Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Aug 30

Sony’s Playstation has a long and illustrious history. I remember buying my first Playstation 1 back in roughly 1997 and it was cutting edge at the time. The graphics and gameplay were nothing short of amazing. Anyone remember “Abe’s Oddysey”?!

Of course, since then things have moved on. Firstly the Playstation 2 and then even the Playstation 3. Of course the PS3 was a tremendously impressive piece of kit, but was hardly cheap.

Now it seems that Sony are relaunching the PS3, much like they did with the PS1 some years ago, and based on what we’ve seen it looks like the new machine is going to be a run away success.

It seems that Sony have really put some thought into making the PS3 the “must have” gadget for Christmas 2009 having expanded it from just a games console to now being your entertainment center.

Now of course it does play games. And HD games at that for an amazing gaming experience. But plug your PS3 into your broadband connection and suddenly it becomes so much more than just a games system. Thanks to Sony’s “Playstation Network” you can now access a world of new entertainment.

For example, you can play demos of new games to see what you think before actually buying them. And if you like them, you can download the game straight into your PS3 rather than having to go out and buy a disc. Cold, wet winters day? No problem! Just try out the latest games and purchase the one that looks best then get on with playing. What could be easier?

Of course it’s not just games you can access on the network. You will also be able to rent or buy movies and music too, and even surf the internet. Oh, and don’t worry about all the hard drive space because Sony have increased the drive space from 80gig to an impressive 120gig to give you plenty of space for all your media.

Games, movies, music and internet - all on one device and accessable from the comfort of your couch? Sounds pretty good to me.

And just to top it off, Sony have reduced the size of the PS3 by around a third, and have dropped the price too making this piece of kit even more affordable than ever before.

One final point worth making before you dash out for your game system is the newly released Playstation Eye, which is a motion sensitive camera that will attach to the PS3. It can act as a web cam if you desire or best of all, it will allow you to play motion sensitive games thus challenging the Nintendo Wii for functionality.

It should be interesting to see how Nintendo respond to this onslaught to their realm…

posted by admin on Aug 16

Hello again, and welcome to a some what shorter blog carnival than normal as I will be away on vacation at the time this is posted, and only have a small selection of interesting write-ups to choose from - but will include any missed articles in next months!

So to start we have a convincing article by Lazy Man explaining quite simply Why I’ll Try to Buy a Palm Pre Tomorrow.

Randomly, Mike offers up some details on some insect technology! He describes a Virtual Fly Brain Computer Model.

Lets move to the topical subject with Marco Gustafsson with his appraisal of the up and coming E-paper 2.0 And Fujitsu Has It In Color. Interesting stuff.

And finally - the ubiquitous Apps article - this time for kids, by Allison Johanson 50 Fun iPhone Apps to Get Kids Reading and Learning.

Sorry again that it is so short - but hope to see you again next month…..

posted by admin on Aug 11

Could we put loads of tiny ‘parasols’ in space to cool the Earth?

There is currently some thought in the geo-engineering world that it could actually be possible to shield the Earth from some of the heating effects of the sun.

Now, I know in the northern states the last thing we want is less sun and more cold weather - but if it saves the planet from the effects of global warming, then some people think it might be worth the sacrifices.

However, as the world gets warmer anyway - this shielding effect would only bring it back down to where it was in the first place.  We can’t block the sun completely otherwise life as we know it would change completely anyway.  We need the sun - but we just want a bit less of it!

So, What Are They Planning To Do?
Well, nothing is set in stone obviously as this is one big project.  It is so in the early stages that it isn’t even a definate answer to anything - it is just a possible solution - one of many, but probably the most ambitious!

Basically, there is a proposal for millions of tiny reflective particles to be propelled up into space to fill a gap between the Sun and the Earth.  Ideally, these particles would be about 2 feet wide and about a trillion of them will need to be fired into space for this to work!

One of the astronomers offering up suggestions for this type of engineering project is suggesting that this ’shield’ should be set at about a million miles out from the Earth’s surface for best results and ease of installation!  Rocket power or simply planes could be the vessels used to propel all these disks into orbit when the time was right.

Who Is Thinking Of This Anyway?
An eminent telescope designer and astronomer called Roger Angel is at the forefront of this technology, and he can show how this theory has been proved as effective by nature herself.

After several major volcanic eruptions in our recent past, the temperature of the Earth has dramatically cooled and stayed cooler as the particles thrown up by the explosions hover in the atmostphere and block out the effects of the sun.

He quotes that Mount Pinatubo in the Phillippines exploded in 1991 and threw 10 million tonnes of sulphur into the outer atmostphere which slowly spread around the whole globe in a sort-of curtain.  Records clearly show that the global temperature was about 1 whole degree cooler for about 12 months after the eruption.

So we know that the sun-shade idea would work.

So, Why Aren’t We Doing It?
Well, the trillion dollar price tag is a minor drawback to the scheme for starters!

Also, what would the long term effects be of such a huge project?  Could we re-capture them all if it worked too well?  How many could we put up there in the first place?  What if they all clumped together or flew apart?

I think governments are all trying to slow global warming or climate change in their own way - many are failing though.  Badly failing (or not even really trying in the first place!).

Maybe this is just one of the crazy ideas now that might actually be one of the big players of the next few decades.

How long we can keep denying the world is changing is one thing, how we are going to cope with it is another!

posted by admin on Aug 6

Want to save ink without having to shrink the font size?

Well, now you can reduce the amount of ink you use when printing normal-size fonts by using a special ‘perforated’ lettering technique.

This new Ecofont has been designed by a Dutch marketing firm to save ink without shrinking your advertising to the size of a thimble!

How Does It Work?
Basically at small sizes - such as a normal 10-font size - the printing just looks a bit paler than any other normal text, such as Tahoma. However, the secret of this potentially massive money-saving ink-reducing eco-advance can only be seen when you blow up the font size to larger sizes like 32.

Then you see that it is full of holes!

Basically someone has gone through all the letters, numbers and symbols with a tiny cookie cutter and the resulting ‘holey’ print can save a fifth of the usual ink needed for basic home printing needs.

I can’t believe nobody thought of this sooner!

Scaled up- Spranq - the company involved in this eco-invention - reckon that a company with 5000 employers could save around $125,000 per year! That is a lot of savings - and not a lot of ink cartridges to replace!

Scaled down - it would certainly be suitable for printing general stuff off the Internet like road directions or receipts and product details. Work emails can be printed off without the added costs that bosses normally moan about and kids can print out their homework without their parents giving them grief about the money!

It Has Limitations, Of Course…
…but this Ecofont isn’t designed for massive posters and street-side adverts.

Nor would it be appropriate for job applications and legal documents - but it is certainly and great idea for the home, school and small businesses - and could still be part of the recession-proofing of many larger companies who would rather cut back on ink than staff!

Download yours now for free at ecofont.eu and pass on the word!