Teknovis

I had a very interesting discussion with somebody recently about infrared photography. I never understood why there were two very different types of infrared photos. It transpires that this is due to the differences between near infrared and far infrared.  For more about this see About infrared photography. The Coke bottle image is very impressive!

I also thought that How to make a webcam work in infra red was very interesting, and I am tempted to try it! The photo of the 5€ note is very interesting!

Tags: Infrared

Boston Dynamics have developed a really impressive two-legged robot called PETMAN! To read more about it take a look at First Video of Boston Dynamics PETMAN Biped.

To see a video of it “walking” see PETMAN Prototype. To see a video of one of the previous robots, known as Big Dog, see BigDog Reflexes. Both videos are best watched in high quality!

Tags: Boston Dynamics

I just finished a conversation with a relation who lives abroad. I used Skype on my computer, and the she used her new RTX DUALphone 3088. I bought this phone for her, and it is actually the third RTX DUALphone 3088 that I have bought in the last few weeks for relations abroad :o

RTX DUALphone 3088

The relations that I bought these phones for are all competent Internet users. For example, they would know how to find, download, install, and use Skype, but they would not know how to configure a home broadband router. All three of them with able to use their new phones within a few minutes of opening the boxes!

All three relations are absolutely delighted with the phones to date, and two of them are now using Skype for calls to landlines also!

Perhaps the biggest advantage of these phones is that they plug straight into a broadband router, and that they do not require either a computer or a WiFi connection.

My only complaint with the phone is that it does not support Skype chats. However, the phone automatically updates its firmware, so hopefully this functionality will appear soon!

I found the RTX Skype Dualphone 3088 review – part I review very useful when I was deciding to purchase this phone.

Tags: RTX DUALphone 3088, Skype

I bought a Dell Inspiron 10v last week because I was really impressed with its weight and size. It came with some version of Windows XP, but I removed this and I installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 instead. I decided to try this because I liked the user interface, and I thought that it might extend my battery life.

Everything appeared to installed correctly, except the display driver :( The maximum resolution that I can specify is 800×576. However, the 10v has a native resolution of 1024×576!

This is driving me mad! I posted a comment on the Ubuntu form (see Ubuntu Netbook Remix Display Resolution on Dell Inspiron 10v), but I have not got any responses yet :( I would love to know if anybody has got a 10v to work at this resolution! At least then I would know it is possible!

Unfortunately, if I do not find a solution soon I will have to revert to Windows :(

I will keep my blog updated with any progress that I make.

Tags: Dell, Ubuntu, Windows XP

I read an article during the week describing how several of the major mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to develop a standard mobile phone charger for use throughout the EU! I think that this would be very useful, and I am surprised that I never thought about this before now! The original article that I read is All change for mobile chargers.

I wonder what other aspects of consumer electronics could be standardised. The most obvious one that I can think of is laptop chargers.

Tags: Mobile Phone

I was delighted to read that the first Galileo contracts were awarded during the week in Contracts give impetus to Galileo. There should be plenty of business opportunities for companies working in this area as the work progresses and sub-contractors are required.

However, I think that the most significant business opportunities will arise when the system is operational. In my opinion there are two significant benefits of Galileo compared to GPS:

• Galileo will be under civilian control, and the system operators will be able to provide guaranteed levels of service. This contrasts with the GPS system being under the control of the US military, and therefore it has no guaranteed levels of service.
• Galileo will provide more detailed location information, and its signals are more resilient.

It certainly should be an interesting space in which to work in the near future!

Tags: Galileo, GPS

I read earlier in the week that General Electric has developed a 500GB optical disk! Wow! I remember being really impressed when 700MB CDs became available! That seemed huge at that time! I have since learned that when considering data storage whatever number seems huge at any given time will quickly become small :o

To read more about this see Optical disc offers 500GB storage.

Tags: General Electric

Is it a pen? No! It is a dictaphone? No! Is it a mobile phone? No! Is it a Bluetooth hands free headset that also functions as a pen? Yes!

Spy Pen (Copyright Gsm-Earpiece)

According to the French manufacturer Gsm-Earpiece, the device is intended for the following purpose:

The Gsm Pen was specially designed for students who need some help at their examinations. During their exam or test they can get the necessary information from their friends over the cell phone. Keeping the phone in their pocket they can talk to the pen that they are using for writing and listen to the correct answers with the micro earpiece in their ear.

Some other more general uses for Gsm-Earpiece’s products are also described in Spy Earpiece – What is it for?.

If you really are interested in learning more about this headset, then visit Gsm Pen – What is it for?. (Note the interesting spelling sell phone while you are there ;)

Tags: France

I heard a friend of mine use the term weaktop during the week to describe a netbook. Perhaps his view is due to the fact that he is an intense gamer, and hence a netbook simply is not of much use to him. Either way, I thought that the term was very humorous :D

Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that my friend was not the first person to create or use this term. For example, there are many articles such as Linux weaktops poised for death by smartphone that already use it :o