Hi-Sci-Fi

This image was uploaded with the post Embeded Advertising: Tweet This.

by Irma Arkus

First of all, I don’t know who Kim Kardashian is. Not a clue. Second of all, why on earth would anyone get $10,000 bucks to promote a product by tweeting about it???

What I do know is that Duncan Watts of Yahoo Inc. is asking advertising agencies to STOP paying such outrageous sums of money to people like Ms. Kardashian. Why? I will simply wave off the reasons and assume it is because Kardashian already has a boatload of money.

Nooooo!?

“If I had a fixed budget, I could get more value from a small amount of very influential [influencers], or a lot of smaller influencers, on Twitter,” Mr. Watts said. “If you recruit enough people who, on average, influence just one other person, you could get a much better return on investment if you aggregated them and altogether paid them a tenth of what Kardashian gets.”

Oh. This is why I back hobo advertising only.[AdAge]

by Irma Arkus

To all the passionate Trekkies out there, the JJ Abrams movie may not have been all that, but it did do one thing - allowed for television executives to be excited all over again with the idea of bringing more Trek to small screens.

And some wishes are coming true, as announced TV series is in the works. Paramount is behind a major push for a new Star Trek series. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has been announced at Wondercon in San Francisco, and it will have all the Smallville bits it needs to drive me crazy and turn me off of Trek forever…but it will also regenerate an old franchise in need of some new blood (don’t forget, executives are vampires!)

I am personally more excited about a remake of Blake’s 7 than the new Star Trek, because after watching Enterprise, my mouth still tastes of ashes.

Either way, it will be a teen version of Trek, which, if you are fantasizing about sparkly vampires, probably seems like a great idea. To the rest of us, who were observing the tough moral and ethical conundrums of Star Trek crew, the new Trek offers little in terms of satisfying entertainment or for that matter, “responsible entertainment.” (see what you made me do Abrams! call for RESPONSIBLE ENTERTAINMENT!!!)

Either way, we’ll get to watch this, horrified or not. More updates to follow.

This image was uploaded with the post Airport Scanners, Real Images Revealed.

by Irma Arkus

The latest frenzy to install airport scanners has, in my humble opinion, gone overboard, and furthermore has given itching authorities carte blanc to installing another trillion dollars worth of security machinery that many experts doubt in terms of legality or safety, and generally making lives of passengers beyond miserable.

The airport scanners are invasive, and though I personally cackle with fond thoughts of Total Recall, they indeed present a serious invasion of anonymity for passengers.

Undertheradarmedia reports that actual images produced by the scanners are not in fact the negatives we’ve been shown. Instead the images appear as simple black and white “scans” of our bodies.

I personally am not a shy daisy, and neither is the woman in the image. But there is a great differentiation between having the right to say no to being examined head to toe and being forced to comply with extreme security measures(or otherwise get Tasered?)

Our sense of anonymity and privacy has already been vanquished to make way for “securitization.” Whether it’s securitization of economic funds, national borders, or just following orders of some vague “intelligence” community, I at least expected the luxury of having my ass covered with a shammy through the process. [Undertheradarmedia

This image was uploaded with the post Square Up Just May Beat Those Pesky Credit Card Machines.

The inventor of Twitter has just shaken the market with his new invention: Square Up.

A small card reader that can be attached to your iPhone is combined with software that automatically creates a receipt that is sent to your email, along with verification of the location of exchange and photo of card carrier.

The card reader is probably not very good at commercial use, but for many freelancers who are charging consulting fees on the run, this would be the perfect solution for generating quick invoicing and receiving payments on the spot.

I am impressed. Check out Square Up

by Irma Arkus

On my bookshelf I have a few magazine holder, but I also happen to have a few boxes pretending to be magazine holders. Nice, shiny, quite large enough for paperwork, and they have Adobe logo all over their covers.

These, my friends, are remnants of previous purchases of software releases by Adobe. Complex packaging, retail distribution, manifold of CD’s in their hard jewel-cases…those are things of the past. The truth is, while the music industry is lamenting the death of CD sales (those were some good times, 20+ years of selling plastic for high dollar) companies such as Adobe have dropped it all for the joys of digital-only releases.

CMO Ann Lewnes explains that the switch from physical distribution of software releases to a sleeker, humbler, digital-only release, has its benefits. In her recent interview with Advertising Age, Lewnes says that the cutting of tedious traditional release saved some 3 million dollars, and also expanded the reach of CS4.

While Adobe is relying on product launches to an already steady buyer market. Lewnes is very much aware of that, but points to the actual Launch Party, a costly event that would have a limited reach, that when done online only, managed to attract millions of interested people.

The response to this is that the launch event when done digitally, attracts specific social node marketers, who influence in turn, other millions of people and their purchasing habits. But Adobe is a well-oiled machine existing in a rather narrow market, and CS4 is a line of products that one can say, has little or no competition, and the techo-babble-wizards that love Adobe will continue to endorse this product line regardless of whether they taste the foie-gras this year.

Adobe is moving forward, but it may be one of rare companies to be able to do so. Regardless, the article and the video short are interesting to view, and they do indicate a smart way of cutting down on unnecessary costs related to product packaging, offering, releases and launches. [AdAge]

This image was uploaded with the post Guns For Disabled?.

This image was uploaded with the post Guns For Disabled?.

This image was uploaded with the post Guns For Disabled?.

by Irma Arkus

New Scientist reports of a ridiculous patent: Constitution Arms in Maplewood, New Jersey, has applied for a “medical device,” which, in reality is a gun for disabled. Palm Pistol is apparently geared at people who cannot operate an actual handgun.

The audacity of the entire process undertaken by Constitution Arms is that the classification of the gun as a medical device would mean that those who purchase it would be reimbursed by the federal government.

I am literally pinching myself while writing this. And I believe that my left eye is twitching.

The best part of this (you mean there are good parts to this?!!!)is that the concept of the palm pistol has been around for over a century, as shown in photos above.

After this, Constitution Arms is reaching out to kids with “candy gun,” shaped like gummy bears, and loaded with explosive bearings. Just kidding. Or am I?

This image was uploaded with the post Ford: If You Shower It With Money, It Will Make Electric Cars.

by Irma Arkus

In keeping up with the Joneses, I feel compelled to report on recent development in Ford bailout efforts. While it is clear that this auto-manufacturer has fallen way behind in innovation, partially fueled by the consistent lobbying efforts which resulted in some sort of industry protectionism directly connected to petroleum industry lobby efforts, it seems that the glove finally dropped — Ford has announced that it too will start manufacturing electric and alternate fuel vehicle solutions, but only under condition of a bailout.

Oh Catcar, where art thou? Oh, there you are (see photo of air car by MDI Industries enclosed).

See article here.

This image was uploaded with the post Nanotech: Buckyballs Stuck Together = Buckyball Paper.

by Irma Arkus

What happens when you stick buckyballs and produce a film-like material? You apparently get something that has an appearance of a carbon paper, yet is 500 times stronger than steel when stacked, conducts electricity like copper, and disperses heat like brass. And according to PhysOrg, we can call it Buckypaper.

Amazing properties of Buckypaper are contributed to nanotubes, 1 gram of which when unrolled, can cover a field size of a stadium.

Buckypaper is still very expensive to manufacture, but represents the kind of new material that has the potential to transform automotive, aircraft, as well as electronic industry. Additional characteristic is that buckypaper acts as an electromagnetic shield.

This week we feature Brian Code from Koolu, people behind Open Moko release for developers in Canada and beyond!

We are all cranky consumers who pay through their nose to have devices that do very little. Even iPhone, the touted new messianic technology, falls short of expectations.

Open Moko, on the other hand, offers some more interesting solutions for problems that plague us. For one, as an open source software wi-fi phone, it is a far more customisable device that can be tailored to individual’s needs.

Brian tells all, so tune in. Send us questions because we want to probe his mind, like…every week.

If you are a developer, check out the Open Moko, and Koolu.

by Irma Arkus

Now that Codex Sinaiticus has proven that religious scribbles are good for one thing, and one thing only - recycling - we also got this amazing report via Slashdot, of (wait for it!) paper-based transistors!

In essence, the Portugese researchers use paper as an interstrate layer, instead of commonly used silicone or glass substrate.

The technology is so successful that tests indicate “hybrid FETs’ performance outpace those of amorphous silicon TFTs, and rival with the actual state of the art of oxide thin film transistors.”

The research was conducted at CENIMAT and led by Elvira Maria Fortunato and Rodrigo Martins.

For more information, visit Roland Piquepaille’s blog.

by Irma Arkus

On the heels of announcement by Mercedes to cease manufacturing petroleum-powered cars by 2010, ITM Power, a small UK-based outfit released its first household hydrogen fueling station.

Unusual, fridge-size gadget, meant to be stored in periphery of an average domicile, is to contain an electrolyser producing hydrogen directly on the premise. The fuel can then be transferred into your vehicle at home, as well as used for alternate applications, including cooking.

Some taut the benfits of a household hydrogen-producing appliance as a solution to an existing problem with hydrogen fuel - namely, that traditional large-scale manufacturing and mass distribution processes are complex, expensive and even dangerous. Appliance such as this would introduce hydrogen-powered cars to greater number of individuals, and create accessible fueling stations.

Of course, having a fridge-size hydrogen generator is not necessarily all that great. For one, traditional pumps eliminate the need for everyone to invest in a personal appliance, instead spreading the cost across an entire region. Costs of developing fueling station technology would be directly transferred onto each and every household, and yes, it would be very expensive.

Also to consider is that such fueling stations would be great for home owners far removed from urban centres. Condo owners in high density areas do not have the resources or the space for individual ownership of such an appliance, quickly having to deal with a communal fueling station or a “mini-pumping station” for their hydrogen needs. If communal fueling stations would function well, then why have individual ones at all?

The questions of safety and handling procedures are aplenty. Hydrogen is considered highly flammable, and unstable. To be manufacturing hydrogen on the spot is a valid solution for a next generation of hydrogen-fueled cars. As for the individual ownership of such appliances, the costs seem high, unreasonable, and less than suitable for populations in urban areas.

This image was uploaded with the post Hydrogen Pump @ Home?.

This image was uploaded with the post Robots: All-Terrain Big Dog, Quadruped.

by Irma Arkus

Watching Boston Dynamics’ Big Dog, a quadruped robot resembling only bottom half of a mule, as it struggles to maintain its balance (and succeds!) on an icy ground is nothing short of amazing.

Big Dog runs, walks and climbs on rough terrain, as its slender legs, similar to that of a dog or a deer (or something alive and organic) allow it to carry heavy loads while absorbing shocks. It maintains its balance in situations that not even yours truly, an average biped could.

The loads it can carry go up to 340lb, and it can succesfully climb inclined terrain of up to 35 degrees.

The really amazing part of Big Dog is its leg structure. Meant to copy what works best in nature, Big Dog’s legs combine multiplicity of joints regulated by an intricate sensor network, allowing it to maintain balance and navigate across variety of terrain including ice and rubble.

See for yourself: Big Dog walks on ice, hillside, and navigates through rubble.

by Irma Arkus

When having Mr. Gluckman a few weeks back for an appearance on HiSciFi, he suggested that military has been developing devices that would use radio frequencies to make subjects more “suggestive” than usual. Initially, I dismissed it, but as it happens, today, an announced military Medusa project was splashed all over the New Scientist pages.

Not quite same as what Gluckman suggested earlier, but nontheless, a frightening invention, use of microwaves for crowd control and manipulation seems to be growing in applications. Medusa, the newest mass weapon, uses microwave signals to produce a “noise” that reverberates through one’s head, loud enough to cause subjects incapacitation.

Medusa’s microwave frequencies can also be used to generate recognisable sounds (aka. speech patterns) in subjects, the kind that cannot be technically “blocked out” by subjects.

There is a great concern of using microwaves for purposes of crowd control, as microwaves induce great deal of damage to tissue, increasing possibility of producing a large-scale weapon rather than a crowd dispersment tool. Tissue trauma such as neural damage are a possibility, as pointed out by James Lin of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

For more information, see New Scientist article HERE.

This image was uploaded with the post Dreaming of Hardware: Kohjinsha ATOM Powered SX & SC Series.

by Irma Arkus

I too have a dream, that some day, I will not have the choice between bulky and heavy, but a lightweight mobile device that is akin to a notebook yet some 60% smaller.

Let’s face it, since the days of watching Captain Pickard in action, we’ve been dreaming of devices size of a small notebook (and no, that weighty 14” behemoth does not count) that we can pull out in transit and really have fun with.

Introducing new Kohjinsha ATOM Powered SX and SC Series. SX features a remarkable 8.9” screen, 1.33GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 60GB harddrive, WiFi b/g and numerous other bells and whistles. Whereas SC-Series has a 7” touch screen, a 1.33GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 60GB harddrive and other bells and whistles.

What are the extras? From GPS to 1.3 Mpix camera, USB, DVD and etc.

That’s something to think about.

This image was uploaded with the post Japan Mobile Phones: Now Featuring Comics.

by Irma Arkus

Unveiling of additional mobile services in Japan has brought on some Marvel superheroes onto the mini-screens opening up North American comic books to transit viewers in Japan.

Japanese market is estimated to garner up to 22 billion yen during this year, making 3G applications such as video streaming, and reading novels and comic books, a major market.

Japanese audiences already have access to multi-media content on their cell phones, but introduction of few new user-friendly services is expected to increase comic book audiences and gain a great deal of profits.

Current screens are up to 3.3” and combined with 3G services are expected to bring on a whole new generation of comic book fans.

This image was uploaded with the post Finally! A Solution Against Global Warming: Strapless G-String.

The most absurd piece of “technology” just crossed my desk - I introduce you to the Shibue Strapless G-String. If you are as puzzled as I was, here is the info: it is a glorified menstrual pad.

Presumably, you use double sided sticky tape, except instead of attaching the object to the interior of your panties, you just kind of glue it onto your nether regions. This of course is based on assumption that your crotch is as bald as baby’s bottom, which means that this new piece of AMAZING TECHNOLOGY is only applicable to brazilian wax victims and porn stars.

This is apparently, going to solve the timeless dilemma of panty lines. Another piece of insane shit that you can buy. And guess what? It actually costs $25-30 a pop. Crazy? You be the judge.

by Irma Arkus

Sun Microsystems is working on a new computing chip that would use Silicon Photonics. The proposed technology would create wafers that using laser light signals, communicate billions of bits of data per second. Lasers! They are using lasers!
This means significant increase in efficiency, as some of currently required wiring and circuitry would be eliminated.

Speaking of lasers, Gizmodo reported on Wicked Lasers- new high-tech Jedi toys - Now with 30% more Laser! Oh yeah. This laser will not only make you glow in the dark, but will also “scare away birds and animals.” The *powers* of the wicked laser are listed, and include: sting skin, open-cut healing power, pop balloon, fabric stain, and numerous other cool things. To conclude: we all want more lasers.