Technology
antunes |
The best way to discover whether someone is full of crap or not is to look at their past predictions. If you're digital media expert Jim Griffin and you put your rep publically on the line predicting internet video in 2002, you're probably on the side of 'smart and right'.
Jim Griffin (onehouse.com) made a wager at LongBets that “A profitable video-on-demand service aimed at consumers will offer 10,000 titles to 5 million subscribers by 2010.” He won, donating the $2000 prize to the EFF. Was this futurism, the random picking of potential paths by a random pundit? In his own…
Many robot designs are understandably human-looking - they infrequently have legs, since a realistic gait that passes for human is difficult (though see RunBot - Mountaineering Robot and The Science Of A Bionic Woman for the latest) but a torso, a head and arms are common. Hands, though, are delicate instruments and tough to emulate.
But a group of researchers have bypassed traditional notions of robot hand design and created a gripper using coffee and a balloon. Unlike a hand, which would require a great deal of elaborate instructions to pick up random objects with crushing them,…
Newswire |
BERLIN, BRUSSELS and HERAKLION, Greece, November 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The interim findings and recommendations of EU Member States participants of the 1st Pan-European Cyber Security Exercise indicate that 'CYBER EUROPE 2010' was a useful 'cyber stress test' for Europe's public bodies. Member States are very keen to continue their efforts in the area of national and pan-European exercises. They also agreed on the importance of involving the private sector in further exercises and exchanging lessons learnt with other national or international exercises.
Supporting EU-wide cyber-security…
Newswire |
DUSSELDORF, Germany, November 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The registration figures for MEDICA 2010, World Forum for Medicine -International Trade Fair and Congress (Dusseldorf, 17th - 20th November) has led to optimism in the medical-technical sector. The number of participants who have signed up for the world's largest medical trade fair, which will take place next week, is significantly higher than last year's, at around 4,4000 exhibitors from over 60 nations and a booking increase of 2,000 square metres to a total of 116,000 square metres.
The medical technology markets in North…
If you are reading this site, you already know "Battlestar Galactica" is the greatest science-fiction show of all time. Yes, yes, "Farscape" was terrific and "Star Trek" set the standard but Battlestar Galactica as number one brooks no argument. The only thing that could make it better is being able to play as part of a Battlestar Galactica MMORPG universe.
Bigpoint has announced today the successful launch of the first phase of its Battlestar Galactica Online closed beta. The initial phase granted hand-selected players from Europe and the United States the opportunity to…
Hank |
Remember the "Star Wars" scene where robotic scamp R2-D2 projects a three-dimensional image of Princess Leia trying to ask for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi?
New 3D holographic imaging technology developed at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences is bringing it a little closer.
"Holographic telepresence means we can record a three-dimensional image in one location and show it in another location, in real-time, anywhere in the world," said optical sciences professor Nasser Peyghambarian, who led the research effort. Their prototype device…
calliope |
Just an anecdote for today. With luck, my French connection will have 'the goods' for me shortly. I will slip him payment, and 20 beauties will be mine.
Back when I fabricated my PCBs, I thought the next step was to buy the electronics. What could go wrong? Most components such as resistors and capacitors are ubiquitous and nearly fungible. You can swap out manufacturers and minor specs as long as the main desired value (resistance, capacitance, etc) is fulfilled-- and as long as the part is the same form factor. The latter means "it needs to fit onto your…
Black Hat Abu Dhabi, running from the November 8th - 11th at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, will discuss some of the major security concerns faced by the IT world - and even demonstrate them live.
Nothing sends a message like showing it on stage, so security consultants and researchers brought in from across the globe will attempt to hack ATM machines, mobile phones and computers.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) represented by the UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT), in cooperation with Khalifa University of Science and Technology with UBM, have…
Hank |
It isn't the first photograph of humans but two men near the river's edge in a photo of Cincinnati taken in 1848 is kind of a big deal among photography historians.
As reported by NPR's Robert Krulwich last month, the photo was taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter -- who were standing on the other side of the Ohio River -- on Sunday, September 24th, 1848, 162 years prior to Krulwich's post about it. The photo is what's known as a daguerreotype -- an image developed via an early photographic process developed in France. When zooming in on the photo, Krulwich noticed what appeared…
Do you log into web sites from public computers, even though I advised against it four years ago? That post only scratched the surface, really: it just talked about using public computers. These days, most people have their laptops with them, and they connect them to the public wireless networks in the cafés.
Most of those networks are unencrypted. That means that you don’t have to enter a key or a password when you access the network. You just select the network name (or let your computer snag it automatically), go to a web page in your browser, and get redirected to some sort of login and/…