iFAST

Ever since I studied the elective course 'Distributed computing' and heard about 'Multi-Agent systems' during my college days at FAST I thought it would be fascinating to have a mobile application that would allows students to add and drop courses, see the real-time whereabouts of the on-campus activities, review their grades and course history and perform a variety of other administrative tasks that are normally accessible only over secure campus networks.

It's very intriguing to know that Standford university and others of the like have already implemented such an appication called iStandford for their students carrying iphones. How cool is that!
You can read about it here, here and here.

Also I thought, if each student or cell phone could have an RFID attached on campus, each student can track down his/her friends, class mates, T-A, Pofessor and so forth via an application on the cell phone that would show some what like a university campus map pointing to where people on our peer list can be located and reached to in the campus at a given time. Ofcourse there would be pros and cons and privacy issues to deal with. Maybe in a couple of years, such a feature will be in the making if not already. In case no one else has thought of it, which I doubt, I should patent my idea =).

Unveiling game-changing wearable technology

Pretty impressive

Courtesy Khany

Animation Vs Animator

=)

Courtesy A friend

It has a life if its own

I try to log on to the Internet, but its not working. It's never been the same since I destroyed the connection. I called various technicians, but when the finally turned up, they could not find any thing wrong with the computer. They asked me what I was complaining about, spent half an hour doing tests, changed configuration, and assured me that the problem lay not with me but with the server. I allowed myself to be convinced that everything was, in fact, fine and I felt ridiculous for having asked for help. Two or three hours later, the computer and the connection would crash. Now, after months of physical and psychological wear and tear, I simply accept that technology is stronger and more powerful than me: it works when it wants to, and when it doesn't, it's best to sit down and read the paper or go for a walk, and just wait until the cables and the telephone links are in a better mood and the computer decides to work again. I am not, I have discovered, my computer's master: it has a life if its own.

~Paulo Cohelo
The Zahir

Blink! Scientists move closer to invisibility cloak

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people and objects invisible.

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Previously, they only have been able to cloak very thin two-dimensional objects.

The findings, by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang, are to be released later this week in the journals Nature and Science.

The new work moves scientists a step closer to hiding people and objects from visible light, which could have broad applications, including military ones.

People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.

Metamaterials are mixtures of metal and circuit board materials such as ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite. They are designed to bend visible light in a way that ordinary materials don't. Scientists are trying to use them to bend light around objects so they don't create reflections or shadows.

It differs from stealth technology, which does not make an aircraft invisible but reduces the cross-section available to radar, making it hard to track.

The research was funded in part by the U.S. Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation's Nano-Scale Science and Engineering Center.

Source: The Associated Press

Harry Potter certainly had lots of adventures aided by the invisibility cloak. Maybe time is near for our friendly disappearances ;)

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model: Premiere

Check out the humanistic car! It's fab! Imagine going suit shopping for your car =)

How Technology Changed us?

Courtesy Moi

Japan unveils water fueled car

Reuters: Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water. The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. The new car will run for an hour at 50 mph on a liter of water.

How cool is that! B)

THOU SHALT UNPLUG

There has been much talk and concern about the rise in Virtual addiction. Earlier today I was reading this article. And I agree to it that some of us (including myself) are too plugged in. Ask yourself, can you survive one day completely cut off from technology? Ok, one day is bearable but imagine one whole week disconnected from the internet; no web browsing, no polling of inbox, no blogging, no watching videos on youtube, no chatting, no facebook, no skimming through e- magazines and headlines; in short absolutely no web browsing. Yikes!

Save on the Vampire Energy

Click on the image for a larger and clearer view and to be redirected to the source

In this innovative era appliances should be built in an environment friendly way. There is plenty of buzz around regarding the depleting energy resources. Regarding vampire energy one should note that some applications are better of if let on in stand by mode, instead of frequently switching the power on or off or else the appliance will burn out sooner.

Det Fugitivetee

Anybody's keyboard missing the Ctrl and Esc keytops? =)

Solar Powered Notebook

Got2BeGreen: No need to worry about running out of battery juice while using your laptop. The design firm called Nikoladesign, has come up with a concept that could solve that problem.

The laptop design would come with a detachable extra flap to act as a solar panel to convert light to power using a powerful battery. Equipped with internet access, satellite telephone and satellite link GPS would not only make you power independently but make it a universal tool for you to travel just about anywhere and communicate or exchange information from just about any location on the planet.

Source

Scientists use monkey's brain signals to control robot

Computer World: Scientists in the U.S. and Japan have successfully used a monkey's brain activity to control a humanoid robot over the Internet. This research may only be a few years away from helping paralyzed people walk again by enabling them to use their thoughts to control exoskeletons attached to their bodies.
The brains signals of the monkey were transmitted over the internet and fed into a humanoid robot that immediately began to respond to the monkey's brain activity -- walking at the same pace, slowing down when the monkey slowed, and changing its walking pattern to exactly match the animal's. Read More

This research reminds me of a cute movie; Ratatouille in which a rat controls a humans action by pulling his hair and helps him make the delicious of dishes.

Scientists create Fearless Mouse

By tweaking genes to disable certain functions of the olfactory bulb (the area of the brain that receives information about smells directly from olfactory receptors in the nose) researchers have used genetic engineering to create a “fearless” mouse that does not try to flee when it smells cats, foxes and other predators.

The research indicates that behavior in the mammalian brain is determined both by instincts coded into the genes and by “associative circuitry” that allows responses to be learned through the environment.

Read More

This recent discovery reminded me of a movie I watched ages ago in which humans were genetically engineered to show no signs of failure and mercy and hence serve as lethal weapons in war. Lets hope that the discovery is not misused.

Disappearing Ink

TimesOnline: Scientists have unveiled a new kind of 'ink' that disappears from a page 24 hours after printing, allowing paper to be re-used.
Mission Impossible-style self-destructing messages may soon cross from the realm of fiction into the wilds of the nine-to-five office, according to scientists who have developed printer ink that vanishes after 24 hours.
When a document is printed on the reusable paper, the text initially appears similar to normal printed text – only in a shade of dark purple, rather than black.
Eight hours later, however, the image is a shadow of its former self and after a day – much like the McFly family photograph in Back to the Future – it is gone completely.
The blank page can then be put back in the printer.Read On

Futuristic car makes reversing obsolete

Reuters: For all those drivers that hate parallel parking and anything else that requires the reverse gear, Nissan could one day have the car for you.

The leading Japanese carmaker recently unveiled the Pivo2, a battery-powered concept car with a fully rotating cabin that makes going backwards obsolete, since the driver can turn to face the direction they need to go. Its wheels also turn 90 degrees, making parking easier. "With this easy-to-handle car, you can feel comfortable while driving," said Masahiko Tabe, senior manager of the advanced vehicle development group at Nissan Motors.

"You can go everywhere without worrying about your driving skills." The car is as yet not for commercial sale.

The futuristic, three-seat car also comes with a robotic device that Nissan said monitors the driver's expression using censors and tailors its conversation accordingly.

The device, able to converse in English and Japanese, can help an angry driver overcome road rage or wake you up if you're prone to dozing behind the wheel, the car makers said.

"Are you sleeping? There's a cafe 500m ahead," the device said during a demonstration of the car last week. The Pivo 2 will be showcased at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.

A laptop, a coffee, and disaster recovery

John Locke : "Last week, my laptop died a sudden spectacular death-by-drowning, as a full cup of coffee poured into its keyboard. It emitted a pop sound, and the screen and the power shut off.

What would your reaction be? Mine was to immediately unplug the power cord and remove the battery. Then I took it over to the sink and poured out the coffee. Remembering tales of people flushing keyboards with water, I ran some fresh water over the keys and then set to work. I removed the keyboard, the palm rest, a few of the inner cards, and let it sit without power for several hours. Apparently, not long enough.

Later that day, anxious to find out whether it was really dead or just comatose, I plugged it back in, crossed my fingers, and pressed the power button. The power light came on, I heard the fan start, and for a second or two, I was hopeful. But then... another pop, and it was dead. No further cleaning, drying, or care could resuscitate it over the next few days, so it’s currently back at the IBM factory going through open-heart surgery, if not a total replacement"

For a good reality check for your disaster recovery strategies,and handy suggestions Read On

The Web As A Virtual World

Imagine being able to have a digital replica of yourself stroll from one site to another.

When Google Earth launched in 2005, users were exhilarated to type in their home address, see the earth as if they were floating in space, and then swoop down to view a satellite image of their house or apartment. These days users have moved on to upgrading Google Earth with their own photographs and three-dimensional digital replicas of buildings. But one day they'll be able to alight on a Google Earth street and meet someone else there--and even have a conversation.

That sort of encounter is still a few years off, but it's no pipe dream. Google, Second Life creator Linden Lab, IBM, and a bevy of additional companies are moving toward the day when you can stroll around a 3D Web--and not just their own sites--using a virtual replica of yourself that you've created. They are working to establish technical standards, open to all programmers, that would allow the entire Internet to become a galaxy of connected virtual worlds.

In this future scenario, you could go mall shopping with a gang of friends during a lunch break, even while you remain miles apart. In reality, you'd all be pinned to your work terminals, but on that screen you would be transported to a digital replica of the shopping center. As you walk by a sale at a virtual jeans store, Web cameras in the real store let you see how crowded it actually is, in case a popular item is selling out. Your avatar, set to your body's measurements, tries on the jeans and spins around to show them to your pals. You might buy the pants online or visit the physical store later. Either way, you'd have had a fun afternoon without leaving your cubicle.

for the complete article click here