoc that radiation and chemo can wreck on the body.

This round of nanoshells (which build on an earlier method) is on the cusp of FDA-approved clinical trials and could be soon on the fast track to approval. Initial tests have already shown 100 percent remissions in animals.

Impossible Triangle looks good in real world

2006-12-20T19:43:00.000+02:00

Impossible Triangle is an Optical Illusion but .. it’s could be real.

An exciting new landmark has been created for Perth, in a unique collaboration between a leading WA artist Brian McKay and architect Ahmad Abas. Destined to become a bold icon for Perth, the "Impossible Triangle" has been erected in Claisebrook Square, East Perth.

In 1997, a number of local artists were invited to enter submissions for a major commission for the East Perth redevelopment. Each artist was given a comprehensive brief for the project. The submissions were shortlisted to three. One of the outstanding submissions came from Brian McKay and Ahmad Abas. It was accepted with one amendment. In order to create a bold and visible landmark for the wider community, the size of the sculpture was increased from the planned height of 9 metres to 13.5 metres.

The design striations on the polished aluminium reflects both sunlight and artificial lighting and changes dramatically between sunrise and sunset.

Brian McKay was born in Northam, Western Australia, in 1926. His work spans six decades. After representing Australia in the Children's Art Exhibition at New York's World Fair in 1939, Brian's work has featured in numerous local, national and international exhibitions. Among his many accolades, Brian was awarded the prestigious Australia Council Emeritus Fellowship in 1990 and the Order of Australia medal in 1991, for services to contemporary art and education. Brian has been commissioned for many major works over the years, including internal art works for the Central Park Complex in Perth city and two large works for the Reserve Bank of Perth.

Ahmad Abas is an award winning Perth architect who has had a strong local involvement in the arts, since 1990. In addition to working on major commercial architectural projects both locally and overseas, Ahmad has worked prolifically in design and construction on numerous plays, sculptures, exhibitions and events, often working in collaboration with other leading local artists.

The world's first 2.5 gigapixel digital picture

2006-12-16T22:38:00.000+02:00

Hasselblad may have a camera with 39 megapixels, but when you check out this latest project, it's like saying you have a 32MB MP3 player. Imaging junkies in the Netherlands got together and created a 2.5 gigapixel digital picture, dubbed to the world's largest. To accomplish this, they employed a 4 gigapixel camera. That's giga, not mega.

Just as 1000MB is equal to 1GB, 1000 megapixels are equal to 1 gigapixel. And this camera has four of those. As you can probably imagine, the file size is absolutely gimongous. The original picture was a jaw-dropping 7.5 gigabytes (GB) in size.

Now, it's not like this photo was taken in one fell swoop either: it is composed of 600 individual images that were later "merged". The endeavor took 75 minutes to complete.

Sea Level May Rise 40 Percent Higher Than Predicted, Study Says

2006-12-15T02:53:00.000+02:00

Global warming could push sea levels about 40 percent higher than current models predict, according to a study that takes a new approach to the calculation. Most sea level models predict changes based on what we know about how ice sheets melt and warmer waters expand. These models suggest that by 2100 sea level will be between 4 and 35 inches (9 and 88 centimeters) higher than it was in 1990.

But the physics of how ice sheets melt and how the oceans will expand in a warmer world is still poorly understood. So Stefan Rahmstorf, an ocean physicist at Potsdam University in Germany, took a different approach: He used studied actual observations of changes in sea level collected in the 20th century to make predictions for the 21st century. Current models don't jibe with actual sea level rise during recent decades, Rahmstorf says. So he crafted a formula based on a relationship between global temperature and sea level seen during the past hundred years.

"The more the temperature rises, the faster the sea level rises," he said. In a paper published today in the online advance edition of the journal Science, Rahmstorf applied his formula to 21st-century warming scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). His results predict that by the end of the century sea level will rise between 20 and 55 inches (50 and 140 centimeters) above 1990 levels. "We have much larger uncertainty than we previously thought about the sea level," Rahmstorf said.

Unforeseen Factors

Rahmstorf added that the actual range of uncertainty is probably larger than his calculations suggest. The IPCC numbers are based on an older assumption that the ice sheets over Greenland and Antarctica will melt by a steady amount over time. Recent research suggests, however, that ice sheets are melting faster (related news: "Global Warming Is Rapidly Raising Sea Levels, Studies Warn" [March 23, 2006]). "If something dramatically new happens—something we haven't foreseen—then of course the whole approach [of using observations to make predictions] breaks down," Rhamstorf said.

"We may end up with more sea level rise." Konrad Steffen is a professor of geography at the University of Colorado at Boulder who studies how melting ice sheets and glaciers contribute to sea level. He said one wild card that could impact predictions is the so-called dynamic response of the ice sheets to warming. In the last five to eight years, he noted, the speed at which Greenland's glaciers move toward the sea has sped up dramatically (explore Greenland's changing landscapes with a National Geographic Adventure magazine guide). Scientists think that meltwater, which pools up on the ice, funnels down to the glacier bed. There, the water acts as a lubricant, allowing the ice to slip seaward more quickly. The process may last five or ten years, or it may last decades, Steffen said.

"We have hypotheses on what is happening, but we can't model it for the future," he said. "That is where [Rahmstorf] is correct."

High Water Risk

Study author Rahmstorf notes in Science that a sea level rise of 39 inches (1 meter) is plausible if the 20th-century relationship between temperature and sea level holds true in the 21st century. That much sea level rise would expose major coastal cities such as London and New York to greater storm surges, threatening life and property. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions can impact such sea level rise, he noted.

"By implementing effective climate policy," he said, "we can stay below the lower end of my range [around 20 inches, or 50 centimeters]."

Via National Geographic

A small cute doggy that humping with your PC or laptop

2006-12-13T18:28:00.000+02:00

Well, this is probably the COOLEST USB gadget ever! The Humping Dog is nothing but a little doggie in heat that keeps on screwing your computer once connected… WICKED!!

CUBE-WORKS (Japan) lets you possibility to make a nice present for someone for X–mas or just have your own Humping Doggi! See video how it works when connected via USB…it’s awesome!

Available on GeekStuff4U.com on request.! Only $8.5

Lumus-Optical unveils microdisplay-packin' designer glasses

2006-12-12T20:41:00.000+02:00

While we admire the effort of those gaudy, unsightly microdisplay-equipped goggles to bring big screen theatrics to the front of your face, they aren't likely to win any style contests, nor help you garner any friendly attention. An Isreali company, dubbed Lumus-Optical, is looking to change all that by offering up a relatively normal looking set of spectacles with twin microdisplays and mini projectors.

The firm's latest prototype boasts dual 640 x 480 resolution displays as well as two wee projectors on each arm; the Lumus glasses can accept video inputs via an undisclosed connection, and projects an image akin to a "60-inch screen from 10 feet away." Its Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology allows the imagery to be reflected back on to the lenses so users can view them, all while being transparent enough to allow you to focus on the humans, trees, road block, or board room presentation ahead of you. Although it's easy to shrug gizmos like these off as gimmicky and unrealistic, we guess we'll have to see (ahem) for ourselves when these specs are demoed at CES.

via http://www.israel21c.org

1 TB of data on a regular DVD?

2006-12-07T21:07:00.000+02:00

This is the promise of the 3-D Optical Data Storage system developed at the University of Central Florida (UCF). This technology allows to record and store at least 1,000 GB of data on multiple layers of a single disc. The system uses lasers to compact large amounts of information onto a DVD and the process involves shooting two different wavelengths of light onto the recording surface. By using several layers, this technique will increase the storage capacity of a standard DVD to more than a terabyte.

This technology has been developed by Kevin D. Belfield, Department Chair and Professor of Chemistry at UCF, and his colleagues in the Belfield Research Group. So how does this work?
The process involves shooting two different wavelengths of light onto the recording surface. The use of two lasers creates a very specific image that is sharper than what current techniques can render. Depending on the color (wavelength) of the light, information is written onto a disk. The information is highly compacted, so the disk isn’t much thicker. It’s like a typical DVD.

The challenge scientists faced for years was that light is also used to read the information. The light couldn’t distinguish between reading and writing, so it would destroy the recorded information. Belfield’s team developed a way to use light tuned to specific colors or wavelengths to allow information that a user wants to keep to stay intact.

Below is a picture showing how this two-photon 3D optical system reads the data. "This 3D image was reconstructed from successively two-photon fluorescence imaging (readout) of 33 XY data planes along the axial direction (1 micron distance between each image). The principle for this novel two-photon 3D optical storage device was based on a bichromophoric mixture consisting of diaryletheneand fluorene derivative, suitable for recording data in thick storage media." (Credit: Dr. Zhen-Li Huang, UCF)

This research work has been published by Advanced Materials under the title "Two-Photon 3D Optical Data Storage via Fluorescence Modulation of an Efficient Fluorene Dye by a Photochromic Diarylethene" (Volume 18, Issue 21, Pages 2910-2914, Published online on October 30, 2006). Here is a link to the abstract.

This work has also been reviewed by Rachel Pei Chin Won in Nature Photonics under the title "Two photons are better than one" (November 16, 2006). Here are more details about this "Two-Photon 3-D Optical Data Storage" system.
[The researchers] have fabricated a two-photon three-dimensional optical data system using a photochromic polymer. They show that the system is suitable for recording data in thick storage media and for providing a readout method that does not erase existing stored information — they perform 10,000 readout cycles with only a small reduction in contrast. Also, contrary to other techniques, this method allows reading and writing of data at the same wavelength, which is achieved by changing the intensity of the laser light.

Nature Photonics also describes what kind of lasers were used by Belfield and his team.
Although the authors used a relatively expensive femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser to both read and write the information, they suggest that the data could be read using cheaper nanosecond laser diodes with comparable laser intensity, making this high density data-storage system more cost effective.

But when will we able to use DVDs with a terabyte capacity? Not before several years. In fact, the researchers just received a $270,000, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work.

In the mean time, you can still visit -- virtually -- Belfield's lab. In particular, you should take a look at this page about High-Density Optical Data Storage, from which the above illustration has been extracted, and a photo gallery about One vs Two-photon Excitation.

via Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, University of Central Florida