Tech Today w/ Ken May

Europeans have been able to bag this speedy external writer for a few months now, but it’s only just received its Green Card — turning up in the US with a suitcase full of dreams and a price tag of $239.99. A quick check of its CV resume reveals a choice of either USB 3.0 or eSATA connectivity, 12x write speed, and the ability to burn up to 50GB of data on a dual-layer disc. The drive is being pitched as an “all-in-one Blu-ray device” because it also handles 3D playback and has a low vibration system for quieter operation. Admittedly, it only offers half as much storage as BDXL writers, but those burn slower and onto judderingly expensive media. Closer competition comes from Buffalo, which arrived early to the USB 3.0 table, but whose current MediaStation model omits the eSATA option.

Continue reading Plextor PL-LB950UE Blu-ray burner lands in the US with heady mix of USB 3.0 speed and double-layer storage

Plextor PL-LB950UE Blu-ray burner lands in the US with heady mix of USB 3.0 speed and double-layer storage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even though I am living in Japan, I have never made it to Nagasaki. But the Huis Ten Bosch theme park might make me go one day: Sharp has created a kind of 360-degree video room inside the park, which surrounds visitors in the front, above, below, and on both sides (“5D”) with a total of 156 AQUOS 60-inch LCD displays.

The park calls itself a “European residential style resort with luxurious hotels”, but I am sure some geeks with no interest in European architecture will be on their way tomorrow when the so-called “5D Miracle Tour” opens (sorry to say, I have no time). Sharp says there will be a front wall, ceiling and floor with 36 monitors each and left and right walls with 24 monitors each, providing an “immersive video experience” on 200 to 300 inches on all sides.

Visitors will be able to view the story of Sirena, the Mermaid (8 minutes).

Excerpt from:
5D Miracle: Sharp 360-degree Video Room Consists of 156 LCDs

Remember Intel’s Larsen Creek SSD? It’s not alone. By the end of the year, it looks like Intel expects to ship five new solid state storage series in total — some of them even speedier than its current SSD 510 Series flagship. We managed to obtain this leaked roadmap listing the potential additions, and we’re afraid to ask how much the new kings of the hill might cost — the “Ramsdale” SSD 720 Series uses up to 400GB of SLC NAND in a PCI Express card form factor, and the “Lyndonville” SSD 710 series with a similar quantity of enterprise-grade MLC flash. There’s also a direct successor to the current top-of-the-line in the “Cherryville” SSD 520 Series, which will stretch all the way up to 480GB and down to 64GB in Q4 of this year, as well as Paint Creek, which seems destined for boot drives with only 80GB and 40GB capacities to choose from. Still, the most intriguing addition might be Larsen Creek after all, which sounds like it’s been purpose-built for caching data from your existing rotational storage. It’s slated to come in both 2.5-inch SATA and mSATA configurations in Q3 and uses SLC NAND, which suggests it won’t run cheap despite the tiny capacity here. We can’t wait to find out for sure.

Intel SSD 720, 710 and 520 Series leak out, Larsen Creek and Paint Creek bring up rear guard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Several years ago, an 81-year-old woman with a raised patch of dry skin on her arm visited Mississippi dermatologist John Abide, M.D.

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Study: Armadillos spread leprosy

A fascinating prototype of sensor the size of a cubic millimeter has been developed with a lot of brilliant technology inside—never mind that its specifically meant for glaucoma patients. The device takes measurements every 15 minutes and uploads the readings once a day by 400 and 900MHz frequencies. Because of the small size of its antenna it needs 47 microwatts to transmit a single bit using a pulse from a capacitor, since the built in battery only provides 40 microwatts. The capacitor repeats this process until it completes the total of 1.5Kb of data. The battery lasts for 28 days, but the system has one more trick in the form of a solar cell which charges itself over 10 hours of indoor of 1.5 hours of outdoor lightning. More

A fascinating prototype of sensor the size of a cubic millimeter has been developed with a lot of brilliant technology inside—never mind that its specifically meant for glaucoma patients. The device takes measurements every 15 minutes and uploads the readings once a day by 400 and 900MHz frequencies. Because of the small size of its antenna it needs 47 microwatts to transmit a single bit using a pulse from a capacitor, since the built in battery only provides 40 microwatts. The capacitor repeats this process until it completes the total of 1.5Kb of data. The battery lasts for 28 days, but the system has one more trick in the form of a solar cell which charges itself over 10 hours of indoor of 1.5 hours of outdoor lightning. More

angry tapir writes “While Microsoft has not announced the release date of its follow-up to Windows 7, an early pre-beta version of Windows 8 (although its official name has not been confirmed) has surfaced on the Internet, the second version to appear within a month. It is the second milestone release that has showed up on the Internet this month. Users of this Windows 8 software have said it features a Ribbon-based user-interface, similar to the one used in recent editions of Microsoft Office. This specific milestone build also has software for a Webcam, a new task manager, a PDF reader and an immersive browser.” “Surfacings” like this tell me that Microsoft sees the value in crowdsourced opinion gathering far more than they’re sometimes given credit for.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Continued here:
Another Windows 8 Pre-Beta Surfaces

angry tapir writes “While Microsoft has not announced the release date of its follow-up to Windows 7, an early pre-beta version of Windows 8 (although its official name has not been confirmed) has surfaced on the Internet, the second version to appear within a month. It is the second milestone release that has showed up on the Internet this month. Users of this Windows 8 software have said it features a Ribbon-based user-interface, similar to the one used in recent editions of Microsoft Office. This specific milestone build also has software for a Webcam, a new task manager, a PDF reader and an immersive browser.” “Surfacings” like this tell me that Microsoft sees the value in crowdsourced opinion gathering far more than they’re sometimes given credit for.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Another Windows 8 Pre-Beta Surfaces

Verteiron writes “Cable company Mediacom recently began using deep packet inspection to redirect 404 errors, Google and Bing searches to their own, ad-laden “search engine”. Despite repeated complaints from customers, Mediacom continues this connection hijacking even after the user has opted out of the process. Months after the problem was first reported, the company seems unwilling or unable to fix it and has even experimented with injecting their own advertising into sites like Google. How does one get a company infamous for its shoddy customer service and comfortable, state-wide cable monopolies to act on an issue like this?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Mediacom Using DPI To Hijack Searches, 404 Errors

Verteiron writes “Cable company Mediacom recently began using deep packet inspection to redirect 404 errors, Google and Bing searches to their own, ad-laden “search engine”. Despite repeated complaints from customers, Mediacom continues this connection hijacking even after the user has opted out of the process. Months after the problem was first reported, the company seems unwilling or unable to fix it and has even experimented with injecting their own advertising into sites like Google. How does one get a company infamous for its shoddy customer service and comfortable, state-wide cable monopolies to act on an issue like this?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Mediacom Using DPI To Hijack Searches, 404 Errors