If I Had a Landline, I Would Use This Android Phone [Phone]

Posted on by

Once upon a time, there were these cables that got into your home and into these things that went ring-ring, with numbers and redial buttons and call waiting. The DSP Multimedia Handset is the same, with Android and a touchscreen.

It's also looks like the last twist to landline-based DECT handsets. In addition to Wi-Fi, this phone uses the Android operating system, meaning that you would be able to read your mail, surf the web, listen to music, talk with Google Voice, or use any of your favorite Android apps using its 3.5'' TFT LCD touchscreen. It even supports accelerometers, so you can play even play games. [DSP via Android Community]


Google’s Going Real Time [Google]

Posted on by

Real time is the next step for Google: They're working on a standard for website publishers to hit Google with new content for indexing in seconds, a huge leap from the way Google currently crawls the web.

One way it might work is through a setup like PubSubHubbub, where a site tells a Hub there's new content, and the Hub tells subscribers when there's new content, versus having to ping the site repeatedly to check for new stuff. Google would just subscribe to feeds for sites, essentially. Beyond fundamentally adding a new dimension to Google's index, it'd help small sites, which are normally crawled far less frequently by Google than larger sites, since they could simply tell Google when they've got new stuff. The future is now, like now. [ReadWriteWeb]


Adidas miCoach Pacer Review: Like Nike+, Only Better [Review]

Posted on by

Adidas miCoach is a fitness activity tracking system similar to Nike+, except it gives you more data—including heart rate information—and has a sexy voice to guide you through workouts. Yes, it costs more, but it also does more.

The Price

$140 may sound like quite a bit to spend on a fitness activity tracking system, but you are getting everything you need to get started with a running program:

  • A stride sensor
  • A heart rate monitor
  • An online workout manager
  • Enough data and charts to satisfy even the geekiest runners

So Many Pieces!

I've used Nike+ in the past and I recall opening up a box to find nothing but a stride sensor and some instructions, but with miCoach there was a small pile of straps, gadgets, and cables to deal with. This might almost be sufficient to scare off new users, but the whole system fits together easily.

To start, you'll plug the pacer unit—the brains of the operation—into your computer using the included USB cord. This'll charge the device and give you a chance to get some workout plans onto it using the lil' syncing application you'll download from the miCoach website. That same application will pull your running data and update your miCoach account each time you decide to sync the device.

Setting up a miCoach account, charging the pacer unit, and getting everything synced barely takes any time. After that's all done you plug the included single-earphone into the pacer (or use your own headphones), clip the unit to your belt, attach the stride sensor to your shoelaces, wrap the heart rate monitor strap around your torso, wait for the pacer to recognize the other parts, put on some tunes, and run.

Wait! I Do What Again?

Ok, ok. It sounds like there's too much that needs to be done each time you go out for a run, but in reality it's a process that takes a few seconds. The heart rate monitor strap is quick and comfortable to put on, the stride sensor clips to your shoelaces securely, and the pacer recognizes both almost instantly.

Unlike Nike+ which integrates into specific music players, miCoach can work with any device-including my ol' Sony MD Walkman. You simply use the included male-to-male cable to connect your music player to the pacer unit and plug your headphones into that. That's it. You can hit the track now.

During the Run

While running, you can use the miCoach in one of two modes: free or coaching. In the free mode, the device will simply monitor your activity and save it for later syncing. In the coaching mode it'll do that and chime in to guide you. This might sound like it'd be annoying, but there's actually a variety of almost-sexy sounding voices to choose from and they only butt in to provide the stats you need or to tell you that you're running too fast.

After the Run

After you finish your run, you'll plug the Pacer into your computer using the included syncing cable. No worries about whether you've got a Mac or a PC, because there are apps for each. (Sorry *nix lovers.) For whatever reason I struggled to get my computer to recognize the Pacer the very first time I tried to sync it after a run, but didn't encounter a single issue at any point after that.

The miCoach Website

Cheesy as it sounds, Adidas got it right with their miCoach website. It's ridiculously simple to use and is designed in a way that those requiring guidance can get it, but those with a sense of familiarity can just skip to the steps they want.

If you want to use one of the workout plan, you can select and customize them through the site. I highly recommend giving those workout plans a shot, especially if you're a beginning runner—I've spent far too much time training people for a large gym chain and seeing them struggle to figure out what to do if attempting to start without set plan or schedule.

Speaking of schedules, you can view your workout calendar, track data uploaded from your Pacer, and those unfamiliar with running or in need of a refresher can get some tips and pointers.

The only thing missing from the miCoach site right now is a social aspect. I want to be able to share my workout plans and data with other users in hopes of shaming myself into keeping pace. Adidas says that such a feature is in the works though, so we'll see if I'll get my wish.

Batteries

It's already tough enough to eliminate every excuse against going for a run at an ungodly hour and the last thing I need is for my activity monitor to give me one by requiring a charge just as I'm tying my sneakers. I was surprised to realize that over the weeks that I've used the miCoach system, I never needed to purposely charge the pacer unit. The specs claim that a full charge should last for about ten hours and I've certainly used the device for more than that. It seems that daily syncing maintains a good charge and that's one less hassle to deal with.

The stride sensor's battery isn't rechargeable, but—unlike the Nike+ sensor's—it is designed to be replaced. For whatever reason, opening up the battery cover proved to be a bit of a challenge, but that may have had more to do with a fear of breaking a nail than with a flaw in design.

The Verdict

As Goldfrapp sings, I'm in love-I'm in love-I'm in love with a strict machine. Since receiving a miCoach to review, I've tossed aside my Nike+ and used the new gadget. I've gotten more satisfaction out of my runs because of the additional data and also discovered that I wasn't pacing myself properly. It seems that the miCoach has improved my running experience and that in turn prompted me to actually get off the couch—or out of the office chair—more often. Two sneakers up.

Replaceable battery on the stride sensor (though I did struggle a bit to open the battery compartment).

It's compatible with any music player

Data. Data. And some more data. Plenty of stats are available, but none are forced down you throat.

Great battery life.

The Pacer unit can be plugged into a USB port for recharging.

Plenty of workout plans are available on the miCoach site for those who want to use them.

The system has a lot of parts and may seem overwhelming to new users. Perhaps the heart rate monitor and the Pacer unit could be combined into one piece in future versions.

No social aspect to the miCoach site (though Adidas says this will change).

[Adidas]


JWST shade in the made | Bad Astronomy

Posted on by

The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA’s successor to Hubble. Mind you, it’s not a replacement: JWST will see in the infrared, peering deeper into the Universe with its ginormous 6 meter unfoldable mirror than Hubble can.

But that infrared part is important. Objects that are warm give off IR light, and if you don’t cool your telescope, it’ll glow in the wavelengths you’re trying to see. It would be like having a flashlight shining down your ’scope!

So JWST has to be cooled, and since it’ll be in a spot in space where the Sun shines 24/7 (the so-called L2 point, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balances), it basically needs a sunshade. And also since the ’scope is pretty big, the shade itself has to be sizable.

What engineers came up with is a multi-layered blanket of material that will sit "underneath" the telescope, blocking the sunlight and passively cooling the whole thing. The shade will be pretty big, about the size of a tennis court! To make sure it works, they created 1/3 scale model of the actual shade. This diminutive has been built, and is now undergoing tests at Goddard Space Flight Center.

JWST_onethird_sunshield

[Click to deployenate]

Cool! Um. Literally.

You can also keep up with the construction of JWST using a webcam mounted in the clean room. I remember that room well; though I never got in I used to watch them work on Hubble cameras there.

Also, to give you an idea of just how big JWST will be… In 2007, I was at an astronomy meeting where a frakkin’ full-scale JWST model made an appearance. Here’s a video I made about it:

I did my best with this video considering the day before I was dying from a norovirus. Man, I love Seattle, but that was a rough week.

Anyway, JWST is still planning a 2014 launch. If you like Hubble images, JWST will blow you away. Just the galaxy shots it will produce will be spectacular beyond compare. And the deep field images will go much farther than Hubble can, if you can imagine that! JWST is a revolution in astronomy waiting to happen, every bit as much as Hubble was. Let’s hope these tests go well, and we can get that bird flying.


Leaked Documents: Microsoft’s Secret Phones Coming to Verizon [Exclusive]

Posted on by

After the Windows Phone 7 launch passed without so much as a mention of Project Pink, Microsoft's other new phone project started to fade into memory. Today, we can confirm: Pink's coming, and Verizon's the carrier. UPDATE: First live shots.

A tipster passed us a load of 3rd-party marketing materials, in which a promotional plan for Pink is laid out in detail. (Campaign specifics and most graphics have to be witheld to protect the innocent, but rest assured, they're legit.) The documents don't talk about specs or software details, or more importantly why the hell Microsoft thinks this weird little pebble is a good idea, but there's plenty we can learn:

• The early Pink renders leaked to us back in September? Those are exactly the same ones included in the proposal.

• Of the two phones in prior leaks, only one shows up here: The Turtle vertical slider. It's a messaging phone, basically—one part Pre, and two parts Sidekick. (Or maybe three.)

• Verizon is a launch partner for the device, and probably an exclusive carrier. The branding and marketing in the documents suggests a joint Microsoft/Verizon launch, but another carrier isn't completely out of the question.

• The phones aren't running Windows Phone 7, unless it's hidden behind a different interface. Virtually all rumors around the Pink platform implied as much, and again, this appears to be something fundamentally different.

• Social Networking! It's all over the proposal, and presumably, the phone.

• It's suggested that the platform has apps of some sort. For a phone like this to share apps with Windows Phone 7 is pretty much impossible—the minimum hardware requirement for a Windows Phone look out of reach for this little black lump—so this one's a big question mark. Is it another SDK? Or closed app development like we've seen on the Zune HD? Web apps?

Since the documents come from a party working with Microsoft, and not Microsoft itself, a few things are missing: there's no mention of a release name for the product (Pink is the codename we've been using, but the launch title could be different.); stil no sense at all as to how the interface works; and no announcement or launch date. The documents are just days old, and hint at a near-term launch, which would be inline with what we've been hearing about a second Microsoft phone launch at or around CTIA at the end of this month. And remember, this are marketing materials, designed to promote a launch, not just an announcement. In other words, Pink, or whatever the hell it is, will likely beat Windows Phone 7 to market. So that explains all those Tweets, I guess.

All these missing pieces add up to a massive gap, not just in the phone's feature sheet, but in our understanding of what it's supposed to be. If it's a replacement for the Sidekick, the obvious question is, is anyone asking for a replacement for the Sidekick? If it's just a Microsoft-branded feature phone, er, why? Doesn't the future of youth/budget phones all about scaled-back smartphones (see: Pixi, Backflip), and not glorified feature phones?

UPDATE: More insiders have come forward, and now we have a possible timeframe: Late April. Oh, and there are two phones, as implied by the original leak. The second, according to our tipster, is the Pure horizontal slider, pictured below:

So these two phones - the Sharp PB10ZU and the PB20ZU - there are names for them but I can't tell you what they are, cause Verizon may just put out different code names in order to find out where any leaks occur. And frankly the names are really really awful sounding so I hope what I've been told aren't the final names anyway...

Apparently the interface shares some aesthetic elements with Windows Phone 7, albeit with "some sort of UI skin/more of a social-networking edge to [it]." As for release, apparently Verizon is "looking at a late April launch date," though this isn't set in stone. [Thanks, Tipsters!]


Post Type John Deere Earrings

Posted on by

Does anyone know where to buy a post (not a hanger) type John Deere tractor earring? And, no, I can't just take the hanger off the hanger type and add a post - they're huge and they'll tear my ear lobe off whenever I slip my respirator strap over.

Backpack Power Plant: You ARE the Grid

Posted on by

From Gizmodo:

Bourne Energy's BPP-2 puts a 30-pound, 500-watt generating hydroelectric plant on your back. That's like being able to walk around with 60 solar panels. And when civilization finally collapses, I'll be dragging mine to an as yet undisclosed location. You can use th

Desktop’s Dead, Baby, Desktop’s Dead [Blockquote]

Posted on by

John Herlihy, Google Europe's big chief, says that desktops will be irrelevant in three years. Which is precisely why Apple and Google are trying to kill each other, fiercely fighting for the domination of the mobile device world.

Both companies know that mobile computing is where the action is now and where it will be forever. At its presentation, Steve Jobs was adamant that the iPad was the continuation of the battle that started with the iPhone, and repeatedly said that Apple was a "mobile devices company." Google's agreed, which is why Herlihy echoed Schmidt's words at Barcelona's GSM 2010: Everything that Google is doing and planning is centered on the mobile, the cloud, and ubiquitous connectivity.

They are both right: Your desktop computer will disappear, no matter how much the geekdom cries, unless you are an engineer or someone who requires a big screen to work on—and, even then, the idea of the desktop as we know it will change too. The mice will go extinct, and every John and Jane will do their work and their pleasure using mobile devices like phones and tablets. As it should be, because computing has to become invisible, not complicated and cumbersome, like it is today. In a few years, the computing world will be like Star Trek: The Next Generation, but without the Enterprise. [Silicon Republic]


Breaker Failure Relay Setting

Posted on by

how can i make the setting for breaker failure relay on 500 KV switchyard to cover all condition which includes electromechanical trips for electrical systems (which have not current effect indicated on the protection system)

where i have gas turbine generator 250MW (6 units) connected to m

Knuckle Joints

Posted on by

What is knuckle joint? What is its design procedure? Where can i get to see its images? How to know that when the particular joint will fail in shear, crushing,tension etc? plz take ex. of knuckle joint and explain

CB Closing Time

Posted on by

What are the consequences if a generator CB (11kV, 50Hz) of closing time 90ms is replaced by a CB of closing time 65ms?

Check synchronizing relay settings: Ta = 120ms, delF = +0.5Hz, delV = +/-550V.

Positioner

Posted on by

Hi,

I'm doing a market research for positioners at the moment and after getting all the data there are following modells left:

Siemens SIPART PS2

Metso neles ND9000H

ABB TZDIC

Masoneilan SVI II AP

Tyco Avid SmartCal/ Westlock iCoT 5300

Foxboro SRD 991

Flowserv

Window Combo Heat Pump/AC

Posted on by

Hello, Anyone have any experience with combination heat pump AC units that can be mounted in a window opening? I am looking at the different ones online and would like to know if some units are better than others. Some have heat strips. I am looking at the true heat pump.

Cars From a Flood

Posted on by

help me what to do in my cars that are been drown in the flood and its takes five months before the repair technician acts on it?, Technician drain the fluid and repeat it 3x, as the test drive goes on the engine wild, what was the best move? HELP!

Surface Area and Pore Size of a Filter Media

Posted on by

In a hydraulic filter, to increase the flow rate through a filter, a filter with more surface area should be used.

I want to know what exactly does increasing surface area of filter media mean and what is relation between surface area and pore size of a filter media?

To increase th