Nybble Issue No. 225

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
2011.01.31 Issue No. 225


Girl1: "Hey, I saw your email to Boy1, but you sent it to me by mistake."
Girl2: "Um, actually, you're cc'ed on that email."
Girl1: "What do you mean by cc?"

True story. Ah, the kids of today. For those who are too young to know, cc stands for carbon copy. Back in the old days, you would use carbon paper to make extra copies during the creation of paper documents - whether through the use of a manual/mechanical typewriter or a normal pen. Remember those? One sheet of carbon paper is only good for a couple of uses. But I trying to save money, so I kept on using the same sheet of carbon paper. When you're banging on the typewriter keys so hard your fingers start ringing, that's when you need to get a new carbon paper.

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 oldtimers about it. Thanks.


_________TABLE OF CONTENTS_________
* Video Games in the Toilet
* Electronic Bifocals
* EDSAC to Be Rebuilt
* World's First Electric Bus Fleet
* Solar-Powered Microchips
* Likeable Links
* Questionable Question
* Quotable Quote
* Trivial Trivia
* Laughable Laugh

_________VIDEO GAMES IN THE TOILET_________
http://singularityhub.com/2011/01/05/controlling-video-games-with-your-pee-sega-brings-awkward-fun-to-the-restroom/

Sega is currently trialing its Toylet male urinal video game at select locations around Tokyo. Toylets uses a pressure sensor located on the back of the urinal to measure the strength and location of your urine stream. A small LCD screen above the urinal allows you to play several simple video games. At the end of the game, the screen displays advertisements.

According to Sega and Akihabara News, the four types of video games on the Toylets include:

• “Mannekin Pis”: a simple measurement of the urine produced.
• “Graffiti Eraser”: where you move your urine back and forth to remove paint.
• “The North Wind and Her”: a game where you play the wind, trying to blow a girl’s skirt up. The stronger you pee, the stronger the wind blows.
• “Milk from Nose”: A variation on sumo wrestling, where you try to knock the other player out of the ring using the strength of your urine flow (shown as milk spraying from your nose).

The record of your pee is saved and used as the opponent for the next player. So the game is sort of multiplayer. Toylets even lets you save information onto a USB drive!
Trial is supposed to end by January 2011.

_________ELECTRONIC BIFOCALS________
http://singularityhub.com/2011/01/09/electronic-glasses-let-you-change-focus-in-a-split-second-goodbye-bifocals-video/

Virginia-based Pixel Optics has developed a composite lens that can change the range of focus electronically. The emPower! glasses were created in cooperation with Panasonic Healthcare, and allow you to switch between long distance and short distance vision in a split second. Rather than having a lens divided into two sections, emPower! uses an LCD overlay that can change the focal length of the glasses via electric current. When the LCD layer is off, your lenses are good for intermediate/long distances. Turn the LCD layer on, and a section of the lens is suddenly magnifying close-up images – perfect for reading. emPower! lets you switch back and forth between near and far by touching the sides of the frames. Or you can engage an accelerometer that will automatically switch between modes depending on whether you are looking up or down.

Inside the emPower! glasses are composite lenses formed from different materials. One is a classic optical plastic that you would find in many traditional lenses. The other is a section of transparent LCD connected to an electronic system embedded in the frames. When a current is applied, the LCD section alters its index of refraction – essentially changing it to a near-distance focal length. You engage the LCD section manually by sliding your finger backwards along the ear piece of the glasses, and disengage by swiping forward. Touching the side of the glasses for two seconds activates the accelerometer and the automatic focusing depending on head position. All the electronics are completed enclosed within the frame so there’s no worry about destroying them by dropping them in water. The batteries in emPower! are made to last about 30 hours and you recharge the system through an inductive charger.

Prepare to pay $1200 for the basic kit (including all the charging peripherals). Prices can go up depending on lens coatings, frame design, etc.

_________EDSAC TO BE REBUILT________
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/364369/edsac-computer-to-be-rebuilt-at-bletchley-park

The first working stored-program computer called EDSAC is set to be rebuilt at Bletchley Park. The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was built at Cambridge University by a team led by computing pioneer Sir Maurice Wilkes. It ran its first programme in 1949 and its success lead to the creation of the first business computer, the LEO. The EDSAC was two metres high and its 3,000 vacuum tubes took up four metres of floor space. It could perform 650 instructions per second and all data input was via paper tape.

It used mercury-filled tubes for memory, but in the interests of safety, the replica will use an alternative non-toxic substance. The replica of the EDSAC was commissioned by the Computer Conservation Society, part of the BCS, and will be built over the next four years at Bletchley Park, home to the National Museum of Computing, where visitors can watch the work as it happens.

_________WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC BUS FLEET_________
http://inhabitat.com/south-korea-unveils-worlds-first-commerical-electric-bus/

South Korea's Seoul Metropolitan Government recently rolled out the world’s first commercial all-electric bus service. The electric bus service was developed in partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hankuk Fiber. The buses were designed to be as efficient as possible — each bus can run up to about 52 miles on a single charge and they have a maximum speed of about 62 miles per hour. The vehicles’ lithium-ion battery packs can be fully charged in less than 30 minutes and they also feature regenerative braking systems that reuse energy from brakes when running downhill.

The buses have also been built to be as green as possible. They are made from a carbon composite material, instead of iron plates, which considerably reduces the vehicle’s weight while reinforcing durability. The development is the first step in Seoul’s ‘electrification’ of their bus services — the government has announced that half of its massive fleet of buses will be electric by 2020. Seoul’s grand plan is to have a total of 120,000 electric vehicles in use within the city by the end of the decade, which will account for 50 percent of all public transport vehicles, 10 percent of sedans, and one percent of trucks and vans.

_________SOLAR-POWERED MICROCHIPS_________
http://www.gizmag.com/microelectronics-built-in-solar-cells/17407/

In a new, more efficient approach to solar powered microelectronics, researchers have produced a microchip which directly integrates photovoltaic cells. Instead of manufacturing the solar cell separately, the design sees the chip used as a base and the solar cell applied to it layer by layer. According to the University of Twente release, this results in a more efficient production process, uses fewer materials and ultimately performs better.

The production process has not been trouble-free with the researchers finding that the fragile electronics can easily be damaged. For this reason it was decided to use amorphous silicon or CIGS (copper - indium - gallium – selenide) solar cells. The manufacturing of these cells does not influence the electronics, and these types of solar cells also produce sufficient power to allow the microprocessors to operate in low-light or indoors. There is a catch though – the chip's energy use must be well below 1 milliwatt.

Tests have shown that the electronics and the solar cells function properly, and the manufacturing process is also highly suitable for industrial serial production with the use of standard processes.


_________LIKEABLE LINKS_________
Google Body Browser
http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com/

LensHero
http://lenshero.com/

Google App Invetor for Android
http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

Myna Online Audio Editor
http://www.aviary.com/tools/audio-editor

If It Were My Home
http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/

_________QUESTIONABLE QUESTION_________
When I make ice cubes out of distilled water, a stalagmite appears at the center of each cube, pointing upward like a handle. This doesn't happen with tap water. Why?

_________QUOTABLE QUOTE_________
This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.
 ~ George Bernard Shaw

_________TRIVIAL TRIVIA_________
What do you call Mercury's hat?
The winged hat worn by the ancient Greek god Hermes (or, in Roman mythology, Mercury) was called a "petasos."
Source: Arcamax Trivia

_________LAUGHABLE LAUGH_________
Although I knew our commanding officer hated doling out weekend passes, I thought I had a good reason.

"My wife is pregnant and I want to be with her," I told the C.O. Much to my surprise he said, "Permission granted."

Inspired by my success, a fellow soldier also requested a weekend pass. His wife wasn't pregnant, so when the C.O. asked why he should grant him permission, my friend responded, "My wife is getting pregnant this weekend and I want to be with her."


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.

Movie 2011.01.29 - Must Love Death

Once in a while, I'd like to watch those never-heard-of movies. You never know, it could be a sleeper hit. Or a dud. This one's a dud.

The movie is categorized as a romantic horror comedy. Not enough romance. It's not funny. I haven't seen any of the Saw movies, so the torture scenes are horrific enough for me. Story of a heartbroken musician who made a suicide pact with some guys. They meet up at a cabin in the woods, and as expected, things are not what they seem. Two of the guys proceed to tie up Norman and torture him and some random people in an amateur internet TV show called "Torture or No Torture".

That's about it.

Movie 2011.01.21 - The Green Hornet

Whoever chose Seth Rogen to play The Green Hornet should be sacked. Oh, Mr. Rogen co-wrote the film? That's why. And don't tell me they cast Jay Chou for his acting skills, too.

Seth Rogen is over-acting again. "Who made my coffee?!" Bah! The way the newspaper is being run, and the way the editors allowed themselves to be led, I believe The Daily Sentinel must be a tabloid. Something like The Daily Telegraph. Jay Chou just bored, or he's trying to contain his excitement that he's now in Hollywood. He can put on his cool dude attitude back in Asia, but he now has a different audience. He needs to put something on the table and not just rely on his looks(?), charisma(?), paino skills(?), or his great singing voice(?).

In the end, the movie has nothing to offer in terms of story and character development. The Batmobile can beat Kato-car (a.k.a. Black Beauty) any day of the week. Kato-vision? I'd like to see that work when all the guns are firing simultaneously. Cameron Diaz? Ho-hum.

Movie 2011.01.15 - Eat, Pray, Love

The book is quite popular, and so is the movie adaptation. I fail to see what all the fuss is about though. I hope the book is good because the movie is not, specifically Julia Roberts. I've lost all interest in the acting skills of Julia Roberts. I think the only time I liked her was in Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Erin Brokovich. The rom-coms started looking all the same to me. She's always got this same look regardless what role she plays. Her eyebrows are too long, her mouth is too wide. When she emotes, she has this uncanny ability to make this vein in the middle of her forehead throb to show she's agitated.

I can sort of see the appeal. Who wouldn't want to divorce your boring husband and have a break for a year? Learn Italian in a bathtub. Have a fling with a younger man. Fly to Italy and make friends with total strangers. Fly to India to meditate and attend a lavish Indian wedding. Fly to Bali and raise funds to build a house for a local healer. Then, have another fling with an older man. The end.

Weird Weekends with Louis Theroux

Spent most of my free time watching Season One of Louis Theroux' Weird Weekends. In this offbeat documentary series, Louis takes us into some strange and unfamiliar subcultures. He doesn't just interview the UFO fanatics and porn stars and off-Broadway wannabes and black nationalists and white supremacists, he goes deeper than that. He stars in an infomercial; he joins a rap competition; he goes under hypnosis; he interviews some potential Thai brides; he joins a demolition derby.

After the break, we'll have Season Two.