How the use of technology can be so natural for us these days

My brother has recently had an experience that perfectly describes how technology can be so helpful and natural to use for most of us. It's quite amazing. Read it here.

The invisible flash

Using the flash while taking some photos may be, in some situations, the only choice you have in order to produce decent lighting in a picture. However, most flash pictures are ruined because of the excessive light in the foreground and not enough light on the background.

In the ideal world of photography, a camera would be able to capture just enough light to make the picture perfect but not suffer from the disadvantages of using flash. Basically, what we need is an "invisible flash". But how can one produce such a paradox: a blast of light but that is not visible?



The answer is given by a student of the New York University, Dilip Krishnan and his advisor Rob Fergus. They have developed a dark or invisible flash which uses infrared and UV light to take photos in dark places without the nasty glare of a standard flash.

Basically, what they did was modify a light bulb to emit light over a wider range of frequencies (not visible at the human eye). They also changed their camera to adapt to these new conditions by using a set of filters to prevent the silicon image sensor from detecting infrared and ultraviolet rays.

This is not exactly new as this is more or less like night vision works. The difference is that, instead of having those photos where we all look like vampires, they managed to find a way to produce the correct colour balance by taking a quick colour image right after the dark flash image.

Even though the image produced in this second image is of low quality (grainy and unclear), the colours are correct. This allows them to produce a correct final image by using special software that combines the information from the photos (you can see the process on the 3 images above).

The technology is not yet perfect but it definitely looks pretty promising. To know more about it, you can check the website here.

Source: Engadget

Using the cars' weight to generate energy

Kinetic energy is not a new subject on this blog. I've already shown you how this kind of technology can be used to generate enough energy to power some parts of a nightclub or more simply, your MP3 player.

This time I bring you a great idea developed at a Sainsbury's supermarket in Gloucester, United Kingdom. This supermarket has installed kinetic plates in the parking lot that use the weight of shopper's cars to pump a series of hydraulic pipes, which in turn drive a generator. The figure below is quite self-explanatory:


Apparently, the kinetic system can generate enough energy to power the store's checkouts. While it may not seem as much, it sure is a great step towards a more green attitude.

Here's another picture at location:



Source: Engadget, Guardian

Retro-blogging: best posts of June 2008

Previously, on "The Tech In Me":

• DVRs, TVs and infrared sensors
• So, you thought your Bluetooth headset was secure?
• The key to my heart
• Cool webdesigner shirts
• Quantum superposition, or how can video games be creative
• How to make solar power more appealing
• YouTube just got more interesting
• Dance to charge your cellphone
• How to download musics from MySpace using Safari and "wget" (on Mac OS X)
• Eco-friendly gadgets
• How old is the Internet?
  

How to freak out your friends with a ligthbulb hack

Invisibility cloak is closer to reality

This time it's not another camera/projection technology applied to clothing just to try and camouflage a person. This is a step closer to pseudo-invisibility, you know, kind of like Invisible Woman has the ability to bend and manipulate light to render herself and others invisible.

Scientists from Duke University have come up with a new type of device that is able to cloak an object from visible light. The device is made from a light-bending composite material that can detour electromagnetic waves around an object and reconnect them on the other side. That creates an effect similar to a distant mirage you'd see hovering above a road on a hot day.

But don't get your hopes up just now as this research is still far away from producing a cloaking cape as Harry Potter's. The foreseeable applications for this kind of technology will focus on eliminating obstructions to improve wireless communications or acoustic cloaks that could serve as protective shields, preventing the penetration of vibrations, sound, or seismic waves.

Source: CNet

A robot for all-terrain

Check out this amazing robot and its capability to adapt to completely different terrains:


Description from the website:

"RHex is a man-portable robot with extraordinary rough terrain mobility. RHex climbs over rock fields, mud, sand, vegetation, railroad tracks, telephone poles and up steep slopes and stairways. RHex has a sealed body, making it fully operational in wet weather, in muddy and swampy conditions, and it can swim on the surface or dive underwater. RHex's remarkable terrain capabilities have been validated in independent testing at US Government Labs.

RHex is controlled remotely from an operator control unit at distances up to 600 meters. A video uplink provides front and rear views from RHex’s onboard cameras. RHex also uplinks navigational data from onboard compass and GPS and from payload sensors. A downlink allows the operator to control mobility and to operate mission payloads."

Who's right about the Google carboon footprint?

Some say that the environmental impact of performing 2 Google searches is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide that is generated by boiling a kettle for a cup of tea.

Google says those estimates are too large and in fact a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

Who's right?

Heal a broken bone in just some minutes instead of months

If you've ever broken a bone you know how much it sucks. And the worst part is not the braking part, it's the difficult and lengthy recovery process, which may take somewhere between a few weeks up to a few months depending on the bone and gravity of the injury.

To try and fix this hassle, a U.K. company, called RegenTec, has created a white powder that is designed to be injected into a person in order to speed up the healing process of broken bones. Of course, people won't be able to get out of the Hospital running right after an injury, but the idea is to at least improve the healing process so as to avoid a long recovery period and help the body grow the "new bone" faster.

For the more curious ones, the "injectable bone" is a mix of ceramic and polylactic acid. On the outside, it looks like white powder. When injected into the body with a needle, the higher temperature inside causes the two components to mix together to form a hard, spongy mass similar to bones in the body.

Source: InventorSpot

Another interesting way of interacting with your computer

I'm a sucker for all kinds of experimental and alternative interfaces with a computer. That's why I developed the Google Earth Led Torch Controller. Although this next one doesn't have that many applications, it is nevertheless quite interesting.

This is Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint.

Check out the video for a demo:

0.999... = 1

Did you know that 0.9999... is equal to 1? Don't believe me? See some proofs here.

How to protect against the newly-found WPA hack

Did you hear that the WiFi's WPA security protocol was cracked? A PhD candidate studying encryption has found an exploit in the WPA standard that would allow a hacker to "send bogus data to an unsuspecting WiFi client," completely compromising your WiFi security and opening your network to all sorts of hacking. That could mean that your WiFi network at home or at work is no longer secure...

But don't worry, it's easy to protect yourself against this new exploit. All you have to do is switch off Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) as an encryption mode, and use Advanced Encryption System (AES) only. TKIP is the only protocol that the hack applies to, so switching to AES-only will ensure that your Wi-Fi network is safe again.

Source: Lifehacker

Using your brain to control your computer

Using the brain as a computer interface is not a new idea. For a long time, researchers have been trying to use the electric signals coming from the brain as a way to perform basic commands on a computer and even as an anti-RSI technique. And as the technology is advancing, we get to see nice improvements that may be the key to help people with communication disabilities.

CBS' 60 minutes has made a special report on this kind of technology and here you can see a small segment that shows how the life of a man with a disease that has destroyed all his communication abilities, was greatly improved by using a brain-computer interface.

Interesting and valid research: why some men never have a girlfriend

If you're one of those that lost faith in yourself because you can't seem to find the right woman for you, don't despair. A new study shows that there are valid scientific reasons for that:

• Number of people on Earth (in 1998): 5 592 830 000
• …who are female: 2 941 118 000
• …in "developed" countries: 605 601 000
• …currently (in 2000) aged 18 to 25: 65 399 083
• …who are beautiful: 1 487 838
• …and intelligent: 236 053
• …and not already committed: 118 027
• …and also might like you: 18 726

So, basically there are 18 726 women in the world that are right for you. But before you say: "Well that's quite a lot! I might get lucky!" consider that's 18 726 in 6 000 000. Which means that your chances are quite slim. As the author of the study concludes:

"At first glance, a datable population of 18 726 may not seem like such a low number, but consider this: assuming I were to go on a blind date with a new girl about my age every week, I would have to date for 3493 weeks before I found one of the 18 726. That's very nearly 67 years. As a North American male born in the late 1970s, my life expectancy is probably little more than 70 years, so we can safely say that I will be quite dead before I find the proverbial girl of my dreams. Come to think of it, she'll probably be dead too."

A banjo as a brain surgery instrument

Yes, that's right...the title is correct: a banjo can be used as a valuable brain surgery instrument.

Eddie Adcock is one of the pillars of Bluegrass Music. Recently he realised that a new found tremor in his hand could threaten his ability to perform professionally. So, he underwent brain surgery to treat the hand tremor and to test the success of the procedure, he played his banjo throughout the entire operation.

Surgeons placed electrodes in Adcock's brain and fitted a pacemaker in his chest which delivers a small current that shuts down the region of his brain causing the tremors.

Don't believe me? Check out the video:



Source: BBC News

Light bulbs as the new WiFi technology?

That's right, it looks like there're some guys at Boston University's College of Engineering working on low-power LEDs which could utilize an optical communication system to carry data wirelessly.


Using a technique which rapidly switches the LEDs on and off data transmissions could be made via imperceptible -- yet undoubtedly brain-scrambling -- flickering patterns, and each light would be its own network entry point at speeds of 1 to 10Mbps.

Why is this interesting? Well, as professor Thomas Little says: "Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires."

Looks interesting, doesn't it?

Source: Engadget

Intelligent Service Coordination in the Semantic Web

It seems that everybody is talking about the new trend on the Web: whether they call it Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web, it's clear that techs from around the world recognize the need to advance the current state of affairs and make use of the potential that the Internet brings in terms of information and web service computing.

While some describe what the next Internet will be, others start to adhere to new standards. But what seems novelty technology for some, for others it has been the focus of their work for the last few years.

For the last 3 years, I've been working in an European Union-funded project (along with other 7 partners from 6 countries) with the goal of developing, trialling, testing and advancing the technology for Semantic Web Services using Intelligent Agents and Mobile Technologies.

Now that the project is over, we decided to write a book about the project and the lessons learned throughout the 3-year run.

Intelligent Service Coordination in the Semantic Web presents the design, implementation and validation of a value-added supportive infrastructure for Semantic Web based business application services, which we called CASCOM.

Here's a small description of the system:

For end users, the CASCOM framework provides seamless access to semantic Web services anytime, anywhere, while for service providers, CASCOM offers an innovative development platform for intelligent and mobile business application services in the Semantic Web.

The essential approach of CASCOM is the innovative inter-disciplinary combination of intelligent agent, Semantic Web, peer-to-peer, and mobile computing technology.

Semantic Web services are provided by peer software agents, which exploit the coordination infrastructure to efficiently operate in highly dynamic environments.

For those interested in a more scientific view of the Semantic Web and related technologies, you can check out the project's website or buy the book, which will be available soon for order at Amazon.

2 years of "The Tech In Me"

Ok, no need to do a big fuzz about it, but I just would like to remind you that this blog celebrates today, two years of providing the best info on the tech world. I would like to thank all of the faithful readers that follow the blog through the RSS feed, and also to all of those that find the blog cool enough so as to provide comments on the posts. I'm always glad to hear from you and I seriously hope that you can provide any suggestions that will allow me to improve the blog and its posts.

And what's the best way to celebrate this journey than to remind some of the best moments? Check out here some of the posts that I think are worth a second visit:

• Multi-touch interfaces
• Internet Explorer 7: my experience
• Control your computer with hand-gestures
• A screen made of fog and much more
• Beware with the "evil twin" wireless router
• The iPhone is here
• Wireless energy
• 21 sms to make a thief repent
• Photoshop tip to remove objects
• Hide data in pictures
• Portable Apps
• Control the Earth with some lights
• Seti@Home finds stolen laptop, but no aliens
• The weakest link in technology
• Google Maps wants you to swim
• StumbleUpon the Internet
• The Music industry is killing itself
• Wii and anger management
• Microsoft Surface: touching the computer
• More on multi-touch interfaces
• Technology can be used for the strangest things
• Context-aware image resizing
• Ever heard of mechanical virus?
• A paradoxal mith
• McDonald's and Free Wifi: a dangerous combination
• Infinite GMail addresses
• Flight mode is not good enough to avoid iPhone users getting arrested
• Drug dealers vs. Software developers
• iPhone available in Portugal
• Geek thoughts
• Your mobile phone as QR-Code reader
• The Mac in Me
• Geek challenges
  
• Force Safari to open new windows on tabs
• BSOD in the Frankfurt Airport
• Hitler and the iSketch
• Future Gadget Concepts
• Please turn this sentence into an MP3
• There are gadgets for every taste
• Geek stuff
• Windows on an ATM machine
• G33kware
• CES 2008: The future gadgets
• Handy laptop bags
• Science Fiction is back
• Hitler and Blu-Ray
• From here to there
• How is technology changing us?
• Macbook Air: a genius before its time
• Avoid Apple Remote's evil twins
• The problem with iMovie and iDVD
• 3 degrees of Porn
• Another Photoshop tip
• Geek's last supper
• Technology that works too well
• How to play (almost) all video codecs in QuickTime
• An interesting problem: part I and II
• Windows vs. Mac: a picture that says it all
• Yahoo and the Semantic Web
• Technology and the Olimpic Records
• Have Phun
• Top 10 Super Mario Bros. theme music
• The first Olympic sprinter without legs
• Another webcam-based tracking software
• DVR, TVs and infrared sensors
• Appealing solar power
• How to download musics from MySpace
• Eco-friendly gadgets
• Rotate screen display in Windows Vista
• A differente kind of alarm clocks
• Safari and Firefox work together
• Twitter+Quicksilver: WOW
• 3D glasses are still useful
• Thank God for the Internet
• How to really cool down your laptop
• So many Olimpic records
• 42 minutes to go to New Zealand
• We use our Macs because we want to..
• The Internet unites against an XBox thief
• Spore Origins for iPod: my review
• The LHC and Gordon Freeman
• Fix iTunes crash
• Magellan: yes, I tested one
• Portal Prelude
• (Un)motivational Posters

Just in case somebody pushes you into a pool when you're on your way to a meeting

The title doesn't actually reveal the proper value of a technology like this. Remember, this video is just an extreme example. Imagine what it would be like to have a suit like this when you're on your way to meet a client and you have to go through intense rain while walking a few blocks on the street.

This is a Nano-Tex Resists Spills suit and the all idea, as it will be clear to you once you see the video, is to offer a way to avoid those kind of episodes that can ruin your work day: like a coffee spill when you bump against a colleague on the corridor or when a truck goes by, sending that puddle of water right into you...

Google: early years

If you have a more scientific interest on the origins of Google, check out the original paper by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page when they were still PhD students at Stanford University.