Here's how (in layman's terms):
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/17/lcd-technology-torn-down-and-explained-in-the-most-lucid-and-acc/
20110318
20110317
VIDEO: Water cannons try to cool reactors
thus, a nice strong tsunami would solve the problem :P
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via BBC News - Home on 3/17/11
Authorities near the tsunami hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are using increasingly desperate measures to get the situation under controlThings you can do from here:
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Kinect bringing sight to the blind, sorta.
After Windows 95, kinect is the next mainstream paradigm shifter for microsoft :P
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via SlashGear by Kevin Fubar on 3/16/11
Some graduate students at Universität Konstanz in Germany put together a project based on Microsoft's popular Kinect system. Instead of using the system as a gaming controller, they take the Infrared camera's visual data from a helmet mounted Kinect and uses it to relay audio instructions through a wireless headset. This could possibly give the blind warnings about obstructions and directions at a larger distance than the current white cane and/or seeing eye dog system in popular use today. They call it the NAVI, Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired.
The pair of students wanted to do more than just implement that system. They also put together a limited Augmented Reality system utilizing the standard camera mounted alongside the dual IR cameras that allow the Kinect to have stereoscopic vision. The AR system is set up to read various AR bitmap tags like the one pictured below. This allows the system to work with the external world to give the handicapped access to more information. It also works to prove other AR concepts like having bit mapped tags trigger virtual events.
So for example, if you walk towards a door the output will be "Door ahead in 3″, "2″, "1″, "pull the door" where each part of the information depends on the distance to the marker on the door.
These systems put together allow the student to pass blindfolded through a short course with the NAVI working as a guide. The team put together this short demonstration video showing the components and operation of the system. They talk a little bit about the vibro-tactile arduino system in the belt, but I don't quite understand what's going on there. I'll venture a guess that as the user gets closer to walls the belt will begin to vibrate harder as a tactile warning system.
[via HCI Blog @ Universität Konstanz]
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wikileaks: Fukushima nuclear plant owner falsified inspection records
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via Twitter / wikileaks on 3/16/11
wikileaks: Fukushima nuclear plant owner falsified inspection records http://is.gd/CO9ccgThings you can do from here:
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20110316
Sun.com, the twelfth oldest domain on the internet, will be decommissioned
:(
Sun Microsystems, one of the original gangsters responsible for supplying all the electronics and infrastructure we now know as the internet, ceased to be Sun Microsystems in January of last year. Assimilated into the Oracle juggernaut, its operations no longer carry that familiar logo and soon they'll no longer even be referenced in the same spot on the internet. Yes, after 25 years of answering the call of sun.com, the company that no longer is will be letting go of its former domain name as well. The site has already been redirecting users to Oracle for quite a while, but come June 1st, it'll be like the Sun we knew had never even risen.
[Thanks, Jeroen]
Sun | Email this | Comments
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via Engadget by Vlad Savov on 3/16/11
[Thanks, Jeroen]
Sun.com, the twelfth oldest domain on the internet, will be decommissioned on June 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nintendo 3DS suspicious of beards and glasses
Nice :P
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via SlashGear by Chris Davies on 3/16/11
Nintendo's 3DS isn't just a 3D portable games console, it's also apparently a style judge. According to the handheld's user guide, players with beards, bangs or even glasses could end up confusing the 3DS' facial recognition system.
Piercings and bangs can also apparently confuse matters, while the environment you play in – what's behind you, how good the lighting is – can also have a big impact. Basically, it sounds like the 3DS would prefer you to follow the same guidelines as for passport photos: clear face, plain background and, whatever you do, no smiling.
Now, we've been confused by beards before ourselves in the past, but we do worry about long-sighted gamers forced to squint at their screens because the 3DS forces them to take off their reading glasses if they want to be recognized properly. Bearded, glasses-wearing and riddled with piercings? Perhaps you should just save your money for an NGP.
[via Kotaku]
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20110315
PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation
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via Engadget by Joseph L. Flatley on 2/21/11
The above pictured contraption, called Copernitron, features a PlayStation Move controller, a turntable, and a homebrew Helmholtz coil (you know, for canceling out interference caused by our planet's magnetic field). By sending data to a Linux PC via Bluetooth, this bad boy will measure the Earth's rotation, find geographic north, and determine altitude. Apparently, this is achieved by measuring the controller's subtle movements as it spins around at 45 RPM. And while the PS Move gyros are much more accurate than those of any other controller on the market, they're not too accurate: if they were, the designer points out, "ITAR might classify them as missile components. That's why we can't have nice motion tracking." See it in action after the break.
Continue reading PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation
PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink
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In lasers we trust: NASA researches 5kW galactic trash disposal system
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/15/in-lasers-we-trust-nasa-researches-5kw-galactic-trash-disposal/
The whole idea is stinking "conspiracy" from miles away :p
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20110314
SG Comics Presents: NYC Apple iPad Lines
Nicely done :D
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via SlashGear by Rue Liu on 3/14/11
The Apple iPad 2 started selling last Friday, March 11th to massive lines at major flagship Apple Stores. One NYC woman was able to sell her first place spot in line for $900. This could become an interesting trend for future Apple product launches…
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20110311
Android Phone Gets Driver Out of a Ticket
cool :P
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via SlashGear by Samia Perkins on 2/22/11
College student Sahas Katta was able to beat his speeding ticket in traffic court using…drumroll please…his Android smartphone, and a handy app. Katta was pulled over and charged with going 40mph in a 25mph zone. But he wasn't going 40, only 26mph. His word against the officer's right? Not so much, since he was running My Tracks by Google in the background on his Motorola Droid phone.
The free app records and visualizes GPS data on a map, tracking distance, average speed, average moving speed, and max speed. Katta downloaded this information to Google Docs and brought it with him to the courtroom. He was able to convince the judge that the officer might not have been using his radar gun correctly, introducing enough reasonable doubt that he was declared "not guilty". Nice!
[via Android Community]
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Alien Fossils Found (Maybe) Inside Meteorites
http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/MF3wSMXXYJ8/
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Study Shows One In Five Seniors Is Potential Facebook Gamer
http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/ix2yhSsV7_Y/
A quite interesting study with a quite reasonable outcome :p
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20110310
20110308
Human origin 'in southern Africa'
So, we are all essentially black. Most of us have lost our vibrant color though :P
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via BBC News - Home on 3/8/11
Modern humans could have originated from southern Africa, challenging the "out of Africa" view that they came from the east of the continent, a study suggests.Things you can do from here:
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PCIe as a fabric for interconnect clustering
Good times, a really nice article that kept me company during the trip to work:
http://www.eetimes.com/design/embedded/4213842/Using-PCI-Express-as-a-fabric-for-interconnect-clustering?pageNumber=1
20110306
Rack construction 2/3 complete
Hi!
The rack in my basement is now 2/3 complete :D
Ta ta,
--
elias a.k.a. diluted
The rack in my basement is now 2/3 complete :D
Ta ta,
--
elias a.k.a. diluted
Antarctic ice built 'bottom-up'
this is just a test
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via BBC News - Home on 3/3/11
Scientists show how the Antarctic ice sheet is growing from the bottom up in some places, as liquid water freezes on to the bottom of the White Continent's ice covering.Things you can do from here:
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Verizon iPhone 4 Gets Dinged By Consumer Reports
The gist of the article: "The only phones who experienced a signal drop were the iPhones"
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via SlashGear by Rue Liu on 2/25/11
When the iPhone 4 first debuted on AT&T users experienced the famous "death grip" as their reception plummeted after holding the phone in a certain way. Consumer Reports has tested the new Verizon version of the iPhone and the reception problem seems to have followed the device to its new network. While complaints rained down on AT&T and Apple when the iPhone launched, complaints have been far fewer for Verizon's iPhone.
Consumer Reports ran the device through the same series of tests as AT&T's iPhone, as well as five other Verizon smartphones: Motorola Droid 2, HTC Droid Incredible, Samsung Fascinate, Motorola Droid X, and the LG Ally. All tests were done in a radio-frequency isolation chamber which blocks outside signals. Sending a signal to the phones, they were then tested by placing a finger on different parts of the phones to see if there was any signal degradation. The only phones who experienced a signal drop were the iPhones.
The drop in reception comes from the design of the iPhone 4. The sleek and stylish design places the antenna on the outer metal band of the phone, and on the lower left is the antenna where the signal loss happens. If you bridge the gap it will result in signal loss, something easily done while holding the phone normally. The design problem is easily alleviated buy putting a case on the iPhone, which lead Apple to hand out their Bumpers for free when the problem first came up. Consumer Reports concludes their test by not including the Verizon iPhone 4 on their recommended smartphone list, despite receiving high marks on their ratings.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/02/verizon-iphone-4-reception-problems-consumer-reports-lab-test.html
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Tractor beam tech could eventually push & pull particles
the visionary creators of star trek have foreseen everything :)
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via SlashGear by Chris Davies on 2/28/11
Chinese physicists reckon they've figured out the tech behind a staple of science fiction: the tractor beam. Fudan University's Jun Chen and team found a way to create a backward pulling force from a forward propagating laser beam, basically turning the photons into a tiny tractor beam.
When we say tiny, we really mean it; this isn't going to snatch a Klingon Bird of Prey out of the sky and drag it into your cargo bay. Currently, the system will only work if the momentum in the direction of propagation is sufficiently small – basically beams that simply glance off an object – and if the photos can simultaneously excite several multipoles within the particle.
That excitation causes the beam to scatter and, if it's at the right angle, work against the direction of momentum. Space capture isn't the scientists' end goal, however; they believe the system could be useful for manipulating particles at the nano level.
[via Technology Review]
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