LinkNotes: 2007

2007-12-31

Information Overload 2.0

After both the Did You Know? movies, even more animated information-overload: an infographic movie that explains the world of "Content 2.0" from a customer's point of view, the opportunities to reach them & what the future holds.

clipped from infosthetics.com

Apple Files Patent for Wireless Ordering Technology

clipped from www.forbes.com

Apple's Piping Hot Innovation

Apple
Chief Executive Steve Jobs wants to patent a process that will save customers the hassle of waiting to order a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks or a fresh burger at the nearest fast food restaurant. Even better: The technology would let you jump the line of those ordering in person.
In an application with the U.S. Patent Office published on Dec. 20, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer and gadget company described a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store using a wireless device such as a media player, a wireless personal digital assistant or a cellphone.

clipped from www.cbc.ca

Apple and Starbucks in September announced a deal that allows free Wi-Fi access to iTunes for iPhone and iPod owners in cafes.
(Associated Press)

Releated:
Apple's Piping Hot Innovation - Forbes.com
Apple eyes easing retail sales with Wi-Fi system
O'Grady's PowerPage - Your Mobile Technology Destination
United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page

Exoplanets

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2007) — An international team of astronomers, led by Professor Svetlana Berdyugina of ETH Zurich's Institute of Astronomy, has for the first time ever been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet.

An artistic view of the HD189733 star-planet system near a half-moon phase when polarization of the light reflected by the planet reaches the maximum. (Credit: ETH Zurich, S.V. Berdyugina)

clipped from exoplanets.org

The First Five-Planet System: 55 Cancri

(November 6, 2007)
A fifth planet is reported around 55 Cancri. The latest find has a minimum mass of 46 Earth masses and an orbital period of 260 days.

28 New Exoplanets and Four Multi-Planet Systems

(May 28, 2007)
Bounty of 28 new planets, 7 new brown dwarfs reported. Gliese 436 has a density of 2 grams/cc, indicating water.

2007-12-30

Sensitivity Training (video)

Sensitivity Training - video powered by Metacafe

2007: The Year in Tech

Samsung unveils 31" Ultra-thin OLED Screens at CES

clipped from www.reuters.com

Samsung unveils 31-inch organic screen

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean display screen maker Samsung SDI Co (006400.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it had developed a 31-inch ultra-thin organic screen, raising the stakes in an accelerating worldwide race for organic displays.

clipped from www.scienceofspectroscopy.info

An OLED or Organic Light-Emitting Diode is a light emitting device based on the principle of electrophosphorescence. Several types of organic material that will glow red, green and blue are placed between two layers of conductive material and covered with glass or another translucent protective material. When electric current is applied, the conductive layers act as anode (positively charged) and cathode (negatively charged), enabling the flow of energy from the negative layer to the positive layer and stimulating the organic material to emit a bright light. The two most common types of OLED:

The next generation hydrogen fuel storage materials

clipped from www.nextenergynews.com

Researchers Discover New Hydrogen Storage Material

Scientists at the University of Virginia have discovered a new class of hydrogen storage materials that could make the storage and transportation of energy much more efficient — and affordable — through higher-performing hydrogen fuel cells.

“These materials are the next generation in hydrogen fuel storage materials, unlike any others we have seen before,” Shivaram said. “They have passed every litmus test that we have performed, and we believe they have the potential to have a large impact.”

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com

Record-breaking Hydrogen Storage Materials For Use In Fuel Cells Developed

Illustration of new class of hydrogen storage materials. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Virginia)

clipped from www.virginia.edu

Adam Phillips, left, and Bellave S. Shivaram (Click for high res)

The inventors believe the novel materials will translate to the marketplace and are working with the U.Va. Patent Foundation to patent their discovery.

Intel’s Skulltrail Gaming Platform

clipped from www.gadgettastic.com

Intel’s Latest Gaming Platform - Skulltrail

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Intel Codename SkullTrail is an enthusiast gaming platform. SkullTrail is a dual CPU system. The demonstration unit is reported to have NVIDIA SLI support. Though it is now known that it will support NVIDIA SLI and ATI Crossfire. Skulltrail was demonstrated, and the board includes 2 nForce100 SLI component.

Intel demonstrated SkullTrail at Intel Developer Forum Fall 2007 in San Francisco, USA.

clipped from www.tgdaily.com

The Skulltrail board. Purple-4 PCI-x16 slots. Red-nForce 100 chips. Yellow-Overclockable CL3 FB-DIMM 800. Cyan-voltage regulators. Green-Dual power ports.

clipped from www.theinquirer.net

What more is there to say? When we criticized Intel, the lads did the work and came back with what looks like a winner. AMD knifed the competition leaving Intel the uncontested victory in the gaming space. It is no longer a
contest, Intel wins this round. µ

2007-12-29

Ice is Hot (video)

Check out the newest trend in Hollywood - elaborate ice sculptures.

clipped from www.ice-impressions.com

Specialty Ice Sculptures Gallery

clipped from northhollywoodice.com

Hitachi's humanoid robot EMIEW 2 (video)

clipped from www.japantoday.com

Wednesday, December 26, 2007 at 07:46 EST
Hitachi's humanoid robot EMIEW 2 guides a man at its research center in Hitachinaka, north of Tokyo. EMIEW 2, which is 80 cms tall and weighs 13 kgs, is designed to work as a guide and run errands in offices. It rolls around and waves upon receiving commands from a personal computer by a new remote wireless control function.