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Stupid netbook tricks: DIY microwave shield testing {Engadget}
May 16th 2009 11:18PM I was using my stove (it's one of those glass-smooth types) as a place to situate a laptop whilst transferring some files. I happened to use the microwave, which is mounted directly above, for about 10 seconds - and zap! My laptop was fried, completely. I'm assuming it would be too much of a coincidence to not link the two events. Peees me off. Obviously shielding on the underside was lacking somewhat! (laptop was running on batteries btw, so no power spike)
HIRO, the realistic 'torso bot' for researchers and fans of El DeBarge {Engadget}
May 15th 2009 3:17AM I saw Short Circuit and Top Gun in the cinema on the same night, by myself, then walked home in the rain. It was a cold rain, the kind of rain that hugs you tight until you stop shivering and can't feel your toes. The kind of rain that washes away your tears and replaces them with less salty ones. A rain not as toxic than the modern stuff. But it was all okay - I was dangerous, I was needing input, Tom was still cool, and the cold lonely moment passed into the recesses of my neurons until now. Ahhh... good times indeed.
I'm sure that in 30 years, max, we'll be able to purchase any favourite sci-fi robot, but some of them may need to be scaled. Since J5 is of a rather utilitarian design, I reckon he'll be a popular buy. I'll pick up a J5 for helping out in the home - carrying me to the can, wiping away my drool, and power-washing the fembot - and a Terminator to drive my limo.
Bring on the bots! May J5 live forever!
Miles Electric's totally electric family sedan one step closer to existence {Engadget}
May 6th 2009 1:55AM I thought it was G M
Toshiba dramatically increases energy density of Li-ion battery {Engadget}
Apr 16th 2009 3:40AM I don't have many options when it comes to filling my gas car - I generally use gasoline.
My electric bike, however, is content getting its Volts from any source, be it dinofuel or a solar panel (my city is >90% solar).
Point is, electric vehicles allow greater options for 'fueling' and allow one to choose to keep money within the country. Generate locally, use locally if possible - it's much more efficient.
Last rant: an EV allows the grid to pull energy from its battery with the right technology. This is a huge advantage as it can make the mostly-parked EVs of the future into little power stations, which actually helps the grid - meaning less big power stations need to be built.
How would you change Dell's Inspiron Mini 10? {Engadget}
Apr 4th 2009 12:49AM My twists are a bit different and I'd like to apply them to the entire world of netbooks, which really is the question anyway...
(1) Solar lid. This is a simple request, and would have to be an option due to costs, but a solar lid on such a low-powered device could actually make a huge difference in terms of charging on the run. It fits the concept of ultraportable (not always a plug around), and would provide the hugely useful feature of a base charger for your smaller USB-charging devices. Five watts and a detach option would be nice.
(2) Make a great shell. A really great shell, with quality parts, and allow the user to swap out the guts with as much ease as upgrading the RAM. Let's reduce the waste-footprint of these el-cheapo devices before they become a mobile-phone-like nightmare of scrapped hardware! I'd like to be able to crack the case open and switch out the "motherboard" when it's finally too old, but continue to use the ports, keyboard, screen, speakers etc. Maybe even throw in a blank spot on the case for some future port just in case.
(3) A standard charger for all netbooks within a certain wattage class.
(4) ROM-based OS. As an option when booting, fire it up like my beloved C64. Most of the time we needn't boot all the way into Windows, or even full-blown Linux, when we just want to check/write email or surf. Shirley it's not that hard to write a tiny operating system that would conform to some basic standards?? (Think of it as a super-BIOS, the BIOSOS!). A BIOSOS would have the advantage of using the absolute minimum in power consumption with the fastest boot possible.
Well, there's my mainly green suggestions. Thanks engadget for allowing me to put them where someone might listen (they did for the MagSafe idea).
AMD proposes new laptop battery life metrics, Intel is like "whatevs" {Engadget}
Mar 15th 2009 12:38AM Okay, I'll got one step farther down the highway of disrespect, according to Intel, and suggest an idea in the comment section of a blog. It's been on my mind for many years now, and I would love to see AMD run with it.
The type of battery that resides in most laptops today, lithium-ion, lives a much longer life when NOT fully charged, yet the simplistic battery management system (BMS) in our computers just tops up the charge until full, then holds it there as long as you are plugged in.
For those who rarely untether their laptop from our clean-coal grid, I'd like to suggest that the battery power mode selector have a new option nestled between max-performance and max-run-time, that of baby-my-battery. There are well understood methods of extending the life of various battery chemistry, so my idea would be a very simple software implementation, virtually free of charge to the vendor (I'm so punny, I know).
Of course, an algorithm to extend battery life would have a couple of downsides for both users and industry, namely that of forgetting to top up the pack to full before leaving (it would likely float between 40-80 of capacity), and not having to buy a new pack for the life of the computer. A minor inconvenience on one hand, and a better use of resources on the other - sorry industry, but plans for infinite expansion and profitability are not logical in the face of a finite resource base.
You can bet that we'll see pretty sophisticated charge algorithms in the coming wave of lithium powered hybrid cars, where the pack life is a make or break business deal. The Prius already uses a BMS to hold its battery to within a few percent of optimum, hence we have these cars running on NiMH packs for a decade or more in many instances.
Somebody, please make my idea a reality - I'm not smart enough to do it myself.
ATM skimmers: now with SMS notification built right in {Engadget}
Oct 10th 2008 11:57AM Eliminating plastic may solve this pretty easily. Use biometric scanning, which may include a combination of facial, retina, hand print, voice, or infrared blood-vessel imaging. Probably more... Just pick the combo that gives maximum security with minimal cost/hassle, like hand and IR imaging. Why carry around your ID on a chunk of plastic when your body is your ID?
Dell confirms Inspiron 910 netbook arriving this week {Engadget}
Sep 3rd 2008 1:44AM I heard it from a Dell dude that it's gonna come it at $349 with !UBUNTU. Let's see how reliable he is...
QinetiQ's Zephyr sets another unmanned solar plane flight record {Engadget}
Aug 25th 2008 1:05PM Yeah.. very cool indeed. Even better will be its big brother, able to stay aloft for 5 years! (the little guy could probably do that too if the Li-S batteries could handle the cycle-life).
GPS-equipped turtle runs into reefer farm, gets high-fives from police {Engadget}
Aug 23rd 2008 10:44PM Just look up 'Dupont nylon hemp' on the Google for the origin of the current meme you nice yanks are stuck with.
