I predict fun and games learning to drive the Gyration Air Mouse but it looks like it could be worth it. Unlike an ordinary rolling ball or optical mouse this one doesn’t need a flat surface to work. Just wave it around and motion sensors inside the case tracks your movements. This information is translated by ‘intuitive’ software, which works out where on the PC screen you want the mouse pointer to go. It also responds to a range of simple ‘gestures’ that are basically shortcuts for frequently used functions, like highlighting or magnifying text. It communicates wirelessly with a small dongle that plugs into a vacant USB socket on the PC, and for good measure, it also works as normal mouse on flat surfaces, so lie back in your easy chair, wave at your laptop and it will do as it is told, probably… In the shops soon, expect it to cost upwards of £60.
This kindly looking old gentleman could be your next best friend, if you are thinking about buying an electric car, laptop, or indeed anything powered by lithium ion batteries. His name is Peter Roth and he’s the lead researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. His team is part of a government funded research project called FreedomCAR and it is focusing on Lithium Ion batteries, which have a bit of a reputation for popping and bursting into flames. So far it’s only been a bit of a nuisance for laptop owners, with a handful of fried machines and no serious injuries or damage, but imagine what could happen when you get hundreds of them packed tightly together in an electric car. Read the rest of this entry »
The Mobile Notetaker attaches to the top of any pad of paper and digitizes your notes for download to a computer later (and translated to editable text). It can store up to 50 standard pages of notes or doodles, and costs $170. It’s aimed at solving the same problem of analog vs. digital notes that the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer is attempting. I need one, because I take really good notes at meetings with my boss. Okay, they’re more like drawings. Read the rest of this entry »
We all know Facebook is a real phenomenon on the Internet but when it is accessed from other places than your personal computer, it instantly becomes a serious matter. Security company Sophos conducted a special research to find out how many employees access Facebook from work and how often they do it. No more than 37.2 percent of the total 500 Facebook users who answered the questionnaire said they access the social network website one or twice a day from their workstation, while 8 percent admitted they visit the page up to ten times a day. The juicy part is that 14.8 percent of the respondents said they are permanently connected to Facebook during their work time.
“The results show that more than one fifth of these Facebook users are actually Facebook abusers. They’re seriously struggling to tear themselves away from the website when they should be concentrating on their jobs - disturbing news for all organizations that are still allowing employees uncontrolled access,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. Read the rest of this entry »
I predict fun and games learning to drive the Gyration Air Mouse but it looks like it could be worth it. Unlike an ordinary rolling ball or optical mouse this one doesn’t need a flat surface to work. Just wave it around and motion sensors inside the case tracks your movements. This information is translated by ‘intuitive’ software, which works out where on the PC screen you want the mouse pointer to go. It also responds to a range of simple ‘gestures’ that are basically shortcuts for frequently used functions, like highlighting or magnifying text. It communicates wirelessly with a small dongle that plugs into a vacant USB socket on the PC, and for good measure, it also works as normal mouse on flat surfaces, so lie back in your easy chair, wave at your laptop and it will do as it is told, probably… In the shops soon, expect it to cost upwards of £60.
