Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, July 20, 2008

What the Hell is Going On in Potters Field? [Crash Landings]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/340018985/what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-potters-field

These photos, taken from a Flickr set, show what appears to be some sort of crashed spacecraft in London's Potters Field. They offer no explanation as to what's going on over there across the pond. Do any of you know what this is? Movie shoot? Publicity stunt? Photoshoppery? Actual alien invasion? Let's hear your guesses, both educated and uneducated, in the comments. Update: It's an ad for a new car. Boo.
[Flickr via NotCot]

HealthMap Gives Lowdown on Disease Outbreaks, Could Save Lives [Web Tools]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/340241194/healthmap-gives-lowdown-on-disease-outbreaks-could-save-lives

Scientists are using the power of the web to track and find real disease outbreaks. Every hour, HealthMap, an infectious disease-tracking website, feeds off of news, public health list serves, and the World Health Organization's online pages to survey the spread of infections. With help from Google, the program has identified 95 percent of all disease outbreaks, sometimes days before the WHO or international disease control agencies can announce them.

Most recently, HealthMap detected the salmonella outbreak in the U.S., which has sickened over 1,000 people, long before the Center for Disease Control announced that it was happening. By alerting officials and doctors to the most likely diseases in their area, the web tool could help make health care much more efficient and precise. [Discovery]

GPS-equipped Car Camera Voyager Pro logs fender benders

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/339911745/

Filed under: GPS

Sure, these in-car crash loggers are a dime a dozen these days, but Brickhouse Security is pushing its Car Camera Voyager Pro as better than those ho hum alternatives thanks to the inclusion of GPS. As with most of its highly functional rivals, this one also packs a G-sensor that detects when a vehicle has been slammed into, bumped or otherwise rocked in an unorthodox manner; after that, it captures the 10 seconds immediately prior to and the 30 seconds immediately following the incident. Of course, you'll also be able to pinpoint your exact location thanks to the corresponding GPS information, which could certainly help you out when hunting down CCTV footage of the nut-job who rammed your whip and wheeled off to Wendy's as if nothing happened. Hand over $449.95 now and expect it to arrive later next week.

[Thanks, Frank]

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Kohjinsha SC3 convertible UMPC hits the test bench

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/340271154/

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Shortly after the Kohjinsha SC3 was removed from the comfy confines of its packaging and exposed for all to see, said UMPC has managed to get reviewed. Initially, impressions were quite positive, as the reviewer noted that build quality was "superb," the size was adorably small and the display satisfied all expectations. As for sheer performance, the Menlow-based rig excelled as it churned through applications with no huge lag issues; however, all that computing made the unit exceptionally warm, though it did remain quiet even when breaking a sweat. Battery life was shorter than advertised (only 2.5 hours), but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to gripe about. Think it's too good to be true? Head on down to the read link for videos, benchmarks and impressions.

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Another breakthrough purportedly brings us closer to quantum computing

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/340364012/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

In reality, quite a bit of time has passed since we've heard of the next great leap in the (seemingly) never-ending journey towards quantum computing, but we're incredibly relieved to learn that at least someone is still out there, somewhere, pressing on. An international team of researchers have reportedly shown that they can "control the quantum state of a single electron in a silicon transistor, even putting the electron in two places at once." Essentially, the team is using tiny semiconductor transistors to "control the state of a quantum system," but there is still a long ways to go before any of this is meaningful. The crew managed to discover a few things by chance, yet to create a quantum computer, they would need to "position atoms of arsenic (or some other material) in the transistors more reliably." For those of you way too geeked out, fret not -- we'll let you know when all of this technobabble finally amounts to something.

[Thanks, Chris]

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