E-Ball: A Complete Computer in a Ball

How about taking whole computer in your pocket all the time? This ball predicts the future of computing. You might have seen many things like this but the unique feature of this ball is that when it is closed, no one can guess that whole computer is hidden inside this ball. Much like the 5 in 1 Pen drive which was fetured in this blog earlier.

The concept PC is called E-Ball designed by Apostol Tnokovski. It’s shaped like a sphere because in Tnokovski’s opinion this is the best shape in nature and it draws everybody’s attention.

E-Ball will feature a dual core processor, 250-500GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, integrated graphic card and sound card, 2 x 50W speakers, HD-DVD recorder, wireless optical mouse and laser keyboard, LAN and WLAN card, modem, Web cam and integrated LCD projector.

The E-Ball PC supports a paper holder and the paper sheet on the holder could act like a screen where you can watch movies or something. This concept PC will measure 160mm in diameter and it was designed for Microsoft Windows OS. For the moment, there is no word on pricing or when it’s going to be available. But upon release, it will surely hit the markets as everyone would like to see a small spherical PC like this one.

The spherical shape may not be practical. A sphere isn’t a very good idea for an object that needs to dissipate heat. Spheres have the highest volume/surface area ratio possible (which is why bubbles are spherical) and so would have the hardest time getting rid of waste heat. But hey, the most important here is that someone is pushing the envelope of PC computing and getting bigger ideas. It takes a brilliant mind to think these ideas which engineers then bring to reality. Sure there are some very dodgy concepts like the round mobo etc, but if nobody demands that engineers stretch their imagination we would still be having dinner with a pick axe out of stone.

Hot Chair offers surround sound

If you’re all about being immersed in you music, this chair is definitely the way to pull that off. With the speakers right up around your head, and the cozy look of the chair, you’ll be able to get lost for hours. I just wish it were a swivel chair, then it’d have that command center type appeal. Although, you could get that super villain kind of look if you picked up the black version of the chair.
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IT to generate 5.8 million new jobs by 2013

Information technology will be an employment machine, generating 5.8 million new jobs in the coming four years, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) research released on Sunday.

IDC predicts that the IT industry will be an engine powering economies out of economic doldrums, creating more that 75,000 new businesses in the next four years and adding jobs at a rate of 3 percent annually.

“Countries that foster innovation and invest in infrastructure, education and skills development for their citizens will have a major competitive advantage in the global marketplace,” said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

“In this fundamental economic reset, innovative technologies will play a vital role in driving productivity gains and enabling the creation of new local businesses and highly skilled jobs that fuel economic recovery and support sustainable economic growth.”

US software colossus Microsoft sponsored the IDC research into the impact of IT in 52 countries that represent 98 percent of the global IT spending.

“IT spending growth is a good sign as we come out of the recession,” Microsoft Corporate Affairs communications manager Scott Selby told AFP.

Employment growth in IT related jobs will be three times that of overall job growth in what Selby said is a “good driver of economic growth.”

While the world has been in the gripes of a recession, it has also been in the midst of a “technology renaissance” flush with advances in software, devices, and Internet-based services, according to IDC.

IDC expects IT spending in the countries studied to grow at slightly more than three percent annually, three times as fast as the gross domestic products between now and the year 2013.

In what is good news for software powerhouse Microsoft, spending on software is predicted to grow faster than overall IT spending, rising 4.8 percent annually.

“Software is a driving force behind this IT growth,” Selby said. “IT allows us to do more with less.”

New technologies are also ushering in a new “cloud computing” paradigm in which applications are provided online as services instead of as software bought and installed on home or office machines, according to IDC.

Money saved by using software as needed “in the cloud” instead of buying, maintaining, and updating applications will likely be devoted to bringing new products or services to market faster and cheaper, according to Selby.

IDC estimates that cloud services could add 800 billion dollars in net new business revenues between the end of 2009 and the end of 2013.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen transformative power in how investments in IT innovations foster economic growth,” said Robert D. Atkinson, founder of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington, D.C.

“Continued innovation and investment in information technology will help jump-start recovery from the current recession and will significantly contribute to the growth of employment and new businesses.”

Emerging markets will reap the greatest economic gains from IT, according to Selby.

“Emerging markets are really going to take advantage of IT for years to come,” Selby said.

“One reason is they will be able to leapfrog and enjoy benefits of innovations like cloud computing much more quickly.”

Microsoft played up the prime role its software is playing in IT systems worldwide.

Radiation Effects & Your Mobile Phone

1. We all hear about how the radiations emitted from our mobiles keep effecting us on the wrong side……but what are the specifications laid down for quantification of these effecting variables? What are these variables ?How much do they effect us? Do separate mobile handsets effect us in different ways?Are their any safe limits in these? What are the available standards?

2. The first and the most significant variable is the Specific absorption rate (SAR) , a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field. It is defined as the power absorbed per mass of tissue and has units of watts per kilogram. SAR is usually averaged either over the whole body, or over a small sample volume (typically 1 g or 10 g of tissue). The value cited is then the maximum level measured in the body part studied over the stated volume or mass.

3. SAR is used to measure exposure to fields between 100 kHz and 10 GHz. It is commonly used to measure power absorbed from mobile phones and during MRI scans. Few specifications of good and bad mobiles as found rated from TOI site at their INFOTECH tab are shown below with details :

SAMSUNG IMPRESSION : GOOD

Maximum radiation: 0.35 Watts per kilogram (W/kg) (based on reported radiation level when held up to your ear)

SAR when held at the ear: 0.35 W/kg

SAR when worn on the body: 0.83 W/kg

MOTOROLA RAZR V8 : GOOD

Maximum radiation: 0.36 W/kg

SAR when held at the ear: 0.36 W/kg

SAR when worn on the body: 0.86 W/kg

SAMSUNG SGH-T229 : GOOD

Maximum radiation: 0.38 W/kg

SAR when held at the ear: 0.38 W/kg

SAR when worn on the body: 0.69 W/kg

MOTOROLA MOTO VU204 : WORST

Maximum radiation: 1.55 W/kg

SAR when held at the ear: 1.55 W/kg

SAR when worn on the body: 0.58 W/kg

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8330 : WORST

Maximum radiation: 1.54 W/kg

SAR when held at the ear 1.54 W/kg

SAR when worn on the body 0.99 W/kg

4. United States: The FCC requires that phones sold have a SAR level at or below 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg) taken over a volume of 10 gram of tissue while European Union specify SAR limits within 2 Watts/kg taken over a volume of 10 gram

5. So next times some one asks you or even mentions about radiation effect of mobiles on health….just make the aspect more clear of weather of not his/her mobiles in meeting the S.A.R norms or not?

6. Thanks Wiki,Tech gadgets and TOI.

Gadget collection sale set to reach £1m

A collection of over 750 gadgets ranging from gramophones to early pocket calculators is set to go on sale tomorrow with an expected price-tag of £1 million.

The diverse selection of tech was a amassed by technology antique dealer Michael Bennett-Levy from Scotland over the past 30 years.

Highlights include one of the first LED pocket calculators from 1971 (estimated to reach between £200 and £300), the Bennet electro-static friction generator from 1770 (£8,000 to £12,000) and the Whimshurst X-ray machine (£7,000 - £10,000).

But we have to wonder, is Bennett-Levy just trying to offload the largest privately held collection of early televisions in the world, ahead of the digital switchoff? A spokesperson for Bonhams, who will host the auction, said: "This diverse collection, expected to fetch up to £1 million, includes clocks, barometers, toys, silent films, typewriters, microscopes, gramophones, globes, wireless sets and televisions – brought together through their rare or pioneering status."

Americans give electronic cigarettes mixed reviews

NEW YORK :Should electronic cigarettes be a new option for smokers trying to kick the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed.

More than half of people questioned in a poll think electronic cigarettes should be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but 47 percent believe the devices should be available to smokers who want to quit.

"In the hunt for a safer cigarette, electronic cigarettes, often referred to as ecigarettes, are becoming a popular option among those either trying to quit or who are looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers claim to be safer," Zogby International, which conducted the poll, said in a statement.

About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the poll had heard about ecigarettes, which are battery-powered, or rechargeable devices that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution. They do not produce smoke but an odorless water vapor.

Sold mostly on the Internet, ecigarettes were first made in China. Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using electronic cigarettes, saying there was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit.

The WHO said people who puff on ecigarettes inhale a fine mist of nicotine in the lungs.

Nearly a third of people questioned in the poll think that e-cigarettes, because they don't produce smoke, should be allowed in places where smoking is forbidden, but 46 percent disagreed.

Men who were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be an option available to smokers who want to quit.

Young people, aged 18-29, and singles were the groups most open to trying electronic cigarettes.

Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide, according to the WHO.

Russians are No # 1 on take the snaps of themselves

LONDON: Nearly half of all the photographs Europeans take end up online, according to a survey, with Russians the keenest on taking snaps of themselves, just ahead of the Austrians.

The Nikon poll of 12,259 people in 12 European countries showed 46.8 percent of the pictures taken by Europeans are posted on the Internet.

Britons are more reserved: only 33 percent of their snaps are posted and just 5.6 percent of them take self-portraits.

By contrast, 34.2 percent of Russians take pictures of themselves, just ahead of the Austrians on 24.9 percent.

Russians also top the poll for taking intimate snaps of themselves, with Greeks not far behind, the poll found.

Some people have also become choosy about how they are projected online, the survey found.

For example, 16.8 percent would ask friends to remove photos that they don't like and some even insist on approving any image of themselves before it gets anywhere near the Internet.

"The photographs that many of us take, especially younger generations, are no longer kept safe within the family or personal album, to be got out only in the presence of close friends and relatives," said photography scholar Martin Lister.

"Now, once online, our photographs enter a semi-public space. Here it is not the family that is the consuming and viewing unit but extended peer groups and networks of loosely connected people."

Cool Aquariums

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A collection of cool aquariums from around the world. These glorified fish tanks would look so cool in any apartment or house. Aquariums are so relaxing and create such a cool ambiance to any room. Check these out...














The Silverfish Aquarium designed by Octopus Studios is a gnarly looking setup for your fishy little friends. Each 60 gallon setup is custom made, costs $3,400, and is allegedly self sufficient. This fish tank is such a cool gadget for fish lovers who want a fish tank with a difference.

The oddly named "Silverfish" aquarium—isn't a silverfish aquarium a bookcase?—from Octopus Studios has six orbs connected by tubes, the better to let your fish reconfigure their own habitat while gargling the theme to The Jeffersons. Each aquarium is made-to-order for $3,400 minus gravel and fish. (Freshwater suggested.)


While the manufacturer says it's not much more difficult to clean than a standard rectangular tank, I think we all know that's a bit of understatement. Still, I like it a lot—although I think I'd like it a lot more if it had a more attractive base instead of something that looks like a TV stand from Wal-Mart.

Top 10 UK Most Common Passwords

Passwords are just a normal part of daily life nowadays with so many different accounts from email to shopping online all requiring passwords to login to access our personal information. Unfortunately, there are people out there who are trying to hack into our accounts. Security breaches, fraud, and phishing sites are all to very common so we need to be careful when choosing a password.

Research has shown that the list below is the most commonly used passwords so if you spot your own password listed - it might just be time for a change! These are the first passwords that hackers will try!

10. 'thomas' (0.99%)

First off, at number 10, is the most common format of passwords - the name. Thomas is a perennially popular name in the UK (2nd most popular in 2000), so it is perhaps no surprise that it makes the top 10, with nearly 1 in 1,000 people opting for this ubiquitous forename as their password.

We can only guess that there are a lot of fans of Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Edison out there! The high prevalence of Christian names only further reinforces the fact that loved ones are a common choice when it comes to passwords.

9. 'arsenal' (1.11%)

Football teams tend to be another popular choice, and the gunners fall in 9th place. This may or may not be reflective of the fact that the word 'arsenal' starts with a 4-letter swear word - another popular choice when it comes to passwords.

Arsenal are ranked 6th overall in average attendance rankings, and are the 2nd most popular football-related password.

8. 'monkey' (1.33%)

Quite why the monkey makes it into 8th place is beyond me, but the fact that it's a 6-letter word (6 letters is a typical minimum length for passwords), is easily typed and is memorable probably helps cement its position as ideal password material.

Still, it's quite worrying that there's such a trend - perhaps the internet and monkeys are inextricably linked?

7. 'charlie' (1.39‰)

Another name - nowhere near as common a name as No. 10, Thomas, but it's our most popular name-based password overall.

Could of course, be a homage to a number of famous Charlies - Chaplin, Sheen, or those of a Chocolate Factory persuasion. Or, of course, it could just be the case that they're referring to it's slang usage.

6. 'qwerty' (1.41‰)

I wonder where the inspiration for this one came from? Perhaps when faced with a blinking cursor and an instruction to choose a password people will tend to look to the things closest to them - which would explain why 1 in 700 people choose 'qwerty' as their password.

5. '123456' (1.63%)

Can you count to 6? It's the most common minimum required length of password - and the 5th most common password.

4. 'letmein' (1.76%)

A modern-day version of 'open sesame' - and 1 person in 560 will type 'letmein' as their password. Quite why is beyond me.

I could be mistaken, but I have a hunch that 'letmein' has been featured in a movie or TV series - Fox Mulder's password from the X Files - 'trustno1' - also ranked quite highly.

3. 'liverpool' (1.82%)

The most popular football team by some margin, Liverpool was the third most popular password overall. Does this mean that 1 in 550 people is such a devout Liverpool fan that they would be willing to entrust private data to the team they love?

Liverpool ranked 3rd in the average attendance ratings - leaving the 2 most popular teams, Manchester United and Newcastle United, out of the top 10 list - perhaps because they're too long and difficult to type.

2. 'password' (3.780‰)

Akin to pressing the 'any' key, when told to enter a 'password', it would seem that users aren't the sharpest tool in the box - with almost 1 in 250 people choosing the word 'password'.

1. '123' (3.784‰)

With nearly 4 people in 1,000 opting for a simple numerical sequence as their password (it should be noted that there was no lower length limit specified), '123' must be the first thing a lot of people think of when asked to specify a password. One dreads to think what their PIN number might be!

Conclusion

The above figures mean that 1.8% of people use one of the above passwords - and 6.5% of people share a password from the top 100 list. Although the remaining 90+% have less common (or even unique) passwords, the trends towards simplistic and guessable show that the average user cares less about choosing a strong password and more about memorability. Or in some cases, their football team.

I won't go in-depth about how to make sure you have a strong password - there are plenty of guides out there - but the above list should certainly prove a useful guide as to what sort of password to avoid.

In a day when all our private data and banking information is stored behind simple secret words and phrases, it makes sense to narrow the probability of guesswork as slim as possible.