Thursday 31 March 2011
Will A Hybrid Car Really Pay Off?
Greencar takes a look at the economics of owning a hybrid. There will be savings on fuel, but how much? How far will you have to drive to make up for the higher cost of a hybrid?
Do You Want Spyware With That?
A report from Network World alleges that Samsung installed secret spyware on its laptops. More at:
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Tuesday 29 March 2011
The Drink The Federation Doesn't Want You To Have!
Illegal in the Federation from around 2280 to 2370, it's Romulan ale, at $US14.99 for a six pack. Unfortunately, still not for sale outside USA & Canada:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/drinks/e779/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/drinks/e779/
An interesting site with many products not available elsewhere, including tribbles ($US14.99-$US19.99, available for sale outside US & Canada, but not to Klingons).
Posted by HH at 11:21 GMT, Stardate 64701.7
Former RIAA Lobbyist Now Handles File Sharing Cases As A Federal Judge
You don't think there could be some bias here?
Telepresence robots are coming
Not sure about the above, but my experience is that talking on Skype, audio only, is no different to talking on a telephone, but a Skype video call is more like chatting across the dinner table. YMMV. More in the videos below:
Monday 28 March 2011
Tata & MIT System To Use Sunlight To Split Water Into Hydrogen & Oxygen (video)
A criticism often leveled at solar energy is that it is not "base load". i.e. because it only generates electricity in daylight, without storage, it's not available 24/7. Storage is generally expensive &/or inefficient. Numerous schemes have been suggested, but have never reached production apart from for small applications. e.g. lead acid batteries for storage of solar for small communities.
In theory, solar electricity could be used to split water into hydrogen & oxygen. At night, the hydrogen & oxygen could be used directly (e.g. for heating or cooking) or to generate electricity.
In the item below, the system being developed generates hydrogen & oxygen directly from water with greater efficiency than photo voltaic systems.
Shoot For The Stars To Power The Towers
Buildings with a high energy efficiency rating are attracting higher prices & rents:
For better engine efficiency, a different kind of throttle
Limiting the amount of air is the only practical way to throttle an internal combustion engine (ICE). Unfortunately, the throttle in an ICE has long been recognised as a source of ineffciency, due to pumping losses. A more efficient, though expensive, alternative is to control air intake using the valves. Efficiency gains are in the range of 10%.
/ valve FIAT MultiAir microprocessors pumping loss /
Sunday 27 March 2011
Fully Charged
"Fully Charged" is a YouTube and iTunes series about electric and hybrid cars by Kryten (well, Robert Llewellyn, who played "Kryten" in the British TV series "Red Dwarf" actually). To this time, there are approximately 16 episodes.
The pilot, with an interesting rebuttal of much of the "Top Gear" item on the Tesla, at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTiRNzbSko
Saturday 26 March 2011
Friday 25 March 2011
Worse Than Jail: Sentenced To Life On YouTube
Remember the earlier post, "Laptop Thief's Ridiculous Dance Video Posted By Tech-Savvy Victim"? The story continues:
Important things to consider here:
- The theft wasn't an impulse action, immediately regretted. The thief was happy to make use of his new acquisition to make the (now infamous) video.
- There is no reason to think the laptop would have been returned but for the video.
- There is no reason to think that anyone less tech savvy than the owner of the laptop would have his laptop back, or an apology.
- The thief has returned the laptop & made a statement.
- Legal action may yet be taken by "the detective".
- As of 22:55 GMT Friday 25 March the video is still on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c8W1NDYf38&feature=player_embedded
What would you do?
The Only Secure Password Is The One You Can’t Remember
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/03/the-only-secure-password-is-the-one-you-can%e2%80%99t-remember/
1Password has been mentioned previously on this site. Highly recommended. / password secure password security security vitally important even more important store more more our lives online banking information photos our kids stored kept in the cloud our data information kept behind secure passwords passwords kept LastPass 1Password highly recommended users LastPass customers suffered data breach reset their passwords precaution LastPass confident hackers gain access any information user’s account LastPass account email addresses password reminders authentication hashes users should change LastPass master password as soon as possible time to panic confident encryption measures sufficient protect vast majority of users LastPass strengthens strong password authentication hash random salt 100,000 rounds of server-side PBKDF2-SHA256 rounds performed client-side additional strengthening makes it difficult attack stolen hashes significant speed LastPass user data passwords usernames sites stored accessible at any time reset your LastPass master password best course of action use that same password elsewhere change that password as well security notice LastPass website /
1Password has been mentioned previously on this site. Highly recommended. / password secure password security security vitally important even more important store more more our lives online banking information photos our kids stored kept in the cloud our data information kept behind secure passwords passwords kept LastPass 1Password highly recommended users LastPass customers suffered data breach reset their passwords precaution LastPass confident hackers gain access any information user’s account LastPass account email addresses password reminders authentication hashes users should change LastPass master password as soon as possible time to panic confident encryption measures sufficient protect vast majority of users LastPass strengthens strong password authentication hash random salt 100,000 rounds of server-side PBKDF2-SHA256 rounds performed client-side additional strengthening makes it difficult attack stolen hashes significant speed LastPass user data passwords usernames sites stored accessible at any time reset your LastPass master password best course of action use that same password elsewhere change that password as well security notice LastPass website /
Drive Won't Mount
Two points:
- You've heard it before, but obviously, it needs to be said again: unless you are happy to lose it, back it up.
- Before using the freezer, check the reply from reader "Ramses".
Thursday 24 March 2011
Jobs: "No Interest" In Phone Radiation "Prediction" App
No surprise that a phone manufacturer doesn't want to give publicity to the phone radiation issue.
Safe Atomic Fission Energy From Thorium?
We've heard promises of safe, cheap atomic energy using uranium before, but thorium has a range of advantages, including being much more abundant &, maybe, safer:
http://m.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/the-reactor-that-saves-itself-safe-nuclear-does-exist-and--china-leads-the-way-with-thorium-20110323-1c6eb.html
So if thorium has so many advantages, why has humanity persevered with uranium for so long? It has been suggested by many, including the article above, that uranium use has been driven by military interests (in several countries) that want to use uranium (& its daughter element plutonium) for bombs. Notch one more up for thorium.
So if thorium has so many advantages, why has humanity persevered with uranium for so long? It has been suggested by many, including the article above, that uranium use has been driven by military interests (in several countries) that want to use uranium (& its daughter element plutonium) for bombs. Notch one more up for thorium.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Genetically Engineered Photosynthesising Bacteria Excrete Petrol
Exxon-Mobile has invested $600 million in developing just such a technology. This & other ideas discussed in an interview with Steve Mushkin, author of "An Optimist's Tour of the Future". Also, the late Peter Cook's take on the end of the World. Podcast & transcript at:
They're Getting Bigger
During 2010, sales of smartphones with screen sizes 4 inches & above grew to occupy 24% of the market.
Monday 21 March 2011
Inside Tesla’s Model S Alpha Workshop
Some time ago, Tesla indicated that its plan for models to follow the sports car was a luxury sedan, followed by a mass market sedan. In which case, this would be the luxury sedan.
Sunday 20 March 2011
CamCard Captures & Saves Business Cards To Your Contacts
In addition to the Android app which is the subject of the review, there is also an iPhone version.
Cam Dictionary from the same author translates words from printed text.
Saturday 19 March 2011
Apple May Launch Free MobileMe Next Month
One rumor that just won't go away! The "Find My iPhone" component was made free for iPhone 4 with the release of iOS 4.2. Free alternatives are available for all other components of MobileMe, with the added advantage that they don't tie the user to Apple. For calendar, contacts, notes & email, I'm very happy with the Google suite. DropBox & SugarSync provide free cloud storage.
China Tightens Grip On VPN Access Amid Pro-democracy Protests, Gmail Users Also Affected
http://m.engadget.com/default/article.do?artUrl=http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/16/china-tightens-grip-on-vpn-access-amid-pro-democracy-protests-g/&category=classic&subCategory=featured&icid=eng_featured_art&type=&postPage= / great firewall of china pro-democracy vpn virtual private network privacy democracy /
How Secure Does Your Mobile Phone Need To Be?
How much private information do you have stored in your mobile phone? If yours is a basic model, there may just be a few phone numbers. On the other hand, a smart phone will probably have your email, maybe some user IDs & passwords, bank account details? Would you want this information to fall into the hands of someone who finds or steals your phone?
Caveat on the article below: some of the security features described for the iPhone only apply to the latest models. e.g. prior to iOS 4, the only password lock available was a 4 digit PIN. "Find My Phone" is only available free on iPhone 4 with iOS 4.2 or above.
My solution:
- Contact phone number (including offer of a reward) on lock screen;
- Password lock (not just a PIN) that locks a few minutes after the phone is turned off; &
- 1Password app stores logins & other information which requires privacy. It also syncs via Dropbox to my laptop. Versions for iPhone (& iPod Touch), iPad & Android. Free 30 day trial for Macintosh & Windows.
Friday 18 March 2011
Wanna Be Smarter – Or Are You Smart Enough Already?
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/
Mass Extinction
Nothing in the article itself that isn't obvious to anyone who has been paying attention, but most of the responses demonstrate the short-sightedness that got us into this situation:
Thursday 17 March 2011
Is It Possible To Build A Disaster-Proof Nuclear Power Plant?
Is it? – Not prior to 1996 according to Gizmodo. The industry that promised "electricity too cheap to meter" in the fifties, safety at Three Mile Island, Windscale (subsequently renamed Sellafield – only the names have been changed to protect the guilty), Chernobyl & until now Fukushima, promises that post 1996 reactors are safe. Anyone else seeing a pattern?
Is It Possible To Build A Disaster-Proof Nuclear Power Plant?
This post was displaying incorrectly on some browsers. A corrected version is available above, or at:
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-it-possible-to-build-disaster-proof.html
Eye Controlled Laptop
Positive review of an eye controlled laptop on engadget. My first thought was a risk of doing something accidentally because I looked away from the screen. The review indicates this was not a problem in their testing.
Something for RSI sufferers?
Facebook, Single Identities, & The Right To Be Anonymous
Interesting piece from engadget on anonymity & privacy on the Internet:
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Cold Fusion – Didn't we do this already?
No less a journal than PC PowerPlay (April 2011 edition), reports another "breakthrough" (their quotes) in the field of cold fusion.
To be fair, PC PowerPlay takes a cautious approach, as does this article:
http://m.io9.com/5742290/no-
Although there's a bit more enthusiasm at:
http://newenergyandfuel.com/
I'll wait to see if they get further than Pons & Fleischmann.
To be fair, PC PowerPlay takes a cautious approach, as does this article:
http://m.io9.com/5742290/no-
Although there's a bit more enthusiasm at:
http://newenergyandfuel.com/
I'll wait to see if they get further than Pons & Fleischmann.
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