Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, March 31, 2008

Go With The Flow

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/261223270/

There is a wind blowing from the east and it smells a little like wasabi, ginger and fresh paint. It turns out its just Mazda showing off its latest design direction, the Mazda “Taiki.” Inspired by the shape and flow of wind itself, Mazda declares the exterior lines are inspired by wind flowing through a Hagoromo, the “flowing robes that enable a celestial maiden to fly.” I never got to that level of Final Fantasy but I guess I get that reference. Their challenge was to create “a design that visually expresses the flow of air” and visually expresses the atmosphere - called taiki in Japanese. Anyway you look at it, Mazda’s concept is forward thinking and a breath of fresh air in a slightly stale auto show season.

Designer: Mazda

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX triple-SLI rig benched

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/260917929/

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Looks like the first NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX cards have made their way out in the world -- officially announced or not -- and TweakTown's got the benches. Performance gains seem marginal in triple-SLI over dual, but hey, those drivers probably aren't finished and these cards aren't official, so we recommend withholding judgment until it's all legit.

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Japan's QR Codes Being Tested in SF [Qr Codes]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/259937016/japans-qr-codes-being-tested-in-sf

You know those QR codes that Japan has? The ones that look like fancy bar codes that you take a picture of with your cellphone that brings up some bit of info or trivia on the display. Those are being tested in SF right now on 500+ restaurants/shops/businesses reviewed by Citysearch.

Once you snap a picture of the code, your phone will bring up the Citysearch's review page, letting you know whether you should go in. Also, a tourism company is shoving these onto some tourist locations, bringing up a 15 to 20-second audio snippet of what you're looking at. If they could stick this on things like busses, taxis, waitresses, drug dealers and prostitutes (all common in SF), we'd gladly use this service. [SFGate via New Launches]

Linux Last Man Standing In PWN 2 OWN Thunderdome [Contests]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/260415916/linux-last-man-standing-in-pwn-2-own-thunderdome

The dust has settled on PWN 2 OWN and Linux FTW! The Ubuntu-equipped Sony VAIO was the only computer to get through the tournament unscathed, managing to elude the assembled hackers. On Thursday the MacBook Air was the first to go, followed the next day by the Vista-running Fujitsu, conquered by Shane Macaulay. No one, but no one, however, was able to bring down the penguin. [ PWN 2 OWN via PC World ]

Windows XP Eee PC Available at Best Buy in April, Pricing Stays Sweet [UMPCs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/260732845/windows-xp-eee-pc-available-at-best-buy-in-april-pricing-stays-sweet

XP%20Eee%20GI.jpg Our buddies at LaptopMag have just published details about the long-rumored, US bound, Windows XP Eee PC. The Windows XP version will go on sale at Best Buy for $399, and you won't have to wait too long either, as Asus expects the systems to ship on April 9th. The system that will run the Windows XP OS shall be the standard Eee PC 4G, which LaptopMag have been putting through its paces for over a month. The machine makes a solid impression overall, however, the disk space is a bit limited to run Windows XP and additional applications on top. Asus are considering dropping in a 4GB SD card to aid in the disk space shortage, but nothing has been confirmed to that end. Jump for the complete spec of the Windows XP Asus Eee PC.

Colors: Pearl White, Black
LCD Size / Type: 7″ Wide

LCD Resolution: 800 x 480 (~WVGA)

LCD Type: TFT

Graphic: Intel UMA

Chipset: Intel Mobile Chipset

Processor: Intel Mobile CPU

Memory: 512MB DDR2

S.S.D Storage (Solid State Disk): 4GB

OS: Windows XP Home Preloaded

Software: MS Works, Windows Live

Audio: High-Definition Audio CODEC

Microphone: 1 Internal Microphone

Speakers: 2 Internal Stereo Speakers

Audio Jack-Out (3.5mm)

Audio Jack-In (3.5mm)

Wireless Included: 802.11 b/g

LAN / Connector: 10/100 Mbps / RJ-45

3 USB 2.0 ports

Memory Card Reader: MMC/SD(SDHC)

VGA Port 1 (D-sub 15 pin)

Integrated Camera

Battery: four-cell 4400mAh

Battery Life: 2.8 hours

AC Adapter Output: 9.5V, 22W

AC Adapter Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz universal

Unit Weight: 2.0 lbs (with battery)

Unit Dimensions: 8.86 x 6.30 x 0.79 ~ 1.26 inches

If all you wanted for Christmas was an Asus Eee PC running Windows XP, then Santa's delivered. Yes, it's a little late, but like a faltering parachute, it's better late than never. Checkout the hands on by clicking through to number two. (Dr Dre, I can rhyme all sorts of stuff, call me.) [LaptopMag; 1, 2]

Dilbert's Boss Is Probably Zoltan in Disguise [Cartoon]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/260745250/dilberts-boss-is-probably-zoltan-in-disguise

Today's Dilbert cartoon reminds me of Addy's brilliant story about Zoltan, the man who married a robot made with a sex doll, hacked teledildonics, and A.L.I.C.E., the artificial intelligence software that makes her brains. Some people made fun of Zoltan, but this cartoon shows a simple fact: many humans, bosses, employees, spouses, and lovers around us have the same probabilities of passing the Turing test as Zoltan's wife. Including myself on a friday night. [Dilbert]

Biosensing nanodevice could hasten security checks, health screenings

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/260542796/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We'll go ahead and warn you: if you're hoping to purge your mind of all things science this weekend, this post isn't the one to be reading. For the rest of you knowledge seekers, Arizona State University researcher Wayne Frasch has developed a biosensing nanodevice that could possibly revolutionize health screenings and speed up that grueling airport security process. Put simply (well, as simply as possible), he discovered that the enzyme F1- ATPase can be equipped with an optical probe and "manipulated to emit a signal when it detects a single molecule of target DNA." Currently, a prototype of the DNA detector is already being worked up, but there's no word on when (or if) the device will escape the lab and hit the commercial realm. Still not geeked out? Hit the read link and hold on for dear life.

[Via Physorg]

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Atom processor to cost Intel just $6 to $8?

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/260650777/

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Ever since Intel compared the criticality of its (still) forthcoming Silverthorne (which now goes by Atom, if you couldn't guess) processor to the original Pentium last June, we've all wondered just how fantasmical our worlds would become when this thing finally dropped. Now, however, Tom's Hardware has discovered that the release may actually do more for Intel than we geeks. After consulting a source it believes to be quite credible, it found that the CPU -- which will likely sell for upwards of $30 at the low-end -- will cost Intel just "$6 to $8, including production, packaging and shipping." Without busting out the abacus, it's still fairly easy to see how profitable said chips could be if Intel can move these at even a snail's pace, but of course, we'd take the dollars and cents estimates with a grain of salt until they actually hit the market.

[Via Digg]

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