Windows 7 is through beta, it is now release candidate, soon we are going to have a brand new operating system from Microsoft. I have been some what loyal to Microsoft Windows, when i worked on Windows 98 for the first time it was like Wow! I would say Windows 98 really changed the way people think about a personal computer. When Windows Me came in, i decided to stick with Windows 98, reason was i did not find any reason to switch as Windows 98 was doing everything i wanted at that time. When Windows XP, i still kept with Windows 98 until Windows XP Service pack 1 came in.
Now i am using Windows XP Service pack 3, i installed a dual boot with Windows Vista a number of times, but was unable to convince myself to switch. As i have been so used too with Windows XP and i really like it now.
Windows Vista Service pack 1 is a real improvement, but compatibility issue of Windows Vista with its predecessors is one of the reasons most of the users are not switching. Still i have kept Vista on a Virtual machine.
Reasons behind failure of Vista i think:
1. Strong security model, which keeps showing annoying dialog windows, and it is so frequent that users get used to just click OK without bothering for it, because they want to complete a task quickly
2. Hardware requirements, so Windows XP users will have to buy a new hardware if they want to have Windows Aero
3. Performance promises not met, seem to be slow as compare to XP
4. Windows Vista not showing backward computability is biggest reason among all
5. Most of the IT industry have applications developed that run nicely on Windows XP, but same application tends to crash on Vista without a clue
6. Software Vendors are also getting problem in making their programs work on Vista, for this they have to maintain a Virtual machine all the time to test their code on Vista.
7. For gamers that like their old games as well, get a set back when they see the older games are not working well on Vista
I hope Microsoft gets around and fixes them in the up coming Windows 7, i am hopping for the best, otherwise i will keep myself with Windows XP, and let Vista run on a Virtual machine.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
War Technology
Liquid armour, sonic bandages, rail guns and more
10. See-through planes
Clearly inspired by Wonder Woman, the MoD wants pilots to be able to see right through their aircraft. Sadly that doesn't mean making planes out of glass with scantily clad lovelies flying them; it means a heads-up display inside the pilot's helmet that projects images from outside, enabling the pilot to 'see' through the metal. The helmets are currently in development for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
11. Invisible tanks
As the old joke almost put it: What's green and invisible? That tank. Last year, the MoD revealed that it was testing invisibility systems for tanks and even troops. It's a simple enough idea - cameras film the tank's surroundings and then project it onto the tank - but it'll be a few years before it's battlefield ready. A proper invisibility cloak is probably decades away.
12. Pain beams
Want a non-lethal but exceptionally painful energy weapon? Then get thee to Raytheon, whose Silent Guardian uses a focused beam of microwave energy to heat up the skin and force enemies to take cover. As Ars Technica notes, rather brilliantly, this is one area where a tinfoil hat really could defend you.
13. HAARP
Depending on whom you believe, the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programme is either a system for better global communications, a space weapon for battling UFOs, an earthquake creator or a mind control ray. The first explanation comes from military men who can't see a piece of cheese without wondering how to kill people with it; the others from the tinfoil hat brigade and Muse's Matt Bellamy. Who to trust?
14. Terminators
We've got exoskeletons. We've got guns. So why not go the next step into Terminator territory and develop robot brains that would enable the exoskeletons to chase us around with their guns? That's exactly what DARPA's SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) electronic brain programme seems designed to do. SyNAPSE? SKYNET, more like.
Mankind has been trying to hurt his fellow man since the dawn of time, and technology makes the job much easier.
Modern technology means 'increased lethality' and scarier weapons - but it can also keep soldiers out of harm's way, patch them up when they're hurt and one day, even erase traumatic memories.
These fourteen technologies may sound like the stuff of sci-fi, but they're rapidly becoming reality.
1. Exoskeletons
Wouldn't it be great if you could give ordinary soldiers robot strength and stamina? Exoskeletons do just that, and as this video shows, they're not very far away. They're also capable of working without a person inside them. Everybody panic!
2. Smart uniforms
We can't make soldiers invisible just yet, but smart fabrics can make them much harder to see - and almost invisible to night vision goggles, heat sensors and radar kit.
3. Liquid armour
Armour is handy, but it's heavy and inflexible - so scientists have developed liquid armour, which is designed to offer the best of both worlds. There are two kinds of liquid armour: Shear Thickening Fluid (STF), which hardens on impact, and Magnetorheological (MR) fluid, which is essentially iron particles suspended in liquid. Add a magnetic field and MR fluid becomes solid in fractions of a second. Of the two, STF liquid armour is the current favourite: MR fluid armour is still a good few years away.
4. Bendy guns
One potentially fatal problem with the good old-fashioned gun is that you need to see what you're shooting at - so when you pop your head round a corner, the enemy might just pop it off your shoulders. Enter Cornershot, an Israeli system designed for SWAT teams and special forces. It's a simple enough idea: a gun that can be bent at right angles, with a sight that follows the barrel so the operator can see what he or she is shooting at.
5. Sonic bandages
One of the biggest preventable causes of battlefield deaths is from blood loss, so the Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation (DBAC) programme is working on 'sonic bandages' that cauterise wounds with a focused blast of ultrasonic energy.
6. Electronic guns
Metal Storm combines electronic ignition and stacked projectiles to devastating effect - or "increased lethality", as the brochure puts it. Its light weight means that Metal Storm guns tend to have lots and lots of barrels firing simultaneously. It makes a machine gun look like a pea shooter.
7. Rail guns
Rail guns use magnetic fields to blast projectiles at incredible speeds: the US Navy has tested one that fires its load at seven times the speed of sound.
8. Robot bombers
Earlier this week, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fired three Hellfire missiles at a house on the Afghan border, killing fugitive Rashid Rauf. That's just a taste of what's on the horizon, because today's UAVs are titchy compared to projects such as Taranis, which includes building full-size, unmanned fighter jets.
9. Brain erasers
For many soldiers, the trauma of war doesn't end when the fighting does - and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can make their civilian lives a misery. A Men In Black-style brain eraser would be a big help, so it's no surprise that the military is funding research into whether such devices are possible. Scientist have already found a way to erase mice's memories, so such tech could well be possible.
Modern technology means 'increased lethality' and scarier weapons - but it can also keep soldiers out of harm's way, patch them up when they're hurt and one day, even erase traumatic memories.
These fourteen technologies may sound like the stuff of sci-fi, but they're rapidly becoming reality.
1. Exoskeletons
Wouldn't it be great if you could give ordinary soldiers robot strength and stamina? Exoskeletons do just that, and as this video shows, they're not very far away. They're also capable of working without a person inside them. Everybody panic!
2. Smart uniforms
We can't make soldiers invisible just yet, but smart fabrics can make them much harder to see - and almost invisible to night vision goggles, heat sensors and radar kit.
3. Liquid armour
Armour is handy, but it's heavy and inflexible - so scientists have developed liquid armour, which is designed to offer the best of both worlds. There are two kinds of liquid armour: Shear Thickening Fluid (STF), which hardens on impact, and Magnetorheological (MR) fluid, which is essentially iron particles suspended in liquid. Add a magnetic field and MR fluid becomes solid in fractions of a second. Of the two, STF liquid armour is the current favourite: MR fluid armour is still a good few years away.
4. Bendy guns
One potentially fatal problem with the good old-fashioned gun is that you need to see what you're shooting at - so when you pop your head round a corner, the enemy might just pop it off your shoulders. Enter Cornershot, an Israeli system designed for SWAT teams and special forces. It's a simple enough idea: a gun that can be bent at right angles, with a sight that follows the barrel so the operator can see what he or she is shooting at.
5. Sonic bandages
One of the biggest preventable causes of battlefield deaths is from blood loss, so the Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation (DBAC) programme is working on 'sonic bandages' that cauterise wounds with a focused blast of ultrasonic energy.
6. Electronic guns
Metal Storm combines electronic ignition and stacked projectiles to devastating effect - or "increased lethality", as the brochure puts it. Its light weight means that Metal Storm guns tend to have lots and lots of barrels firing simultaneously. It makes a machine gun look like a pea shooter.
7. Rail guns
Rail guns use magnetic fields to blast projectiles at incredible speeds: the US Navy has tested one that fires its load at seven times the speed of sound.
8. Robot bombers
Earlier this week, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fired three Hellfire missiles at a house on the Afghan border, killing fugitive Rashid Rauf. That's just a taste of what's on the horizon, because today's UAVs are titchy compared to projects such as Taranis, which includes building full-size, unmanned fighter jets.
9. Brain erasers
For many soldiers, the trauma of war doesn't end when the fighting does - and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can make their civilian lives a misery. A Men In Black-style brain eraser would be a big help, so it's no surprise that the military is funding research into whether such devices are possible. Scientist have already found a way to erase mice's memories, so such tech could well be possible.
10. See-through planes
Clearly inspired by Wonder Woman, the MoD wants pilots to be able to see right through their aircraft. Sadly that doesn't mean making planes out of glass with scantily clad lovelies flying them; it means a heads-up display inside the pilot's helmet that projects images from outside, enabling the pilot to 'see' through the metal. The helmets are currently in development for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
11. Invisible tanks
As the old joke almost put it: What's green and invisible? That tank. Last year, the MoD revealed that it was testing invisibility systems for tanks and even troops. It's a simple enough idea - cameras film the tank's surroundings and then project it onto the tank - but it'll be a few years before it's battlefield ready. A proper invisibility cloak is probably decades away.
12. Pain beams
Want a non-lethal but exceptionally painful energy weapon? Then get thee to Raytheon, whose Silent Guardian uses a focused beam of microwave energy to heat up the skin and force enemies to take cover. As Ars Technica notes, rather brilliantly, this is one area where a tinfoil hat really could defend you.
13. HAARP
Depending on whom you believe, the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programme is either a system for better global communications, a space weapon for battling UFOs, an earthquake creator or a mind control ray. The first explanation comes from military men who can't see a piece of cheese without wondering how to kill people with it; the others from the tinfoil hat brigade and Muse's Matt Bellamy. Who to trust?
14. Terminators
We've got exoskeletons. We've got guns. So why not go the next step into Terminator territory and develop robot brains that would enable the exoskeletons to chase us around with their guns? That's exactly what DARPA's SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) electronic brain programme seems designed to do. SyNAPSE? SKYNET, more like.
Long Lasting Laptop Battries
A laptop battery that can last for 30 years without single charge, "Amazing" isn't it. Development of this amazing and unique Technology is being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. This amazing battery runs on betavoltaic power cells which are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years. laptop users now can use their batteries for as long as they wont not replacement needed.
The word Nuclear may raise some questions but these betavoltaic batteries cant be named as Nuclear ones, they neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste.
Betavoltaics Batteries generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of material. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current. All this Technology Talks is difficult to understand so in simple words these batteries are safe for laptop users
These batteries can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batteries. The reason the battery lasts so long is that neutron beta-decay into protons is the world’s most concentrated source of electricity, truly demonstrating Einstein’s theory E=MC2.
Another advantage of these batteries are that if they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If further research produce good results we might find these batteries in two to three years
The word Nuclear may raise some questions but these betavoltaic batteries cant be named as Nuclear ones, they neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste.
Betavoltaics Batteries generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of material. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current. All this Technology Talks is difficult to understand so in simple words these batteries are safe for laptop users
These batteries can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batteries. The reason the battery lasts so long is that neutron beta-decay into protons is the world’s most concentrated source of electricity, truly demonstrating Einstein’s theory E=MC2.
Another advantage of these batteries are that if they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If further research produce good results we might find these batteries in two to three years
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