Technology Current

Hackers claim they have broken into the computer system of the Large Hadron Collider, the mega-machine designed to expose secrets of the cosmos, British newspapers reported on Saturday. AFP

Sony announced its recall of over 44,000 Sony Vaio laptops. The cause of this major recall is a wiring problem that could possibly cause your laptop to overheat. The recall pertains to 19 different Vaio models in the Vaio TZ series produced from May 2007 till now.

Sony attributes these flaw to wiring placement that causes certain wires to wear quickly which can short the circuit. Also there is a circuit boar problem that could cause it to overheat as well. There have been over 200 reports of overheating that Sony currently knows about and 7 of them included minor burns to consumers! This recall comes 2 years after Sony had to make a battery recall because they also overheated and some even burst into flames!!!

The Coming Age Of HDTV - What Does It Mean To Me?
by: Lloyd Howard

HDTV - high-definition television: it is something that has been discussed for some time now, however not everyone has a strong sense of what it is and why he or she would want to have it. Because all television stations will be required to broadcast a digital signal after February 17, 2009, many viewers are beginning to ask a lot more questions about how the new digital age of television will affect their personal viewing experience. They want to know whether or not their television set will be compatible, whether or not they will have to replace it, and what steps they will have to take in order to keep watching their favorite shows. How To Identify If Your Television Is An Analog TV Analog television has been with us since the inception of television broadcasting. Analog is the old way of processing a television signal. Television technology took a big leap in the 1960’s with the transition from television tubes to circuit boards, but that conversion failed to bring with it any major strides in the quality of the television picture. If your current television does not have a logo on its front that indicates DTV (Digital TV), EDTV (Enhanced Definition TV), or HDTV, then your television set is an analog TV. Understanding The Transition From An Analog Signal To The New Digital Signal Digital image processing is a technology that began in earnest during the 1970’s, when Japanese technology companies began to explore the concepts of HDTV. The Japanese TV manufacturers were exploring ways to improve the picture quality of the television image, as a way to find more customers for their television products. While Americans were busy playing with building the computer industry, the Japanese were hard at work trying to build a better television set. The first HDTV systems developed by the Japanese still relied on the old analog system of sending a broadcast signal to their televisions, but they were still able to produce a better television viewing experience. When initially introduced to the U.S. Government, the new HDTV system produced a myriad of concerns, which included the issue of an analog HDTV-system needing more bandwidth than what was currently allotted to the television broadcasters. In 1993, a consortium of American researchers and manufacturers (known as The Grand Alliance) joined forces to find a way to bring HDTV-quality to the American public, while keeping the bandwidth requirements of broadcasters within the existing limits. Researchers soon understood that they would need to push at least part of the television signal in a digital format to make sure that HDTV could be transmitted within the limits currently allotted to the television broadcasters. By the time they had finished their work, the Grand Alliance had created a system that was 100% Digital. In 1995, after considerable opposition from the television broadcast industry, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission officially set the standard for completely digital HDTV broadcasting system. This put into motion the events that are just now coming to fruition, with the rollout of the new Digital Television broadcasting system. Although most television stations have been broadcasting a Digital Television Signal now for a few years, analog television owners have been none the wiser. But that will all change on February 17, 2009. Will My Analog Television Stop Working In 2009? The simple answer is “yes”, but that does not mean that you will have to buy a new television in order to get the new digital broadcasts. While you may not need to replace your television set, you may have to make changes in how you get your television signal. There are in fact three ways that the average consumer can continue to get a television signal using their old television set: 1. Subscribe to a cable television service (and use their digital television converter); 2. Subscribe to a satellite television service (and use their digital television converter); or 3. Buy a DTV converter (Digital TV Converter) to receive signals from your analog antenna and to convert that signal back to analog, so that you can continue to use your analog television. (If you receive your television signal over-the-air, the Federal Government has implemented a Coupon Program to help consumers offset the cost of the DTV converter boxes: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/index.html ) Understanding The Three Facets Of The New Digital Technology 1. Lines Of Resolution The newer digital technology is all about Lines Of Resolution. With more lines of resolution, the viewer will receive more image information, therefore bringing the viewer much more picture clarity and detail. When the Japanese rolled out HDTV on the Japanese mainland, the lines of resolution numbered 1080. To put this into perspective, the standard analog TV signal exhibits 330 lines of resolution. This makes it more than clear that the original analog HDTV format really was a real issue for television broadcasters in the United States. To produce a resolution of 1080 lines on a system designed for 330 lines would have literally required three times the bandwidth of the current analog system. Here are the standard television resolutions: * Analog Television - 330 Lines of Resolution * VCR’s - 240 Lines of Resolution * DVD’s - 480 Lines of Resolution * EDTV - 720 Lines of Resolution * HDTV - 1080 Lines of Resolution There is a caveat to this chart though. The minimum requirement of the FCC is that broadcasters must produce a minimum of 720 Lines of Resolution. As a result, some broadcasters like ABC chose the 720-resolution, and yet they can still legally call their programming standard, HDTV. Other broadcasters like PBS opted for the higher 1080 format. Good for them. In 1998, when the first HDTV’s became available to the buying public, the Headline News newscasters were joking that with the rollout of HDTV, we the audience would be able to see every blackhead and blemish on their faces. Of course, they were probably correct in that assumption. The detail of the HDTV-signal is absolutely amazing. 2. Aspect Ratio Another factor connected to the new HDTV-format is the Aspect Ratio. In a standard analog television, the Aspect Ratio is a 4-by-3, which nearly looks square. The 4-by-3 ratio means that it can be measured 4-parts wide to 3-parts high. With the new HDTV format, the Aspect Ratio has been changed to the same format seen in the movie theatre - a 16-by-9 Aspect Ratio, or 16-parts wide to 9-parts high. 3. Sound Quality The third factor connected to the new HDTV-format is Sound Quality. In fact, most HDTV programming will carry with it Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, as frequently heard on DVD’s. So long as you have a surround sound unit attached to your television set, the surround sound will enable to the television viewer to be immersed in the sound, so much so as it often feels as if you are in the middle of the action happening on your television set. In Conclusion… While it is true that you do not need to upgrade your television from the analog format to the new digital format, you might seriously consider doing so anyway. Now that we are quickly approaching the end of the analog-television era, the cost of HDTV television sets has fallen considerably. Whereas five years ago, the average HDTV cost in the range of $3-4,000, the cost of most HDTV’s has fallen to under $1200 today. After February 17, 2009, the cost of HDTV should drop again, making it much more affordable to the general public. Although it will be possible to convert the digital television signal to analog, you will lose the extra picture detail on the conversion. So, if you stick with your analog television, you will be restricting yourself to the quality of picture you are currently receiving, even after the change in television broadcasting formats is complete. Although color-technology was first introduced to audiences with the release of The Wizard Of Oz in 1939, color television did not become mainstream until the late-1960’s. And although the technology of color was mainstream, black-and-white televisions were still being manufactured and sold well into the 1980’s. Fortunately, this transition will be a bit quicker than the conversion from black-and-white to color. Under the FCC rules for the transition to digital television, television manufacturers were required to include a digital tuner in all television sets manufactured after March 1, 2006. This conversion is much like the transition from AM to FM as the standard listening medium in the radio industry. Radio listeners could not listen to FM stations until which time they had upgraded their radio from AM to the AM/FM format. The same thing will happen here as well. If you want to receive the beautiful, high-quality HDTV images, you will need to upgrade to a television set capable of displaying the HDTV images. If you have any lingering doubts about the better HDTV standard, all you need to do is to visit your local television store and see for yourself just how awesome of a picture HDTV actually produces. Just as Dolby Digital Surround Sound enables the listener to feel as if they are in the middle of the action on the television, HDTV permits the viewer to feel as if they are standing in the same room as the actors, on the sidelines at the football game, or on the same beach as the models - it really is that good of a picture.

Lloyd Howard writes about technology and business. Satellite TV providers continue to outpace the performance of cable companies in the conversion to digital television programming. For example, DirectTV will have more than 100 channels and 231 NFL Football Games available in HDTV this year. To compare Satellite Television services, visit http://www.placeingit.com/satellite The growth of the Internet has spurred some of the greatest opportunities for small business entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Visit the following website to learn more: http://www.gibline.com/lloyd559/revenue_sharing.html

Sony Corp. said Thursday it will launch the world’s thinnest and lightest 40-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) television, seeking to trump its rivals ahead of the key year-end shopping season.–AFP

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard of people dropping cell phones in their toilets, or sinks, or pools. I have joined countless Facebook groups dedicated to gather new cell phone number due to the latest water damage victim. With this new waterproofing system all that can be put to rest. Using a special coating applied in an air vacuumed environment, your electronics can be made impervious to water and other liquids. Pretty cool…

Imagine having a personal trainer keeping track of all your exercises so you dont have to this is exactly what the Nike+ iPod running system does. Apple is not paying me to say this but - this is an amazing product and I cant believe I was running for so long without it.

Here is what you need:

- Apple iPod Nano ($150)
- Nike+ Sports Kit ($30)
- Nike+ Shoes ($100)
- Nike+ Armband ($30) OPTIONAL

So here is how it works (without boring you with too much technical detail):

1 Connect

When you are ready to go jogging, put on your Nike+ shoes and connect the iPod receiver (then walk around to activate the receiver in the shoe sometimes this is easier said than done).

2 Setup

Select how you want the iPod to track your workout Time, Distance or Calories Select your playlist (Ive made a special Running playlist its a collection of fast paced songs that get me moving when I hear them)

3 - Start running

At certain intervals during your workout, the music will soften and a pleasant Female voice (you can choose a Male voice) will inform you of your progress. Half way point and 100 meters to go are just some of the things it says.

4 Check Your Status

You can press the center button on the iPod at any time to get a more detailed status update, things like distance remaining, time and calories are all calculated on the fly and spoken to you this is pretty cool.

5 End Workout

Once you are done with your workout, choose End workout and a friendly voice congratulates you and give you your workout stats.

6 Sync Your iPod

When you get back home from your workout, sync your iPod with your computer and the Apple magic begins. Your workout details (time, distance, calories, time or day, even the playlist you listened to while exercising) is sent to the Nike+ website.

7 Nike+ Website

When you sync your iPod, you are taken to the website instantly. This website will show you lots of data about your workouts, as an example you can see precisely when in your workout you ran faster/slower this looks like a smooth line graph, the higher points of the graph representing the quicker I was running. You can view your workouts by Day, Week or Month.

IPOD SECRET when you achieve certain goals or beat records, celebrity voices congratulate you on your accomplishment. As an example, when I ran a personal best for the 1 mile (8 minutes and 44 seconds, thank you) Lance Armstrong congratulated me on my little victory. I have to admit, this was really cool and unexpected - I told at least 10 people that day about my accomplishment.

My Improvement

If I could improve on one thing about the Nike+ iPod running system it would be for the website to offer me a downloadable spreadsheet of my workout data so I can perform my own comparisons in Excel. Other than that, this is a GREAT system and definitely worth the money.

If you are a consistent runner (or would like to be) this system is definitely for you. Its easy to setup and a great way to keep track of your running progress. Always remember this if it can be measured, it can be improved.

[Source]
Ian Anderson is co-founder of Intersection360. Ian specializes in hosted application architecture and GUI design. Intersection360 offers a wide range of non-branded web applications for the small business/non-profit markets. Some of Intersection360 products include: CharityHelper360 - secure forms processing for non-profits, WebEdit360 - an online website editor and more.

Learn more about how you can sell Intersection360 products as your own with the Intersection360 Partner Program at http://www.intersection360.com/partners/index.htm.

There is no doubt that we are all looking for a fast powerful computer that is affordable. Well I’m please to share this amazing discovery with you. It goes by the name of CherryPal. CherryPal is the epitome of a beautiful, sleek, and powerful computer.

The company that supplied chips for Apple computers designs CherryPal?s triple-core processor. CherryPal uses only one fifth of the components of traditional computers. With no moving parts, the computer is completely silent and very durable. The innovative processor architecture utilizes cloud computing so that users have 50GB of online and 4GB internal solid state storage.

The Cherrypal will be released in early August, be sure to look out for it, also be on the alert for a press release coming soon.

Here are some statistics:

Freescale processor (400 mhz) - (although it’s a completely different processor architecture compared to Intel/AMD)

• 256 MB DDR
• 4GB internal
• 50GB online
• Wifi
• Ethernet
• 2 USB
• VGA out, headphone etc.
• 1.3 x 4 x 6 inches (size of a paperback), 10 ounces

Check on CherryPal.com or here regularly for any updates!

06/17 Update!

I just got a nice image of the CherryPal system. Take a look!

Pre-Order your Cherrypal Desktop for only $249!!! Save $10 when you enter the Cherrypal promo code CPP272. Buy Now!