Big Light Space » Technology

New Sprint phone – Android HTC Hero

jd2020 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:34:59 +0000

Sprint will make their new touchscreen phone available Oct.11, 2009. The new HTC “Hero” will use Google’s Android platform as its operating system. Previous HTC versions used Windows Mobile. A rival to the recently released T-Mobile Android based phone, the “My Touch” by Google, the Hero offers a 5MB still shot camera and a video camera. The phone is getting good reviews from industry techs that have been using the Hero. Some good specs here.

The Oculus Super Yacht

jd2020 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:41:02 +0000

Oculus (shown below) is the first luxury yacht from Schopfer Yachts LLC. This 250-foot vessel was designed by E. Kevin Schopfer, founder and owner of his namesake company. Designed to accommodate 12 guests in extraordinary comfort and style, Oculus is a long distance cruising yacht capable of speeds upwards of 25 knots.

Schopfer Yacht’s second design launch was a 300-foot super yacht named The Infinitas. Slide shows here.

Check out this cool animation tour of The Oculus by Tangram 3DS.

Navy Wants High-Powered Laser

jd2020 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:22:38 +0000

Its been high time that weapons are allowed to fend off pirates on the high seas. How about a laser mounted on a ship so as to blast would-be punks out of the water?

Northrop Grumman came away with the $98-million contract for the Maritime Laser Demonstration (MLD) in early July. Next up: installing a prototype of the laser on a ship and testing it on a remote-controlled small boat within the next 18 months.

The same laser can first identify potentially threatening watercraft, and then use illumination to warn the intruder away from Navy warships. As a last resort, the laser can dial up to high-power mode and strike either the craft’s motor or hull. Bring it on, I think its a much better answer than forever litigation and longterm care.
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Passports with micro QVGA monitor

jd2020 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:33:42 +0000

Samsung’s new anti-counterfeit passport concept…

Samsung has produced a new idea for ID cards using a flexible QVGA AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode) screen embedded into the card. The screen requires so little energy that it can be powered up by the wireless signals from the RFID reader–no need for batteries. The OLED screen itself can display 260k colors and has a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. It will offer a rotating 360° view of your head when held up to an RFID reader. For airports that might not have an RFID scanner, an old-timey static picture is still included. Driver’s license too?

Cell Phones – A Progressive Timeline

jd2020 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:04:33 +0000

“As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call. Remember that in 1973, there weren’t cordless telephones, let alone cellular phones. I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter – probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life.” Martin Cooper – April 3, 1973 – then mgr of Motorola Communications

In 1983, the Motorola “DynaTac” cell phone made its debut. It weighed one pound and cost 3500.00. By 1990, there were 1 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S. Most entities are not without a cell phone today.

Top 10 Computer Viruses – a history of

jd2020 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:59:59 +0000

Check out this history of the top 10 computer viruses dating back to 1971. Some were said to have been ground breaking and innovative. Most were seen as pesky and damaging.

2009 Corvette ZR1 – Jay Leno’s Garage

jd2020 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:55:20 +0000

What a great site! Jay has an incredible collection of vehicles. His 17,000 square foot garage is equipped to fabricate their own parts as well as sporting a gourmet kitchen. Check out this great collection of videos with Jay offering a personal walk-through on many of his cars and motor bikes.

I really enjoyed Jay’s personal review of the 2009 Corvette ZR1. Now how did he get serial # 0001? What an awesome car!

Monopoly Plastic Money & Fashion

jd2020 — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:45:59 +0000

The all new Monopoly 2008 hall of fame board game, complete with mag-stripe reader and debit cards!!!

MONOPOLY stakes claim to a rich and lengthy history, dating all the way back to 1933!

MONOPOLY 1934
Charles Darrow copyrights and submits the MONOPOLY game to Parker Brothers, he gets rejected.

MONOPOLY 1978
Neiman Marcus offers an ALL chocolate MONOPOLY game for $600!

Here is a more detailed Monopoly timeline.

Monopoly Fashion - click for larger views

Cybercrime Times

jd2020 — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:34:55 +0000

Read scary cybercrime stuff:

FBI guy doing cybertime

How this guy lived a life of anonymity?

Who the heck is hacking the Whitehouse?

Who is guarding the internet?

ASD Therapy – Mind, Robots & Keepon

jd2020 — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:13:09 +0000

This little robot (Keepon) and others like it are being used to help children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It turns out that the children more readily accept “Keepon” as a means of social interaction, creating an an environment to help therapists draw the child out socially and study their emotional states. Quite an entertaining piece of helpful technology with cameras in its eyes and nose. Heck, I’d like to have one. Its a rockin stress reliever! Check out Keepon groovin to “I Turn My Camera On” by Spoon.

Check out more about Marek Michalowski, a Ph.D student in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, and Hideki Kozima of Miyagi University in Japan and their robotic ideas at Beatbots.net