For several years, Google has been among the companies urging the FCC to open up the "white spaces"--small amounts of spectrum between broadcast television channels--to unlicensed use. Google joined the White Spaces Database Group in February to help move the project along, since one of the requirements of the white spaces plan is a database that devices can use to figure out which channels are available for use.
Titel:High-Tech Avoids the Mess in Voice-Activated Future Kitchen
Show-goers at CES this week may be able to catch a glimpse of what one industry group envisions for the future of the home kitchen. Citing the practical shortcomings of many current kitchen technologies, the so-called Magic Kitchen will use gesture-based technologies, projectors and voice commands to display information, control tasks and personalize functions.
http://news.cnet.com/A-venture-integrating-Skype-into-the-family-room/2100-1041_3-6250382.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0 There will soon be something new to watch on the living room TV: your relatives and friends in different parts of the world.
On Tuesday, Panasonic and LG Electronics, two of the top television makers, are to announce that they are integrating the free online calling service Skype into their Internet-connected high-definition televisions.
People who buy these TVs, along with an extra Web camera and microphone accessory designed for the living room, can conduct free, live video chats and phone calls from the couch.
Traditional spellings could be killed off by the internet within a few decades, a language expert has claimed.
The advent of blogs and chatrooms meant that for the first time in centuries printed words were widely distributed without having been edited or proofread, said David Crystal, of the University of Wales in Bangor.
As a result, writers could spell words differently and their versions could enter common usage and become accepted by children.
Within a few decades, the spellings favoured by many internet users could replace the current, more complex versions, Professor Crystal said. Current spellings were standardised in the 18th century with the advent of dictionaries.
news card 9 news card9 homework 9 Title ; Skype goes living room, embeds on LG, Panasonic HDTVs URL; http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=29068&tag=mncol;txt Skype displayed its service on beny of HD TVs on Tuesday. We can also watch video calls in 720p HD on PCs by using it. However, it wants to have some support from living room while connecting. It showed the latest HD webcam version that can record sound and video from “a couch distance.” Fortunately, we can get its service on Internet-connected HD TVs.
JIN XIN (VENUS) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1950932,00.html?CNN=yes After years of dominating search on the Web, Google is looking to change the way we go about surfing it. A little more than a year ago, it launched the beta version of Google Chrome for Windows. It was simple, clean and fast. In December the company released Chrome for Mac and Linux, which helped catapult the browser past Safari in total market share. It now trails only Firefox and the ultimate preloader, Explorer.
Use of ICT for climate change mitigation This article details low lying areas such as the Bangladesh delta and the Netherlands but it could also be applied to many parts of Thailand. ICT can be utilized to reduce emissions although this depends on which side of the argument you stand. Merely food for thought!
Touchless Mobile interface invented by Tokyo University
The Japanese geeks (Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa and Takashi Komuro) over at Tokyo University have come up with a new interface for mobile phones. It's not an application that the users can install onto their iphone or Android. It's a completely a new thing. It enables users of the mobile phones to control the device without touching it, kind of like "in air".
From Robert McBain This is my news card for the week. Technology in Education Site: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/front_tech.htm Articles Recommended Reading Related links Critical Questions Possible Actions Many people warn of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Will children lose their ability to relate to other human beings? Will they become dependent on technology to learn? Will they find inappropriate materials? The same was probably said with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately, but all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used-- interactively and with guidance-- they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills. Inappropriately used in the classroom, technology can be used to perpetuate old models of teaching and learning. Students can be "plugged into computers" to do drill and practice that is not so different from workbooks. Teachers can use multimedia technology to give more colorful, stimulating lectures. Both of these have their place, but such use does not begin to tap the power of these new tools. In this area, you will find descriptions of how computers can be used to stimulate and develop writing skills, collaborate with peers in foreign countries, do authentic kinds of research that is valuable to the adult world, and do complex kinds of problem solving that would otherwise be impossible. Classroom Applications: Implications of New Media for K-12 Education Chris Dede Virtual Reality researcher Chris Dede's testimony to Congress on the implications of introducing new technologies in the classroom. Link to an outline of important themes and policy issues surrounding the use of information technology to support innovative models of teaching and learning. Nanoscale Science and Technology: Connections with K-12 Education Ethan Allen UW professor and researcher considers the implications of nanoscale science and technology for K-12 education. The Web of Knowledge: Vision, Design, and Practice Patrick McKercher, Judy Bonne and Andy Rogers A description of James Burke's Knowledge Web project and its application in the classroom. Intercultural Education and Virtual Reality Judy Bonne and Patrick McKercher Judy Bonne Kane, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Crawford AuSable Schools and Educational Project Director for the K-Web, and Patrick McKercher, K-Web project manager, give us an update on this project developed by James Burke. Advancement of Science Knowledge In Language Learning ( ASKILL ) John Shaffer and V. A. Lindley-Brunn Two educational researchers discuss a project that focuses on enhancing English language acquisition at the middle school level by English Language Learners through the study of science. Learning with the Internet S. L. Muthukumar A Singaporean researcher shares how to effectively use technology as a positive student learning experience.
Ms.Hnin Ei Ei Phyu ID.5229612 ESPN to launch 3-D network By Doug Gross, CNN From CNN news, http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/05/espn.3d/index.html
World Cup soccer, the 2011 BCS National Championship game and dozens of other sporting events will be displayed in 3-D by ESPN in the coming year. ESPN 3D, the cable network, will show at leat 85 games and other college football games, basketball, and ESPN's Summer X games. George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said that ESPN 3D with great content of new technology is to put ESPN at the forefront of the coming big advance for TV viewing. The network has been experiencing for more than two years and was shown in 3-D in several theaters too. This new network will require a 3-D television set and 3-D glasses.
ED6060 ICT In Education News Card #9 by Murat Kiymaz
News Card #9:
Title: Mobiles offer new view of reality
Synopsis: Virtual reality arrived a long time ago, but it failed to impress the masses. A new revolution has been happening though, with the quiet arrival of augmented reality (AR). I have been following the advances in this impressive technology ever since trying to swat invisible bugs in our car on my Windows mobile phone to my wife's amazement. Coupled with reflective LCD glasses, AR might just be the next answer to interpersonal connectivity on the information highway. Oh, the possibilities...
News Card#9 Title: Dubai claims World's tallest Skyscraper:Technological feat or folly? Dubai’s inauguration of the world’s tallest skyscraper is supposed to be a symbol of a new year and a next chapter as the country hopes to emerge from its financial mess. However, the Burj Dubai tower—a technological marvel that is at least 160 stories high and designed to be a vertical city—is also a symbol of what’s wrong with Dubai. The problem: Dubai has focused on the flash and not the substance of economic diversification. Sans money from oil, Dubai bet big on commercial real estate and projects that just don’t make a ton of sense. According to the Associated Press, developers of the tower spent about $1.5 billion on the project. Is that the best use of capital? What’s the economic value of having the tallest building in the world? Those questions can’t be avoided. Wikipedia has a good overview of the project, which kicked off in 2004. As far as construction and design goes, the Burj Dubai tower is quite the conversation piece. It’s also a distraction from larger problems. But while we’re in the neighborhood, let’s look at some of the key items about the tower from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the Chicago architectural firm behind the tower’s design.
Many information technology trends stand out for their developed fame and their quality to give a hand businesses achieve sustainability, to increase the IT market,and to provide modern lifestyles, as the economy starts to recover from the downturn in 2010.Then, there are many technology trends such as cloud computing which is a new way to consume and carry out services and it is combined by the rapid measurability and growth of the Internet with grow up levels of self-service and elegant Web-based applications. It lets non-technical users to put in very complicated computing tasks without the need to understand the underlying technology, turning data centres into the factories of the future. In addition, it is based on technologies like technic for hiding the physical characteristics of computing resource from the way in which other system,outomation, open standards and Web-based computing.Organisations are currently studying and finding out for migration paths to cloud-based service. The ability or quanlity of IT opration will be grown up by Cloud computing. And the other one is the economic and business benefits of social computing which is realised by the organisations very fast.Both small and large business are begining to focus on using social software. Social networking has already begun to carry many business benefits from attracting and retaining the best talent and enhacing internal collaboration to spurring new concepts between different virtual communities.
Two partnerships backing different form of mobile TV are using this year's International Consumer Electronics Show to announce devices that can bring TV to iPhone through the back door. There is no built-in hardware for watching live TV broadcasts on the iPhone , but both Qualcomm's FLO TV subsidiary and a grout of mobile TV broadcasters are working with hardware manufacturers to create accessories they say can deliver a full mobile TV experience on the popular handset.
news card 9 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10426627-56.html?tag=newsFeaturedBlogArea.0 Title:Windows 7 has lots of 'GodModes' (exclusive)
Those intrigued by the "GodMode" in Windows 7 may be interested to know that there are many other similar shortcuts hidden within the operating system.
Intended for developers as a shortcut to various internal settings, such features have been around since Vista and even before, according to the head of Microsoft's Windows division, who tells CNET that the so-called GodMode settings folder uncovered by bloggers is just one of many undocumented developer features included in Windows. Such undocumented means of accessing various settings have occurred in previous versions of Windows, and the GodMode identified by bloggers was also present in Windows Vista. Some users of the 64-bit version of Vista, however, say invoking the GodMode folder caused their machines to crash. Microsoft says it has yet to reproduce that problem, though several readers have said they have encountered problems.
It seems that the folks in Redmond have gotten a kick out of all the attention that the Godmode has gotten and have decided to have fun with it. Sinofsky sent a list of other commands that also create special folders
Mali Gorjian News Card # 9 Topic: NASA launches infrared telescope to scan entire sky http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/12/14/wise.spacecraft.launch/index.html (CNN) -- NASA launched a new telescope into space on Monday to scan the cosmos for undiscovered objects, including asteroids and comets that might threaten Earth. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft will employ an infrared camera to detect light- and heat-emitting objects that other orbiting telescopes, such as the Hubble, might miss. WISE launched Monday at 9:09 a.m. ET aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch was postponed from Friday because of a problem with the motion of a booster steering engine. The unmanned WISE will spend the next nine months in orbit, 326 miles above the Earth, mapping the universe in infrared light. Its lens eventually will cover the whole sky 1½ times, snapping a picture every 11 seconds. "The last time we mapped the whole sky at these particular infrared wavelengths was 26 years ago," said Edward "Ned" Wright of UCLA, the principal investigator of the mission. He was referring to WISE's predecessor, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which launched in 1983 and discovered six cometsThe solar-powered WISE will not be the first infrared telescope in space. Two others -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory -- also catalog images of the universe, although both focus on specific celestial objects instead of surveying the entire sky. Mission leaders expect WISE to find hundreds of asteroids and comets with orbits that come close to crossing Earth's path. By measuring the objects' infrared light, the telescope also should help determine their size and composition -- data that may help astronomers learn how often Earth can expect to be struck by a hurtling asteroid. "We can help protect our Earth by learning more about the diversity of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets," said Amy Mainzer, deputy project scientist for the $320 million mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. WISE also will be looking for dim stars called brown dwarfs and millions of far-away galaxies that are shrouded in dust and often can't be seen in visible light.
To start an Art, Language, Music school, sisual arts and music are vital elements in developing the whole person. Children are powerfully affected by storytelling, music, dance, and visual arts. These disciplines provide unique learning opportunities, In visual arts a variety of materials and media are introduced at the earliest ages. For 3 year olds through Kindergarten, the emphasis is on a creative self-expression and development of basic skills. URL:http://www.thebrookwoodschool.org/SchoolLife/Technology.html
LAS VEGAS--A look at Solar Power International's FreeLoader Pro solar charger shows how these can function as multi-purpose chargers that happen to have solar panels.
The Freeloader Pro, which will be available in the U.S. starting next week, is a hand-held charger made up of two small solar panels and integrated lithium ion battery.
Like the dozens of solar chargers on the market, the Freeloader Pro can charge up cell phones, GPS devices, and other small gadgets. What makes it versatile is the accompanying CamCaddy, an adjustable device for charging different sized block batteries for digital cameras, camcorders, or digital SLRs. The FreeLoader Pro's battery takes about eight hours to juice up by the solar panels (a larger solar array is also available, which will cut charge time to three hours). There's enough charge to run an iPod for 28 hours or 70 hours of standby power for a phone, according to the company. It can also be charged from an AC adapter.
Because the Freeloader unit is equipped with a USB port, it can charge various devices. The primary use of the charger is to have portable power for camping or when someone can't get to an outlet. But the company has found that a number of customers are business travelers looking for a trimmed-down way to charge their various gadgets, said CEO Adrian Williams. Instead of carrying dedicated power packs for three or four items, a person could take the Freeloader, USB cables, and adapter tips.
"We don't way people to buy it because it's green. We want them to buy because it's useful. The green part is an added benefit," he said.
What about the battery itself, which over time will wear out? Walker said that, because of EU directives, Solar Power International will take back the Freeloader unit and replace the worn-out battery after two years for about $13. The material in the batteries themselves will be recycled, he said.
new card from keystal(wanhong zhang) How the iPhone Could Reboot Education
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/iphone-university-abilene/ The verdict? It’s working quite well. 2,100 Abilene students, or 48 percent of the population, are now equipped with a free iPhone. Fully 97 percent of the faculty population has iPhones, too. The iPhone is aiding Abilene in giving students the information they need — when they want it, wherever they want it, said Bill Rankin, a professor of medieval studies who helped plan the initiative.
“It’s kind of the TiVoing of education,” Rankin said in a phone interview. “I watch it when I need it and in ways that I need it. And that makes a huge difference.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/iphone-university-abilene/#ixzz0c0H7aTTz
Source of news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8446704.stm
Food industry 'too secretive' over nanotechnology By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Lord Krebs, chairman of the The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has criticised the food industry for being secretive about its use of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the use of very small particles and there is active investigation into how those properties arise. Nanotechnology are already used in some kinds of product and business such as odourd-free socks and cancer therapeutic methods. They have concern more for further study to ensure their safety. In food industries they can use nanotechnology for enhance the flavor and reduce the amount of fat and salt needed in production. They disappoint that the food industries keep the secret about use of nanotechnology. Lord Krebs said that the industry refuse to discuss about this problem and should be open about research on nanotechnology. If the food industries want to build confidence they should be open rather than secretive. Julian Hunt, director of communications for the Food and Drink Federation, said there are many questions and unknowns about the potential future uses of nanotechnologies and there is much work still to be done, by scientists, governments and regulators, as well as the food and drink industry. She think that the food industries should open the information and discussion to clarify this issues to the consumer. Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, has found that there are currently 84 foods or food-related products that use nanotechnology. Lord Krebs says he and his colleagues are worry that hard to know the true extent of the use of nanotechnology in food. Now the market is valued at $410m (£260m) and tend to increasing around ten-fold in next two years. The increasing of nanotechnology will encourage the the government to commission more research on the behavior of nanomaterials.
News card Facebook fixes bug that crashed some iPhone apps
The bug was originally thought to be with Facebook's application programming interface, which enabled developers to publish feed stories into their apps. Facebook reminded developers on Monday that the old APIs would be turned off on Tuesday, a plan that had been in the works since last October.
Chris Diskin of Nodconcept, makers of Emoti (iTunes Link), an iPhone app that enables users to post status messages on Facebook with custom emoticons, said his app stopped working on Tuesday afternoon, after the old APIs were supposed to be turned off. However, Facebook representatives later said a bug in the software, not the company's APIs, caused the issue.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=62505 Newscard; #9 broadcasting ON THURSDAY JAN 7/2010 Title, New electronic devices could interest schools International Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas this week, and several announcements could have applications for schools. New netbooks, tablet computers, and eBook reader devices, as well as fresh developments in television and even a wireless tether to keep cell phones from getting lost, are among the technologies being unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas--technologies that might hold interest for schools and colleges as well. Small and inexpensive netbooks have been among the most popular computers during the recession, wooing schools and consumers alike with their portability and prices that were often below $400. Now, with the economy improving, computer buyers will be asked to open their wallets to new styles of computers, including some costing a bit more. Now, computer buyers can expect to see a number of devices that fit above and below the small laptops in price, size, and performance, as PC companies try to widen the market.
Title: How close are you to having 3-D TV? All 3-D technology relies on the idea that if separate images are presented to the left and right eyes, the human brain will combine them and create the illusion of a third dimension.
With technology that uses 3-D glasses, two images -- one for the right eye and one for the left eye -- alternate quickly on the TV. Shutters on the 3-D glasses swap the viewer's vision from right eye to left eye at the same rate. The effect moves so quickly that it tricks the brain into merging the images and creates the perspective needed to see images in 3-D.
News Card # 9 by Qingfang Wei Title: Palm unveils phones that create Wi-Fi hotspots URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/07/ces.palm.pre.plus.pixi/index.html Palm on Thursday announced upgraded versions of its Pre and Pixi smartphones that add video recording and the capability to create 3G mobile hotspots for laptops and other mobile devices. Palm announced upgraded versions of its Pre and Pixi smartphones Phones add video recording, capability to create 3G hotspots for mobile devices .Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will go on sale January 25. The phones will run exclusively on Verizon wireless network, a switch from Sprint.
Newscard #9 title:iPhone is child's play for a 2-year-old http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-379330
Apple's iPhone will be considered child's play in no time at all. Clearly, this 2 year old could navigate his way around the iPhone including manipulating the Apps. Touch Screen makes it all possible. Parents don't need babysitters anymore. Playing outdoors or with friends comes in second at times to playing on a compute or in this case a cell phone. I wonder what the CES show and new technology has to offer our children. Most are leaps and bounds ahead of me... I don't think it will be possible to catch up! It is the innovation movement as they say, "a love affair with technology"... not my type of love affair..
NewsCard #10 Title: Casio Unveils 1000FPS Compact Camera The Japanese electronic maker, Casio, has upgraded its Exilim cameras with first two point-and-shoot cameras ever which can shoot at great high frame rates. The upgraded models of Exilim camera are EX-FC100 and EX-FS10. Both of them are able to take conventional pictures at 9 mega pixels and have a new imaging engine that can record lower resolutions video at up to 1000 frames per second which allowing extremely slow motion footage despite the camera compact footprints. Beside that, they can also step down to 6 mega pixels to burst shoot at 30 frames per second and will record 720p movies at the same speed. The FC100 is the high-end variant and a 5X optical zoom lens with a 2.7 inch preview.
3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8447432.stm 3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales.
For several years the industry has talked up the arrival of 3D TV in the home to little effect.
Many however believe 2010 really is the breakthrough year for the technology, helped in large party by the growing number of 3D movies at the theatre and the success of James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar.
Samsung is just one of the big TV makers betting a huge chunk of the bank on 3D being a winning proposition for consumers and for the company.
It, along with the other top names such as Sony, LG and Panasonic, put on ritzy displays at CES to show the hundred thousand plus attendees what the future holds.
There were also announcements galore.
The Discovery Channel said that it is forming a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver 3D TV channels.
UK satellite operator BSkyB said it is also planning to launch a 3D service later this year and ESPN said it will show at least 85 sports events this year on its new ESPN 3D channel.
Panasonic revealed a tie-up with top US satellite provider DirecTV to launch three high-definition 3D TV channels by June to try and jump-start demand for 3D TVs and content.
Nowadays, movies with 3D display technology has been widely produced and greatly welcomed by the mass audiences. The company that had mastered most of these 3D display techonology behind the scenes is a company named RealD. With their new enlistment with the big names in TV manufacturers such as Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, JVC, Samsung and DirecTV,it had also announced it's cooperation with two companies, Vuzix and XpanD for a 3D eyewear. Both of these companies use different technology in producing these 3D eyewear including liquid crystal to briefly make one side or the other of its eyewear briefly opaque and utilizing Bluetooth to synchronize the glasses' behavior with the imagery on the TV screen.
News card Title : Can magicJack Pull Off Its Bill-Shrinking Trick?
YMax has stirred up interest with its latest phone product, the magicJack. The magicJack can allow a cellphone to make calls via the user's home Internet connection, without using up the caller's cellular minutes. It does this by using wireless spectrum that carriers have paid to license. YMax claims those license don't extend into people's private residences.
Title: Everything from TVs to Blu-ray players getting networked
Would you like the Internet with your new tech toy purchase this year? Even if you don't, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a new gadget or gizmo in 2010 that doesn't also connect you to Web services — from Netflix movies and Pandora online music to Facebook and Flickr photos and Skype video phone calls. We're talking everything from flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray players to cars, GPS units, digital photo frames, even a new kind of clock radio from Sony. All those things — and more — are on display this week in Las Vegas at the huge Consumer Electronics Show, where new products for the spring and summer get introduced.
Note: This internet connectivity is ridiculous. I find it a bit intrusive when my electrical appliances automatically connect to the internet.
How do you differentiate yourself in the ever-crowded electronic reader space? For a couple of startups exhibiting at CES, the answer is to provide e-readers with not one display but two.
The Entourage Edge "dualbook" from Entourage Systems in McLean, Virginia, is a large -- and at 3 pounds rather heavy — contraption that is part e-reader, part tablet netbook. It has a color 10.1-inch LCD screen on one side you can use for email or to surf the Web and watch videos. On the other side is a 9.7-inch grayscale E Ink display. It's the type of screen that is more typical of an eReader, which does a fine job of replicating paper.
It also has a camera and microphone, 4 GB of internal memory, and it runs on Google's mobile Android operating system. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on board too. (3G wireless connectivity is promised next month.) You can fold the device 360 degrees and orient it horizontally or vertically.
The company says you'll get seven hours of battery life if running both screens at once, and about 16 hours if you're just reading eBooks. There is some connection between the two screens. If there's a hyperlink for a Web page or video that's embedded in the e-book screen, it can be displayed on the LCD. And you can create your own hyperlinks.
Entourage aimed the Edge initially at students (6th graders on up). But it says lawyers and other professionals testing the device have been expressing interest; they can use it to display their PDF's and other business documents. The company is opening a storefront with 200,000 electronic tradebooks; the reader also supports the ePub standard and all the free public domain books digitized by Google. You can buy the $490 device at entourageedge.com.
For more information please go to; http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/01/ces-e-readers-with-two-screens/1
A new digital contact lens has been designed by electrical engineers from the University of Washington. It will overlay an electronic stream of information across the wearers field of vision. It was presented at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ international conference on microelectro mechanical systems. Built using circuits a few nanometers thick and grain-of-sand-sized light-emitting diodes the contact is a pure feat in technical engineering. According to the press release, a stripped-down display with just a few operational pixels could be available "fairly quickly." More complicated lenses will take longer, but for good reason: they’ll be wireless-enabled and powered by a combination of radio waves and solar energy.
News Card #9 Title: Science project prompts SD school evacuation By Susan Shroder, Union-Tribune Staff Writer In SIGNON, San Diego News URL: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/15/students-evacuated-school-chollas-view/
SAN DIEGO - Students were evacuated from Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School in the Chollas View neighborhood Friday afternoon after an 11-year-old student brought a personal science project that he had been making at home to school, authorities said.
Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said the student had been making the device in his home garage. A vice principal saw the student showing it to other students at school about 11:40 a.m. Friday and was concerned that it might be harmful, and San Diego police were notified.
The school, which has about 440 students in grades 6 to 8 and emphasizes technology skills, was initially put on lockdown while authorities responded.
Luque said the project was made of an empty half-liter Gatorade bottle with some wires and other electrical components attached. There was no substance inside.
When police and the Metro Arson Strike Team responded, they also found electrical components in the student's backpack, Luque said. After talking to the student, it was decided about 1 p.m. to evacuate the school as a precaution while the item was examined. Students were escorted to a nearby playing field, and parents were called and told they could come pick up their children.
A MAST robot took pictures of the device and X-rays were evaluated. About 3 p.m., the device was determined to be harmless, Luque said.
Luque said the project was intended to be a type of motion-detector device.
Both the student and his parents were "very cooperative" with authorities, Luque said. He said fire officials also went to the student's home and checked the garage to make sure items there were neither harmful nor explosive.
"There was nothing hazardous at the house," Luque said.
The student will not be prosecuted, but authorities were recommending that he and his parents get counseling, the spokesman said. The student violated school policies, but there was no criminal intent, Luque said.
"There will be no (criminal) charges whatsoever," Luque said.
Police and fire officials also will not seek to recover costs associated with responding to the incident, the spokesman said.
Luque said both the student and his parents were extremely upset.
"He was very shaken by the whole situation, as were his parents," Luque said.
The school is located on Carolina Lane near Hilltop Drive.
Adjacent Gompers Charter Middle School was not affected during the incident, police Sgt. Ray Battrick said.
Millennial Middle School opened in fall 2008. It is part of the San Diego Unified School District.
Google wants to build 'white spaces' database
ReplyDeleteJanuary 4, 2010 5:54 PM PST
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10424760-265.html
For several years, Google has been among the companies urging the FCC to open up the "white spaces"--small amounts of spectrum between broadcast television channels--to unlicensed use. Google joined the White Spaces Database Group in February to help move the project along, since one of the requirements of the white spaces plan is a database that devices can use to figure out which channels are available for use.
news card #9
ReplyDeleteTitel:High-Tech Avoids the Mess in Voice-Activated Future Kitchen
Show-goers at CES this week may be able to catch a glimpse of what one industry group envisions for the future of the home kitchen. Citing the practical shortcomings of many current kitchen technologies, the so-called Magic Kitchen will use gesture-based technologies, projectors and voice commands to display information, control tasks and personalize functions.
URL:http://www.technewsworld.com/story/High-Tech-Avoids-the-Mess-in-Voice-Activated-Future-Kitchen-69015.html
News Card #9
ReplyDeleteRyan Coughlin
A venture integrating Skype into the family room
http://news.cnet.com/A-venture-integrating-Skype-into-the-family-room/2100-1041_3-6250382.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0
There will soon be something new to watch on the living room TV: your relatives and friends in different parts of the world.
On Tuesday, Panasonic and LG Electronics, two of the top television makers, are to announce that they are integrating the free online calling service Skype into their Internet-connected high-definition televisions.
People who buy these TVs, along with an extra Web camera and microphone accessory designed for the living room, can conduct free, live video chats and phone calls from the couch.
News Card #9.0
ReplyDeleteAndrew Forster
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/internet-spells-death-of-english-20100104-lq7s.html
Internet spells death of English
January 6, 2010
Traditional spellings could be killed off by the internet within a few decades, a language expert has claimed.
The advent of blogs and chatrooms meant that for the first time in centuries printed words were widely distributed without having been edited or proofread, said David Crystal, of the University of Wales in Bangor.
As a result, writers could spell words differently and their versions could enter common usage and become accepted by children.
Within a few decades, the spellings favoured by many internet users could replace the current, more complex versions, Professor Crystal said. Current spellings were standardised in the 18th century with the advent of dictionaries.
news card 9
ReplyDeletenews card9
homework 9
Title ; Skype goes living room, embeds on LG, Panasonic HDTVs
URL; http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=29068&tag=mncol;txt
Skype displayed its service on beny of HD TVs on Tuesday.
We can also watch video calls in 720p HD on PCs by using it. However, it wants to have some support from living room while connecting. It showed the latest HD webcam version that can record sound and video from “a couch distance.” Fortunately, we can get its service on Internet-connected HD TVs.
JIN XIN (VENUS)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1950932,00.html?CNN=yes
After years of dominating search on the Web, Google is looking to change the way we go about surfing it. A little more than a year ago, it launched the beta version of Google Chrome for Windows. It was simple, clean and fast. In December the company released Chrome for Mac and Linux, which helped catapult the browser past Safari in total market share. It now trails only Firefox and the ultimate preloader, Explorer.
Newscard 9
ReplyDeletehttp://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/05/18/news0603.htm
Use of ICT for climate change mitigation
This article details low lying areas such as the Bangladesh delta and the Netherlands but it could also be applied to many parts of Thailand. ICT can be utilized to reduce emissions although this depends on which side of the argument you stand. Merely food for thought!
News Card 9#
ReplyDeleteTouchless Mobile interface invented by Tokyo University
The Japanese geeks (Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa and Takashi Komuro) over at Tokyo University have come up with a new interface for mobile phones. It's not an application that the users can install onto their iphone or Android. It's a completely a new thing. It enables users of the mobile phones to control the device without touching it, kind of like "in air".
From Robert McBain
ReplyDeleteThis is my news card for the week.
Technology in Education
Site: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/front_tech.htm
Articles
Recommended Reading
Related links
Critical Questions
Possible Actions
Many people warn of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Will children lose their ability to relate to other human beings? Will they become dependent on technology to learn? Will they find inappropriate materials? The same was probably said with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately, but all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used-- interactively and with guidance-- they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills.
Inappropriately used in the classroom, technology can be used to perpetuate old models of teaching and learning. Students can be "plugged into computers" to do drill and practice that is not so different from workbooks. Teachers can use multimedia technology to give more colorful, stimulating lectures. Both of these have their place, but such use does not begin to tap the power of these new tools.
In this area, you will find descriptions of how computers can be used to stimulate and develop writing skills, collaborate with peers in foreign countries, do authentic kinds of research that is valuable to the adult world, and do complex kinds of problem solving that would otherwise be impossible.
Classroom Applications:
Implications of New Media for K-12 Education Chris Dede
Virtual Reality researcher Chris Dede's testimony to Congress on the implications of introducing new technologies in the classroom. Link to an outline of important themes and policy issues surrounding the use of information technology to support innovative models of teaching and learning.
Nanoscale Science and Technology: Connections with K-12 Education Ethan Allen
UW professor and researcher considers the implications of nanoscale science and technology for K-12 education.
The Web of Knowledge: Vision, Design, and Practice Patrick McKercher, Judy Bonne and Andy Rogers
A description of James Burke's Knowledge Web project and its application in the classroom.
Intercultural Education and Virtual Reality Judy Bonne and Patrick McKercher
Judy Bonne Kane, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Crawford AuSable Schools and Educational Project Director for the K-Web, and Patrick McKercher, K-Web project manager, give us an update on this project developed by James Burke.
Advancement of Science Knowledge In Language Learning ( ASKILL ) John Shaffer and V. A. Lindley-Brunn Two educational researchers discuss a project that focuses on enhancing English language acquisition at the middle school level by English Language Learners through the study of science.
Learning with the Internet S. L. Muthukumar
A Singaporean researcher shares how to effectively use technology as a positive student learning experience.
Ms.Hnin Ei Ei Phyu
ReplyDeleteID.5229612
ESPN to launch 3-D network
By Doug Gross, CNN
From CNN news,
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/05/espn.3d/index.html
World Cup soccer, the 2011 BCS National Championship game and dozens of other sporting events will be displayed in 3-D by ESPN in the coming year.
ESPN 3D, the cable network, will show at leat 85 games and other college football games, basketball, and ESPN's Summer X games.
George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said that ESPN 3D with great content of new technology is to put ESPN at the forefront of the coming big advance for TV viewing.
The network has been experiencing for more than two years and was shown in 3-D in several theaters too.
This new network will require a 3-D television set and 3-D glasses.
ED6060 ICT In Education News Card #9 by Murat Kiymaz
ReplyDeleteNews Card #9:
Title: Mobiles offer new view of reality
Synopsis: Virtual reality arrived a long time ago, but it failed to impress the masses. A new revolution has been happening though, with the quiet arrival of augmented reality (AR). I have been following the advances in this impressive technology ever since trying to swat invisible bugs in our car on my Windows mobile phone to my wife's amazement. Coupled with reflective LCD glasses, AR might just be the next answer to interpersonal connectivity on the information highway. Oh, the possibilities...
URL: Please click here to read the full article.
News Card#9
ReplyDeleteTitle: Dubai claims World's tallest Skyscraper:Technological feat or folly?
Dubai’s inauguration of the world’s tallest skyscraper is supposed to be a symbol of a new year and a next chapter as the country hopes to emerge from its financial mess.
However, the Burj Dubai tower—a technological marvel that is at least 160 stories high and designed to be a vertical city—is also a symbol of what’s wrong with Dubai. The problem: Dubai has focused on the flash and not the substance of economic diversification. Sans money from oil, Dubai bet big on commercial real estate and projects that just don’t make a ton of sense.
According to the Associated Press, developers of the tower spent about $1.5 billion on the project. Is that the best use of capital? What’s the economic value of having the tallest building in the world?
Those questions can’t be avoided. Wikipedia has a good overview of the project, which kicked off in 2004. As far as construction and design goes, the Burj Dubai tower is quite the conversation piece. It’s also a distraction from larger problems.
But while we’re in the neighborhood, let’s look at some of the key items about the tower from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the Chicago architectural firm behind the tower’s design.
news card 9: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/01/05/technology/technology_30119682.php
ReplyDeleteTitle: Technology trends in 2010
Many information technology trends stand out for their developed fame and their quality to give a hand businesses achieve sustainability, to increase the IT market,and to provide modern lifestyles, as the economy starts to recover from the downturn in 2010.Then, there are many technology trends such as cloud computing which is a new way to consume and carry out services and it is combined by the rapid measurability and growth of the Internet with grow up levels of self-service and elegant Web-based applications. It lets non-technical users to put in very complicated computing tasks without the need to understand the underlying technology, turning data centres into the factories of the future.
In addition, it is based on technologies like technic for hiding the physical characteristics of computing resource from the way in which other system,outomation, open standards and Web-based computing.Organisations are currently studying and finding out for migration paths to cloud-based service. The ability or quanlity of IT opration will be grown up by Cloud computing.
And the other one is the economic and business benefits of social computing which is realised by the organisations very fast.Both small and large business are begining to focus on using social software. Social networking has already begun to carry many business benefits from attracting and retaining the best talent and enhacing internal collaboration to spurring new concepts between different virtual communities.
Title : Device makers bring mobile TV to iPhones
ReplyDeleteURL ; http://www.computerworld.com/s/artide/914321/Device_makers_bring_mobile_TV_to_iPhones
Two partnerships backing different form of mobile TV are using this year's International Consumer Electronics Show to announce devices that can bring TV to iPhone through the back door.
There is no built-in hardware for watching live TV broadcasts on the iPhone , but both Qualcomm's FLO TV subsidiary and a grout of mobile TV broadcasters are working with hardware manufacturers to create accessories they say can deliver a full mobile TV experience on the popular handset.
news card 9
ReplyDeletehttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10426627-56.html?tag=newsFeaturedBlogArea.0
Title:Windows 7 has lots of 'GodModes' (exclusive)
Those intrigued by the "GodMode" in Windows 7 may be interested to know that there are many other similar shortcuts hidden within the operating system.
Intended for developers as a shortcut to various internal settings, such features have been around since Vista and even before, according to the head of Microsoft's Windows division, who tells CNET that the so-called GodMode settings folder uncovered by bloggers is just one of many undocumented developer features included in Windows.
Such undocumented means of accessing various settings have occurred in previous versions of Windows, and the GodMode identified by bloggers was also present in Windows Vista. Some users of the 64-bit version of Vista, however, say invoking the GodMode folder caused their machines to crash. Microsoft says it has yet to reproduce that problem, though several readers have said they have encountered problems.
It seems that the folks in Redmond have gotten a kick out of all the attention that the Godmode has gotten and have decided to have fun with it. Sinofsky sent a list of other commands that also create special folders
Mali Gorjian
ReplyDeleteNews Card # 9
Topic: NASA launches infrared telescope to scan entire sky
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/12/14/wise.spacecraft.launch/index.html
(CNN) -- NASA launched a new telescope into space on Monday to scan the cosmos for undiscovered objects, including asteroids and comets that might threaten Earth.
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft will employ an infrared camera to detect light- and heat-emitting objects that other orbiting telescopes, such as the Hubble, might miss.
WISE launched Monday at 9:09 a.m. ET aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch was postponed from Friday because of a problem with the motion of a booster steering engine.
The unmanned WISE will spend the next nine months in orbit, 326 miles above the Earth, mapping the universe in infrared light. Its lens eventually will cover the whole sky 1½ times, snapping a picture every 11 seconds.
"The last time we mapped the whole sky at these particular infrared wavelengths was 26 years ago," said Edward "Ned" Wright of UCLA, the principal investigator of the mission. He was referring to WISE's predecessor, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which launched in 1983 and discovered six cometsThe solar-powered WISE will not be the first infrared telescope in space. Two others -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory -- also catalog images of the universe, although both focus on specific celestial objects instead of surveying the entire sky.
Mission leaders expect WISE to find hundreds of asteroids and comets with orbits that come close to crossing Earth's path. By measuring the objects' infrared light, the telescope also should help determine their size and composition -- data that may help astronomers learn how often Earth can expect to be struck by a hurtling asteroid.
"We can help protect our Earth by learning more about the diversity of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets," said Amy Mainzer, deputy project scientist for the $320 million mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
WISE also will be looking for dim stars called brown dwarfs and millions of far-away galaxies that are shrouded in dust and often can't be seen in visible light.
To start an Art, Language, Music school, sisual arts and music are vital elements in developing the whole person. Children are powerfully affected by storytelling, music, dance, and visual arts. These disciplines provide unique learning opportunities, In visual arts a variety of materials and media are introduced at the earliest ages. For 3 year olds through Kindergarten, the emphasis is on a creative self-expression and development of basic skills.
ReplyDeleteURL:http://www.thebrookwoodschool.org/SchoolLife/Technology.html
CES: Freeloader solar charger wears many plugs
ReplyDeletehttp://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10429890-269.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0
LAS VEGAS--A look at Solar Power International's FreeLoader Pro solar charger shows how these can function as multi-purpose chargers that happen to have solar panels.
The Freeloader Pro, which will be available in the U.S. starting next week, is a hand-held charger made up of two small solar panels and integrated lithium ion battery.
Like the dozens of solar chargers on the market, the Freeloader Pro can charge up cell phones, GPS devices, and other small gadgets. What makes it versatile is the accompanying CamCaddy, an adjustable device for charging different sized block batteries for digital cameras, camcorders, or digital SLRs.
The FreeLoader Pro's battery takes about eight hours to juice up by the solar panels (a larger solar array is also available, which will cut charge time to three hours). There's enough charge to run an iPod for 28 hours or 70 hours of standby power for a phone, according to the company. It can also be charged from an AC adapter.
Because the Freeloader unit is equipped with a USB port, it can charge various devices. The primary use of the charger is to have portable power for camping or when someone can't get to an outlet. But the company has found that a number of customers are business travelers looking for a trimmed-down way to charge their various gadgets, said CEO Adrian Williams. Instead of carrying dedicated power packs for three or four items, a person could take the Freeloader, USB cables, and adapter tips.
"We don't way people to buy it because it's green. We want them to buy because it's useful. The green part is an added benefit," he said.
What about the battery itself, which over time will wear out? Walker said that, because of EU directives, Solar Power International will take back the Freeloader unit and replace the worn-out battery after two years for about $13. The material in the batteries themselves will be recycled, he said.
new card from keystal(wanhong zhang)
ReplyDeleteHow the iPhone Could Reboot Education
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/iphone-university-abilene/
The verdict? It’s working quite well. 2,100 Abilene students, or 48 percent of the population, are now equipped with a free iPhone. Fully 97 percent of the faculty population has iPhones, too. The iPhone is aiding Abilene in giving students the information they need — when they want it, wherever they want it, said Bill Rankin, a professor of medieval studies who helped plan the initiative.
“It’s kind of the TiVoing of education,” Rankin said in a phone interview. “I watch it when I need it and in ways that I need it. And that makes a huge difference.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/iphone-university-abilene/#ixzz0c0H7aTTz
Newscard 9
ReplyDeleteSource of news:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8446704.stm
Food industry 'too secretive' over nanotechnology
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Lord Krebs, chairman of the The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has criticised the food industry for being secretive about its use of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the use of very small particles and there is active investigation into how those properties arise. Nanotechnology are already used in some kinds of product and business such as odourd-free socks and cancer therapeutic methods. They have concern more for further study to ensure their safety. In food industries they can use nanotechnology for enhance the flavor and reduce the amount of fat and salt needed in production.
They disappoint that the food industries keep the secret about use of nanotechnology. Lord Krebs said that the industry refuse to discuss about this problem and should be open about research on nanotechnology. If the food industries want to build confidence they should be open rather than secretive.
Julian Hunt, director of communications for the Food and Drink Federation, said there are many questions and unknowns about the potential future uses of nanotechnologies and there is much work still to be done, by scientists, governments and regulators, as well as the food and drink industry. She think that the food industries should open the information and discussion to clarify this issues to the consumer.
Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, has found that there are currently 84 foods or food-related products that use nanotechnology.
Lord Krebs says he and his colleagues are worry that hard to know the true extent of the use of nanotechnology in food. Now the market is valued at $410m (£260m) and tend to increasing around ten-fold in next two years. The increasing of nanotechnology will encourage the the government to commission more research on the behavior of nanomaterials.
Saharath
News card
ReplyDeleteFacebook fixes bug that crashed some iPhone apps
The bug was originally thought to be with Facebook's application programming interface, which enabled developers to publish feed stories into their apps. Facebook reminded developers on Monday that the old APIs would be turned off on Tuesday, a plan that had been in the works since last October.
Chris Diskin of Nodconcept, makers of Emoti (iTunes Link), an iPhone app that enables users to post status messages on Facebook with custom emoticons, said his app stopped working on Tuesday afternoon, after the old APIs were supposed to be turned off. However, Facebook representatives later said a bug in the software, not the company's APIs, caused the issue.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=62505
ReplyDeleteNewscard; #9 broadcasting ON THURSDAY JAN 7/2010
Title,
New electronic devices could interest schools
International Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas this week, and several announcements could have applications for schools.
New netbooks, tablet computers, and eBook reader devices, as well as fresh developments in television and even a wireless tether to keep cell phones from getting lost, are among the technologies being unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas--technologies that might hold interest for schools and colleges as well.
Small and inexpensive netbooks have been among the most popular computers during the recession, wooing schools and consumers alike with their portability and prices that were often below $400. Now, with the economy improving, computer buyers will be asked to open their wallets to new styles of computers, including some costing a bit more.
Now, computer buyers can expect to see a number of devices that fit above and below the small laptops in price, size, and performance, as PC companies try to widen the market.
News Card #9
ReplyDeleteTitle: How close are you to having 3-D TV?
All 3-D technology relies on the idea that if separate images are presented to the left and right eyes, the human brain will combine them and create the illusion of a third dimension.
With technology that uses 3-D glasses, two images -- one for the right eye and one for the left eye -- alternate quickly on the TV. Shutters on the 3-D glasses swap the viewer's vision from right eye to left eye at the same rate.
The effect moves so quickly that it tricks the brain into merging the images and creates the perspective needed to see images in 3-D.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/07/3d.tv/index.html
News Card # 9 by Qingfang Wei
ReplyDeleteTitle: Palm unveils phones that create Wi-Fi hotspots
URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/07/ces.palm.pre.plus.pixi/index.html
Palm on Thursday announced upgraded versions of its Pre and Pixi smartphones that add video recording and the capability to create 3G mobile hotspots for laptops and other mobile devices. Palm announced upgraded versions of its Pre and Pixi smartphones Phones add video recording, capability to create 3G hotspots for mobile devices .Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will go on sale January 25. The phones will run exclusively on Verizon wireless network, a switch from Sprint.
Newscard #9
ReplyDeletetitle:iPhone is child's play for a 2-year-old
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-379330
Apple's iPhone will be considered child's play in no time at all. Clearly, this 2 year old could navigate his way around the iPhone including manipulating the Apps. Touch Screen makes it all possible. Parents don't need babysitters anymore. Playing outdoors or with friends comes in second at times to playing on a compute or in this case a cell phone. I wonder what the CES show and new technology has to offer our children. Most are leaps and bounds ahead of me... I don't think it will be possible to catch up! It is the innovation movement as they say, "a love affair with technology"... not my type of love affair..
NewsCard #10
ReplyDeleteTitle: Casio Unveils 1000FPS Compact Camera
The Japanese electronic maker, Casio, has upgraded its Exilim cameras with first two point-and-shoot cameras ever which can shoot at great high frame rates. The upgraded models of Exilim camera are EX-FC100 and EX-FS10. Both of them are able to take conventional pictures at 9 mega pixels and have a new imaging engine that can record lower resolutions video at up to 1000 frames per second which allowing extremely slow motion footage despite the camera compact footprints. Beside that, they can also step down to 6 mega pixels to burst shoot at 30 frames per second and will record 720p movies at the same speed. The FC100 is the high-end variant and a 5X optical zoom lens with a 2.7 inch preview.
3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8447432.stm
3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales.
For several years the industry has talked up the arrival of 3D TV in the home to little effect.
Many however believe 2010 really is the breakthrough year for the technology, helped in large party by the growing number of 3D movies at the theatre and the success of James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar.
Samsung is just one of the big TV makers betting a huge chunk of the bank on 3D being a winning proposition for consumers and for the company.
It, along with the other top names such as Sony, LG and Panasonic, put on ritzy displays at CES to show the hundred thousand plus attendees what the future holds.
There were also announcements galore.
The Discovery Channel said that it is forming a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver 3D TV channels.
UK satellite operator BSkyB said it is also planning to launch a 3D service later this year and ESPN said it will show at least 85 sports events this year on its new ESPN 3D channel.
Panasonic revealed a tie-up with top US satellite provider DirecTV to launch three high-definition 3D TV channels by June to try and jump-start demand for 3D TVs and content.
Newscard#10
ReplyDeleteJean Chang
Website:http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10428437-269.html?tag=mncol;title
CES: RealD signs big names for 3D TV
Nowadays, movies with 3D display technology has been widely produced and greatly welcomed by the mass audiences. The company that had mastered most of these 3D display techonology behind the scenes is a company named RealD. With their new enlistment with the big names in TV manufacturers such as Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, JVC, Samsung and DirecTV,it had also announced it's cooperation with two companies, Vuzix and XpanD for a 3D eyewear. Both of these companies use different technology in producing these 3D eyewear including liquid crystal to briefly make one side or the other of its eyewear briefly opaque and utilizing Bluetooth to synchronize the glasses' behavior with the imagery on the TV screen.
News card
ReplyDeleteTitle : Can magicJack Pull Off Its Bill-Shrinking Trick?
YMax has stirred up interest with its latest phone product, the magicJack. The magicJack can allow a cellphone to make calls via the user's home Internet connection, without using up the caller's cellular minutes. It does this by using wireless spectrum that carriers have paid to license. YMax claims those license don't extend into people's private residences.
Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Can-magicJack-Pull-Off-Its-Bill-Shrinking-Trick-69069.html
Newscard # 10
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2010-01-06-connected-network_N.htm
Title: Everything from TVs to Blu-ray players getting networked
Would you like the Internet with your new tech toy purchase this year? Even if you don't, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a new gadget or gizmo in 2010 that doesn't also connect you to Web services — from Netflix movies and Pandora online music to Facebook and Flickr photos and Skype video phone calls.
We're talking everything from flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray players to cars, GPS units, digital photo frames, even a new kind of clock radio from Sony. All those things — and more — are on display this week in Las Vegas at the huge Consumer Electronics Show, where new products for the spring and summer get introduced.
Note: This internet connectivity is ridiculous. I find it a bit intrusive when my electrical appliances automatically connect to the internet.
Newscard
ReplyDeleteCES: E-readers with two screens
How do you differentiate yourself in the ever-crowded electronic reader space? For a couple of startups exhibiting at CES, the answer is to provide e-readers with not one display but two.
The Entourage Edge "dualbook" from Entourage Systems in McLean, Virginia, is a large -- and at 3 pounds rather heavy — contraption that is part e-reader, part tablet netbook. It has a color 10.1-inch LCD screen on one side you can use for email or to surf the Web and watch videos. On the other side is a 9.7-inch grayscale E Ink display. It's the type of screen that is more typical of an eReader, which does a fine job of replicating paper.
It also has a camera and microphone, 4 GB of internal memory, and it runs on Google's mobile Android operating system. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on board too. (3G wireless connectivity is promised next month.) You can fold the device 360 degrees and orient it horizontally or vertically.
The company says you'll get seven hours of battery life if running both screens at once, and about 16 hours if you're just reading eBooks. There is some connection between the two screens. If there's a hyperlink for a Web page or video that's embedded in the e-book screen, it can be displayed on the LCD. And you can create your own hyperlinks.
Entourage aimed the Edge initially at students (6th graders on up). But it says lawyers and other professionals testing the device have been expressing interest; they can use it to display their PDF's and other business documents. The company is opening a storefront with 200,000 electronic tradebooks; the reader also supports the ePub standard and all the free public domain books digitized by Google. You can buy the $490 device at entourageedge.com.
For more information please go to;
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/01/ces-e-readers-with-two-screens/1
David Sanderson
ReplyDeleteNews card #9
Digital Bionic Vision
A new digital contact lens has been designed by electrical engineers from the University of Washington. It will overlay an electronic stream of information across the wearers field of vision. It was presented at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ international conference on microelectro mechanical systems. Built using circuits a few nanometers thick and grain-of-sand-sized light-emitting diodes the contact is a pure feat in technical engineering. According to the press release, a stripped-down display with just a few operational pixels could be available "fairly quickly." More complicated lenses will take longer, but for good reason: they’ll be wireless-enabled and powered by a combination of radio waves and solar energy.
News Card #9
ReplyDeleteTitle: Science project prompts SD school evacuation
By Susan Shroder, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
In SIGNON, San Diego News
URL: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/15/students-evacuated-school-chollas-view/
SAN DIEGO - Students were evacuated from Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School in the Chollas View neighborhood Friday afternoon after an 11-year-old student brought a personal science project that he had been making at home to school, authorities said.
Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said the student had been making the device in his home garage. A vice principal saw the student showing it to other students at school about 11:40 a.m. Friday and was concerned that it might be harmful, and San Diego police were notified.
The school, which has about 440 students in grades 6 to 8 and emphasizes technology skills, was initially put on lockdown while authorities responded.
Luque said the project was made of an empty half-liter Gatorade bottle with some wires and other electrical components attached. There was no substance inside.
When police and the Metro Arson Strike Team responded, they also found electrical components in the student's backpack, Luque said. After talking to the student, it was decided about 1 p.m. to evacuate the school as a precaution while the item was examined. Students were escorted to a nearby playing field, and parents were called and told they could come pick up their children.
A MAST robot took pictures of the device and X-rays were evaluated. About 3 p.m., the device was determined to be harmless, Luque said.
Luque said the project was intended to be a type of motion-detector device.
Both the student and his parents were "very cooperative" with authorities, Luque said. He said fire officials also went to the student's home and checked the garage to make sure items there were neither harmful nor explosive.
"There was nothing hazardous at the house," Luque said.
The student will not be prosecuted, but authorities were recommending that he and his parents get counseling, the spokesman said. The student violated school policies, but there was no criminal intent, Luque said.
"There will be no (criminal) charges whatsoever," Luque said.
Police and fire officials also will not seek to recover costs associated with responding to the incident, the spokesman said.
Luque said both the student and his parents were extremely upset.
"He was very shaken by the whole situation, as were his parents," Luque said.
The school is located on Carolina Lane near Hilltop Drive.
Adjacent Gompers Charter Middle School was not affected during the incident, police Sgt. Ray Battrick said.
Millennial Middle School opened in fall 2008. It is part of the San Diego Unified School District.