Archive for 'Random'

Many are still hesitant to upgrade to the new Windows Vista, perhaps the negative buzz and the massive system requirements have made Vista less desirable than Microsoft had hoped. Vista promised to integrate not only a 3D-interface or other exciting technologies but also a new file system, called WinFS, as well as the communication subsystem Indigo. Unfortunately the release of the WinFS File system has been postponed and Indigo is now available for Windows XP, so some may be asking why they would want to upgrade to Vista at all? Well, Microsoft has promised that there will be huge steps toward a secure environment which is virtually impossible to integrate into today’s Windows XP.

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Electronic Paper Display is due to shape the future of how we display text and graphics. The new display technology is designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper and possess a high contrast appearance, ultra-low power consumption, and a thin, light form.

The EPD reflects light like ordinary paper and is capable of holding text and images indefinitely without drawing electricity, while allowing the image to be changed later. The images are displayed in black on a whitish-gray background with a resolution similar to that of a typical laptop computer screen.

Check out this video of a new prototype PDA from Phillips that incorporates the new E-paper.

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Click To Enlarge HP Ad

I really like this creative ad, but I am not sure about the placement. Probably where we would focus the most attention on mirror, but it seems like the bathroom does not have th most color. Outside would have been better, but I am not sure how many people would have noticed it.

Agency: Publicis, Indonesia
Creative Group Head: Afianto
Art Director: Arius
Copywriter: Roy Sagala
Graphic Designers: Iswanda Mardio, Dimaz Muktiarto
Production: Pangudi, Teguh Yuswanto

New high speed digital video camcorders are capturing speed and giving scientist a new perspective in time, speed and motion.

Check out the video and then take a closer at the pics below. It is very amazing how this cop was able to survive a barrage of bullets. This happened out at the southern edge of Plano, Texas.

Here are the pictures of the police car back at the lab for inspection

It has always been a goal to improve our military strength and skill over our soldiers. DARPA has been at the fore-front of technology that is taking this to a new level. A robotic exoskeleton that would let GIs run faster, leap further and carry more is starting to materialize and become reality. A very practical and ambitious idea that is allowing many more options for our military.

According to DARPA, the exoskeletons will be delivered for Army testing in 2008. After 14 companies and universities initially (circa 2001) came up with different designs, they have selected the firm that will build the beast: Sarcos of Salt Lake City in Utah, US.

Sarcos has come up with a system that uses just one engine instead of lots of them. The engine, and a tank containing a 24-hour supply of fuel, will be slung ‘beneath your rear end’ says Main. The engine (a turbine, two-stroke or four stroke - they haven’t decided yet) will then drive hydraulic fluid via high pressure lines to servo valves on each joint, amplifying the force used to move each limb when the wearer’s motion is sensed.

“It makes you feel really, really strong. You get the sensation that you have a lot of strength. I sort of felt like The Hulk and I’m a skinny guy. I wore a 100-pound weight on my back and it felt I was carrying nothing like that amount,”

In 2006, Engineers in Japan were perfecting a wearable power suit that amplifies human strength to help lift hospital patients or heavy objects. It was driven by portable batteries, micro air pumps and small body sensors that pick up even the slightest muscle twitch. Lead by project researcher Hirokazu Noborisaka, the Stand-Alone Wearable Power Assist Suit was designed to help nursing home workers lift patients of up to 180 pounds while cutting the amount of strength required in half.

However, that suit needed to be more flexible for easier movement and protective cover that shrouds the suit’s sensitive or sharp areas.

Humans have a limited capacity to remember those insignificant streams of letters and digits often used as passwords; as a result, many people choose or change their passwords so they are easier to remember.

Memorable passwords, however, can easily be hacked when faced with dictionary attacks or logical guesses. Information based on birth dates, family members or place names are an easy target for most hacking software and the time it takes for these programs to ‘guess’ your password decreases considerably if it is simple and unsecured.

A recent meeting of the Computer and Communications Security interest group of the Association for Computing Machinery saw an improved description of a password security system called ‘Draw a Secret’.

This system is based on the fact the humans excel at image recognition and memory, for this reason passwords should be designed to leverage this ability. The Draw a Secret password method incorporates a touch screen and stylus for the user to sign freeform shapes as their password. This can be anything from pictures to graffiti style tags.

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In the past these types of industrial and large format printers have mainly been reserved for businesses rarely available on the consumer market. Despite the fact that oversized prints appeal to a rather small group of target customers, HP has released their Scitex TJ8300 and TJ8500 for anyone who has the money - And the space!

These monsters are capable of printing 140 posters 1.5m X 1.8m per hour, that’s approx 400sqm/hr at 336 dpi or 100sqm/hr in apparent 600dpi. They can print on just about anything including paper, self-adhesive vinyl, banner, canvas and paperback flag. The TJ8500 also prints on uncoated synthetic media (uncoated Yupo, Tyvek, etc.). They print on both coated and uncoated materials up to a maximum size of 165 x 370cm (65 x 145″).The difference between the TJ8300 and the TJ8500 is the ink they use. The TJ8300 opts for high quality, solvent based inks specially formulated for high productivity and high quality printing. The TJ8500 uses environmentally friendly UV inks with an internal dryer that meets regulatory requirements. The TJ8500 also prints on uncoated specialized synthetic media (uncoated Yupo, Tyvek, etc.) but apart from these differences the specifications of both models remain the same.

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Mac Users

Mac users have it easy as there is a simple user-friendly application called Instant Handbrake which not only rips DVD’s but also converts them into the video format the iPod uses, MPEG 4.

Windows Users

Unfortunately there isn’t an all-in-one application compatible with Windows. The process isn’t that technical but you will need two different applications plus iTunes to be watching your movies on the go. Here’s how:

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Forget trying to pry open your Xbox to solder on a modchip that allows you hack your classic machine. A new software modification lets you replace the Microsoft dashboard with the stunning open source Xbox Media Center Software, transforming your once discarded machine into a user friendly, and very accessible media center.

After the release of the Xbox 360 many classic Xbox’s have unfortunately been left to gather dust. With a powerful processor, a sizable hard drive and an Ethernet port your old Xbox is capable of a lot more than simply connecting to Xbox Live or playing Halo 2. With the new XBMC software installed on you Xbox, you will be able to:

• Access and play videos, music and photo slideshows located in any shared folders on your network.
• Transfer files to and from your Xbox hard drive.
• Rip DVD’s (or any file) to a shared folder for later use: burning, back up etc.
• Watch Apple movie trailers, YouTube videos, Launch.com videos and see RSS newsfeeds loaded from the internet.
• Watch DVDs “dongle” free (no more DVD Playback Kit required!)

First you will need to collect a list of software and hardware that enables the soft mod.

• Xbox Classic
• Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell must be the original un-copied version, Pandora’s Tomorrow or Chaos Theory versions won’t work
• Action Replay Kit - USB memory card that lets you load and save games, unlock games and store cheats.
• Ethernet Router - A connection to the internet through a standard network router must be established.

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Sent to my Email that has by now I am sure cycle the globe of Email inboxes of many military members already, but if not I wanted to include them here.

During the WW I years, Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas made some incredible human pictures
by using thousands of sailors or soldiers in uniform to create the following images.

Click the photo to view the images:

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Remember how when you were a kid you were always told to sit up straight? “Stop slouching, it’s bad for your back!” Well, in a study last year, Scottish radiologists confirmed that a 130-degree angle of recline between torso and thighs reduces pressure on the discs in the lower back.

Office chairs like the Aeron designed by Herman Miller and Humanscale, have been around since 1994, considering recent findings, these chairs were really quite revolutionary. Despite the array of levers and knobs that help adjust the chairs recline tension, lumbar support, seat-pan depth and forward tilt, designers have found that most users only use the height adjustment.

This neglect has manufacturers such looking toward the next frontier: a self-adjusting chair. Humanscale’s Freedom chair includes uses a counterbalance system that automatically adjusts to the sitter’s weight as he or she reclines, eliminating the need for recline controls.

Designers have also brainstormed that the future office chair may not be a chair at all. According to the National Institutes of Health, chairs contribute in part to the high rate of back pain which affects approximately eight out of 10 Americans. Asian traditions of kneeling or squatting on the floor have shown to have great ergonomic benefits, Cameron Campbell a designer for Herman Miller recently said,

“Our notion of a machine for sitting may not make sense in a globalized world.”

Perhaps in the future one worker may sit in front of their workspace on a self adjusting recliner, whilst the next may kneel amongst a pile of cushions.

Don’t throw away your dead laptop batteries, check out this video and see if this laptop battery hack works for you. Great way to save money on having to pay for new battery replacements for any notebook pc.

If you try this out, please remember we can’t be held responsible for your actions so please be fair leaving comments if anything goes wrong! It is for information purpose only!

As a son of 2 Marines and who is still an active participant in the military community, I get to witness first hand the hard work, dedication, and honor that each one of these Marines exhibits day-in and day-out. Even when they are off duty they are still a Marine. Sacrifice of all types is made by each one and their families, with the majority of these tales going unnoticed and unrewarded.

The United States Marine Corps traces its institutional roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, a date regarded and celebrated as the birthday of the Marine Corps. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, both the Continental Navy and Continental Marines were disbanded, and although individual Marines were enlisted for the few American naval vessels left, the institution itself would not be resurrected until 1798. In preparation for the Naval War with France, Congress created the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The U.S. Marines’ most famous action of this period occurred during the First Barbary War (1801 - 1805), when William Eaton and First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon led seven Marines and 300 Arab and European mercenaries in an effort to capture Tripoli. Though they only reached Derna, the action at Tripoli has been immortalized in the Marines’ hymn and the Mameluke Sword carried by Marine officers.

On 1 November 1921, General Lejune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921. The order summarized the history, mission, and tradition of the Marine Corps, and directed that it be read to every command on 10 November each subsequent year in honor of the birthday of the Marine Corps. This order has been duly carried out and always been a wonderful opportunity to attend.

The celebrations were formalized by Commandant Lemuel C. Shepherd in 1952, outlining the cake ceremony, which would enter the Marine Drill Manual in 1956. By tradition, the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine present, and the second to the youngest Marine present.

“Semper Fidelis”