Blog Marco - Technology + Gadgets

Laptop Family

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:40:20 -0800

Teaser:
The Laptop Family has grown in the past decade: MID (Mobile Internet Device), tablets, subnotebooks, netbooks, mininotebooks...

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The Laptop Family has grown in the past decade there are so many categories to choose from: MID (Mobile Internet Device), tablets, subnotebooks, netbooks, mininotebooks, booklets, smartbooks, personal Internet devices, ebook readers, e-readers, smart phones and ultra mobile Internet devices. So many gadgets to choose from. So many choices. Argh!

Can you Install Windows on a Mac?

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:05:34 -0800

I was watching this recent video (below) with Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) and the student claims that his Mac has windows installed on it. According to this Engadget article, you can. There's also a video showing you how to do it below...

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows win-Key

Sun, 10 May 2009 07:16:11 -0700

Teaser:
Windows button Win Key Shortcuts for the Keyboard - save time

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Learn a few useful keyboard shortcuts for your Windows key button (Win-key). Hopefully this will help save you time.

Windows Key + D = Minimise all windows and return the you to the desktop.
Windows Key + M = Minimise all windows.
Windows Key + SHIFT + M = Undo the minimise.
Windows Key + E = Open Microsoft Explorer. Some keyboards have a dedicated button for the internet browser - which may save you one keystroke.
Windows Key + Tab = Cycle through open programs through the taskbar, then hit Spacebar to activate the program you want. (Only works if you have Aero turned on in Vista - alternatively in Pre-Vista versions you simply use your Alt-Tab to cycle through programs)
Windows Key + F = Display the Windows Search / Find feature.
Windows Key + CTRL + F = Display the search for computers window.
Windows Key + F1 = Display the Microsoft Windows help.
Windows Key + R = Open the run window.
Windows key + L = Lock computer (Make sure you know your computer password before you execute this)
Windows key + Pause/break = system properties

Stupid Data charges on GPS Phone - Turn Off AGPS Assisted GPS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:00:06 -0800

Teaser:
Turn Off AGPS (Assisted GPS) - Avoid Internet Data Charges on Your Mobile Phone!

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Don't get want to get data charges from using your Nokia 6110 / GPS Phone? Turn off AGPS (Assisted GPS). If this feature is left on - it allows you to receive a more accurate location. GPS determines your location by communicating with three or more satellites in orbit around the Earth. GPS works great AGPS in relatively clear areas, like the bush or the suburbs, but they are easily confused in city centres where signals bounce off the tall concrete and glass buildings. This is where AGPS steps in: assisted GPS, sends the little bits of GPS signal that it receives to an assistance server on the Internet. In the case of the Nokia 6110, Internet connectivity is via your mobile network, which is where the Internet data charges come in.

Who needs adccurate GPS readings? Don't get those stupid internet data charges on your mobile phone by simply following a few steps to turn off some features:

Press the Menu button -- it's located underneath green accept call button.

Stargate SG-1 Goauld Ribbon Device for Sale

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:06:21 -0800

Teaser:
MGM Selling off Genuine Original SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis Props - This one is a Goauld Ribbon Device for Sale

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How cool is this? MGM is selling off their Stargate prop department piece by piece... I guess after they've shut down and cancelled productions for Stargate SG-1 after 10 seasons and Atlantis for 5 seasons they've reasoned that these props belong to the loyal fans. All auctions start from 0.99 cents but many of them end up at a few hundred dollars for a hunk of painted artificial metal or wood artifacts. But hey - its as close as you can get to the real thing - you can relive famous Stargate SG-1/Atlantis scenes. As I write this the Stargate SG-1 Props: Goauld Ribbon Device is at USD$690 or AUD$1,018.45.... with a bit under 5 days to go. I'm guessing it will fetch at least USD$2,000+? C'mon, this device is iconic in the Stargate universe... It has been with the franchise since the original Stargate movie (I think). And they say that's its the only one being offered in the eBay auctions. they say its a "Metallic Working Ribbon Device. The device is quite heavy as it’s metal that’s painted silver. It has a switch on the base that when turned on allows the device to be activated by a wireless remote. Using the remote the light on the bottom glows on and won’t turn off till the button is pushed again." If I had some spare cash lying around I would definitely buy this prop...

Print Books On Demand

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:48:37 -0700

Teaser:
Now we can print books on demand.

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No I don't mean using your home printer to print out a whole book using your own ink and printer. I'm talking about walking into your local bookshop and printing up a book on the spot using a machine called an "ATM for books" by Time magazine. Even if the book is not on the shelves and is totally out of print - you can have it instantly. Angus & Robertson became the first Australian book chain to install the "Espresso Book Machine" (EBM) aka the "storymaker", capable of printing, trimming and binding a paperback book on demand within minutes. The bookshop chain has initially planned for several hundred out-of-print or difficult to get hold of books to be available, but Angus & Robertson said the range would expand daily, reaching 10,000 within 18 months. They would cost the same as the current shelf price of paperbacks or less, the retailer said. Which is great news as a typical Angus & Robertson shop can hold just more than the 20,000 physical books and it gives them a competitive edge against significant threats from online sellers such as Amazon.

Vacuum Dustbin

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:11:42 -0700

Useless gadget of the day: Vacuum Dustbin. Instead of sweeping up the dust into a dustpan and throwing it into the bin, have a bin which as a vacuum inside it suck the dust into it? Sounds like a good idea but really, its a waste of electricity and a waste of space. Just use the good old dust pan and broom. OR why don't you just use a vacuum cleaner? They were trying to sell this crap on http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/ today. I've actually bought junk from that website - novelty items that aren't worth a penny. RRP $150 for the vacuum, but they're having a fire sale and are selling it at a bargain basement price of $20.

PR Firms and Press Releases

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:05:52 -0700

Did you know that a lot of our news are produced from News Releases? Some are pure news like reports from government and things. Some are commercial. You may be being sold a product without your knowledge. I was reading through the paper and I found probably the most unconvincing story which most probably originated from a press release. I thought they were going to talk about cycling around Vietnam but really they're selling some tech gear. Screw them. (Although for disclosure I do own a FreeAgent drive which does a pretty good job, but I own a JVC HD Camera and not the Sony HD cam as advertised by the article)

In March last year, documentary filmmaker David Smith had no intention of following 30 cyclists from one end of Vietnam to the other perched on the back of a motorbike.

But two weeks later, armed with a digital high definition camera and no script, that's exactly what he and his son Denby were doing.

SciFi: Black Hole Danger for Earth!

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:30:16 -0700

Teaser:
This sounds like something straight out of SciFi (Science Fiction): A mad scientist creating a device to make a black hole

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This story sounds like something straight out of SciFi (Science Fiction). These mad European scientists have created a labratory which can potentially create a black hole (probably a 0.0000001% chance) and destroy all of Earth in the process. I say: go ahead... it'll be so cool to see a black hole in our lifetime!

A giant particle accelerator that mimics the effects of the Big Bang could destroy all life on Earth by sucking it into a black hole, a lawsuit claims.

Walter Wagner, who runs a botanical garden on Hawaii's Big Island, and Luis Sancho of Spain have asked for an injunction to prevent the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) starting up its Large Hadron Collider.

The accelerator, which will be the world's most powerful particle smasher, is due to begin hurling protons at each other at its base outside Geneva this northern summer.

Physicists hope the device, which has taken 14 years and $8.7 billion to build, will provide clues to the universe's origins by mimicking its condition one trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

All Over for Moore's Law

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:35:38 -0700

Moore's Law is an observation made by Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit for minimum component cost doubles every 24 months. But it isn't too far ahead when memory chip makers will crash into the physics barrier wall - the limitations of the laws of physics and the technology based around silicon. Platters of silicon can contain hundreds of rectangles, each the size of a grain of rice, with each cell containing circuits etched at a width of 50 nanometers or 2000 times thinner that a human hair.

There will have to be a massive change of process. The next technology could well be one of the following: M-RAM, P-RAM (Phase change memory), molecular memory and carbon nanotubes. these new technologies will come to light in the next decade ushering in new processes and new processor and memory capabilities. Moore's Law would have a hard time keeping up, becuase of the shift in technology and processes. Here's to the future...

Manilians Are Technologically Disabled

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 14:11:04 -0700

Teaser:
Manilians (aka people who live Manila) are technologically disabled.

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Manilians (aka people who live Manila) are technologically disabled. Take this case in point: The lines were long - super long, something like 30 or 40 people deep time 3 lines waiting to purchase a ticket for the train. There were two ticket machines located on either end. Guess who first lined up, realised there was no one waiting at the ticket machines, bought a ticket and passed all those who were waiting - leaving them speechless (they saw me, I noticed, I saw their expressions too). Yes me! I could not believe that out of all those people had no change for a simple machine. The machine only had a few buttons – compared to our 100+ button ticket machine in Sydney. My case in point: Manilians are technologically disabled.

Online Privacy and Search Engines

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 18:21:27 -0700

We all love our privacy. But with the Internet boom, we tend to rely a lot on the search engines to provide us with the answers we need. But by using these search engines we are giving up a piece of our privacy. Recently, AOL released three months worth of search records from their users. Many of the searches gave a picture, or a story about the user's life. Consider this case:

On April 4, for instance, user 14162375, the melancholy Portuguese-American in Florida, seems to have passed out on the keyboard at 6.20pm, when he asked suddenly: "llllfkkgjnnvjjfokrb" then "vvvvbmkmjk" and "vvglhkitopppfoppr".

An hour later he had recovered enough to search for variations on his wife's name - he thought she might have moved to New England. On the evening of April 16, matters came to a head: "My cheating wife", he typed, and then, five times, "I want to kill myself", and then "I want to make my wife suffer", followed quickly by "Kill my wifes mistress", "My wifes ass", "A cheating wife". Two days after that he was back looking for audio surveillance and bugging equipment and four weeks later he seemed to have cheered up and was looking for motorcycle insurance.

No Laptops on Planes

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:16:39 -0700

Can you imagine the day when laptops will be banned from planes? Well, the day has come - with these recent UK arrests of terrorists planning to bomb multiple planes. The threat has severely restricted what passengers can bring on board with them in the airplane cabin. everything is banned - electronic devices to books and newspapers: only medicines and your passports are reported to be the only things allowed to be carried on board. Those in-flight movies better be good.

Our favourite electronic devices are suddenly facing a very uncertain future on international flights under new security measures being introduced into airports in Britain and the US.

In response to recent revelations of a suspected bomb plot targeting some UK flights travelling to the US, transport and security agencies in both countries have issued strict new guidelines, which international airlines such as Qantas must observe.

Suggested measures for travellers:

1. Do not check in what is obviously a laptop bag. Instead bury
your laptop and other devices in another bag with adequate
padding.

2. Remove all the data from your hard drive not deemed essential
for your trip. The removed data can be carried on your person on a
CD or USB stick if it is required at your destination.

3. Get insurance that will cover the loss of expensive devices
should they go missing with the rest of your luggage and maintain a
list of serial numbers and product specifications.

Straight Out of Sci-Fi: Rail Guns on a Navy Ship

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 22:40:55 -0700

Holy crap. Rail guns exist? It looks like the US Navy will soon have the technology to shoot anything in North Korea from a ship with a rail gun. A rail gun basically shoots a bullet or some projectile with EM energy (Electro-Magnetic) instead of the usual gun powder. Here's more information: PopSci. I thought this type of technology was just Science Fiction. (They have these rail guns on ships in the TV series Stargate)

Life Expectancy of a Burned Disc is 2 to 5 years

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 22:30:33 -0700

According to this article burned discs have a limited lifetime. If you are on the cheap with your burned CDs or DVDs expect only about 2 years of life or less. If you keep your discs in a dark cool place, you may be able to extend their life to 5 years. Other discs promise a lifetime of 100 years - these discs have gold in them which seems to lengthen their life. I wonder how they tested that? Nothing lasts forever.

I think that article was just a press release from the distributor Baltronics trying to promote their wares. I know for one that the very popular and affordable TDK burnable CD's and DVD's can last up to 70 years if stored in "appropriate conditions". Actually their official website states these CD-R Gold have a archival lifespan of also 100 years.