Hot and upcoming technology and software.
Archive for February, 2010
Mirror Prototype For Solar Energy Developed By Google
Feb 27th
A new mirror technology proposed to be able to cut the cost of building a solar thermal plant by half, has been developed by Google, according to the company’s green energy czar, Bill Weihl.
According to Mr. Weihl if development and testing goes well, the product could be ready in one to three years.
Bookmark It Hide Sites $$('div.d84').each( function(e) { e.visualEffect('slide_up',{duration:0.5}) });Tweets Abound But Twitter Still Following Facebook
Feb 22nd
The tweets are skyrocketing at Twitter but the social network is still far behind the world’s most popular social network, Facebook.
There was an average of 5,000 tweets added to Twitter on a daily basis in 2007. That figure had grown to 2.5 million tweets a day in 2009. It was an impressive growth but over the last year, mainly to the help of celebrity and media attention, tweets have skyrocketed.
According to Twitter the number of tweets added to its site grew by 1,400% in 2009 averaging 35 million per day. Only two months into 2010, 600 tweets are hitting the More >
Computers Infected From Malicious Software
Feb 18th
According to NetWitness, a computer network security firm, more than 2,500 corporations worldwide may have been infected.
This malicious program, or botnet, can over take the operating systems of both residential and corporate computing systems through the Internet. Botnets have been used by cyber criminals for a range of illegal activities, such as sending e-mail spam and stealing digital documents or passwords from infected computers. Sometimes they even install keystroke loggers to capture personal information.
The current infection is modest compared to some of the largest known botnets. Botnet attacks are not unusual as Shadowserver, an organization that tracks botnet activity, is More >
YouTube Turns Five
Feb 15th
It is hard to believe that only five years ago YouTube registered its domain name. It now streams over 1bn videos per day.
YouTube seems to be almost ingrained into everyday life online so much so that we almost take it for granted. Hard to believe that it didn’t even exist five years ago. YouTube.com registered its domain name on Feb. 14, 2005, according to co-founder and chief executive Chad Hurley on the company blog yesterday.
However, even the domain name was registered it was until December before YouTube was ready to provide service and launched. So there will be more fifth More >
Can You Use Lasers to Annihilate Mosquitoes?
Feb 12th
Could consumer electronics parts can be used to combat malaria?
Microsoft’s former chief technology officer, Nathan Myhrvold says it can be done. Mr. Myhrvold’s company, Intellectual Ventures, using commonly available parts from projectors, digital cameras and printers has assembled rapid lasers capable of shooting down mosquitoes in flight. Since malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, this could be the next high-tech way to fight the disease amount others related to bug infestations.
Mr. Myhrvold presented the first public demonstration of the laser, which was created from parts found on eBay, at the annual TED conference in Long Beach, Calif.
Hundreds of mosquitoes were released More >
Gmail Taking A Swipe At Facebook
Feb 8th
Google has decided to take a swipe at Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. introducing a new feature making it easier for Gmail user to view media and status updates from their friends online.
Google’s announcement fro the new feature could come as early as this week according to Google spokeswoman declining to comment on the record.
By adding a module to the Gmail screen, Google plans to display a stream of updates from friends the user decides to connect with, similar to Facebook and Twitter.
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Colorado Cops Land First ID Eye-Scanners
Feb 5th
Arapahoe County Colorado cops land the chance to be the first law enforcement agency in Colorado to begin using biometric analysis of the human iris to identifying criminals, missing children and seniors .
According to a technician from the software and hardware developer their device analyzes the iris of the eye. The iris has 235 identifying points of reference, versus 65 for a fingerprint.
“Fingerprints change but irises stay stable throughout your life,” said Patricia Lawton of Biometric Intelligence and Identifying Technologies, “Which is why it’s a great biometric to identify somebody with.”
Patricia Lawton assisted in the develop of this new technology More >
