Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook: 3/18/07

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Hide files in JPEG images

The Tech Tray weblog has posted a tutorial for hiding secret files inside JPEG images using the popular Windows archiver, WinRAR, and a little command line magic.

Basically, you create a .rar archive of your to-be-hidden file, then run a copy command from the Windows command line (with the /b binary switch) to embed your secret file in your image. After you complete the process, you can open and view the JPEG like any other image - the only thing that might tip off that the image has got a secret is a potentially bloated file size. To grab the secret file, you just use WinRAR to extract the file from the image.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it's a pretty simple process (watch the video to see how easy it is). This is a neat trick, but if you want to get really serious about encryption, you'll want to encrypt your data with TrueCrypt. — Adam Pash

Friday, March 23, 2007

Pavonine showcases 24-inch MIRACUBE stereoscopic LCD monitor

Posted Mar 19th 2007 7:48AM by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays

While not quite as flashy as IO2's floating M3 Heliodisplay, Pavonine's forthcoming 24-incher still manages to put an interesting twist on your average computer LCD. Aside from touting a respectable 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, front-panel controls, and a DVI input, the MIRACUBE monitor boasts stereoscopic abilities most commonly associated with those gaudy head-mounted displays and cheap 3D gimmicks. The screen can only muster 1,920 x 600 resolution while displaying in the third-dimension, and requires (a presumably bundled) pair of glasses in order to experience the full effect. No word just yet on how much Pavonine plans on charging for the G240S once it departs the CeBIT floor, but we'd probably wait for a hands-on review before plunking down for such hit-and-miss technology.

Tesla Opening Electric Car Dealerships This Fall

If you've been waiting for your chance to buy a hot, hot Tesla electric car (such as their Roadster or Whitestar), good news. The electric car company is planning on opening 5 dealerships around the country this fall.

If you live in NYC, Chicago, Florida, Northern California or Southern California, you're in luck. They hope to open more dealerships soon after, as they're able to pump out more product. Is this the start of the age of the mainstream electric car? We sure hope so. –Adam Frucci

CNET [via Mobile Mag]

Introducing the 205-inch Technovision Luxio LED TV/HDTV : Big Enough to Park Two Mini Coopers On

LCD HDTV : Big Enough to Park Two Mini Coopers On">

Technovision is showing off their 205-inch ~~LCD~~ LED HDTV at CeBit, that makes the formerly buff Sharp 108-inch LCD feel downright pathetic. That's enough space to park two mini coopers on, side by side. Wait...TechnovisionWho?

Luxio

[UPDATED: Aha! It's an array of LEDs, not an LCD]

The Italian company, in operation since 1987, specializes in displays for outdoor areas. Ohhh. So this is like a jumbotron. Except for inside, and HD. I refuse to believe that these are single pieces of glass. Likely they're comprised of a few panels joined together like some of the "big" TVs we saw at CES.

Regardless, that much glass -- over 15 feet by 8 feet -- forming a single picture, is rad. They unveiled them at a yacht show in February, so you can imagine the market they're aiming for. We've no idea if these will ship soon, or in the US. But that doesn't matter. You can't afford this TV. –Brian Lam

Luxio [via Techdigest]

Panasonic 1080p Projector: Visions of Heaven, Stratospheric Price

Definitely not in the budget for most home theaters, we think this high-end Panasonic PT-DW10000U 1080p projector might fit nicely into the HGTV Dream Home that the Gizmodo team is anticipating moving into this Sunday when they announce us as the big winners.

For $75,000, it comes with 3-chip DLP, four bulbs rocking 10,000 lumens, 1080p (1920x1080), 5000:1 contrast ratio, and an "auto cleaning robot" to extend filter life to 2000 hours. The unit can operate in temps up to 113 degrees thanks to a liquid cooling system and three big exhaust fans. Could get noisy. Definitely useful for those screening rooms in hell. – Charlie White and Curtis Joe Walker

Panasonic PT-DW10000U

12 comments, latest by fc3

Future set-top boxes and gateways from Thomson SA are going to come with video watermarking tech that will allow investigators to pinpoint the origin of pirated videos. The tech, NexGuard, identifies "individual copies of the films distributed digitally to cinemas or on DVD as preview copies for reviewers and awards juries." Before video content leaves a gateway or set-top box, it embeds a watermark unique to each device using the box's digital video chip.

The watermarks identify both the "network operator distributing the content" and the individual device. A spokesman said that people "should not be upset about this unless they are widely redistributing content." Thomson sees it as a way to "slow down piracy without limiting the use of the consumer."

So, if you feel upset or limited, that means you're a pirate. – Matt Buchanan

DSL gateways will watermark video to catch pirates [Computer World]

Fujitsu flaunts color e-ink, future tech concept horn o' plenty

Posted Mar 20th 2007 4:00PM by Jeannie Choe

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

We're feelin' what Fujitsu's done so far this year, but now we've got an idea of what it might bust out with in the near future. Last week's Fujitsu North American Technology Forum 2007 was an opportunity to flaunt not-yet-real (at least not in the US) concepts like color e-paper and FPcodes, among a few others. We've seen Fujitsu's elusive e-paper prototype before, and it's still not ready, but at least now we know that the 8-inch, 640 x 480 color display is about 0.03-inches thick, with a 12-inch version in the works and an ambitious goal to reach 2.5-meters. It requires virtually no power and can operate with a teeny boost of focused energy like radio waves from a cellphone. In addition to this e-paper flight of fancy, Fujitsu was showing off a waterproof RFID tag, along with those QR-killin' FPcodes and their vein pattern identification system we've seen before.

Micro-turbines output micro-electricity for Hong Kong's micro-apartments

Posted Mar 20th 2007 6:52PM by Paul Miller

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

It's not just the fitness club types in Hong Kong attempting to generate a bit of renewable energy, inventor Lucien Gambarota -- the very man responsible for converting all that cardio into voltage -- is showing off some micro-wind turbines for even more power bill relief. There's currently only a single wind turbine on a small outer island providing energy to Hong Kong, the rest of the city just doesn't get enough wind for traditional turbines to do any good. Not so with Gambarota's new micro-turbines, which can generate electricity with as little as 2 mph of wind, and keep turning at all times from the slightest of breezes. The little windmills are actually gearwheels, mounted in a array. They can be arranged in different shapes and sizes, from two to thousands of square meters. The energy is put into a battery, which then powers appliances in the building. Currently the micro-turbines go for about $25 for a set of 20 gearwheels, but that price should drop considerably once they begin to be mass produced. [Thanks, nvyseal]

Siemens' Ostar LED: It's On

We have such a hard-on for LEDs that it seems like fate when this announcement comes from a company named Siemens. They have developed Ostar, an LED bulb that despite its 1 square millimeter size can put out 1,000 lumens of angelic light. Siemens explains the significance:

A 60-watt light bulb emits 730 lm, while a 50-watt halogen lamp has an output of approximately 900 lm

So LEDs are bright enough to light our houses and last 10 times longer than even halogen technology. We're ready to upgrade.

If only we had a price or release date. – Mark Wilson

Ostar (old model) [via devicepedia]

Attorn BV intros HyperDrive4 solid state disk

Posted Mar 20th 2007 11:56PM by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

If you figured the barrage of SSD launches that we've endured over the past week was finally over, you'd be altogether incorrect, as Attorn BV is following in Super Talent, Adtron, and SanDisk's footsteps by readying a solid state disc of its very own. The HyperDrive4 doesn't seem to tout any unusual extras, as it boasts the same "no moving parts," DRAM-based, play-and-play functionality, and "super fast bootup" features as all the other guys. The drive does use registered ECC memory modules in order to provide "a higher level of data integrity," and also claims a sustained transfer rate of 125Mbps. Interestingly, the drive can purportedly be picked up in sizes as small as a single gigabyte, but we can't really imagine the majority of takers opting for such a diminutive option. Per usual, no word on pricing or availability at the moment, but it ought to hit shelves soon if it plans on stealing any marketshare from the early entrants. [Via Gearlog]

Raytheon claims world's first "polymorphic" computer

Posted Mar 22nd 2007 12:57AM by Evan Blass

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In what sounds like a pretty big deal, defense contractor Raytheon has developed what it claims is the world's first polymorphic computer -- a machine that can adjust its architecture on the fly and thus be equally adept at "front-end signal processing or back-end control and data processing." Specifically, the MONARCH chips, as they're known (for Morphable Networked Micro-Architecture, apparently), contain six microprocessors each running at 64 gigaflops and delivering more than 60 gigabytes per second of memory bandwidth and more than 43 gigabytes per second of off-chip data bandwidth. What's more, Raytheon says that its beautiful butterfly is simultaneously one of the most powerful and power-efficient chips available, outperforming a quad core Xeon by a claimed factor of ten. But don't get too attached, as you won't be seeing these DARPA-funded chipsets on the market anytime soon; instead, they're destined for GPS devices, radar, video processing systems, space gear, and anything else in which the military needs small, low-power, and radiation tolerant components. [Via Slashdot]

University of Edinburgh crafts energy efficient FPGA supercomputer

Posted Mar 22nd 2007 3:56AM by Darren Murph Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets

Considering that ATI and NVIDIA don't seem to be making any substantial strides in reducing the amount of energy required to run their products, it's a tad surprising to hear of an entire supercomputer running a bit leaner than the competition. Hoping on the ever-growing green bandwagon, University of Edinburgh developers are at it again, this time crafting an uber-speedy machine that's reportedly "ten times more energy efficient and up to 300 times faster than its traditional equivalents." Based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), the chips are not only very difficult to program, but they can currently only be used "to perform very specific tasks." Of course, the creators are more interested in the extreme number crunching and power saving abilities than anything else, and while no commercial uses have been identified just yet, the machines could purportedly be used in fields such as "drug design, defense and seismology." [Via CNET]

thin-shaped light weight which uses LED back light

2007.3.20 　　The liquid crystal display product for note PC of the thin-shaped light weight which uses LED back light 　　About line-up

　　The toshiba Matsushita display technology corporation (president: Masaru Osamu Fujita), because thin shape, light weight, low electric power consumption is actualized for note PC as a liquid crystal display, LED (the light-emitting diode) 10.4 types, and 10.6 type liquid crystal displays which use back light were developed anew. Because of this, product line-up conversion was done at picture size of principal 7 types of 8.9 type ~13.3 types. 　This corporation in 2005 October in the one for beginning note PC 11.1 type WXGA types of LED back light adoption commercialized in the world, started expanding the product line-up of liquid crystal display of the LED back light which combines ever since this corporation individual low temperature polysilicon technology. 　LED back light, thin shape, light weight, high brightness, low is a merit of electric power consumption former CCFL (the cold cathode tube) in comparison with type. In addition, because it becomes with the mercury less, because it is kind in environment, drive voltage is low, it has possessed the merit which is superior in the design aspect and the safe aspect. Furthermore, vis-a-vis impact and the vibration it has possessed high durability. 　As for picture size of the latest line-up with 8.9~13.3 type, as for resolution it is XGA and WXGA and WXGA+. It is, the product of the environmental correspondence which such as the light weight conversion is superior on the specification aspect, thin-shaped conversion of PC and long haul conversion of battery drive as a one for note PC of the Mobile use which is done to carry. 　For PC of this corporation as a liquid crystal display product, it is the schedule where production ratio of LED back light type exceeds 50% on 07 latter halves. 　In addition, other than adoption of LED back light, use of the thin-shaped glass below 0.3mm, in addition reduction and optimum arrangement design of the component are done for lightening, in the product of 10.4XGA with 120g and 12.1XGA 135g is actualized. And, we actualize thickness 2.5mm level because of this with the liquid crystal display product. While and, light weight, assuring thin-shaped conversion, it actualizes the high brightness of 200~300cd/m2 regarding brightness. 　At this corporation, in order for us to be able to answer the needs of the customer precisely, continuation thin shape, the usability improvement of Mobile PC is supported positively by the fact that the product which actualizes lightweight/low electric power consumption consecutively is added to line-up. [The liquid crystal display product line-up for note PC of LED back light use]

Picture size	Picture prime	Mass (g)	Brightness (cd/m2)	Electric power consumption (W)
26cm (10.4 types)	1024×768/XGA	120	240	2.4
31cm (12.1 types)	1024×768/XGA	135	300	3.1
23cm (8.9 types)	1280×768/WXGA	130	200	2.9
27cm (10.6 types)	1280×768/WXGA	150	300	2.8
28cm (11.1 types)	1366×768/WXGA+	146	240	3.7
31cm (12.1 types)	1280×800/WXGA	183	300	3.5
34cm (13.3 types)	1280×800/WXGA	225	300	4.0

Information of press release statement (contents of quotation for finished goods/specification and service, ahead inquiring, it is), information as of announcement day such as URL. Because notice dying there are times when it is modified, please acknowledge beforehand. Ahead the up-to-date inquiring, we ask from the inquiry of the top page.

Alaska Department of Revenue vaporizes $38 billion account

Posted Mar 22nd 2007 5:21AM by Darren Murph Filed under: Desktops, Storage

The Last Frontier is no stranger to computer failure on a noteworthy scale, but the latest mishap far exceeds the severity of yet another e-voting failure. A quick-fingered technician at the Alaska Department of Revenue reformatted a hard drive while handling "routine maintenance work" that contained an account worth $38 billion -- yeah, with a B. To make matters exponentially worse, he / she also deleted the backup drive for reasons unbeknownst to mere men, and we can probably assume that at least a few individuals in the department suffered a near-heart attack when they found the backup tapes completely unreadable. The only remaining proof of the oil-funded account was in 300 boxes of paperwork, which had to be digitized yet again by staff members working incredibly long hours completing work that had just been done a few months earlier. Incredibly, no one was reportedly punished for the incident, and while the recovery efforts were actually finished in just six painstaking weeks, the damage inflicted by a few careless keystrokes totaled $220,700 in excess labor costs. Ouch. [Via Fark]

Tyan's 40 CPU Core Personal Supercomputer -- now shipping

Posted Mar 22nd 2007 9:43AM by Thomas Ricker Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets

Sure, you probably don't currently have a need for 256 gigaflops of processing power in your home. Rest assured, you will -- just as certain as the day when robots will care for our children and decorate our Christmas trees. So go 'head, raid the education fund and future proof your domicile by picking up a TYANPSC T-650 series computer from Tyan -- "PSC," as in Personal SuperComputer. Prices start at just $20,000 for a 40 CPU Core (10x quad-core Intel Xeons) system configurable with up to 60GB of RAM and a power draw of just 15A. And it's "portable" in the same way a refrigerator is portable: it has wheels. Who knows, maybe you can put those spare cycles to use by solving the traveling salesman problem. Better yet, join Engadget's Folding@Home team for some hardcore protein folding fun. [Via 64-bit-computers]

SilverBrook Designing World's Fastest Printer

SilverBrook may be a no-name in the world of tech (they've never released a single product), but all that can change if this baby comes to fruition—it's a super-fast "memjet" printer capable of shooting out two pages per second. Memjet refers to the technology behind the printer, which is a cousin of the inkjet. The difference is that this memjet printer uses a print head that spans the width of a standard-size page. The printer is expected to debut for $200. Smells like vaporware, but I hope it's not. – Louis Ramirez

Gallery: Nokia's Flagship N95 Launched Internationally

Here's a gallery in celebration of Nokia lauching the H.M.S. N95, the follow up to their N93, and the latest in their line of huge multimedia phones (Previously mentioned specs here). These are aircraft carrier class gadgets. I'd never be able to fit on in my skin tight lycra suit pockets. But I still want one oh so badly. Dual slider action? Yes, please.

Depending on how it works, I'd consider this instead of an iPhone...if it ever comes state-side.

Nokia N95

(Please, when you leave your Lam is a Fanboy posts below, make em original and entertaining.)–Brian Lam

Hammer Storage's 2TB Network Drives Are Big Like a Large Object

This Hammer (don't...) Storage myshare NAS seems to be one of the few home and small business units to offer up to 2TB of storage. The unit itself takes 2 hard disks to form anywhere between 320GB and 2TB of storage, with an extra USB expansion port in the back for printers or even more space. Best of all, the NAS has Gigabit Ethernet and RAID 0/1 support, so the performance will be (theoretically) pretty solid.

The 1TB version is on sale now for $499, and the 2TB will be shipping in August. We're always looking for more storage for all the crap we amass from being on the Internet 18 hours a day (we went on a Batman comic downloading spree last week). – Jason Chen

Product Page [Hammer via Electronista]

Touchscreen Smart Mirror: Widgets in the Mirror

A team of students at the University of Waterloo, lead by William Lam (no relation to our Brian Lam), have designed a touchscreen Smart Mirror. Widgets can be placed on the mirror and it can also play music, video and more. Check out the video above and see for yourself. –Travis Hudson

Installable Grid of Thumbnails - created by FlickrCash

Multi Touch User Interface

Jeff Han demonstrates—for the first time publicly—his intuitive, "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be manipulated ... all » intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying levels of pressure. Han is a research scientist for NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 09:32) closeup of usage of multi touch interface

longer presentation at TED Conference

Human Computing - by Prof. Luis von Ahn

ABSTRACT Tasks like image recognition are trivial for humans, but continue to challenge even the most sophisticated computer programs. This talk introduces a paradigm for utilizing human processing power to solve problems that computers cannot yet solve. Traditional approaches to solving such problems focus on improving software. I advocate a novel approach: constructively channel human brainpower using computer games. For example, the ESP Game, described in this talk, is an enjoyable online game -- many people play over 40 hours a week -- and when people play, they help label images on the Web with descriptive keywords. These keywords can be used to significantly improve the accuracy of image search. People play the game not because they want to help, but because they enjoy it.

if you're gonna do a "car driving fast with the top down" TV ad...

it's gotta be like this one...

Firedoodle - Turn the web into a whiteboard!

Firedoodle - Turn the web into a whiteboard! And add intelligence to bookmarking while you're at it...

Welcome to Firedoodle

When you install Firedoodle, you add a whiteboard to every web page you visit using the Firefox Browser. This is great for reviews, jotting ideas, or just goofing off. You can also mark your place on looooong pages so if you need to leave and come back, you can easily pick up where you left off. It's easy to use and you can even save your highlights or placemarks if you register so they don't disappear when you close Firefox. You can find help here covering everything the add-on can do, or keep track of development on my personal blog.

Flickr Multi Parameter Search

FlickrCash -- Fastr Flickr Searchr Savr Sharer - multi parameter search with negative keywords (e.g. "flowers -bees") - saved searches with rollback (to save your work selecting thumbnails) - shareable lightboxes with ratings (to enable clients to give feedback to designer) - we'll display the maximum number of thumbnails your screen can hold

- you can email a lightbox link to a client so they can "heart" or "hate" your selections, like the following shareable lightbox Pastel Flowers - http://flickrcash.com... - here's a video demo of the basic features of the service

- we're getting some pickup

Computer-Generated Image Looks Exactly Like a Beautiful Woman

It's hard to believe, but you're looking at computer-generated image of Korean actress Song Hye Kyo, created by Indonesian CG artist Max Edwin Wahyudi. To create this stunning shot, he used a combination of digital sculpting and design application Pixelogic Zbrush and animation modeling software Autodesk 3DS Max.

Now that's one remarkable piece of artwork—showing that the holy grail has been reached: computer-generated imagery of the human face that's indistinguishable from reality. – Charlie White

Making of the Korean Actress Song Hye Kyo [CG Arena]

Experimental Touchscreen Makes iPhone Look Like a Toy

The main draw of Apple's iPhone is its touchscreen interface, which can respond to two points of contact. What if you could have a touchscreen with an infinite number of points of contact? What would that do for computing as we know it? How would that change life as we know it? These are but a few questions raised by the ongoing research of Jeff Han, whose work at NYU might not only make him YouTube rich, but might put him in the same category as the Edisons and Farnsworths of the world.

Han has already sold a screen to one of the branches of the military. Companies are already developing rival technologies to prevent Han from cornering the market. And to top it all off, a video of Han feeling up his screen for the cheering mob. – Nicholas Deleon

Flexible Battery Charges in a Minute, Lasts for 1,000 Recharges

Polymer%20Batt.jpg

Scientists at Japan's Waseda University have developed a new new polymer-based battery, which not only charges in less than a minute, but also lasts for up to 1,000 recharges. The cool thing about the superthin (200nm-thick to be exact) battery is that unlike previous polymer-based batteries, this one won't won't self-discharge. All we need to do now is get it inside our favorite kit. – Louis Ramirez

Flexible See-through Battery Power [GizMag]

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Hiding Files in Jpg's

Introduction

Video Tutorial

Step by Step Instructions

Friday, March 23, 2007