Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Feb 16

There has been so much going on so far this year - and we are only in it by around 6 weeks!

So, let’s start with the question that is on everyone’s lips since the iPad was launched and the Kindle wanted to get bigger: so read Tabitha Mcivers article 25 Essential Free iPhone Apps to “Kindle-ize” Your iPhone to save you some money on upgrades if you can resist these new gadgets!

Shakira Dawn joins in the debate too with a great use for one of this years greatest releases: The Clinical iPad? 25 Ways Tablet PCs Are Used in Healthcare.

Another current topic in the news at the mo is related to social networking sites (and Facebook have changed their layout AGAIN) and here Aaliyah Williams gives us her opinion with her article titled: Google launches Buzz to take on Twitter and Facebook.

A comical article now from Big Cajun Man with a wishful article on a Financial Shock Collar!

Onto the future now with an interesting article by Will - who thinks that there is the potential for 3D Content & Programming On The Way - interesting, no?

A short one to finish with Ankesh highlighting a potential eco-phone: Sharp rolling out solar powered phone this month.

Happy Pancake Day!

posted by admin on Jan 25

There is a great new way to link up your work between your different hardware solutions! 

If you’re a techno-geek like me then you’ll no doubt have more than one computing device. Personally I use a laptop, desktop and a smartphone depending on where I am and what I’m doing.

But the use of multiple computing devices in this way can be a major inconvenience for one big reason. And that is file sharing.

The Current Problem: 
If I create a spreadsheet on my laptop while travelling, I don’t want to waste time emailing it from one computer to another, or saving it onto a memory stick and then manually copying it across to my other computer.

I just want to be able to create or edit a file on whichever device I happen to be using at the time, and then be able to access it from my other machines. So for example, if I am working on a presentation at the office and then want to move it onto my laptop so I can actually take it to my client, I don’t want to mess around. I just want it on my other computer. Without fuss.

And without fuss clearly means without wires or other gadgets. I don’t want to go to all the trouble of setting up a home network, convincing my computers to communicate with each other and so on. Not fun!

The Easy Solution?
So recently I was very pleased when a friend of mine introduced me to a fantastic new piece of software that does just this.

The software is called DropBox and comes with a variety of subscription models (including a free version for light users like me).

Essentially you install the DropBox software on all your computers and the software then creates a “worm hole” between all your devices. On the desktop screen of each piece of hardware you will see an item called “DropBox”. Simply drag a file into that folder and you will be able to access it securely from any of your other devices.

The software itself is password protected for your privacy and simply uses an internet connection to quickly and easily sync your files for you. I haven’t been this impressed with such a simple application in a long time.

Nice job, DropBox!

posted by admin on Jan 16

Happy New Year to all you readers - and here are some technological articles to inspire you in 2010.

First up, we have some extensive tips on using the Google Wave software by Herbert Anderson: 25 Tips for Students & Teachers Using Google Wave.

Sam Nash then leads with an interesting post on why we just accept the old as standard when we should be looking for the best instead - he gives his opinion on one of the alternative computer keyboards on the market: DAS Keyboard - The Successor to the IBM Model M Keyboard | Gadget News and Reviews.

A great review of the Samsung Corby Pro by Ankesh is up next with some great opinions and images: OG Review Samsung Corby Pro (GT-B5310), however the obligatory mobile apps post by Mary Jones this month, is about the 20 most useless ones that have been invented: The 20 Most Outrageous/Useless iPhone Apps!  Some are unbelievable…..

And to finish up, something fun: Jason Keller lists his Top 20 Online Games of 2010 and Ankesh gives us a quick glimpse at quite a neat looking gadget: ‘Printing Your Toast’ concept for the office geek.

See you next time!

posted by admin on Dec 4

Everytime I turn around - there are another bunch of ’apps’ doing the rounds!

Today there are nearly 100,000 mobile applications (apps) that you can choose from, ranging in simplicity from one that makes shotgun noises when you ‘cock’ to another one where you have to help multiple planes land, refuel, take off from your airport!

Some are challenging and seem to promote friendly competition over several weeks, and others are just one-hit-wonders that entertain you for about an hour, tops!

Why So Many?
The reason there are so many is because it is so easy to move these ideas around the office, friend groups and even the world with social networking sites and the increasing availability of ‘free’ internet time and texts etc - allowing kids and adults alike to pass these apps around to all their friends at the click of a button and seemingly ‘for free’.

Many of them save us doing a lot of ‘boring’ things like searching through phonebooks for restaurants or other services, finding tourist spots and museums as well as finding information in lists that will save us rifling through the internet services. You can even play your phone as a musical instrument!

GetJar - an online store for apps - has said that there could be 10 million apps available by 2020, and cheif executive Mr Laurs predicts that they will become more useful and more popular than the internet is now.

The Big Hitters:
Company-wise Apple run the show at the moment with over 65,000 appa available in their on-line store - but others like Nokia and Blackberry who also have smartphones are trying to replicate their success and keep in the market.

Apps-wise, no-one is really the big winner.  Most apps fall away with apparently a 90% fail rate, and those that spread the globe are short lived in the grand scheme of things.  Original apps need to keep coming, keep being invented and keep the user interested.

It can be something as simple as guessing which of the logos is actually the real one - which I found really tricky even though we see these logos virtually everyday (like BMW and Amazon).  Or as complicated as designing a tower-block - it just needs to be something that people want to share with friends - then you have your winner.

Anyone out there can invent their own new app - all hoping to be in that remaining 10%!

posted by admin on Nov 26

I just saw an advert for a new online ‘game’ that showed me a lot about how a city is powered - and the impact of ‘green’ alternatives.

It’s called Energyville and has been put together by The Economist Group, to show people the environmental costs of the many forms of energy available - and the essential we can’t do without at the moment.

Of course it is only a simplified storyline - but it is filled with facts and figures that really make you think about what we can expect for the future.  I mean I got to the point where it told me that we cannot currently run our transport networks without oil - we need it or we cannot exist.  So much for filling my city with ‘green’ energy!

Enter Energyville Yourself:
Take yourself to their website where you get a basic introduction to the site, then you name your city and either choose the actual game to start - or you can try the tester version to get to grips with the place.

I entered the tester city - which I decided to name ‘Hopesville’ - and it was very well laid out.  I was confronted with a very compact version of a major city with homes, an airport, factories, offices and transport systems: but nothing was working - it all had no power.  And the soundtrack was of just birdsong.

It all looked so peaceful - but then without all the noise and hub-bub of a city there wouldn’t be any food, furniture or products in the world!  So I needed to get things moving.

All the areas have information buttons where you can read about the energy needs of all the important sectors of a working city like commercial buildings, vehicles and homes as well as containing some amazing and extensive facts unique to that sector - like under transport it said that ‘ wide based tires improve fuel economy by up to 5% - saving up to 400 gallons of fuel per year; that’s US$1,680 at todays rates - and around 4 metric tonnes of CO2!

Running The City:
Next you have to decide what energy sources you want to use for your city and drag the factories, dams or wind turbines onto your cityscape.  But do so with care!

Each item your drag onto the scene has an impact on your key energy indicators: Economic Cost, Environmental Cost and City Security - as well as clocking up your overall energy score!  And, as you start to power the city it comes alive; cars start moving around, lights in offices come on and planes take-off!

The idea is obviously to keep your energy score as low as possible, but creating enough of the right energy to power your city.  The information can help you and the main info box tells you what you are doing wrong!  So needless to say it was screaming at me to use oil to power by infrastructure when I was trying to run the whole place on hydro and wind power!

And, the energy scores for some of the green alternatives are not so low after all!  It certainly made me think differently about it all - I mean a biomass factory had more energy cost than a coal factory!

Fully Powered:
When you have reached full power for your city for 2015, it takes you through a mid way storyline detailing some future events that could affect your city - for example if biomass factories make world hunger even worse than it is today, then your factory becomes more expensive to run!  And all the rest….

The game then takes you back to your city in 2015 to see how it looks.  And I didn’t like mine!  It was noisy and busy and using far too much energy - total contrast to when you first start the game!

But - as it’s busier - it needs yet more energy - so you need to add more factories or change your sources to get the balance again.  It isn’t a nice place to be in my opinion!

The End?:
When you finally finish your city (and it can only take a few minutes to complete if you don’t read it all), it takes you to the ‘final score’ section, which shows your total energy cost and environmental impacts etc.

It also gives you a final score out of the thousands of people who have played it!  I’m afraid I was nearly in 200,000th place with my hydro and wind (with a little oil) based city!  And we are told that that is the way forward!

So, maybe try out your own ideas in this format - I might see if nuclear is the way forward!