Nybble 2006.12.10

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
2006.12.10 Issue No. 183

Question: How do you take a screenshot of a window that spans more
than one screen? Normally, I would do PrtSc, scroll down, and do more
PrtScs until I capture the whole window. Then it's off to a graphics
manipulation application to connect up all the screenshots into one.
There's actually a simpler way to do this. My laptop comes
pre-installed with an application called SnagIt, and it does scrolling
captures in just one click. Just point your mouse over the window you
want to capture, then right-click. SnagIt will start from the top,
auto-scroll the window to the bottom, and present you with a full
capture. It doesn't seem to be able to horizontal scrolling captures
though.

If only they could port this to digital photography. To make panoramic
photos, you have to take multiple shots of the landscape, holding your
camera at the same height level, and turning yourself on a pivot point
with every shot. Then, with lots of tweaking and aligning using the
photo-stitch software that comes with your digicam, you get your
panoramic photo. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If the
camera manufacturers can somehow incorporate the scrolling capture
feature into their digicams, that'll be great. Heck, I'd be willing to
get a new digital camera just for this feature.

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 photography
enthusiasts about it. Thanks.

_________TABLE OF CONTENTS_________
* New Urinals Rise up to the Challenge
* Space Sunshade to Fight Global Warming
* Smart Surveillance System from IBM
* Growing Chicken Wings
* Israel Develops Bionic Hornets
* Toshiba Introduces Re-writable Paper
* Automated Photo-tagging via Software
* Nanorust to Purify Water
* Wireless Electrical Power
* Nybblets
* Likeable Links
* Questionable Question
* Quotable Quote
* Trivial Trivia
* Laughable Laugh

_________NEW URINALS RISE UP TO THE CHALLENGE_________
http://www.johnchow.com/the-worlds-most-high-tech-urinal/

In an effort to handle its nighttime public urination problem,
Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is considering installing
urinals dubbed Urilifts that disappear below street level during the
day for a nice clean look. Then at night, an operator comes by with a
remote and the Urilift hydraulically lifts to sidewalk level in about
two minutes. Then the unit is ready to serve all the nighttime party
animals who don't mind peeing in a very exposed public urinal. Unlike
the automated, self-cleaning toilets planned for Toronto and
Vancouver, which are enclosed booths with doors that that
automatically open after a set time period, the Urilift system is a
two-meter high stainless steel cylinder with three alcoves, each with
a urinal, and no doors.

Because there are no doors, there is little danger of any unauthorized
or illegal activities. San Francisco and Seattle's auto-toilets have
been derided as dens for drug dealers and prostitutes. In addition,
the presence of an attendant nearby to lower the system in the morning
means it's unlikely a drunken reveler who slumps over the Urilift will
wake up under the street.

The urinals are designed exclusively for men, and more specifically,
for male drinkers. The $75,000 system has been installed across the
Netherlands, and have spread to London and Belfast, but Victoria will
be the first North American city to try them out.

_________SPACE SUNSHADE TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING_________
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061104090409.htm

In the event of a global warming crisis, where it becomes clear that
Earth is unmistakably headed for disastrous climate change within a
decade or two, University of Arizona astronomer Roger Angel has this
novel idea of deploying a space sunshade to cool things down. The plan
would be to launch a constellation of trillions of small free-flying
spacecraft called flyers a million miles above Earth into an orbit
aligned with the sun, called the L-1 orbit. The flyer would form a
long, cylindrical cloud with a diameter about half that of Earth, and
about 10 times longer. About 10 percent of the sunlight passing
through the 60,000-mile length of the cloud, pointing lengthwise
between the Earth and the sun, would be diverted away from our planet.
The effect would be to uniformly reduce sunlight by about 2 percent
over the entire planet, enough to balance the heating of a doubling of
atmospheric carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

The lightweight flyers designed by Angel would be made of a
transparent film pierced with small holes. Each flyer would be two
feet in diameter, 1/5000 of an inch thick and weigh about a gram, the
same as a large butterfly. It would use "MEMS" technology mirrors as
tiny sails that tilt to hold the flyers position in the orbiting
constellation. The flyer's transparency and steering mechanism prevent
it from being blown away by radiation pressure. The total mass of all
the fliers making up the space sunshade structure would be 20 million
tons. The sunshade could be deployed by a total 20 electromagnetic
launchers launching a stack of flyers every 5 minutes for 10 years.
The electromagnetic launchers would ideally run on hydroelectric
power, but even in the worst-case environmental scenario with
coal-generated electricity, each ton of carbon used to make
electricity would mitigate the effect of 1000 tons of atmospheric carbon.

Good to know we have a backup plan.

_________SMART SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM FROM IBM________
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-11-07T050342Z_01_N06294547_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-IBM-DC.XML&from=business

IBM has release a new security product dubbed Smart Surveillance
System or S3 hat analyzes data from video surveillance cameras in real
time, generating instant alerts of potential security breeches. S3 can
transmit information collected by digital video cameras over computer
networks, allowing it to be monitored remotely. The software
automatically combs through those feeds, cross referencing and
analyzing the digital information. It issues alarms when it identifies
suspicious activity. In addition to video, the software can integrate
information from audio feeds, radar systems and chemical detection
units as it analyzes the data.

Such intelligent video analysis systems can identify questionable
situations such as when large quantities of merchandise are removed
from store shelves. They can also identify a cashier who is ringing up
a large order when there is no customer at the checkout booth, or a
clerk who unlocks a jewelry case, then walks away. IBM said that S3's
target market includes retail outlets, banks, airports, freight
terminals and mass transit systems. It is also being sold to public
security agencies and other government departments.

_________REGROWING CHICKEN WINGS_________
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/scientist-regrow-chicken-wing-12031.html

A research team at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has been
able to regenerate a wing in a chick embryo -- a species not known to
be able to regrow limbs -- suggesting that the potential for such
regeneration exists innately in all vertebrates, including humans.

Studies show that vertebrate regeneration is under the control of the
powerful Wnt signaling system: activating it overcomes the mysterious
barrier to regeneration in animals like chicks that can't normally
replace missing limbs while inactivating it in animals known to be
able to regenerate their limbs (frogs, zebrafish, and salamanders)
shuts down their ability to replace missing legs and tails. In one
experiment, researchers removed part of the chick embryo's wing,
activated Wnt signaling by changing the expression of a few genes, and
got the whole limb back. Previously, scientists believed that once
stem cells turned into muscles, bone or any other type of cells, that
was their fate for life, and if those cells were injured, they didn't
regenerate, but grew scar tissue.

Manipulating Wnt signaling in humans is, of course, not possible at
this point, but hopes that these findings may eventually offer
insights into current research examining the ability of stem cells to
build new human body tissues and parts.

_________ISRAEL DEVELOPS BIONIC HORNETS_________
http://news.com.com/Report+Israel+developing+bionic+hornet+weapon/2100-11394_3-6136468.html?tag=nefd.top

According to a local newspaper, Israel is using nanotechnology to try
to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase,
photograph and kill its targets. Quote from Deputy Prime Minister
Shimon Peres, "It's illogical to send a plane worth $100 million
against a suicidal terrorist. So we are building futuristic weapons."

The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet," would be able to
navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable
enemies such as rocket launchers. It is one of several weapons being
developed by scientists to combat militants, it said. Others include
super gloves that would give the user the strength of a "bionic man"
and miniature sensors to detect suicide bombers. Prototypes for the
new weapons are expected within three years.

_________TOSHIBA INTRODUCES RE-WRITABLE PAPER_________
http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.cfm?newsID=7420&pagtype=all

Toshiba is pushing re-writable paper that it claims can be erased and
reprinted at least 500 times. The paper - actually thermo-sensitive
sheet-plastic - requires a special printer, the B-SX8R, which relies
on a heat-sensitive pigment in the ink. If heated above 180 degrees
centigrade it goes black, but if held at between 130C and 170C it
turns white again.

In Japan, the plastic paper is already being used in closed-loop
processes, such as pick-lists in a warehouse or build instructions on
a production line, where a printed sheet is only needed for a short
time and is then redundant, and where the printer's 300dpi resolution
is adequate. As well as the rewritable process reducing paper
consumption and shredding, manufacturing and recycling the plastic
sheets generates much less CO2 than manufacturing and recycling paper.
There are some downside though. The plastic paper costs around £5 a
sheet. That's fine if you do indeed use each sheet 500 times, but what
if a sheet is filed, scribbled on in ballpoint instead of one of
Toshiba's special erasable marker pens, or damaged by folding? The new
paper is also sensitive to heat and UV light, and the print is
actually grey rather than black. Power consumption is significant too,
with the erasing element having an 800W heater, and the printer won't
be cheap, at around £5,000, as and when it reaches the European market.

_________AUTOMATED PHOTO-TAGGING VIA SOFTWARE_________
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/11/02/tech-imagetag-061101.html

U.S. researchers from the Penn State University have developed a
computer system that can automatically recognize the content of a
photograph and describe it in English.

Image search engines currently rely on text tags to help index and
sort images, so those that don't have descriptions are effectively
invisible to search requests. The Automatic Linguistic Indexing of
Pictures Real-Time (ALIPR) system developed by Penn State associate
professors James Wang and Jia Li solves the problem by analyzing the
images and comparing them against a database. The computer then
suggests 15 possible tags out of a vocabulary of 332 words to annotate
a photo with subject-relevant descriptors or keywords. The analysis
takes about 1.4 seconds per image and in 98 per cent of tests suggests
at least one correct tag in the top 15.

The technology makes it possible to automatically tag images with
keywords, rather than having a person manually label the photos. The
system can tag online collections of images as they are uploaded.

_________NANORUST TO PURITY WATER_________
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10496-cooking-up-nanorust-could-purify-water.html

A new recipe for "nanorust" could give developing nations a cheap tool
for removing arsenic from drinking water.

Arsenic contamination is linked to bladder cancer and is a big problem
in many places. Chemists know that arsenic binds particularly well to
iron oxides, including rust, but practical techniques for doing this
have been slow and laborious. Vicki Colvin and colleagues at Rice
University in Houston, Texas found a way to improve the efficiency of
this process by reducing the size of the iron oxide particles
employed. This is because a given weight of smaller particles has more
surface area available for binding than the same weight of larger
particles.

Nanorust isn't even hard to make. The team created them by dissolving
large pieces of rust in heated oleic acid, which can be found in
ordinary olive oil. The nanoscale iron oxide is added to contaminated
water, where it clumped together with the arsenic. They then
magnetised the nanoparticles with an electromagnet and pulled them out.

_________WIRELESS ELECTRICAL POWER_________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have outlined a
relatively simple system that could deliver power to gadgets such as
laptops, MP3 players, and digital cameras wirelessly. Although the
team has not built and tested a system, computer models and
mathematics suggest it will work.

The thing that makes wireless energy transfer work is resonance, a
phenomenon that causes an object to vibrate when energy of a certain
frequency is applied. Typically, systems that use electromagnetic
radiation, such as radio antennas, are not suitable for the efficient
transfer of energy because they scatter energy in all directions,
wasting large amounts of it into free space. To overcome this problem,
the team investigated a special class of "non-radiative" objects with
so-called "long-lived resonances". When energy is applied to these
objects it remains bound to them, rather than escaping to space.
"Tails" of energy, which can be many metres long, flicker over the
surface. In practical terms, a simple copper antenna designed to have
long-lived resonance could transfer energy to a laptop with its own
antenna resonating at the same frequency. Any energy not diverted into
a gadget or appliance is simply reabsorbed. The systems that the team
have described would be able to transfer energy over three to five metres.

_________NYBBLETS_________
* The Internet Now has Over 100 Million Web Sites
* Every Microsoft Vista Computer Gets Its Own Domain Name
* Chinese GPS System Beidou To Be Offered Free
* Japanese Bar Performer Playing Harmonica Arrested For Copyright
Violations
* New Zealand to Allow "Text-Speak" in Exams
* Natural Painkiller 5x Better than Morphine Found in Human Saliva

_________LIKEABLE LINKS_________
Evolution of Dance
http://www.evolutionofdance.com/

Google 3D Warehouse
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

Zach's Word Unscrambler
http://zbreiten.netfirms.com/UnscramblerForm.html

Mag's Word Finder
http://zbreiten.netfirms.com/UnscramblerForm.html

_________QUESTIONABLE QUESTION_________
Humans often times swallow air while eating. Later they release that
air in the form of a burp. Do fish swallow water and burp water?

_________QUOTABLE QUOTE_________
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and
I'm not sure about the former."
~ Albert Einstein ~

_________TRIVIAL TRIVIA_________
Will whispering save your voice?
Not really -- Whispering is more wearing on your voice than a normal
speaking tone. Whispering and shouting stretch the vocal cords.
Source: Arcamax Trivia

_________LAUGHABLE LAUGH_________
Our local paper runs a popular column called "10 Questions" that
spotlights people who live in our community.

In addition to the usual inquiries about occupation and age, people
are asked the questions that give a snapshot look of their personalities.

Recently one woman was asked, "What's the 'strangest' thing you ever
bought?"

She answered, "Dog toothpaste."

Next question, "What is the 'most common' thing people say to you?"

Her answer: "Where did you get such white teeth?"

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.