Windows XP users will have to upgrade by next year
Hard-drive changes
Even die hard Windows XP users will have to upgrade next year because their favourite operating system can't handle the new generation of harddrives.
By early 2011 all hard drives that come onto the market will use an "advanced format" that changes how they go about saving the data people store on them. It will mean that hard drive makers can produce bigger drives that use less power and are more reliable. But it will not run on Windows XP which has a hard-drive formatted into blocks 512 bytes in size.
The 512 byte format dates from the days of the floppy and is now hopelessly out of date. David Burks, a product marketing manager for storage firm Seagate said that the fine resolution on hard drives is causing a problem, he said, because of the wasted space associated with each tiny block.
Each 512 byte sector has a marker showing where it begins and an area dedicated to storing error correction codes. In addition a tiny gap has to be left between each sector. In large drives this wasted space where data cannot be stored can take up a significant proportion of the drive, he said.
The new formats use 4K sectors that means about eight times less wasted space but will allow drives to devote twice as much space per block to error correction. Windows XP was released before the 4K format was decided upon while Windows 7, Vista, OS X and versions of the Linux kernel released after September 2009 are all 4K aware.
Although there are emulators for Windows XP being developed they will slow the drive right down.
Martin Aircraft Company, in Christchurch, New Zealand, aims to make 500 packs a year which will sell for around £50,000.
The 200 horsepower dual-propeller packs are the brainchild of inventor Glenn Martin who unveiled his machine for the first time in July last year.
Because it weighs less than 254 pounds (115kg) the jet pack does not require a pilot's licence. It is capable of travelling 30 miles in 30 minutes on a full tank of fuel.
And recent tests have seen the newest model reach heights of up to 2,400 metres and top speeds of 60mph.
But only now has sufficient investment been found for the company to begin production of the craft, which will also begin at an undisclosed site outside New Zealand.
Martin Aircraft Company chief executive Richard Lauder said the pack could be perfect for the emergency services, private users and even the military.
He said: "This could be life-saving stuff.
"For us this is an excellent commercial step.
Mr Lauder would not identify the partner other than to say it was an international aircraft company.
The joint venture would be run through a newly created company.
The aircraft company would have a controlling 51 per cent stake. Both Mr Lauder and jet pack inventor Glenn Martin would be directors of the new company.
Technology innovation continued its ruthless pace in 2009, despite the economic headwinds. Now it’s time to turn our sights on 2010, where there are going to be some really interesting things to keep an eye on. Let’s count down the five tech trends that should be on your radar for 2010.
5: The consumerization of IT
This is something we’ve been talking about for a couple years but the trend is accelerating. We see it in employees using their own personal laptops and devices for work tasks and using freely available Web tools to help them get their jobs done. This can create a whole host of problems for IT, but in most cases you don’t want to squash it altogether. What you’ll need is a policy that gives employees guidance on how and when these types of tools can and can’t be used, and why.
4: Desktop virtualization TechRepublic recently asked its CIO Jury about desktop virtualization and 75% said they weren’t interested. However, the 25% that ARE interested are very enthusiastic about using it to cut costs and simplify IT support. In 2010, it’s going to interesting to see if this trend gains momentum and becomes more mainstream, or if it’s simply relegated to a few niche scenarios and industries.
3: E-readers
While most of the buzz around e-readers is centered around consumers readings books and newspapers, there are also a new set of e-readers that will hit the market in 2010 that are aimed at helping businesses streamline the meetings that require huge stacks of paper and bring more multimedia capabilities to business documents. more ammunition on why you should follow this trend, see Jack Wallen’s article “10 reasons why e-readers make sense in the enterprise.”
2: WAN acceleration
I consider WAN acceleration to be one of the best kept secrets in the IT and business worlds. By caching big files and often-used documents, WAN acceleration appliances and software can save big money on bandwidth costs and give your branch offices and remote workers far better performance on their business applications. Companies like Riverbed are even taking WAN acceleration a step further and using it to help speed up hosted cloud applications by partnering with major SaaS providers. All of this makes WAN acceleration one of the hottest projects in IT right now, because it can offer fast ROI and immediate productivity benefits.
1: Berries, apples, and robots
What do these three things have in common? Well, of course, we’re talking about smartphones with BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, and Google Android. These are the three smartphone platforms that have the most momentum heading into 2010. With smartphones becoming standard tools for more and more business workers, it’s going to be important to watch which devices users gravitate toward, which platforms offer IT more security and manageability features, and which ones developers latch on to as the best place to build new applications for business users.
With the computerization of the May 2010 elections, voters and election officials will be dealing with new procedures and technology in the casting and counting of votes.
VOTER'S EDUCATION...
After the Supreme Court removed the last hurdle to poll automation in Roque v. Comelec, the computerization of the national and local elections in May 2010 will finally take place. Consequently, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be implementing new procedures in the casting of votes and counting of ballots, which would require voters and election officials alike to adjust to these changes by learning how poll automation works.
Basic Feature of the Automated Election System Under the automated election system (AES) that will be implemented pursuant to Republic Act No. 8436 (Poll Modernization Law), as amended by Republic Act No. 9369, the counting, tally, transmission and consolidation of votes will be done by computers. For this purpose, the Comelec has purchased 82,200 voting machines from the foreign company Smartmatic, which the Comelec calls Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.
The tedious counting process under the manual system, which takes weeks or even months before the results are known, will no longer be used. All votes cast at every precinct will automatically be counted by the PCOS machine at the closing of polls and the results will be transmitted electronically to the appropriate canvassing/consolidation centers, which will be a big departure from the past where the ballots and election returns from every precinct are transported physically to canvassing centers.
The PCOS Technology The brand of PCOS machine that will be used in the May 2010 elections is the SAES (Smartmatic Auditable Election System) 1800. The SAES 1800 is a type of optical mark reader machine, which is the technology being commonly used in counting the results of computerized examinations, such as the NCEE, where the examinee marks an answer by shading an oval or bubble next to an item in a multiple choice test.
Pre-Election Procedures To ensure that the PCOS machines are accurate and functioning well, at least three days before election day, the Comelec will conduct a dry run of the PCOS machines by inviting members of the public to accomplish test ballots. These ballots will be counted manually and election returns showing the results will be prepared. Then the same set of ballots will be counted by the PCOS machines and the results will be compared with that of the manual counting. If the results are the same the participants will certify the veracity of the results by signing on the printed elections returns.
The PCOS machines will be delivered to the 80,136 clustered precincts around the country where they will be stored and sealed until election day, which will be the only time when they will be opened and in the presence of the public. During this time the machines will not be connected to any transmission lines to prevent hackers from having access to them. The public, particularly candidates and their representatives, can secure the area where the machines will be stored.
Pre-Voting Procedure For every voting precinct, there will be a Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) - consisting of a chairman, poll clerk and a third member - that will supervise the elections. Before voting begins, the BEI will initialize the PCOS machine in the presence of the public, usually poll watchers and other election watch groups, and show that the ballot box is empty. Initialization means the BEI will make sure that the machine is zeroed out or there are no votes or entries stored in the machine's memory. An initialization report will thereafter be generated by the machine as proof of this fact.
Paper-Based System Since voting is done through optical mark reader-type machines, paper ballots will still be used during the voting process. In countries using the direct recording electronic (DRE) machines, voting is done by touching selections on the computer screen, like in touch screen ATMs.
The ballot will contain the names of candidates for every position, and the parties under the party-list system. There are ovals opposite each name and party. The ballot will be used front and back. Considering the number of positions to be filled from the national to the local level, as well as the number of candidates, it is expected that the ballot will be long.
The Voting Process Voting in an automated election is simple and fast. The procedure is as follows:
Voter's name is verified on the list of registered voters; Voter is given a ballot, a secrecy folder (to cover voter in making his/her choices) and a pen; Voter proceeds to a voting booth or spot; Voter darkens or shades the ovals opposite the names of candidates and parties of his/her choice; Voter feeds or inserts the completed ballot on the PCOS machine ballot slot (the ballot can be fed to the machine in any orientation: top, bottom or either end); The machine reads or scans the votes (marked ovals) on both sides of the ballot simultaneously; The scanned ballot is ejected through the other end of the machine and is dropped on the ballot box; and Voter returns the secrecy folder and pen to the BEI, his/her right index finger nail is marked with an indelible ink, and affixes his/her thumbmark on the computerized voter list. Even if the voter fails to completely shade the ovals opposite the candidates of his or her choice, the PCOS machine is designed to still scan such marking. It is, of course, desirable for the voter to completely shade the ovals. Also, the PCOS machine have an LCD screen which will indicate if the ballot is accepted or rejected. This will prevent spoiled votes.
In manual voting, the voter has to write the names of candidates and parties which he or she will vote for. This is time consuming and prone to errors and confusion, such as when a name is misspelled, there are identical names, or the names are confusingly similar. Under the automated system, these problems are immediately resolved as all the voter has to do is mark the names of the candidates of his or her choice, whose names have been pre-printed on the ballot.
Post-Voting Procedure When the poll closes, the BEI will perform what is called a "close function" by touching the appropriate button on the machine's LCD screen. This will prevent the insertion of additional ballots after voting has ended. After the machine closes the poll at a particualr precinct, it automatically counts all the votes cast and thereafter, an Election Return (ER) will be printed in certain number of copies. The ER is a report on the result of voting in each precinct wherein the total votes cast for each candidate are tallied.
Transmission of Results After the ERs are printed, the transmission cable is connected to the PCOS machine for the transmission of results from a particular precinct. The results are transmitted by the PCOS machines electronically to the City/Municipal Board of Canvassers (BOC) via canvassing/consolidation machines (CCMs), which will consolidate the results from all precincts within the city or municipality. Results will also be transmitted electronically to the Comelec central office. The same process will take place from the city or municipality to the province, then from the province to Congress and Comelec. HOW TO USE YOUR MODERN BALLOT...
As can be seen from this process, the PCOS machines will only be online during the transmission of results to minimize the window for hacking the system.
1. Before accepting the ballot from the BEI, check to see if the ballot is: a. Un-filled up; and b. Clean, i.e., there are no marks anywhere on the ballot
2. Vote by shading in the oval next to name of the candidate of your choice. a. COMPLETELY shade in the oval i. Do not use a check, or an x, or a dot, or any similar mark ii. Do not make any mark outside the voting areas of the ballot iii. It is alright to go over or beyond the lines of the voting oval iv. USE THE COMELEC PROVIDED MARKING PEN v. DO NOT OVER-VOTE b. USE ONLY THE COMELEC PROVIDED MARKING PEN c. Before filling up the ballot, be sure about the choices you are making. You will not be able to erase the marks you’ve already made; there will be no replacement ballot available.
3. After voting, enclose the ballot in the ballot secrecy folder and proceed to the PCOS a. There may be a line, so join the end of the line b. DO NOT SHOW YOUR BALLOT TO ANYONE c. When it’s your turn to cast your ballot at the PCOS, slide your ballot out of the secrecy folder so that only the top portion is exposed. d. Align this exposed portion to the mouth of the feeder and gently ease the ballot into the PCOS. e. Release the ballot without removing the ballot secrecy folder. f. Wait for the PCOS confirmation of your ballot before leaving
4. After casting your vote, return to the BEI for indelible inking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- References:
Automation of the 2010 National and Local Elections. January 22, 2010. Smartmatic Automated Election System. January 22, 2010.www.smartmatic.com http://www.ibanangayon.ph/
Take yourself into the edge of your seat in this breathtakingly awesome HD action and adventure game Assassin’s Creed HD. It is considered to be one of the most legendary game in its genre, Assassin’s Creed HD brings you much closer to what game play should always be like. This game offers an extensive set of levels which are entirely different from each other in almost every aspect. There are various combo moves that you can perform to kill an enemy or to simply jump off from one roof to the other. What makes Assassin’s Creed such a successful action game for the Nokia N-Gage compatible platform and even for the iPhone? There are two main reasons that Assassin’s Creed HD is simply way too much fun to play: 1. an interesting storyline with great graphics 2. fast paced action filled game play!
Storyline and Perks:
Assassin’s Creed 3D HD takes place in the era of 1100 A.D. and you will jump right into the conflict between the Crusaders and the Saracens. You will play as the legendary and often deadly assassin, Altair. Your sole duty towards your motherland is to save itself from being torn apart into pieces. Your main skills are your acute ability of coming out as the victor in any exhilarating sword fights. While your fighting skills help you to stay alive from the blades of the enemies, it is in fact, your witty thinking and improvised high-flying climbing skills that help you to escape deadly situations and traps set by the enemies. Some of your missions include stealing and pickpocketing precious maps, jewels, secret documents etc while some are to kill someone particular. Throughout the game you will have to solve difficult puzzles, riddles and fight soldiers, other assassins etc before you can face the next level of this N-Gage 2.0 game. Level by level the game will unravel the mystery of how to eliminate your primal enemies.
Gameplay:
Assassin’s Creed 3D HD offers you with a total of 23 highly detailed and extensive levels before you can finish this game. This game is quite long as it is however it is very entertaining throughout, rest assured you will not be bored whatsoever. A realistic tactical scenario based game and you just can’t start out all guns blazing during the start of a level. Everything you do depends on your skill level and to increase these skills you will have to collect magical orbs and trade them for points. These accumulated points can then be used accordingly to trade against specific skill upgrades which will make you a better assassin with every upgrade. The overall graphics detail are truly astounding throughout the game and rarely you will have environment that are similar to any other level. Sword flashes and sparks are beautifully engineered to their impact to provide you the top notch flames. 3D based night and day based surroundings make this mobile game a gamers delight and such details are rarely seen on other games. Audio effects are at an acceptable level and should not irritate you even if you hear them a thousand times. The variable speed game play lets you improvise moves within move, combo within combos and more often you will have to think outside the box to get out of a ‘one way out’ type of levels. When exploring a level your trails usually lasts a while, however in open environment they disappear quickly and makes it extremely difficult to go back when you are lost. The high definition environment of Assassin’s Creed HD lets you choose between multiple routes that you can take to reach the ‘final boss’ of a level. Each route has its unique characteristics which can be negative or positive depending on the situation. In some level you will face more number of enemies with a straightforward way to follow while in some the number of enemies will be much less but the route itself will be very difficult to pass and filled with confusing puzzles and traps. There are several different ways you can terminate an enemy including a ’stealth mode’ which I personally like. The stealth mode kill is highly useful and effective specially when you are the start of a level and do not want to attract too much attention. However, stealth kills are much difficult to perform as such kills are usually generated by 2 combo moves from your end and needs precision timing. The other way is to choose and fight with swords/knives/daggers etc which does make a bit of noise but is easier to control and execute from both short and long distances. It is highly effective when your enemies are aware of you or when there are a number of enemies in front of you.
Assassin’s Creed 3D HD Features:
* Responsive environments based on your own behaviour. * 23 levels in 4 fully 3D-rendered medieval environments: Damascus, Jerusalem, Masyaf, and Acre, you can visit inside & outside buildings in time of day or night. * A wide range of acrobatic moves: Run, jump, climb. * Impressive combo attacks mixing sword skills and kicks for relentless fights or silent kills. * Extended weaponry: now 11 weapons adapted for close combat and long range attack: 5 different swords, daggers, bombs, a grappling hook and many more! * Gather orbs along the levels to upgrade your life bar or sword. Note:- If you will find unknown file error or unknown extension error. So please try to renaming the extension to SIS instead of SISX and vice-versa. Assassins Creed 3D HD is compatible with Nokia 3rd edition devices like N95 8gb, N73, N81, N82, N86, N85, N78, N79, N80, N95, N91, N92, N93, N96, N97 Touch UI, N71, N75, N76 from the Nokia N-Series, the E50, E51, E60, E61, E71, E66, E90, E65, E63, E62, E70 etc from the E-Series and 5800 Touch UI, 5700, 5290, 5320, 5500 from the Xpress Music edition smartphones. Other Nokia smartphones like 6290, 6300, 6121, 6120 etc are also supported. It will also work with Samsung OMNIA and SonyEricsson Xperia X1, PDAs like HTC Touch, Blackberry Bold, Blackberry Storm, Blackberry Curve, Blackberry Pearl and T-Mobile Dash.
Fan less as it is, it can generate accelerate air up to jet like speeds. Your mom would really have a bad hair day if you point this at her using the maximum speed. This fan less bad boy has innovated how we use fans. There are no blades anymore, the air rushing through is uninterrupted and you can feel it. It is much safer knowing that it has no fans. And, its a new technology.
Something we can look too in 2010. More will be using this new hybrid of fan less fans. I don’t think they even call this fan less fans, that’s just how I want to call it, they call it the air multiplier.
* See the difference between choppy and smooth airflow *
Air Multiplier
I am thinking about getting this bad boy, but it cost around 300$-330$ and they don’t ship it to Philippines yet. I wish I could find a way to be a supplier for this here in Cebu, Philippines. I will try to contact this company if I can order 1 and have it shipped here in Cebu, Philippines. Anybody who wants to purchase this and put it in an apartment or just at home would really appreciate this new gadget.
How it works
Air is accelerated through an annular aperture. This creates a jet of air that passes over a 16° airfoil-shaped ramp, channeling its direction.
Other advantages
No blades means the Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan is safe and easy to clean. It also has touch-tilt, 90° oscillation and dimmer-switch power control.
For more details on this gadget you can view it to manufacturer site. Please click it here.
Robotic Exo-skeleton of Japan Gives Super-human Strength
This is the Power Loader, a robotic exoskeleton, developed by Japanese company Activelink. It may soon be giving humans strength that would make Superman envious.
Developed to assist construction workers, the Power Loader looks like something out of a sci-fi thriller.
Users lock their feet into the legs of the power loader using bicycle shoes and then grab sensors that can measure the direction, rotation, and force of pressure that a user applies and can translate that into the machine’s movement.
The force that a user applies is then multiplied to allow users to work in ways that they wouldn't be able to normally.
[Go Shirogauchi, Vice President, Activelink]: "First of all, we hope to 'power up' human's arms and legs. We are looking to make it possible to work while carrying a hundred kilos."
The power loader is designed to be able to carry 220 pounds, or about the weight of one section of a disassembled crane piping.
In order to lift such heavy weights, the power loader multiplies the operator’s strength.
[Go Shirogauchi, Vice President, Activelink]: "The amount of strength multiplication can be decided by changing settings in the software. With the current settings, a user's strength is multiplied by a factor of about 100."
While some software and hardware needs to be changed before the power loader is ready to work, Shirogauchi (pronounced Shiro-ga-oo-chi) and his team have set 2015 as the goal for putting the power loader out into the real world. [Go Shirogauchi, Vice President, Activelink]: "One target that we have is that by 2015, we hope to conduct an actual trial in the construction industry. We plan to conduct it in a way that actually helps people at a real construction site."
If the tests in 2015 go well, power loaders could soon be available do everything from loading containers to logging.
4:11 AM
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