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3 Feb 2013
best 3D animation software for absolute beginners
Well to tell you the truth they are all different in their own way, and
what may be easy to some may not be to others...What i would recommend
is to try the ones your thinking about using. For example get a trail of
all the ones your thinking about trying (if you find a trial) and see
which one you like and adapt to the most.Really, PERSONALLY i think you should learn what most people would consider industry standard or what the specific studio your trying to get in use ( or just use which ever you like the best, or find the most intresting which is somewhat equally a strong point )...Base on my understanding the industry would be "Maya" or maybe "3ds Max" depending on your need. Having said that it also depend on what you plan do work on, if its games for example standard would most likely be Max, if movies Maya, and so on. That also don't mean that the other software aren't good or just as good, its just up to you. Example "Cinema 4D" it seem to be really popular for its Integration with "After Effects". Or "Lightwave" for Its VFX. "Houdini" for special Effects... The list goes on and on (Usually if not always they are all used in Different environments, Ex. Max is used in movies, a lot..despite its popularity in Games)...Ultimately the software is somewhat only a tool. (so you may want to try "Softimage" or whatever) Its up to you, the artist and your skill.
To really answer your question at last(sorry about that) Cinema 4D is said to be not as hard as some of the others, or Modo, Blender is also good if your on a budget..Its free if you don't know( But i'am not sure about its learning curve). So fell free to pick which ever software you want whether it be one that i mention or one that i didn't mention as I'm sure there are a lot more, and some very powerful ones...
3d Animation is a technically difficult and time consuming process, no matter what the program- if your going to take the time to learn it, do it right and learn something that may get you a job someday- industry standard right now is Maya for macs and XSI for PCs. 3D Studio Max is used to a lesser extent for games.
If you really don't want one of those, Cinema 4D is a little simplier, as well as Boris FX.
Good Luck.
26 Jan 2013
NASA works out how to build large, commercial flying wing that uses half the fuel of normal aircraft
NASA has successfully demonstrated a manufacturing technique that will allow the creation of large, commercial hybrid flying wing aircraft. These planes would use half the fuel of conventional, tubular jet airliners, and would provide a quieter ride for passengers on board.
In general, there are four plane shapes: A tube with wings, a blended wing body, a hybrid wing, and a flying wing. The last three ditch the tube in favor of a much flatter chassis with an almost-rectangular cross-section. The advantage of these designs is that the body actually acts like a wing, adding extra lift. The down side is that flying wings are less stable (they lack a tail), and the rectangular cross-section makes it a lot harder to build a light fuselage that can withstand the rigors of pressurized air flight.
Aerospace engineers have long been aware of the advantages of flying wing aircraft — reduced weight, and drag, and thus higher top speeds and lower fuel consumption — but it has so far proved impossible to build a flying wing that’s large enough to transport hundreds of people in comfort. There are dozens of flying wing designs in use by the military, but these are generally small aircraft that don’t need to worry about the comfort of the soldiers on board. The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (Stealth Bomber, pictured above) is probably the best-known example of a hybrid flying wing aircraft.Now, NASA is reporting that it has devised a manufacturing method of producing hybrid flying wing aircraft that is large enough for commercial travel. The method starts with carbon composite rods, which are then covered with carbon fiber fabric. Foam strips are placed between the rods, and again carbon fiber is stitched onto them, creating structural crossmembers. The carbon fiber fabric is finally impregnated with an epoxy resin, turning the whole thing into a very rigid structure when it sets. All told, this new technique can reduce the weight of an aircraft’s structure by 25%.
In testing, fuselage parts made using this technique could withstand the necessary forces. The plan now is to build a 30-foot (9.1m), two-floor fuselage to see how the new manufacturing technique copes in situations that approximate real-world use. Eventually, 10 or 20 years down the line, NASA hopes that this manufacturing technique can be used to build commercial jets.
As Technology Review points out, a hybrid flying wing aircraft would also need a different kind of engine — something like an ultra-high-bypass engine. Ultra-high-bypass engines (aka propfans or unducted fans, pictured right) still use a “turbo” design, but have a large number of small, twisted propeller blades at the back — kind of like if you took a turbofan, but removed the housing from the back half of the engine. In NASA’s hybrid flying wing, these UHB engines would be mounted on top of the plane, reducing the noise inside the fuselage).
This hybrid flying wing is just one facet of NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project, which was instigated in 2009 with the hope of reducing the impact of aviation on the environment. For more information, hit up the NASA website.
17 Jan 2013
Google to Add Free Wi-Fi to New York City
Google recently announced that it would be providing free Wi-Fi service
to a neighborhood in New York City, Chelsea, where Google headquarters
are located. It would feature outdoor service for all of the tourists
and residents and indoor coverage for public housing units.True High Speed
Google Wi-Fi provides about 5 to 10 Megabits per second, which translates into the speed of an average home internet connection. The fiber optic high speed coverage that is expanding to areas can download at speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second. That is 200 times faster than a typical home internet connection.
Low Cost
While Google said it has no further plans other than to contribute to the area where it is headquartered, the mayor Michael Bloomberg and NY Senator Charles Shumer were intrigued by the low cost and said they would like all of New York to have free Wi-Fi. They said it was just a fraction of what Sandy cost the state and they would like to provide free internet service to everyone in the state.
It only cost $115,000 to get the technology installed for the Chelsea Wi-Fi and it carries a $45,000 annual maintenance cost. Google covered two-thirds of the cost and a local public advocacy group, Chelsea Improvement Company, covered the rest.
While New York had Wi-Fi in 20 parks, this was the first widespread public Wi-Fi to be attempted. The challenges of providing internet service in a densely populated area were complicated by the tall buildings and providing clear signals.
Google has also been providing Wi-Fi in Mountain View, where its main headquarters are located. It has also temporarily provided internet service in New York subway stations, airports, and other locations. Google is able and motivated to tackle the problems that come with building infrastructure because it makes money when people are connected to the internet.
21 Dec 2012
About Mercedes-Benz GL SUV
From automatically correcting for crosswinds, to brief moments of autonomous driving, to sensing that you’re about to fall asleep at the wheel, the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL SUV offers virtually every technology aid you’ve heard about. There may be no car better suited for long distance travel than the new GL, thanks to the comfy air suspension and whispery diesel engine that carries you 600 miles before refueling. But choose your tech and convenience options wisely to keep the cost under $75,000. The only disappointment in the new GL is the tiny LCD display and mediocre navigation system in a vehicle so big.
Even the cheapest $63,000 GL350 comes with a raft of standard safety features, led by the new (for Mercedes) Collision Prevention Assist, which warns if you’re about to rear-end the guy in front, and, if you step on the brakes, the car will control safe braking. Also new in the MB lineup, and standard, is crosswind stabilization. It corrects for gusts of wind sweeping off a bridge or mountain pass.
Self-driving Mercedes? For a couple seconds at a time it is
The most useful safety option is the Driver Assistance Package ($1,900-$2,800 depending on model) which rolls in Distronic Plus (adaptive cruise control) with Active Lane Keeping Assist and Active Blind Spot Assist. On straight roads with good lane markings, it gives you a semi-self-driving Benz for as long as 30 seconds. Not that you’re supposed to. Here’s how it works: A forward-facing camera in the rear view mirror watches the lane markers and warns, then corrects, if you drift (lane keeping). Distronic maintains your speed and slows, even stops, you if the traffic ahead slows. If you drift close to the lane, the car nudges the brakes on the opposite side and the drag pivots the car back into lane, just as a paddle dragging in the water pivots you canoe toward the paddle side. (The photo above shows the instrument panel display indicating the car about to go off to the right.) If I kept hands off the wheel, the car would right itself two, three or four times in a row but eventually it would ride over the lane marking. Darwin lives.The “active” part of the option names apply to the corrective actions: the car moving you away from the lane edge (unless your blinker is on) or moving you back into lane if Active Blind Spot Assist sees you drifting into an occupied lane. In either case, a light pull on the heavily boosted power steering overrides the car.
360-degree backing camera, automatic parallel parking
Every car offers parking sonar. The GL one-ups the direct competition with a parking assist package ($1,290) with front and rear sonar plus cameras front-rear-side (in the side mirrors, facing down) to give you a birds-eye view of the car (photo) plus Active Parking Assist, which parallel-parks the GL for you in a spot 60 inches longer than the GL’s 202-inch length. The base GL comes with a rear camera; the parking package may save owners that much in collision deductibles and higher premiums. All the features work perfectly. With parking assist, you drive slowly past a line of cars until the sensors spot an opening 22 feet (6.7m) long. The car beeps, you stop, put the car in reverse, and tap the steering wheel button marked OK. The car steers and measures; you control the throttle and (important) the brakes. One pass gets you into the parking spot.And more tech: sleepy driver alert, auto-banking in turns
The GL is one of several cars in the Mercedes-Benz fleet with Attention Assist, a set of algorithms that measures driver alertness, mostly through micro-movements of the wheel, and suggests you take a break if you fall below a threshold. I’ve found that Attention Assist catches you when you’re drowsy and also some times when you think you’re not. Attention Assist is free.The Active Curve System is not free. That’s $2,900. It’s a sophisticated leveraging action of the car’s suspension that reduces lean in turns, makes the driver feel more secure, and makes the passengers less annoyed by spirited driving. Where planes bank into turns so you feel no sideways motion, this reduces but never eliminates lean, in part because the lateral forces alert the driver to back off.
For the most part, if a safety feature is vital, it’s part of the base price of a Mercedes: Collision Prevention Assist but not Distronic adaptive cruise control, Attention Assist but not Active Curve System, which sounds as if Mercedes entered the women’s fitness business. But there enough options that a top-of-the-line GL550 I drove came in at $108,000, and there were some options it didn’t have. With the GL, you can upgrade from a Harman/Kardon surround system to Bang & Olufsen for $6,400, add rear seat entertainment for $1,950, boost the air suspension with adaptive damping for $800, see in the dark with Night Vision Assist Plus for $1,780, and get power-ventilated seats ($570) that suck in moisture from the seat surface where the other vented seats blow air out.
The center stack letdown: small LCD screen, too many buttons
The one area where the GL is uncompetitive is the center stack. The LCD is part of the Comand system that is standard on all GLs and uses a control wheel like BMW’s iDrive. But the LCD is only 7 inches diagonal where it’s 10 inches on the smaller BMW X5 SUV. Because the LCD is small, Mercedes doesn’t do split-screen for, say, navigation plus infotainment. The navigation system is vanilla. If you’re in another screen (say audio setup), when a complex turn approaches, it doesn’t temporarily shift back to map view. In navigation view, you do get a split screen showing the exit but not which lanes exit and which go through.There are as many as 49 buttons on the center stack and at least eight more on the console (a lot). The Comand control wheel and the radio control wheel are satin metal-finish and a bit slippery. Bluetooth is standard but an iPod adapter is not. (A six-disc CD/DVD changer is. Talk about priorities.) Mercedes counters that almost every GL sold will have a premium package that includes a USB/iPod interface. That’s the bad of the center stack.
Here’s the good. A 4.5-inch color LCD info display sits between the speedometer and tachometer and lets the driver glance down to see important information (phone, navigation, entertainment). Even better, the Mbrace2 telematics system is world-class and does over-the-air updates. Remember how Ford got stuck mailing out hundreds of thousands of USB keys to upgrade its Sync system? Via Mbrace2 and your phone, you can access apps such as Facebook, Twitter or Yelp, but so far not much in the way of music such as Pandora or MOG.
Should you buy?
What if you’re one of the 100,000 US buyers of premium full-size SUVs looking for a new ride? The first GL (2006-2012) already was the sales leader with a quarter of the market, a bit more than the Cadillac Escalade. Almost everything about the 2013 Mercedes-Benz GL is better, including parts that have been, well, Americanized, such as the very light power steering. The GL is phenomenally quiet and the cockpit is handsome. In mostly highway driving with the GL350, the six-cylinder turbo diesel, I got about 23 mpg. Second row roominess is good, though lesser cars (the Ford Flex) are better. The third row is adequate for kids. Even though the GL is a bit longer than the standard Escalade, it looks like a smaller vehicle. These full-size SUVs have more cargo space behind the third row than almost-full-size SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz ML and BMW X5.If you buy, you’ll probably want the premium package that includes navigation; one of the parking sonar packages; Easy Entry ($400) that automatically folds down the second row seats to reach the third row; and the blind spot and lane keep systems (also Distronic if you do long highway trips). Older drivers or country roads drivers should get the lighting package that makes the xenon headlamps (standard) steerable as well. MBTex (vinyl) does a good job replicating the $1,620 base leather package. The GL350 diesel at $63,305 base price with shipping is actually $1,500 cheaper than the V8 gasoline GL450 (usually it’s the opposite), and I found it’s more than quick enough. Then you’re in for under $75,000.
Robot cars Come to California
California is one step closer to becoming the second state in the nation to officially have laws governing robot-controlled cars.
The state Senate unanimously passed such a measure following a near-unanimous vote by the Assembly earlier in the week. The bill now heads to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. The legislation calls on the California Department of Motor Vehicles to begin developing standards and licensing procedures for these autonomous vehicles.
Nevada passed its own law last year, and set up standards back in February. Since automakers already use the state’s wide open roads to test mainstream cars, legislators likely saw allowing testing of self-driving vehicles as a good move for business. The cars will sport red Nevada license plates and still require a driver behind the wheel.
In California, this week’s move was only to make the use of self-driving cars legal. The DMV now sets up the actual policies, so it’s not clear quite yet if a driver will still need to be behind the wheel there as well. Most likely that answer will be yes, considering the whole idea of robot-driven cars is really still in the testing phase at the moment.
The lack of regulations has certainly not stopped Google from testing its own cars
on California roads. The company’s headquarters are located in Mountain
View, and by 2010 its fleet of robot-powered Priuses had already driven
more than 140,000 miles with very little human intervention. Google recently boasted two weeks ago that they had surpassed 300,000 miles without a single crash, a signal that the self driving car may be closer than we think.While this may seem like a great accomplishment, we have to temper our enthusiasm just a bit.
Even in the most advanced versions of Google’s cars, the sensor arrays required to make the car drive itself are pretty obnoxious looking. No one is going to want to buy a car with an unsightly mast on its roof. The cars also have significant problems in bad weather: for example in snow where road markings are covered, Google says the car has trouble detecting where the road is.
These types of issues will need to be fixed well before the self-driving car becomes a consumer product — so while states may now be allowing these vehicles on the road, don’t expect to be behind the wheel of one anytime soon.
Future Fuel effiecnt Cars
Audi and parent company Volkswagen are working on cars that get almost 300 miles per gallon and could come to market in three years. These are real cars — really light cars — using hybrid or possibly plug-in hybrid power plants. The Audi car would use a small gasoline engine, the VW a small diesel engine. The Audi could be based on the Mini Cooper-size Audi A1 or an even smaller chassis. They would not be cheap, but they also wouldn’t be unattainable, $100,000-plus toys for environmentally conscious actors and Wall Street’s money shufflers.
Here is the story, pieced together from multiple sources. Even by the usual standards of rumor-based reporting confirmed by citing other rumor-based stories, there’s a lot of conjecture. For instance, the Audi media site issued a release about its high-mpg car — but it cites Autocar and Forbes, rather than Audi officials. Still, where there’s smoke, there’s often fire.
Volkswagen 2009 L1 concept car may become a reality
In 2002 at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Volkswagen unveiled the highly stylized L1, two-seat concept car (pictured in the gallery below). “L1″ was a reference to a car requiring just 1 liter of fuel to travel 100 kilometers, equal to 282 imperial miles per gallon, or 235 US miles per gallon. A second version was shown in 2009 and VW said the XL1 at that point weighed just 380 kilos (838lbs). Even the smallest cars today in the US are 2,000 pounds.A follow-on XL1 (pictured above) appeared at the Qatar Motor Show in 2011. This vehicle has a two-cylinder diesel engine. Diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines, especially since diesel carries 15% more BTUs per gallon (or per liter, for that matter). It would have brake power regeneration and an electric motor to increase efficiency.
Audi “1.0-liter car” circa 2015-2016
Audi’s super-efficient car would use a small gasoline engine of 1.0 liters, almost certainly turbocharged, with a hybrid drive as well. The body would be a combination of lightweight steel, rather than aluminum, and carbon fiber. If it’s based on the Audi A1, it could be as much as 157 inches long (4.0m). It would seat four and have creature comforts such as air-conditioning. Within Audi, it’s simply called the “1.0-liter car.” Audi believes economy could reach 282 mpg or 0.83 liters per 100 km. Since the stories were filtered through the British media, that’s almost certainly an imperial mpg comparison, so we’re down to 235 US mpg. Still, not too shabby. Whether the car would come to America is uncertain.Twice as good as the most efficient cars today
The most efficient cars in the US today are electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. The more energy drawn from the electric outlet, the greater the efficiency. On a cost basis, traveling the same distance on electric power can be one-half to one-third the cost of doing it with gasoline. The Mitsubishi MiEV gets 112 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent), with the according Honda Fit EV getting 118 MPGe and the Scion IQ EV getting 121 MPGe, according to the EPA. Ford is crowing about its upcoming 1.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine Ford Fiesta getting around 45 mpg highway, 40 mpg city, which would make it the most efficient non-hybrid, non-electric. The most efficient hybrids, the Toyota Prius and Toyota Prius C, get 50 mpg combined.So what Audi and VW are talking about is creating and bringing to market vehicles that will be twice as efficient as EVs now available and four times as efficient as today’s best hybrids. One challenge Americans have is butt size: We’re one of the world’s best-fed (overfed?) countries. In the last 50 years, the average American has gained 25 pounds (11kg), and the part about making cars smaller doesn’t sit well with us. And vice versa.
Gesture recognition in Cars {Future}
Raise your hand, palm up, and the radio volume in your car goes up. Toyota sees gesture recognition as one way to reduce the complexity of cars. Not for steering and braking, but to deal with the secondary controls such as infotainment, navigation, or your cellphone. So says Jim Lentz, head of Toyota in the US. The goal is to reduce driver distraction.
Toyota’s Board of Awesomeness (seriously) research team is working with Microsoft, a company that has spent years trying to reduce crashes. Their research vehicle is an electric skateboard with a Windows 8 tablet and Kinect motion sensing software (pictured below). In this case, raising or lowering the rider’s hand changes the speed. So, probably, does falling off.
This is all theoretical research right now while Toyota and Lexus soldier ahead in production cars with touchscreens, voice recognition, the Entune/Enform infotainment interface, and Remote Touch, the haptic feedback joystick-like device on some Lexuses that controls the LCD display. “Imagine a dashboard where there are no buttons to push… no screens to tap… and your eyes can remain focused on the road. That’s exactly what Toyota is working on,” Lentz said in a speech at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show.
“This could potentially work in conjunction with voice recognition which sometimes can be hindered by accents or mispronunciations. Hand gestures are pretty universal,” Lentz added. “I’ll wait for a few seconds while you insert your own punch line.”
Coming Up Cloud gaming
While no one is ever going to claim that the OnLive experience is as good as glorious can’t-hear-yourself-think-over-the-GPU-fan desktop and console gaming, for many gamers it is good enough. For hardcore gamers, OnLive’s 150-250ms latency and 720p resolution is akin to gouging your eyes out, but for almost everyone else — i.e. most console gamers, and almost every social gamer — it is just fine. If you haven’t given cloud gaming a try, visit OnLive and sign up for a free trial; it still blows my mind that it takes just a split second to send your mouse movements to an Onlive data center, compute the next frame, render it, encode it, and send it back to you.
Bear in mind, too, that OnLive games are competitively priced — and because this is all cloud-based, you don’t have to download 15GB of data before you can play (a huge boon for casual gamers), and you can play OnLive (and access your game saves) from any internet-connected computer. If all that wasn’t enough, because OnLive is ultimately a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, it also has two more awesome offerings: For many games you can buy a 3- or 5-day pass for just a few dollars (which is often long enough to finish a game, if you’re a hardcore gamer); and for $10/month, you get unlimited access to some 200 games.
In short, if the latency could be reduced and the resolution could be pumped up to 1080p, OnLive — cloud gaming — would be almost perfect. Which leads us neatly onto Nvidia’s new Kepler GPU, which, according to Jen-Hsun Huang at the GPU Technology Conference yesterday, contains new virtualization and encoder tech that makes it the ideal building block for cloud gaming installations. Nvidia has taken its new Kepler GPUs and built it into what it calls the GeForce Grid, which as far as I can tell (details are scarce) is a complete cloud gaming solution. Gaikai (a cloud gaming company similar to OnLive) and Citrix are launch partners.
Currently,
according to Nvidia, in OnLive and Gaikai data centers, one server is
required for each gamer (or “game stream”). Each server has a single CPU
and a single GPU and consumes around 150 watts — i.e. current cloud
gaming setups aren’t efficient in terms of space or power. With GeForce
Grid, however, Nvidia squeezes four GPUs into each server, giving each
server the juice to accommodate up to four users, at just 75 watts per
stream. Nvidia hasn’t stated which GPUs will be used in this new cloud
gaming system, but the hardware specs on the Grid website suggest that they’re GTX 690s with extra RAM, or simply re-branded K10s (the upcoming Kepler-powered Tesla GCGPU).
Not
only will the GeForce Grid be more efficient, but Nvidia is also
claiming that its new system will register a huge drop in latency over
existing cloud gaming installations. Take a look at the graph to the
right: Yes, Kepler is so powerful that the GeForce Grid will be a hair
faster than your Xbox + TV. Keep your eye on the Kool-Aid, though: While
Kepler’s hardware H.264 encoder will certainly help things along, the
“Game Pipeline” and “Network” improvements are peppered with caveats.For a start, the huge reduction in game pipeline processing will only be realized if software developers actually design their games “specifically for the awesome graphics processing power that these cloud machines deliver.” As it stands, game developers really don’t care if an engine takes 5ms to render a frame or 15ms — it’s all the same, on a local console or PC — but when we make the jump to cloud gaming, every millisecond counts. In a day and age where games are riddled with small, latency-inducing bugs, Nvidia is too optimistic on this front.
Then there’s network performance. Basically, it seems like Nvidia’s solution is to install so many GeForce Grid data centers that network latency never accounts for more than 10ms — either that, or it wants to roll out its own fiber infrastructure. Neither of these things are likely to happen in the near term. Nvidia has the right idea with GeForce Grid, but it’s simply five years too soon.
How does NASA drive Mars rover Curiosity
How exactly do you drive the one-ton Mars rover Curiosity, when the driver is, on average, 150 million miles away? With a one-way time delay of around 13 minutes, it certainly isn’t a matter of sitting down in front of a monitor and waggling a joystick.
While we’ve tackled just about every aspect of NASA’s Curiosity rover, from the radiation-hardened on-board computers through to its nuclear-powered laser, we’ve never really discussed navigation — a rather important aspect, as most of Curiosity’s two-year prime mission will be spent driving the few miles to Mount Sharp.
In short, there are two ways that Curiosity can navigate the surface of Mars: NASA can transmit a series of specific commands, which the rover then dutifully carries out — or NASA can give Curiosity a target, and then trust the rover to autonomously find its own way there. In both cases, the commands are transmitted to Curiosity via NASA’s Deep Space Network — the worldwide network of big-dish antennae that NASA uses to communicate with spacecraft, and carry out some radio astronomy on the side.
To decide which navigation method to use, NASA uses the Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP), which is basically a Mars simulator. RSVP shows Curiosity’s current position on Mars, along with surface topology, obstacles (rocks), and so on. RSVP can then be used to plot a move (go forward 10 meters, turn 30 degrees right, go forward 3 meters) — or to pick an end point, which Curiosity will dutifully, autonomously navigate to. To safely navigate Mars, Curiosity uses its Hazcams (hazard avoidance cameras) to build a stereoscopic map of its environment, identifies which objects are too large to drive over, and then plots out a course to the end point.
When Curiosity finishes its drive, it transmits a bunch of thumbnail images from its on-board cameras to NASA, which are then used to work out Curiosity’s exact location on Mars. This data is fed into RSVP, the next day’s movements are plotted, and so on and on.
In other news, Curiosity is now deep within Yellowknife Bay, a shallow depression on the surface of Mars where NASA will hopefully find an interesting rock that will become the first victim of Curiosity’s percussive hammer. Yellowknife Bay is pictured above, along with the step (about 2ft high) that Curiosity had to cross to descend into the bay. Curiosity will spend the next few days in Yellowknife Bay, while the NASA/JPL engineers enjoy a long-overdue break, and then begin the long trek to Mount Sharp, which will probably take up most of 2013.
Finally, a beautiful bonus image — think of it as a Christmas gift from ExtremeTech. What you see above is Saturn, all of its rings, and its moons Enceladus and Tethys (bottom left). This unique image, which is a mosaic of hundreds of images, was captured by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini orbiter as it passed through Saturn’s shadow, roughly 500,000 miles (800,000km) from the planet. With Saturn between the Sun and Cassini, and the dramatic viewing angle, this is probably the best view of Saturn’s rings that you will ever see.
Cassini has only taken an image from the shadow of Saturn once before, in 2006 — and that time, Earth was visible (10 o’clock, at the edge of the rings).
20 Dec 2012
how our brains categorize and map everything we see
If not for our brains, our eyes wouldn’t be able to process anything. Considering how much time we spend with our eyes open, our brains are constantly dealing with an influx of visual data. The brain needs to store that data somewhere, and thanks to scientists over at the University of California, Berkeley, we now have our first map of not only where the brain puts all that information, but how our grey matter organizes it.
The study (PDF), led by neuroscience doctoral student Alexander Huth, had five participants watch two hours of movie trailers that contained over 1,700 categories of actions and objects. During that time, their brain activity was recorded using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), measuring blood flow in various spots in the brain. Using linear regression, the scientists were then able to analyze the collected data, and subsequently build a model showing how all of those actions and objects fit into around 30,000 locations within the cortex.
After that point the researchers translated the model to a visual form. Using principal component analysis – a mathematical procedure used to provide a synopsis for a large amount of data — the scientists were able to visualize those 1,700 categories and how they related to one another, creating the chart shown to the right.
The map is made “semantic neighborhoods,” which are essentially just categories of things that the brain finds similar to each other. The researchers found that, for instance, the brain organizes the catefgories of “humans” and “animals” in a related manner, whereas “eyeball” and “car” are stored in completely different areas of the brain. Along with finding out how the brain organizes different categories of objects, the researchers also found out that different people’s brains organize things in similar ways.
The goal of the project wasn’t simply to make a pretty map, but to gain a more complete understanding of the brain, and how its visual and organizational processes function. This understanding could lead not only to a better diagnosis and understanding of brain disorders, but could help create a new interface between a brain and computer, sprucing up image recognition systems. Huth notes that the results of the study could help “label an image that someone is seeing, and may also help teach computers how to better recognize images.”
Going one step further than simply conducting and writing up a study, Huth and co. have created an online, interactive semantic map of the brain that anyone can access, provided your browser doesn’t crumple under the weight of WebGL. Check it out — you can slowly pull a brain apart with a slider!
Now read: First map of the human brain reveals grid-like structure between neurons
18 Dec 2012
CERN now 99.9% sure it has found the Higgs boson
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5 sigma — 99.9999% certainty, or more correctly a 0.00001% chance that you have made a faulty observation — is the threshold for an observation to be labeled a scientific discovery. CERN crossed the 5 sigma threshold this summer. At 7 sigma, both the CMS and ATLAS teams are reporting that there’s only a 0.0000000001% chance that they haven’t found a Higgs-like particle.
Over the last few months you may have noticed the use of the phrase “Higgs-like,” rather than “Higgs boson.” This is because CERN and the scientific community can’t be certain that they’ve actually found the Higgs boson — all they know is that they’ve found a particle, with a mass of around 125 GeV, that behaves as predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. With its discovery now completely and utterly confirmed, further analysis (due in 2013) will now focus on the particle’s spin, and other properties. Eventually, perhaps after upgrades are completed and the LHC turns back on in 2015, the particle will be officially announced as the Higgs boson (or not, which would be much more interesting).
In other news, CERN says that it has observed the decay of the Bs meson (strange B meson) into two muons. Apparently this is one of the rarest processes ever observed in particle physics, which means it’s a good chance that it could lead to new science.
24 Nov 2012
DDR3 is better than DDR and DDR2 Everything about RAM
Random access memory, or RAM as it is
popularly known is one of the most integral components of a computer
system or electronic device. RAM is mostly used in computers, but even
devices like printers, mobile phones and the like use it. It is a
volatile type of memory and involves continuous exchange of data. Data
that needs to be processed and utilized quickly is stored in the RAM
modules. With respect to computers, the first RAM modules were
introduced in the 1950′s and have evolved to possess much greater
capacities over the years. There are various types of RAM modules like
SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 RAM and the newest, DDR3 SDRAM. All of these
modules differ with respect to the frequency with which data can be
written and accessed. Needless to say, their capacities have increased
as well.
SDRAM stands for single data rate
random-access memory and DDR SDRAM stands for double data rate
synchronous dynamic random-access memory. As the name suggests, DDR was
an evolution of SDRAM and allowed higher data transfer rates and at a
certain clock frequency had double the data bandwidth of SDRAM.
Furthermore, newer evolutions of RAM modules operated at lower voltages
and were thus more power efficient. Like most such components, RAM
modules are not backward or forward compatible.
SDRAM was available in clock frequencies
ranging from 66-133Mhz, DDR SDRAM was available in frequencies ranging
from 100-200Mhz and operated at 2.5v, DDR2 SDRAM is available in
frequencies ranging from 200-533MHz, operates at 1.8v and DDR3 SDRAM is
available in frequencies ranging from 400-1066MHz and operates at 1.6v.
Along with these classifications, RAM
modules are available in low and high density types. Not all
motherboards support high density RAM modules, most support low density
RAM modules. Contrary to what the name suggests, “high density” RAM
modules do not provide any performance gains, and in fact might perform
worse on most motherboards that support only low density RAM modules.
For example, a 1GB low and high density RAM module consists of 8 chips
of 512Mb on each side for a total of 16 chips. These are arranged in the
form of (512Mb x 16)/8 bits which gives 1024Mb or 1GB. In low density
modules, each chip is organized with 64M bits with a data width of 8
bits, this is commonly expressed as 64M x 8 configuration. In high
density modules, the same arrangement is seen, but each chip is
organized with 128M bits with a data width of 4 bits.It is expressed as
128M x 4 configuration and is called high density.
RAM modules are in the form of DIMM’s or
dual inline memory modules. It is a series of integrated memory
circuits on a printed circuit board. These circuit boards with the
memory IC’s are collectively called RAM sticks. Every iteration of RAM
modules ranging from SDRAM to DDR3 SDRAM are connected to motherboard
DIMM slots and are recognized by different number of pins on one end.
For example, DDR and DDR2 SDRAM are available in 200-pin DIMM
configurations and DDR3 SDRAM is available in 240-pin DIMM
configuration. For smaller devices like laptop computers, mini ATX
computers, high end printers and networking devices, RAM modules are
available in SO-DIMM type. SO-DIMM stands for small outline dual in-line
memory module. Similar to usual DIMM’s, SO-DIMM’s also come with
different pin configurations.
As of now, the main two types of RAM
available in the market are DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM. So if you’re out
to build a new PC or even upgrade your current PC, what should you go
for? It basically depends on what you really want. If you need to run
the latest games at the very highest details and resolutions and don’t
want to compromise, no doubt DDR3 SDRAM is the one you should go for.
For most daily tasks DDR2 SDRAM is more than enough for now. Now, the
issue here is that even if you have decided to upgrade to DDR3 SDRAM,
you’re going to need to upgrade your motherboard as well. Only AMD
motherboards with AM3 slots and Intel motherboards with LGA 1156 or LGA
1366 support DDR3 SDRAM. So if you’re looking to simply upgrade memory,
we’re afraid you’ll have to spend on lot more than just the RAM sticks.
Frankly speaking, at the moment there are very very less programs that
actually require high memory bandwidth. Even highly system intensive PC
games show a gain in performance in the region of hardly 2-3%. That sort
of performance gain is not worth spending too much money on to upgrade,
just to jump on the DDR3 bandwagon. However, newer PC’s come equipped
with DDR3 SDRAM and if you’re looking to buy a new PC, you must go for
DDR3 SDRAM. The good news is that the prices of DDR2 and DDR3 RAM sticks
are very similar, it’s only the other components that might cost you.
The bottom line is, if you’re buying a
new computer, make sure the memory is DDR3 SDRAM. If you’re looking to
just upgrade, hang on to good ol’ DDR2 SDRAM for now. But always
remember, if you’re going to buy over 3GB of RAM, you must have a 64-bit
operating system to actually make use of it!
LCD vs LED
LCD vs LED – The technology:
LCD stands for “liquid crystal display”. Liquid crystals are a state that’s in between liquid and solid. This unique blend of properties is used in LCD screen technology to produce images. The screen is traditionally lit by CCFL’s (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) that produce a white light that is then filtered selectively by LCD filters which result in tiny sub pixels of solid red, green or blue. Multiple sub pixels are collectively arranged appropriately to form a pixel of which multiples form an image. The liquid crystal state polymers align themselves according to a director to form the LCD filters that then produce images. All this alignment happens when a voltage is passed through these elements, and they arrange according to the direction and intensity of current. This is how uniformity is achieved. Again, there are different types like active matrix LCD screens and passive matrix screens. Active matrix screens employ transistors and capacitors to maintain the pixel state while passive does not. Most screens are now active matrix.
Picture courtesy Digital Trends
LCD vs LED – Advantages and disadvantages:
Most of the advantages that LCD screens had, were one-upped by LED screens. It improved on some of the problems Plasma screens had and got rid of problems like high power consumption, burnt in images and of course improved on image quality. However, since it’s a completely different technology, Plasma screens still have the slight edge in terms of contrast ratio and black levels. LED backlit LCD screens meanwhile do pretty much everything better, here are the advantages:- Low power consumption
- Allows for extremely thin screens
- High brightness output
- Wide color gamut output
- Greater dynamic contrast
- Faster response times
LCD vs LED – 3D content:
Plasma screens trump both LCD and LED screens due to their extremely high refresh rate of around 600 Hz. Most LCD and LED screens are capable of 120 Hz while the higher end ones go upto 240 Hz. Due to this, Plasma screens tend to have less image trailing. However, due to the overall advantage of picture quality of LED screens, the 3D is almost as good. Quite a lot depends on the image engine, and even though LCD and LED screens can display 3D content only upto 900P or so instead of full 1080P, there’s not much you can notice. But make sure to actually test out the 3D to see if it suits your tastes. Most screens allow for adjustment of 3D depth too.
Active and passive 3D technologies are also factors to consider. While passive 3D technology uses simple polarized glasses that are inexpensive, active 3D technology uses battery powered glasses that sync images to each eye individually. Active 3D technology has better image quality than passive, but in the end it’s not much to write home about since 3D hasn’t been perfected for home cinema as of yet.
LCD vs LED – Final words:
Bottom line is, LED screens get almost everything right. They’re thin, consume very less power and have great picture quality. But that doesn’t mean that LCD screens are bad in any way. Prices have dropped as well, and you should be able to find LED screens that are quite close to LCD ones. But if you’re on a really strict budget, you won’t regret buying an LCD either. For example, you might actually get a top end LCD TV for the price of a mid range LED TV and that’s a good deal on the whole. Finally, everything actually depends on what you like. Before choosing one, make sure to look at the screens side by side, decisions can’t be made without actually seeing for yourself. Do let us know if you have any queries and let us know what you think of the feature on LCD vs LED!Sponsored by Raymonddebbane.net
23 Nov 2012
Touchscreen Watch from Sonata
Sonata, a division of the Titan Group, is a popular maker of wrist watches. In September 2012, the company rolled out the first touch screen wrist watch in India. It is just a brilliance in itself and quite a proud moment in this competitive market where watch companies yearn to rise above one another. So far, the touchscreen technology was limited to the mobile phone segment. But now, Sonata has created history by being the first watch vendor to launch a touch screen watch!
This is one of the greatest innovations that the industry has ever seen. The original idea being converted into an inventive technology deserves high appreciation. Customers, watch lovers and collectors in particular can just have the feel-great factor with the purchase and use of this watch. Sonata marched ahead with the introduction of this new watch that hosts a genius technology inside. The new product is surely going to create a superb revolution within the watch vending market. It has set a new standard and increased the competitive factor in the watch segment.
As consumers can interact with their watches, it has already created quite a lot of hype across the market by giving a superb boost to the revolutionary product. And, this lau
nch is a part of the company’s celebrated campaign this year, which features “The Sonata Super Fibre Ocean Series”,
a feature-rich collection of water-proof watches. Similar to other
Super Fibre watches from the company, this watch too is made using
materials like Polyurethane [PU] and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
[ABS] to ensure high level of durability. Sonata has made its invention
available over 8,000 watch outlets all over the country.Wrist watches landing in the touch interaction way has eliminated all the push buttons that a digital watch is usually equipped with. Now, that seems like the know-how of the past! This has a multifunctional touchscreen, which is finely designed to be water resistant. Loaded with features like alarm, stop watch, light, calendar and multiple time displays, this watch is offered in three different colors as well. The three different touch zones on the watch’s surface screen help the user control every feature. Priced at Rs. 1,499 as an introductory offer, it definitely seems to be a great bargain in the stylish watch segment. So go ahead and just make your tech ‘n’ fashion statement!
20 Nov 2012
Faux Metal Tesla Turbine
Faux Metal Tesla Turbine
This instructable is a continuation of a post from 2011 (http://www.instructables.com/id/Machining-a-Mini-Tesla-Turbine-from-Cardboard/). The Cardboard Tesla Turbine (CTT) was based on a Popular Mechanics article describing the construction of a steam-powered, metal turbine that was published nearly 50 years ago. A year later, I've added spray painting and detailing tips as well as some disappointing results when attempting to power the CTT using a cartridge of compressed CO2. I chose colors to create the appearance of precision machinery crafted from brass, copper and titanium alloy. The rotor discs were painted to resemble a carbon fiber composite of high tensile strength.
The original project was made from closely spaced, cardboard discs centered on a threaded steel rod. The rotor assembly was suspended in a bathroom tissue role by a supporting assembly. The aviation grade bearings were housed in retaining assemblies. When a stream of air from an electric air pump was injected into the manifold, the stream spiraled inward between the discs toward exhaust ports surrounding each disc's center. The stream exited the turbine along the axis of rotation. Peak rotor speed was measured at 2,220 RPM. Note that the following instructable assumes that you have a fully functioning CTT that is ready for painting and customizing.
Warning
Anything attached to the rotor shaft could fly off suddenly if not properly secured. In addition, the sudden decompression of CO2 as the gas escapes from the cartridge produces extreme cold. Use heavy gloves when handling the cartridge.
The original project was made from closely spaced, cardboard discs centered on a threaded steel rod. The rotor assembly was suspended in a bathroom tissue role by a supporting assembly. The aviation grade bearings were housed in retaining assemblies. When a stream of air from an electric air pump was injected into the manifold, the stream spiraled inward between the discs toward exhaust ports surrounding each disc's center. The stream exited the turbine along the axis of rotation. Peak rotor speed was measured at 2,220 RPM. Note that the following instructable assumes that you have a fully functioning CTT that is ready for painting and customizing.
Warning
Anything attached to the rotor shaft could fly off suddenly if not properly secured. In addition, the sudden decompression of CO2 as the gas escapes from the cartridge produces extreme cold. Use heavy gloves when handling the cartridge.
| | |
Remove these ads by Signing UpStep 1: Items You Will Need
Supplies
300 Grit Sandpaper
Ceramcoat All Purpose Sealer (http://www.deltacreative.com/pcid/86/Tips-Technique.aspx) or something similar
Hobby Paint Brush
Letter Stencils
Paper Tape
Silver Marker Pen
Spray Paints: Black, Blue, Brass, Clear Enamel, Copper & Silver
Spray Paint Safety Mask
Tools
Popsicle Sticks to Use as Rotor Shims (4) - 1.5 mm thick
Sanding Block
Scissors
Screwdriver
Misc
25g Threaded CO2 Cartridges w/Regulator (http://www.innovationsaz.com)
38 cm plastic zip ties (2)
Plastic Propeller & Mounting Hardware
Working CTT
300 Grit Sandpaper
Ceramcoat All Purpose Sealer (http://www.deltacreative.com/pcid/86/Tips-Technique.aspx) or something similar
Hobby Paint Brush
Letter Stencils
Paper Tape
Silver Marker Pen
Spray Paints: Black, Blue, Brass, Clear Enamel, Copper & Silver
Spray Paint Safety Mask
Tools
Popsicle Sticks to Use as Rotor Shims (4) - 1.5 mm thick
Sanding Block
Scissors
Screwdriver
Misc
25g Threaded CO2 Cartridges w/Regulator (http://www.innovationsaz.com)
38 cm plastic zip ties (2)
Plastic Propeller & Mounting Hardware
Working CTT
17 Nov 2012
Nokia Asha 311 Price in India
Best Price: Rs. 6099
|
- Nokia Asha 311 is a full touch feature phone from Nokia
- The phone features a 3.0" capacitive touch screen
- The phone runs on a 1 GHz CPU and has Nokia's home grown S40 OS
- The phone has a 3.2MP camera that shoots videos at 15fps
- The phone has a 1110 mAh battery that provides up to 14 hours talk time in 2G and 6 hours in 3G
- The phone has 256MB internal memory, expandable by up to 32GB through microSD
- The phone comes preloaded with 40 free EA Games as well as Angry Birds
-
Nokia Asha 311 Price in India
Sort By: STORE PRICE DELIVERY TIME SHIPPING COST DETAILS Rs. 6,099 upto 7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,200 upto 7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,350 5-7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,427 1-3 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,399 2-3 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,492 3 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,290 5-7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,430 10 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,309 3-5 business Working Days FREE Rs. 6,399 3-4 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,275 5-10 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,427 6 - 8 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,499 8-9 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,190 upto 7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,549 7 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,559 6 Working Days FREE Rs. 6,800 5-7 Working Days FREE
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