Latest Inventions

This edition is all about medical technology and advances - and there have been plenty sent in this month……

Lets start small with Peggy Stoppelmoor well researched article on 25 Ways Nanotechnology is Revolutionizing Medicine. and we can only get bigger from there, can’t we?

Just a short one from Glory Scott comes next with a few impressive links about How To Learn About Xray Technology for Free, and then another 2 quickies by Heather Sanders highlighting the technology needed for Everything You Need to Know About Radiology Technology and Top 50 Medical Technology Blogs.

Whoopie Patterson comes in here with her list of 10 Essential Web Tools for Research Scientists if you are already researching the next medical advances - and you might even be able to get yourself a grant from it!

And maybe the health-care professional out there may want some web tools too to help keep their CPD on the move - so take a peek at John Laugherton short piece on 10 Essential Webtools for Healthcare Professionals.

Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without some apps now would it?

So let’s join Elisha Knackwood with her Top 25 Android Apps for Your Health and Happiness -and Melissa Seyfried with hers: 5 Excellent iPhone Apps for Health & Medical Reference.

Feel Better Now?

Your searches may go up into space - but your local services and community can get the benefits.

I have used directory enquiries and service and product listings before on the Internet - but why not start using these to promote and recruit your local workers, friends and businesses - and maybe even yourself!

It’s all ‘eco’ this and ‘emissions’ that these days - so why not take advantage of the online services and websites that are trying to cater for these new lifestyles and get your business promoted closer to home - or find a great builder/plumber/handyman that you can trust!

Imagine if you could find a local builder down the road that everyone loves - or a babysitter around the corner that everyone trusts?  When you are new to an area, you can’t normally get your hands on this kind of information for months or even years.

Just Moved To Edinburgh?
I mean - say you just moved to a new city and needed a good car mechanic - you normally have 2 choices: 1) pick one at random that you live close to and hope for the best, or 2) trust a local you bump into in town to give you good advice!

However these days - you can check a website that has got years and years of recommendations on it - so you aren’t just down to guess work and good luck.  You can actually use a trusted source that has been regularly updated and improved over the years: so type in Edinburgh MOT into a website like TouchLocal.com (a local business online directory) for example, and it will come up with all the recommendations from past customers.

And of course you can have your say too.  Why not let everyone know that you received great service in a out-of-town restaurant?  Or that you got some great advice from a local shop owner in town.  Have your say and make sure other new residents get a fair deal too!

Is It All Listing After Listing?
No.  These days you can get information from all sorts of mobile sources - like the Twitter directory enquiry service that Touch Local also offer - to save you thumbing through giant yellow pages and the like. 

For example, you can just tweet something like Caterer In Chiswick or Edinburgh Accountant to their given Twitter account and instantly receive a contact name and number for what you want that second! No more searching for ages for 1 then finding 3!

Local doesn’t have to mean slow and old-fashioned these days.  Local means community spirit and loyalty.  And these great community supported sites are the way forward in today’s eco climate.

They also offer other services on their site to hold this all together like an ‘expert’ Q & A section where you can ask any questions to local ‘experts’ - or apply to become and expert yourself!  Also there is a messaging service and a sort of social networking area where you can stay in contact with other people in your community for advice or just chatting between friends and colleagues.

These types of sites could be great way to add eco credentials to your business as well as getting your services recommended to a wider audience of supporting and life long clients!

Think Business - Think Local

Imagine holding up a box of LEGO to a screen - and seeing a 3D image of the fully assembled model!

That is exactly what you can do right now, not just with that one ‘toy’ brand but with dozens of others - and the technology doesn’t just stop at games and gadgets - this new world of imaging could be appearing right in front of you in the street!

Soon, we won’t have to just guess what things will look like when made, we won’t have to guess where that repair store is on a busy high street - and you won’t even have to take your chances in a new restaurant without seeing the reviews of it’s past customers!

Augmented Reality (AG) - although first invented in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland - was truely brought to life in 1999 with the use of software that detected and reacted to ‘markers’ for image tracking.  Then it was developed the following year as a great way to bring text books to life with 3-dimensional images being more helpful than flat pictures - and basically - why stop there?

AG has been used for years on the TV - and watching the football teams pop up on screen as the players ‘warm up’ is a classic example; and showing the ’finish line’ over the river in a boat race is another ‘everyday’ use.  But we didn’t want an inanimate object - we wanted to be in charge of the images.

Initially driven by sales of merchandise, these AG software packages allowed consumers to ‘play’ with their gadget before buying it so to speak.  They could see images of their preferred product and even turn it around to see it from all angles before spending any money - even comparing the finished product to a similar one.

This is a huge step forward from the AG systems that need head mounted displays (HMD’s) to work.  Think back to when we thought that seeing computer information on the inside of your glasses was amazing - now it looks like you don’t even need the glasses!

The Future:
Well, think about films where computer screens seem to be on a whole table, the wall or even ‘floating’ in mid air and you can use your hands to move sections of it.  This could be coming very soon.

There are currently people working on whole room set-ups (spatial displays) that will allow you to overlay certain images into the space given - say for example looking at a new bathroom suite in your actual bathroom - try before you buy type of thing!  A new kitchen, lounge, office suite - the list is endless once you think about it.  But obviously it will have scientific uses first, like designing new hospitals, spaceships and whole environments maybe?

It is already being used in manufacturing - where the HMD’s contain step by step instructions that are triggered by the component parts and medical breakthroughs are also allowing layers of the human body to be seen simultaneously by surgeons to complete operations faster and safer.

So rather than a virtual reality - where you step into a computer generated world - this new reality is where the computers move into your world, and hopefully improve it!

However, I can imagine a hacker getting in to one of the programs and then a HMD AG fan could find New York City with wild animals or even aliens around every corner!

Source: BBC Focus Magazine.

Well, don’t get your hopes up for a life-size human whizzing around the lounge for this one!

These new little home-helps are highly intelligent beings - well, in terms of being able to react to their environment and working around obstacles. So instead of you running your vacuum around table legs and under the sofa - these little critters do it for you.

Sound’s like a great invention for all of us who hate the job, but wait a minute - these things aren’t cheap (at around £400 each) and that might not be such a great investment if you live in a small flat either!

So, What Are They?
Well, these vacuums are around about the same size as a flattened ten-pin bowling ball and can have an array of exciting features crammed inside.

A million times better than the old-fashioned and bulky looking ‘dust busters’ from the 90’s, these new gadgets will be a welcome addition to the house.

Now, you may think that these little critters could cause havoc around the home, bump into everything, trip you over, trail leads around the room and even fall down the stairs!  But no such things will happen - they are too clever!

They are packed full of wireless technology and sensors to make their job 100% simple and cable-free - like the fact that they can be ‘fenced in’ by infrared beams to make sure that they don’t leave a certain room or cross onto unsuitable surfaces.  This way you can keep them vacuuming up dust in the places that need it the most rather than run off all over the place - wasting time and energy!

Set low to the ground and having no trailing cables, these vacuum bots can whizz around under sofas and beds, beneath the kitchen table and chairs and even the coffee table and footstools without getting caught up or stuck.

They even remember where they have been, so can ’size-up’ the room from memory technology to make sure that they cover the whole room before moving on to the next room - I mean what’s the use of a vacuum that only does half the room?  And, that means it can do the room - or whole floor - while you aren’t even home!

What To Look Out For:
Obviously, just like any normal vacuum, you will still need to look out for the actual benefits before investing - unless you want it just for show of course!

How much dust does it pick up - as it won’t be able to get into all the nooks and crannies along the way.  And, of course, it will never be able to clean the stairs, furniture or kitchen spills.  So, you would still need to keep hold of your old vacuum anyway!

Noise, size and time taken to get the place clean are all important factors too - but I’m sure things will improve over time with user comments and future technology.

And, there are some that have both automatic and manual modes, where you can control the beast - maybe even voice-activated (!)  You can set the start time for the day - or for the whole week if you want to!

Conclusion:
It all depends on the layout of your home and the size of it really.  Some are not so good at avoiding obstacles, so you could set it to work for 30 minutes - but 4 minutes in it gets caught by a kids toy or the dogs bed!

Appearance is also a factor, and some are much more shiny and modern whereas others are more practical and look a bit like squashed portable stereos from the ’80’s. 

But, whatever your thoughts on these new gadgets - you really need to see one for yourself before you take the plunge.  But don’t throw out the old one quite yet!

Every Olympic Games host seems to think it’s a great idea to have one - so why not the UK?

Infact - they haven’t stopped at just the one - they have created a pair of the little things: Wenlock and Mandeville! 

The story goes (and yes, they have a story) that they were drops of molten metal that fell during a welding activity of one of the stadiums, were welded into ‘toys’ for an appropriately happy family - and then ran off on rainbows to cheer up the whole world!

Apparently, the whole event can’t be televised and promoted by just using the Olympic Games logo or wording - we need these very shiny cycloptic aliens with taxicab lights on their heads to do it instead!

So after nearly 2 years of artistic collaboration and (apparently) 40 focus groups worth of discussion - all in top secret - they were revealed to the nation on a rather slapdash early evening chat show!

As always, the celebrity who has been put in charge of promoting them has plenty to say about the meaning behind this tiny part of one mascot and that tiny part of the other - but to everyone else - they are just 2 cartoon characters!  Whether the bracelets mean so-and-so on the left wrist (heaven forbid they were on the right wrist), or the shape of their feet represent something-or-other, the public probably don’t really mind.

All they care about is the money spent on such a trivial thing when the country is in financial strife as it is.  And they are still reeling after the disastrous and unwelcome original 2012 logo was unveiled - and estimated to have cost around £400,000!

So, the Mascots: Are they fun?  Are they worth the money?  Will they make more people visit the UK and it’s events?

Apparently their main aim is at children - to help the younger generations to relate better to the Games, rather than it being viewed as a more ‘adult’ event - and seeing as millions of kids in the UK will be affected by the Games, the events and the influx of thousands upon thousands of tourists into their towns - I suppose we have got to soften the blow a little bit!

And I suppose as there are 2 of them - you can have a ‘favourite’ one, or just make your parents buy 2 toys instead of just the one!  Great for a pair of novelty slippers!

Well, we need to make some money to pay for the Games, so this wasn’t a bad marketing ploy!