Nybble 2006.11.07

N Y B B L E   M O N T H L Y   N E W S L E T T E R
A Free Ezine about Anything Tech and Everything Else
2006.11.07 Issue No. 182

Lyrics search and display have definitely come a long way. I remember
the good old days of Winamp and searching far and wide for a lyrics
plug-in. Managed to find a few, but they don't work all the time. When
they work, all they do is display lyrics. You still have to supply the
lyrics yourself. If the timings don't match? You have to twiddle with
the time markers via a text editor, or by clicking on the displayed
lines. Since then I have moved on to foobar2000, the audio player of
choice by geeks. A few days ago that I started looking for some
lyrics-related plugins for it. A few plugins came up, but there's no
single one that can do everything - search, edit, display. If you
don't mind having an external application, you can try MiniLyrics and
EvilLyrics. I've tried EvilLyrics before, but for now I'm sticking
with MiniLyrics, as it's good enough for me. (Gone are the days when I
would download and install multiple applications to test which one is
the best.)

MiniLyrics is pretty good. As soon as a song is played in foobar2000,
it reads the relevant tags and goes to the Internet searching for the
lyrics. Usually, it'll decide on the best one, and immediately display
it on a separate window. If multiple entries come up, it'll open a
window and let you choose which one matches the song best. Select an
LRC file and you'll get scrolling lyrics in synch with the audio file.
Now all you need is a karaoke plugin that can eliminate the vocals,
and just leave you with a minus one. So long, MagicSing and Singstar.

Have an answer, comment, suggestion, or violent reaction? Send them my
way by clicking on Reply or join nybbletalk@yahoogroups.com to discuss
a topic. If you think Nybble is good enough, do tell the wannabe
singers about it. Thanks.

_________TABLE OF CONTENTS_________
* Single-Pixel Camera
* Cloak of Invisibility Closer to Reality
* Robot Swarm Carries Heavy Load
* CDs and DVDs with Smart Card and USB
* Yahoo's Digital Time Capsule
* Sewer Gas Induces Suspended Animation
* Virus-Infested Memory Chips
* Protein Gels Stops Bleeding Instantly
* Nybblets
* Likeable Links
* Questionable Question
* Quotable Quote
* Trivial Trivia
* Laughable Laugh

_________SINGLE-PIXEL CAMERA_________
http://physicsbuzz.blogspot.com/2006/10/single-pixel-camera.html

Scientists at Rice University in Houston have developed a one-pixel
camera. Yup, you read that right, one pixel. The camera produces
images by recording thousands of single-pixel images one after the
other, rather than simultaneously recording millions of pixels. As
such, it takes 15 minutes for this camera to take a picture.

What good is it then? Well, the primary benefit is that it needs much
less information to assemble an image. It compresses the image data
via its hardware before the pixels are recorded. As a result, it's
able to capture an image with only thousands of pieces of information
rather than millions. The compression is achieved with an array of
tiny, movable mirrors. Various mirror arrangements encode information
about the photographic subject as a whole, in lieu of the
point-by-point image recording in a normal camera.

The technology could make cameras much cheaper by letting us get by
with fewer pixels, or perhaps lead (some day) to gigapixel resolution
from megapixel cameras.

_________CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY CLOSER TO REALITY_________
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_sc/cloak_of_invisibility_1

A team of American and British researchers has developed a cloak of
invisibility. Technically, it's more a cloaking device than a cloak of
invisibility. Cloaking differs from stealth technology, which doesn't
make an aircraft invisible but reduces the cross-section available to
radar, making it hard to track. Cloaking simply passes the radar or
other waves around the object as if it weren't there, like water
flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.

In an experiment, scientists used microwaves to try and detect a
cloaked copper cylinder. The two-dimensional cloak worked fine, but
did cast a small shadow. The ideal cloak would have nearly negligible
reflection and virtually no shadowing. Looking at a cloaked item, one
would see whatever is behind the cloak. That is, the cloak is,
ideally, transparent. The next step is to cloak objects from visible
light. In addition to hiding things, redirecting electromagnetic waves
could prove useful in protecting sensitive electronics from harmful
radiation. In another speculative application, one could imagine
'cloaking' acoustic waves, so as to shield a region from vibration or
seismic activity.

_________ROBOT SWARM CARRIES HEAVY LOAD________
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10319-robot-swarm-works-together-to-shift-heavy-objects.html

Marco Dorigo at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, along with
colleagues at the Institute of Cognitive Science and Technology in
Italy and the Autonomous Systems Laboratory and Dalle Molle Institute
for the Study of Artificial Intelligence, developed a swarm of robots
that works collaboratively to achieve a common goal. Called a
Swarm-bot, each of them is 19 centimetres high, has a rotating turret,
a claw-like gripper and moves using a combination of caterpillar
tracks and wheels. Each also has a basic computer and is loaded with
the same software. For the Swarm-bots to accomplish a particular task,
a set of simple rules are "evolved" to suit the particular task, and
loaded onto the robots. The robots cannot communicate and must act
only on what they can see around them. They follow simple rules to
fulfill their task - mimicking the way insects work together in a swarm.

In experiments, six of the cylindrical robots were able to drag an
object across the floor of a room. Working autonomously, they locate
and assemble around the object and either grab hold of it directly or
of another robot nearby, before slowly dragging it towards a target.
The robots can adjust their caterpillar tracks, to ensure they are all
pulling in the right direction. Each robot also uses its sensor to
identify any conflicting forces, and then changes direction
accordingly. Dorigo is now working on a swarm of robots that could
operate in a human environment.

I'd hate to think what happens when things go wrong. See Michael
Crichton's Prey.

_________CDS AND DVDS WITH SMART CARD AND USB_________
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10306-invention-smartcard-dvds.html

The many things you can do with a CD. American-Israeli company Aladdin
think it can breathe new life into the CD and DVD formats by creating
a new disc that combines optical storage capacity with an embedded
electronic smart card chip and USB interface.

The irregularly-shaped "XCD" is the thickness of a normal optical disc
and can still play in any CD or DVD drive. But it also has a smart
card, with its own memory and processing components, embedded in the
plastic. The embedded chip is connected to a line of electrodes on the
surface of one side of the disc. The outer edge of the disc is cut
away so that the electrodes protrude and can plug straight into a USB
socket.

But why bother inserting a chip into a DVD or CD in the first place?
Aladdin thinks it could provide a clever way to digitally lock content
sold on optical discs. Music, video or data can be stored optically
and read by computer's CD or DVD player, while encryption keys can be
stored on the embedded chip and read by USB. The encryption keys could
be used to lock information so that it can only be played having
plugged the original disc in to the USB.

_________YAHOO'S DIGITAL TIME CAPSULE_________
http://snipurl.com/11eqi

For 30 days, from October 10 to November 8, Yahoo is inviting
donations from anyone and everyone for a time capsule project in
collaboration with Internet artist Jonathan Harris. This is by no
means an ordinary time capsule though. The final time capsule will be
digitized then beamed with a laser to outer space in a bid to contact
extraterrestrial life. The time capsule is organized into ten themes:
Love, Sorrow, Anger, Faith, Beauty, Fun, Past, Hope, Now, and You -
chosen to encompass the human experience. Contributions can be text,
images, audio and video that reflect these themes.

To make the project more exciting, the digitized time capsule will be
beamed from the ancient Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico
(formerly known as the City of the Gods). Hurry up, one day left to go.

_________SEWER GAS INDUCES SUSPENDED ANIMATION_________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5412824.stm

In a study carried out recently at Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston, scientists discovered that hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that
smells of rotten eggs and naturally occurring in swamps, springs and
volcanoes, can induce 'suspended animation' in mice. The mice were
administered the gas at a concentration of 80 parts per million - a
tenth of the dose which is lethal in humans. The researchers reported
that the heart rate fell from 500 to 200 beats per minute and
respiration fell from 120 to 25 breaths per minute. Core body
temperature also fell from 39 to 30 degrees C. Despite the reduction
in heart rate the blood pressure of the mice did not drop, which tends
to happen with other techniques such as lowering body temperature. The
effects of the gas seemed to be reversible with the mice returning to
normal two hours after the mice started to breathe normal air again.

Dr. Fumito Ichinose, assistant professor of anaesthesia at Harvard
Medical School said that if the effects of hydrogen sulfide was
confirmed in larger mammals it could be useful in helping to sustain
the functionality of organs in patients undergoing cardiac surgery or
in patients with severe trauma. Currently, the only way to protect
other organs is to cool the body and induce hypothermia. The problem
with hypothermia is it's not that easy to cool down the human body.
Dr. Ichinose added that the findings would need to be replicated in
larger animals such as pigs as mice may be more susceptible to induced
hibernation.

_________VIRUS-INFESTED MEMORY CHIPS_________
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10228-happy-snaps-from-a-virusinfested-chip.html

A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles
discovered that by coating 30-nanometre-long chunks of tobacco mosaic
virus with platinum nanoparticles, it's possible to create a
transistor with a very fast switching speed. The team built a
transistor by embedding the coated virus strips in a polymer matrix,
sandwiched between two electrodes much like a standard transistor.
Apply a voltage to the transistor, and the platinum nanoparticles –
roughly 16 per virus – each donate an electron to proteins on the
surface of the virus, moving the device to an ON state. When the
voltage dips below a certain threshold, the electrons jump back to the
nanoparticle, switching the transistor to an OFF state.

The switching speed takes just 100 microseconds because the charge
only has to travel 10 nanometres between each nanoparticle and the
surface of the virus. In flash memory chips, a capacitor is used as a
control gate, building up charge to a certain level before current is
able to flow to a second gate. Millions of these transistors could
eventually be used in a memory chip to replace flash memory in mp3
players and digital cameras, for example. The team hopes to build a
prototype packed with millions of single-virus transistors within four
years.

_________PROTEIN GEL STOPS BLEEDING INSTANTLY_________
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn10265&feedId=online-news_rss20

An international team of researchers has developed a solution of
protein molecules that self-organise on the nanoscale into a
biodegradable gel that stops bleeding in seconds. If the material
works as well in humans, it could save thousands of lives and make
surgery far easier in many cases.

Molecular biologist Shuguang Zhang, at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in the US, began experimenting with peptides in 1991. Zhang
and colleagues at MIT and the University of Hong Kong in China went on
to design several materials that self-assemble into novel
nano-structures, including a molecular scaffold that helps the
regrowth of severed nerve cells in hamsters. Their work exploits the
way certain peptide sequences can be made to self-assemble into
mesh-like sheets of "nanofibres" when immersed in salt solutions. In
the course of that research they discovered one material's dramatic
ability to stop bleeding in the brain and began testing it on a
variety of other organs and tissues. When applied to a wound, the
peptides form a gel that seals over the wound, without causing harm to
any nearby cells.

Still, they caution that extensive clinical trials are needed to make
sure the materials work properly and are safe. The MIT researchers
hope to see those crucial human trials within three to five years.

_________NYBBLETS_________
* NASA Announces Record Ozone Hole (Now at 10.6 Million Square Miles)
* Bacteria Found 2.8kms beneath the Earth Process Radioactive Water
for Food
* Coke and Nestle to Introduce Drink Called Enviga that Burns Calories
* Cornell University Report Shows Statistically-Significant
Relationship between Autism and TV-Watching
* Google's Silicon Valley HQ to Become the Largest U.S. Solar-Powered
Corporate Office Complex
* Two Russian Companies to Build World's First 120-Megawatt Floating
Nuclear Power Plant for $200M

_________LIKEABLE LINKS_________
Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
http://www.freesoft.org/CIE/index.htm

Wikipedia in Your Laptop
http://www.webaroo.com/rooWebPacks.html#wikipedia

Encyclopedia in Your iPod
http://encyclopodia.sourceforge.net/en/index.html

Google Docs & Spreadsheets
http://docs.google.com

Yahoo Time Capsule by Jonathan Harris
http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/capsule.php

_________QUESTIONABLE QUESTION_________
When squirrels rush in front of my car, are they doing it because they
get some kind of adrenaline rush?

_________QUOTABLE QUOTE_________
Who hears music feels his solitude peopled at once.
~ Robert Browning ~

_________TRIVIAL TRIVIA_________
Do buffaloes have wings?
Buffalo chicken wings were so named for their city of origin in New
York state, where they were created at The Anchor Bar.
Source: Arcamax Trivia

_________LAUGHABLE LAUGH_________
A few years ago a refugee from Laos came to the US in one of the
resettlement influxes. He had been an announcer in radio back in Laos,
and he wanted to get into the same line of work here. The first thing
he did was join AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio
Announcers). He tried to pursue a job, but of course, he had problems
with the English language, being a new resident. In order to keep body
and soul together while going to English classes, he took up
barbering. Soon, he became a very good barber, giving haircuts,
stylings, and shaves. He seemed to be an artist with the straight
razor. In fact, the shop where he worked made him specialize in giving
shaves.

Thus, he became known as an AFTRA shave Laotian.

That's all for this week. Nybble is and will always be a work in
progress. Please do send me your comments and suggestions on how to
improve Nybble. Just hit the reply button to you know, reply.