A Back Pack Machine That Allows You to See and Spy Through Walls

BACKPACK THAT WILL LET YOU SEE THROUGH A WALL: A British company has launched a machine that allows the operator to lean against a wall and record activity on other side

Back Pack Machine To Spy Through Walls

Machine That Will Let You See Through a Wall

A TECHNOLOGY firm has launched a backpack- sized machine that can spy through walls. By placing the device against the outside wall of a room or building, it can evaluate the position and movement of people on the other side. The Prism 200c fits covertly inside a backpack and is the first time such a device has been manufactured small enough for just one person to use.

The operator simply leans against a wall to either monitor or record the activity within a building, maintaining cover by operating it via a handheld laptop computer or similar personal device on site.

With the press of a button, operators can switch between front, plan or profile views for a complete picture. The user can also observe the scenario in a 3D view, where the perspective can be rotated to look at a room or building from various vantage points. It uses ultra- wideband radio frequencies to highlight moving people and objects in cluttered environments, through doors or brick, block and concrete walls. Ultrawideband is difficult to detect and able to work in a large area. British company Cambridge Consultants say they have developed the device as a covert solution for counter terrorism forces and Police Special Operations teams, who already deploy Prism technology.

A statement explains the Prism 200c has been created “ for high risk and hostile situations with minimal time and very narrow margin for error” using technology that “ has been successfully deployed by homeland security, defence and special forces, police, SWAT teams and military officers worldwide.”

The spy who rides on piggy- back

The Prism 200c is a discrete backpack- sized machine that can spy through walls. By placing the device against the outside wall of a room or building, it can evaluate the position and movement of people on the other side. It fits covertly inside a backpack and is the first time such a device has been manufactured small enough for just one person to use.

Google Launches Google TV

Introducing Google TV

Google launched a new service today called Google TV in an attempt to expand beyond its usual area of business. At the launch, Google took a few jabs at Apple for not supporting Adobe Flash, saying, “It turns out on the Internet people use Flash.” The Google TV will use the next version of Flash.TV meets web. Web meets TV.
Learn more about Google TV at: www.google.com/tv

Girls Can Now Stand and Pee With GoGirl, a Female Urinary Device That Lets Women Stand And Urinate

What is Go Girl
Simply put, GoGirl is the way to stand up to crowded, disgusting, distant or non-existent bathrooms. It’s a female urination device (sometimes called a FUD) that allows you to urinate while standing up.

To Play This Video, Click on Play Arrow Button Below

A GoGirl is a reusable, softsilicone device with a short funnel that, after a little practice for most women, seals to their body and enables them to pee without sitting or squatting. The GoGirl, which sells for between $8 and $10, comes rolled — along with tissue and a bag —in a small tube slightly larger than a glue stick. It fits easily in a purse. Dillon launched the product just 13 months ago at the annual Women's Expo at the Minneapolis Convention Center in the US.


Sarah Dillon is expecting to sell a million units of GoGirl, a female urinary device that lets girls stand with the boys. And Dillon, a 47-yearold American, hopes to become, in a friend's words, the "Betty Crocker of the pee business," by selling GoGirl, a cheap, reusable silicon funnel that allows women to pee standing up.

Who Would Need it
"Men have been able to use the world as their bathroom," quipped Dillon. "Today's active women go off to war, fishing, running and bicycling, but when we go to the bathroom we have to undress. I mean, who really wants to drop their pants in a Porta-Potty? "A GoGirl enables a woman to stand up and to be as discreet as a man."

It’s essential for women who enjoy travel, active women who camp, hike and go boating, and for women who simply want to avoid germs in public restrooms

GearPower - Mobile Pocket Power Portable Battery for Mobile Devices From IOGEAR

The divice 'GearPower - Mobile Pocket Power' from IOGEAR, is an ultra-slim, lightweight mobile power pack makes it easy to charge your portable devices on the go, eliminating the hassle of finding a power outlet and/or charger. Running out of battery is often the worst thing that can happen to a mobile professional. Mobile Pocket Power allows you to charge your mobile phone up to 3 times before recharging, and with 6 interchangeable tips (included) you can charge any standard portable device in the market. Whether on the road, at the game, or in a meeting, the dependable GearPower - Mobile Pocket Power provides the mobile power to keep your vital electronic devices energized. You'll never have to worry about running out of battery again.

Features:

>> Light weight and portable mobilebattery pack
>> High capacity and reliability
>> Work with most mobile phones, iPod®*, MP3 players, PDA, Bluetooth headsets, and other mobile devices
>> Built-in short-circuit, over-charge, and temperature protection
>> Supply voltage 5V
>> Smart LED capacity display
>> USB output for most USB charging devices
>> Rechargeable cycle up to 500 times
>> Includes multiple connector tips for different mobile devices
* USB iPod® only

Requirements:

For charging GearPower
Available USB port

Package contents

1 x GearPower - Mobile Pocket Power
1 x USB Charging Cable
1 x Carrying Case
6 x Connector
1 x Quick Start Guide
1 x Warranty / Registration Card
Warranty: 1-YEAR

Google For Stand-Alone Version Of Buzz

Google Inc said it may create a standalone version of its Buzz social networking product but won’t separate Buzz from its Gmail service, a linkup that has spurred controversy over privacy.

Google, the world’s No.1 Internet search engine launched Buzz earlier this week in a bid to tap into the fast-growing social networking market dominated by companies like Facebook and Twitter.

Buzz allows users to broadcast messages and share photos and videos with friends and colleagues online, similar to Twitter and Facebook.

But unlike those services, Buzz is built directly into Google’s Gmail and the product automatically creates each users’ social network based on the person’s most-frequently emailed contacts.

“We have considered, among all the other features that we add to Buzz in the future, to create a standalone experience in addition to it being in Gmail,” Google spokeswoman Victoria Katsarou said.

BUZZ TWEAKED TO TACKLE PRIVACY FLAWS

Google moved quickly to contain a firestorm of criticism over Buzz, and tweaked it to address privacy problems. Under fire was the ready circle of friends that Buzz gave new users.This was based on the most frequent e-mail and chat contacts. Now, Buzz suggests to new users people they may want to follow or want to be followed by. Buzz will also no longer connect public Picasa albums and items users shared on Google Reader automatically.

Also, Google is creating a new Buzz tab in Gmail’s settings page that allows users option to disable Buzz, deleting their posts and removing Google profile, which in many cases listed publicly a user’s circle of contacts.

Google Introduces a New Service Called Google Buzz

On Tuesday, Google introduced a new service called Google Buzz, a way for users of its Gmail service to share updates, photos and videos. The service will compete with sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are capturing an increasing percentage of the time people spend online.

No setup needed
Automatically follow the people you email and chat with the most in Gmail.

Share publicly or privately
Publish your ideas to the world or just to your closest friends.

Inbox integration
Comments get sent right to your inbox so it's easy to keep the conversation going.

Photo friendly
See thumbnails with each post, and browse full-screen photos from popular sites.

Connect sites you already use
Import your stuff from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader.

See updates in real time
New posts and comments pop in as they happen. No refresh required.

Just the good stuff
Buzz recommends interesting posts and weeds out ones you're likely to skip.

Google Buzz Website

LED Television Units Spell Elegance in Home Decor

Futuristic home televisions blend technology subtly with the decor theme

HOME THEATRES INTEGRATED into the * central automated system provide entertainment that's the ultimate in indulgence. People are getting more discerning - cinematic picture and sound quality, where every nuance and detail of the music or sound track is heard, is now a prerequisite.


Settling down with friends to watch a movie, the host can close the blinds, adjust the sound levels in the surround speakers or sub woofer, turn on the AC, dim the lights, check whose at the door-all this and more without even budging from his reclinera smart move for the smart era.

LED flat screens

This being the era of LED flat screens, it is de rigeur to have a dedicated home theatre, that exclusive place for family and friends to view movies at their own leisure and pace, but without compromising on cinematic audio- visual quality.


Bedrooms too are incomplete without a flat screen-oh for the joy of lolling back against a bank of comfortable pillows for end-of the-day bed time viewing.

Boxy, cumbersome TVs were eventually banished from the living room in favour of a more discreet ambience of serenity and quiet relaxation, where people were more motivated to have a conversation, or read, or just simply reflect.

Equally importantly, as home owners got more discerning about their decor, they wanted their carefully envisioned living rooms, replete with bespoke detailing to be the focal point and not the screen of a TV. Seating arrangement too, now had flexibly, instead of being grouped around the TV.

Remote access
Today's homes often have to work on two quite different levels. Besides meeting the requirements of family members who want relaxing private spaces, these homes also need areas that are more formal and designed for entertaining. Consequently, TVs have now made a comeback into living rooms only to do the disappearing act again.


Remotely controlled motorised lifts installed in state-of-the-art cabinetry, conceal or reveal TVs at the touch of a button, while maintaining the design integrity of the room. They are otherwise concealed in the wall, masquerading as a framed piece of art, only to morph into a flat screen when activated, while the canvas retreats into the top of the frame. Or the framed two-way mirror can magically reveal a TV screen behind it when switched on.


The atmosphere of the living room could be transformed at will into that of an impromptu tavern, ideal for a convivial gathering of friends, to catch that crucial cricket match together, over lazy late lunch, while the spirit of bonhomie fills the air with warmth -catering to the owners' love of entertainment and also their conflicting need for quiet and solitude.

Source: TOI

Mouse Creater, Douglas Engelbart Turns 85 Today

Douglas Engelbart apart from the First Computer Mouse invention, is credited with many other inventions

Mention the name ‘Engelbart’ in any circle — preferrably a tech group — and you will have people saying, “Isn’t that the guy who created the mouse?” This would indeed be right but Engelbart, who turns 85 on Saturday, was also responsible for a lot of other creations.


In fact, he and his team showed so many new technologies on Dec 9, 1968 in San Francisco that this is usually hailed as ‘The Mother of All Demos’. Some of the things demonstrated at this convention — apart from the ubiquitous mouse — include email and hypertext, something that all of us use. Things that not everybody uses, but are still popular, were videoconferencing and a collaborative real-time editor, which were also shown at the demo.

But this said, Engelbart remains firmly entrenched in our minds as inventor of the mouse, probably because this is a solid, physical object that we use to interact with computers on a daily basis.


As dougengelbart.org puts it, “Doug Engelbart is best known for inventing the mouse and other seminal computing tools; however, his greatest innovations have been in the visionary strategy he devised for bootstrapping the innovation process, creating a very fast sort of turbo-charged learning curve in his lab, out of which emerged unprecedented levels of breakthrough innovation.”

Much of his innovation was driven by the fact that he had at one time been a radar technician and, therefore, understood how information could be shown on a screen. He felt that one day, everybody would be sitting in front of such screens, communicating and collaborating with each other. Nobody could have described today’s world of the Web better.


Of course, in his time, not many could have understood the concept of what the Web could offer - in fact, even in the mid-90s, when the Web was operational, many people had difficulty in understanding what its true potential was. The greatness of Engelbart lies in the fact that he could envisage a future before anybody saw it,
and more importantly, contribute towards making it happen.

No doubt, people in his time would have ridiculed him for some of his ideas, which may have seemed like sci-fi then, but as he put it so succinctly, “The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the amount of embarrassment he can tolerate.”

NICE TO KNOW

• The pointer device was called a mouse because the wire connecting it to a computer looks like the tail of a mouse
• The pointer that the mouse moves on the screen was originally called a bug
• Engelbart never received any royalties for his mouse invention

Put on Your Thinking Cap - Headgear That Could Unlock the Hidden Genius in You

Scientists have developed new stimulating headgear that could unlock the hidden genius in you...

They say the spark of genius lurks within all of us. Now, a group of researchers is developing a “thinking cap” that can make the notion a reality and unlock the potential of the brain. The revolutionary device works by switching on and off certain sections of the brain, thereby unlocking its hidden potential.

Wearing the hairnet-like cap for a few minutes improved artistic ability and proofreading skills, trials found.

Once perfected, the device could be marketed as a cap slipped on to boost creativity and intellectual capacity. The technique is based on research into savants – people like the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rainman, who have extraordinary abilities as well as severe mental disability.

The cap can reproduce the same affect by careful targeting of the magnetic pulses allows over or under-active parts of the brain to be calmed down or jump-started.

Professor Allan Snyder at Sydney University believes the experiments show that we all have hidden talents, but we just have trouble tapping into them.

“I believe that each of us has, within us, non-conscious machinery which can do extraordinary art, extraordinary memory and extraordinary mathematical calculations,” he said.

“We don’t normally access these skills because they are the machinery behind our daily lives and everything we do. “My theory is that there is a lot happening and maybe you could see it by shutting off that conscious part of the brain,” he added.

The researchers used a cap equipped with magnetic coil to zap the left side of the brain. This side generally sees the “bigger picture” and suppresses the detail-hoarding right side. In one experiment, volunteers were asked to draw a dog, horse or face from memory before and after being zapped for ten to 15 minutes. Four of the 11 volunteers produced more natural pictures after wearing the cap. And two also spotted more written mistakes in pieces of text that they’d overlooked earlier, the researchers said.

HOW IT WORKS
A cap containing a magnet that’s is connected to an electric current is placed on the head. The magnet – in the shape of an eight – is made up of a bundle of intertwined wires, and is located near the left ear.

The headgear generates tiny magnetic pulses that disturb the electric circuits on the left side of the brain, which is known to see the bigger picture. The stronger left side usually suppresses the detail-hoarding right side.

Since the right side remains undisturbed, details filed there come to the fore to create a burst of creative, mathematical, or other talent

The Pooch With Bionic Leg Worth Rs 8 Lakh in UK

LONDON: What do you call a dog whose one leg alone is worth over Rs 8 lakh? His owner Reg Walker — the man who spent this whopping sum on him — calls him Coal.

Coal is one of two animals in the world to be fitted with a unique bionic limb costing £10,000 (approx Rs 8,26,000), which was a result of groundbreaking research.

Last year, Coal had to have his left paw amputated after suffering from cancer. But when doctors told Walker that the eight-year-old American bulldog would have to be put down since his other limbs weren’t strong enough to carry his weight, he was determined to do all he could to save Coal.

Walker, a top security expert in the music industry, said: “When I found out about Coal I was gutted. He goes everywhere with me — he goes on tour, he's the only dog to have allowed into Live 8 and the only dog that has ever been backstage at the Royal Albert Hall.” The advanced prosthetic technique was used to help a victim of the 7/7 London bombings. Experts say it is the only implant in the world that allows skin and bone to grow into it. “It is the holy grail of research,” Vet Noel Fitzpatrick said to the Enfield Independent. “If you have an accident and your bone sticks out through your shin, skin will try to grow round it. People have been trying for this for years and years because with this we get an umbrella of skin attached to the metal.”

And while researchers are thrilled with this breakthrough, Coal and Walker are just happy to be together. “Now he has an absolutely normal quality of life, which he wouldn't have had before.”

Wow!!! A Car that Runs Solely on Water.

TOKYO: Tired of petrol prices rising daily at the pump? A Japanese company has invented an electric-powered, and environmentally-friendly car that it says runs solely on water.

Genepax said that a litre of any kind of water – rain, river or sea – is all you will need to get the engine going for about an hour at a speed of 80 km.

“The car will continue to run as long as you have a bottle of water to top up from time to time,” Genepax CEO Kiyoshi Hirasawa said. “It does not require you to build up an infrastructure to recharge your batteries, which is usually the case for most electric cars,” he added.

Once the water is poured into the tank at the back of the car, a generator breaks it down and uses it to create electrical power.

The company said that a proprietary unit splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen using a chemical reaction, which provides fuel for a hydrogen fuel cell to run the car.

It also insists that the new process produces hydrogen from water for a longer time than the existing method.

Genepax informed that power is generated by its Water Energy System (WES) by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes, the system being similar to that of a standard fuel cell.

Its fuel cell system – the company added – has an output of 300W. Genepax has mounted this system in the luggage room of a compact electric vehicle ‘Reva’, manufactured by Takeoka Mini Car Products Co Ltd.

Now, Genepax is planning to provide 1kw-class generation systems for use in electric vehicles and for residential applications.

While the current production cost is about $18,522 (Rs 8 lakh approx), it is estimated to be reduced to $5,000 and even lower if the company succeeds in mass production. ANI

The invisible threat - We can’t live without them, but can we really live with them?

We can’t live without them, but can we really live with them? Find out how gadgets like mobiles and laptops could be seriously affecting our health.

It’s difficult to imagine life without the cellphone or the laptop. From being luxury gizmos earlier, they are almost human appendages now, attached to us 24x7. But are we paying a huge price for our dependence on such electronic items?





Recently, a Jawaharlal Nehru University pilot study found that 20 rats subject to mobile phone radiation had damaged DNA and low sperm count. And last week, the Union health ministry commissioned the first largescale study of the effects of radio frequency radiation from mobile phones on humans. With 250 million mobile phone subscribers currently in India, and many more using other appliances like television, computer, vacuum cleaner, microwave etc, the fear is that these ‘essentials’ of life may actually be posing a big health risk because of their electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

As such, research has not yet established anything definite about the impact of EMFs on the human body. They are everywhere, though we cannot sense them. Almost all electronic equipment have EMFs and we are constantly bombarded by the radiation from these fields. But then, not all EMFs have an impact. Only those with high frequencies —2mG (milliGauss) and above—cause the maximum harm. And these are usually found in appliances that we use on a daily basis—microwaves, cordless phones, computer monitors, fax machines, cellphones, cellphone towers, hair dryers and so on.

Cancer connection?

Various international studies have tried to establish the link between EMFs and some diseases. Doctors believe that constant exposure to high frequency EMFs leads to digestive disorders, fatigue, hypertension, insomnia, irritability, low blood pressure, infertility in males, cancer, neurological and cardiovascular problems. A Swedish study in 1993 demonstrated a 1.7 times higher risk of leukaemia in adults and a 2.7 times higher risk for childhood leukaemia from exposure to EMFs. A few years back, the California Department of Health Services concluded after a seven-year study that EMF exposure is a risk factor for childhood leukaemia.

The threat is real and omnipresent. Says oncologist Dr Ramananda Nadig, president, Health Care Global-Triesta Sciences, Bangalore, “Most, if not all, electrical appliances that emit EMFs, are harmful to a certain extent. While they may not be initiators of a malignant change, there is every likelihood that they promote/augment such a change. The more people are exposed, the greater the risk. That is why it’s important that we be cautious of EMFs.”

In recent years, experts hav been studying the impact of cellphones and cellphone towers on the h u m a n body, and the initial research results have not been too comforting. An Australian neurosurgeon of Indian origin, Dr Vini Khurana, recently published a research paper on the link between mobiles and brain cancer. He said using mobiles for over 10 years could more than double the risk of brain cancer. Mobile phone radiation, he says, could heat the side of the head or thermoelectrically interact with the brain, while Bluetooth devices and “unshielded” headsets could “convert the user’s head into an effective, potentially self-harming antenna”.

Similarly, cellphone towers are a cause of concern. A 2005 study by Gursatej Gandhi, a researcher in the Human Genetics Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, found that “exposure to radio frequency (RF) signals generated by the use of cellular phones has increased dramatically and is reported to affect physiological, neurological, cognitive and behavioural changes and to induce, initiate and promote carcinogenesis….”

Price of progress

Khurana admits that a link between mobiles and brain cancer has still not been definitely proven because mobiles have been in use only in the two decades and it takes years for solid tumours to form. Nevertheless, there is reason to be worried. Says Nadig, “There are currently over three billion cellphone users worldwide. In India, the numbers are equally big and they are growing by the day. We don’t realise it but holding the phone close to the brain regularly, increases our chances of brain tumour.” What is further worrying is the fact that children as young as three years are exposed to cellphones and their growing tissues are much more vulnerable to harmful radiation.Yet, most experts agree that the maximum harm is caused when the cellphone is used constantly and over a long period of time.

While cellphones can be monitored — they can be switched off or used on speaker mode — there is no way the mushrooming cellphone towers can be controlled. “The EMF generated from the tower is 24X7 and is of a much higher frequency. They are a huge threat,” says Ravinder Kohli, professor, centre for environment, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Dr Howard W Fisher, a Toronto-based natural physician, has been vocal about the invisible threat to health from EMF radiation. And his concern is voiced in his bestselling books, The Invisible Threat series. “EMF radiation is a serious health risk and unfortunately, we are not aware of it. To spend 60 minutes in a wi-fi environment is equal to 20 minutes on a cellphone. If the EMF radiations can penetrate concrete walls and cellphones can work in basements, then there is no reason why they can’t penetrate human tissues,” reasons Fisher. On a recent visit to the country, he was alarmed by the number of power transmitters in residential areas and markets. They are dangerous, he says. “I was horrified to see children playing close to the transmitters. They have such powerful EMFs. I am sure people who live close to them would be suffering from irritation, fatigue and various other problems,” points out Fisher.

What is interesting is that the extent of the harm caused differs from individual to individual. Some people may be affected more, while it may take years for some others to develop a disease.
But not everybody feels that there is any reason to worry. Says Dr Anusheel Munshi, professor, radiation oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, “While too much exposure to EMFs is usually not good, till we have concrete proof of a correlation between cellphones and cancer, there is no cause for immediate alarm.” Besides, some people feel that a protective device, currently available in the market, can minimise the harmful rays. “The MRET polymer chip significantly reduces the damage caused by EMF,” informs Fisher.

Yet, the health risks from EMFs cannot be completely ruled out. There’s no escape from them in a world that is so dependent on all things electronic. Perhaps, what is required is some bit of caution.

Have You Seen the Worl'd First Hard Drives

The piglet with special boots - The World's only porker who is afraid of mud

THE PIG WHO HATES MUCK

Cinders the piglet has been given special boots after refusing to walk in mud

LONDON: Cinders the pristine piglet looks hot to trotter — in a set of specially designed green wellies. The posh porker has become a sty-le icon after she was reckoned to have mysophobia... a fear of muck.

Farmers Debbie and Andrew Keeble were baffled when the six-week-old saddleback refused to get her feet dirty.

Debbie, 40, said: “She just stood in a corner shaking while her brothers and sisters romped in the mud. But we noticed that if we moved her to a dry patch she was perfectly happy.”

Andrew, 42, added: “We scratched our heads for a while — then came up with the idea of having some boots custommade for her.” The wellies did the trick — and now little Cinders is having a ball. Debbie and Andrew, from Bedale, North Yorks, also run a sausage firm — but Cinders isn't facing the breakfast table just yet. She has been made the face of a campaign to highlight the plight of the UK's struggling pig farmers. Andrew said: “She's so special we decided to make her our mascot.” DAILY MIRROR HAMAZING A pig likes to put its dung in one place away from its bed They can squeal at 115 decibels — three more than supersonic Concorde.

No fuel needed: Now, a go-kart that runs on air

Engineer David Alderson drives an air-powered go-kart that he helped build




It’s a balmy afternoon. Thousands of fans cheer wildly as race cars fly by at speeds nearing 320 kmph for 200 laps. They whiz down the pit road making pit stops, changing tires and refuelling. Only, the tanks are not being filled with petrol; they’re being filled with air.

That scenario may sound futuristic, but it may not be long before we see air-powered engines take to the track. Five mechanical engineering students from Dalhousie University in the US have already started the journey down that road.

David Alderson, Scott Allan, David Langille, Michael Roy and Dave Spencer were inspired by air-powered car concepts and decided to develop a compressed air engine of their own.

“We had done read a lot about renewable energy and became really interested in the airpowered car,” says Langille.

The students modified a 40-year-old snowmobile engine and ran compressed air through it to produce power similar to a petrol engine. They attached the engine to a refurbished go-kart using two scuba tanks to house the air. The air is released through a standard scuba fitting with a high-flow regulator. The released air travels through tubing to a ball-valve connected to the foot pedal and throttle. “It operates much like a normal rotary engine,” says Langille. While producing zero local emissions is a good thing, Langille adds that a generator is still required to get the compressed air in the tank, but that’s something he hopes can be researched to a greater extent.

In tests, the air-powered vehicle performed comparatively to the electric-powered carts in use. The greatest drawback however is that the cylinder runs out of air quickly. However, the students believe the engine will improve with refinements and could be a successor to conventional fuel-powered engines.

“We can do three laps here or just under two minutes going flatout at 43 kmph with two tanks,” Langille explains.

He and his four colleagues are thrilled with their project: “It was an awesome experience; very fulfilling. We’re excited to see it work so well because there were a lot of people who were doubtful and it was exciting to get an A+.”

Langille says he sees initial practical uses in forklifts and smaller indoor machines. “The zero local emissions make it attractive for indoor operations and the tanks are easy to refill.”

Want a New, Intact Hymen? Go to Malaysia!

Malaysian plastic surgeons are offering a 'new' intact hymen to women who may need to prove their virginity for marital, social or religious reasons. It costs RM 2,500 (Rs 33,000 approx. for a 30-minute surgery, conducted for out-patients, after which the patient should not engage in sexual intercourse for six weeks, the New Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

Among the clientele are foreign students who are leaving the country not just with a new academic certificate, but with an intact hymen. The operation is also attracting some local university students who request for their hymen to be repaired. They are usually in their early 20s and most are in the final year of their studies. "The girls don't come alone (for the consultation and surgery). They come with their boyfriends or a trusted girlfriend," the newspaper quoted, but did not name, a consultant plastic surgeon with a private hospital. "To them, having the hymen intact is not just an important marriage commodity – their very lives depend on it," says the surgeon. – IANS

PlayStation 3 Processors Power World’s Fastest Petaflop Supercomputer

IBM engineer Don Grice inspects ‘Roadrunner’, the world’s fastest computer, at the company’s plant

NEW YORK: A US military supercomputer, assembled from components originally designed for Sony’s PlayStation 3, has reached a long-sought-after computing milestone by processing more than 1,000 trillion calculations per second (petaflop).

The new machine is more than twice as fast as the previous fastest supercomputer, the IBM BlueGene/L, which is based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The $133 million supercomputer, called Roadrunner, was devised and built by engineers and scientists at IBM and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

To put the performance of the machine in perspective, Thomas P D’Agostino, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said that if all six billion people on earth used hand calculators and performed calculations 24 hours a day for seven days a week, it would take them 46 years to do what the Roadrunner can in one day.

It will be used principally to solve classified US military problems, ensuring that the country’s stockpile of nuclear weapons will continue to work correctly as they age.

Before it is placed in a classified environment, it will also be used to explore scientific problems like climate change.

The Roadrunner is based on a design that includes 12,960 chips that are an improved version of an IBM Cell microprocessor, a parallel-processing chip originally created for Sony’s PlayStation 3 video-game machine.

Roadrunner, which consumes roughly three megawatts of power, or about the power required by a large shopping centre, requires three separate programming tools because it has three types of processors. Programmers have to figure out how to keep all of the 1,16,640 processor cores in the machine occupied simultaneously in order for it to run effectively. IANS

1GB 30 Years Ago in Comparison with 1 GB Now

Windows 7 Confirmed for 2010 - See Screen Shots

Screenshot of Windows 7 Milestone 1 Build 6519

Windows 7 (formerly known as Blackcomb and Vienna) is the working name for the next major version of Microsoft Windows as the successor of Windows Vista. Microsoft has announced that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar." Windows 7 is expected to be released sometime in 2010. The client versions of Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. A server variant, codenamed Windows Server 7, is also under development.

Microsoft is maintaining a policy of silence concerning discussion of plans and aspirations for Windows 7 as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista, stating that Microsoft does not want to promise features and then fail to deliver, as happened with Windows Vista Ultimate, though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged. As a result, little is known about the feature set, though public presentations from company officials have disseminated information about some features. Leaked information from people to whom Milestone 1 (M1) of Windows 7 was shipped also provides some insight into the feature set.

Next-Gen Computers Will Use Water!

BOSTON: Since a computer microprocessor is veined with electric circuitry, it might seem like a bad place to put water. But IBM researchers believe that sloshing water through hair-thin pipes inside chips will solve a vexing problem facing nextgeneration computers.

That problem is heat!

As chips get smaller and smaller, cramming more processing power into ever-tinier spaces, the heat thrown off by the miniature circuits becomes harder to manage. Cooling measures used now to avoid chip meltdowns, including “heat sinks” made from heat-absorbing materials, might not work on tinier scales.

In fact, in a microprocessor design IBM is exploring – in which chips are stacked vertically to save space and enhance performance, rather than arrayed next to each other – the heat-tovolume ratio exceeds that of a nuclear reactor.

To address that, IBM researchers say they could pipe water in between chips that are sandwiched together. The system will use pipes that are just 50 microns wide – 50 millionths of a metre. The tiny tubes will, of course, be sealed to prevent leaks and electrical shorts.

Even these micro amounts of water can handle prodigious cooling chores, because water is much more efficient than air at absorbing heat. That is why some high-end computers have long used water cooling. The new trick here is doing it at the miniature scale, inside chips.

“It’s never been applied this close to the heart of the matter,” said analyst Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group.

Yogendra Joshi, an engineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said aspects of IBM’s approach have already been shown by others, but the company deserves credit for pushing the idea towards commercialisation. However, IBM’s tiny pipes aren’t out of the lab yet. They’re at least five years from becoming available. AP