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Jack Martin
Formula Zero begins - the historic first Hydrogen Fuel Cell Race
By Jack Martin
02:31 August 31, 2008 PDT
Formula Zero is the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell racing series and the historic first ever event was held last weekend in Rotterdam. Four teams clearly stood out from the field in vying for the celebrated first ever victory for a fuel cell racing machine, with the Dutch Greenchoice-FORZE Team (Technical University of Delft) setting the fastest time of 38.416 seconds of the portable racetrack in Saturday’s qualifying, narrowly ahead of Spain’s EuplatecH2 (Escuela Universitaria Politécnica La Almunia de Doña Godina). Sadly, the speed shown by the Belgian Zero Emission Racing Team on Friday (37.800) did not materialize on Sunday, and the British Imperial Racing Green Team’s reliability over race distance did not stand up well in the non-traditional FORMULA ZERO race format. Though Team FORZE won the main race on Sunday, the Spaniards won the initial sprint race, and will go down in history as the winners of the first fuel cell racing event. Read More
Arctic ice set for another all-time low
By Jack Martin
23:28 August 29, 2008 PDT
The global warming debate will get even hotter in the near future with the news that current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of Arctic polar sea-ice may this year shrink to a level very close to that of last year's record minimum ice cover. Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks. This animation is a series of mosaics of the Arctic Ocean created from images acquired between early June and mid-August 2008 from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard Envisat. The dark grey colour represents ice-free areas while blue represents areas covered with sea ice. The image at right shows sea-ice coverage as of mid-August 2008 with the red line indicating the all-time minimum Arctic sea-ice coverage in September 2007. Anyone know of any DIY Ark-building courses? Read More
Apple planning touch screen tablet
By Jack Martin
23:06 August 29, 2008 PDT
Apple was the company that first took the mouse and the Graphical User Interface to market and it has continued to lead the world in CHI design ever since, with its iPod scroll wheel and iPhone touch screen interface triumphs just some of numerous significant contributions since then. Rumours of a touch screen Macintosh have been rife recently and AppleInsider report earlier this week of a raft of new patent applications seem to indicate a new and no doubt elegantly usable interface is nigh. AppleInsider believes the applications pave the way for tablet Macs that display a near full-sized multi-touch keyboard and run an undiluted version of the Mac OS X operating system. Read More
Logitech Squeezebox All-in-One Network Music Player
By Jack Martin
23:55 August 28, 2008 PDT
The concept of the Boombox is no doubt reminiscent to many of our readers of people walking the streets with large objects the size of a sheep on their shoulder, doing irreparable damage to their hearing and conveying their lack of taste to everyone within shooting distance. Those readers, like yours truly, should get set for a brain reconfiguration with this story. The US$300 Logitech Squeezebox Boom all-in-one network music player looks like a boombox but it ain’t – it has an integrated amplifier, high-performance speakers and an 802.11g wireless network connection. With it you can listen to your digital music in any room of your home. There are no wires to connect. Just plug it into a power outlet. Then, using your existing home network, you can listen to the music on your computer, podcasts, Internet radio stations, and subscription services, even when the computer is off. Read More
The Sountina sound fountain – 1.85 metre tall glass and leather column delivering 360 degree sound
By Jack Martin
23:38 August 28, 2008 PDT
It’s taken us a few decades to fully wrap our brain cells around the fact that a loudspeaker doesn’t need to be box-shaped with an array of woofers and tweeters and equally, that remarkable sound quality can be produced from a single speaker. Taking it one step further is the new Sony Sountina: this single, elegant column, combining glass, leather and room-enhancing illumination, delivers music over 360 degrees, providing a sonic and visual focal-point for any room. The name comes from a fusion of the words ‘sound’ and ‘fountain’; just as people gather around a fountain, so the 1.85m tall Sountina will deliver amazing music to those all around it. Sony calls it a Circle Sound Stage, and it’s all made possible by brand-new Vertical Drive Technology. Check out the image library - beeeeautiful! Read More
LG unveils N4B1 Total Network Attached Storage Solution
By Jack Martin
23:07 August 28, 2008 PDT
Gizmag’s Noel McKeegan reports that one of the more interesting products to see first light of day at IFA this week was LG’s new N4B1 Network Attached Storage (NAS) for home and small business users. The system goes beyond just data sharing and provides advanced integrated data management including a built-in Blu-ray drive and version management. Available in two- and four-bay configurations, LG’s N4B1 accepts hard drives as large as one terabyte and makes it possible to share a single Blu-ray, DVD or CD among many users by creating a virtual disc library. After inserting a disc, the NAS can create and store an image of the disc which is then accessible by all of the users on the network. This not only saves time, but also reduces wear and tear on discs. Very cool! Read More
The Caddy Topos Sail design concept
By Jack Martin
03:52 August 28, 2008 PDT
One of the stars of this weekend’s Dusseldorf Caravan Salon is this Volkswagen Caddy Topos Sail design concept which takes its nautical theme to the extreme of having a wooden boat deck on its roof. The Caddy Topos Sail design concept, based on the smallest model in the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle van range, uses design cues from classic yachts and has its multi-functional roof covered with wooden decking surrounded by aluminium roof rails. Read More
Automotive alchemy – Gold- or Platinum-plating your car
By Jack Martin
02:29 August 27, 2008 PDT
As we’ve written before, you don’t drive cars, you wear them. To the male of the species, a set of wheels is largely a reflection of who they are. Customizing one’s wheels is accordingly a highly personal pursuit – some go for show, some go for go, and some go to extraordinary lengths to show how uncompromisingly “top shelf” they are. Appropriately-named London-based Alchemist now numbers amongst its customization techniques a process which coats the roof of your car in 24-carat gold. “Gold-leafing vehicles isn’t a new luxury, said company spokesperson Jacques Blanc. “The Egyptians mastered the technique more than 3000 years ago and Tutankhamun’s chariot was decorated with gold leaves. We are simply continuing this ancient and opulent tradition.” Read More
Criminal Liability for Non-Aggressive Death
By Jack Martin
02:05 August 27, 2008 PDT
The crime of manslaughter exists as a 'catch-all offence' to punish those who are blameworthy in causing the death of another but whose culpability falls short of that required for murder. Manslaughter is an extremely broad offence and it has a difficult task in ensuring that all those who warrant punishment for 'non-aggressive' deaths are convicted. Simultaneously, it should not be too broad in covering those who do not warrant punishment for such deaths. There is little consistency in whether a particular dangerous activity leads to liability for a specific offence or for the generic offence of manslaughter when death is caused. This new book, entitled “Criminal Liability for Non-Aggressive Death” examines the current law and includes a variety of perspectives on the subject with chapters on specific modes of killing as well as issues that permeate all areas. Read More
The stress sensor vest
By Jack Martin
13:37 July 23, 2008 PDT
The term “stress” was first used in a biological sense in the 1930s and as the world has increased in complexity and pace, is fast reaching epidemic proportions in most societies. Ironically, when biomedical scientists set out to develop new ways of studying stress, they needed an inconspicuous measuring tool so they could monitor the stress levels of their subjects during the course of their day-to-day environment. The idea of a “stress sensor vest” originated, and while they’re still studying stress, the vest has emerged as a viable and marketable product in its own right. Read More
The Shweeb Human-powered monorail
By Jack Martin
05:21 July 23, 2008 PDT
Forget internal combustion engines, electrical power or even maglev systems - the Shweeb is a monorail for human-powered vehicles. It consists of two 200metre long overhead rail circuits that vary in height between two and four meters above the ground. Under the tracks hang high performance pedal powered vehicles. Between one and five vehicles can be loaded onto each track enabling teams to race each other or race against the clock. Conceived in Tokyo by designer Geoffrey Barnett, the adventure park ride he built in New Zealand is partially a proof-of-concept for an ingenious, high efficiency, no emission urban transport system. Read More
Advanced Digital Control for Yamaha Outboard
By Jack Martin
00:26 July 22, 2008 PDT
The concepts of drive-by-wire, steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire were initially eyed with much suspicion by automotive aficionados – how could a computer possibly hope to do a better job than a human being? Well, computers can do a much better job of these tasks, and will eventually be able to turn every aspect of our mere mortal fumbling into Lewis Hamilton-like driving capabilities. Now drive-by-whatever is invading the marine industry with Yamaha’s new second generation 250hp F250B outboard motor. Read More
Mobile revolution drives US$700 Billion Global CE sales
By Jack Martin
00:14 July 22, 2008 PDT
The mobile revolution sweeping the world and changing the way it does business is unfolding rapidly despite the economic uncertainties surrounding the American dollar. Worldwide revenue for consumer electronics (CE) will grow US$42 billion (around ten percent), hitting the US$700 billion mark in 2009. The compelling benefits of unwired access to information and person-to-person communication are driving the biggest societal transformation in history – global unit sales of mobile products will top a staggering 1.5 billion units in 2008 – roughly one mobile device for every four people on the planet THIS YEAR, be it a portable navigation devices (worldwide revenue growth of nearly 20 percent in 2008), laptop computer (up 15 percent) or smartphone (up 14 percent). Read More
Belkin BreakFree protects amplifiers and guitars
By Jack Martin
23:54 July 21, 2008 PDT
If you’ve ever owned an Apple laptop and experienced the plain practicality and common sense of the MagSafe magnetic power cord connector, which detaches under extreme tension, you’ll understand our excitement at Belkin’s announcement of its new BreakFree adapters for amplifiers and guitars. The connectors are designed to eliminate the popping that occurs when cables are unplugged from a live amplifier. Read More
Metal Storm developing Non-Lethal Weapon System
By Jack Martin
23:32 July 21, 2008 PDT
Better known for its highly lethal Stacked Projectile Electronic Ballistics Technology which enables one gun to fire a million rounds a minute, Metal Storm has received a contract from the United States Marine Corps Systems Command to demonstrate capabilities for a Mission Payload Module – Non-Lethal Weapons System (MPM-NLWS) designed to provide the warfighter a non-lethal counter-personnel capability. Read More
Freedom Glen
- November 25, 2009 @ 02:47 UTC
