Good Thinking
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Photoshop CS3 Extended – multimedia workflow and efficiency
March 8, 2007 Adobe is to expand its digital imaging product line in Autumn 2007, offering two editions of Adobe Photoshop CS3. As well as Photoshop CS3 software (currently in beta and available for download here), there’s to be a CS3 Extended version – everything in CS3 plus a new set of capabilities for integration of 3-D and motion graphics, image measurement and analysis. Photoshop CS3 Extended could significantly simplify your workflow if you’re in architecture, engineering, healthcare and science. CS3 Extended is primarily intended for film, video and multimedia professionals, and graphic and web designers and the idea is to leverage the power of the Photoshop image-editing toolset and paint engine when editing 3D and motion-based content. Film and video specialists can perform 3-D model visualisation and texture editing, paint and clone over multiple video frames. Animators can now render and incorporate 3-D content into their 2-D compositions. Graphic and web designers can create an animation from a series of images – such as time series data – and export it to a wide variety of formats, including QuickTime, MPEG-4 and Adobe Flash Video. (read more...)
Innovative machines invade the forest – the Sawfish Underwater Harvester
March 8, 2007 The logging of forests is a very expensive affair, and when there’s a lot of money involved, you can always count on some very special machinery. Two perfect illustrations of this are Plustech/TimberJack/John Deere’s walking tractor prototype (videos here, here and here) and Triton Logging's Sawfish Underwater Harvester. The value of underwater forests in Canada was deemed so large that Triton has developed the Sawfish, a 3-tonne, 3.5-metre-long, yellow submersible with high-resolution cameras so an operator can direct it from the surface. The Sawfish then grasps the base of the tree with its powerful pincers, attaches an inflatable flotation bag to the tree, fills the bag with compressed air and then it cuts the tree with its 1.5-metre chainsaw and the flotation bag carries it to the surface – it can actually handle larger trees than any land-based mechanical harvester due to water buoyancy. As the world’s only deep-water logging machine, it’s a mash-up of remote control, timber-harvesting and submarine technology that can cut down a dozen trees in an hour, at depths of up to 300 metres. The machines are now available to other logging companies at a price around US$750,000 and with no new roads to build and no fires to control, logging underwater suddenly makes economic sense. (read more...)
The Noble Art of Scambaiting Volume II
March 6. 2007 In an article entitled The Noble Sport of Scambaiting last June, we paid homage to the sublime skills of Shiver Metimbers, the administrator of scambaiting information resource 419Eater. Scambaiting is the sport of scamming the would-be scammer and although vigilantism has its downsides, it’s hard to see scambaiting as anything but a noble pastime and some of the better efforts truly are priceless. As we concluded at the time, should Scambaiting ever become an Olympic sport, Shiver Metimbers would be a Gold Medal contender. His latest effort is truly outstanding having tricked scambaiters into performing Monty Python’s Dead parrot comedy sketch for the camera. Mister Metimbers, we salute you! Via The Spam Diaries (read more...)
Hands-off shoe fitting
March 5, 2007 While some people just adore trying on shoes, for most of us, it’s a drag, but the application of new technologies by adidas looks set to free us from this tedium and save considerable time for everybody. This entertaining new form of shopping can be found on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, where adidas has opened its latest and most modern shop anywhere in the world. Customers can now try on a variety of models in front of a virtual mirror without changing their shoes. They can navigate through the collection by simply pointing at products on a computer screen. (read more...)
nTAG V2 smart badging offers real-time event data management
March 4, 2007 Three years ago we wrote of the potential being displayed by a new form of interactive name badge for conferences and social events that significantly improved the quality of people-to-people connectivity. The nTAG system automates several social technologies and takes them into the business event arena where both host and attendee derive numerous benefits compared to the paper badges of the past. While stimulating conversation between attendees, nTAGs also help organisers to deliver event information, track attendance, manage security, send messages, and evaluate surveys and polls in real time – think about that for a moment – that’s real-time audience response. Worn like regular paper badges, nTAGs exchange data with one another using infrared sensors. As attendees approach each other, information is automatically transferred from tag to tag, requiring no action from the wearer. Then the tags' LCD screens illuminate and display information on shared interests - "Hi Karen, we both work in the fashion apparel industry." The nTAG system can now be purchased through nTAG or nTAG certified resellers, international distributor enquiries should be directed here and the system can be hired for as little as US$15,000. Great Flash demo here. (read more...)
The world’s first Parliamentary election with internet voting
March 4, 2007 Today is an important date in history in that the world’s first parliamentary election involving internet voting is being held in Estonia, and is the first implementation of what is surely the future of eGovernment. The electronic voting took place earlier this week on Monday through Wednesday and more than 30,000 of Estonia’s one million eligible voters cast their vote via the internet, though those same voters can still vote today and their second vote only will be counted. To vote via the internet, voter needed an Estonian ID card with valid certificates and PIN-codes (bottom left) and access to a computer with a smart card reader (bottom right), a driver for the ID card (download here) and a Windows or Linux operating system. Via Physorg, Slashdot, The Christian Science Monitor, the Estonian Government, and the Estonian National Electoral Commission (good powerpoints here that explain the process) (read more...)
Philips Digital Pocket Memo 9600 heralds a new era in productivity
March 2, 2007 To say that the Digital Pocket Memo 9600 is an important new tool for business professionals is an understatement. Even to state that the new 9600 represents the next generation of digital dictation technology is underplaying its importance way too much. Until now, dictation has been a largely under-utilised tool because for it to be used in an office environment, a dictation system and a secretary are required, and only the legal system has ever been organised enough to effectively employ dictation as an industry-wide productivity tool. With the new functionality of the Philips Digital Pocket Memo 9600, the device provides a ready-made system which can easily incorporate a dictation system into any office. Couple the 9600 with one of the new LAN Docking Station and it will transfer dictations through your LAN (local area network) to a transcriptionist or a speech recognition system without connecting to a PC. Encryption ensures that dictations are sent securely through the company network or the Internet, regardless of whether the destination is next door or on the other side of the world. There’s also a Barcode Module which snaps onto the 9600 - a highly compact laser scanner that retrieves important patient or client information by scanning the barcode. The scanned information is securely attached to the dictation, saving time and minimizing the risk of errors. The Barcode Module can also be used as a USB scanner device, directly transferring the barcode information to a PC. That’s the system – as far as the 9600 itself, well that is just a straightforward better mousetrap than has previously existed. (read more...)
New Soil Moisture Smart Sensors
February 25, 2007 Sensors might never cost-efficiently replace the keen eye of a farmer for spotting fungus, signs of vermin or bird attack, growth rate, weed levels and a host of other almost intuitive inspections, but they are already offering a viable method of ensuring that precious crops are perfectly watered. Data Logging specialist Onset has just added two new plug-and-play Soil Moisture Smart Sensors to its wares, with the new sensors promising precise, long-term soil moisture monitoring. The Decagon ECH2O dielectric probes offer highly accurate measurements of volumetric water content in soil, and have low sensitivity to temperature and saline effects, broadening the range of soil types in which they can be used to include sandy and high-salinity soils and their compact form factor means they can be used in pots and greenhouses. The US$139-a-pop smart sensor design enables the sensors to be plugged into Onset’s 15-channel HOBO Weather Station and 4-channel HOBO Micro Station and automatically recognized without complicated wiring, programming or calibration. (read more...)
First a nanobattery, now an ultra-sensitive Magnetometer
February 25, 2007 mPhase Technologies has been very successful in taking its message direct to the people in recent weeks with a video demonstration of its Smart Nanobattery on YouTube. The nanotech-based smart batteries (pictured bottom) can store reserve power for decades and generate electric current virtually on demand. Now mPhase has released another video, this time demonstrating its ultra-sensitive sensor magnetometer. “The extreme advantage of size, sensitivity and low cost allows us to develop the next generation of military and homeland security sensor applications while also addressing a number of commercial markets as well,” said mPhase Technologies’, Ron Durando. That's the magnetometer on the coin. (read more...)
The Privacy-enhanced SmartCheck System
February 25, 2007 Ever since Al Queda ever so kindly pointed out the vulnerability of domestic airliners, the world has been paying a hefty bill in the form of added security. At first it was very costly, because much of it was labour-intensive, but then industry responded with ever-more-clever devices to screen humans and ensure they were weapon free. So good have the machines become at peering through clothing that many scanning techniques have become very invasive. It will hence be of some comfort to know that the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun testing the privacy enhanced SmartCheck personnel screening system today at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. SmartCheck provides optimum security by safely screening for a wide variety of threats concealed on a passenger, while ensuring their privacy. The SmartCheck system creates an image that looks like a chalk outline of the passenger with threats and contraband outlined, but does not reveal facial features. A product of X-ray detection technology specialist American Science and Engineering, the SmartCheck system installed in Phoenix cannot store, export, print, or transmit images. The machine produces images such as this privacy-enhanced SmartCheck scan of a female (front and back) which presents only an outline of the scanned individual and an outline of any threats on the person. (read more...)
The Little White Purse by Saab
February 20, 2007 Targeted promotional opportunities for premium brands often makes for some strange bedfellows, and resulted this week in premium aerospace and automotive brand Saab releasing ‘The Little White Purse.’ Created by Fashion designer Osman Yousefzada, the purse was designed as an innovative way to keep a woman’s keys stylishly at hand. It banishes those clumsy key-fumbling moments so you look fashionably efficient while stepping into your car, home or workplace. According to Saab, on average a woman wastes one day each year fumbling around for keys in the bottom of her handbag, which does seem a lamentable waste of time. The clever design means the purse can be worn as a necklace, attached inside a handbag, or around a wrist where it could no doubt double as a weapon should the need arise. (read more...)
Macrovision responds to Steve Jobs’ Open Letter on DRM
February 19, 2007 A fortnight ago we wrote about Steve Jobs’ provocative open letter on Digital Rights Management and the extraordinary reaction to the letter. In the interests of fairness, there is another viewpoint and in our humble opinion, the best presented counter to Jobs’ position is presented by DRM specialist Macrovision. Macrovision has been in the content protection industry for more than 20 years, working closely with content owners of many types, including the major Hollywood studios, to help navigate the transition from physical to digital distribution. The company has been involved with and has supported both prevention technologies and DRM that are on literally billions of copies of music, movies, games, software and other content forms, as well as hundreds of millions of devices across the world. Macrovision CEO & President Fred Amoroso penned the response. Wikipedia offers perspective on the issue with links to all the stakeholder groups, and the illustration comes from here. Via Slashdot (read more...)
Handheld T-ray Device promises new capabilities
February 19, 2007 “T-rays” have been touted as the next breakthrough in sensing and imaging, but the need for bulky equipment has been an obstacle to reaching the field’s potential. Enter Brian Schulkin, winner of the first-ever $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize. Schulkin has invented an ultralight, handheld terahertz spectrometer — an advance that could help catapult T-ray technology from the lab bench to the marketplace. Schulkin’s “Mini-Z” is dramatically smaller and lighter than any previous terahertz device, and it already has proven its ability to detect cracks in space shuttle foam, image tumors in breast tissue, and spot counterfeit watermarks on paper currency. The system, which weighs less than five pounds and fits snugly in a briefcase, could open the door to a wide range of applications in homeland security, biomedical imaging, and nondestructive testing of industrial components. (read more...)
The coming of the Automated Parking Garage
The most expensive parking is the parking we don’t have. Not that long ago, when cars were less plentiful and inner city space was moreso, the major expenses of driving were depreciation and running costs. Now as space becomes more valuable and competition for that space is also at a high, parking space is fast becoming a major expense with mid-town Manhattan, London and Tokyo all commanding up to US$500 a month for a parking space and a permanent parking space was recently sold in London for UKP300,000. The solution to the world’s Parking Crisis is obvious: state-of-the-art automated parking robotic technologies will deliver the most space-efficient and hence cost-efficient parking. The current generation of parking garages has space-consuming access ramps and lots of access lanes that never get parked on, and also needs enough height for a very tall human being to comfortably walk upright – rather than the space-efficient compact box into which your car is slipped in an automated system. The ramps aren’t needed when you have a car lift and a computerized racking system. Whatsmore, a custom-built automated car parking facility of the same size as a conventional carpark can hold at least twice as many cars, offering double or more the income after a safe refurbishing investment. It’s more efficient for the customer (less than 2.5 minutes to get your car), costs less to run (no human attendants are required), there are no accidents, dents or scratches (because computers move the cars, not humans), and as the cars cannot be reached by other car park users, there’s no chance of theft or vandalism. Though this article is primarily about Automotion, there are now many manufacturers of automated carpark solutions, such as Stolzer Parkhaus, Robopark, Westfalia, Klausparking, LTW, Trevipark, Urban Parking Concepts, Eltodo, Space Saver Parking and the massive Chinese Tianchen Group – if you have a space that could use a carpark, this solution will make your money work at least twice as hard. (read more...)
Vale Robert Adler, 1913-2007 - TV Remote Control Co-Inventor
February 17, 2007 The man who invented the remote control for the television, Dr. Robert Adler, died this week, giving us a timely reminder of just how fast technology is progressing. Dr. Adler's "Space Command" ultrasonic remote control for TV sets was introduced by Zenith in 1956 and two years later saw him win the 1958 Outstanding Technical Achievement Award of the Institute of Radio Engineers (now the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE) for his "original work on ultrasonic remote controls" for television. Though he was best known as co-inventor of the wireless remote control for television , along with fellow Zenith engineer Eugene Polley), Adler was responsible for a large number of significant scientific contributions to the electronics industry, including landmark inventions in sophisticated specialized communications equipment. (read more...)
Easy Sankey Diagram creation tool helps visualize complex issues
February 16, 2007 e!Sankey is a new, US$100 windows-based software for engineers, environmental consultants and scientists that creates good-looking, pain-free process diagrams and flow charts for presentations, scientific papers and internal communications. Sankey diagrams are graphic representations of technical or economical interrelationships. They help viewers visualize and understand the connections between individual processes, for example, material, cost or energy flows. The relative value of each material flow is represented by the width of the connecting arrows within the Sankey diagram. Putting the tools into the hands of the people who have the knowledge rather than having a graphic artist in the process allows users the opportunity to visualize a wide range of processes, such as production costs, energy losses of a particular machine or material flows within specific economic sectors. (read more...)
The 2007 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize
February 15, 2007 If there’s an absolutely golden imprimatur for the person-most-likely-to-succeed, it’s the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. Jerome H. Lemelson, one of the world's most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program funded via his own private philanthropic Lemelson Foundation, the Student Prize recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Given that MIT attracts the very brightest students to begin with, the winner is usually a stellar high achiever and this year’s winner is already that. 2007 winner Nathan Ball's inventions include the Atlas Rope Ascender (see separate story) and a needle-free injection technology that will enable greater efficiencies in mass inoculations, both capable of saving many lives and both with many commercial applications. Last year’s winner Carl Dietrich is the CEO and CTO of his own flying car company Terrafugia. We’ve also written about Saul Griffith, the 2004 winner. All the winners and their exploits in this article. (read more...)
The economic benefits of obtaining a degree
February 14, 2007 We all intuitively know that having a degree offers many advantages but just how much difference it makes has now been quantified in a new report from Universities UK, the vice-chancellors’ umbrella body. The report highlights the economic benefits associated with higher education qualification attainment and shows that the gross additional lifetime earnings is now approximately UKP160,000 or between 20 and 25% more for individuals with a higher education qualification than for those with two or more A-levels (UK Secondary qualifications). The study showed the financial benefit of a degree is greatest for men from lower socio-economic groups or from families from lower levels of income, and the benefits associated with HE qualifications increase as graduates get older. (read more...)
The use of special prizes to fuel global innovation
February 13, 2007 Two heads are better than one. Six billion are even better. In solving big problems, you need a lot of brain power and the opportunity now exists via this wonderous global network to pour cubic brainpower on problems we need to solve. Tens of millions of scientifically trained minds all thinking about the same problem ensures that if there’s a way, we’ll find it. In terms of setting the global scientific agenda and stimulating innovation, nothing seems to work quite as well as a clearly defined challenge and a big fat prize. It immediately gives that limitless source of human intelligence out there a focal point – throughout history, such prizes have consistently proven to be the most effective method of fast forwarding development of enabling technologies, opening new vistas of human endeavour and solving key society-enabling problems. In announcing the Virgin Earth Challenge, Branson showed he had been an attentive student of innovation history when he said, “History has shown that Technology Prizes have been invaluable in encouraging technological advancements and innovation in many, many areas of science and industry.” History has indeed given us many big thinkers who have left massive legacies – people whose macro perspective on the world is such that they can identify a seemingly insurmountable societal problem and set in motion the process of solving it with an audacious stroke and a lot of money. In recent times we have seen DARPA’s Grand Challenge which gave us the world’s first truly autonomous vehicle inside a few years and for just a few million dollars. The Ansari X Prize fast-forwarded space development by decades. The British government offered the first prize of this type for a device capable of accurately measuring longitude in 1714. The prize was claimed 59 years later when clock maker, John Harrison (pictured) was awarded UKP 20,000 for devising an accurate and durable chronometer and it transformed our ability to sail the seas. The French have often used prizes as an incentive to fuel innovation, with a 100,000 franc prize in 1775 resulting in an artificial form of alkali being produced and hence began the French chemical industry. Napolean is best known for his battlefield genius but a 12,000 francs he offered in 1810 resulted in the first vacuum sealed food. A newspaper prize catalyzed the first flight across the English channel in 1909 and reset human boundaries as to what was possible with powered flight. (read more...)
The US$25 Million Virgin Earth Challenge
February 13, 2007 Sir Richard Branson’s US$25 Million Virgin Earth Challenge focuses on the biggest single problem faced by humanity today - global warming. It steps across the national boundaries which have prevented anyone a full appreciation of the damage we have done to the environment and the gravity of the consequences of messing with the planet’s ecosystem. There may not be a single effective solution to this problem but if there is, the Virgin Earth Challenge is the best chance we can see of finding it. Given that these is no effective common approach on the horizon to a potential extinction event, we applaud the initiative wholeheartedly. The Virgin Earth Challenge will award US$25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth’s climate. (read more...)
Smart Nanobattery has indefinite shelf life, instant usage and it’s green too
February 8, 2007 mPhase Technologies today announced that the Smart Nanobattery it is developing could be equipped with features that would allow it to be disposed of safely. The company has applied for patent protection for a set of design strategies to create batteries that use advanced chemistries but are still safe to dispose. The prototype batteries use various chemicals as electrolytes residing on top of nano structures in a dormant state and when triggered, cause an electrochemical reaction to produce a measurable voltage and current under a load. Some cells are reserved to create the neutralizing chemical reaction at the end of life. The Smart Nanobattery promises an energy source that can be packaged in various configurations, with shelf life lasting decades, yet still able to be activated almost instantaneously on demand. (read more...)
Fractional Ownership Portal
January 17, 2007 We’ve written before about the growing trend towards fractional ownership moving from cars to almost every aspect of lifestyle. Fractional ownership is the concept of dividing an expensive asset into percentage shares and selling those shares to individual owners. Each person who owns a fractional share then gets a relative percentage use of the asset. More often than not, a company manages the asset and owners pay fixed fees for the management in addition to variable fees for use. For rapidly depreciating assets, such as high-end vehicles, the management company may sell the asset after a fixed period and distribute the proceeds back to the owners. Now a new web portal named Fractional Life is providing a one-stop site to assist consumers in making sense of the currently expanding fractional ownership marketplace. The website also covers those companies that offer lifestyle experiences such as the use of supercars, jets, yachts and other top-end luxury products but without the consumer owning a particular segment - anything asset-sharing, part-ownership or experience sharing based. (read more...)
Crosslink flexible lighting could change the look of the future
January 16, 2007 Futurists’ might need to reappraise their forecasts for the look of the future if the promise of a new electroactive polymer materials with remarkable properties reaches full commercialisation. Start-up Crosslink has developed a material with an array of real-world applications that could profoundly influence how our living environments, possessions and clothes look in the future as it effectively offers almost any object the ability to become a light source. SuperFlex is a lightweight, crushable, durable electroluminescent (EL) lighting technology based on polythiophene, an inherently conductive polymer known as PEDOT. SuperFlex can be formulated to emit light in both the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectrums and can withstand being twisted, punctured, torn or scrunched-up (bottom images) without losing its ability to light up. The first commercialisation of the technology will be in the form of easily-transportable softwall shelters for the military (top image) with the lighting system semi-permanently attached to the inside of the shelter. The future prospects for SuperFlex are very bright as textiles, composites, plastics and metals all can be coated with SuperFlex, signalling a step-change approach to how we use light sources. The technology is applicable in myriad ways - from merchandising displays to packaging, walls, drapes, any part of a structure, clothes that light up at night for safety or decorative purposes ad infinitum. Then there are some compelling military applications, such as a foldable map that emits its own infrared light so it can be read in complete darkness using night vision goggles. (read more...)
Self cleaning Lotus leaf imitated in plastic
January 15, 2007 Nature has some ingenious solutions which have been studied by some of the most successful inventors and creators of our time. Frank Lloyd Wright implored, “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” Now we have the prospect of a self cleaning plastic cup based on the same ideas that nature used to self-clean the Lotus Leaf - a plastic cup that can be reused without washing it, simply because contamination has no chance to stick to the surface. The ideal natural properties of the Lotus leaf’s self-cleaning surface are ideal for many applications and consumer products. Work underway by the Applied Laser Technology Group of the University of Twente has shown that such products are possible by using an ultra fast femtosecond laser. (read more...)
Concept to prototype in three days
January 15, 2007 With concept-to-showroom times being cut from years to months in recent times, one wonders just how quickly the development process can be carried out. One very ambitious and ultimately successful promotion at MacWorld Expo really pushed the envelope in this regard. Product development company mophie successfully turned the show floor of MacWorld ’07 into an open-source product development space where in less than four-days MacWorld attendees saw doodled concepts become actual prototypes. The mophie Illuminator generated over 100 concepts, and although the promise was to deliver one prototype, three of the concepts were deemed so good that three finished products were created during the show. And some nice ideas too … (read more...)
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