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Showing posts from June, 2007

measurement of time

The generally accepted units of time, by SI System, go down from a second to millisecond (1e-3) to microsecond (1e-6) to nanosecond (1e-9) to picosecond (1e-12) to femtosecond (1e-15) to attosecond (1e-18) and so on. Whereas in higher units, a second goes up to a minute, hour, day, year, decade, century, millennium and further. This " second" which we are referring right now, is actually the International Second , defined here as, " The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom. " This is the generally accepted definition today in global context. However, some cultures have developed unique time measurement systems of their own. Here is one such system used wholly in Nepalese culture before SI System was adopted in their daily schedule: The day begins when the tiles on the roof of a house can be counted, or when the hair on the back

imagini - visual dna

Surfing through the pages I landed on this site. It is a personality test site, like the ones you have encountered here and there. This site, however provides you a unique and engaging way of learning more about yourself - well, at least in terms of fun! All you have to do is select a photo on each page, which gives in to another page of photos where you pick yet another picture and so on. At the end of the test it reveals your personality. Does not sound any appealing at all - I felt the same at first, but well, why not see for yourself how boring or engaging it can get. And yes, do not forget to check out the WISHES section.

see these strange creatures

These creatures, these creatures and these creatures were made using Photoshop. Yet, these creatures were also created using Photoshop. It is amazing what one can do with Photoshop these days! However, keep in mind that these creatures are real ones.

tricks to save battery power in laptops

We were wating for a team of investors to arrive at the meeting desk. "I'm out of juice", said one of the presenters candidly. The comment was remarked upon by several participants with a series of facial expressions and laughter. Everyone of us knew what she meant - battery power in her laptop had drained out, and as if it weren't already enough, she admitted that she was not used to carrying its power adapter. This might have happened of some of us; and many of us do not carry along the power adapter. What should be done in order to avoid such unpleasant surprises? Here are a few tips - tested and tried - and found to prolong your laptop battery-life a bit longer. Much longer, in fact. Power down all non-essential components when not in use, such as wireless card, ROM drives, USB devices and external mouse. It is not advisable to watch movie in your DVD-ROM while on the road or during flight, because the spinning DVD-ROM takes up the majority or all of the juice. Op

the world's largest disk drive

A Canadian group researching advanced networking technology says it is about to test "the world's largest disk drive" - data storage within the light waves of a 5,000-mile fiber-optic loop. Labeled the Wavelength Disk Drive (WDD), the concept promises to provide lightening-fast access to shared data at the same time that it offers a new use for excess bandwidth in optical networks. Bill St. Arnaud, senior director for advanced networks at CANARIE, an Internet research outfit funded in part by the federal government, told that an initial test of a WDD would create several gigabytes of storage within the nationwide fiber backbone known as CA*net 3 . "Today, we use optical networks for point-to-point communication," St. Arnaud said. "You send a (data) packet across and it goes off the end into a computer. What we're doing is putting a packet onto the network and letting it circle continuously around the network. It can got from Vancouver to St. John's

eyedentification system 7.5

EyeDentification System is an application to perform your retinal scan and identify you. Released by EyeDentify, Inc - the first popular company to research the possibilities of retinal identification. As listed in this page, there are other such companies who are working on not only retinal-scan technologies but also on the topic of Biometrics as a whole. As described here , biometrics is the the science of using biological properties to identify individuals; for example, fingerprints, retina scan and voice recognition.

brush up your wireless glossary

Is your Wi-Fi's WEP turned on? What's the difference between bluejacking and bluesnarfing? Do you know your SSID? Here are the details behind the acronyms and jargon that is wireless technology with this Wi-Fi glossary from CNN : ACCESS POINT An access point is the connection that ties wireless communication devices into a network. Also known as a base station, the access point is usually connected to a wired network. Most Wi-Fi networks have a range of up to 150 feet but the access point range can be extended through the use of repeaters, which can amplify the network's radio signal. BLUEJACKING Bluejacking is a practice of sending anonymous text messages to mobile users using Bluetooth. Phones that are Bluetooth-enabled can be tweaked to search for other handsets using it that will accept messages sent to them. However, a user can avoid these messages by setting their device to "invisible" or turn off Bluetooth when not using it. Bluetooth is a protocol that

build a pen-cap submarine

Submarines go up or down based on their buoyancy. That is when they weigh less than the water they displace they go up. When they weigh more they go down. If they weigh exactly the same they float right where they are. Submarines vary their weight by adjusting the amount of air in the ballast tanks. You can use a pen cap and a bit of modeling clay to build a submarine that goes up or down as the amount of air in it's ballast tank shrinks and enlarges. You need a pen cap, modeling clay, a plastic bottle with a mouth large enough to get your "submarine" through and the bottle cap. (The cap must close air tight on the bottle so that when you squeeze the bottle the water won't come out the top). Make your submarine by putting a ball of clay on the stem of the pen cap. The opening to the hollow portion of the pen cap should be facing down. The hollow portion is your sub's ballast tank. Put the "submarine" in water (clay down so the air is trapped in the holl