Science and Tecnology Museum

A vaccine for HIV has been a long time coming

2010-07-12T01:49:00.001-07:00

A vaccine for HIV has been a long time coming.

In 1981 – 29 years ago this month – medical researchers reported an apparently new illness that was killing people by crippling their immune systems. It would be called AIDS.

In 1984, researchers demonstrated that AIDS was caused by a specific microbe, the human immunodeficiency virus. The identification of the virus led many to expect a vaccine within a few years.

Bitter disappointment followed. As millions began to die of AIDS, scientists discovered that the HIV virus mutated so rapidly into so many varying strains that existing methods of vaccine development were useless against it.

Finally, more than a quarter century later, an HIV vaccine is in sight, though only on the horizon. When the International AIDS Conference convenes in Vienna this Sunday, it will buzz with good news – the discovery of at least six antibodies that knock out broad spectrums of HIV strains.

A team of researchers at California’s Scripps Institute has found two antibodies that – between them – disable all but one of 95 HIV strains tested, according to the Wall Street Journal. The antibodies work because they target spots on the virus that mutate little.

The science that produced these breakthroughs didn’t exist in the 1980s.

The Scripps team found one of the magic bullets in an African American, Donor 45, who has carried the HIV virus for many years without developing AIDS. The researchers created an infinitesimally small replica of the virus’ vulnerable site and used it to fish for the mysterious antibody that was keeping Donor 45 healthy. They used this molecular probe to screen 25 million cells from his body. In 12 of those cells, they found the HIV-killer.

Having identified broad-spectrum HIV antibodies, researchers should be able to reverse-engineer molecules that stimulate the body to produce them. At long last, science appears to have a clear path toward guarding people against HIV infections and perhaps also defeating infections after they occur.

That prospect is years out, though. In the meantime, more than 7,000 people a day are being infected with HIV throughout the world. In some regions – especially sub-Saharan Africa – few of the victims have access to the antiretroviral drugs that have prolonged the lives of many in the United States and other Western countries.

Despite those drugs, AIDS is far from beaten. The existence of antiretroviral treatment, in fact, has led to complacency and an increase in reckless sexual behavior among high-risk Americans.

Unfortunately, the treatment often doesn’t work, and the jury remains out on how long it actually can extend life. HIV is still very much a killer, even in the United States. The rising likelihood of a future vaccine is welcome, but it’s no substitute for prevention and caution in the here and now.
From:blog.thenewstribune.com

Russian new approach to catching up with the West in technology

2010-02-04T01:17:00.000-08:00

The Russian finance minister on Wednesday floated a new approach to catching up with the West in technology, a problem that has bedeviled the economy here for decades in spite of the country’s rich tradition in science.

The initiative, described by Aleksei L. Kudrin, the finance minister, at an economic forum, is the latest in a long line of policies trying to free Russia from the boom-and-bust cycles of commodity prices by making better use of the talents of its citizens.

The government will order ministries and state companies to use more of their procurement budgets to buy products that qualify as “innovative” and that are made in Russia.

State procurement orders total about $133 billion, he said, and 15 percent now go to Russian technology companies.

Government orders will “support everybody who wants to work in this sphere, everybody who wants to work for the future,” Mr. Kudrin said.

Translating Russia’s bounty of scientific talent into popular, or even functional, products is a problem that has vexed the country since Soviet times. In a recent survey by Thomson Reuters, Russia lagged far behind China, Brazil and India in registered patents, even though the country’s officials project a self-image of scientific accomplishment. It is now recognized as an acute economic vulnerability because about 80 percent of exports are natural resources like oil and metals, making Russia susceptible to their price swings.

President Dmitri A. Medvedev has made innovation a focus of his tenure, though with few results so far. One government effort is a fund for nanotechnology, Rosnano, which is trying to leapfrog the West’s lead in semiconductors with a next generation of technology products.

From:www.nytimes.com

Wireless Display technology in order to stream content via Wi-Fi from your laptop to your HDTV

2010-01-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

Announced at CES and apparently already available at Best Buy, Netgear’s Push2TV (PTV1000) adapter was designed to work with Intel Wireless Display technology in order to stream content via Wi-Fi from your laptop to your HDTV.

The device basically combines the streaming capabilities of similar home theater devices with the ability to see anything on your laptop screen without needing to plug it into your set. That means you can watch any kind of video from a Web browser, like Hulu or Netflix’s instant streaming titles. Hulu is obviously reluctant to give consumers access to the site on TVs (fewer commercials to watch than if you viewed the broadcast version on your set), but Push2TV has been demoed showing the service on a TV. You can also wirelessly access any media files on the laptop or on other devices on your home network. Netgear also eliminates one potential headache by including an HDMI cable with the package.

Even better news is the price: just $99.99. But—and there are always “but”s—there are a few caveats that will keep you from running straight out to buy it. A minor one is that this is a Best Buy exclusive. Another is that it will display video at a maximum 720p resolution, so it’s not an ideal solution for streaming a movie from your laptop’s Blu-ray drive in all of its 1080p glory. The biggest one is that the Push2TV requires a laptop that supports the Intel Wireless Display tech and is equipped with a 2010 version of Intel Core processors. Best Buy will be selling compatible laptops that will include Push2TV for a bundled price. Netgear has listed the following as compatible notebooks: Dell’s Studio 15z, Sony’s VAIO VPCS111FM/S, and Toshiba’s Satellite E205. Still, Hulu addicts finally have an easy way to watch it on their HDTVs.From:blogs.zdnet.com

Shares of smartphone maker HTC

2009-09-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Shares of smartphone maker HTC (2498.TW) rose to a one-month high on Friday after U.S. telecom operator Sprint Nextel (S.N) said it planned to sell the firm's Hero cellphone based on Google's (GOOG.O) Android system.

By 0316 GMT, HTC shares were up almost 6 percent at T$367.00 ($11.15), its strongest intraday level since August 3"It's a reflection of the market's approval of HTC's diversification policy," said Kevin Huang, a fund manager at King's Town Bank. "Put together with its recent tie-up with China Mobile, it's likely the firm might do well this quarter."Sprint will start selling HTC's Hero smartphone from October 11, pitting it up against rivals such as Palm's (PALM.O) Pre smartphone and an upcoming Motorola (MOT.N) model.HTC shares have come under pressure since August, when it unexpectedly announced a drastic cut to its full-year revenue outlook, which it blamed on worse-than-expected momentum in its smartphone models.

To counter the slump, the firm said then it would be diversifying into lower-cost models on top of the premium smartphones it is best-known for.Recent announcements of deals with top telecom operators such as China Mobile (0941.HK) have given its share price a boost in recent days, while a company share buyback has provided further support.

HTC is the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, ranking behind Nokia (NOK1V.HE), Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) and Apple (AAPL.O).From:www.reuters.com

Sony has launched a wireless e-reader

2009-08-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

Sony has launched a wireless e-reader which allows users to download electronic books on the go.

Analysts said Sony's Reader Daily Edition is a direct challenge to Amazon's best-selling Kindle device.The $399 (£250) touch-screen device is able to store up to 1,000 novels and can download books over a high-speed mobile network.It also has an application that can be used to "borrow" books from local libraries for 21 days."By going open, Sony helps compensate for its biggest weakness: its lacklustre eBookstore, which pales in comparison with Amazon.com," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research in her blog.

Lending service

Amazon has so far dominated the e-reader market with its wireless Kindle devices. In May of this year, the firm unveiled a new version of the gadget aimed at reading newspapers, magazines and documents.The Kindle DX packed a screen that was double the size of previous models.It offer 46 newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.However, it was criticised for its high price of $489 (£340).Ms Rotman Epps said that Sony's new device - it's third so far - "makes the Kindle look like an oversized calculator."Unlike, the Kindle, the Sony device features a 7-inch (17.8cm)touchscreen interface which can be used to read books in portrait or landscape form.

The Japanese firm has also signed a deal with US network operator AT&T to allow users to download books wirelessly.

From:news.bbc.co.uk

Casio announced two 12-megapixel EXILIM cameras

2009-08-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Casio announced two 12-megapixel EXILIM cameras, both of which will be able to capture high-definition video at a resolution of 1280-by-720 pixels at 24 frames per second, also known as 720p24.

Almost every camera manufacturer offers cameras that can capture HD video, but only a handful can hit the price point offered by the new EXILIM Zoom EX-Z450, priced at $199.99, and the EXILIM Zoom EX-Z90, to be sold for $149.99.

The main difference between the two models is that the EX-Z450 will feature mechanical image stabilization while the less expensive $149.99 Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z90 will not. The $199.99 Casio EXILIM Zoom EX-Z450 will also be equipped with CCD-shift image stabilization which combats image blurring caused by shaky hands, by gently moving the sensor in the opposite direction of the shake.

From:google.com

Fresh New Cell Phones

2009-08-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

This month has been a busy one for new apps, video games, cameras, and even cell phones. Wondering what's the latest in the cell phone/smartphone world? I've rounded up all the newbies for your viewing pleasure.
From:www.geeksugar.com

Samsung Reclaim is a slider phone with a full QWERTY keyboard

2009-08-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Sprint Nextel is trying to be more environmentally conscious, and the wireless operator has launched a "green" phone and set aggressive goals to increase its sustainability efforts.

The Samsung Reclaim is a slider phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Forty percent of the handset's outer casing is made from a bio-plastic material. The Reclaim is free of polyvinyl chloride and phthalates, and its packaging is made from mostly recycled materials. The handset will also come with an Energy Star charger that reportedly consumes 12 times less power than traditional chargers. Users won't have to sacrifice usability to be green, Sprint said, as the Reclaim has access to 3G networks, Bluetooth, GPS, expandable memory, and a Web browser. The user interface also will have one-click access to sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube.

"Samsung Reclaim enables customers to go green while getting the latest in wireless technology," said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in a statement. "When customers walk into a Sprint retail store, they will be greeted by the information they need to make earth-friendly wireless choices, couple with Ready Now to learn about the rich functionality of this device."

The company said it will be making its green initiatives a visible part of its retail stores with dedicated sections highlighting the carrier's eco-friendly products and accessories. Additionally, Sprint said it will reduce its paper usage by 30% during the next five years.

So far, it is unclear how strong consumer demand is for these greens phones; Sprint is just the latest mobile company to tout its green initiatives. Sony Ericsson recently introduced an environmentally friendly handset and has committed to reducing the company's carbon emissions 20% by 2015.From:www.informationweek.com

Sprint's new foray into mobile broadband routers

2009-08-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

As if the MiFi hadn't already piqued our interest, Sprint's new foray into mobile broadband routers is downright riveting. The Sprint Personal Hotspot PH300s and Cradlepoint MBR-1000 Broadband Router (pictured) both do essentially the same thing, pulling down EV-DO Rev. A or WiMAX data and sharing it with your closest compatriots over WiFi -- and finally sporting enough bandwidth to do it in style. The PH300s obviously has a more "personal" slant, with only four simultaneous 802.11g WiFi connections, while the MBR-1000 is meant for business use and can serve up to 32 users over 802.11n. They're priced at $160 and $250, respectively, and the PHS300S should be showing up at Sprint stores in WiMAX-equipped areas -- business users will have to track down the MBR-1000 through the appropriate channels.
From:/www.engadget.com

As the First-Year Player Draft signing deadline approaches

2009-08-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

As the First-Year Player Draft signing deadline approaches and teams try to decide how much they are willing to dole out in bonuses to unsigned Draft picks, there's one Major League player who likely understands the financial risks involved.

It's not because Ross Ohlendorf got some outlandish bonus when he was drafted by the D-backs in 2004 or that he held out as a fourth-round pick. A Princeton graduate with a major in operations research and financial engineering, Ohlendorf looked at the Draft from 1989-93 to determine the value of the top 100 picks based on a return on the investment made by the team that drafted each player.

That return wasn't dependent solely on what was spent on signing bonus; salary also played a part. The Pirates right-hander tracked the progress of each player for a 12-year period, using the sabermetric Win Shares to determine each player's value. Return on the investment was largely figured out by looking at that player's contribution before reaching free agency compared with his salary over that period. Ohlendorf compared salaries for both the players in the study and free agents for those years. Even with some in the study never making the big leagues, Ohlendorf found that the players in his study brought twice the return of investment based on his criteria.

Fast-forward to today and one has to wonder what conclusions Ohlendorf would make. Of course, the soon-to-be 27-year-old is more concerned these days with continuing to establish himself as a big league starter. Part of him wishes he could sit and tinker with his numbers, which included salary figures through the 2005 season, but most of him would rather work on improving his 9-8, 4.43 ERA season to date.

"You could certainly get more out of doing that project for three more years," Ohlendorf said. "It took a long time to put it together. It wouldn't take as much time, but it's been so long since I worked at it. I thought at one point I'd add on to it, but I haven't thought about it recently."

One thing he does recognize is that while salaries had already escalated by the tail end of his study, the bonus boom was just getting started. In today's market, using Ohlendorf's methodology to determine what a player would have to produce on the field to yield a similar return on the investment would be interesting. It begs the question: Can his thesis be flipped to come up with what kind of stat, even in Win Shares, a player from this year's Draft will have to have to make the bonus figures being discussed truly worthwhile?

"You could guess, but you couldn't tell for sure because you don't know how future salary markets would be," Ohlendorf explained. "If free-agent salaries go up, the future will be more valuable. If it goes down, it'll be less valuable because you can sign free agents for less. If you assume it'll stay about the same, you can try to estimate it.

"The best way to estimate would be over the first three years, he'd have to perform about the same as a free-agent contract for three years at whatever his signing bonus is. That'd be the starting point, the easy way to look at it, but it wouldn't be real precise."

Perhaps the exercise wouldn't be scientific or worthy of an addendum to Ohlendorf's thesis, but it's hard to resist picking the right-hander's brain about the player and potential bonus most have talked about this Draft: No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg.

Obviously, the Nationals need to sign their top pick first, but with the large numbers being tossed around -- many feel a record for a draftee signing bonus will be broken -- just what would Strasburg have to do to give Washington a good return on that investment? As a pitcher, Ohlendorf was quick to point out the biggest issue when determining what proper value is for an arm coming out of the Draft.

"There's a big risk, the same risk for signing a free-agent pitcher in that a lot can happen in terms of the player's health in that time," Ohlendorf said. "You might not get anything out of it. For that reason, if you're going to pay that much, you want a decent chance they'll be worth much more than that."

Getting twice the return on an investment would certainly be enticing to those working with a free-market model, especially in today's economy. But Ohlendorf is quick to point out that the Draft, as it it is currently structured, isn't exactly the free market free agency is.

"Strasburg doesn't have much bargaining power because of the Draft system," he said. "A free agent can bargain with other teams, take the best deal out there, have teams compete for him. The Nationals don't have to compete with other teams right now. [His only option is] he can go back into the Draft. Next year, if he does that, it's hard to hold out."

From:mlb.mlb.com

Cellphone maker INQ Mobile is launching two new low-cost

2009-08-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Cellphone maker INQ Mobile is launching two new low-cost cellphones optimized for social networking applications to give mobile subscribers alternatives to more expensive smartphones.

INQ, which is owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, launched its first low-cost, "smartphone-lite" device earlier this year. And now the company is expanding its portfolio with two new devices, one of which has a full QWERTY keypad.

The phones do not run full browsers and the operating system used on the device is Java-based and not nearly as sophisticated as smartphone operating systems used on devices such as the Apple iPhone or Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

But INQ has integrated many of the most popular Web services, such as Facebook and Twitter, onto their handsets to give consumers a smartphone-like experience at a much lower price point. And because the device is not considered a smartphone, subscribers can typically sign up for less expensive data plans using the INQ phones.

In addition to tight integration for one-click access to Facebook, Twitter, and other Web services like Skype, the new INQ devices can also sync with unprotected music stored in iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Just how cheap are the INQ phones? Well, if AT&T can sell the Apple iPhone for $99 with a two-year contract, INQ CEO Frank Meehan believes that U.S. operators could afford to offer the INQ mobile devices for anywhere between $25 and $50 with a two year wireless service contract. And in many cases operators could even offer the phones for free in exchange for a two-year service commitment.

The two new phones announced this week are the INQ Chat 3G phone, which has a full-QWERTY keypad and looks like a colorful BlackBerry, and the INQ Mini, which is shaped like a candy-bar and comes with a standard cell phone keypad. The devices are expected to go on sale in six countries on Hutchison's operator 3 later this year. These countries include the U.K., Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Australia, and Hong Kong.

The Mini, which will cost less than $150 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in September. And the INQ Chat 3G, which will retail for less than $200 without a carrier subsidy, will go on sale in October.

Meehan said the company is still working on a deal with a U.S. operator. But the phones could end up on this side of the Atlantic next year.From:news.cnet.com

Google Voice is a VoIP service

2009-08-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has written to Apple, AT&T and Google questioning the rejection of Google Voice and related applications from the iPhone App Store.

In a letter sent Friday to Apple, the agency asked the company why Google Voice was rejected, which related applications have been rejected along with it, and what role AT&T may have played in the decision. It also asked what the difference is between Google Voice and other VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software that has been approved for the iPhone.

More broadly the agency asked Apple what other applications have been rejected for the phone and why.

Apple's process for approving or rejecting applications for the iPhone has drawn wide criticism for being murky and unpredictable. Google Voice is a VoIP service that lets users set up one phone number and have it ring on all of their phones at once, and control which phones ring at which times of the day or week, among other things.From:www.pcworld.com

Google Voice as an iPhone application

2009-07-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

Apple Inc. reportedly has rejected Google Voice as an iPhone application.

The Techcrunch blog said Monday that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) won't let Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) offer its Internet phone service through the iPhone App Store.
Other bloggers are pointing at Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S., AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), as the party responsible for the rejection.That's because Google Voice offers for free some features that compete with services that AT&T charges for.Google Voice offers one number for all of a user's phones, voice-activated features and free U.S. long distance. It's available by invitation only at this time.

Techcrunch reported that a Google spokesperson offered this comment: "We work hard to bring Google applications to a number of mobile platforms, including the iPhone. Apple did not approve the Google Voice application we submitted six weeks ago to the Apple App Store. We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users — for example, by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers."

Apple previously rejected Google Latitude, the location-based tool that lets users see where their friends are, from the iPhone store.But as it did in that situation, it is expected that iPhone owners will be able to download Google Voice from the Web. It won't work as seamlessly and may not be able to use all of the features, however.From:www.bizjournals.com

International Space Station should be extended

2009-07-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Members of the government panel reviewing NASA’s human spaceflight program said Tuesday that the life of the International Space Station should be extended past its planned demise in 2016.

After the shuttle Endeavour, which undocked from the space station Tuesday afternoon, returns to Earth, NASA has seven flights left on its schedule before the shuttle fleet is to be retired in September 2010. At that point the space station, under construction since 1998, would finally be complete, but current plans call for operating it only through 2015 before it is deliberately disposed of in the ocean the following year.

Part of the Obama administration’s charge to the 10-member review panel, which made its recommendation Tuesday at a public hearing in Houston, was to look at extending the station’s life. But the panel is also to consider how NASA is to push beyond low-Earth orbit in the coming years and fit the entire program within tight financial constraints.

The meeting was the second held by the panel, which is led by Norman R. Augustine, a former chief executive of Lockheed Martin. At the first meeting, last month in Washington, the members listened to an array of information and opinions from others. On Tuesday, they began debating among themselves what options they will offer to the administration at the end of next month.

“We think all the options going forward should continue I.S.S. extension in some form,” said Sally K. Ride, a former NASA astronaut who was the first American woman in space.Dr. Ride, who led a subcommittee looking at the space station, said the schedule for the remaining seven shuttle flights had little cushion left and was likely to slip into 2011, at an additional cost of $1.5 billion.

The shuttles can carry a far greater load into orbit than any other rockets now in use, and can also bring heavy items back to the ground. “We’re putting I.S.S. in a very fragile situation the moment we retire shuttle,” Dr. Ride said.With one extra external fuel tank available, one more shuttle flight could be flown in 2012, at a cost of $2.7 billion, she said.

Another possibility would be to fly one or two shuttle missions through 2014, Dr. Ride said, but reviving the manufacturing lines used for the shuttle would make sense only if NASA canceled its plans for its next-generation rockets and switched to a shuttle-derived design.Another member of the panel, Edward F. Crawley, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cautioned that continuing present programs would delay plans for returning to the Moon or aiming for Mars.

“This is NASA’s conundrum at the highest level,” Dr. Crawley said, “which is that the agency really doesn’t in its current budgetary structure have the resources to continue a world-class, world-leading space program and also simultaneously develop the next step.”The panel members will continue their discussions at two more public meetings this week, in Huntsville, Ala., on Wednesday in Cocoa Beach, Fla., on Thursday.From:www.nytimes.com

T-Mobile USA customers starting August 5.

2009-07-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! Blackberry's first-ever fully-featured, native Apple support -- finally -- right out of the box is being offered in the new Blackberry 8520 smartphone that will be available to T-Mobile USA customers starting August 5.

Also topping the new features list for the device is its touch-sensitive optical trackpad, which had been rumored for months to replace trackball found on other Blackberry devices.

The integrated new Mac compatibility will get into gear in September, when the phone's maker, Research in Motion, officially launches the long-awaited Blackberry for Mac desktop software that promises to make life easier for Mac-loving Blackberry users. Until Blackberry for Mac, Blackberry users have had to use third-party software such as PocketMac to use their devices with their Mac computers.

The new 8520, along with the just-on-the-horizon Blackberry for Mac software, will be a huge gain for Mac users who until now had to put up with some frustrations to bring together their beloved Macs and Blackberries. There is, however, one caveat: Blackberry for Mac will support only Mac OS X version 10.5.5 or higher, leaving some users in the cold for now.

The new 8520 will be offered in black or frost, and includes a built-in 2-megapixel digital camera in an attractive if not distinctive 4.29-inch-tall, 2.36-inch-wide and .54-inch-thin unit.

Other features include:

New dedicated on-screen media keys that allow users to instantly skip songs, pause their music or repeat favorite songs while easily answering calls.
A full QWERTY keyboard.
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g enabled
256MB flash memory
1150 mAHr rechargeable Lithium battery, with a claimed 4.5 hours of talk time
320-by-240 pixel screen
2.64-inch diagonal color display
A hot-swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot, with an included 1GB card.
Quad-band world phone: EGDE/GPRS/GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

No pricing has yet been announced by T-Mobile, but customers can sign up for updates when pricing is available.

Amazing -- native Mac support comes to Blackberries. Has hell frozen over today, too?

From:www.pcworld.com

the new chairman of NBC Universal's television entertainment unit

2009-07-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK — Ben Silverman will be leaving his job as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Movie Studios to head a new venture with Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp.

NBC named Jeff Gaspin, president and chief operating officer of the company's cable entertainment group, to replace him. Gaspin also will keep his current duties as the new chairman of NBC Universal's television entertainment unit.

IAC said Monday it is forming a new production company led by Silverman that will look to bring advertisers into further into the development process on new media products.

IAC said it will provide an undisclosed amount of initial capital but hopes to spin the venture off into a separate entity.

IAC said Silverman, who started as co-chairman of NBC in June 2007, will continue to have a relationship with the network through its new company.

NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.From:www.google.com

Apollo 11's flight to the moon last week prompted NASA

2009-07-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Computerworld - The 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's flight to the moon last week prompted NASA and its supporters to reflect on the technology advances jump-started by the Apollo space program.

The third U.S. space flight program after Mercury and Gemini, Apollo is credited with greatly accelerating the development of several key, still-used technologies, including the integrated circuit, which dramatically altered the face of the computer industry in the 1960s and beyond.

NASA says that other technologies developed at least in part for the Apollo program are now used in products ranging from kidney dialysis machines to water purification systems and athletic shoes.

Experts also noted that without the technology research and development that accompanied the Apollo space missions, top tech companies like Intel Corp. may not have been founded, and we likely wouldn't be using devices like laptops and BlackBerries to post information on social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

The Apollo program was launched in 1961. It started with the ill-fated, never-flown Apollo 1 spacecraft in 1967 and ended with the Apollo 17 mission, which brought the program's final crew to the moon in 1972.

"During the mid- to late 1960s, when Apollo was being designed and built, there was significant [technology] advancement," said Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University professor and a former director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, Calif.From:www.computerworld.com

New destination for Google Earth

2009-07-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

With the launch of the Google Earth programme, it allows us to give you even more detail of the Errant destinations all over the world. This amazing 3D interface opens a completely new dimension to the destinations.

Fasten your spacebelts, astronerds, as there's a new destination for Google Earth — and it's everyone's favorite planet, the moon. There are guided tours from Buzz Aldrin and Jack Schmitt, as well as videos and images of all the missions to Selene.

As someone who wasn't even born when Neil Armstrong made mankind's great leap, I've been glued to it all morning (which is why the post is late up — sorry, boss) discovering just where Chandrayaan-1 put down. And you've got to love the fact that Google's resident astronaut, Ed Liu, sounds just like a slightly less jaded Clint Eastwood. Well, wouldn't you, if you'd spent your career kissing the stars rather than killing blue-eyed soul singers?

NASA's program to develop the next generation of rockets

2009-07-19T02:59:00.000-07:00

From a critic's vantage point, NASA's manned spaceflight program since the heady days of Apollo makes little sense.

Instead of traveling beyond the moon and expanding the frontier of human exploration, the space shuttle could fly only a few hundred miles above the Earth, a feat first accomplished in the early 1960s by the Mercury program.

Next came the international space station, hardly a first either, considering that the space agency flew Skylab from 1973 to 1974.

Moreover, NASA now seems likely to wind up spending 13 years building the station. And once it's complete in 2010, the current plan is to abandon it five years later.

Finally, NASA's program to develop the next generation of rockets, Constellation, won't be ready next year — when the space shuttle is scheduled to fade into history — so America will have to rely on Russia to ferry its astronauts to the space station for the foreseeable future.

And even when Constellation is complete, the U.S. is planning to ride it to the moon, where astronauts trod generations ago.

What gives?

It's a matter of perspective. From NASA's view, the progression of space programs — shuttle first in 1981, followed by the space station in 1998 and finally Constellation — make sense in a universe constrained by finances and challenged by the unchangingly difficult physics of spaceflight.

For this perspective, each of the manned spaceflight program directors gave extensive interviews and stitched together a picture of why NASA has made the decisions it did. Readers, then, can decide whether the space program of today is a worthy successor to the lunar heroes of Apollo.

‘Reusable' shuttle

After the lunar missions, rocket scientists decided the next generation of spacecraft should be reusable, and in theory the shuttle is. Its main engines, which burn fuel from the external tank, are refurbished for each flight, as are the shuttle itself and its solid-rocket boosters.

In theory.

“We talk about reusable main engines and that's a myth because we didn't just buy the engines and tell Rocketdyne ‘thank you' and walk away from them,” said John Shannon, the shuttle program manager. “We bought the engines, and then we buy all of the overhead associated with turning those engines around. Then, if you have any design issues or if you have any part wear-out issues, you have to go back to the manufacturer and buy a new part or a new design. So you keep that entire production and manufacturing capability, and you keep that entire corporate knowledge in place, to support this reusable engine.

“So it's the worst of both worlds, extra money to turn these engines around, but I've also got all of my production and manufacturing capability that I'm supporting in case I need a spare part.”

NASA has learned a hard lesson that “reusable,” while nice, is difficult in practice.

Also, after the Apollo missions, few scientists and engineers believed the agency was ready to go beyond the moon with manned spacecraft. There were huge hurdles to going to Mars, such as space radiation exposure and the viability of long-term habitation. So NASA developed the capability to live and work in low-Earth orbit and build a foundation for future exploits.

With its large cargo bay, the shuttle has launched and serviced myriad satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope, and is building the space station.

But a central message remained, punctuated by the catastrophic losses of Challenger and Columbia and their 14 astronauts: Flying into space is hard.

Dreams of an easy progression to Mars began dying.

“I'll be real honest with you, the shuttle is kind of a pain to go fly,” Shannon said. “You want something you load up, go fly, don't worry about it at all, you complete your mission, and then you come home. We're not there with the shuttle and we're really not going to get there.”

Mars stepping stone

The space station, from NASA's perspective, was therefore the next logical step after the shuttle, because it built upon that vehicle's strengths.

Yes, program manager Mike Suffredini has heard from critics that the $60 billion station is boring.

“From an exploration standpoint, I absolutely agree,” he said. “We've conquered low-Earth orbit. It's innate in the human psyche, and it's time for us to go explore as a species. So yeah, it's boring, and we need to get out of it from an exploration standpoint. But the station is a key stepping stone to getting there, to learning the steps how to operate in microgravity and away from the safety of the Earth.”From:www.chron.com

Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, has been up and running

2009-07-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, has been up and running for just a month, but it has already begun making waves in the lucrative search market.

Bing gained 0.4 percentage points of market share to 8.4% in June, according to a report released Wednesday by online data tracker comScore to analysts. Rival Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) remained at 65%, and second-place Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) fell to 19.6%, down from 20.1% in May.

June marked the first month since January in which Google did not gain market share.

Microsoft's search market share had been slipping for more than two years. At the same time, the company has struggled to make its online advertising unit profitable. The June results represent the biggest monthly jump in Microsoft's market share since June 2008, and it is the biggest share of the market the company has held since January.

It also brought Microsoft's share as close to Yahoo's as it has ever been, according to comScore data that goes back to January 2007.

That's significant, because comScore estimates that every percentage point of market share equals a swing of $100 million of revenue.

Bing's staying power. Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) reported Monday that it has seen an 8% rise in unique visitors to Bing since the search site replaced its predecessor, Live Search, on June 3.

But experts are skeptical about how long Microsoft's boost can last.

"Microsoft's gain is a function of its $150 million PR effort," said Sandeep Aggarwal, senior Internet research analyst with Collins Stewart. "Since it was highly publicized, Microsoft has created a new buzz, and users came to the site out of curiosity."

"All of those things suggest more of a temporary gain," Aggarwal added. "If Bing can be where it was at the start of the year at the end of the year, that would be a success for Microsoft."

Others think it's too early to tell whether Bing will be able to grow over time.

"The June move wasn't material enough to make any definitive statements as to whether Bing is a search market share game changer," wrote Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney in a client note. "We continue to view Bing as a very solid product, but one facing a very large uphill battle."

From:money.cnn.com

New Apollo 11 mission ,Updates, July 2009

2009-07-14T03:58:00.000-07:00

NASA'sthird scheduled launch attempt for space shuttle Endeavour was canceled on

bothSaturday and Sunday, due to poor weather conditions. Flight officials were concerned because of thunderstorms that impacted the area around the Kennedy Space Center.

Eleven lightning strikes were monitored within a half-mile on Friday evening, which caused the Saturday delay. The weather never eased up throughout Saturday and Sunday, so the planned Sunday launch also had to be scrubbed.

The U.S. space agency tried to launch the shuttle again yesterday, but that launch was also canceled due to storms.

Shuttle Endeavour will head to the International Space Station for a 16-day mission with five scheduled spacewalks for the seven-man crew.

A new website supported by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shows praise to the famed Apollo 11 mission that grabbed the attention of the entire world. The official web site, which is available at WeChooseTheMoon.org, offers an interactive Web site to help recreate the famed mission.

Site directors offers animated recreations of the four-day mission, with a focus on Apollo 11 orbiting the moon. The site helps commemorate the 40th anniversary, and is certainly something the DailyTech staff recommends visiting at least once.

Government contractor Northrop Grumman has been given a $30 million contract by the U.S. Air Force to help develop a new global space surveillance ground radar system. The Department of Defense continues the U.S. government's efforts to monitor resident space objects, such as space junk, and the new S-Band Space Fence is an important step in the mission, Northrop Grumman said in a statement.

It's unknown where the first Space Fence will be constructed, but the Australian outback is a possible location.

"The new Space Fence system will provide better accuracy and faster detection while allowing us to increase the number of satellites and other space objects that can be detected and tracked, thus avoiding collision and damage to other satellites."

Neil Armstrong looked up at a first-quarter moon

2009-07-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

When Neil Armstrong took the giant leap that captured the attention of the world, Val Garmann took a step around the corner of an Army facility in Georgia and looked up at a first-quarter moon.

“I said, ‘There they are,’ ” he recalled. “I could see the Sea of Tranquility. I could see the TV and turn and look up and see the moon.”

Garmann won’t be able to re-create that moment on July 20, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. July 20 is a new moon, which means it won’t be visible from Earth.

So instead, Garmann will honor the anniversary of the lunar landing bydefending it. As president of the Central Missouri Astronomical Association, he’ll lead a program that night to counter the theory that the whole thing was a hoax.

Be warned: Garmann gets passionate when talking about the theory that the landing didn’t happen. After all, to suggest NASA faked the moon landing is an insult to the crew, he said. And considering what the nation was going through at the time, that almost seems unpatriotic.

It was July 20, 1969, and America had been through some rough times. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated the previous year. The Vietnam War was raging, and protests were tearing apart communities. “The U.S. was going down the drain,” said Garmann, who was 19 in 1969.

Landing on the moon provided encouragement, he said, hope that Americans could still solve problems. The country had a giant goal and accomplished it with a giant step.

Theories that the landing was a hoax began circulating a few years later after the publication of Bill Kaysing’s 1974 book, “We Never Went to the Moon.” Four years later, the movie “Capricorn One” came out, challenging the landing once again. A 1999 Gallup poll found that 6 percent of Americans believed the Apollo 11 landing was faked.

Skeptics point to dozens of questions about the original footage. Why were the astronauts’ shadows different lengths? Why is the flag waving in space where there’s no wind? Why aren’t there stars in the background?

Garmann has answers. The moon’s uneven surface distorted the shadows. The flag waved because the astronauts were rotating the pole back and forth as they set it in the soil. The camera was set to capture the images of the astronauts on the glare of the moon’s surface, making a starry background too faint to see. He plans to disprove more hoax claims during his presentation, but last week, he was still fuming that he’s defending the moon landing 40 years after the fact.

“Why does the moon hoax theory still have legs?” he said. “Those people are so far out into the ozone. … The flag waved? Pu-leeze. NASA wouldn’t be so stupid.”

It’s unlikely the hoax theory will go away, though, said Angela Speck, an infrared astronomer and assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Missouri’s College of Arts and Science.

“I don’t think it’s any different than other conspiracy theories: JFK’s assassination, who’s behind 9/11,” she said. “There’s a conspiracy about everything when the government is involved. It tends to bring out some of the people who distrust the government.”

Adding to the distrust is that the science cannot be explained in a sound bite, Speck said. “What it comes down to is that the evidence people are citing for why we couldn’t possibly have landed on the moon takes a little more deep thought and understanding of how things really work than most people are willing to put in,” she said. “You can’t explain it in 30 seconds. My attitude is it’s an educational issue more than anything.”

For Garmann, it’s also an emotional issue. “The people who were there were invested in it,” he said. “They risked their lives. To suggest the whole thing is a fraud, to them, is the biggest insult you could make.”

From:news.google.com

Information About Nokia 97

2009-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

At the Nokia World 2008 conference, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo waxed eloquent about the N97 handset, its highest-end phone and described it as “world’s most advanced mobile computer” He went on to say, “We are, in fact, transforming the Internet. Putting in your hands the power to be more in tune with the world around you.” The device has finally launched, and those bold claims by Olli-Pekkas aside, the N97 is barely making a wave in this summer of the superphone.

I have had this device for nearly three weeks and my response to the device every time I use it: meh! Since it is the US version of the device, it works fine with the AT&T’s 3G Network (if you can call it that), but the device is underwhelming. After having used the iPhone, Google G2 (or T-Mobile MyTouch) and Palm Pre — the N97, its outstanding hardware features not withstanding feels outdated. It shouldn’t: it has every known software a regular modern mobile phone user wants – Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Maps. And yet, it feels from a different era. Like a baseball player, long retired trying to make a comeback. (Related post: NewTeeVee Reviews N97 with focus on its video recording capabilities and is unimpressed.)

If you have been a regular reader, you know I have had a soft spot for Nokia devices. Actually I still do. The Nokia N73 and Nokia 8800 continue to be in my top five favorite phones of all time, and when opportunity arises, I still carry them around. Why? Because when it comes to quality, Nokia hardware is always top notch.

The N97, however doesn’t measure up. And that is very surprising for it had been one of the most anticipated devices, for most know the Nokia is world’s largest handset maker and with this device it could compete with new entrants such as Apple.Still I wanted to see what others thought, so earlier this morning I asked my twitter followers if they had any thoughts on N97 and how it was doing around the world. I was surprised by the downbeat responses. The one that was most telling was from @jonfingas who wrote back: “The N97 to me is Symbian’s inertia coming home to roost. Nokia’s dominance gave it a free ride for the past few years.”

From:gigaom.com

Internet radio sites, music industry reach agreement

2009-07-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

Reporting from Washington -- The music won't stop for Internet radio after a group of webcasters struck an agreement with SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalties for musicians and record companies, over payments for playing music online.

The settlement ends a 2 1/2 -year dispute that had threatened to silence the nascent Internet radio business and had forced some people who started online stations as a hobby to quit for fear of accruing expensive royalty bills.

A series of agreements this year covering various sectors of the industry, including small webcasters and conventional radio stations that simulcast their broadcasts online, settled much of the controversy.

Tuesday's settlement allows webcasters to avoid per-song royalty payments that were set in 2007 by a special federal court and that many Internet radio providers said would force them out of business. Instead, Pandora Media Inc. and other large webcasters can chose an alternative rate structure that allows them to pay lower per-song royalties through 2015, or 25% of their revenue -- a major break, given that many webcasters don't make much money yet.

"If the rates weren't resolved, we were sunk. So this is a huge relief," said Tim Westergren, co-founder of Pandora, the Oakland, Calif., webcaster that has about 30 million registered users. The company forecasts $40 million in revenue this year and hopes to become profitable next year, he said.

The new per-song rates start at 0.08 of a cent per listener for each song played and rise to 0.14 of a cent in 2015, when the agreement ends. The rates set in 2007 by the Copyright Royalty Board started at 0.0762 of a cent but more than double to 0.19 of a cent by 2010. Under the new agreement, large webcasters pay whichever is greater -- the per-song fee or the percentage of revenue. Smaller commercial webcasters -- those with $1.25 million or less in total revenue -- would pay between 10% and 14% of their sales or 7% of their expenses, whichever is greater.

"It's a substantial reduction in the per-song streaming fee, and that was really the crux of the problem for us," said Westergren, who has been a leading voice in the fight against the royalty rates.From:www.latimes.com/business

"perfect" Iphone gadget is eating up its battery

2009-07-08T04:22:00.000-07:00

people are starting to complain that their "perfect" Iphone gadget is eating up its battery.

But according to the Examiner, the problem has nothing to do with Apple's hardware.Instead the trouble is apparently due to the new Iphone 3.0 OS, which was designed by the finest minds at Apple. It seems complaints about battery life appeared soon after the operating system was released,

The battery for the new Iphone 3GS is virtually identical to the Iphone 3G's battery, which means that the only thing that changed was the new operating system.Most people think the problem is with the software's new Push Notification function, which allows the phones to receive messages "pushed" to them from a server.For that to work the Internet connection must be open, which obviously drains battery power, and some people are saying the battery lasts a little longer if that push function is switched off.

However others think that can't be the only reason and the operating system must be switching on some other function that is causing the problem.

Yet the battery life problem is a major issue for those who need to have their phone on all the time during the day. Particularly since Apple came up with the genius idea of sealing the battery inside so you can't replace it with another one while it is recharging.Apple is about to update its Iphone OS software and it is possible that the new version will make life better for people who want to use their shiny Iphone for more than an occasional toy.

But the development of a handset operating system that leaves too much switched on highlights the pastel computer and toymaker's lack of solid design experience when it comes to mobile phones.From:www.theinquirer.net

When Nokia and Intel held a press conference love-fest a week

2009-07-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

When Nokia and Intel held a press conference love-fest a week or so back, the presentations, though heavy on management speak and super, super excitement, were noticeably lacking in any detail whatsoever of actual products and even the vaguest hint of delivery dates.

But now it looks as if we may not have long to wait for the birth of the first Nintel gadget. A number of sources including UK national, the Manchester Guardian, are predicting that Nokia will release a new touchscreen Android smartphone at the Nokia World bash in September this year.

A new mobile that runs on Google's Android software platform would be a radical departure from Symbian for the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia makes around 40 percent of all mobile phones sold, but is sadly lacking must-have products at the lucrative smartphone end of the market.

Analysts say Nokia had 47 percent of the smartphone market in 2007, but had dropped to around 30 percent by the end of last year. And with sales of regular mobiles suffering in the recession, the only bit of the market looking at all healthy is the high end web devices like the iPhone and Crackberry.From:www.tgdaily.com

Microsoft's Bing is taking a bite out of Google

2009-07-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Bing is taking a bite out of Google, boasting first-month market share gains while the competition's stronghold slips away! At least, that's what some headlines around the Web might lead you to believe this week.The truth, though, is that the change is not nearly as dramatic as it appears at a glance. While Bing has, according to certain data, minimally increased Microsoft's search market share, Google's position has not significantly shifted.

Bing vs. Google: The Buzz

All the buzz comes from a new search market analysis by Web stats company StatCounter. Bing, the researchers say, secured 8.23 percent of all U.S.-based searches for the month of June. (Bing officially launched on June 3.) The previous month, StatCounter shows Microsoft sitting at 7.81 percent of U.S. searches. That amounts to a month-to-month increase of just under half a percentage point following Bings debut.

Google, during that same time span, dropped from 78.72 percent to 78.48 of U.S. searches—a decrease of 0.24 percent, according to StatCounter's data. Looking back to April, the difference becomes slightly less apt to be obliterated by a sneeze: Google's two-month drop amounts to 0.59 percent, while Microsoft's April-to-June gain comes out to 1.02 percent.

The Bing Picture

The numbers, obviously, are quite small—but perhaps more important is the fact that zeroing in on such a short period of time makes it difficult to reach any real conclusions. Sticking with StatCounter's data, youll find that Google's market share has actually fluctuated fairly regularly over the past several months. In March, for example, Google randomly dipped down to 76.49 percent of U.S. searches. Then, it bounced back to 79.08 a month later. Why? Who knows. But it wasn't because of Bing—that word hadn't even entered our vocabulary as a proper noun at that point.

What this appears to indicate is that, whether as a result of shifting usage or margin of error within the measurement, the numbers do bounce around occasionally. Putting too much stock into a minor two-month change, then, seems a bit premature.What's more, early metrics from other analytics companies have suggested Google may have actually seen gains as a result of Bings arrival. Just a couple of weeks ago, the crew from Compete theorized that users were trying Bing but not abandoning their standard search engines and switching allegiance.

In the end, it's simply too soon to call the race; the amounts of change just haven't been significant so far. Bing is far from being out of the running, but it also has yet to complete any awe-inspiring laps.From:www.businessweek.com

Facebook is simplifying its privacy options

2009-07-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Facebook looks to make a splash with changes designed to simplify and standardize its privacy settings. The push to improve privacy comes as Facebook is working to make profiles more searchable over the Web.

Facebook is simplifying its privacy options as it simultaneously looks to make it easier for members of the social networking site to share content with anyone on the Internet.

For starters, the company is consolidating about six privacy pages and roughly 40 settings onto one page. The site will also standardize the options for each setting so the choices are identical. In the past, users had to navigate multiple pages if they wanted to change the access policies for their various status updates, photo albums or links. As a result, sometimes content would be shared unintentionally.

"We believe that when tools are simple, people are more likely to use them and understand them," Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer for Facebook, said during a news conference July 1. "We found that too many privacy options may result in users not really appreciating what content they're sharing and with whom."

Facebook is also eliminating "regional networks," in which people could share their profiles with anyone in the same geographic area. This option actually decreased privacy, as some regional networks were too large and encompassed entire countries, noted Leah Pearlman, a Facebook product manager.
From:www.eweek.com

New Mobile Nokia N97 Information

2009-06-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

Here's what Jonas Geust, Nokia's Vice President, had to say about the brand new N-series mobile phone, the N97: '...it's the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence...[it] leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into Your Internet'. This is currently the mobile phone event of 2009, the first N-series touchscreen phone from Nokia and we couldn't be more excited!

Why You Should Buy the Nokia N97!

The 3.5", 360x640 pixel resolution, 16:9 touchscreen capable of displaying 16 million colours.
A 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lensed camera with dual-LED flash.
Built-in Assisted GPS and digital compass for precise locations within Nokia Maps.
A huge 32GB of internal memory, plus a MicroSD expansion slot, potentially taking it to 48GB!
Symbian S60 5th Edition is the operating system of choice.

The thing is, we could just copy and paste the N97 specification sheet under the 'Why You Should Buy It' heading, as this phone contains so many neat touches and truly innovative features, that regardless of you mobile wishes, chances are the Nokia N97 will meet and exceed them! This wouldn't do the phone justice though, so we will highlight some of out favourite points to give you an idea of just what a marvel this is. For instance, the home screen is 'Internet-aware', which means any of the widgets you install - news, weather and social networking are amongst them – will update in the same way Push email does, with no prompting from you!

The N97 wants you to use the Internet, and to do so you'll use a WebKit browser which not only has an RSS reader but Flash support too. The N97 is also fully integrated with Ovi, your online home for files, maps, pictures, video and games, all ready to share with your friends. Sharing is another important area of the N97 and aside from the auto-updating social network widgets on the home screen, Nokia are introducing So-Lo – which stands for Social Location – for you to share your location with your friends.

To feed the N97's hunger for data is a 3G/HSDPA connection with Wi-Fi too, plus the usual GPRS, EDGE and A2DP Bluetooth. The GPS receiver is an Assisted model, plus the phone comes pre-loaded with Nokia Maps 2.0, nicely tweaked for touch usage. With a screen as gorgeous as this, video will look fantastic and there is a music player, FM RDS radio and FM transmitter rounding out the multimedia side, plus a TV-out and 3.5mm jack plug connection.

However, the Nokia is not just another touchscreen-only powerhouse, as the N97 takes its tag of 'mobile computer' very seriously, as by gently nudging the screen, it will slide out and reveal a full QWERTY keyboard! The build quality is superb too, evidenced by the slick motion with which the keyboard comes into view and the sturdy 150 gram weight.

Summary of the Nokia N97.

We could go on and on about how impressive the N97 is, but we think you've got the message! Plus, there are so many things to discover it would be a shame to spoil them! In the wake of the popularity of netbooks and more complex smartphones, the N97 is coming at a time when it will be most appreciated and not just by phone geeks either, its usability, versatility and style will appeal to many. Trust us, it's going to be absolutely huge!

From:www.mobileexpress.co.uk

Delta 4 rocket boosted a new GOES weather satellite

2009-06-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Running a day late because of stormy weather, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket boosted a new GOES weather satellite into space Saturday to serve as an orbital spare for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fleet of hurricane-tracking weather sentinels.

The Delta 4, equipped with two strap-on solid-fuel boosters, ignited with a rush of flame and smoke at 6:51 p.m. EDT and quickly climbed away from launch complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, arcing to the east and accelerating toward orbit."Three, two, one, and liftoff of the Delta 4 rocket with GOES-O, enhancing quality and reliability of the weather satellite for the forecaster," said NASA launch commentator George Diller.

It was the 10th flight of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket boosted Delta and the second of three launchings planned for this year.A launch attempt Friday was called off because of thunderstorms and electrical activity near the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. More of the same was on tap Saturday and forecasters initially predicted a 70 percent chance of a launch delay.

Thunderstorms rolled over the launch pad during fueling, but conditions improved as the afternoon wore on and after a 37-minute delay to allow a storm cell to move past to the south, United Launch Alliance proceeded with the countdown.The Delta 4's first stage performed normally, boosting the vehicle to an altitude of about 90 miles before falling away four-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.

The rocket's second stage then lofted the spacecraft into an initial parking orbit before two additional firings needed to place the 7,000-pound GOES-O satellite into an elliptical transfer orbit with a high point of about 21,800 miles and a low point of 4,100 miles.

The satellite separated from the Delta's second stage on time at 11:12 p.m. Onboard thrusters will be used to put the spacecraft in its final circular orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. That milestone is expected July 8 and if all goes well, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn the satellite over to the government on July 18.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system provides the hemispheric views familiar from television weathercasts. Observations of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the East Coast are provided by the GOES-12 satellite--critical for hurricane tracking--with GOES-11 providing similar coverage of the the West Coast and the central Pacific Ocean past Hawaii.

GOES-O will be known as GOES-14 once at the station, joining the GOES-13 satellite, which was launched three years ago, as an orbital spare."GOES-O will provide another important operational asset to NOAA and will become part of the nation's infrastructure for both weather and environmental forecasting," said Steve Kirkner, GOES project manager at NASA.

The latest GOES satellites feature an imaging system and a sounder that collects atmospheric data needed to predict surface and cloud-top temperatures, moisture content, and ozone distribution. The imagers produce higher resolution pictures than earlier models, allowing forecasters to more accurately track small-scale features.

"The things we're looking for, tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, are very small in scale," said Joe Schaefer, director of NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. "The increased resolution and accuracy that these satellites will present will help us pinpoint what's happening, and if we know what's happening, we can do a better job of making short-term and long-term forecasts of where it's going to be."Along with saving lives, improved resolution can lower costs as well.

"There's an old rule of thumb that if we can evacuate fewer people for a hurricane, for every mile we don't have to evacuate that saves you a million dollars on average," said Tom Wrublewski, technical acquisitions manager for the GOES project. "That translates into savings for you and I...and being able to know where tornadoes and other storms are."

Like all recent GOES satellites, the two newest models also include space environment sensors to measure energetic particles blown off by the sun, to monitor Earth's geomagnetic field, and to look for X-ray and ultraviolet emissions from powerful solar flares that can disrupt communications.
From:news.cnet.com

Pricing plans for its new Windows 7 operating system:Get Free Upgrade

2009-06-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Microsoft today announced pricing plans for its new Windows 7 operating system, which will end up costing consumers less than its oft-vilified Vista counterpart.

Specifically, the estimated prices in the United States for a Windows 7 upgrade are:

* Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
* Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
* Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

And the estimated prices for the full Windows 7 package are:

* Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
* Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
* Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

Microsoft also says that consumers who purchase new PCs before Windows 7 goes on sale will get free upgrades once it is released in the fall.(Windows Vista Home Basic is not eligible for upgrades.) The company is also offering consumers who live in the United States and other select markets the opportunity to preorder Windows 7 starting tomorrow at a 50 percent discount, which means that in the United States, for example, you can preorder Windows 7 Home Premium for $50 or Windows 7 Professional for $100 while supplies last. The offer ends July 11 in the United States and Canada, and July 5 in Japan. Customers in the United Kingdom, France and Germany can preorder theirs July 15 to Aug. 14
From:gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com

Apple still manages to sneak in new software updates

2009-06-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Few people would question the argument that the Apple TV receives the least love from the mother-ship among its current crop of product families (although the Cinema Displays can give it a tough fight for the bottom rung). That said, Apple still manages to sneak in new software updates for the device on an occasional basis—some of them even happen to add nifty new features.

Take Wednesday’s Apple TV software update 2.4, for example, which adds the ability to control audio and video playback using flick gestures of your iPhone or iPod touch, Flickr search, new view modes, and updated transport and chapter modes, among other things.

The primary new feature is the new control scheme for the device, which works in conjunction with an iPhone or iPod touch running the latest 3.0 firmware and version 2.3 of Apple’s free Remote application [iTunes link]. As you can see in the screenshot above, you can now flick your iPhone left or right to have the videos rewind or fast-forward; a downward flick displays the chapter markers, and you can flick left or right here to skip between them. A simple tap anywhere on the screen toggles between Play and Pause and dragging two fingers to the left rewinds the video by ten seconds. A slightly different set of gestures work for controlling audio playback as well.from:www.macworld.com

Canon Powershot SD1200 Cmera is New

2009-06-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Canon Powershot SD1200 is a fairly standard ultracompact digital camera for casual and novice photographers. This model has a 10-megapixel sensor and adverage 3x optical zoom lens.

Specifications

10 megapixels
Movie mode with sound (60 minutes / 4GB)
JPEG file format
3x optical zoom / 4x digital zoom
Lens-shift image stabilization
Face-detection auto focus

From:www.digitalcamera-hq.com

Olympus PEN camera Coming soon

2009-06-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Olympus PEN EP-1 recalls the look and feel of the original Olympus PEN camera, but don't let the retro appearance confuse you; The EP-1 is the most forward-thinking innovation in digital photography in years. The EP-1 utilizes the Micro Four Thirds standard shared by Olympus and Panasonic. This allows cameras to take SLR-quality photographs without the mirrors or prisms that cause those cameras to be so large and bulky. The EP-1 has a large 12-megapixel sensor, the same sensor found in Olympus's SLR models, tucked inside a relatively small, lightweight form factor. It's incredibly portable, stylishly designed, and takes great photos (and HD video as well).

Specifications

Micro Four Thirds camera
12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor
Sensor-shift image stabilization
Live View LCD
TruePic V Image Processing
ISO 100-6400
3-inch LCD display
Intelligent Auto and Full Manual controls
720p high-definition video recording (AVI format)
Secure Digital High Capacity memory storage
Dimensions: 4.7" x 2.7 X x 1.4"
From:www.digitalcamera-hq.com