Best New Technology

Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho of Hawaii seem to have been smoking too much stuff lately. I’m saying this because on March 21, they filed a lawsuit in a district court in Honolulu, Hawaii against the European Center for Nuclear Research or CERN. This lawsuit seeks to place a temporary restraining order on CERN’s latest and greatest project ever: the Large Hadron Collider. And what is it that the L. H. C. does, you ask? Oh, nothing. It just recreates the Big Bang. You know, that awesome explosion that started the Universe?

For those that don’t know (or haven’t read Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons), a large hadron collider has the ability to supercharge protons up to seven trillion electron volts and then afterwards let them collide to recreate the energies and conditions resulting from a “Big Bang.” CERN aims to further understand these forces and presumably apply them for the good of mankind, but the two concerned complainants are worried about something else occurring in the aftermath: black holes that could quite possibly eat up the earth, and even the whole universe. What?

CERN says it has done a lot of previous testing and can attest to the L. H. C.’s complete harmlessness. And the Safety Assessment Group was even set up to do another anonymous review of the said project last year. But still, Wagner and Sancho won’t give up easily, even though the party they are trying to shut down is at least a few thousand miles away, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Now I know most people would have mixed views regarding this matter, but judging from the popularity of Sci-Fi pop culture movies and the like, I think more people would agree with the complainant’s arguments, at least at first. And from what most of us were taught back when we first learned of it, isn’t a Big Bang supposed to naturally cause a black hole to appear anyway? I’m no Physics major, but judging from the facts, I think it’s quite safe to say that there really will be a black hole after the blast. But then again, people at CERN say that there should be absolutely no cause for panic, as the large hadron collider is tested to be problem-free (both by in-house physicists and trusted third-party experts). But for now, no one can say for sure what the effects will be after this projects is initiated. Will a black hole grow and eat earth, or worse, the universe? Will the colliding particles release so much energy that will it tap the inner core and send all volcanoes across the world exploding? No one really knows. Maybe it will just turn out the lights.

Read [NY Times] Image [Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times]

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The Dsus DS-400GB rear view camera is truly a thing of wonder - it looks like a standard rear view camera, but offers way much more functionality compared to the standard rear view mirror you get in your vehicle. Hailing all the way from the East (China), don’t be misled by the Dsus DS-400GB name given to the device. It is not an offshoot of Asus, and neither does it feature 400GB worth of storage space.

The Dsus DS-400GB itself comes with a video input that allows you to hook up a rear-mounted camera. This camera will kick in the moment the vehicle is put into reverse, switching from whatever current GPS information display to a live view of whatever’s located right behind your car. At last, you no longer need to rely on those reverse sensors when attempting to park and you will be able to park even in extremely tight spots without worrying about giving your car insurance agent a call due to a miscalculation.

Some of the specifications found on the Dsus DS-400GB include the following :-

• Samsung S3C2440A 400MHz processor
• Windows CE 4.2 operating system
• 4″ touch screen display at 480 x 272 resolution
• Rear view camera to prevent untoward accidents
• Bluetooth connectivity for hands free calling when driving
• Integrated speakers (a pair with each having 1 watt amplifiers)
• Audio and video playback
• SD memory card slot for expansion option
• SiRF Star III GPS chipset for navigation purposes

There is no word on how much RAM the Dsus DS-400GB comes with, and neither do we have any idea on just how much flash memory is available for your use before you augment it with an SD memory card. There is no word on pricing either, but I would say that this is a pretty handy device to have if you tend to back up into garbage bins and puppies. Just kidding about the latter

Source: Windows for Devices

DLO Universal Action Jacket Sport-Ready Case For MP3 Players

The new Universal Action Jacket from DLO is all about providing a secure workout solution for your mp3 player, no matter which one you use. From the iPod nano and ipod shuffle, to the Sansa e, c or m series, or the Creative and Samsung lines, DLO has you covered for any activity. This case fits players no larger than 1.6 W x 3.5 H x 0.5 D with the audio jack on the top or bottom.

Technorati Tags: DLO

The Boy Genius is reporting that there is going to be a slight delay in the release of the much-awaited blackberry 9000, and will more likely be released around late May at best, and if not then June or possibly August. I know a lot of Palm users are already itching to get their hands on a new Blackberry device, but I’m afraid there’s nothing else for them to do but wait. The 6-month exclusive AT&T US contract speculation still lives, as well as a late May release date, but according to BGR’s sources, “the July / August release date might be accurate.” So if you’re a CrackBerry user yourself and are eagerly looking forward for this device, pull yourself together and tell yourself the wait isn’t that long. Practice Yoga or something to help you cool down. It’s just a few months. You’ll live.

Via [Boy Genius Report]

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LED Glow in the Duck
The ducks that light up in the bath - now how great is that?!

You can have this for ?6.99

Posted Mar 30th 2008 12:31PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Laptops

Sounds like we’ve finally got a price and a date for the XP powered Eee PC: $400, and April 9th. The hardware’s identical to current-gen Eee PCs, though, so if you’re happy with your little white lappy and are itching for XP you might try to pick up a license on eBay. Still, if all goes well for ASUS, they’ll be selling 4x what they did the first time around, innit?

P.S. -If you are, for whatever reason, itching to read more about current hardware running the 7 year old OS, Laptop’s got a hands-on. Nothing that wasn’t already out there though.

Programming has never been my forte. While I can do enough HTML to put together a very basic website, however, I couldn’t code my way out of a wet paper bag. Now had this board game been out when I was younger, that might be a different story.

The C-jump Computer Programming Board Game teaches kids 11 and up the basics of C, C++ and Java coding. The “game helps to develop understanding of a complete computer program, formed by logical sequences of commands.”

Some people push their kids into singing or dancing when they are kids, so why not push them into programming? No word on pricing or availability.

Source: GearFuse

Belkin TuneCast II FM Transmitter

Introducing the new Belkin TuneCast II FM transmitter ? a very neat little device that projects you digital tunes over your radio. With a brilliant Auto On/Off function, the TuneCast II frees you from having to manually toggle the On/Off switch by simply powering on when an audio signal is detected. If no signal is detected for a period of 60 seconds, the TuneCast II switches off. So the FM transmitter preserves battery life while making your portable audio experience simpler to enjoy. The TuneCast II features four programmable memory slots allowing you to save the clearest station wherever you go. Which means, for those of you in a rush, less time searching for available frequencies. In addition, the package includes a 14-inch cable that delivers power when used with the Belkin Mobile Power Cord for ipod ? in case you want to save your batteries for a more mobile journey

Technorati Tags: iPod & mp3 player

I’ve never been much of a Star Trek fan, Star Wars was always more to my liking. I’ll admit that when I was younger I would watch reruns of the the original series when there was nothing on during Saturday afternoons. If you’re a bit more passionate about the show than I, you’ll love this new Tricorder replica.

This Star trek Mark IX Science Tricorder Replica is the most authentic replica ever made. It is cast from the same pattern used to create the original props from the TV series and made from die-cast metal and plastic. You’ll need to be quick to jump on this one though, it’s limited to only 2,000 pieces. A deep wallet will help you too, as one will set you back $349.99.

Source: GeekAlerts

You got to give credit to these guys who have such sharp eyes that they can see even the smallest details of approval documents coming to the FCC. These guys must have really sharp eyes or the FCC is intentionally disregarding confidentiality of information with regards to documents submitted to them by manufacturers seeking their approval.  Thus, we keep on discovering information about new devices even before they are released for official announcement by their manufacturers.

The latest of these FCC sightings is an entry bearing the mark OZ2, and the manufacturer happens to be Pantech, who is the maker of the Helio Ocean. The Ocean had the same mark when it its prototype was submitted before the FCC prior to its release as Helio Ocean. Naturally, we can’t help but deduce that this FCC entry is for Helio Ocean 2.

According to the picture accompanying the document at the FCC site, OZ2 would have a camera, Bluetooth, microSD below the battery slot, and it is definitely made by Pantech. These features are also found in the original Helio Ocean. Aside from this, there’s nothing much to see about this alleged Ocean 2 from the FCC entry.

The Helio Ocean may not be the most advanced mobile phone when it was released, but it had the distinction of being the first phone with dual slider. We’ll see if Pantech would come up with something better and more innovative in Ocean 2, granting that the FCC documents were indeed for Ocean 2. With the current crop of high-end mobile phones today, a touch-screen feature seems to be the only way to go for the Helio Ocean’ successor.

Via [Heliocity]

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