Doctors' orders, out with the old and in with the new.

Once upon a time in France, a physician invented a device that allowed him to hear the sounds produced within a patient's chest without cutting it open!


In 1816 Dr. René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec developed the stethoscope.  Since then, no major optimizations have been devised for it, only better materials but no addition to it's general function.


In 1902 the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was founded.


You've probably heard of 3M, if you've spent much time in hospitals you've seen a lot of there stuff...then again if you've been to Staples or Office Depot you've seen a lot of there stuff as well.


That's because 3M simply makes shit...all kinds of it.  But the catch to their culture is innovation, quality rather than quantity.


Now, 193 years later, 3M has cast their benevolent wand of innovation over the device that doctor's use most to get close to your heart.

With aid from Zargis Medical Corp., 3M Littmann has developed the Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200.


This marvelous device not only digitally amplifies the sounds in your chest, it also sends the beat count to Cardioscan software developed by Zargis (via Bluetooth).


This eliminates the fine science MDs have been trained for, in order to properly identify murmurs or any other abnormalities giving doctors hard data to consult right on their computer.


This digital format allows doctors to analyze the sounds of your heart the way a sound engineer produces records.  Start/Stop Forward/Rewind Change of tempo.  All useful manipulations doctors can test to best diagnose the sounds being produced by their patients.

LED flashlights...beyond batteries.

The gang at 511tactical gear have raised the bar and thrust the flashlight standard beyond batteries...once...and for all!

The UC3.400 is an LED (light-emitting diode) flashlight with an estimated re-charge lifespan of 50,000 charge/discharge cycles. (511tactical estimates that at 1 charge per day, the UC3.400 will hold charge for 135 years)

How you ask? Considering just a few short years ago Apple could only get an LED iPod to recharge for a year and a half before it could no longer hold a charge.

Simple. 511tactical put a ultra-capacitor within the flashlight, instead of a lithium battery. This capacitor collects electrons from the layers of metal in the flashlight and stores them as energy.

Due to the ultra-capacitor, the UC3.400 has no batteries and requires no electricity to be produced via a chemical reaction.

511 Tactical's UC3.400

A Robotics Rodeo round-up in honor of the fallen

Remember remember the fifth of November, I doubt that day shall be forgot.

For those that remember, this fifth of November shall first think of those who were lost.

Last Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan shot 13 people dead, 12 of which were soldiers, wounding 29 others during a shootout at Fort Hood Texas.

In honor of those fallen last week and to American armed-service veterans everywhere, I bring you the marvel of Fort Hood's "Robotics Rodeo" that occurred during the tail end of the summer, for Veterans Day 2009.

This is the "Ripsaw" unmanned tank, developed by identical twins Mike and Geoff Howe, 34. (MCT)

The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the Army's III Corps, stationed at Fort Hood, hosted the "Robotics Rodeo" demonstration and testing event from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2009.

The event gravitated industry professionals, developing robots of varying technological levels and roles to be played for the military, towards Army brass and regulars, with a unique opportunity to show the Army the possibilities of robotic warfare.

Sarnoff Corp. brought this small robot with a video camera to test at the rodeo. (MCT)

The Army said the event was not a competition but rather a "marketing research event."  The event offered the military a chance to see firsthand, what technologies are available, how these technologies can work in convergence on the battle field, and most importantly how they will benefit the Army.

Now that a few months have passed since the event.  Here's a look at what the Army has done with the Ripsaw.

For an idea on how this vehicle operates and tackles terrain, check out this video of the manned version.

 

The Seventh Window

Something marvelous occurred Sunday, and it wasn't just the spectacle that was this week in the NFL.

I woke up.  And that wasn't the marvelous part, just the beginning.

I traveled down the stairs, and luckily I wore PJ's that night (the marvelous part).

I headed towards the door and looked down at the floor.

What did I see to my surprise?

Yeah that's it people.   Microsoft Windows 7, home premium to be exact.

Although I haven't had the time yet to install, to which I post to you still from Vista; I did break the packaging and here's what I found out thus far.

Apparently this is my PC..."simplified."  Great, after 16 years of figuring these complex operating systems out, they've finally cared to simplify things.

*Here is a glimpse of the new CD layout, don't mind the blur, those are my serial numbers*

"Enjoy.  It's designed for you."  And for once!  They thought about us instead of them?  Precious

But despite the marketing rhetoric, Microsoft really smoked a joint on this one, but it doesn't appear to stink like a skunk.

Finally moving away from it's ever present aroma of an office cubicle, Windows has added some cool new features not yet experienced to any intergrated aspect of it's user-interface (the menu bars, minimize buttons, windows, taskbars, start buttons, etc).

Aero Background

It lets you select a number of photos to rotate as a slideshow for your desktop background.

Aero Shake

Simply grab the top of a certain window with a left-click, hold it and shake.  All other open windows will minimize.

Aero Peek

Get a glimpse of your desktop hidden behind your open windows by turning them all completely opaque.

Glass Color

The option allows you to tint the hue of your monitor to appear as your favorite shade of glass, for the ocular-ly inclined. (PS you see more greens in the dark, but during the day yellow dims the intensity of the monitor which strains your eyes, that and blue just looks cool, perhaps some white to see better in dark video games, who knows what you could do with it, do you?)

The taskbar got a face-lift.

• The program boxes are more boxed in shape, still a rectangle but much skinnier (previously the rectangle shape was longer, about 1 measure up 5 measures across), allowing for many more programs on a single-spaced taskbar.  
• A blended background indicates that program is "inactive" with the "active" program at the time being highlighted in orange.  
• You may also "pin" programs to the taskbar, much like the latest Mac interface, simply drag a program onto the taskbar for quick access.  Thus it would appear "quickbar" has become an obsolete Windows feature.  
  
• Thumbnail previews of programs have become even more integrated into the taskbar.
• Jump Lists options have been added to reduce desktop clutter. 
• Rather than having your favorite songs on your desktop for easy and quick access, you may set a list of "Frequent" songs within the Windows Media Player icon on the taskbar, or perhaps a website for Internet Explorer.
• Previous tasks can also be set.

The shortcuts got a boost as well

• Windows key + up arrow = Maximize window
• Windows key + down arrow = Minimize window
• Windows key + arrow left or right = Snap window to left or right of screen (allows you to easily compare to windows side-by-side)
• Windows key + Home = Max / Min all windows
• Windows key + Spacebar (held) = Aero Peek
• Windows key + # = Active program at given numbered slot on the taskbar (if Internet explorer is 1 and you hit WK + 1, IE shall open)

Either way you add up the new stuff, its a boiler of excitement and curiosity waiting to blow.  I can't wait to play with these new features.  

But for now!  Time for some sleep, some class, then some installation instructions.

Dark side of the moon

Around 7:30 a.m. this morning, NASA launched two pieces of equipment into a crater within a permanent shadow on the moon's southern surface.

The first, a rocket, was expected to hit the moon with enough force to kick up more than 250 metric tons of dust.

The second, a satellite packed with spectrometers, near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer, followed the rocket collecting data on the debris it passed through.

NASA hopes the data collected today will show whether or not H20 still exists in or on the moon.

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)   cost the American taxpayers around $79 million.  But given the scientific implications of discovering water on the moon is well worth this space bargain.

Click here for the RSS feed on mission updates

Related Articles:
NASA's strike on moon worked, mission official says
NASA probes give moon a double smack

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!...NO!...It's a retired Swiss figher pilot with wings!

As Yves Rossy let go of a small airplane 6,600 feet up, a slew of reporters, photographers, and general spectators sat and stood in a cascade of relative silence.

You see, Rossy has no ordinary parachute controlling his "fall"

He also has a wing-shaped jet-pack strapped to his back ,with four turbines designed by a German company, JetCat, allowing Rossy the unique man-airborne ability to propel himself up.

Just over a year ago, Rossy propelled himself with a single device across the English channel.  Rossy jetted across the 22 mile burn in 9 minutes and 32 seconds.  At the time it was his longest flight.

For those of you that remember the 1990s film the Rocketeer, you can picture just what Rossy can do up there.

However, control and stability are not as simple as the movie may have portrayed.  As a man born for the skies, Rossy has flown aircraft for decades, as well as being an avid sky diver.  His natural instinct in the air is derived from his sky diving, as he controls his flight path with delicate and precise movement and coordination of his hands and feet.

Check out this video of the Swiss "Jet Man."

His wing is made out of fiberglass, which aside from low weight also allows for flexibility against fluctuation in air pressure.  This gives the wing a more feasible stability during flight, allowing Rossy to focus more on his physical movements.

The four turbines at full capacity push out 194 pounds of thrust, which is a calculation that relates 1 pound of matter being held up against the constant force of gravity.

Armed with 3.5 gallons of fuel, the 121 pound fully geared pack only gives Rossy a few minutes of gravitational rebellion

But with bigger jets, come bigger problems.

Each jet is sheathed in Kevlar in case of an explosion.

Rossy has also developed a cutaway harness made out of seatbelts.  This allows him to easily drop the wing (which has a parachute of its own) in case of a spin, which has happened to Rossy dozens of times.

His suit is flame-retardant, his boots have incredibly reinforced heels, and his helmet is equipped with an audible altimeter.

Although this wing has allowed Rossy lift, he plans to develop a larger delta shaped pack with larger thrusters, which would look something like this...

 

Imagination Land Succeeds!..again

So I'm up in the newsroom.  Discussing the latest additions to the 09 AP Style Guide with members of the Daily Titan staff.

As you may have learned in class, or about journalism in general, a vigorous battle between writer and copy editor occurs every time an article goes to print.

As the writer portrays the story and its' players, the copy editor "corrects" the faults in AP style.

Guide in hand, bible as its referred, this brave tactician of AP commitment peruses each character of the article guaranteeing a flawless product, as best they can.

For even the best of copy editors miss a few.

As we lamented on the tediousness and attention that must be taken to produce such a perfection, epiphany struck!...and hard.

Behold!  The latest creation of a faux brilliant mind!  I give you the AP style error scanning pen, coming to a media near you...maybe, hopefully, eventually?