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I was doing my usual poking around online, when I came across this webapge : a single Hydrogen atom, done to scale, to show just how much empty space there is in the universe.

The big blue dot to the right of the text is a proton, or the center of an atom.  The electron is the little particle that circles around the proton.  (This is the basic structure of all atoms.  Some just have more electrons, and more stuff inside the proton.)  This proton is is 1,000 pixels across.  The electron, is 1/1000th the size of the proton - or one single pixel.  And it just happens to be, to scale, 50,000,000 pixels away.  50 MILLION pixels away.  Thats 11 MILES of webpage.  And this web page is 50 million pixels wide.  49,999,999 of those pixels are completely empty.

From the creator of the website : “I recommend trying to scroll from here to the right a screen at a time,
just to see how long it takes the little thumb in the scrollbar to move
visibly. True masochists can try to scroll through the whole eleven
miles - but the scenery along the way is pretty bleak.”

It’s pretty amazing how everything we consider “solid” has so much empty space in between. . . .
View the webpage, diagram, and a better explination of atoms and the space in between them here :
http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/atom/

“A group of researchers from Stanford University found out that nanowires
made of silicon allow to considerably enhance the output of Li-ion
batteries. A laptop that can work on its common rechargeable battery
for two hours will be able to run for 20 hours with the help of the new
technology.”

Sounds like a really good advancement here. . . .It would be really nice if my iPod didn’t have to be charged so often, or my power tools could be really cordless, not “limited to two hours until I need an electrical outlet to re-charge the battery.”  As the article states, this technology could also be very useful for a new generation of electric cars.  Electric motors have been small, powerful, and energy-efficient for many years.  The only real problem has been finding a battery large enough, with enough charge cycles, to power an electric car for any useful distance at a reasonable speed.

“The electrical storage capacity of a Li-ion battery
depends on how much lithium can be held in the battery’s anode, which
is typically made of carbon. Silicon has a much higher capacity than
carbon, but also has a downside.

Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs
positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during
use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the
silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often
in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the
performance of the battery.

The new battery pushes this problem aside with the
help of nanotechnology. The battery stores lithium in silicon
nanowires, each with the diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a
sheet of paper. The wires inflate four times as they absorb lithium,
but they do not fracture like other silicon-made shapes.”

Read the full article here :
http://english.pravda.ru/news/science/16-01-2008/103438-silicon_nanowires-0

Although not exactly a computer tech post, I think this is at least just as important, if not more so
Besides, a computer is only as good as the commands and programs that the end users tries to run on it.

“New research conducted by brain researcher Avi Karni of the University
of Haifa in Israel explores the possibility that naps help lock in
sometimes fleeting long-term memories. A 90-minute daytime snooze might
help the most, the study finds.

“We still don’t know the exact mechanism of the memory process that
occurs during sleep, but the results of this research suggest the
possibility that it is possible to speed up memory consolidation,”
Karni said. “In the future, we may be able to do it artificially.”"

Read more about these promising developments, and what you can currently do to help improve your memory, and feel better and more awake, here :
http://www.livescience.com/health/080107-90-minute-nap.html

Now…ignoring old Bill Gates near confession that his own product has ahem…more to be desired, you HAVE to admit…vista is like some supervisor that thinks your 2 years old. Granted, it *could* help people who have problems with computers…most people can indeed figure out that running Word is NOT a harmful thing. That…opening a file…like, a .ppt is NOT a bad idea. For those of us who understand this, and cannot survive another “Do you really want to install X program”…we have Vista4Experts. You want to disable security center screaming at you to turn on window’s pesky firewall? Gone. Automatic update that you dont want on? Gone. CHANGING THE POWER BUTTON ON THE START MENU TO TURN OFF YOUR COMP? DONE. (That is the most idiotic thing I have seen…) There are some other things that are not to be trifled with…but all in all, a very nifty tool indeed. Check it out: Vista4Experts

As we have returned from our hiatus, our layout shall be changed. This current one may be the one we choose, but whichever one we decide on will still need much revisions. Some of our pages may not work, our RSS icons have disappeared. Please excuse us as we prepare for our final exams :P. Afterwards, you can expect a lot more activity on the site.

On a slightly random note…
Ad from Microsoft:
Does your computer randomly play Fur Elise or It’s a Small, Small World? Don’t worry! It’s not a bug. This is a design feature! If this occurs, please place your computer in the fridge as it is overheating, fan is not working, or your power supply is on the fritz. While it is cooling, check out the help pages!
Your Computer is Playing Classical Music Randomly

A few days ago, an unlikely individual published a paper on the theory of everything. This guy isn’t a college professor or any typical “Einstein” like figure. And yet, he has struck upon a possible theory of everything based on a mathematical pattern. The Theory of Everything 1.0 Beta was essentially Einstein’s Space-Time continuum. TOE 2 was String Theory. It is still a widespread theory though still contested heatedly. And now, TOE3 arises from a mathematical pattern named E8. It is an intricate pattern of 248 points distributed over 8 dimensions.
To introduce the Theory of Everything…it is the holy grail of physics. It is the quest to find a mathethematical set of formulas that would unite the forces of Electromagnetism, strong force, weak force, and gravity. Standard Model as of now unites 3 out of these 4. It leaves gravity alone, as no one has been able to make gravity “work” with the others.
This individual, Garrett Lisi was studying the E8 pattern and realized that some equations about this structure resembled the equations governing particles. He was able to place particles on each of the points. Any blank points left are supposedly particles that we have not yet discovered, such as the elusive graviton. Using the family of patterns that E8 belongs to, he was able to fill the object. By rotating the pattern using a computer and projecting it into 2 dimensions, he could see different interactions between the particles. He could see gravity-electro-weak interactions between particles. So far, all the observations made using this pattern have fit real-world observations. This model uses nothing but simple math and of course…8 dimensional geometry. However, this appears at first glance to be much more elegant and simple than String Theory. We may be seeing the discovery of the Theory of Everything…or, simply a spectacularly wrong theory that is elegant nonetheless. Read the article on NewScientist

Why live in first-person real-life when you can wear the Avatar Suit, and experience life from a second-person point of view?

“Do you play so many videogames that you feel weird walking around
without being able to see yourself from a third-person perspective? If
so, you need to uninstall World of Warcraft and reacquaint yourself
with the sun and your peers. If that seems like too difficult a
prospect to handle, you can always just get an Avatar Machine. This
contraption for the antisocial and maladjusted allows you to stroll
around the real world seeing yourself from a perspective you’re more
used to, all while freaking out everyone around you.”

Watch the video Here
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/weep-for-the-future/avatar-machine-
further-distances-you-from-reality-277897.php?autoplay=true

I dunno about the thought of liquid very close to valuble components inside my computer. . . .
I’d worry about the effectiveness of the “airbag”, and its durability. What if it ruptures? Is my data all ruined? How effective will this technology be?

Read about it here
http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/4568

It may not seem like a big deal, but changing the routing of your driving directions can be a very good thing.  Googles computers don’t know everything about every road.  They may not know that 20 miles of I82 are being ripped up an re-paved, and that you want to avoid I82 at all costs.  So when Google Maps has you zipping along I82, what do you do?  Simply click and drag your route away from I82, and Google will update your turn-by-turn directions to direct you around the troublesome I82.

Here’s the link to the Google page about the new feature
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/directions/index.html#utm_campaign=en&utm
_source=en-mapshpp-na-us-google&utm_medium=mapshpp

“If you need any more evidence that U.S. broadband is anemic at best,
here’s another one: The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has
just released a report ranking us 16th in broadband speeds and
connectivity among industrialized nations.

According to a Computerworld report,
“the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is 1.9Mbit/sec.,
compared with 61Mbit/sec. in Japan, 45Mbit/sec. in South Korea,
17Mbit/sec. in France and 7Mbit/sec. in Canada.” “

Not very good, is it?. . .
We also pay more on average for our broadband too.

Read more about it here
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/5741

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