The Mesmerising Blob of Infinity
Quite frankly, these days’ screensavers are a waste of time. LCD monitors do not suffer from the ‘screen burn’ effect that affected old style CRT monitors when left to display the same image for hours on end. That said, a blank or simple floating logo screensaver on a black background can provide a small power saving when a PC is left idle (though there are much better ways to achieve it). On the other hand password protecting a screensaver is a handy way of keeping prying eyes off your PC when it is left unattended for any length of time. Well, that’s my excuse for mentioning Zoom Mania. It’s a wacky, trance-inducing fractal blob thingy that floats around the screen giving off streams of smaller blobs that appear to disappear into infinity. You can move it around, zoom in and out and do all kinds of weird and wonderful things to the image. Try it after a couple of pints and I guarantee you won’t get any work done. It’s freeware but when you install it watch out for very kind offers to load browser toolbars and change your home page, unless of course you want it to…
Make Mine a Martin
Now I know I said my last Christmas present list revision would be the last but I’ve had to change it again because now what I want for Xmas is a Martin Jetpack. Okay, I know it’s not quite the compact rocket (or jet) powered strap-on flying gizmo I had hoped for, and it looks and sounds more like a monster leaf-blower, but the range (30 miles) and endurance (30 minutes) make it a near-practical form of transport, for Londoner like me at any rate. The twin ducted fans can drive it up to ceiling of 8000 feet, it’ll zoom along at 60mph, it runs on regular unleaded and if the motor conks out there’s a ballistic parachute to get you safely back on the deck. The bad news? Well, it will have to be a late Christmas pressie because they’re not due to go on sale until January 2010, and prospective buyers need to stump up a deposit of $10,000, and that’s without knowing the final cost, which Martin say will be about as much as luxury car. So start saving now, and maybe if a few of you club together we can rustle up that deposit. Read more
The batteries have been wondering about
Computer and video cards in our different types of components such as hard disk constantly renewed, but not in a big change. On the other hand, different features and peripherals as the continuous innovation and re-designed to provide again. As dependent on computers that are running around the outside of the user-friendly kind of portable devices is becoming increasingly common. That occur in technological progress can not stop stop the smart devices is causing to be indispensable. The best example of this recording, video player and camera features such as a host of smart devices. This smart device has such a kind that a single volume of seven different features can fit into. These devices are referred to as MP3 players, of course, but nice feature different products together. Read more
Beer Powered USB Drive
Well, not exactly, and we’re not even sure the golden brown liquid in this rather eye-catching flash drive is actually beer, but we can tell you that it is available in capacities from 128Mb to 8Gb (sorry, no half pint or litre versions yet – now that would be useful…).
It is being produced by a company called CNK Promotions, and it’s the sort of thing that companies give away at exhibitions but CNK will happily pack their custom drives with the liquid of your choosing but be warned, the minimum order on this particular item (1Gb version) is 250 and at $20 a pop, not including the setup fee, you need to be pretty generous, or drunk, to give them away
NVIDIA to Prep Dual Chip and 40nm Cards
nvidia
It seems that NVIDIA is working on a dual chip solution right now, although it’s trying to keep it secret. It is not sure what chip the green company will use to power the card, yet there are some voices stating that it may be a GT200 55nm. The same rumors say that the dual chip solution may be due for a December launch.
The Santa Clara graphics card manufacturer appears to be silent on its future plans. It only talked about CUDA, PhysX and Graphics plus concept with its partners, yet it is focusing on the graphics solutions for gaming or other segments as well. The new card that the company is rumored to be working on may prove a power hungry and really hot product, yet it won’t matter that much if it manages to perform a lot better than Radeon HD 4870 X2, the leader of the extreme performance market today. Read more
Fit For Purpose?
fitpc
What’s all this then? At first glance it looks like it might be some sort of wireless gadget but believe it or not it is a complete PC, and no, that’s not a giant key. It’s called Fit-PC Slim and the whole thing measures just 10 x 11 x 3cm, which isn’t much larger than a pack of 20 cigarettes. Inside the box they have managed to squeeze an AMD Geode CPU running at 500MHz, there’s 512Mb RAM, a 60GB hard drive, Wi-FI and audio adaptors plus all the usual inputs and outputs. It comes pre-loaded with Linux or XP; there’s no fan, so it’s completely silent and all it needs to run is a simple 12-volt power supply. Amazing stuff, though you might now be asking why, and I have to say that I have no easy answers, but for someone out there it’s just what they’ve been waiting for!
Beware of Russian iPhony
Visitors to Russia should be on the alert for cheap iPhones, according to an item on Englishrussia.com. The scam is simple; someone comes up to you in the street, apparently in distress because they don’t have enough money for a train or plane ticket. You look like a helpful sort of person and they offer to sell you their iPhone for a bargain price, so they can get home. It looks just like the real deal, and the seller offers to show you it is working, he (or she) switches it on and the Apple logo appears on the screen, but it quickly disappears; the battery is dead they explain, but it will be okay when you charge it up. Having parted with your money you hook said iPhone up to a charger, only to find that it’s a clever fake. What you have bought is a very convincing iPhone case, with a simple backlit screen with the Apple logo illuminated a small battery powered light bulb. Oh yes, and you get a small chunk of metal, to give it the right weight.
90 Percent Charge in 10 minutes
That’s what Toshiba reckons its latest Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB) is capable of, and the icing on the cake is that it should be able to withstand between 5000 and 6000 charge/discharge cycles, or up to ten times the number of charge cycles for a standard Lithium Ion battery pack. There’s even more good news, they won’t explode when crushed, which is probably not something most people need to worry about, but it could happen. However, there’s no word on what SCIB’s do when they are short-circuited, which is one of the possible reasons for the recent spate of well-publicised laptop battery fires. So what’s the catch? Well, Toshiba hasn’t announced a launch date yet, which usually means there are some manufacturing or cost difficulties, or both, still to be ironed out, but the idea of being able to get a dead laptop battery up and running in just a few minutes is going to appeal to a lot of power-users, so we probably won’t have to wait too long for it.
Power in your Pocket
How about this for green energy? A pocket-sized device developed by a US company called M2E (Motion 2 Energy) promises to generated enough electricity to charge cellphones, media players and such, just by rattling around in your pocket or handbag. The gizmo is full of coils and magnets that convert movement into electricity, which is stored in a rechargeable battery, ready to be let loose when you need it. Apparently it generates between three and seven times as much power as rival ‘kinetic’ energy systems. The company has also developed ‘D’ cell type batteries that self charge as they are moved around, a bit like those torches that light up when you shake them. Read more
How to shop for a laptop
Are you looking for a new laptop computer to run Windows? You’re probably among the millions of people wondering where to begin. Laptops (also called notebook computers) come in many shapes, designs, and sizes, with a bewildering array of prices and technical specifications. If you aren’t sure how to choose the best laptop for your needs, here’s some information to help you make the right purchase.
Start by taking a close look at how you’ll use your laptop. Don’t focus on technical specifications before you’ve asked yourself some basic questions: Read more
