Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, June 05, 2009

RT @bmorrissey - Digg plans social ads -- http://ping.fm/tGV8X -- in-the-stream ads, will they provoke or please?

A search engine with an answer to "the meaning of life" and a personality too -- http://ping.fm/ZjeWT -- too awesome/funny

Inside the $485-Million Airbus A380 Flying Palace [Airplanes]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/71amvzI4BhA/inside-the-485+million-airbus-a380-flying-palace

What's 239 feet long, flies at 647mph, and has three floors that include a grand staircase, four giant full suites, boardroom with hologram projector, a full spa, concert hall, car garage, and a space-age lift that drops onto the runway?

Apparently, it may be Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud's new specially retro-fitted A380. As you may remember, the arabian Prince shone his genie lamp and bought an Airbus A380—the biggest passenger plane in the world—for his personal use.

British company Design Q is now making the plans for its interior, three floors with every luxurious detail you can imagine, including a lift that goes all the way down to the runway's tarmac and extends a red carpet so guests can get into the flying palace. I can already imagine a stunning hostess saying "Welcome, Mr Bond."

In addition to all of the above, the full marble Turkish bath in the spa, and twenty first class seats/beds for the extra guests, the plane will be full of high tech gadgets. The boardroom, for example, will have a hologram projector and a giant touchscreen perspex table, while each suite will include a virtual prayer mat proyector, always pointing in Mecca's direction.

Whoever bought it, I hope he invites us for a trip. And with "us" I mean "me." I can sleep on the couch, Mr Prince Sir you. [Daily Mail]

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Five new Moorestown-based MIDs announced at Computex

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/five-new-moorestown-based-mids-announced-at-computex/

Pardon us while we take this opportunity to snag a nap, but seriously, we just cannot muster any excitement whatsoever about Mobile Internet Devices. Stuck somewhere between capable smartphones and these newfangled smartbooks, MIDs seem to be carving out a niche that precisely no one cares about. Though, we can say we're stoked about the forthcoming introduction of Moorestown -- the Atom needs a successor in the worst way. At any rate, those still hanging on in hopes of a turnaround have introduced new MIDs today at Computex, with EB, Quanta, Inventec, Aava Mobile and Compal (despite its recent skepticism) showcasing their wares. If you honestly think you could see yourself purchasing one of these unwanted devices in the next year or so, we've got plenty of images down there in the read link.

[Via MIDMoves]

Filed under: Handhelds

Five new Moorestown-based MIDs announced at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Compal shows off Android-running, Snapdragon-powered smartbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/compal-shows-off-android-running-snapdragon-powered-smartbook/

As if it wasn't clear already, smartbooks are one of the big trends (if not the biggest) to emerge out of this year's Computex, be they Snapdragon or Tegra-powered. Just as interesting as the devices themselves, however, is the fact that a number of manufacturers are looking at using Android as an OS for 'em, including big players like ASUS, and now Compal. While's ASUS' Snapdragon-based offering was impressive enough, Compal looks to have slightly outdone it by adding a customized interface at start-up, which is apparently just a taste of further "optimizations" to come. Details are otherwise a bit hard to come by, but you can head on past the break for a hands-on video courtesy of techvideoblog.com.

Continue reading Compal shows off Android-running, Snapdragon-powered smartbook

Filed under: Laptops