A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object. Hidden cameras have become popular for household surveillance, and can be built into common household objects such as smoke detectors, clock radios,motion detectors, ball caps, plants, andcellphones. Hidden cameras may also be used commercially or industrially as security cameras.
A hidden camera can be wired or wireless. The former will be connected to a TV, VCR, or DVR, whereas a wireless hidden camera can be used to transmit a video signal to a receiver within a small radius (up to a few hundred feet).
Some hidden camera shows have led to lawsuits or being denied to air by the people who were trapped in set-ups that they found unpleasant.
Here’s a cool spy gadget for all the James Bond fans out there, the Spy Camera Glasses.
This cool spy gadget features a built in 1.3 megapixel camera, capable of snapping spy shots at a resolution of 1280 x 1024.
Photos are taken by pressing the RF remote which you can hide discreetly in your pocket so no one will know when you are taking photos.
These cool spy glasses also have built in headphones and an mp3 player so you can listen to your favourite tunes whilst taking photos.
Here’s the specs.
A 1.3 megapixel (1280 x 1024) resolution camera located on the arm of sporty shades.
An RF remote control so no-one will ever know when you’re going to snap next.
1GB of internal memory for photos or MP3s.
The polarised lenses are UV400 for great protection from the sun.
A USB cable is provided to attach to the shades so you can download your snaps onto your computer, recharge the battery and upload MP3s.
The camera battery lasts for up to 9 hours or 6 hours when playing MP3s.
Earbud headphones are discreetly embedded in the sunglass arms.
A storage case.
A cleaning cloth.
A set of spare, clear lenses are included for indoor use.
Compatible with Windows & MAC OS9 onwards (driver CD included for windows 98).
It’s no wonder that now, every morning at about 8:30am, I make myself a cup of hot tea. It doesn’t matter if it’s Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, my day wouldn’t be complete without a cup of tea. The thing is though, I’m a sipper, not gulper. By the time I drink the last drop, my hot tea has turned into cold tea… bleh! So, whenBrando sent me the USB Cup Warmer.
The USB Cup Warmer is a black stretchy neoprene 11.5 inch wrap with a 38 inch USB cable extending out of one end. A 2.5 inch cutout to allow for a coffee cup handle is located on one end of the wrap. The idea is that you slide the cup handle through the cutout, then pull the wrap around the cup, where it is held in place with Velcro. In practice, the wrap fit my standard sized mug perfectly snug.
You then plug the USB connector into a free USB 1.1 or 2.0 port on your PC or MAC computer, where it will draw enough power to warm the wrap and the cup that it is enclosing. By the way, it’s a good idea to put the wrap on before you fill the cup up with boiling hot water. Wrestling with the wrap while the cup is full, is a good way to spill hot water on your hand… ouch!
Time Elapsed
Beverage temperature (Fahrenheit) without Cup Warmer plugged into USB port
Beverage temperature
(Fahrenheit) with Cup Warmer plugged into USB port
Actual impression of temperature
Begin
160°
160°
Scalding
5min
152°
148°
Very hot
10min
142°
138°
Hot
15min
131°
131°
Very warm*
20min
122°
125°
Warm
25min
112°
120°
30min
107°
117°
35min
102°
113°
40min
98°
110°
45min
107°
50min
105°
55min
103°
1hr
101°
The USB Cup Warmer is a novelty more than anything. Although it will keep your beverage somewhat warmer for a longer period of time, it’s up to you to decide if warm is warm enough.
Pros: Use for USB port other than something computer related Inexpensive Plug and play
The Slingbox TV signal sender / media streamer is the most impressive gadget I have had the pleasure of stumbling across in 2008, having marvelled at the way such a simple device could reduce arguments over who's turn it was to choose the channel in a TV-obssessed family household.
The Slingbox allows you to stream TV programs directly to an internet connected PC using your broadband connection. The streamed TV signal is delivered by connecting the Slingbox directly to your TV, satellite receiver or cable box. This sounds far too simple to be true, but it genuinely is. The Slingbox is a dream to setup and use, I’ve even heard rumors that my wife was able to configure our device in my absence, but I’m not convinced she didn’t call a ‘techi friend’ to do this for her! It is also an incredibly reliable device for this type of media streaming and can even send freeview TV signals without the need for direct connectivity to a TV. Although it's a superb innovation which delivers clean, seamless images from your TV to PC straight across your broadband connection, the Slingbox does however come with only one minor flaw. It would be even more impressive if 'version two' came with one-to-many connectivity.
Sling Media, the maker of Slingbox, says it's all about staying connected to your favorite programs, wherever your life takes you. Choose the SlingboxTUNER, SlingboxAV, or SlingboxPRO, depending on your needs, and the type of programming and equipment you have at home.
How Slingbox Works
The Slingbox device plugs into your television source (cable, satellite, set-top box or DVR) using a coaxial, component, composite, or S-video cable. The network connector on the Slingbox then connects to your Internet router with a standard ethernet cable, or wirelessly with a special bridge adapter. An infrared cable from the Slingbox, pointed at your TV or DVR gives you the ability to remotely control them from your computer. No matter how you connect the Slingbox, you'll need to install the SlingPlayer interface software on your computer or portable wireless device, in order to view the video programming remotely.
Web access facilitates configuration but not absolutely necessary
Pros: Easy preliminary setup. Neat and effective
Cons:PC users might prefer local control rather than via a server at a small but not insignificant cost
Overall:Fine-tuning messages and configuration will take time but is worth the effort. Works well as a smart answering machine and (optionally) call recorder
The need to screen unwanted phone calls was once largely restricted to celebrities and victims of malicious or demented callers.
Telephone add-on blocks calls you don’t want and optionally records those that you answer
The need to screen unwanted phone calls was once largely restricted to celebrities and victims of malicious or demented callers.
Now junk calls are becoming almost as overwhelming as spam email and are equally tricky to block. The Truecall system is designed to do so with the minimum of hassle.
The basic setup could hardly be simpler. You plug a lead from the little Truecall box into your main phone jack and your phone or Dect base station into the box. After a few seconds your phone rings and you are prompted to record a greeting message for callers.
Options too numerous to list here are designed to deal with just about any conceivable type of telephone nuisance. Configuration can be done on the keypad, or rather more easily via an indirect web interface on Truecall’s remote server, which carries an annual charge of £15 after the first year. This also allows you to simply paste in a list of Star or Zap numbers. Holding down a button on the Truecall box sets up a dial-up link that synchronises data with the server.
You can pick up your messages remotely by calling your own number and calls can be recorded with the aid of an optional module.
Every time I glance at this lamp it reminds me of Runaway Bride. In that movie the main character creates lighting out of hardware typically meant for other tasks, such as pipes and that sort of thing. I thought it was a brilliant idea when I saw the movie and I still think it’s a great idea. I’m glad to see someone making something like this in reality, instead of just in Hollywood.
Although it’s not entirely reality, since these are in the design stages still. The designer David Benatan works for a design company in Tel Aviv. Which is where he makes these interesting lamps made out of pipes. The best part of the whole lamp is that it can be turned on and off by turning the faucet handle. Part of the fun of the design is also that many of the lamps don’t appear to be stable, they look as if they might tip over. They are thankfully perfectly secure though and won’t go tipping over. The pipes are left completely authentic, they still have rust on the joints and marks from hand tools that were used to assemble them. Hopefully these will make it to stores sometime soon.
This next device is so cool, that I couldn't tell what it was when I first saw it. I realize that some of you don't understand my mindset, but sometimes the things that you can't tell what they are by looking at them are the most interesting.
This is the case with the Eyemove PC, which could easily change the way we do PCs. The Eyemove is actually two units wirelessly synced together. The first is an oval shaped projector that can be mounted vertically on a wall or horizontally on a stand. The controller is a circular touchscreen that has a keyboard, mouse, and joystick all-in-one. Combined together, you have a display that is projected anywhere with a very unique interface.
Evcomm soft phone is a client-based SIP application for the PC or laptop running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Evcomm soft phone uses the SIP protocol to allow user to make and reiceive telephone call, send and receive instant messages, and see enterprise contact availability vi presence.
Features
Protocol: SIP v2 (RFC 3261), RTP
Audio: G711 (uLAW/aLAW), G723.1, GSM, iLBC, Speex, AMR
Proxy: Multiple Proxies Supported
Line: Multiple Lines Supported.
DTMF Supported
Friendly User Interface supports phone book, call history, configuration.
It is New Year’s Eve, and you’re probably going to want to drink some cold beverages tonight. If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s when you go to reach for a cold one and find nothing but warm cans. “Oh, why didn’t I take the time to put the cans in the fridge!”
This situation should never occur with modern-day technology. After all, we have microwave ovens that can make things hot in a short amount of time, but what we need is something that can make things cold, quickly. This is exactly what the Cooper Cooler Rapid Beverage Chiller is designed for.
All the user has to do is fill the Cooper Chiller’s compartment with ice and water and put the can in. The machine then does the work of spinning the can for about sixty seconds, which will cool it down to 43 or 34 degrees Fahrenheit.
The process can chill a can 40 times faster than leaving it in the fridge, and it can even work on bottles of wine. I am assuming that the user cannot close the lid, but I have no idea how large the Cooper Chiller actually is.
I don’t know about you, but the Cooper Chiller is the gift that wasn’t under my tree this Christmas. If someone had given me an Amazon gift certificate, I would gladly shell out $60 and order a Cooper Chiller. In fact, I think that every workplace and household that has a microwave should have a Cooper Chiller.
For more information about the Cooper Chiller and other quick-fix coolers.
When camping with the whole family, it can present some slight lighting issues. There are of course always ways around that, but it usually means packing four different kinds of lights and plenty of flashlights as well as batteries. Well Coleman, being one of the better brand names for camping, has come up with a different solution. It offers one giant lantern that will give light in all directions for when you’re all sitting together, but an extra perk for when you go off in different directions.
The side panels, of which there are four, all snap off. They can work individually or all together once put back on the lantern. Each individual panel has a recharageable NiMH battery, those charge off of the eight D-cell batteries that are located within the base of the lantern. Those batteries can run the lantern all together for 72 hours, a full charge of the panel will give an hour of light per panel. Due to the frosted lens and wide-angle LED lights.
It may not have an accelerometer. Or an OLED. Or lasers. Or image-stabilization. You can't even plug it in to an electric socket. But the Herman Miller Embody chair has got its back (and yours) covered with meticulous engineering. The thing is adjustable to Asperger's levels of obsession; controls exist to cradle your lumbar, hips and neck. Plus the multilayered seat absorbs even the most microscopic shifts in weight, cupping your derriere no matter how much (or little) you move. It's the greatest breakthrough in ass-to-comfort technology since, well, the Aeron chair.
Herman Miller has followed up the Aeron office chair with the Embody, a new ergonomic chair that looks to take over the cubicle. Embody is a chair that supports your body while you are moving around. And, much like the Aeron, it lets you adapt your working posture throughout the day.
Herman Miller sums it up well, "Embody lets your body move and keeps you well supported, because your mind works best when you move freely and stress is minimized on your muscles, bones, and tissues. Blood circulates better, heart rate goes down, more oxygen flows to the brain, and there is no distracting discomfort or physical constraint. That's critical in our idea economy where innovation drives success and people get paid for their thoughts and creativity."
Meet the new best keyboard ever. The official Eee Keyboard. It features wireless HDMI, and it’s a “fully functional PC” with full QWERTY and an awesome mini secondary touchscreen.
Asus is mum about if and when we’ll actually see the Eee Keyboard come to market (It looks like a very real product), but if it’s a concept for a home theater PC, it is an amazing one. With wireless HDMI you could probably make any television into your monitor without having a huge PC taking up space.
We have no idea about the rest of the specs, but it sure has a ton of ports.
We spotted some Asus keyboards last week, but none were nearly as potentially awesome as the official Eee Keyboard. Featuring wireless HDMI, it's a "fully functional PC" with full QWERTY and a mini secondary touchscreen. Asus was vague as to if/when we'll actually see the Eee Keyboard come to market (though we're pretty sure it's a semi-real product), but it's a fantastic concept for a home theater PC if we've ever seen one. Through wireless HDMI you could potentially make any television into your monitor (complete with audio playback) without having some huge PC taking up space.
As one of the few tablet lovers here, I'm going crazy waiting for the Eee tablet netbook. Maybe instead, I ought to just make my own out of Eee 900HA like these guys.
A member who claims to have “very little knowledge on computer things” managed to take about his 900HA and turn it into a touchscreen notebook. All you need is a screwdriver, some tape, a plastic card, a solderless touchscreen kit and some extra wires.
Pretty neat, if it works! A 900Ha is only $320-ish on Amazon and this method doesn't seem to add more than another $100 to the cost. Maybe if Asus hasn't released the T91 in the next month, it'll be time for me to get my screwdriver out.
Who knew file storage could be so chic? The 160 GB eGo has enough room to hold up to 640,000 digital photos, 2,900 hours of music or 240 hours of video (depending, of course, on the compression rate). A new dual-interface version works over USB or FireWire and comes with both types of cords. If you accidentally knock the eGo off your desk, the shock-absorbing case will protect the important documents and precious media stored inside.
Overview
Enjoy your digital life! Easily share and access photos, videos and music between your home computers with the Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive. This device provides easy-to-use, yet powerful, network storage for the home user and the three step setup is a breeze, even if you've never used a network drive before. Save all your digital files to one central location and share them between computers on your network. Then play back your pictures, videos and music from digital media adapters such as game consoles, digital picture frames or networked TVs. Built-in iTunes support automatically feeds music into iTunes® for easy playback. Easily share one printer over the network. Control which family members have access to certain folders. Plus, secure your memories and backup automatically with award winning EMC® Retrospect® software (PC/Mac) and for extra protection backup online with MozyHome™ Online Backup service with 2GB free.
Features
Simple to use—Three step set-up - simply plug into your router, power on, and install the software CD. Friendly web screens for easy management.
Sharing—Access files from any networked Windows PC or Apple computer for easy file sharing.
High Performance—Gigabit Ethernet connectivity combined with a high performance processor.
UPnP™ AV Media Server—Compatible with DLNA® certified media players, able to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices like game consoles, audio bridges, DMAs (digital media adapters), picture frames and more.
iTunes™ Server—Store your audio content in one central location and share it across your iTunes players.
Expandability—Add storage capacity by connecting external USB Hard Disk Drives. Supports FAT32 and NTFS formatted hard drives.
Network Discovery—Automatic network discovery by Apple Bonjour and Microsoft Windows Rally devices.
Data Protection—Touch-free professional-level backup for all your critical data with EMC® Retrospect HD backup software. Effortlessly back up files on a pre-set schedule.
Print Server—Intelligent network print sharing capability for one USB printer directly attached to the HomeMedia drive
What You Get
Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive
One Ethernet Cable
External Power Supply
Quick Install Guide
One Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive Solutions CD
EMC® Retrospect® Express Backup and Disaster Recovery
Service & Support: one year standard service. Extended Silver service is available.
We have earlier told you about some innovative notebooks including the Fujitsu’s Turntable PC, the dual-display Asustek notebook and the One-On-One dual LCD display, called ‘Tenbuno.’ And, this Dual Touch Screen Laptop from Canova is another ultimate notebook design meant for the creative mind. The notebook features dual display with touch-sensitive screens, sketch pad, music score, graph paper, an electronic pen and a dedicated hardware for its smooth functioning.
There’s a new dual screen laptop on the block and it comes courtesy of gScreen Corp. The two screens on the G400 are of equal size – both 15.4 inch backlit LEDs, so you can work seamlessly on a very spacious canvass. The G400 also comes with up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard drive, 6 USB 2.0 ports, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz T9600 or P8400 2.26-GHz and the Quadro FX 2700M or GeForce 9800M GT from Nvidia.
Not too shabby. Of course, the double vision does mean that it’s a bit on the heavy side. The G400 weighs in at 3.49kg and is due to be released on 25th February. No word on price yet but we’ll keep you posted.
When it comes to computer displays, bigger is almost always better.
Many desktop computer users are now turning to ever larger monitors, using the bigger screens to display more panels of information. Some workers even turn to using multiple monitors to display complex data.
Now, a computer technology company in Harrisburg, Pa., wants to break the visual barrier with portable computers. For the last four years, Estari Inc., has been working on a laptop that could be considered a true "eye-catcher."
Estari's 2-VU machine is similar to other conventional laptop machines. With a low-power Intel microprocessor, 30 gigabyte hard drive and 256 megabytes of memory, the 2-VU even runs standard computer software such as Microsoft's Windows XP or Windows 2000.
But the real gem of the 2-VU is what it doesn't have. Instead of a keyboard, the 2-VU places a second LCD display screen in its place.
Robert Carberry, chief operating officer for Estari, says the idea is to provide mobile PC users a machine that gives them a wide view of computer data.
"There are a lot of industries where the workers use two monitors [with their desktop PCs] at the same time to multi-task," says Carberry. "The idea is to provide the power and benefit of dual screens in a mobile version."
Smart, But Pricey Machine
Both of the 2-VU display panels are touch-sensitive and are controlled by software and hardware created by Estari. Users can move "windows" of computer information — say, a Web page — between the two screens or stretch them across the displays as if they were one screen.
The software is also "smart" enough to know when the computer is in "portrait" mode, as if it was being used like an electronic book, or in "landscape" mode as in a traditional laptop computer.
Since the laptop lacks a "real" keyboard or mouse, Estari worked with other companies to develop software that understands notes and commands written on the screen using a plastic stylus. Users can also choose to have the computer display a virtual keyboard on one screen or connect an actual keyboard.
There are a few golfers like Fred Couples who don't use a glove on either hand. And there are a few golfers like Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey who wear gloves on both hands.
And then there are the rest of us, who wear one glove, on our top (or leading) hand; that is, the hand that is on top when we take our grip (the left hand for right-handed golfers). But what about that bottom (or trailing) hand? Doesn't it deserve some protection, too?
If you're a golfer who has experienced problems with your ungloved hand - blistering and chafing of the thumb, middle and index finger, for example - you may want to take a look at the Digital Shield from a company called Game Theory.
The Digital Shield glove is a streamlined, open-palm glove for your bottom, or trailing, hand. The company says the glove was designed "to protect against blistering and chafing while maximizing tactile sensitivity," and says that it conforms to USGA and R&A rules.
We’ve all seen the guys, Tiger Woods (and my neighbor, Frank) among them, with little bits of tape wrapped around their fingers to protect their digits (now the name makes sense) from just the sort of problems the Digital Shield, which covers your thumb, index, and middle fingers helps to prevent.
The material composition of the Digital Shield is very similar to many 5 finger models on the market. It features:
Cabretta leather specially engineered to remain soft to the touch and keep its shape
Coolmax® mesh whose wicking properties pull moisture away from the skin
A spandex gusset that conforms to the unique contours of your fingers
An unrestricting neoprene wrist band
So why the Digital Shield? Why not just wear a second glove? Although the company won’t come out and say it, I will…wearing two full gloves is stupid; dumber still if they don’t match. Yeah…I suspect you’ve seen that guy too. I hate one black, one white glove guy.
For their part, Game Theory maintains that full, or even half finger gloves (like those silly one for women that have fingernail holes), are unnecessarily hot, provide excess grip, and most importantly compromise feel. Personally I’ve never given any thought to the heat issue, but the excess grip thing sounds good (especially if you’re a club-choker like I am). Feel, of course, is extremely important, which is why 90% of us take our glove off before we putt. The other 10% do it because Tiger does it.
For those of you not willing to risk potential ridicule on the links in exchange for unblemished hands, the guys behind the Digital Shield suggest that it’s a great way to protect your hands while you beat buckets at the driving range. Imagine being able to hit a few hundred (or thousand) golf balls without having to worry about ruining your hands prior to your weekend grudge match. You have to admit, it makes more than a little bit of sense.
The Digital Shield will be available in early July for a retail price of $11.99. It will be available in men’s sizes small, medium, medium large, large, and XL. Women’s sizing eliminates the XL. Because the Digital Shield doesn’t have fingers, cadet sizes aren’t necessary.
A security vulnerability in Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab's U.S. Web site was made public after a hacker launched a SQL attack and posted listings of tables contained on the security company's site.
The hacker, known as Unu, posted screen shots as well as a list of tables Feb. 7 to a blog after hacking into the security company's Web site via a simple SQL injection attack that allowed information to be exposed by entering secret username and password information.
"Kaspersky is one of the leading companies in the security and antivirus market. It seems as though they are not able to secure their own databases," the hacker said on a hackerblog.org posting. "Alter one of the parameters and you have access to EVERYTHING: users, activation codes, lists of bugs, admins, shop, etc."
Roel Schouwenberg, senior antivirus researcher for Kaspersky Lab, said that upon being made aware of the breach, the company "immediately contacted the right people, shut down the vulnerable part of the Web site within 15 minutes and reinstated the old version of the support site."
Altogether, the site was vulnerable for a total of 10 days, he said.
Schouwenberg said that the U.S. Web site -- usa.kaspersky.com -- was partly developed in-house and partly developed by a third-party contractor. The Web site vulnerability was overlooked due to a processing error that led to lack of proper scrutiny, researchers said.
"We could have done more on our side to still catch the vulnerability," Schouwenberg said. "We're doing our best to improve our process further and be more strict and prevent this kind of thing from happening again."
Kaspersky researchers said that they also are conducting an external audit to determine the nature of the hack and process improvements that could prevent it in the future.
"If we had been a little bit more thorough, we could have caught this in our own way," Schouwenberg added.
However, Kaspersky security researchers maintained that while the hacker, who was found to be from Romania, did infiltrate the company's Web site, he or she was only able to lift the names of the tables.
Kaspersky researchers said that after careful inspection, they found that no other data was lifted, such as e-mail addresses or activation codes. Schouwenberg said that customer credit card information is handled by a separate third party and not contained on the site.
"He tried to get access to some of the content of these tables, and tried to get access to actual data, but he didn't get into the folders as it were," said Schouwenberg. "Truth be told, if the hacker had been more advanced, he could have gotten access to some of the data he claimed he could."
Meanwhile, contrary to the hacker's story, Kaspersky researchers said that after checking their e-mail logs, the hacker went public with the vulnerability only one hour after e-mailing the company to alert them to the breach.
"While we do monitor those e-mail addresses, we do not monitor them 24x7," Schouwenberg said.
The hack was conducted when almost all of the security company's executive team and several of its high-level security researchers were out of town during the Kaspersky Lab's 2009 Partner Conference, held in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Feb. 5-8.
Cloud computing is Internet ("cloud") based development and use of computer technology ("computing"), whereby dynamically scalable virtualised resources are provided “as a service” over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure ("in the cloud") that supports them.
The concept incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. An often-quoted example is Google Apps, which provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on Google servers.
The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.
Comparisons
A formal definition appeared in ACM Computer Communication Review . There, the Cloud is defined as "Clouds are a large pool of easily usable and accessible virtualized resources (such as hardware, development platforms and/or services). These resources can be dynamically reconfigured to adjust to a variable load (scale), allowing also for an optimum resource utilization. This pool of resources is typically exploited by a pay-per-use model in which guarantees are offered by the Infrastructure Provider by means of customized SLAs.". The authors also provide a detailed comparison of Clouds and Grids in several aspects.
Cloud computing is often confused with grid computing ("a form of distributed computing whereby a 'super and virtual computer' is composed of a cluster of networked, loosely-coupled computers, acting in concert to perform very large tasks"), utility computing (the "packaging of computing resources, such as computation and storage, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility such as electricity") and autonomic computing ("computer systems capable of self-management").
Indeed many cloud computing deployments as of 2009[update] depend on grids, have autonomic characteristics and bill like utilities — but cloud computing can be seen as a natural next step from the grid-utility model.Some successful cloud architectures have little or no centralised infrastructure or billing systems whatsoever, including peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent and Skype and volunteer computing like SETI@home.
Architecture
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure as of 2009[update] consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers with different levels of virtualization technologies. The services are accessible anywhere in the world, with The Cloud appearing as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers. Commercial offerings need to meet the quality of service requirements of customers and typically offer service level agreements. Open standards and open source software are also critical to the growth of cloud computing.
Characteristics
As customers generally do not own the infrastructure, they merely access or rent, they can avoid capital expenditure and consume resources as a service, paying instead for what they use. Many cloud-computing offerings have adopted the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utilities like electricity are consumed, while others are billed on a subscription basis. Sharing "perishable and intangible" computing power among multiple tenants can improve utilization rates, as servers are not left idle, which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development. A side effect of this approach is that "computer capacity rises dramatically" as customers do not have to engineer for peak loads. Adoption has been enabled by "increased high-speed bandwidth" which makes it possible to receive the same response times from centralized infrastructure at other sites.
Companies
Providers including Amazon, Google and Yahoo exemplify the use of cloud computing. It is being adopted by individual users through large enterprises including General Electric, L’Oreal, and Procter & Gamble. Recently, Microsoft has introduced its new Cloud Computing service as a part of Windows Azure. These services can be accessed through Microsoft Visual Studio by installing the Windows Azure SDK and Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio.
History
The Cloud is a term with a long history in telephony, which has in the past decade, been adopted as a metaphor for internet based services, with a common depiction in network diagrams as a cloud outline.
The underlying concept dates back to 1960 when John McCarthy opined that "computation may someday be organized as a public utility"; indeed it shares characteristics with service bureaus which date back to the 1960s. The term cloud had already come into commercial use in the early 1990s to refer to large ATM networks. By the turn of the 21st century, the term "cloud computing" had started to appear, although most of the focus at this time was on Software as a service.
Amazon.com played a key role in the development of cloud computing by modernizing their data centre’s after the dot-com bubble and, having found that the new cloud architecture resulted in significant internal efficiency improvements, providing access to their systems by way of Amazon Web Services in 2002 on a utility computing basis.
2007 saw increased activity, with Google, IBM, and a number of universities embarking on a large scale cloud computing research project, around the time the term started gaining popularity in the mainstream press. It was a hot topic by mid-2008 and numerous cloud computing events had been scheduled.
In August 2008, Gartner observed that "organizations are switching from company-owned hardware and software assets to per-use service-based models" and that the "projected shift to cloud computing will result in dramatic growth in IT products in some areas and in significant reductions in other areas."
Political issues
The Cloud spans many borders and "may be the ultimate form of globalization." As such it becomes subject to complex geopolitical issues: providers must satisfy a myriad of regulatory environments in order to deliver service to a global market. This dates back to the early days of the Internet, where libertarian thinkers felt that "cyberspace was a distinct place calling for laws and legal institutions of its own"; author Neal Stephenson envisaged this as a tiny island data haven called Kinakuta in his classic science-fiction novel Cryptonomicon.
Despite efforts (such as US-EU Safe Harbor) to harmonise the legal environment, providers like Amazon Web Services cater as of 2009[update] to the major markets (typically the United States and the European Union) by deploying local infrastructure and allowing customers to select "availability zones." Nonetheless, there are still concerns about security and privacy from individual through governmental level, e.g., the USA PATRIOT Act and use of national security letters and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act's Stored Communications Act.
Legal issues
In March 2007, Dell applied to trademark the term "cloud computing" (U.S. Trademark 77,139,082) in the United States. The "Notice of Allowance" it received in July 2008 got canceled on August 6, resulting in a formal rejection of the trademark application less than a week later.
Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, believes that cloud computing endangers liberties because users sacrifice their privacy and personal data to a third party. In November 2007, the Free Software Foundation released the Affero General Public License, a version of GPLv3 designed to close a perceived legal loophole associated with Free software designed to be run over a network, particularly software as a service. An application service provider is required to release any changes they make to Affero GPL open source code.
Risk mitigation
Corporations or end-users wishing to avoid losing or not being able to access their data should research vendors' policies on data security before using vendor services. The technology analyst and consulting firm, Gartner, lists seven security issues which one should discuss with a cloud-computing vendor:
Privileged user access—inquire about who has specialized access to data and about the hiring and management of such administrators
Regulatory compliance—make sure a vendor is willing to undergo external audits and/or security certifications
Data location—ask if a provider allows for any control over the location of data
Data segregation—make sure that encryption is available at all stages and that these "encryption schemes were designed and tested by experienced professionals"
Recovery—find out what will happen to data in the case of a disaster; do they offer complete restoration and, if so, how long that would take
Investigative Support—inquire as to whether a vendor has the ability to investigate any inappropriate or illegal activity
Long-term viability—ask what will happen to data if the company goes out of business; how will data be returned and in what format.
In practice, one can best determine data-recovery capabilities by experiment: asking to get back old data, seeing how long it takes, and verifying that the checksums match the original data. Determining data security is harder. A tactic not covered by Gartner is to encrypt the data yourself. If you encrypt the data using a trusted algorithm, then regardless of the service provider's security and encryption policies, the data will only be accessible with the decryption keys. This leads to a follow-on problem: managing private keys in a pay-on-demand computing infrastructure.
One of the big items in the world of computers from the 2007 CES show in Las Vegas is the SSD or Solid State Drive. This is actually technology that has been around for many years, but only now is it actually set to become something that consumer may actually get to use within the next year. This article takes a look at exactly what is a solid state drive and how it may benefit consumers, especially with their portable computing.
What is a Solid State Drive?
Solid state is an electrical term that refers to electronic circuitry that is built entirely out of semiconductors. The term was originally used to define those electronics such as a transistor radio that used semiconductors rather than vacuum tubes in its construction. Most all electronics that we have today are built around semiconductors and chips. In terms of a SSD, it refers to the fact that the primary storage medium is through semiconductors rather than a magnetic media such as a hard drive.Now, you might say that this type of storage already exists in the form of flash memory drives that plug into the USB port. This is partially true as solid state drives and USB flash drives both use the same type of non-volatile memory chips that retain their information even when they have no power. The difference is in the form factor and capacity of the drives. While a flash drive is designed to be external to the computer system, an SSD is designed to reside inside the computer in place of a more traditional hard drive.So how exactly do they do this? Well, an SSD on the outside looks almost no different than a traditional hard drive. This design is to allow the SSD drive to put in a notebook or desktop computer in place of a hard drive. To do this, it needs to have the standard dimension as a 1.8, 2.5 or 3.5-inch hard drive. It also will use either the ATA or SATA drive interfaces so that there is a compatible interface.
Why Use a Solid State Drive?
Solid state drives have several advantages over the magnetic hard drives. The majority of this comes from the fact that the drive does not have any moving parts. While a traditional drive has drive motors to spin up the magnetic platters and the drive heads, all the storage on a solid state drive is handled by flash memory chips. This provides three distinct advantages: * Less Power Usage * Faster Data Access * Higher ReliabilityThe power usage is a key role for the use of solid state drives in portable computers. Because there is no power draw for the motors, the drive uses far less energy than the regular hard drive. Now, the industry has taken steps to address this with drive spin downs and the development of hybrid hard drives, but both of these still use more power. The solid state drive will consistently draw less power then the traditional and hybrid hard drive.Faster data access will make a number of people happy. Since the drive doesn't have to spin up the drive platter or move drive heads, the data can be read from the drive near instantly. In a recent demo of two similar equipped notebook computers, Fujitsu was able to demonstrate a roughly 20% speed increase in the booting of Windows XP on a SSD over a standard hard drive.Reliability is also a key factor for portable drives. Hard drive platters are very fragile and sensitive materials. Even small jarring movements from an impact can cause the drive to be completely unreadable. Since the SSD stores all its data in memory chips, there are fewer moving parts to be damaged in any sort of impact.
Why Aren't SSDs Used For All PCs?
As with most computer technologies, the primary limiting factor of using the solid state drives in notebook and desktop computers is cost. These drives have actually been available for some time now, but the cost of the drives is roughly the same as the entire notebook they could be installed into. This is gradually changing as the number of companies producing the drives and the capacity for producing the flash memory chips grows. Drives announced at the 2007 CES were priced at less than half of the drives of the same capacity from the previous year.The other problem affecting the adoption of the solid state drives is capacity. Current hard drive technology can allow for over 200GB of data in a small 2.5-inch notebook hard drive. Most SSD drives announced at the 2007 CES show are of the 64GB capacity. This means that not only are the drives much more expensive than a traditional hard drive, they only hold a fraction of the data.All of this is set to change soon though. Several companies that specialize in flash memory have announced upcoming products that look to push the capacities of the solid state drives to be closer to that of a normal hard drive but at even lower prices than the current SSDs. This will have a huge impact for notebook data storage.
The Micro-Server line of compact server appliances is built around a powerful embedded, fanless computer system in a rugged extruded aluminum chassis. With a minimum of parts and a low power requirement, reliability is enhanced. Perfect for that Green IT application.
Sizes of the servers
A Micro-Server is just 6.7" W x 4.9" D x 2.3" H. Microservers come in two CPU / RAM configurations. The Basic Server is based on the 800 MHz. Via Eden Nano fanless CPU with 256 MB of RAM and the Enhanced Server is based on the 1.2 GHz Via Esther fanless CPU with 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM. Both systems can be ordered with one or two 10/100 MHz NICs. A COM port (on the single NIC model only), LPT (parallel) port, 2 USB ports, keyboard and mouse ports and VGA display and audio are standard. An optional Mini-PCI socket can be ordered on the single NIC versions. Either a COM port or a LPT port can be selected on the Enhanced Server two NIC models. Even though the system can be operated as a complete Linux or freeBSD server with a display and keyboard, those models with a COM port can run headless in an out of the way environment using the COM port as a serial console if an operator interface is needed, even over a modem. Standard servers can be ordered with your choice of 40 GB to 160 GB disk drives .
It helps to researches
A Micro-Server can provide you with a targeted solution for any dedicated server application at a reasonable price. A Micro-Server is perfect for the SOHO or research, development and test environment. They can be easily configured to be a dns or dns cache server, web server, nfs server, ftp server, database server, mail server, etc. Choose a server solution from the product selection menu at the left or if you don't see what you need, just fill out the contact page associated with any product or call us to discuss your custom needs.
HTC MAX 4G - the world's first integrated GSM/WiMAX handset. Supported by a broad range of services based on Mobile WiMAX network, the HTC MAX 4G delivers a rich multimedia and high quality telephony experience in a sleek and powerful touch screen handset.
HTC MAX 4G: A New World of Entertainment
The Mobile WiMAX network offers high-speed wireless Internet access that opens a new realm of entertainment and communication possibilities. This will provide subscribers with instant access to online games, maps, messaging and file exchange applications while on the move. In addition, the high-capacity Mobile WiMAX network with traffic prioritisation algorithms, allows online films, video and TV programmes to be viewed on the large WVGA screen.
Thanks to mobile WiMAX, high-quality multimedia entertainment is no longer limited. A full video on demand (VOD) service, users can watch their favourite movies and videos from WiMax service providers anytime, anywhere.
The vibrant, 3.8 inch 800x480 screen of the HTC MAX 4G can display up to nine TV channels simultaneously, allowing quick and easy channel surfing and programme selection. Thanks to the device’s TV-out capability, users can also watch content on the big screen, putting the HTC MAX 4G at the very heart of the mobile entertainment experience.
For music-lovers, they can choose to either play the tracks direct from the online catalogue, or download them to the HTC MAX 4G's 8GB of onboard flash memory.
HTC MAX 4G: Unparalleled Performance With Intuitive Usability
The HTC MAX 4G was created to take full advantage of high-speed Mobile WiMAX network without compromising style or ease of use. The device is sleek and elegant and includes a vibrant, large 3.8 inch, 800x480 WVGA touch screen display. Running Windows Mobile 6.1, the HTC MAX 4G incorporates HTC’s proprietary Touch FLO 3D user interface, allowing swift and intuitive navigation to key applications such as dialling calls, listening to music, taking picture and more.
Images taken with the integrated 5MP camera can also be geo-tagged using coordinates from the integrated GPS.
There were two over-riding criteria in Oxford’s work to develop linear oil-free compressors for small cryocoolers for space applications; the compressor must be:
oil free, and
have a working life of at least 10 years.
The elimination of any contacting surface that can wear is this technology’s key feature, and this has been so successful that it is now the basis of almost all cryocoolers used in space; this technology has now been licensed to major aerospace companies.
During operation a linear motor drives a piston/cylinder system, and with precise assembly the piston moves within the cylinder without contact. Typically the clearance between the piston and cylinder is held at less than ten millionths of a metre allowing compressor pressure differences of approximately 10 bar without power loss. Provided cleanliness in the system is maintained, and suitable materials for construction have been selected then there are no wear or failure mechanisms; this type of compressor can have a life exceeding the 10 year criterion.
Marketing Opportunity
These early designs were too costly for most
commercial applications, but recent developments at Oxford have changed this situation. We can now design oil-free compressors that have major advantages over conventional designs, and yet have the potential for low cost manufacture.
Applications for this new generation of linear oil-free compressors include those involving hazardous gases or those that require high levels of cleanliness. A comparison of the existing compressor technology and the new linear technology will illustrate this.
In a traditional diaphragm compressor a piston generates a fluctuating pressure in a volume of hydraulic fluid. A diaphragm separates the fluid from the gas to be compressed, and changes in hydraulic pressure deflect the diaphragm which in turn compresses or expands the gas volume.
Although diaphragm compressors can be used to compress virtually any gas to very high pressures there are some serious disadvantages:
Diaphragms have a limited life, and typically have to be replaced at intervals of ~ 5000 hours depending on the service, and as a consequence frequent maintenance is essential.
Diaphragms can fail prematurely, and a leak detection system is essential.
The diaphragm compressor is limited to small strokes with low speed operation. This tends to make diaphragm compressors large and heavy for the duty performed.
They are relatively expensive machines to manufacture and operate.
In a linear compressor the linear movement of the piston within the cylinder compresses and expands the gas in the compression volume to produce a pressure variation. The motor stator complete with windings of the motor is entirely outside the pressure vessel, and the moving magnet inside the pressure vessel is readily contained in an hermetically sealed unit. No oil is used anywhere in the operation of the compressor. A module controls the dynamics of the assembly. There are three advantages offered by this Linear Compressor Technology:
The significant reduction or even total elimination of maintenance requirements.
The elimination of any dynamic seals; no failure mode corresponds to diaphragm failure.
The complete elimination of oil from the compressor environment.
Patent Status
This work is the subject of granted patents and patent applications, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing this opportunity. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss further.
