Sunday, June 28, 2009

Whats in a name!!!

Microsoft is ready to launch its new operating system “Windows 7” by this October.
I am sure everybody cock-a-hoop with its release.But the question is “why the name Windows 7?”.I asked the same question to one of my friends and he was quick to respond “Windows 2007”.But that doesn’t make any sense. Windows 2007 releasing by October 2009!!!!quite ridiculous isn’t itJAnd some related it to the performance attributes!!!But that is not the case.It was initially code named “BLACKBOMB” and “VIENNA”.But Microsoft was not ready to have date in the name(such as windows 98)
neither they like to have an “aspirational name”(such as “xp”,”vista”).Then came the thought-The OS is all about simplicity so a simple name Windows 7.Indicating the 7th release of windows.Afterall whats in a name man ,its all about performance!!!!
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sleep your way to success!!!

Extended sleep improves athletic performance

We may wonder how Roger Federer won the French open Tennis championship !!!The secret may lie in increased sleep.
According to a study, athletes who extend their nightly sleep and reduced accumulated sleep debt reported improvements in various drills conducted after every regular practice.
Cheri Mah, study lead author and researcher at Stanford University in California stated that many of the athletes who participated in the study , for first time realized the importance of sleep and how it affects their performance during competitions.
Mah stated “Many athletes do not realize that optimal or peak performance can only occur when an athlete’s sleep and sleep habits are optimal.”
Five healthy students, members of Stanford Tennis team between the age of 18 and 21, participated in the study. Their performance , the sleep and wake period were tracked for a period of 2-3 weeks. The study results are given below
DRILLS COMPARISONS
Faster sprinting drill 19.12 sec(before study period)
17.56 sec(after study period)

Hitting depth drill 10.85 hits(before study period)
15.45 hits(after study period)
The study revealed that their performance was at the peak when the sleep was optimal.


Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Bath-o-matic iPhone

Scientists have created a revolutionary iPhone feature that makes it possible to run a bath before getting home.
The Bath-o-matic software means the phone can send orders to a set of high-tech taps on a bath tub that can control the temperature, pressure and draining of the water, reports The Telegraph.
The software for iPhone is available free from Apple's popular App Store. However, users will have to pay 4,000 pounds for the technology at home.
They will then be able to select the temperature, depth and fragrance of the water and even how many bubbles in the bath.nique Automation, the company behind the device, recently showed off its wares at a trade show.
A spokesman said: "At the touch of a button, Bath-o-matic fills the bath to perfection - even adding bubbles and perfumes.
"Bringing full automation to the bathroom at last, this technological breakthrough offers energy and water savings plus flooding and scalding prevention."

hdmae8pifw

memory device that may store data for 1 billion yrs

Scientists have come up with a new computer memory device that can store thousands of times more data than conventional silicon chips and that too for more than one billion years.
Packing more digital images, music, and other data onto silicon chips in USB drives and smart phones is like squeezing more strawberries into the same size supermarket carton.
The denser you pack, the quicker it spoils. The 10 to 100 gigabits of data per square inch on today's memory cards has an estimated life expectancy of only 10 to 30 years.
The electronics industry needs much greater data densities for tomorrow's iPods, smart phones, and other devices.
Now, Alex Zettl and colleagues have described the development of an experimental memory device consisting of an iron nanoparticle (1/50,000 the width of a human hair) enclosed in a hollow carbon nanotube.
In the presence of electricity, the nanoparticle can be shuttled back and forth with great precision.
This creates a programmable memory system that, like a silicon chip, can record digital information and play it back using conventional computer hardware.
In lab and theoretical studies, the researchers showed that the device had a storage capacity as high as 1 terabyte per square inch (a trillion bits of information) and temperature-stability in excess of one billion years.
The study is scheduled for publication in the June 10 issue of ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal

Nandan Nilekani to head Unique Identification Authority

The Union Cabinet has appointed the Infosys Chief Nandan Nilekani as the Chairman of National Authority for Unique Identity.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni said the new authority will function under the planning commission, and Nilekani will be enjoying cabinet tatus.
Ms Soni said the authority will have the responsibility to lay down plans and policies to implement the Unique Identification Scheme and will operate the unique identification number database for the citizen's of the country.
In January the Government of India has notified the creation of the National Authority of Unique Identity.
The ambitious plan of unique identification has been allocated Rs 100 crore in the interim budget of 2009-10.
The unique identification number aims at eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanism prevalent across various government departments, and it will ensure that each Indian citizen will carry a permanent identifier from birth to death.
The permanent identifier which will also cover children, will help in at establishing citizenship, reducing identity related frauds, addresses security issues and prevent leakages in different government schemes.
In the beginning the Unique Identity number will be given to all voters who are on current electoral rolls, and gradually, the other persons including those below 18 years of age will be added to the database. Photographs and biometric data will be added to make the identification perfect.

IT sectors chanting the 'green mantra'

With "climate change" being recognised as a major environmental problem facing the globe and toping the agendas in various summits,the corporates have started adapting the "go green" mantra.The word "green" is catching up fast with IT companies to renew to conserve the environment's resources and save energy cost.
Virtual machines
Virtualisation of data centre has allowed many users to reduce their hardware assets and use them more efficiently by running multiple "virtual machines" side by side on the same hardware. virtualisation allows the utilisation to increase by 30-40% and reduce costs-power,cooling, and hardware-by 30-70%.Virtual servers can also reduce carbon dioxide levels considerably.