Category: Technology

Leonardo’s Pushbike

Leonardo’s Pushbike – The Ride by Ellsworth featuring NuVinci’s Continuously Variable Planetary (CVP) transmission – gizmag Article
 A bicycle 517 years in the making? Well, perhaps not – Leonardo Da Vinci’s original mind-boggling sketches of the first Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) used a spiral shaped cog to achieve the goal of perfectly smooth gear ratio alteration. NuVinci’s CVP transmission uses tilting balls to achieve a similar effect.

AVG Anti-Rootkit Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security – AVG Anti-Rootkit Free Edition

From the people who have the best Free Anti-virus out there is this new tool. Don’t leave home without it, or something similar. Some of the newer protection suites include such protection. This tool will at least find what may already be hiding on your hard drive and you probably wouldn’t even know it
AVG Anti-Rootkit is a powerful tool with state-of-the-art technology for detection and removal of rootkits. Rootkits are used to hide the presence of a malicious object like trojans or keyloggers on your computer. If a threat uses rootkit technology to hide itself it is very hard to find the malware on your PC. AVG Anti-Rootkit gives you the power to find and delete the rootkit and to uncover the threat the rootkit is hiding.

Nanogenerator Provides Continuous Electrical Power

Georgia Institute of Technology :: News Room :: Nanogenerator Provides Continuous Electrical Power
Researchers have demonstrated a prototype nanometer-scale generator that produces continuous direct-current electricity by harvesting mechanical energy from such environmental sources as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibration or blood flow.

The nanogenerators take advantage of the unique coupled piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide nanostructures, which produce small electrical charges when they are flexed.

Because zinc oxide is non-toxic and compatible with the body, the new nanogenerators could be integrated into implantable biomedical devices to wirelessly measure blood flow and blood pressure within the body. And they could also find more ordinary applications.

“If you had a device like this in your shoes when you walked, you would be able to generate your own small current to power small electronics,” Wang noted. “Anything that makes the nanowires move within the generator can be used for generating power. Very little force is required to move them.”

Cingular launches U.S. mobile banking

Cingular launches U.S. mobile banking | Technology | Reuters
AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson talked about the mobile banking service in a keynote speech at the CTIA wireless technology conference on Tuesday. In Japan they use their cell phone like a credit card at Soft Drink Machines and parking meters. While this announcement was interesting and you can click on the link to see if your bank is participating, what really blew me away was this quote from Stephenson :

“…while four babies are born every second in China, about 25 people are signing up for wireless services in the country.”

Cell phones safe to use in hospitals

Cell phones safe to use in hospitals: U.S. study
Calls made on cell phones do not affect hospital medical devices, U.S. researchers said on Friday, but store anti-theft alarms might make implanted heart devices misfire.

Tests at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota showed normal use of cell phones, also called mobile phones, caused no noticeable interference with patient care equipment, they said. Dr. David Hayes and colleagues said their tests suggest the ban is unmerited. They tested cell phones using two different technologies from different carriers, switching them on near 192 different medical devices. During 300 tests run over five months, they reported no trouble with the equipment

High-tech slots could transform gambling

High-tech slots could transform gambling
Roughly half the 835,000 slot machines nationwide have video displays and many are networked, but industry officials acknowledge that most are flops, lacking the visceral “clunk-clunk-clunk” of wheels hitting the payline.

Video slots with an authentic feel are the holy grail for manufacturers.

Ed Rogich, an IGT vice president, said players who tested video display prototypes earlier this year could hardly tell the difference between them and manual reels. That’s a good sign: Many old-school gamblers prefer low-tech slots.

Hydrogen Storage Technology Breakthrough

Hydrogen Storage: UNBF Researchers Achieve Technology Breakthrough — March 7, 2007 – News@UNB
Hydrogen gas is typically stored under pressure in large metal cylinders, approximately four feet high. These cylinders are heavy and expensive to transport. Since they are under pressure, they also pose a safety hazard.

“We’ve reached a milestone with our ability to condense hydrogen into a usable solid,” said Dr. McGrady. “The next step is to produce a safe, compact storage system for the compound that is both lightweight and affordable.”

The research is expected to produce reversible hydrogen storage materials that can be processed into a powder for use in limitless commercial applications. Continue reading “Hydrogen Storage Technology Breakthrough”

NIST bans Vista in major blow to Microsoft

NIST bans Vista in major blow to Microsoft | ZDNet Government Blog | ZDNet.com
The National Institute of Standards and Technology isn’t just another federal agency – it sets the standards for federal computing. And NIST doesn’t like Vista. In fact it has banned it from its internal networks, according to document obtained by InformationWeek. IW obtained a copy of the formal agenda for an April 10 meeting at which tech staffers will explain their concerns and discuss “the current ban of this operating system on NIST networks,” the newsweekly said.

This follows news that the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration are also banning Vista. FAA CIO Dave Bowen told InformationWeek he wold consider running a combination of Linux and Google Apps. Among other things, Bowen said he is concerned that Windows Vista may be incompatible with many software applications already in use at the FAA