The Next Gen Technology : Your corridor to the tech-vista

Mapping the solar weather

2010-02-01T22:09:00.004+05:30

So NASA is out with the latest mission which is meant to study the sun over a period of five years. The count down is on and in another nine days the latest addition to the array of missions by NASA, the Solar Dynamics Observatory(SDO) would be embarking on its journey towards its orbit around the earth at about 22300 kms.
It has been a long known fact that the disturbances on the solar surface causes emission of harmful x-rays and charged particles. The solar storms which could well be termed as an ultimate destroyer has been among the major concerns. It is known to take down the very veins of the modern world including communication systems, power grids and any other system that is unlucky enough to be in its path.
Now did you think that the only weather that could be forecasted, was that of our earth? Then you might wanna change your decision. This mission is expected to feed the exact same cause with the space weather by absorbing the changes in the solar behavior. This would mean observing the fluctuations in the ultraviolet output of the sun as well as the magnetic fields exerted. The images that would be received from the SDO once it goes operational is expected to be as much as 10 times clearer than our HD television images.
Along with all the afore mentioned features, NASA expects this mission to cater as much as 50 times more data than any of their other missions. More interested in the numbers? Sure.. Here it goes. Each of the image is predicted to be more than 16m pixels and the daily data would amount to no less than the size of 5,00,000 songs and the need of processing of these data in turn has resulted in a pair of dedicated radio antennae.
The facts are just interesting enough that it would capture any ones attention, especially when someone says that 'Hey, we got a dedicated mission to study solar flares'. Lets just hope that it forms the initial step towards gaining a better perspective of our sun's behavior.
Source
Image source

The dawn of the 'Star Wars' era...

2010-01-15T21:40:00.005+05:30

The day might not be far when the Indian defense capabilities extend into the space. As the first steps towards the star wars era of the Indian defense establishment, the scientists are laying the building blocks of a weapon system which is predicted to uproot any enemy satellite operating in a low-earth orbit or a polar orbit.
Although no testing has been planned for the weapon system, according to the sources, it is being planned for a just-in-case scenario. The low-orbit and polar orbits are the targets as such satellites could be used to wreck havoc through network-centric warfare across a country. This would also mean denying the enemy any access to their satellites. It could also be used to ensure security of our own satellites and the space as a whole as well. This whole project is being carried out under the Ballistic Missile Defense Programme.
Source

The "Go crazy" technologies of the future

2010-01-12T23:28:00.004+05:30

Technology seems to have its impact on every aspect of our lives. So it doesnt sound odd when it seems to get crazy. Well, in fact this could well list among some of the craziest technologies that I have ever heard of. Touch screens and voice command systems have long been around and cant well be picturised as a luxury now. But have you ever thought of what your breath could achieve in future?
Zyxio, an American company, seems to have gotten crazy enough to develop a technology named Sensawaft which allows you to use your breath for controlling your phone. According to the company this technology could find applications in controller free environments and has the accuracy of your traditional touch screens.
Seems like your sneezing might well be the next victim to come under the scanners of the company. May be it could be used to do that trick in EA's FIFA or something. Jokes apart, they do think that blowing could be harnessed to do your selections on screen and such stuff. This is made possible by the array of microelectromechanical systems involving tiny chips that could be embedded into your video games and hands free mobile phone headsets.
Although I am a skeptic of the technology as of now, I am really interested in how well it turns out. And as some of the online reactions point out, I would like to know what they are planning about the chance of infections.
Source

Tracking that lost phone

2010-01-12T22:39:00.003+05:30

CES 2010 did have its line of products that the tech-obsessed crowd had been long awaiting. The tablets along with the 3D televisions amongst others did have their week out at the latest version of the show abuzz with the futuristic technologies.
Among the sidelines, another simple device made its debut in the community. Named zomm, this gadget when coupled with your phone over bluetooth initiates an alarm when the pairing is lost. The alarm system consists of a flash light which gets activates once the link with your phone is lost. If this fails to grab the user's attention, after a brief interval, it switches to the panic mode by crying out loud.
Amongst other inbuilt features is the panic button which could be used from any part of the planet to contact the emergency personel. Also, the device could also work out as a speaker phone and this function adds to the primary purpose.
The simplicity of the technology incorporated into this device makes it easily usable and also affordable to the masses. Priced at INR3600($80), this could well be the stuff to invest if you have a constant habit of forgetting your phone at that office desk of yours.
Although I would have liked some feature like GPS tracking to locate the phone(although its not the most accurate technology and has its own limitations), this device could end up in my kit when I am off on tours. I just do hope that they integrate more advanced technologies which could pin point the location of your lost phone, to the future versions of the product.
Source

The Eclipse chasers

2010-01-11T23:42:00.005+05:30

Did you ever think that cruises were always for fun? Well.. apparently not. On the first of its kind missions by India, a cruise would be reserved for the eclipse day. The guests would be able to watch the ring of fire(as they call the longest annual eclipse of the millennium) from Maldives and would be accompanied by a team of 4 astronomers who would have the luxury of three telescopes. Besides the telescopes aboard the ship, there would be a number of binoculars fitted with solar filters allowing the guests to have their own peek at the ring of fire.

According to SPACE(Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators) which is organizing the trip in association with Louis Cruises, the cruise is scheduled to start on the 13th of January at 3.00 pm and would reach Male at around 5.00 pm the next day. The charges would range between Rs.17K and 50K.
Maldives is predicted to get the optimal view of the eclipse as it lies on the center annual eclipse line. This is expected to offer an optimal environment for observing the eclipse and the island nation is predicted to get the visibility for around 10 minutes and 46 seconds.
The cruise is also featuring star parties which would allow the guests to have guided observations of the night sky and also demonstrating the techniques used by ancient mariners to track their way. It would also show the guests safe ways to view and photograph the eclipse. The cruise is scheduled to be reach Cochin on the 16th of January.

Source

The curious 'invisibility' theories

2010-01-10T00:06:00.002+05:30

The future does hold a lot of surprises. Every revelation that science makes startles us and each stride forward leaves us reflecting the fact that we are yet to discover a lot.
Invisible cloaks have long been researched upon. Next time you see Harry Potter or such movies that feature these cloaks, reassure yourselves that it could well be within our grabbing distance in the next few decades. A team of researchers at the Fudan University in Shanghai have added another dimension into the study. According to the team, silver plated nanoparticles suspended in water could well be the key to making our own invisibility cloaks.
The fluid is supposedly said to contain magnetite balls of 10 nanometer diameter coated with 5 nanometer thick silver layer and possible polymer chains to keep them from any type of congregations.According to the researchers, the absence of magnetic field would make these particles floating around in water and when a magnetic field would be introduced, these would render into chains whose lengths could vary according to the field applied. Also these chains could well attract each other to form thicker columns. This property could well be the first step towards creating our invisibility devices which according to theory must direct light around objects as though there was nothing obstructing the actual path.
As far as the science goes, theories do come up rather too fast on every single topic. But the ones that succeed practically occur occasionally. Lets just hope that this one does turn out well....
Source

CES 2010.. Tomorrow Today

2010-01-08T00:49:00.005+05:30

Another year has dawned and the geeks are hanging over the cliffs to gain the first peek into the what is to be offered down the pike. Microsoft started off the proceedings at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010 with glimpses of the quandam successes and the year 2009 in particular which rendered a pinnacle for the company in the form of Windows 7.

Although the Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, left the audience guessing about the products to be rolled out this year, he did show off the slate PC which would obviously try to steal the show from the awaited Apple tablet PC. The tablet market is yet to get the much needed push and the entry of Microsoft and Apple might well fuel its transformation. Ballmer did focus more on Windows 7 and the XBOX 360. The entertainment probably got the better of the speakers as the talks spanned out on the XBOX games in the offing including a new version of Halo.
Ballmer did excogitate on the the research projects of the Microsoft labs. He also reflected the fact that technology has the power to transform peoples' lives and mentioned a particular project which could help researchers use software to find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS and another one for making the home more energy efficient.

This leaves me guessing about the Project Natal, the controller free gaming environment which could well pave the way to the future of gaming platforms. It is scheduled to be out this holiday season.I would try and post a video of this amazing product as soon as possible... Lets see how the rest of the CES does go about with the future....

Hacking the right way…

2009-05-13T21:39:00.002+05:30

Hacking is a really simple word which brings out the wildest of imaginations and makes any technology enthusiast think about eye candy applications and the cool d00ds that work upon them.

But its not always about the brains that work around the clock from every nook and corner of the planet to penetrate a network. We do have to think about the damage that this activity could cause to the various governments.

Just think about a scenario when the terrorists hack into a government database and transfer all the documents and ask for a ransom or a bank database being hacked. It will slaughter the government’s slumber for a long time and especially in a country like India where there is no awareness about the growing threat.

Recently I came to read about an interesting article which said about the Dalai Lama’s office being hacked by the Chinese authorities in the New York Times. The office bearers turned to Canadian researchers for help. The researchers later found out that the files were being transferred to a swarm of computers based in Hainan coast off the coast of China although they couldn’t determine who was behind this treacherous act.

The article in the New York Times said thus

‘Cyber forensics presents immense technical challenges that are complicated by the fact that the Internet effortlessly spans both local and national government boundaries. It is possible for a criminal, for example, to conceal his or her activities by connecting to a target computer through a string of innocent computers, each connected to the Internet on different continents, making law enforcement investigations time consuming or even impossible’

So lets face the fact : Hacking is a crime and if you are a hacker make use of your knowledge in a ethical way. Make use of your knowledge against those who are discarding privacy in this vast ocean of computers. Let every individual have their freedom in surfing….

Guarding the digital fortress

2009-05-11T20:48:00.004+05:30

War games are not a new concept and every major nation in the world carries out such exercises to improve their military’s capabilities and the coordination between different agencies.

Recently I came to hear about another theme which was floating around in the US. The specialty of the war game was that it focused on cyber wars. The cadets who participated in the war game had to construct a new network and maintain it. They had to defend their network from the ‘hackers’ of NSA. As far as the difficulty was concerned, the NSA made the systems even more vulnerable by installing viruses into some of them.

The game was conducted to prepare against any offensive that the country could face from their enemies. It made use of real world situations, mainly the ways that enemies would use to infiltrate the defense networks.

I am rather concerned that India is not doing something like this. I had read an article in the paper which said that the intelligence agencies expected a cyber war by the 2015. The major threats are of course said to be the hackers in China and Pakistan. Well lets wait and see what our government would do….

Source

Hey friends

2009-05-09T14:10:00.001+05:30

I have been unable to update my blog for the past few months due to various reasons. The major reason was a simple one: I did not have any kind of access to a system with good internet connection. Any ways I would like to thank every one who have been supportive during this period and from today onwards, I will be updating this blog as frequently as possible.. Any comments from your side are welcome and please send any of your articles to my email id: deepakkrishnan@hotmail.com or deepakkrishnan@techgeek.co.in

Chandrayaan-1: The maiden Indian mission to moon

2008-11-26T22:53:00.007+05:30

Chandrayaan-1, the maiden moon venture of India came into the spotlight almost half a decade ago when the then prime minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced it on the occasion of Independence Day. The five years that followed could well be phrased as a golden period during which the scientists brushed upon their ideas and boosted India’s space program and set new standards in the space arena.

The to-be-satellite-of-the-moon was carried by a modified version of PSLV or the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the PSLV-C11.This rocket had four stages with alternate solid and liquid propulsion systems. Over a fortnight, the satellite went through various stages of orbit transfers and amid all the media hype and the world focusing on this maiden venture from a developing economy, the satellite entered the lunar orbit on 8th November 2008.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission carries eleven payloads which include 5 Indian payloads along with three scientific payloads from the ESA, two from the NASA and one from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Let me list out these payloads:
TMC (Terrain Mapping stereo Camera),
HySI (Hyper Spectral Imaging Camera),
LLRI (Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument),
HEX (High Energy X-ray spectrometer),
MIP (Moon Impact Probe),
C1XS (Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer),
SIR2 (Near Infra Red Spectrometer),
SARA (Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer),
RADOM (Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment),
Mini-SAR (Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar) and the
M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper)
(You may click the payload name to get further information about it through the ISRO website)

The main scientific objective of the Chandrayaan-1 mission is to explore the polar regions for traces of water in lucid terms. Going more specifically, it is aiming to prepare a 3-D atlas of the near and far side of the moon which is the first of its kind in the history of moon exploration. Also, the mission aims to conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface. Click here to read more about the scientific and mission objectives
The ground segment of the mission is based upon the Indian Deep Space Network (DSN) near Bangalore along with the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) and the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC). Click here to read more about the ground segments
Let me quote the Chandrayaan-1 mission sequence from the ISRO website:
•Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota by PSLV-XL (PSLV-C11) on 22 October 2008 at 06:22 hrs IST in an highly elliptical initial orbit (IO) with perigee (nearest point to the Earth) of 255 km and an apogee (farthest point from the Earth) of 22,860 km, inclined at an angle of 17.9 deg to the equator. In this initial orbit, Chandrayaan orbited the Earth once in about six and a half hours.
•Subsequently, the spacecraft's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) firing was done on 23 October at 09:00 hrs IST, when the spacecraft was near perigee, to raise the apogee to 37,900 km while the perigee to 305 km. The spacecraft took eleven hours to go round the Earth once.
•The orbit was further raised to 336 km x 74,715 km on 25 October at 05:48 hrs IST. In this orbit, spacecraft took about twenty-five and a half hours to orbit the Earth once.
•The LAM was fired again on 26 October at 07:08 hrs IST to take the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to extremely high elliptical orbit with apogee 164,600 km and perigee at 348 km. Chandrayaan-1 took about 73 hours to go round the Earth once.
•On 29 October, orbit raising was carried out at 07:38 hrs IST to raise the apogee to 267,000 km and perigee to 465 km. Chandrayaan’s present orbit extends more than half the way to moon and takes about six days to orbit the Earth.
•On 4 November at 04:56 hrs IST, Chandrayaan entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory with an apogee of 380,000 km.
•On 8 November at 16:51 hrs IST, the spacecraft’s Liquid engine was fired to reduce its velocity to insert the spacecraft in the lunar orbit (LOI) and enable lunar gravity to capture it. As a result, the spacecraft was in an elliptical orbit with periselene (nearest point to the moon) of 504 km and aposelene (farthest point from the moon) of 7,502 km.
•The first orbit reduction maneuver was carried out successfully on 9 November at 20:03 hrs IST. Thus the spacecraft was in lunar orbit with 200 km periselene. The aposelene remains unchanged (i.e. 7,502 km).
•After careful and detailed observation, a series of three orbit reduction maneuvers were successfully carried out and the spacecraft’s orbit was reduced to its intended operational 100 km circular polar orbit on November 12.
•On 14 November at 20:06 hrs IST, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was ejected from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and hard landed on the lunar surface near the South Polar Region at 20:31 hrs IST after 25 minutes journey. It placed the Indian tricolor, which was pasted on the sides of MIP on the Moon.
•Currently, the scientific instruments/payloads are being commissioned sequentially and exploration of Moon with the array of onboard instruments has begun.

Finally, let me add some videos on the Chandrayaan-1 mission along with this small package:
Movie 1
Movie 2
More Videos
New images from ISRO
Resources

Image and data courtesy:
ISRO.http://www.isro.org
YouTube.http://www.youtube.com

In the nutshell

2008-11-25T22:11:00.004+05:30

After a rather long but inevitable wait that you guys had to undergo, let me welcome all of you to The Next Gen Technology. Over the past months, a variety of technologies have developed. But the first thing that comes to my mind is the ISRO's first ever mission to the moon which is indeed a proud moment for every Indian. As rightly described, ISRO gave India, the moon, and our baby is orbiting the moon. This is indeed one of the proud achievements that I would cherish for a long long time.

An indigenous rocket powered up the country's space program and redefined the scientific borders from our own mother earth to the moon. Creating a new saga of space research, this historical event has revamped the space program and the scientists have been motivated to think big in terms of space research. Already, projects to the mars and our own sun have been laid upon the drawing boards along with the idea of putting an Indian astronaut in the earth's orbit within the next couple of years. This has been the major happening in India during the past few months.
Tomorrow will mark my first post on this blog after its revival. The first post would be a full-fledged article on the Chandrayaan-1 mission and do lookout for the other tech-news which makes it through to The Next Gen Technology. As time permits, I would also be digging out the other developments that took place throughout the past few months, which unfortunately was not posted in the blog.
Again let me remind you to send your contributions and suggestions to deepakkrishnan@techgeek.co.in or deepakkrishnan@hotmail.com
Have a nice day

Image courtesy:
http://www.schoolsahead.com

The Revival

2008-11-25T22:04:00.003+05:30

Well, it has been a rather long wait for you guys. The blog remained inactive through the past few months due to a few inconveniences that I had to face. But today, I would like to revive the activity which had been going on in this blog until the past few months. So come, read and enjoy the innovative technologies stored in the offing through The Next Gen Technology. I would again, like to bring to your attention that you may contribute to this blog by mailing me your articles. Please send your articles to: deepakkrishnan@techgeek.co.in or deepakkrishnan@hotmail.com

Redefining the Windows...

2008-08-01T22:27:00.001+05:30

Microsoft which undoubtedly has been the master in operating systems since 1985 have innovative ideas stacked in its OS division.
In addition to the ongoing work on its upcoming OS Windows 7, the software major has plans to break apart from the Windows brand.
The new OS codenamed Midori which will be an OS designed from the scratch will be based on cloud computing i.e shifting the hardware and software from the home PCs into computing clusters.
Midori is based on Microsoft Research's Singularity esperimental OS and will run on native hardware(x86,x64 and ARM) via hosting with Windows Hyper-V hypervisor or even within a Windows process of future OSs.
Midori will be built upon an asynchronous only architecture, built for task concurrency and parallel use of local and distributed resources. It will also feature a distributed component-based and data-driven application model, and dynamic management of power and other resources.
These efforts also focuses on allowing the application to run in a variety of environments from P2P networks to traditional servers to cloud computing clusters. The OS also features a new stack and techniques which will allow for extreme multi-threading with more threads running simultaneously than ever before.
Microsoft will also migrate its APIs,applications and developers to a constrained model of state management. It also depends heavily of metadata and has plans to do away with dynamic loading. This OS will be supported by .NET for programming projects and easy to use abstraction and multitasking will be incorporated into .NET framework.
The new OS will also be thinner with micro-kernel for low-level and second kernel for high level. It also promises to be more secure with isolated components and highly secured communication channels.

Courtesy:Daily Tech(http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Details+Midori+Cloud+Computing+OS/article12542.htm)

Clone your pets...

2008-07-17T22:17:00.003+05:30

Two South Korean labs have started offering services for cloning pets. RNL Bio Co and
Sooam Biotech Research Foundation's research labs are offering this service at a cost of
over $50000. But it is interesting to note that these labs are cloning working dogs and
endangered species far more than pets. One of the customers, South Korea's Custom service
has cloned a sniffer dog, and estimates the cost at $60260 won, per clone which is about
twice the amount needed to train and breed a normal sniffer dog (but out of which, only
about 30% are good enough to make the grade).
Both these labs are run by the former staff of Hwang Woo-suk who was once hailed as a
national hero for his work on human embryonic stem cells and who later gained a lot of
criticism when his work was found to be fraudulent.
Dogs are cloned using the somatic cell nuclear transfer which in simple words is the way
of hollowing out the nucleus of a donor egg and injecting it with the donor's genetic
material, which is normally a skin tissue taken from the ear.

The meteor impact...

2008-07-13T18:27:00.003+05:30

courtesy:youtube

Lunar telescopes

2008-07-13T18:17:00.003+05:30

For many years,the extra-terestrial research has been based mainly upon the data fed by the Hubble telescope which by all means is one of the greatest feats of man towards discovering the unknown universe.
Thinking about this telescope questions the application of same when it would be used from the lunar surface. The 2.4m diameter telescope if installed on the lunar surface,could boost up the collection of data as the moon has no atmosphere.
The absence of atmosphere also allows us to think a bit more i.e making use of telescopes with a diameter of as much as 50 meters could well be used. This has triggered the thought of using lunar dust to design a telescope which might well be the most economic approach according to Peter C. Chen, an astrophysicist working with the NASA.
The idea of Mr.Chen is to make use of composite materials made out of lunar dust to design the telescope. He approaches the design in a rather new way by integrating epoxy and carbon nanotubes to the simulated lunar dust JSC-1A from NASA. This mixture forms a hard, dense and strong one. So far, he has put his idea to a test by designing a telescope with a technique known as spin casting.

The carbon nanotubes used in the process makes the composite cinductive and thereby allows the lunar telescope to quickly come into thermal equilibrium with the monthly lunar day and night. It also allows astronomers to apply current through electrodes attached to the back of the mirror to maintain the parabolic shape against the lunar gravity pull as the large telescope is tilted from one part of the sky to another. According to the designs, to make a hubble like lunar telescope, the astronauts will need 60kgs of epoxy along with 1.3 kg of carbon nanotubes and less than a gram of aluminium along with roughly 600kgs of lunar dust.
So maybe we shall see the use of lunar dust and epoxy in designing observatories and habitats on the lunar surface in the future....

‘Nothing wrong with the Sun’-says NASA

2008-07-13T18:09:00.003+05:30

There has been speculations that something is wrong with the Sun that is, the solar minimum is taking longer than usual. According to NASA physicist David Hathaway these were false statements and he goes on to say that the ongoing lull in sunspot number is well within the historic norms for the solar cycle.

The sun is now near the low point of its 11-year activity cycle which is called the solar minimum. This is the period of quiet that separates one solar max from another.

Fig: The solar cycle, 1995-2015. The "noisy" curve traces measured sunspot numbers; the smoothed curves are predictions. Credit: D. Hathaway/NASA/MSFC.

Solar max are characterized by constant solar flares and huge sunspots. Auroras make constant appearances and radiation storms take out satellites. Solar minimum on the other hand is characterized by completely opposite happenings. Solar flares and sunspots are non-existant and we are experiencing solar min now.

According the David Hathaway, the solar min could go upto twice the current spell i.e almost 6 years. Having studied the sunspot counts stretching way back to 1749, he says that the average solar cycle spans for 131 months with a standard deviation of 14 months. Decaying solar cycle 23 which we have been experiencing now has last for 142 months which is well within the standard deviation and thus he explains that what we are currently experiencing is completely normal.
courtesy:NASA

The era of Hydrogen

2008-07-10T00:33:00.003+05:30

Did your car get out off fuel??? You may now refuel the car at your own house. But read the following carefully : "Conditions apply!!!" The only condition you need to satisfy is a hydrogen powered vehicle. But you may also use the 'refuelling station' to power your kitchen.
Hydrogen, which has long been considered to be an alternative source of energy, has got less attention, mainly due to its inefficient production and lack of refuelling stations along with another major factor i.e cost of production.
Sheffielf-based ITM Power is behind this technology and has converted a Ford Focus to wok upon hydrogen. It has also modelled a hydrogen powered home with heating, cooking and refrigeration powered by this system. The system as of now, can produce hydrogen overnight to make the car cover 25 miles.
But the system which is inefficient as you may think, could well be replaced by much better equipments in the future. A hydrogen powered economy will also bring down the CO2 emissions. Although expensive, it could become our future power source.
Need more news??? Click here to follow this link
Hydrogen refuelling stations video

Animating chats

2008-07-10T00:27:00.004+05:30

Google has introduced 'Lively', a tool which allows the users to embody animated charecters and conduct text-based chats with other users.
Lively, a tool which can be integrated to your own blog or website, allows the users to create their own personal space and takes the boring text-based 2-D chats to a 3-D environment.

This tools allows at the most twenty people to chat in one room at a time and also, there are options to display your favourite media files from Youtube and Picasa.
Some of the competitors of 'Lively' are Second Life and Vivaty.

Click here to visit my 'Lively room'

Tech videos

2008-07-04T21:10:00.004+05:30

Paper-thin mobile phones being worked out by Nokia. Watch out for this exciting piece of technology.Click here to see the video

Shrinking Mercury

2008-07-04T21:01:00.003+05:30

NASA’s Messenger craft has made some discoveries which might be well on the verge of rewriting our understanding on the sun’s nearest neighbour, mercury. It has found out that the magnetic field of the planet is active and that it has shrunk upon itself more than what was previously expected. It has also made discoveries of volcanic vents along the walls of the Caloris basin.
According to the scientists, the basin was formed by an asteroid or comet impact during the high bombardment periods that existed during the younger ages of our solar system. This was followed by a period of volcanic activity which filled the basin with lava.
The Messenger’s data also reveals that the magnetic field is dipolar as that of the earth meaning that it has north and south magnetic poles. Moreover, the magnetic field appears to have been created by an active dynamo.

Charged particles have also been found out in the unique exosphere of the planet with atoms of hydrogen, helium, sodium, potassium and calcium also being discovered.
It was also found that the magnetosphere of mercury contained atomic and molecular charged particles.
With all the exciting discoveries, the researchers are awaiting the other two flybys scheduled for October 2008 and September 2009. Also the Messenger will get into ‘mercurian’ orbit in 2011 which the scientific community will anxiously be waiting for.

The ‘Delighting Alignment’

2008-07-04T20:54:00.005+05:30

This 4th of July has something unique to offer. Today the Mars and the Saturn will converge just to the left of a bright star ‘Regulus’ which will make a 1st magnitude line in the heavens, and adding to the twilight will be the crescent Moon which will join the show tomorrow.

So get ready for the exciting firework show which will be unfolding in a matter of hours. This alignment will also be the gathering of spaceships and robots. Saturn has the Cassini spacecraft, the Moon has Kaguya from Japan and Chang’e-1 from China. These probes will be joined by those orbiting the Mars i.e Mars Express from the ESA, NASA’s Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The probes orbiting the Mars also form a network with the Mars lander Phoenix and the Mars rovers Spirit and Oppurtunity.

The alignment will be followed by a scalene triangle formation on the 6th July which could be found during the hours that follow the sunset by looking towards the west and let the moon be the guide.

This will be followed by the closest encounter which would occur between the Mars and the Saturn during the next 14 years and on the 10th July, the planets will be only 3/4th of a degree apart.

A new vision towards power-less refrigeration!!!

2008-07-01T20:05:00.003+05:30

Adam Grosser talks about power free refrigeration. Please click here to visit the youtube website and view this video.

Flying Cars – A dream harnessed by Sinclair

2008-07-01T20:01:00.001+05:30

Please click here to proceed to the BBC website and watch the video.

The brand new video section!!!

2008-07-01T19:54:00.002+05:30

Hello friends,
From this month onwards, we would be adding links to videos of brand new inventions and the latest technologies available out there. You may also contribute to our blog by sending your videos and articles to this e-mail id: deepakkrishnan@techgeek.co.in Have a good day!!!

Harnessing volanic energy

2008-07-01T19:51:00.001+05:30

Alaska would perhaps be powered by volcanic energy in the near future. The officials would be funding a exploration and survey of the largest volcanoes in Alaska which they say, could take care of almost 25% of its energy needs.
But the greatest challenge is the need of innovative designs to tap the energy from these heat wells. Some of the corporates have even started being completely powered by hot springs such as the resort at Chena hot springs. It consists of hot spring powered heating and cooling system, power, refrigeration and heating for a green house.

With all the innovative steps taken on the part of the government, Alaska could well trigger a new revolution in the field of alternative energy resources.

The spamming experiment!!!

2008-07-01T19:49:00.003+05:30

McAfee recently conducted a experiment with 50 volunteers from around the world who were asked to surf the internet without any spam filters. And the finding??? Well its interesting… Almost 70 spam mails were received in an average with the US topping the league with the participants receiving almost 24000 spam messages during the course of the study and went on to receive ‘the great spamming league trophy’. Oh come on! Just joking…. Brazil was honoured with the second spot with almost 16000 spam mails received by its participants. The least spam was received by the participants from Germany with about 2300 messages.
The result shows that spam is showing no signs of stopping and more interestingly, almost 8% of the total spam messages were found to be phishing mails. McAfee also says that there has been a shift from mass spam mails to more targeted ones.
Also the most popular subject of spammers remains to be financial, that is loans, credit cards and such stuff.

Sailing the solar way

2008-06-27T17:20:00.006+05:30

NASA scientists have been researching upon the possibilities of using solar pressure to cruise the rockets through the outer space. If all goes well, then by the year end, we would be witnessing one of the greatest inventions which would propel our dreams way beyond our solar system.

Scientists are working towards deploying the first ever solar sail in space during this summer within a window between July 29^th and August 6^thwith a backup extending from August 29^th to September 5^th. A Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD developed by the University of California Polytechnic Institute would be used to deploy the sail.

A solar sail is made up of aluminum and space-age plastic. Also, the whole space-craft weighs less than 10 pounds. The sail covers about 100 sq ft of surface.

A Solar Sail

It is an important invention when deployed as there are no chances that a rocket could carry fuel to chase out space dreams. Once deployed, a solar sail could power the rocket for decades. Moreover, space-probes could attain much greater speeds using the solar pressure than the probes using liquid hydrogen.

An added bonus to all this is that a drag sail could well be used to clean up the orbital debris. It could be used to decrease the speed of the space-craft and thereby lose altitude, re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and burn off in a short period of time.

Image courtesy : NASA

2008-06-27T11:49:00.003+05:30

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs and the universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning."

- Richard Cook

Important announcement

2008-06-26T10:47:00.004+05:30

We become bi-weekly....

From today, The Next Gen Technology becomes bi-weekly updated. I appreciate your time spent at this blog and request you to continue visiting this blog to refresh yourselves with the latest works going on around the globe.....

If you are interested in publishing articles through this blog, please send your articles to me :
deepakkrishnan@techgeek.co.in

This is Deepak Krishnan signing off for today... Good day!!!

Did you know???

2007-06-17T22:13:00.000+05:30

Mathematician Blaise Pascal attempted automated computing as early as 1642

Did you know???

2007-06-16T22:50:00.000+05:30

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, is now the chairman of Vulcan Northwest, an investment firm

P2P networks in line for providing disaster aid!!!

2007-06-16T22:36:00.000+05:30

Internet has provided a whole new era of networking with the outside world

Internet has become an essential part of our life and most of us use it to access our emails, bank accounts and even to manage our work from home. As the user base has increased, so has its uses. Every day, new usages of web are being introduced by scientists around the globe.
US researchers are currently working on a P2P(peer to peer) network aimed towards providing the affected with the goods they need. The system named 'iCare' matches the donated goods with those specified by the needy. It also includes an added service which allows the fair use of spare space in trucks to provide aid to affected areas.

P2P networks have a prosperous future in various fields, especially due to their enlarging user base

This concept is being researched upon by two PhD students Anand Kulkarni and Ephrat Bitton who came up with this idea post Hurricane Katrina disaster. The hurricane washed many a lives to the sea and left a major share of the affected areas ruined. But more severe was the aftermath of the hurricane when the communication links were down, thus keeping the rescue workers away from many of the affected.
The iCare system allows the survivors to list their needs through the web-terminals in aid centres or through SMSs. The duo also aims to streamline the delivery of aid to disaster zones. Along with all these plannings, the system also plots the routes for the trucks so that the aid is delivered as fast as possible. It has an inbuilt tracker too which can map the locations of the victims along with the positions of the goods that they are in need of.
As far as the news goes, the iCare system will surely be a boon to the aid agencies and paramedics for delivering their assistance more effectively.

Did you know???

2007-06-15T23:06:00.000+05:30

In 1991, 450 complete works of literature were published on one CD-ROM

Kodak flashes its new sensors

2007-06-15T22:51:00.000+05:30

Some of the major problems faced by present day photographers include low lighting and taking snaps of moving/shaking objects. But this problem is to be solved soon. Kodak unveiled its new technology which claims to make the dark, blurry photos, a story of the past. This announcement shot up the company shares by as much as 7.3%.
The new sensor technology from Kodak provides almost four times more light than the current day ones and thus allowing faster photographic speeds along with an improvement in the quality of the pictures taken in such unfavorable situations.

The new sensor technology from Kodak is something which we can wait for, owing to its superior capabilities compared to the current ones available

This sensor technology is said to be one among the four prospects, set to trigger the transformations of Kodak. The other three prospects include inkjet printers, industrial inkjet printers and organic LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).
In this new design, half of the pixels are set to collect green light and the other half is evenly divided to sense red and blue light. This pattern is completely different from the currently used 'Bayer-Pattern' which was developed by Kodak in 1976.
The new technology adds panchromatic(or clear) pixels to red, green and blue elements that form the image sensor array and collects a higher portion of the light striking the sensor as it is sensitive to all the wavelengths of visible light. Another inclusion is the smaller pixels which provide for higher resolutions in the camera.
Kodak has scheduled this technology for next year and expects it to power the next generation of image sensors which can be relied upon for crisp snaps.

Did you know???

2007-06-15T00:06:00.000+05:30

AT&T Labs was the first company to transmit human voice across the Atlantic, on January 25 1915. The exercise was conducted to celebrate the opening of the Panama canal to Alexander Graham Bell

The first steps into an 'Quantum Encryption' age

2007-06-14T23:55:00.000+05:30

Satellites play an important role in modern day communication systems

Satellites have been a breakthrough as far as the human race is concerned. It has brought us into a world which is leaping in all the branches of science day-by-day. Be it a business or be it researches in any field of science, everyone needs an elaborate communication system which enables the linking of distant places in an instant. A major application of the satellites have been for satellite based communication networks in which India has been a major force since the last few decades.

ESA's Optical Ground Station (OGS), which served
as the receiving station for a recent quantum
encryption experiment, is located at the
Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife

A major problem that arises like a barrier infront of this communication technology is the data integrity and data security.
Recently, a group of European scientists succeeded in beaming an encryption code based on photons across a light source in the La Palma island and a receiving station in Tenerife.
The study was funded by the European Space agency and according to sources, it hoists ESA to a better position towards a totally secure method of satellite relay.
Entanglement is an queer property of quantum mechanics which describes the manner in which photons interact with each other. Using a non-linear process called Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion(SPDC), it is possible to create pairs of entangled photons which can bring about fruitful results in encryption applications owing to their uniqueness.
If one of the photons is exposed to a third particle, the both the photons paired too changes their states instantaneously. According to the ESA,the change in state of the paired photons is completely random and unpredictable, thus foiling all the attempts to break the quantum encryption key. However according to the ESA, the act of detecting these photons would change the state of the photon pair, deserting the presence of an eavesdropper and these changes would be obvious to the legitamate receiving station, enabling the detection of the eavesdropper. Such changes also provides a potential to swap the whole messages with complete confidence.
This research has also proved that beaming the entangled photons through the atmosphere over considerable distances have no adverse effects on the entanglement between the photons. It also highlights the fact that entanglement does not decay over long distances, indicating its possible use in encryption of satellite communications.
So now, secure environments are being created which can be harnessed by banks and military communications and obviously, is a major step towards the future of encryption applications.

Did you know???

2007-06-13T19:25:00.000+05:30

On 4th July 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith launched Hotmail. In 1997, they sold it to Microsoft for an estimated price of $385 million

Eco-friendly home to root out carbon emissions

2007-06-13T18:42:00.000+05:30

Global warming has adverse effects on the Antarctic ice-caps

Global warming is one of the current issues which is biting the nerves of both developed and developing nations alike. If the present trend of increasing pollution is not checked, there wont be much to protect by the next century. Global warming is one of the key issues on which the world is currently focusing. Better ways of checking harmful emissions are being tested upon by the scientists, in a race to save the mankind. The recently held G8 summit in Heiligendamm(Germany) saw the economical-leaders sit around a table discussing on this key issue with the representatives of the developing world including India.

The earth is heating up day by day due to the increasing carbon emissions

This global concern has resulted in some really interesting research works. The first 'zero-emission' home has been unveiled in the United Kingdom. Yes! You heard it right....
The design of this brand-new 'futuristic home' was unveiled at the Offsite 2007 exhibition in Watford and is said to be self-dependent with about 60% less emissions that a normal house.

The Eco-friendly house unveiled during the Offsite 2007 exhibition

It is interesting to see that one-third of the carbon emissions in the UK comes from homes. The 'eco-house' is a major step towards cutting carbon emissions and already, zero-emission houses have been exempted from stamp duties by the authorities.
According to its developers, the house generates all its energy and the annual bill would be around £30 compared to the current costs incurred by a standard house owner, which is around £500.

Parts of the zero-emission home

1. Wind catcher, for summer ventilation

2. Solar array at back of house for hot water and electricity

3. High-level of wall insulation

4. Biomass boiler

The other facets of this 'eco-house' consists of a biomass boiler which runs on organic fuels and a waste separation system which allows combustible waste to be burned to generate power. It also has a wind catcher which allows summer ventilation and solar arrays which can be used to provide hot water along with the generation of power.
A major goal in-front of the developers now, is to bring down its cost of construction. In the current situation, the construction cost is about 40% more than that of a standard home. But its a fact that such houses can prove to be a major initiative towards bringing down the carbon emissions not only in the UK, but also around the globe.
(image and video courtesy : BBC)
View the video report from BBC
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-12T21:20:00.000+05:30

Vinton Cerf is hailed as the Father of the Internet, and earned his nickname when he co-authored with Dr Robert Kahn in 1973, a paper that gave the world TCP and IP

Fabrication of 'Fabric-o-sensor'

2007-06-12T21:04:00.000+05:30

As the scientific knowledge has increased,
so has the health consciousness of
the present age human beings

Clothes form an essential part of our current life-style. For many, it is a label of our prestige and status. As the ages have passed by, clothes have undergone significant changes. Even in the current world, the so called perception of beauty is vastly based on a person's outfits than on his/her character. Anyway, without going deeper into the importance of clothes, let me convey what I have to tell through this column.
A faction of European scientists are currently glued to their labs researching on a cloth capable of monitoring the health status of a person. The 'Intelligent Clothes' are induced with sensors to screen the body-fluids such as blood and sweat. Its mainly aimed at recovering patients, people with chronic ailment and athletes.

Technology is driving the current world of medicine

The project named 'Biotex' is being funded by the European Union and combines researchers from almost eight institutions across Europe.
The prototype of the 'intelligent cloth' is nearing completion and the next target to stick to, will be testing the fabric on volunteers. The sensors have already been tested in the labs and is ready for being stitched into experimental vestments.

The fibers in the material have the task of collecting moisture and transporting it to the sensors. The primary versions of the fabric will be capable of monitoring sweat by measuring acidity, salinity and perspiration rate. It is being foreseen that the technology will eventually be capable of monitoring vital sign's of a human body and be able to detect infections and illness by detecting abnormalities in metabolism, along with the ability to assess a healing wound.
But it is still to be seen, how much accurate the details provided by the sensors is going to be. Doctors are going to need the most accurate information about a person's health. So it is being rumored that the 'Intelligent Cloth' is going to be much more helpful for athletes to monitor their health than for doctors.
Anyway, it is a great invention which deserves an appraisal from us geeks for sure...
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-11T21:02:00.000+05:30

In 1989, Steve Chase, Founder of the Internet Bulletin-Board System Quantum Computer Services renamed it America Online

The Japanese 'Robochild'

2007-06-11T20:48:00.000+05:30

Child robot with Biomimetic Body (CB2)

Recently, the robotics wing has been flying high, offering improvised technologies day-by-day. Adding to this flight, a congregation of Japanese scientists have fabricated a robot that can act like a tot and mitigate the study of child development.
The 'Robochild' was put together by a conglomeration of researchers at the Osaka University in Western Japan and is designed to feign a one to three year old child and is termed as the CB2 (Child Robot with Biomimetic Body).

Another close-up of the CB2

The CB2 is about 4 feet tall and weighs 73 pounds.It can vacillate its 'facial expressions' and rock back and forth. The robot is capable of consummating its movements smoothly, thanks to its 56 actuators working in lieu of human-muscles.
The CB2 is heavily loaded with sensors and cameras. It is packed with 197 sensors for touch, small cameras in lieu of eyes and an audio sensor. An interesting goof up is that the CB2 is capable of articulating using an artificial vocal cord. When it stands on its feet, the CB2 coggles around like a child who is having his first steps and is learning to walk.

So should we depend on a robot to study about ourselves???

According to its developers, it was made to study human recognition development such as how a child learns a language, starts recognizing objects and and communicates with his dad and mom.
Its an important leap towards a fully developed robot which can think on its own and convey ideas by voice......
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-10T22:35:00.000+05:30

Founder Paul Gavin came up with the name Motorola when his company started manufacturing radios for motorcars

Current transmission catches up with the Wireless age!!!

2007-06-10T22:10:00.000+05:30

Current power grids have been causing congestion

to meet up with the excessive power needs of the
current age

Electricity has indeed been playing a vital role in the current civilization,powering up every electronic device invented by man, for the past few centuries. Since the invention of electricity, transmission has been a major problem and until now, it is being transmitted using power grids. The congestion of these cables is a heart-breaking sight, seen now-a-days. Even a diminutive house has umpteen number of wires. Scientists have been working towards finding a virgin way to transmit current for the past few years and at present, a contemporary way has been developed by a team of US researchers.
The yoke has concocted a fresh way which will enable wireless transmission of electricity. Yes! You heard it right.. wireless transmission is not far away in the future.
The setup named 'WiTricity' exploits simple physics and can be used to charge laptops and other electronic devices. The research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) had displayed a theoretical setup back in 2006.

MIT wireless power project uses capacitive plates and a curved coil

The experimental setup consisted of two 60 cm diameter copper coils, a transmitter attached to a power source and a receiver placed 2m(7ft) away attached to a 60 W bulb. When the power was switched on, the bulb glowed despite obstructions such as wood metal and electronic devices kept in the gap, without any physical interference existing between the transmitter and the receiver and the setup was measured to have 40% efficiency across the gap.
The system exploits the concept of resonance (The phenomenon by which a substance vibrates when energy of a certain frequency is applied). When two objects have the same resonance, they exchange energy wihtout any effect on the adjoining objects.
In accoustic resonance, when similar glasses have different levels of wine in them, they produce different tones when knocked with a spoon.When a singer hits a specific tone which is similar to one of produced tones, the glass breaks within a few seconds (It is due to the fact that the wine glass constantly gathers energy until it has enough power to break the glass). Instead of this accoustic resonance, 'WiTricity' uses low frequency electromagnetic waves which are about 30m(100 ft) long(these low frequency waves have a safety advantage too)
In the experimental arrangement, the transmitter and the receiver coils were made to resonate at 10 MHz, allowing them to couple and energy to flow through them and after ezch cycle, higher pressure and voltage builds up in the coil. Voltage is stored until the attainment of a certain level of energy or pressure, and then is made to flow into the bulb.
In the usual circumstances, if we have a transmitter working at 2GHz like a mobile phone, it produces a set of magnetic and electric fields.
At a distance of less than one wavelength, the field produced is almost entirely magnetic. Our body strongly responds to strong electric fields but no to strong magnetic fields as our body has almost zero response to magnetic field in terms of the power it absorbs. So the system as such, does not pose a significant health risk to humans.
Though similar systems have been tested before, this setup stands special due to the fact that it does not require an uninterrupted line of sight like the older versions.

Theoretically, a single coil can recharge any device
in its range as long as the coils have
the same resonant frequency

The current setup is just a experimental one to prove that wireless transfer is possible and scientists are working on it to reduce its size, cover larger distances and improve its efficiency.
So the time is not far away when, we can charge our laptops without the cables. Anyway it is something which we can surely watch out for!!!
Visit How Stuff Works Website to read more
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-09T20:40:00.000+05:30

Mitch Kapor founded Lotus Development Corp. in 1982 with Jonathan Sachs, who was instrumental in launching Lotus 1-2-3

Robots to save lacerated marines in the future

2007-06-09T20:24:00.000+05:30

The US Army's 'BEAR'

The US military has been working on a wide range of products during the past decade. Most of these high-tech products are aimed towards mechanizing their future operations and thus reduce the loss of life in the wars.
One of the most recent developments at a lab working for the US Army,holds a lot of hope. The project named 'BEAR' (Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot) is aimed towards fabricating a new race of robots which can extract heaviest of the casualties and can transport them over long distances through rough terrain. The brainchild of this research is expected to be in its testing stage within the next five years.

Parts of the 'BEAR'

The robot can traverse through knobby terrains without tottering, owing to a set of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors which helps it to sustain its balance.
According to the scientists working on the 'BEAR', it can carry upto 227 kgs(500 lbs) and can switch between its legs and a set of wheels, based on the sort of surface on which it is itineranting. Induction of 'Dynamic Balance Behavior'(DBB) technology, lets these robots to stand and carry loads upright on its ankles, knees or hips for nearly an hour.

A 'BEAR' walking

These robots also have the dexterity to squeeze through doorways. The robot is remotely controlled and has built-in cameras and microphones through which an operator can see and hear, and the robot can even tackle stairs.
The 'BEAR' is being developed by Vecna Technologies for the US Army and is sure to become an integral part of the future armed forces.
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-08T21:11:00.000+05:30

Les Solomon, publisher of the magazine Popular Electronics, and Ed Roberts were looking for a name to release their new computer under. They finally named it the 'Altair'

Hear, as your paper speak out!!!

2007-06-08T20:59:00.000+05:30

A paper billboard

The paper is considered to be one of the most remarkable inventions ever made by man-kind. It has been used in a wide-range of industries ever since.

Anyway, the whole concept of 'paper' is set to change (from just writing on it),in the near future. A team of researchers hailing from the Mid Sweden University has engineered a so called 'paper billboard' which is capable of emitting recorded sound as a response to a user's touch.

The paper has a embedded layer of electronics

The archetype display uses conductive inks, which are temperamental to pressure, and has printed speakers too. The whole center of functionality is a digital layer which embeds all the electronics. This layer is printed with conductive inks, which relay information to a micro-computer containing the audio-file on the application of a pressure. The audio-files are then streamed through the printed speakers, which is formed from more layers of conductive inks that sit over an empty cavity to form a diaphragm. This functional layer is then sandwiched between a thick layer of extra-strong cardboard and another sheet of paper that is printed with the billboard's design.

Advertising is an important application of these 'talking papers'

The technology could be made use of in advertising campaigns effectively, especially in shop-stands for displaying products and provide the interested users with a brief description about the product. But a major hurdle to be reckoned with is the cost of production, which is too high as of now. But the researchers are carrying out further studies so as to make it affordable.
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-07T20:59:00.000+05:30

The first computer to perform a trillion operations per second was called the Gravity Pipeline

The futuristic 'iPhone'!!!

2007-06-07T20:31:00.000+05:30

The Apple's iPhone

Apple which has been creating wonders during every product launch, has been working on the iPhone for a while now. The world's most innovative company had been confining its most anticipated product to their labs for long. The company recently announced its release date and is scheduled for this month-end.
The iPhone comprises of three amazing facets which include a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls and a futuristic internet connection device which boasts of its desktop-class email, web-browsing, maps and searching capabilities. In addition to all these, it introduces a whole new user interface and pioneering software which will provide the whole world under the user's finger-tips.

The features of iPhone

Talking about its media capabilities, the iPhone induces a 3.5 inch widescreen display with touch controls which will let the users enjoy each and every one of their favourite content. It also lets the user to sync the content from the iTunes library in a PC/MAC.
This revolutionary device lets the user to make a call, just by pointing a finger at the name or a number. Moreover it syncs all our contacts from a PC or an internet service.
iPhone features a rich HTML email client and the Safari web-browser with in-built Google and Yahoo search along with multi-tasking capabilities.
The multi-touch interface induces a whole new world into the hands of a user and lets the user to control everything using our fingers. The phone also consists of a QWERTY keyboard which lets us send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. The keyboard also has inbuilt auto-correction features, making it much easier to use.
All the above features make it a must-have device for a tech-driven guy. It is really something, which we can proudly show off to our friends....
Click here to visit the Apple iPhone site

Did you know???

2007-06-06T21:59:00.000+05:30

The Eniac had 20000 vacuum tubes and 40 racks of equipment, and ran up a daily electric bill of $60, a large amount at the time, the mid 1940s.

Mobiles becoming a handy tool for forest guards!!!

2007-06-06T21:37:00.000+05:30

India which was until the last decade, very less driven by the techological advancements happening in the other part of the globe, has suddenly transformed itself into a booming economy, embracing almost every technological achievement.
India has one of the largest growth rates and is also the largest market for the mobile industries, no wonder why many of the industry giants have set up their plans in India during the past five years or so.
Talking about the mobile industry, it used to be a luxurious thing to have one and was reserved for the upper class for too long. But the past few years have changed the whole scene and now, almost everyone, be it a small farmer or a 'rikshaw wala', has a mobile with him.
This increasing trend has lead many of the major service providers into the Indian market, mainly owing to its enoromous potential. Also the telecom sector has become very competitive with many of the industry majors trying to take hold of the market. This has in turn resulted in better services and also rates which are slashing down day-by-day.
Mobiles have become an integral part of every common man's life and has started to be used in many-a-fields, be it for providing the hottest news from around the country or providing GPRS services.
As all these has happened, people have started making use of mobiles for their own purposes. One such interesting use is being done by the forest security guards. It is very interesting to note their way of use.
The ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing are being used to attract leopards that have wandered into human settlements. Gujrat has been facing such problems many-a-times during the past years. So the authorities have started inventing their own methods to trap the wild-cats with minimal loss of animal-life(In the past, goats used to be tied to a tree to lure the leopard), one such method being the one which is being discussed here.

Another shot of the wild-cat

According to the officials, this method of using ringtones to attract the leopards and trap them, has been very effective. After the ringtones have been downloaded by the guards, they are played continuosly until the curious leopard appears and moves into the cage looking for an easy meal.
Due to minimal loss of animal life, the initiative has been welcomed by the wildlife activists too.
So, a big thanks to service providers for those ringtones of cows mooing... LOL!!!
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-05T21:49:00.000+05:30

Jim Knopf is known as the 'father of shareware'. His first shareware program was PC-File, in 1982, which Knopf published under the pseudonym Jim Button

The Major's initiative towards a wireless future!!!

2007-06-05T21:36:00.000+05:30

The Intel Corporation has reportedly planned to team up with the motherboard-major Asustek Computer Inc. to mould notebooks aimed at the developing nations. This initiative should be a small step, striving for a proliferated hold on the booming markets of the so called third world nations (i.e chiefly the developing economies) and the notebooks are to be priced between a modest $199-$299.

The $200 laptop developed by Intel

Intel has been distributing laptops to the children in developing economies for a while now. Most recently, Intel launched the Classmates initiative and is striving to ship low cost PCs to the Governments of Asia.

The low-cost notebooks to be developed by Intel and Asustek are reportedly full-fledged low end ones unlike the OLPCs' plastic, kid-friendly ones and would be powered by low-end microprocessors.
Moreover, unlike the previous initiatives by Intel which were targeted at the Governments, these notebooks will be aimed directly at the wide-open tempting markets through conventional channels.
Being one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by Asustek, the laptops are all to set to roll out by august along with a target of selling about two lakh units this year.(Obviously, the target is an ambitious one and we will have to wait and see how much success the brand is going to procure)
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-04T21:12:00.000+05:30

In 1970,Steve Wozniak played a huge prank by distributing 25000 leaflets for a non-existent computer, which was later referred to as the Zaltair Hoax

Did you know???

2007-06-03T15:20:00.000+05:30

The term 'bug' was probably coined after Admiral Grace Hopper found a moth in the Mark II computer at the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, causing the machine to malfunction

E-Learning : Online Course wares

2007-06-03T11:59:00.000+05:30

E-learning has become popular especially in the last decade. Many universities have started providing online courses and also course materials.
I was just going through some of the university sites to find out some tutorials for myself when I got this idea of compiling e-learning sites which provide free materials for studies. This compilation consists of sites related to physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, history, geography, civics, mathematics, commerce and arts.So here they are....

Physics:

Glenbrook South Physics Home Page
M Casco Associates Physics Online course
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Department of Physics Open Courseware)
Light and Matter
Virtual Institute of Applied Sciences (Lectures in Physics)
University of North Carolina, Wilmington Elementary College Physics
Learning Aids - Applets and animations :
Physics Applets
Flash animations for physics
Maths, Physics and Engineering Applets
The Applet collection
Java applets on Physics
Discussion Forums and Newsgroups :
Physics Forums
Physicsmathforums
Google Newsgroups
Eric Weisstein's World of Physics
Intute Physics Gateway
Lecture notes and textbooks :
Peter Suranyi, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Cincinnati : Lecture notes on Modern Physics
University of Winnipeg, Distance Education Program : Lecture notes on Introductary Physics
Three free downloadable books by Professor Frank Firk, Former Chairman of Dept. of Physics, Yale University
World of Physics

Chemistry:

Wikipedia
An Introduction to Chemistry
Chem1 virtual textbook
Introductory University Chemistry Course :
Part 1
Part 2
ChemWeb 2000
Guide
Chemistry animations
World of Chemistry
World of Molecules
Organic Chemistry Helper
Chem4Kids
Chemistry tutorials and drills
The Chemistry Thesaurus
The Chemogenesis Web Book
Chemistry : Afterburner
Chemical Blogspace
The periodic table of elements :
Link 1
Link 2
Chemistry Freeware Links
Massachussets Institute of Technology Open Courseware(Chemistry)

Biology:

An Online Biology Book
Massachussets Institute of Technology Biology Hypertextbook
The complete introduction to general biology
General interests and interactive :
The tree of life web project
Cells alive
Biology Online
The virtual frog dissection kit
The virtual cell
The anatomy of memory
The Franklin Institute resource for science learners
Cow's eye dissection

History:

Classic encyclopaedia
Sparknotes
Encyclopedia of world history
The History guide
Spartacus Educational
World civilizations
Indian history :
Kamat's Potpourri
Indian history
South Asian history
Boloji history

Geography and Civics:

Geography :
GeoHive
Atlapedia online
The World Factbook
Country studies
One World-Nations online
Geography world
World geography
ILike2Learn
Civics :
Guide to Indian Laws
Directory of official web-sites of the Government of India
Law library of congress

Mathematics:

Algebra review in ten lessons
Webmath
The Math forum @ Drexel
Dave's short trig course
Homepage of e-Calculus
EqWorld
Euclid's elements
HMC Mathematics Online Tutorial
Algorithms and Complexity
Online Mathematics Textbooks
Wolfram Mathworld

Engineering:

Wikipedia entries :
Entry 1
Entry 2
Massachussets Institute of Technology | OpenCourseWare
OpenCourseWare finder
Engineering Formulas :
eFunda
Formulas Sites' Index
Applied Mechanics (Engineering Mechanics) :
Wikipedia entry
Statistics and Mechanics of material
Self Assessment
Design Handbook
Basics of Computer Programming :
Structure and Interpretation of computer programs
Online C and C++ courses
Introduction to Programming using Java
Mechanical Engineering :
FreeStudy
Fluid mechanics Online course for Civil engineers
Electronics Engineering :
Circuit analysis :
Link 1
Link 2
Semiconductors :
Link 1
Link 2
Computer Science and programming :
Theory of computation
Computer Organization / Architecture
Free Online Training Courses
HP Online classes
Free Computer Science Video Lecture Courses
Free Computer books, tutorials and lecture notes
Cryptography
Stanford computer science education library
Free tech books
Electrical Engineering :
Electronic Components :
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Operational Amplifiers
Computer Engineering :
Operating Systems :
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Microcontrollers and Microprocessors
Object oriented programming :
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

Commerce:

Accountancy :
Principles of Accounting
Future Accountant
Taxation :
IndLaw-Income and direct taxes
India mart-Taxation
Economics :
The library of economics and library
McGraw-Hill student learning centre
AmosWEB-the economics class portal
Notes of Roger A. McCain
Springer Journals
Statistics :
Richard Lowry's page on Vassar College USA
Elementary statistics
HyperStat
StatSoft's Electronic Textbook
Business Organisation :
Mary Hogue's Lecture Presentations :
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Managerial Marketing
Online Book on marketing by Gemmy Alien

Arts:

Sociology :
Sociology central
Quia
Sociosite
Psychology :
Alley Dog
Higher education academy psychology network
American psychology association
Political Science :
Vanderbilt University Central Library of political science
Samarth Bharat
Ministry of law and justice
Anthropology :
Virtual library of Anthropology
Palomar college Anthropology program
Literature :
Luminarium
The internet public library

Did you know???

2007-06-02T19:44:00.000+05:30

In 1981, while working on the original version of Microsoft's Disk Operating System(DOS), Bill Gates made a remarkable prediction :

"640 K (of RAM) should be enough for anyone"

Artificial Intelligence touches new heights!!!

2007-06-02T19:31:00.000+05:30

Artificial Intelligence(AI) has been touching new heights day by day off the late. A clique of Japanese scientists have reportedly fabricated a robot which can produce spontaneous motions based on complex mathematics.
This whole new race of robots named 'Miuro', can dance according to the music played, all the while producing spontaneous motions. It is interesting due to the fact that the motions or rather their dance, is not pre-programmed.

Miuro

The prototype is fitted with a software based on chaotic itinerancy(It is a mathematical pattern analogous to the tempo of a bee circling from flower to flower as it amasses nectar. This piece of software induces the ability of forging extempore and unpredictable tempo, into Miuro.
According to the scientists, the descendants of the current version of the robot will allow its users to set alarms so that it rolls into the bedroom at that specific time and blasts of the previously set music, after detecting the people to whom the alarm has to be played, through its inbuilt sensors.
Priced at $895 (approximately Rs.39000), the original version of Miuro can also receive wireless signals from a PC to play iTunes and other digital files. Separate options include cameras which can beam images to a PC or let the owners control Miuro through a mobile phone.
Anyway, this breakthrough in spontaneous decision making power of robots, is sure to be of great help in fabricating the unborn race of robots...
View the Miuro website(translated using Google Translation services)

Source

Socializing the tech way...

2007-06-02T15:54:00.000+05:30

There will be very few of us who wont have liked the fantasies told to us during our childhood. Fantasies have been the kid's favourite for a very long time. So how about living out our fantasies in the virtual world? Sounds interesting???
Some sites such as Stardoll, Doppelganger, Club Penguin and Gaia Online have started providing services which allow children to deploy their self-designed avatars and live out their virtual life through them. They are providing a more innocent time of tea parties and outdoor games to the kids and thus a more healthy environment for socilaizing.

The 'Stardoll' world

Stardoll for example equips its users with templates, from which one can choose every lineament from skin tone to eyebrow shapes, and also stipulates traits to dress-up their avatars. Moreover, it also blusters of its ease to use and the ability to interact with others. The virtual realm also equips its users with a chance to be the 'cover-girl' of the Stardoll fashion magazine by getting most votes for your identity(or MeDoll, as the virtual world addresses it).

'Doppelganger' sphere

A similar site is Doppelganger which was primarily built to support music, media and fashion(or rather saying, to be the 'virtual Hollywood'). Intended for slightly older folks, it endures the users to hold parties and attend live shows.
Most of these virtual spheres are equipped with virtual economies along with their idiosyncratic currencies which can be earned by the users or bought using their parent's credit cards. In the case of another virtual space, Gaia online, the users earn gold which can be exchanged for virtual goods.

Gaia Online

Now, socializing through the virtual space has become a common sight among the children and healthy ways are often welcomed by those who want to maintain their individuality at least in the cyber-sphere.....
Source

Did you know???

2007-06-01T21:49:00.000+05:30

In 1976, the term 'Personal Computer' first appeared in print, in the may issue of the 'Byte' magazine

Blast your way through cancer!!!

2007-06-01T21:31:00.000+05:30

Most of us would have, atleast once, been scolded for being immersed in video games. It is a fact that most of these games are so addictive that once we start playing, we wont have any thought of stopping it.
Anyway, the Cigna Corp. has plans to twist this inclination of ours for a noble cause. The company has said that it will provide a game named "Re-mission" developed by HopeLab, in its website for free.

The game which has been designed especially for the teenaged gamers, primarily focuses on cancer and its side effects. It has demonstrated that even video games can effectively play a role in spreading awareness about the disease and also increase the quality of living of the patients.
A study on the impact made by the game was conducted by its creators, HopeLab, in about 34 medical centres in the United States which suggested that, playing the game increased knowledge about the disease as well as the quality of living of the patients. The gamers also maintained levels of chemotherapy in their blood and showed higher rates of antibiotic use, indicating that the game helped them stick along to their medication.
The game has bright prospects due to the fact that it can increase confidence among the patients in dealing with the disease and its cure.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-31T20:52:00.000+05:30

In 1969, computer firm Honey well released the H316 "Kitchen Computer", the first home computer, priced at $10,600

'Surface' Computing!!!

2007-05-31T20:40:00.000+05:30

Ever thought of your coffee table doing all the computing works for you??? The modern trend of inducing technology into each and everything has now, even made its way into our coffee tables.

The brand-new technology was exposed to the populace by Microsoft. This trendy innovation moulded in the form of a coffee table, has many other technologies embedded in it including touch-screen capabalities and the capability to interact with the mobile phones placed on the facade.
The multi-touch interface allows the users to cook up their work using their bare fingers(Yes! You read it right, you can manipulate data using your fingers. So, a good-bye to the old creepy mouse)
Alas, Micorosft has no plans to expose this spicy creation to home-users in the near future. The newfangled creation priced between $5000 and $10000, will be available to corporate houses as of now.

The Microsoft's Surface

But Microsoft wants to make the system more affordable by making it cheap for the home users and has plans to expose this futuristic system to be released within the next five years. Once again, Well done Microsoft!!!
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-31T20:35:00.000+05:30

It is much debated whether any single person can be said to have invented the first computer. Some of the candidates are Charles Babbage and Konrad Zuse.

Moths to maneouver in the future combats!!!

2007-05-30T16:09:00.000+05:30

After seeing the Sci-Fi movie iRobot, have you ever thought about the instances shown in it? Many of us cogitate it to be the crazy brainchild of a crazy writer. Well, don't anticipate that such instances wont happen in the future!

Researches are currently underway in the field of AI(Artificial Intelligence) to mould devices which can steer the future combat zones. A recent project unvieled by the DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency which is the research and development wing of the US department of defence) make use of moths to track down the antagonists.
A computer chip is implanted into the creature when it is a pupa inside the cocoon, and thus making the nervous system of the creature completely controllable by a remote. The moth can then be used to track down the foe's camp and transmit videos and other information back to its master.
The creation of such 'controllable-insects' whose flesh grows around the chips('cyborgs' being the Sci-Fi term), is one of the most ambitious AI project undertaken by the DARPA. The project is in the lime-light because of the fact that it can effectively reduce the loss of lives in the battle-zones.
Many such technologies are to be deployed in the near future, as the US Dept. of defence wants one-third of its missions to be unmanned by 2015. So for sure, the upcoming AI-based devices are going to be armed in order to attain this goal.(So, there is an urgent need to update the treaties so as to regulate their use)
As of now, biological engineering is taking pace along with AI and more and more devices are going to be attached to our body!!!
Another research going on under the 'Future combat systems' program by the US Military, is an unmanned vehicle named SUGV which can survive a drop of about 30 feet onto concrete and is equipped with IR and reguar cameras along with audio-sensors (Red-Owl) which can determine the direction from which the enemy-fire originates.

SUGV

So the instances in the movie 'iRobot' might well become a truth in the future as the current reserches are pointing towards the increasing dominance of AI-powered technology.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-28T20:55:00.000+05:30

In 1951, Jay Forrester and Robert Everett, graduate students at MIT, constructed the 'Whirlwind', a 'real-time computer', working at twice the speed of the ENIAC.

The lord of your pocket to be your manoeuvre in the offing!!!

2007-05-28T20:42:00.000+05:30

Umpteen people often find it difficult when they have some work in an incognito locale and, finding the appropriate way becomes a laborious task. Technology has been providing diverse answers to make our work more and more cushy. One such technology which has been widely accepted by the human race is the satellite navigation system which is presently being used even in cars and trucks.
A seminal invention in terms of communication technology has been the development of cellphones along with other wireless communication systems. Cell phones have become a integral part of most of our lives providing more and more facilities and increasing their dominance day by day. Currently, the phones have started to be integrated with cameras along with IR and bluetooth technologies. But have you ever thought about what these phones are going to provide in the future? How about a cell phone which can guide you throught the alien vicinity? Sounds imprudent??? Well, the wireless majors have started to concentrate more on our prevalent needs so as to make their respective services more enticing keeping in mind the commercial aspect of navigational technology.
This relatively new service has been introduced by many major players and thus providing a uncomplicated way to find out the exact way in some unknown place. The system can even be used to track the way to nearest restaurant or a shop. It can also be used to monitor the location of our friends or children who are equipped with a cell phone. Some of the majors in this field include Walt Disney, Sprint and Verizon.
The technology also lets a group of friends to broadcast their location to each other to arrange spontaneous meetings. As far as this technology is developed in the right way, it could become an indispensible tool from our pockets. Looking through the present situation, the future of this system is bright unless it is used for unlawfull acts.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-27T20:34:00.000+05:30

Christopher Pile was sentenced to 18 months for releasing a toolkit that would boost the impact of existing viruses by randomizing their codes

The 'Remote life'

2007-05-27T20:00:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered what we are going to be offered to make us the lord of our house??? Will it be another heavy gadget that will contain every thing in it, making us proud to be its owner or a simple remote which will control each and every thing in our house including TV, DVD drives and whatever you name? Well, the remote driven life seems to be nearing and lately a small step towards this remote controlled life was unvieled by Logitech.
The remote has been designed in such a way that it can be programmed to trigger a set of actions such as flipping on the TV and DVD player together. The remote named Harmony 1000, is designed to be a universal controller. It has been made in such a way that the user himself can install the system and maintain it.
The gadget is priced at $499 and is said to have a 3.5 inch screen and a rechargable lithium-ion battery along with a USB cable. The device can work with only those objects which are kept directly in its line of sight. But if you have another $150 to shell out, you will get a Harmony RF Wireless Extender which receives radio commands from the remote and then transmits the IR signals to the objects hidden behind the glass cases.

Harmony RF wireless extender

The software drivers that are needed to control the devices are provided in the Logitech website. You need to install the appropriate software provided in the CD that comes along with the remote and then register in the Logitech website. Then the remote has to be plugged in, so as to find the necessary drivers for controlling the devices. The average time needed to set up this system is around 0.5 to 1.5 hours and that too without having to spend any money on its installation. So it is much easy as the company says and the technology is sure to dominate the future living rooms.
Source

Pliant displays all set to revolutionise the future!!!

2007-05-27T19:49:00.000+05:30

The flat screen displays have eclipsed the market in the past few years through their incredible design and display quality and day by day, these displays are getting thinner. Sony Corp. have added to this ever expanding market of LCDs and Plasma TVs, the sequel of its recent research.
The upshot is a 2.5-inch razor-thin display which can be bend like paper while manifesting the video in a chaste quality. The display is 0.3 mm thick and can be moulded into any shape without any breakage. The pliant display unifies the Organic thin film transistor technology from Sony, which is a desideratum in making mouldable displays along with the organic electroluminescent display technology. Though the research is fruitful, Sony is still to decide on the commercial products using this cutting-edge breakthrough.
The major impediment in the practicality of this technology is the high cost of fabrication along with the accost of making a bigger display.
Though other major giants such as the LG Philips LCD Co. and the Seiko Epson Co. are also working towards developing similar technologies, the organic electroluminescent display technology developed by Sony is said to deliver superior calibre of images and is more apt for video.
This technology is sure to transform Sony into a pre-eminent technological power-house. It is also set to revolutionize the future of displays.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-26T22:14:00.001+05:30

The first 'computer', the steam driven calculating machine, was built in 1823 by Charles Babbage

Tracking the wireless way

2007-05-26T16:59:00.000+05:30

How about a tracking system which will keep you updated with the location of your dear ones? Sounds crazy??? Well, nothing is impossible and the future holds demand for such wireless trackers for sure.(Maybe it will take some time to get going) The most important use of such trackers might well be in the campuses and hospitals according to the sources.
The technology incorporates the currently booming trend of Wi-Fi networking along with the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. Battery-powered RFID tags are placed on the person who has to be tracked and this tag consists of a small piece of software which is used to detect the signal strength from the Wi-Fi hot-spots(access points). The signal strength from atleast three access points is used to identify the exact position of the person. So to work in a proper way, the whole building or the area which is wirelessly connected using Wi-Fi has to be mapped and calibrated.
This system can be further used to detect the presence of Wi-Fi equipped devices and to locate them if needed. Moreover, the RFID tags as such, cannot be read at great distances and thus keeping the privacy issues away. But its integration with Wi-Fi increases the possibility of remote tracking.

The RFID tags are small devices which contain just a unique number which is used to idenify the object and hence is small enough to be embedded in a piece of paper. Also these tags are rendered active only when there is a tag-reader in its close proximity. But when used for wireless tracking, these tags will need a continuos supply and will be much heavier than the present ones.
Whatever be the outcome of the present researches, strict overview has to be installed for using these tags so that anti-social elements do not take advantage out of these.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-23T23:10:00.000+05:30

1981 was the year that PCs began, when IBM debuted the IBM PC, Microsoft shipped it with BASIC. The Operating System, too, was developed by Microsoft.

Future of Image searching

2007-05-23T22:55:00.000+05:30

A computer user is sure to have used the text based search engines embedded in the OS or in the web. It is a easy concept in the fact that, the engine searches for the words(entered in the search bar by the user) in the text file and on finding a similar word, indexes the file in the search results.
Nowadays, a similar concept is being used for image searching too i.e based on the text entered by the user and juxtaposing it with the description provided along with the picture. But in a lot of cases, less description is provided along with the picture resulting in limited indexing when searched for. But the current scenario is all set to change, if the researches going on in the Microsoft Research facility in Beijing, is to be executed in the search engines.

The concept uses Microsoft's Virtual Earth to take photos of all the locations and then make a index of these. The image is then compared with those in the database to find the most similar ones and the location and other information are returned to the engine.

Special 'image vocabulary' is being developed for the images. A image vocabulary made out of a million images provide a rich collection of data which can be further extended to other data-sets.The first step towards the creation of a image vocabulary is the creation of 'image words' based on the features of the image.Each feature is represented by a vector which describes its idiosyncratic features. These vectors can then be used to compare the image with other images that represent the same image, even if shot from a different angle or different lighting conditions.

The two things that have to be kept in mind is speed and accuracy which will be affeceted to a large extend if the image vocabulary generated in too large. So it is important that it should have a optimum size.

Another interesting facet of this technology is term-weighting which is not as important as in case of text -searching. But when it comes to image-vocabulary, the distribution of image words is more even. Anyway, the future of search engines is definetly set to change with the introduction of this system(if it is a success). So hats off for this research!!!

Source

Did you know???

2007-05-22T21:47:00.000+05:30

The first object-oriented language was Simula. It was developed by Kristen Nygaard and Ole-Johan Dahl in the mid 1960s.

Future search engines to utilize social networks!!!

2007-05-22T17:49:00.000+05:30

Social networking is something which every internet user,be it a teen or a adult , will look forward into. This has sequeled in a number of social networking sites in the web-world. This fan-fare of social networking sites have led the researchers at the Microsoft Research Lab at Silicon Valley to think in a different way. The main thesis has been the integration of social networking, in order to provide better search results. This web-search tool is essentially augmented with two autonomous components. One of these components is a generic infrastructure for sharing information over a very large network, built over the Windows Live Messenger structure. The basic idea of this structure is to propagate information among the community. This information could be pictures, files or whatever you name.

The second integral constituent is an enhanced web-search tool integrated in the Internet Explorer Toolbar which retrieves information from Live search and indexes the sites according to the testimonials provided by one's social contacts. This search enhancement tool is named Nocturnal. When a user searches for a specific page, Nocturnal retrieves information on similar pages visited by the user's social community based on keywords and the recommendations about the pages by them.It also lets the users tag the pages with key-words. This technology lets the user to have a more effective search based on the information retrieved from his/her friends, who have similar interests as the user and who have already visited the web pages containing information needed by the user. Moreover, it is a decentralized cost-free system. This system effectively filters out all the junk, all spam and all the intruders and indexes only the information needed in a personalized and decentralized manner.
Nocturnal also lets its users control the information shared by the user with his/her contacts and thus the user has the power to control his privacy. This technology also lets the users rate the web pages and share their ratings with others. These ratings will in-turn influence the search engine rankings.
So the future search engines will be using social networks to enhance their results. A great way to effectively use the ever-enlarging community of social networks is in the labs as for now and we will have to wait and see when it is implemented and how far it is going to be effective.

Did you know???

2007-05-20T22:15:00.000+05:30

The first high-level programming language was Fortran. It was developed in 1956 by an IBM team headed by John Backus. Fortran became commercially available in 1957.

Did you know???

2007-05-19T22:46:00.000+05:30

Claude Shannon is usually called the father of Information Technology. In 1948, he published "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" in the Bell System Technical Journal.

Virtual Reality to root out Mental scars

2007-05-19T22:26:00.000+05:30

War is known to bet he ultimate stunt between two enemies, resulting in loss of many a lives in both the sides. But even worst are the aftereffects of this act of destruction, one of them being Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Many a war veterans suffer from this and it is initially characterized by symptoms of flashbacks, hyper-vigilance, insomnia, nightmares, emotional numbness and an incapacity to continue normal life. Long term suffering can even result in memory problems, depression, general anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder.

Recent researches have shown that virtual reality can be effectively used to cure PTSD to a great extend. It makes use of graphic assets from the X BOX game 'Full spectrum warrior'. The main facet of this technology is that, it recreates the sights and sounds, even the smells and physical jolts of the fray. These attributes are controlled by the therapist and the environment is adapted as and when needed. The main feature is that the patient is made to relieve their experiences in a safe and assisted environment. This visual technology is also being used to help restore feel and mobility in disabled persons. So, if you have thousands of bucks to shell out, there is a fabulous way to alleviate your frailness.
Source

Did you know???

2007-05-18T22:13:00.000+05:30

Beginning in 1934, Konrad Zuse, a German engineer, built a series of computers, the Z1 through Z4, utilizing binary arithmetic.

Socialising in the Tech way

2007-05-18T11:21:00.000+05:30

Socializing or Social networking has been the buzz word among the teeens and adults alike for the past few years. When the internet started showing off its magic, many a social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Orkut grew under its shade with millions of users around the globe. Now it has come to such a situation that it is hard to find a teen who does not have an account in atleast one of these social networking sites.
This wave has inspired the industry leaders to think in a whole new perspective. The booming market of mobiles and other handheld devices such as PDAs have opened a whole new market for them. The integration of GPS technology into these handsets is something which they are looking forward to.
Once the GPS chips are integrated, it will enable the service provider to find out the exact position of the user. It is being heard that the first of these GPS enabled handsets will help the users to find their way around. But, already the GPS wave has caught the attention of many a companies of which the Finnish mobile phone maker Benefon is one. Benefon had recently acquired an Amsterdam based company and is currently working on a social networking application. The service is named 'GyPSii' and will allow its users to upload pictures, videos and sound clips recorded using their phones to a database which are encoded along with their location where these pictures and recordings were made. Eventually these place marks will grow into a large database and hence allowing the company to deliver relevant search results.
So a high tech way of socialising is in the stands and we can expect that to take pace in the near future.

Did you know???

2007-05-17T22:16:00.000+05:30

Alan Turing is considered to be the father of Computer Science. In 1937, he published the paper "On computable numbers, with an Application to the Entsheidungsproblem"

Banglore : The city of hopes and despair

2007-05-17T21:00:00.000+05:30

Bangalore is one of the most popular IT destinations of the modern era and is considered to be the Indian Silicon Valley. It is one of the fastest growing city and also the IT capital of India. But behind all this, there is another face of Bangalore which no one has cared for.
The sudden transformation of the garden city into IT hub has cost the city dearly. It has lost the peace and the serene beauty for which it was once known for. It used to be a pensioner's paradise till the early 90s'. But the sudden transformation of the city was much more than the expectations of the Bangalorites.
A city which used to be in the beds by 8 pm has currently thousands working even after these hours so that they are able to match with the working hours on the other side of the world.
The city is now known for its ever growing traffic, pollution and thousands of job-seekers who land here every day. The city has lost its culture, music and traditions and is now dancing under the loaded wallets of young professionals. The roads which were once grazed by cows and buffaloes are now being grazed by major giants such as Microsoft, Oracle, HP and Google. The charisma of the city is its young work force who are well-versed in their specific fields and also provide the giants with cheap labor blended with supreme quality which is found no where else. This lead the way in transforming a city with a few dozens of IT companies to the largest IT hub of India.
This transformation resulted into overcrowding, infrastructural shortages, soaring costs of living and a change in the social fabric of the city. The city has no time for nostalgia now and the whole city is thronged by major giants to improve their markets through the experienced and skillful hands of the professionals out there.
Lets hope that even under this transformation, the city will regain its beauty and be a paradise to live in....
Source

Next Gen SATNAV systems to contain 3-D city views and road warnings

2007-05-17T16:15:00.000+05:30

After the wide acceptance of satellite navigation(SATNAV) systems, researches are on to make it more appealing and useful to the user. It is being said that the new generation systems will contain 3-D city views along with potential dangers on the way and thus warning the driver to take approriate actions.
SATNAV systems which were reserved to luxury cars in its early days have become a integral part of most of the new model automobiles available in the western countries. Already, Tele Atlas, a pioneer in SATNAV systems, have plans to launch the system across 50 cities across Europe.
But we will have to wait and see when the system will find its way to India. Anyway, there is very less chance during the next one or two years for the system to be introduced in India. But owing to huge potential of the automobile industry in India, it is sure to mark its presence in the near future.
A system which can bring down the number of accidents and also provide the user with real time data on the traffic that he should expect, is always welcome.
Source

Darwin's Letters goes digital

2007-05-17T12:27:00.000+05:30

Recently, the Cambridge University came out with the digitized versions of about 500 letters written by the evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. These letters hold the key to some cutting edge scientific facts along with his personal life and family.
The project named "The Darwin Corresppondance Project" includes summary of a further 9000 letters written by Darwin from the age of 12, the biggest collection of which still resides in the Cambridge. These letters hold great value as Darwin gathered ideas and discussed them with other intellectuals through them.
The collection also indicates his relationship with other intellectuals of the time such as the well known naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and their work together.
Morover, these letters map out Darwin's ideas and publications and thus shining light into his theory of evolution and its conclusions. The digital format of these letters will be available through a website starting today(17th May 2007). So do check out these letters if you are interested in the theory of evolution.

Click here to visit the Darwin Correspondence Project website
Source

Futuristic technology to help mathematics problems!!!

2007-05-16T11:49:00.000+05:30

A great news for Maths teachers out there! Texas Instruments have reportedly developed a calculator which will let the teachers know, who all are not working out the problems in the right way and thus letting them correct that particular student in real time.
The new invention is named TI-Navigator. The TI-Navigator sends wireless signals from the pupils' hand-helds to a central computer in the possession of the teacher letting them have real time analysis of the student. So finally the world's largest chip maker seems to expand its business through this calculator... But we will have to wait and see if it goes to the top or bottom.. The real beauty of this invention lies in the fact that even shy students get to clear their problems and difficulties through wireless streaming. Morover common mistakes made by the students can also be easily found out and analyzed. TI needs ought to be cheered for this invention.... Well done TI!!!
Find out more here

So Google too became a fan of Mozilla!!!

2007-05-15T20:47:00.000+05:30

A nice find in Google Earth especially for all those Mozilla Firefox fans out there : Just tune into 45° 7'25.87"N 123° 6'48.97"W

See it here

Virtual World becoming a playground for criminals???

2007-05-13T14:09:00.000+05:30

As the computer's dominance is increasing at a fast pace, so are the crimes related with them. The number of online games are also increasing rapidly boasting of users of all age groups including many addicts. This addiction of many have resulted in online crimes in these virtual worlds. A major problem which needs to be addressed is child pornography.
Off the late, the number of incidents of online sex have increased especially in games such as Second-Life which is considered to be a second home for such addicts and having millions of users around the world. Second Life provides its users with a whole lot of customisation features and the users have the freedom to create their own features. This has resulted in a quite creative world all together. Even the users can simulate their avatars having sex. Also, there have been a lot of instances of depictions of child pornography. But can all these instances be considered to be crime in the real world? Obviously, Indian government seems to be neglecting this problem and there are no laws which considers this as an offence. Even in the Unites States, online depiction of Child pornography in Games are not considered to be a crime. But countries like Germany and Australia have taken this as a serious problem which will have to be encountered with all the caution. Recently a child abuse case was registered in Germany which is being looked into by the German Officials.
These developments have lead the Second Life developers to create a verification system for its users who need access to those areas in the game flagged as 'adult'. It is being said that the system will need the user to give a valid passport or driving license for verification. So the virtual world too has started to be governed by real world laws. Its really a wait and watch situation out there.
Source

RFID chips to prevent DVD theft!!!

2007-05-12T11:25:00.001+05:30

Theft of electronic gadgets and DVDs are a major problem these days accounting for a loss of about $400 million annually. The main products includes video game and movie DVDs too. But if the current invention is to be implemented by the game developers and movie makers, then we could find a cosiderable increase in their revenue by the next few years.
The new technology is based on a small RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)chip designed by Netherlands based NXP Semiconductors and a Radio Frequency Activation technology from Emeryville based Kestrel Wireless Inc. The chip is placed on the DVD along with a coating that is designed to prevent the player from reading the information on the disk. When the chip is activated at the cash register, an electrical impulse is send through the coating, turning it clear and making the disk readable.
It is also being claimed by the developers that the technology can also be successfully used to protect electric shavers, ink jet catridges, flash memory drives and even flat-screen TVs by preventing the critical elements in these devices from functioning unless it is activated through the cash register.
So we can find a really geeky way to avoid theft in the coming years. But it is yet to be seen how much successfull it might be.
Source

Google goes into the web's dark side!!!

2007-05-12T11:06:00.000+05:30

Searching the dark sides of the internet, Google researchers found out that one out of ten webpages displayed by the search engine proved to compromise with the security of the user. An in-depth analysis by the researchers into billions of sites listed, enlisted about 4.5 million pages which were found capable of drive-by-downloads concept. Most of such programs installed were found to be spywares and keyloggers. Another 70000 pages were found to compromise with the user's computer. This research has triggered the company to find out all the sites which might prove harmful to its users.

Drive-by downloads are a common way to affect a un-suspecting user's computer without even their knowledge. Users are presented with so-called links to interesting content such as cash prizes, copyrighted softwares and pornographic materials. Once a user clicks these links, a small program(usually a spyware or a keylogger as mentioned above) is downloaded to the user's computer. The hackers seem to have come out of their usual way of affecting the user through spam e-mails and attachments which is now being monitored by the email provider. Drive-by downloads seem to be a very easy way for affecting the user with their spywares and to extract usefull content such as creditcard numbers, passwords etc. The rise of Web 2.0 and user-generated content has provided the criminals new vectors to attack the user. The research team also found out that the criminals were able to hack web-servers and thus effectively having the administrative status to all the pages hosted in the server and thus affecting all these pages.
All these findings have lead the company to map all the sites which might prove harmful to a user. Google is already displaying a warning "this site may harm you computer" in its search results and thus providing the user with a chance to turn away from that search result without any harm being caused.
However, it will be a challenge to the company to map all the sites which are harmful. So best of luck Google!!!
Source

JWST to be the successor to the Hubble

2007-05-12T10:55:00.000+05:30

NASA unveiled the successor to the 17 year old Hubble Telescope named James Webb Space Telescope(JWST). It is being said that the telescope was on course for launch in June 2013. The JWST was shown off recently in the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. The telescope will be set much far away from the current position of the Hubble telescope and also it will provide much wider images than its current counterpart. It is about three times the size of Hubble and will be positioned at about 1.5 million km from the earth. The JWST will be launched using the European Ariane 5 Rocket and is expected to have a lifespan of 10 years and until then, the Hubble will continue its good work out there in the space. There are also plans on NASA's part to send a crew to service the Hubble in 2008.

Find out more here

Satellite services all set to change our rural areas???

2007-05-11T21:35:00.000+05:30

Dont get delighted before reading the whole thing!!! Its obviously not in India. Its in the USA as for now.
The terrain and the geographic features have set apart many areas from the outside world all around the globe denying them of not only internet services, but also of cellular networks (phone networks) which is consisdered as one of the basic services for a man to have in this age of technology. The difficulty lies in the fact that these areas are either far away from the local telephone hub or that the population is too small to install a local hub for the residents. Many a companies have started realizing this difficulty and have made use of the situation to grab this oppurtunity offering the unprevilaged with satellite based services. Some of the companies have setup their own satellites for this purpose. But the basic fact that the satellite bandwidth is too expensive makes it unaffordable to atleast a small part of the society. Morover the response times are slow compared to DSL networks as the time needed to send and recieve data from the satellite takes time. Though this is not evident in usual browsing for emails etc, it becomes a major hurdle while video streaming, voice transfering and banking services. Also adding to this, is the growing number of subscribers for satellite services. So we will have to wait for a few years until a much more dependable and affordable service is implemented.
As far as India is concerned, satellite based networks can play a very important role in our booming economy owing to the vast changes in terrain throughout our country. Connecting villages and hilly areas which are denied of the internet services can mean a increased interaction with theoutside world. But we will have to wait atleast till the next decade for a affordable and dependable satellite based network to be implemented in India.

iPods can make pacemakers malfunction!!!

2007-05-11T21:26:00.000+05:30

A study conducted by a 17 year old boy shows that using iPods along with pacemakers can make the pacemaker to malfunction. The report was kept before a meeting of heart-specialists at the Heart Rythm Society in Denver. The study was conducted on 100 patients with an average age of 77 at the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Institute at Michigan State University.

Electrical interference was detected when iPod was held 2 inches from the patient's chest and in one case it went upto 18 inches. In another case it caused the pacemaker to stop functioning.
So a word of caution to all my friends out there. Do try to keep out from addiction to such electronic gadgets as far as possible and lead a happy, healthy and long life. Source

Finally a goodbye to one of the most important parts of a computer ???

2007-05-11T17:55:00.000+05:30

What will be your first reaction if you were told that your computer's mouse is to be removed and you will have to work your way through by some other means??? Think about it. Think what you will make use of instead of your mouse to control and navigate around through your Operating System. But no need to worry if the current research developments are to be implemented. A Canadian scientist from the Institute of Information Technology in Ottawa has found a new geeky way to control your computer without the mouse using your facial expressions. Yes! you heard it right.
Being a really interesting innovation, it is said to be controlled completely by your eyes and nose movements. The system was developed by Dr Dimitry Gorodnichy.
As I had mentioned, the system is known to make use of your nose movements as it is one of the most complex, still one of the most unique features of our body and hence making it a easy to track its movements precisely and smoothly. According to the inventor, it is easy to get accustomed with the system as we always make use of natural facial expressions while performing any thing(such as looking at something etc). Also the technology replaces the usual mouse-click with a really innovative idea i.e the blinking of user's eyes. As a replacement to the usual mouse-click, the system uses a double-blink concept for triggering the actions.
Apart from the usual users, it will greatly help the handicapped people whose main way of communication are through facial expressions. So its a great innovation which can be awaited for eagerly!!!
Source

IBM Text to speech research

2007-05-10T19:46:00.000+05:30

IBM (International Business Machines) is currently researching on the text to speech (TTS) technology which is said to be more intelligible.
For those who are hearing about the TTS technology for the first time, here is a small introduction. In simple language, it means that whatever text is entered by the user is dynamically synthesized into speech. (Talking about it, it is slightly similar to speech recognition especially because in speech recognition too, the human voice recorded for recognition is stored in the form of a special script and almost a similar script is used to synthesize the speech from text in TTS technology). Already there are softwares provided by Microsoft and other companies based on this technology. But the main drawback is that, the synthesized voice is not much like a human voice. If you want, you may try some of these softwares. Just follow the link: Microsoft Text to Speech Package. There are a lot more softwares based on this technology (Just do a google search for those).
Coming back to our topic, IBM is trying to overcome the drawback that I had mentioned above. The main aim is to make the voice synthesized more intelligible, natural and a pleasant one. And most importantly, make it communicate meaningfully. IBM has already provided a demo of what we can expect from them here : IBM Text-to-Speech: Unconstrained U.S. English Text Demo. Other languages currently included are Arabic, Chinese, French and German. To find out more on the technology, click here.

The sleekest phone : Nokia Aeon

2007-05-10T12:42:00.000+05:30

The Nokia Aeon is one of the sleekest phones that I have come across. This concept is in the Nokia Labs and might be the best rival to the Apple iPhone.
This phone consists of two touch-screen areas and is powered by a fuel cell placed below the divider between these two areas. Also it is said to keep track of the users health. So being one of most brilliant phones from Nokia, it is something that can be well waited for. Lets hope that it will soon be out of the Research and Development Dept. and released too.

Wanna improve your gaming experience??? Try this out!!!

2007-05-09T21:18:00.000+05:30

So friends, some of us have the pleasure of new sleek PCs with the latest hardware and a lot of RAM and GPUs & PPUs for supporting games. But what about those under-previlaged friends who would start cursing their PCs after seeing the controls taking ages to respond and running laboriously in the system???
So what are you waiting for? Try this out!!!
Right Click the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties". Then go to the "Advanced" tab and select the "Settings" tab in the "Performance" frame. In the resulting window, select the "Advances" tab and then in the "virtual memory" frame, click the "change" button and then make it 1GB or 2 GB as your HDD space limits permit.
By increasing the size of the virtual memory, you are actually allocating more memory for carrying out the system operations. When a system works it actually keep markings in the pages visited as we keep bookmarks to keep track of the important information in a book. So when more memory is allocated, more markings are kept in the memory and so it becomes easy for a system to access the pages that were already visited. But keep in mind that it will make your system slow.
So for those die-hard gamers out there, you might try this out.

A few tips before you try out changing the size of virtual memory :
* Unnecessary increase of Virtual Memory can result in performance issues as we are compensating the lack of RAM using this virtual memory
* Do it only when necessary and that too for very high end graphics provided you have a lot of hard disk to spare.