Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Useful Modding: Scientists Hack CD Player, Transform It into Lab Scanner

from Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale

When researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia needed a lab scanner, but didn't have the cash to pay for it, they didn't panic. Instead, Angel Maqueira and his colleagues bought a bog-standard CD player &mdash and hacked it, saving themselves a potential $70,000 in the process.

By soldering two additional light sensors inside the CD player, and then using software, the researchers were able to control how the device "played" a disk. The substance to be analyzed (in this case, the team was trying to detect traces of three different pesticides in various samples) was then placed on a normal compact disc, and inserted into the machine.

While the first light sensor identified where the sample was on the disc, using black marks on the edge of the disc, the second analyzed the sample itself, measuring the amount of laser light that was able to pass through the disk. Normally, discs reflect around 30 percent of the laser beam onto the reading head, while the rest passes through.

The sample, half a millimeter in size, was treated to produce dye or silver that was inversely proportional to the amount of pesticide in the sample. Using the modded CD player, they could detect pesticide levels as low as 0.02 micrograms per liter just by seeing how much laser light passed through the disc to the second sensor.

While it may not be as accurate as genuine lab sensors, which can cost between $42,000 and $85,000, the hacked CD player is accurate enough for many laboratory tasks &mdash some experts think the cheap and cheerful device would work wonders in developing countries, helping the fight against malaria, for instance. And the shorter wavelength lasers of Blu-ray and HD DVD technology will make the process even easier. [New Scientist]

Pure Digital announces million camcorder giveaway for non-profits

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

At under $200, Pure Digital's recently announced Flip Video camcorders are already pretty inexpensive, but the company now looks to be trying to make them even cheaper for non-profit organizations -- as in free. That's the goal of the company's just announced Flip Video Spotlight program, which aims to give up to one million of the camcorders to non-profits and other non-governmental organizations over the next five years. Apparently, the initiative (which is set to get underway this December) will operate as a donor matching program, with donors (or the organizations themselves) able to purchase so-called Flip Video Spotlight Kits, which Flip Video will match one-to-one. Much like the OLPC program, Flip Video sees virtually no end to the benefits of its camcorders, with Pure Digital CEO Jonathan Kaplan saying the company believes "video can help change the world."

Researchers tout advances in development of pure white LEDs

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science are making some fairly bold claims about their latest advance in the realm of white LEDs, boasting that they are now getting closer to the "Holy Grail of the illumination industry." That, they say, is a white LED that produces a pure white light suitable for everyday use (as opposed to the "warm white" LEDs used in pricey bulbs like the one seen here). The big advance here, it seems, is the development of the first LED based on a "new phosphor from semiconductor nanocrystals of cadmium sulfide mixed with manganese." While we're admittedly not entirely sure what all that is, the researchers claim that the result is an LED that produces a stable and constant shade of white light, which is "superior in overall performance" to previous white LEDs. They're apparently not fully satisfied with the results just yet though, and are reportedly working to boost the efficiency of the LEDs to make them more suitable for everyday applications.

D-Link gives DSM-520 access to hundreds of online TV channels

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Evidently, loosing the DSM-750 Extender for Windows Media Center just wasn't enough for D-Link, as the firm seemingly felt the need to give loyal (and to-be) owners of the DSM-520 Wireless HD Media Player a nice bonus. Starting today, buyers of the aforementioned digital media adapter will have access to "more than 200 online channels," as the unit can now take advantage of active-TV technology. The service reportedly "allows easy access to internet video and entertainment sites with a remote control," and it also uses a "content aggregator developed by MediaMall Technologies." Some notable channels include Comedy Central, CinemaNow, Google Video, Movielink, ROOtv Music Videos, Akimbo, MTV, Musicmatch, Napster, VH1, ESPN and FOX Sports, and there's also international content out there for those willing to branch out. The expanded DSM-520 should be shipping momentarily for $249.99, and existing owners can snag the update gratis on October 4th.

A Chat with Konarka Co-Founder Howard Berke

from Earth2Tech by Katie Fehrenbacher

Howard Berke, the co-founder and executive chairman of the board for solar polymer company Konarka, stepped down from his role as CEO in June, but we still found him out manning the company booth at the Solar Power 2007 convention this week. We chatted with him about the Lowell, Mass.-based company's plans for commercialization — Berke says the first products won't likely hit the market until the second half of 2008.

A lot companies developing thin film and other new solar technologies are struggling to move into the production phase, and companies like Miasolé and Nanosolar continue to raise funding to take that next step. Konarka was founded in 2001, and built with $60 million from venture capital firms 3i, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Good Energies, NEA, Partech and Vanguard Ventures. Konarka is also reportedly seeking to raise another $40 million in a late stage of venture funding and while the company won't comment on that report, they won't officially deny it either.

Konarka's technology is different from some of the other thin film startups and it is based on organic semi-conducting polymers. Berke says the technology can be manufactured at a lower cost — their target cost is $1 per watt — it is more environmentally friendly, and can be printed on a variety of lighter-weight materials. Thin film technologies like cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) can have potential safety hazards and some higher costs. At the same time, Konarka's efficiency rate runs between three and five percent, which is less than many standard solar efficiencies.

All these qualities make the technology suitable for applications such as packaging with a little solar power added in. Berke uses soft drinks as an example: Say there's two soft-drink brands in a store, one with packaging that has lights blinking and the other without — which one are you more drawn to? Another example would be a cereal box solar-powered electronic game — since the materials aren't hazardous, he says, they can more easily be disposed of.

OK, a little wasteful, but we get it. The company is also looking at applications in clothing, handbags, toys, cell phones, laptops, windows, traffic signals, and smart lighting, among others.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Scientists Create the First Super-duper "Pure White LED"

from Gizmodo by Ben Longo

The American Chemical Society is claiming that the "holy grail" of the LED world has been reached. A pair of Indian Scientists have created a pure white LED. No longer will we have to suffer with odd blue- or yellow-like white LED's. The method used to achieve the white color was so blatantly obvious, they used "phosphors made from semiconductor nanocrystals of cadmium sulfide mixed with manganese." The scientific duo is currently attempting to raise its production consistency so that it can be brought to the masses. [Physorg via ACS]

Cellphones: Sling Player Now Available on Nokia N95

from Gizmodo by Wilson Rothman

We knew it was just a matter of time before the HSDPA-enabled Nokia N95 would score itself a Series60 friendly Sling Player, and lo, here it is. As you can see in the gallery, you initially access commands through menus, but the trick is to set your favorite commands along with your favorite channels. In case you were wondering, you can't use the transport keys for the N95 video player. One of these days, that would be nice. But as hand model Dave Zatz was showing us, you can do some quick maneuvers using keypad hot keys. Stay tuned for our detailed review. [Sling Media]

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

State of the Art computer generated footage

Web Utilities: Create a Multi-Anchored Link with URL Split

from Lifehacker by Adam Pash

Web utility URL Split creates single URLs that direct users to up to seven different web sites. For example, clicking this link five times will direct you to five of my recent Hack Attack Features in the order I linked them ( one, two, three, four, and five). The site is built on an interesting idea, but in practice it could use some work—in particular, one would expect to be able to continue following the link chain from each link location (through some sort of proxy hosting). As is you have to continue opening the same link in a new tab until you see that it repeats, which really just causes more ambiguity than it's worth. If it worked as I suggested, though, URL Split could be a nice tool for sharing simple link tours or step-by-steps.

URL Split [via MakeUseOf]

Featured Windows Download: Turn Your Smartphone into a Webcam with SmartCam

from Lifehacker by Adam Pash

Windows only: Free, open source application SmartCam turns your Symbian Series 60 smartphone into a wireless Bluetooth webcam. Just install the program in Windows (works in XP and Vista) and install the client to your smartphone (be sure to follow the readme in the \win\installer directory). When it's all set up, your SmartCam works with Skype and most other video chat services, meaning that if your computer doesn't have a webcam but you've got Bluetooth and a Symbian smartphone, you're in luck. SmartCam is a free download, Windows only.

SmartCam [SourceForge via Inspect My Gadget]

How Terry Semel Blew Yahoo's Deal For Facebook

from Silicon Alley Insider by Peter Kafka

How much is Facebook worth? $5 billion? $10 billion? $15 billion? Whatever the number, it's probably a lot more than the $1 billion Terry Semel's Yahoo could have bought it for a year ago. As Yahoo continues its soul-searching, here's the unpleasant history of Semel's catastrophic decision, courtesy of Fred Vogelstein at Wired:

When Yahoo came calling with a bid of $1 billion in cash, the pressure became too much. [Mark Zuckerberg] relented in July [2006], verbally agreeing to sell Facebook to Yahoo. Strategically, it seemed like a good match. Yahoo had hundreds of millions of users, but its foray into social networking was struggling. Facebook had cool tools and was looking for a mass audience.

The timing, however, couldn't have been worse. In the days after Zuckerberg agreed to sell, Yahoo announced it was projecting slower sales and earnings growth, and that the launch of its new advertising platform would be delayed. Its stock price plunged 22 percent overnight. Terry Semel, Yahoo's CEO at the time, reacted by cutting his offer from $1 billion to $800 million. Zuckerberg, who had been warned about Semel's reputation for last-minute renegotiations, walked away. Two months later, Semel reissued the original $1 billion bid, but by then Zuckerberg had convinced his board and executive team that Yahoo wasn't a serious partner and that Facebook would be worth more on its own. He rejected the offer and became famous as the cocky youngster who turned down $1 billion. Wired

How about 200Mbps for $88.20? Hong Kong Fiber Optic Rates Prove Verizon's FiOS is a Rip-Off

from Gizmodo by adam frucci

While Verizon is out aggressively trying to sell the country on their FiOS fiber optic web connection packages , which range from $40 per month for 5Mbps to 30Mbps for $180 (extra for TV and phone service!), Hong Kong residents can now enjoy their own fiber optic connections from Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited… which happen to be a fraction of the price and many times faster than what we can get here. Yes, HK residents can now get a whopping 100Mbps fiber optic connection for a mere $48.50 a month. And that's the entry-level package.

How about 200Mbps for $88.20? Yeah, not quite enough, I agree. You might as well jump up to 1Gbps for $215.40 a month. But hey, you don't really need that, do you? You should be thanking Verizon for the opportunity to pay them for a pathetic 5Mbps connection. I mean, the US is so far down on the per-country broadband speed chart (the Japanese are enjoying 60Mbps average) that we should just be loving any crumbs the telecoms are willing to toss our way, right? Thanks again, Verizon! [ CNNMoney via Broadband Reports ]

Terabitz To Expand Beyond Home Searches Today

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

Palo Alto-based Terabitz launched in July 2007 as a sort of Netvibes/Pageflakes for people searching for real estate.

A search on the site pulls up a basic Google map of the area and nothing else. But users can then drag in modules to add information - local foreclosures, recent sales, listed homes, schools, even fast food restaurants. Every module that is added by a user also adds the appropriate information to the map as well. It's a very convenient way to get a feel for the neighborhood.

The original idea for the company came from seventeen year old Kamran Munshi, who is now a freshman at Yale. His father, Ashfaq, ran with the idea and raised $10 million in funding. The company has 32 employees (12 in the U.S., 30 in India).

Later today the company is launching a new feature - the ability to create a map with various modules included and then embed it on another website. So any site that wants to add a Google generated map that includes, say, local businesses and restaurants (a hotel, for example) can now do so easily. The tool is free, but will be branded with Terabitz.

Marketers Wait Before Tackling Adblock

Source: http://www.adweek.com/aw/iq_interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003645941
September 24, 2007
By Eric Newman

NEW YORK Marketers mostly shrugged off a threat from Adblock Plus, a tool recently added to the Firefox browser that lets users delete banner ads and disable flash and rich-media messages.

The software, described by some as a "TiVo for the Web," is designed to make Web browsing a purer user experience, said Wladimir Palant, who developed the program as an update to a version released five years ago.

"Adblock is definitely important because there are still too many ads, ones that make sounds and others that are animated, float in the middle of the screen obscuring text and do just about anything else to grab your attention," he said.

Firefox also hosts TubeStop, which blocks ad overlays on YouTube videos, and another program that replaces banner ads with public domain artwork.

Despite the potential attraction of ad-free surfing, marketers appeared nonplussed, arguing that Adblock Plus won't change the online marketing industry, mainly because it's on a niche browser. They also point to the fact that similar programs on larger browsers have not yet revolutionized the business model.

"This particular program is just one part of a larger trend that's a fact of life for marketers," said Ilya Vedrashko, an emerging-media strategist at Hill Holiday, Boston. Vedrashko said browsers such as Internet Explorer, which he says controls 64 percent of browser usage (versus 17.5 percent for Firefox), also have ad blocking tools. "I wouldn't overestimate the importance of the business impact of this application."

Vedrashko argued on his blog last week that such technology is actually good for marketers because it forces them to make better ads. John Paulson, president at digital marketing agency G2 Interactive, New York, agreed. "From an industry standpoint, I don't think any of this is stuff we should be afraid of because it just puts the onus on the image creators to put out messages of value to the user," he said. But Jenny Howell, manager of interactive marketing for American Honda Motor, was less sanguine: "Although penetration of Adblock is still quite low, conceptually, programs like Adblock are, of course, frightening to an online marketer."

Still, Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, New York, said his organization plans to reach out to technology providers to persuade them to discourage the use of ad-blocking software.

Attractive Online Diagrams, Charts And Maps

from Smashing Magazine by Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz

Data charts and diagrams are used when statistical data has to be presented in the most convenient and usable way. Visual charts are clear, visually appealing and easier to perceive than some simple enumerations or tables - mainly because users don't have to analyze the meaning of presented facts, but can perceive main tendencies through the visual weight of the facts — directly.

You can create charts in graphic editors or use special applications (software or web-apps) which can help you to create your charts in few minutes. However, once you'd like to update an old chart, or create a new one, you have to run the application and create new images over and over again. That's not flexible. Or maybe you just want to offer your visitors not a simple image, but a powerful dynamic chart.

amCharts: Flexible and Dynamic Solution

To gain a greater level of flexibility you need to take a closer look at further approaches. One of them could be a flash-based solution which loads the data from server — from a config-text file. And this is exactly what amCharts offers. There are 4 sets with predefined Pie & Donut, Line & Area, Column & Bar and Scatter & Bubble. Generated Flash-files are dynamic and can be presented in 2D or 3D.

The loader can load data from XML or CSV (coma separated values text file), this means you can easily export data from Excel, dynamically generate data file with PHP, ASP, .NET or other programming language. Some flash-charts also have animation effects (bounce effect, growing effect) and offer users a possibility to export the chart as an image. You can also choose font and text sizes for all texts, specify the colors and define roll-over indicator's color, transparency and text color.

Data sets and configuration can be changed in a simple text-file. You can download and use amCharts for free. The only limitation of free version is that a small link to this web site will be displayed in top left corner of your charts. If you'd like to be able to use the tool without a backlink you can buy a single site license for 85 Euros (~$117).

The developer of the tool, Antanas Marcelionis, also offers a customizable flash-based solution for interactive maps, amMap: same conditions, same level of flexibility. In both cases you can start to create your own charts and maps right away - the documentation is well-structured and easy-to-use.

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