Mobile phone users have in recent years enjoyed plummeting rates for local and long-distance calling thanks to new technology and fierce competition among cellular companies. Now several entrepreneurs want to use Internet technology to reduce to pennies the cost of using cellphones to call overseas.
Dialing internationally on cellphones is typically so expensive that the service is used mostly by Businesspeople on expense accounts. But a two-year-old company called i2Telecom, based in Boca Raton, Fla., plans to release a modemlike device this month that effectively turns an international call into a local one by routing it over the Internet.
Another company, Skype Technologies, recently introduced free software that lets people turn hand-held computers into mobile phones by sending calls over the Internet.
Both ventures take to a new level the market-disrupting potential of the technology called voice over Internet protocol. And both will be on center stage at VON Canada 2004, a conference on Internet telephony opening in Toronto tomorrow that will bring together telecommunications heavyweights like Nortel and Bell Canada, as well as dozens of entrepreneurs and media companies.
Using the Internet to route calls could significantly reduce costs, in part, because data and voice traffic will use a single network, advocates say. The shift presents a threat to traditional telephone companies, which have invested heavily in their networks.
Now upstart companies like i2Telecom hope to shake up the cellphone industry in much the same way that Internet calling is challenging long-distance carriers.
"It puts the cellphone providers under attack for the first time," said Rick Scherle, vice president for marketing at i2Telecom. "The land-line guys have been wrestling this technology," he said. "We're telling the cellphone guys that you have to grapple with it now, too."
I2Telecom's product, the InternetTalker MG-3, is about the size of a hand-held electronic organizer and will cost less than $100. Once connected to a phone and a broadband Internet connection, the router can be programmed to recognize three phone numbers, including those of cellular handsets.
When cellphone users call the phone where the InternetTalker is installed, they receive a second dial tone and access to an Internet calling network from which they can dial any phone number in the world. Instead of paying, say, $1.75 a minute to call London directly by cellphone, people using the InternetTalker would pay for only the local call to their Home and just 3 cents a minute, the price of an Internet call on i2Telecom's network. Users can call other i2Telecom subscribers free.
Curiously, cellphone calls routed through the Internet to other cellphones have cleaner signals than cellphone calls sent directly to other cellphones, Mr. Scherle said. Engineers at i2Telecom, who discovered this accidentally, say they believe that by redigitizing the signal, extraneous noise is eliminated.
The new service, however, will not eliminate roaming charges when cellphone users are outside their coverage area. Nor is it likely to offer much savings on long-distance calls if a user has a cellphone plan with unlimited long-distance calling. But the InternetTalker could erode the amount of Business cellular carriers have in connecting international calls. It could also hurt overseas phone companies that rely on fees from American carriers to connect international calls.
"There's a huge impact on the international carriers because a lot of carriers subsidize their capital spending with high fees from international voice traffic," said Daniel Briere, the chief executive of TeleChoice, a consulting firm in Mansfield Center, Conn.
Many long-distance carriers have tried to prevent Internet calls from coming into their country, Mr. Briere said, but that requires checking every data packet traveling over their networks, an impractical task.
Wireless carriers in the United States say Internet-based cellular calls will not affect their Business because the vast majority of the calls they connect are within North America. They also say the quality of calls traveling over their networks is superior to that of calls routed over the Internet.
"We're a Business that trades on quality," said Edward Salas, vice president for network planning at Verizon Wireless. He added that while the Internet technology "has been there for some time, I'm not sure we're ready for prime time to make it a mainstream way of moving traffic." Mr. Salas said the wide-scale use of that technology is about 10 years away.
Skype, a company founded by the creators of Kazaa, the digital music sharing software, also hopes to create software that can route Internet calls from mobile phones. But for now, the company is focused on distributing software that lets people place Internet-based calls through wireless connections to hand-held computers that use the Microsoft PocketPC operating system. Once the software is installed, users attach a headphone to the hand-held computer to make calls.
To use the Skype technology, both the caller and the recipient need the software. But the company plans to make it possible for callers to reach people outside the Skype network. Niklas Zennstrom, Skype's chief executive, said Internet technology eliminates any price difference between calls traveling one mile or thousands of miles. "The concept of national borders," Mr. Zennstrom said, "is disappearing because on the Internet there are no borders."
9.10.08
Lightweight
The base installation of Infiniflow, at less than 150kb per compute resource, offers an adaptive lightweight alternative to the traditional bloated and brittle application server and middleware deployment. The runtime real estate for any computer running Infiniflow depends upon the nature of the task you are asking it do, but Infiniflow's component-based architecture means that each compute resource only needs to install the code to deliver the functionality required at that moment - no more, no less.
Infiniflow's sophisticated Provisioner Service ensures that components that have specific minimum memory or CPU requirements only get deployed on those compute resources that can meet or exceed these criteria. Infiniflow also automatically uninstalls all unused services once the job is completed, and resources are returned to a clean state, ready to be automatically configured for the next requirement.
Infiniflow's sophisticated Provisioner Service ensures that components that have specific minimum memory or CPU requirements only get deployed on those compute resources that can meet or exceed these criteria. Infiniflow also automatically uninstalls all unused services once the job is completed, and resources are returned to a clean state, ready to be automatically configured for the next requirement.
16.9.08
The Story of the Three Genjias
Once upon a time in a certain place there lived three men who all had the same name -- Genjia. One was the tribal chief, the second a carpenter, and the third the chief's steward.
Genjia the carpenter was married to an exceptionally beautiful woman. Genjia the steward fancied her and dreamt day and night of having her for himself. But she was a very upright woman and would not let him get anywhere near her. Finally, he was driven to find some way of killing the carpenter in order to attain his end.
After a while, the father of Genjia the chief died. The steward saw in this a golden opportunity for eliminating the carpenter. Every day he secretly studied the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures and succeeded in reproducing the old-fashioned and esoteric style in which they were written. He then wrote a document in this style and handed it to the chief, saying, "Master, here is a document I came across the other day. I cannot understand a word of it and have brought it here specially for you to decipher."
Genjia the chief was baffled by the writing and passed it on to his secretary in charge of documents. After reading it, the secretary said, "This document claims to be from the old chief. In it he says that he has ascended to heaven and is now serving as an official there, but he doesn't have an official mansion. He asks you, Master, to send him a carpenter -- the most skilled you have -- to direct the construction of such a mansion."
Genjia the chief thought constantly of his father and was most concerned to hear that he had nowhere to lay his head in heaven. He sent for Genjia the carpenter, showed him the document and ordered him to go to heaven at once.
Genjia the carpenter was greatly startled. He dared not refuse, however, and could only plead for time, "How could I disobey your order, Master! But I need some time to prepare. Please allow me seven days. After that time, please hold a Twig Burning Ceremony in the hemp field behind my house to send me off. Then I'll be able to ascend to heaven to build the mansion for the old chief."
Genjia the chief considered this request reasonable and willingly agreed.
When Genjia the carpenter left, he went round making a few investigations. He wanted to find out where the chief had got this idea. He eventually discovered that it had originated in a classical document found by Genjia the steward. He put two and two together and concluded that it must be a sinister plot against him hatched by the steward.
He went home and consulted with his wife. "The most absurd thing has happened. The chief wants me to go and build a mansion in heaven. He must have been tricked into it by Genjia the steward. I did not dare refuse, but asked him to hold a Twig Burning Ceremony behind our house before I go. It would be no use trying to disobey him now. There is only one way for me to get out of this alive. The two of us must dig a tunnel under cover of night leading from the field to our bedroom, and then you can hide me there later. In a year's time I will find some way to get even."
The wife was shocked by this tale. Hatred for the steward filled the very marrow of her bones. She was willing to do anything to save her husband. So every day when night fell, the two of them dug the tunnel in secret. On the seventh day it was completed. They sealed the entrance with a slab of stone and scattered soil on it, so that people wouldn't notice it.
The eighth day came, the day for the carpenter to ascend to heaven. At the head of a retinue of elders and stewards and with a great din of bugles and drums, the chief came to send him off. They made a pile of faggots in the hemp field and asked Genjia the carpenter to sling his tool-kit over his shoulder and carry his bag in one hand. They made him stand in the middle, lit the faggots and watched the smoke rise, "carrying him up to heaven".
Genjia the steward was afraid that as soon as the faggots were lit, the carpenter would spoil everything by crying out in terror. "Come on !" he shouted to the crowd. "Blow your bugles and beat your drums! Laugh and cheer! Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven to build a mansion for our old chief. Isn't that a wonderful thing!"
The chief came over to have a look. Genjia the steward pointed gleefully to the rising smoke and said, "Master, you see, there goes his horse. Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven."
The chief was delighted.
The moment the faggots were lit and the smoke began rising into the sky, Genjia the carpenter raised the slab and escaped through the tunnel back to his own bedroom.
He confined himself to his house for a whole year. His wife went to great lengths to find milk, butter and other nutritious food for him; and as he did no work, by the end of that year he was plumper and fairer-skinned than ever.
Meanwhile, Genjia the steward tried a thousand and one ways of seducing the carpenter's wife, and she tried a thousand and one ways of avoiding him. He failed completely to attain his goal.
While Genjia the carpenter was hiding at home, he diligently practiced the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures. He prepared a document written in the authentic style and kept it on his person. On the first anniversary of his "ascent to heaven" he went and stood on the very spot where he was supposed to have been burned, the same tool-kit on his shoulder and the same bag in his hand. He called out, "How is everybody? I've just got back from heaven."
His wife was the first to come out. She pretended to be extremely surprised and hurried over to report the news to the chief.
The chief was very happy when he heard that Genjia the carpenter was back. He gave him a hero's welcome with bugles and drums, and invited him to stay in his mansion. He wanted to find out how his father was faring in heaven.
On meeting the chief, Genjia the carpenter said in a very serious tone of voice, "When I was constructing the official mansion in heaven, the old chief treated me with exceptional kindness, just as you always do, Master. That's why I'm in such good shape! The mansion is finished, and what a magnificent building it is -- ten times the size of an earthly mansion! Only one thing is lacking: a steward. The old chief misses his old steward dearly. He very much wants the steward to go up to heaven and manage things for him. After a period of time he can come back." This said, he promptly produced the document and showed it to the chief, adding that it was the old chief who had asked him to bring it down.
Genjia the chief read the document and was totally convinced by the whole story. Presently he sent for Genjia the steward and asked him to go and work for the old chief in his newly-built mansion in heaven.
When Genjia the steward saw Genjia the carpenter standing there and looking so well after his "ascent to heaven," and when he heard the vivid description of heaven given by the carpenter, he just didn't know what to think. "Perhaps I really possess some sort of magic power", he thought to himself. "It was my idea for him to go to heaven, and he actually seems to have done so! Perhaps it really is possible to fly to heaven, and the old chief really does have a new mansion there!"
He followed the carpenter's example and asked for seven days to get ready, and a Twig Burning Ceremony to be held in the hemp field behind his house to send him off to heaven. He thought that since Genjia the carpenter could come back, he could too. On the eighth day, as on the previous occasion, Genjia the steward stood in the middle of the faggots with a box on his shoulder and a bag in his hand. As on the previous occasion, there was a great din of bugles and drums, and the chief gave the order to light the faggots and send him off to heaven.
But the outcome this time was somewhat different. One difference was that after everything was over, a pile of charred bones was found among the ashes. Another difference was that the steward never came back. He stayed on in heaven forever to help the old chief run his mansion.
Genjia the carpenter was married to an exceptionally beautiful woman. Genjia the steward fancied her and dreamt day and night of having her for himself. But she was a very upright woman and would not let him get anywhere near her. Finally, he was driven to find some way of killing the carpenter in order to attain his end.
After a while, the father of Genjia the chief died. The steward saw in this a golden opportunity for eliminating the carpenter. Every day he secretly studied the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures and succeeded in reproducing the old-fashioned and esoteric style in which they were written. He then wrote a document in this style and handed it to the chief, saying, "Master, here is a document I came across the other day. I cannot understand a word of it and have brought it here specially for you to decipher."
Genjia the chief was baffled by the writing and passed it on to his secretary in charge of documents. After reading it, the secretary said, "This document claims to be from the old chief. In it he says that he has ascended to heaven and is now serving as an official there, but he doesn't have an official mansion. He asks you, Master, to send him a carpenter -- the most skilled you have -- to direct the construction of such a mansion."
Genjia the chief thought constantly of his father and was most concerned to hear that he had nowhere to lay his head in heaven. He sent for Genjia the carpenter, showed him the document and ordered him to go to heaven at once.
Genjia the carpenter was greatly startled. He dared not refuse, however, and could only plead for time, "How could I disobey your order, Master! But I need some time to prepare. Please allow me seven days. After that time, please hold a Twig Burning Ceremony in the hemp field behind my house to send me off. Then I'll be able to ascend to heaven to build the mansion for the old chief."
Genjia the chief considered this request reasonable and willingly agreed.
When Genjia the carpenter left, he went round making a few investigations. He wanted to find out where the chief had got this idea. He eventually discovered that it had originated in a classical document found by Genjia the steward. He put two and two together and concluded that it must be a sinister plot against him hatched by the steward.
He went home and consulted with his wife. "The most absurd thing has happened. The chief wants me to go and build a mansion in heaven. He must have been tricked into it by Genjia the steward. I did not dare refuse, but asked him to hold a Twig Burning Ceremony behind our house before I go. It would be no use trying to disobey him now. There is only one way for me to get out of this alive. The two of us must dig a tunnel under cover of night leading from the field to our bedroom, and then you can hide me there later. In a year's time I will find some way to get even."
The wife was shocked by this tale. Hatred for the steward filled the very marrow of her bones. She was willing to do anything to save her husband. So every day when night fell, the two of them dug the tunnel in secret. On the seventh day it was completed. They sealed the entrance with a slab of stone and scattered soil on it, so that people wouldn't notice it.
The eighth day came, the day for the carpenter to ascend to heaven. At the head of a retinue of elders and stewards and with a great din of bugles and drums, the chief came to send him off. They made a pile of faggots in the hemp field and asked Genjia the carpenter to sling his tool-kit over his shoulder and carry his bag in one hand. They made him stand in the middle, lit the faggots and watched the smoke rise, "carrying him up to heaven".
Genjia the steward was afraid that as soon as the faggots were lit, the carpenter would spoil everything by crying out in terror. "Come on !" he shouted to the crowd. "Blow your bugles and beat your drums! Laugh and cheer! Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven to build a mansion for our old chief. Isn't that a wonderful thing!"
The chief came over to have a look. Genjia the steward pointed gleefully to the rising smoke and said, "Master, you see, there goes his horse. Genjia the carpenter is on his way to heaven."
The chief was delighted.
The moment the faggots were lit and the smoke began rising into the sky, Genjia the carpenter raised the slab and escaped through the tunnel back to his own bedroom.
He confined himself to his house for a whole year. His wife went to great lengths to find milk, butter and other nutritious food for him; and as he did no work, by the end of that year he was plumper and fairer-skinned than ever.
Meanwhile, Genjia the steward tried a thousand and one ways of seducing the carpenter's wife, and she tried a thousand and one ways of avoiding him. He failed completely to attain his goal.
While Genjia the carpenter was hiding at home, he diligently practiced the calligraphy of the Buddhist scriptures. He prepared a document written in the authentic style and kept it on his person. On the first anniversary of his "ascent to heaven" he went and stood on the very spot where he was supposed to have been burned, the same tool-kit on his shoulder and the same bag in his hand. He called out, "How is everybody? I've just got back from heaven."
His wife was the first to come out. She pretended to be extremely surprised and hurried over to report the news to the chief.
The chief was very happy when he heard that Genjia the carpenter was back. He gave him a hero's welcome with bugles and drums, and invited him to stay in his mansion. He wanted to find out how his father was faring in heaven.
On meeting the chief, Genjia the carpenter said in a very serious tone of voice, "When I was constructing the official mansion in heaven, the old chief treated me with exceptional kindness, just as you always do, Master. That's why I'm in such good shape! The mansion is finished, and what a magnificent building it is -- ten times the size of an earthly mansion! Only one thing is lacking: a steward. The old chief misses his old steward dearly. He very much wants the steward to go up to heaven and manage things for him. After a period of time he can come back." This said, he promptly produced the document and showed it to the chief, adding that it was the old chief who had asked him to bring it down.
Genjia the chief read the document and was totally convinced by the whole story. Presently he sent for Genjia the steward and asked him to go and work for the old chief in his newly-built mansion in heaven.
When Genjia the steward saw Genjia the carpenter standing there and looking so well after his "ascent to heaven," and when he heard the vivid description of heaven given by the carpenter, he just didn't know what to think. "Perhaps I really possess some sort of magic power", he thought to himself. "It was my idea for him to go to heaven, and he actually seems to have done so! Perhaps it really is possible to fly to heaven, and the old chief really does have a new mansion there!"
He followed the carpenter's example and asked for seven days to get ready, and a Twig Burning Ceremony to be held in the hemp field behind his house to send him off to heaven. He thought that since Genjia the carpenter could come back, he could too. On the eighth day, as on the previous occasion, Genjia the steward stood in the middle of the faggots with a box on his shoulder and a bag in his hand. As on the previous occasion, there was a great din of bugles and drums, and the chief gave the order to light the faggots and send him off to heaven.
But the outcome this time was somewhat different. One difference was that after everything was over, a pile of charred bones was found among the ashes. Another difference was that the steward never came back. He stayed on in heaven forever to help the old chief run his mansion.
8.9.08
Ate green vegetables help hearing
Age-related deafness, and hearing loss caused by loud noise, may be reduced by the antioxidants in red wine, green tea and aspirin, it was claimed yesterday.
The compounds they contain could help protect the delicate hairs of the inner ear that are vital to hearing, new research suggests.
Destructive chemical agents called oxygen-free radicals, produced by normal cellular processes and in response to loud noise and exposure to powerful antibiotics, can damage the hairs.
But antioxidants such as resveratrol, found in red wine and green tea, and salicylate, the active ingredient in aspirin, should be able to neutralise them.
To test whether this was the case, scientists in the United States used salicylate to prevent damage to hair cells in patients' ears caused by the strong antibiotic, gentamicin.
Hearing loss affected just 3 per cent of patients who were given gentamicin plus aspirin for acute ear infections, compared with 13 per cent treated with the antibiotic plus a non-active placebo.
The compounds they contain could help protect the delicate hairs of the inner ear that are vital to hearing, new research suggests.
Destructive chemical agents called oxygen-free radicals, produced by normal cellular processes and in response to loud noise and exposure to powerful antibiotics, can damage the hairs.
But antioxidants such as resveratrol, found in red wine and green tea, and salicylate, the active ingredient in aspirin, should be able to neutralise them.
To test whether this was the case, scientists in the United States used salicylate to prevent damage to hair cells in patients' ears caused by the strong antibiotic, gentamicin.
Hearing loss affected just 3 per cent of patients who were given gentamicin plus aspirin for acute ear infections, compared with 13 per cent treated with the antibiotic plus a non-active placebo.
1.9.08
Rats will be companions of the emotional
Scientists in Canada have discovered that mice could be capable of showing empathy for each other.
The discovery was made during experiments in which well-acquainted mice were caused to suffer pain together. The findings have been published in the latest issue of New Scientist magazine.
In one experiment two mice were fed vinegar, which caused mild stomach-ache for around 30 minutes making the creatures wriggle in discomfort.
Researchers at the McGill University observed that cage-mates that had previously spent time together wriggled more, and seemed to synchronize their wriggling.
But in tests where the mice were strangers to each other, they displayed few signs of pain.
It is thought that this masking of pain is done to avoid revealing vulnerability to a potential rival.
The discovery was made during experiments in which well-acquainted mice were caused to suffer pain together. The findings have been published in the latest issue of New Scientist magazine.
In one experiment two mice were fed vinegar, which caused mild stomach-ache for around 30 minutes making the creatures wriggle in discomfort.
Researchers at the McGill University observed that cage-mates that had previously spent time together wriggled more, and seemed to synchronize their wriggling.
But in tests where the mice were strangers to each other, they displayed few signs of pain.
It is thought that this masking of pain is done to avoid revealing vulnerability to a potential rival.
18.8.08
The World Population
A very important world problem--in fact, I think it may be the most important of all the great world problems which face us at the present time--is rapidly increasing pressure of population on the land.
Suppose we first take a look at the map of the world. The position today is very different from what it was only, shalI we say, 150 or 200 years ago. If we go back to that time, there were large parts of the world which had not then been explored. For example, Australia was unknown; the great west of Canada and the United States had not been opened up; the heart of South America was almost entirely unknown;and on the map of the period you will find the heart of Africa is just marked as unexplored.
The position at the present day is absolutely different. We now know roughly the actual extent of the earth's surface. Even the outline of the Antarctic continent is shown in a solid line on the latest maps. It is only in the last two or three years that we have been able to remove the last doubtful lines, and have settled down to the idea that the earth's land surface is something fixed,and will not extend any more.
But what about population? The population of the world today is about 6000000000. That is an enormous number, yet it is known quite accurately, because there are very few parts of the world which have not carried out a modern census.China was the big unknown quantity untill 1953, when a census was carried out. The population is over 1200000000.
The important thing is not so much the actual population of the world,but its rate of increase. It works out to be about 1.6 percent annual net increase. In numbers this means something like forty to forty-five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million--rather less than six month' s increase in world population. Take Australia . There are ten million people in Australia . So it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population which peoplesthat vast country. Let us take our own crowded country, England and Wales --forty-five to fifty million people. This is just about a year's supply.
By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people--just about the population of the city of York .
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By AD. 2020, unless something terrible happens, there will be as many as 7000000000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
Suppose we first take a look at the map of the world. The position today is very different from what it was only, shalI we say, 150 or 200 years ago. If we go back to that time, there were large parts of the world which had not then been explored. For example, Australia was unknown; the great west of Canada and the United States had not been opened up; the heart of South America was almost entirely unknown;and on the map of the period you will find the heart of Africa is just marked as unexplored.
The position at the present day is absolutely different. We now know roughly the actual extent of the earth's surface. Even the outline of the Antarctic continent is shown in a solid line on the latest maps. It is only in the last two or three years that we have been able to remove the last doubtful lines, and have settled down to the idea that the earth's land surface is something fixed,and will not extend any more.
But what about population? The population of the world today is about 6000000000. That is an enormous number, yet it is known quite accurately, because there are very few parts of the world which have not carried out a modern census.China was the big unknown quantity untill 1953, when a census was carried out. The population is over 1200000000.
The important thing is not so much the actual population of the world,but its rate of increase. It works out to be about 1.6 percent annual net increase. In numbers this means something like forty to forty-five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million--rather less than six month' s increase in world population. Take Australia . There are ten million people in Australia . So it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population which peoplesthat vast country. Let us take our own crowded country, England and Wales --forty-five to fifty million people. This is just about a year's supply.
By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people--just about the population of the city of York .
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By AD. 2020, unless something terrible happens, there will be as many as 7000000000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
The World Population
A very important world problem--in fact, I think it may be the most important of all the great world problems which face us at the present time--is rapidly increasing pressure of population on the land.
Suppose we first take a look at the map of the world. The position today is very different from what it was only, shalI we say, 150 or 200 years ago. If we go back to that time, there were large parts of the world which had not then been explored. For example, Australia was unknown; the great west of Canada and the United States had not been opened up; the heart of South America was almost entirely unknown;and on the map of the period you will find the heart of Africa is just marked as unexplored.
The position at the present day is absolutely different. We now know roughly the actual extent of the earth's surface. Even the outline of the Antarctic continent is shown in a solid line on the latest maps. It is only in the last two or three years that we have been able to remove the last doubtful lines, and have settled down to the idea that the earth's land surface is something fixed,and will not extend any more.
But what about population? The population of the world today is about 6000000000. That is an enormous number, yet it is known quite accurately, because there are very few parts of the world which have not carried out a modern census.China was the big unknown quantity untill 1953, when a census was carried out. The population is over 1200000000.
The important thing is not so much the actual population of the world,but its rate of increase. It works out to be about 1.6 percent annual net increase. In numbers this means something like forty to forty-five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million--rather less than six month' s increase in world population. Take Australia . There are ten million people in Australia . So it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population which peoplesthat vast country. Let us take our own crowded country, England and Wales --forty-five to fifty million people. This is just about a year's supply.
By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people--just about the population of the city of York .
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By AD. 2020, unless something terrible happens, there will be as many as 7000000000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
Suppose we first take a look at the map of the world. The position today is very different from what it was only, shalI we say, 150 or 200 years ago. If we go back to that time, there were large parts of the world which had not then been explored. For example, Australia was unknown; the great west of Canada and the United States had not been opened up; the heart of South America was almost entirely unknown;and on the map of the period you will find the heart of Africa is just marked as unexplored.
The position at the present day is absolutely different. We now know roughly the actual extent of the earth's surface. Even the outline of the Antarctic continent is shown in a solid line on the latest maps. It is only in the last two or three years that we have been able to remove the last doubtful lines, and have settled down to the idea that the earth's land surface is something fixed,and will not extend any more.
But what about population? The population of the world today is about 6000000000. That is an enormous number, yet it is known quite accurately, because there are very few parts of the world which have not carried out a modern census.China was the big unknown quantity untill 1953, when a census was carried out. The population is over 1200000000.
The important thing is not so much the actual population of the world,but its rate of increase. It works out to be about 1.6 percent annual net increase. In numbers this means something like forty to forty-five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million--rather less than six month' s increase in world population. Take Australia . There are ten million people in Australia . So it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population which peoplesthat vast country. Let us take our own crowded country, England and Wales --forty-five to fifty million people. This is just about a year's supply.
By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people--just about the population of the city of York .
This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By AD. 2020, unless something terrible happens, there will be as many as 7000000000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
14.8.08
Magazine Offers a Prize to Die For
A leading science magazine is offering readers a prize to die for ? cryonics treatment. The lucky winner of the prize promoting the revamp of New Scientist magazine won't be able to collect the award until death when he or she will be cooled to a temperature at which decay of the body stops and then suspended in liquid nitrogen in a state known as cryonic preservation. "We think that the cryonics promotion is a way of making science interesting to everyone, not just scientists, which is exactly the same message we are trying to communicate about the magazine itself," editor Alun Anderson said in a statement. If and when the medical technology allows, the winner, preserved at The Cryonics Institute of Michigan in the United States, will be revived to continue their life. If the winner is not eager to be preserved, the magazine is offering an alternative prize--a week in Hawaii and a visit to the Mauna Kea* observatory.
8.8.08
Oriental culture
Li Ning air Feipao retained the same for a long time classic, China will bring the world more moving, more surprises, the more the power of love, the Chinese people's imagination and affinity, in the ancient tradition of music and visual elements , Gave the world a culture of the East publicized.
4.8.08
Roger Maris and Me
I grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium and just fell in love with baseball.
When Roger Maris came to the New York Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, I was eleven. I had been burned in a fire in August, so I was laid up for a while and followed baseball even more closely. I remember a headline that said Roger Maris "rejuvenates" the Yankees. I had never heard the word before, but it made me think this Roger Maris was someone special.
For me, there was something about the way he swung the bat, the way he played right field and the way he looked. I had an idol. In 1961 the entire country was wrapped up in the home-run race between Maris and Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth's ghost. I cut out every single article on Roger and told myself that when I got older and could afford it, I would have my scrapbooks professionally bound. (Eight years ago I had all of them bound into eleven volumes.)
I usually sat in Section 31, Row 162-A, Seat 1 in Yankee Stadium. Right field. I would buy a general admission ticket, but I knew the policeman, so I would switch over to the reserved seats, and that one was frequently empty.
I'd get to the stadium about two hours before it opened. I would see Roger park his car, and I would say hello and tell him what a big fan I was. After a while, he started to notice me. One day he threw me a baseball during batting practice, and I was so stunned I couldn't lift my arms. Somebody else got the ball. So Roger spoke to Phil Linz, a utility infielder, and Linz came over, took a ball out of his pocket and said, "Put out your hand. This is from Roger Maris."
After that, my friends kept pushing me: "Why don't you ask him for one of his home-run bats?" Finally, when Roger was standing by the fence, I made the request. He said, "Sure. Next time I break one."
This was in 1965. The Yankees had a West Coast trip, and I was listening to their game against the Los Angeles Angels on the radio late one night, in bed, with the lights out. And Roger cracked a bat. Next morning my high school friend called me, "Did you hear Roger cracked his bat? That's your bat."
I said, "We'll see."
When the club came back to town, my friend and I went to the stadium, and during batting practice Rog walked straight over to me and said, "I've got that bat for you."
I said, "Oh, my God, I can't thank you enough."
Before the game, I went to the dugout. I stepped up to the great big policeman stationed there and poured my heart out: "You have to understand, please understand, Roger Maris told me to come here, I was supposed to pick up a bat, it's the most important thing, I wouldn't fool you, I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you gotta let me...."
" No problem. Stand over here." He knew I was telling the truth. I waited in the box-seat area to the left of the dugout, pacing and fidgeting. Then, just before game time, I couldn't stand it anymore. I hung over the rail and looked down the dimly lit ramp to the locker room, waiting for Rog to appear. When I saw him walking up the runway with a bat in his hand, I was so excited I almost fell. I don't know what he thought, seeing a kid hanging upside down, but when he handed me the bat, it was one of the most incredible moments in my young life.
I brought the bat home, and my friends said, "Now why don't you ask him for one of his home-run baseballs?"
So I asked Roger, and he said, "You're gonna have to catch one, 'cause I don't have any."
Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8, 1966-a dark day for me. That year, I went off to college at the University of Akron, in Ohio. My roommate had a picture of Raquel Welch on his wall, and I had a picture of Roger Maris.
Everyone knew I was a big Maris fan. My friends said, "You say you know Roger Maris. Let's just go see." So six of us drove two and one-half hours to Pittsburgh to see the Cardinals play the Pirates. It was May 9, 1967. We got to Forbes Field two hours before the game, and there was No. 9. It was the first time I had ever seen Roger Maris outside of Yankee Stadium, and I figured he wouldn't know me in this setting. I was very nervous. Extremely nervous, because I had five guys with me. I went down to the fence, and my voice quavered: "Ah,... Roger."
He turned and said, "Andy Strasberg, what the hell are you doing in Pittsburgh?"
That was the first time I knew he knew my name. "Well, Rog, these guys from my college wanted to meet you, and I just wanted to say hello." The five of them paraded by and shook hands, and they couldn't believe it. I wished Rog good luck and he said, "Wait a minute. I want to give you an autograph on a National League ball." And he went into the dugout and got a ball and signed it. I put it in my pocket and felt like a million dollars.
In 1968, I flew to St. Louis to see Roger's last regular-season game. I got very emotional watching the proceedings at the end of the game. I was sitting behind the dugout, and Rog must have seen me because he later popped his head out and winked. It touched my heart. I was interviewed by the Sporting News, who found out I had made that trip from New York City expressly to see Roger retire. The reporter later asked Maris about me, and Roger said, "Andy Strasberg was probably my most faithful fan."
We started exchanging Christmas cards, and the relationship grew. I graduated from college and traveled the country looking for a job in baseball. When the San Diego Padres hired me, Roger wrote me a nice note of congratulations.
I got married in 1976 at home plate at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Rog and his wife, Pat, sent us a wedding gift, and we talked on the phone once or twice a year. In 1980, Roger and Pat were in Los Angeles for the All-Star Game, and that night we went out for dinner-my wife Patti, me, my dad, Roger and Pat.
When Roger died of lymphatic cancer in December 1985, I attended the funeral in Fargo, North Dakota. After the ceremony, I went to Pat and told her how sorry I felt. She hugged me, and then turned to her six children. "I want to introduce someone really special. Kids, this is Andy Strasberg." And Roger Maris Jr. said, "You're Dad's number-one fan."
There is a special relationship between fans-especially kids-and their heroes that can be almost mystical. Like that time my five college buddies and I traveled to Pittsburgh to see Roger. It's so real to me even today, yet back then it seemed like a dream.
I'm superstitious when it comes to baseball. That day I sat in Row 9, Seat 9, out in right field. In the sixth inning Roger came up to the plate and, moments later, connected solidly.
We all-my friends and I-reacted instantly to the crack of the bat. You could tell it was a homer from the solid, clean sound, and then we saw the ball flying in a rising arc like a shot fired from a cannon. Suddenly everyone realized it was heading in our direction. We all leaped to our feet, screaming, jostling for position. But I saw everything as if in slow motion; the ball came towards me like a bird about to light on a branch. I reached for it and it landed right in my hands.
It's the most amazing thing that will ever happen in my life. This was Roger's first National League home run, and I caught the ball. Tears rolled down my face. Roger came running out at the end of the inning and said, "I can't believe it." I said, "You can't? I can't!"
The chances of No. 9 hitting a home-run ball to Row 9, Seat 9 in right field on May 9, the only day I ever visited the ballpark, are almost infinitely remote. I can only explain it by saying it's magic-something that happens every so often between a fan and his hero. Something wonderful.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: On August 3, 1990, I received a phone call from Roger's son Randy and his wife Fran. They were calling from a hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Fran had just given birth to their first son. Fran and Randy wanted me to know that they named their son Andrew and asked i f I would be his godfather. To this day I still can't believe that the grandson o f my childhood hero Roger Maris is my namesake and my godson.]
When Roger Maris came to the New York Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, I was eleven. I had been burned in a fire in August, so I was laid up for a while and followed baseball even more closely. I remember a headline that said Roger Maris "rejuvenates" the Yankees. I had never heard the word before, but it made me think this Roger Maris was someone special.
For me, there was something about the way he swung the bat, the way he played right field and the way he looked. I had an idol. In 1961 the entire country was wrapped up in the home-run race between Maris and Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth's ghost. I cut out every single article on Roger and told myself that when I got older and could afford it, I would have my scrapbooks professionally bound. (Eight years ago I had all of them bound into eleven volumes.)
I usually sat in Section 31, Row 162-A, Seat 1 in Yankee Stadium. Right field. I would buy a general admission ticket, but I knew the policeman, so I would switch over to the reserved seats, and that one was frequently empty.
I'd get to the stadium about two hours before it opened. I would see Roger park his car, and I would say hello and tell him what a big fan I was. After a while, he started to notice me. One day he threw me a baseball during batting practice, and I was so stunned I couldn't lift my arms. Somebody else got the ball. So Roger spoke to Phil Linz, a utility infielder, and Linz came over, took a ball out of his pocket and said, "Put out your hand. This is from Roger Maris."
After that, my friends kept pushing me: "Why don't you ask him for one of his home-run bats?" Finally, when Roger was standing by the fence, I made the request. He said, "Sure. Next time I break one."
This was in 1965. The Yankees had a West Coast trip, and I was listening to their game against the Los Angeles Angels on the radio late one night, in bed, with the lights out. And Roger cracked a bat. Next morning my high school friend called me, "Did you hear Roger cracked his bat? That's your bat."
I said, "We'll see."
When the club came back to town, my friend and I went to the stadium, and during batting practice Rog walked straight over to me and said, "I've got that bat for you."
I said, "Oh, my God, I can't thank you enough."
Before the game, I went to the dugout. I stepped up to the great big policeman stationed there and poured my heart out: "You have to understand, please understand, Roger Maris told me to come here, I was supposed to pick up a bat, it's the most important thing, I wouldn't fool you, I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes, you gotta let me...."
" No problem. Stand over here." He knew I was telling the truth. I waited in the box-seat area to the left of the dugout, pacing and fidgeting. Then, just before game time, I couldn't stand it anymore. I hung over the rail and looked down the dimly lit ramp to the locker room, waiting for Rog to appear. When I saw him walking up the runway with a bat in his hand, I was so excited I almost fell. I don't know what he thought, seeing a kid hanging upside down, but when he handed me the bat, it was one of the most incredible moments in my young life.
I brought the bat home, and my friends said, "Now why don't you ask him for one of his home-run baseballs?"
So I asked Roger, and he said, "You're gonna have to catch one, 'cause I don't have any."
Maris was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on December 8, 1966-a dark day for me. That year, I went off to college at the University of Akron, in Ohio. My roommate had a picture of Raquel Welch on his wall, and I had a picture of Roger Maris.
Everyone knew I was a big Maris fan. My friends said, "You say you know Roger Maris. Let's just go see." So six of us drove two and one-half hours to Pittsburgh to see the Cardinals play the Pirates. It was May 9, 1967. We got to Forbes Field two hours before the game, and there was No. 9. It was the first time I had ever seen Roger Maris outside of Yankee Stadium, and I figured he wouldn't know me in this setting. I was very nervous. Extremely nervous, because I had five guys with me. I went down to the fence, and my voice quavered: "Ah,... Roger."
He turned and said, "Andy Strasberg, what the hell are you doing in Pittsburgh?"
That was the first time I knew he knew my name. "Well, Rog, these guys from my college wanted to meet you, and I just wanted to say hello." The five of them paraded by and shook hands, and they couldn't believe it. I wished Rog good luck and he said, "Wait a minute. I want to give you an autograph on a National League ball." And he went into the dugout and got a ball and signed it. I put it in my pocket and felt like a million dollars.
In 1968, I flew to St. Louis to see Roger's last regular-season game. I got very emotional watching the proceedings at the end of the game. I was sitting behind the dugout, and Rog must have seen me because he later popped his head out and winked. It touched my heart. I was interviewed by the Sporting News, who found out I had made that trip from New York City expressly to see Roger retire. The reporter later asked Maris about me, and Roger said, "Andy Strasberg was probably my most faithful fan."
We started exchanging Christmas cards, and the relationship grew. I graduated from college and traveled the country looking for a job in baseball. When the San Diego Padres hired me, Roger wrote me a nice note of congratulations.
I got married in 1976 at home plate at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Rog and his wife, Pat, sent us a wedding gift, and we talked on the phone once or twice a year. In 1980, Roger and Pat were in Los Angeles for the All-Star Game, and that night we went out for dinner-my wife Patti, me, my dad, Roger and Pat.
When Roger died of lymphatic cancer in December 1985, I attended the funeral in Fargo, North Dakota. After the ceremony, I went to Pat and told her how sorry I felt. She hugged me, and then turned to her six children. "I want to introduce someone really special. Kids, this is Andy Strasberg." And Roger Maris Jr. said, "You're Dad's number-one fan."
There is a special relationship between fans-especially kids-and their heroes that can be almost mystical. Like that time my five college buddies and I traveled to Pittsburgh to see Roger. It's so real to me even today, yet back then it seemed like a dream.
I'm superstitious when it comes to baseball. That day I sat in Row 9, Seat 9, out in right field. In the sixth inning Roger came up to the plate and, moments later, connected solidly.
We all-my friends and I-reacted instantly to the crack of the bat. You could tell it was a homer from the solid, clean sound, and then we saw the ball flying in a rising arc like a shot fired from a cannon. Suddenly everyone realized it was heading in our direction. We all leaped to our feet, screaming, jostling for position. But I saw everything as if in slow motion; the ball came towards me like a bird about to light on a branch. I reached for it and it landed right in my hands.
It's the most amazing thing that will ever happen in my life. This was Roger's first National League home run, and I caught the ball. Tears rolled down my face. Roger came running out at the end of the inning and said, "I can't believe it." I said, "You can't? I can't!"
The chances of No. 9 hitting a home-run ball to Row 9, Seat 9 in right field on May 9, the only day I ever visited the ballpark, are almost infinitely remote. I can only explain it by saying it's magic-something that happens every so often between a fan and his hero. Something wonderful.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: On August 3, 1990, I received a phone call from Roger's son Randy and his wife Fran. They were calling from a hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Fran had just given birth to their first son. Fran and Randy wanted me to know that they named their son Andrew and asked i f I would be his godfather. To this day I still can't believe that the grandson o f my childhood hero Roger Maris is my namesake and my godson.]
1.8.08
Smart Glass Knows When It Needs Another Beer
Drink up that beer -- another will soon be whisked to the table thanks to a hi-tech pint glass that tells bar staff when it needs refilling.
Developed by a Japanese electronics company, the intelligent glass is fitted with a radio-frequency coil in its base and emits a signal to a receiver set in the table when it's empty, New Scientist magazine reported Thursday.
The iGlassware system works by coating each glass with a clear, conducting material, enabling it to measure exactly how much liquid has been sipped or guzzled.
When empty, the glass sends an electronic cry for more beer from the table to waiters equipped with hand-held computers on frequencies similar to those used by mobile phones.
A team from the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories working in Cambridge, Massachusetts has made the first prototypes, but may find it hard to sell the idea to Britons.
"It sounds like a fun idea, but I don't think it would work in our pubs," said a spokesman for J.D. Wetherspoon, which runs over 500 pubs in Britain.
"The tradition in Britain is to get up and go to the bar for a round of drinks, not to have a waiter bring beers to the table, no matter how quickly," he said.
Developed by a Japanese electronics company, the intelligent glass is fitted with a radio-frequency coil in its base and emits a signal to a receiver set in the table when it's empty, New Scientist magazine reported Thursday.
The iGlassware system works by coating each glass with a clear, conducting material, enabling it to measure exactly how much liquid has been sipped or guzzled.
When empty, the glass sends an electronic cry for more beer from the table to waiters equipped with hand-held computers on frequencies similar to those used by mobile phones.
A team from the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories working in Cambridge, Massachusetts has made the first prototypes, but may find it hard to sell the idea to Britons.
"It sounds like a fun idea, but I don't think it would work in our pubs," said a spokesman for J.D. Wetherspoon, which runs over 500 pubs in Britain.
"The tradition in Britain is to get up and go to the bar for a round of drinks, not to have a waiter bring beers to the table, no matter how quickly," he said.
31.7.08
28.7.08
Lie-detector camera looks into your eyes
A new heat-detecting camera can catch a liar in the act - at least 75% of the time, according to a small scientific study out today.
If additional tests confirm its ability, the lie-detector camera might one day be used by airport security to apprehend terrorists before they get on an airplane, says researcher James Levine of the Mayo Clinic.
But one critic questions whether the camera would ever be reliable enough to be used on a large scale, or whether it could spot someone who plans to commit a crime.
Levine's group reported their early findings in today's Nature.
Levine and his colleagues enlisted 20 U.S. Army recruits to help test the camera, which records the heat patterns that are created when blood rushes to the human face. The researchers told eight of the recruits in the study to commit a mock crime. They were told to stab a mannequin, rob it of $20, then lie about the "crime." The remaining 12 people in the study knew nothing about the fake crime.
The researchers took all 20 people into an interrogation room. They asked them whether they had stolen $20 and then recorded their answers with a standard polygraph test and the new camera.
The camera caught six out of eight liars as they were lying - the same lie-detecting ability as the polygraph test. The camera also correctly identified 11 of the 12 people who were telling the truth - a slightly better rate than the polygraph.
The study is so small that it can't be used as proof of the camera's ability to catch a thief or a liar, Levine says. Still, he is hopeful that the camera is recording a subtle flushing of the face that may automatically occur when someone lies.
That flushing may not be caught by the naked eye, but the camera shows a bright red-orange-yellow zone that represents blood rushing to the eyes. "When someone lies, you get an instantaneous warming around the eyes," he says. Levine speculates that people who lie are afraid of getting caught. That fear triggers a primitive response to run away. Blood goes to the eyes so that the liar can more efficiently map out an escape route, he says.
Levine says it may take years before the camera would be ready for a test at a large U.S. airport.
Alan Zelicoff, a senior scientist at the Center for National Security and Arms Control at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, says that even if the camera works as well as it did in this study, it would mistakenly label lots of people as liars. At a busy U.S. airport, those mistakes could mean a thousand passengers a day who would get pulled aside by security - a move that would probably mean lots of missed flights and irate passengers, he says.USATODAY
If additional tests confirm its ability, the lie-detector camera might one day be used by airport security to apprehend terrorists before they get on an airplane, says researcher James Levine of the Mayo Clinic.
But one critic questions whether the camera would ever be reliable enough to be used on a large scale, or whether it could spot someone who plans to commit a crime.
Levine's group reported their early findings in today's Nature.
Levine and his colleagues enlisted 20 U.S. Army recruits to help test the camera, which records the heat patterns that are created when blood rushes to the human face. The researchers told eight of the recruits in the study to commit a mock crime. They were told to stab a mannequin, rob it of $20, then lie about the "crime." The remaining 12 people in the study knew nothing about the fake crime.
The researchers took all 20 people into an interrogation room. They asked them whether they had stolen $20 and then recorded their answers with a standard polygraph test and the new camera.
The camera caught six out of eight liars as they were lying - the same lie-detecting ability as the polygraph test. The camera also correctly identified 11 of the 12 people who were telling the truth - a slightly better rate than the polygraph.
The study is so small that it can't be used as proof of the camera's ability to catch a thief or a liar, Levine says. Still, he is hopeful that the camera is recording a subtle flushing of the face that may automatically occur when someone lies.
That flushing may not be caught by the naked eye, but the camera shows a bright red-orange-yellow zone that represents blood rushing to the eyes. "When someone lies, you get an instantaneous warming around the eyes," he says. Levine speculates that people who lie are afraid of getting caught. That fear triggers a primitive response to run away. Blood goes to the eyes so that the liar can more efficiently map out an escape route, he says.
Levine says it may take years before the camera would be ready for a test at a large U.S. airport.
Alan Zelicoff, a senior scientist at the Center for National Security and Arms Control at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, says that even if the camera works as well as it did in this study, it would mistakenly label lots of people as liars. At a busy U.S. airport, those mistakes could mean a thousand passengers a day who would get pulled aside by security - a move that would probably mean lots of missed flights and irate passengers, he says.USATODAY
Building Better Ultralight Computers
The Holy Grail of mobile computing is a portable device that has the power of a desktop computer, lasts more than a day on a single battery charge, and weighs next to nothing.
Right now, such a computer is still a myth.
But computer makers are pushing the limits of weight and power.
Today's so-called ultralight computers, which retail from about $1,800 to more than $3,000, are less than an inch thick, weigh less than three pounds, and have the computing power of a typical year-old desktop.
Yet many of the smallest, lightest computers are studded with tradeoffs. They, for example, won't last more than a few hours on a single battery, don't come with built-in CD or DVD drives, and have less powerful processors than "normal" PCs.
"Right now, people do see that you have to compromise to get to the form factor," that is, the ideal size and weight, says Michael Abary, senior product marketing manager for Sony's Vaio line of notebook PCs. "But we're making plans to offset them [the compromises]."
One of the most promising new technologies to help achieve that goal is a new breed of low-powered microprocessors that can vary the speeds at which they operate.
During complex computing tasks - such as crunching a large amount of numerical data in a spreadsheet - the processors might run at their top rate, or "clock speed." But for less demanding tasks - running a word processor or playing music, for instance - the chip can slow way down.
The chief advantage of these processors, including Intel's Mobile Pentium III-M and Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe, is the power they save. At slow speeds, for example, they typically require less than 1 watt, which means a computer's rechargeable batteries will last much longer between charges.
Meanwhile, labs are testing new battery technologies.
For now, most rechargeable batteries, made of lithium, provide portable computers about four or five hours before they need to be recharged. But research into different, lighter materials - such as zinc combined with air - could produce batteries with greater "energy densities." If more power can be packed into less space, portable computers can be made even lighter than the current crop of ultralights.
"Unfortunately, unlike a lot of electronic technology which sees a doubling in capabilities every 18 months, battery technology growth is only linear," says Tom Bernhard, director of product marketing for Fujitsu. By Bernhard's estimates, really interesting developments won't happen for another three to five years.
While they wait for the battery improvements, computer makers are touting a new type of portable computer called the tablet PC, which they hope to offer for sale by next year. Compaq, NEC and Toshiba all showed off models at this week's Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.
These computers - typically the size and shape of an 1.5-inch-thick stack of typing paper - feature a screen that users can "write" on using a plastic stylus. The software, a special version of Microsoft's new Windows XP operating system, can interpret those pen strokes. And, instead of using a computer mouse to click on icons, users will merely tap on the screen to access the Internet or start programs.
Ted Clark, vice president for Compaq's Tablet PC, says such pen-based computers will have all the power, memory and features of an ordinary notebook computer.
Such snazzy portables may not be as cheap as ordinary notebooks, however. Early tablet PCs were priced well above $3,000 because of expensive parts such as the touch-sensitive screen.
Right now, such a computer is still a myth.
But computer makers are pushing the limits of weight and power.
Today's so-called ultralight computers, which retail from about $1,800 to more than $3,000, are less than an inch thick, weigh less than three pounds, and have the computing power of a typical year-old desktop.
Yet many of the smallest, lightest computers are studded with tradeoffs. They, for example, won't last more than a few hours on a single battery, don't come with built-in CD or DVD drives, and have less powerful processors than "normal" PCs.
"Right now, people do see that you have to compromise to get to the form factor," that is, the ideal size and weight, says Michael Abary, senior product marketing manager for Sony's Vaio line of notebook PCs. "But we're making plans to offset them [the compromises]."
One of the most promising new technologies to help achieve that goal is a new breed of low-powered microprocessors that can vary the speeds at which they operate.
During complex computing tasks - such as crunching a large amount of numerical data in a spreadsheet - the processors might run at their top rate, or "clock speed." But for less demanding tasks - running a word processor or playing music, for instance - the chip can slow way down.
The chief advantage of these processors, including Intel's Mobile Pentium III-M and Transmeta Corp.'s Crusoe, is the power they save. At slow speeds, for example, they typically require less than 1 watt, which means a computer's rechargeable batteries will last much longer between charges.
Meanwhile, labs are testing new battery technologies.
For now, most rechargeable batteries, made of lithium, provide portable computers about four or five hours before they need to be recharged. But research into different, lighter materials - such as zinc combined with air - could produce batteries with greater "energy densities." If more power can be packed into less space, portable computers can be made even lighter than the current crop of ultralights.
"Unfortunately, unlike a lot of electronic technology which sees a doubling in capabilities every 18 months, battery technology growth is only linear," says Tom Bernhard, director of product marketing for Fujitsu. By Bernhard's estimates, really interesting developments won't happen for another three to five years.
While they wait for the battery improvements, computer makers are touting a new type of portable computer called the tablet PC, which they hope to offer for sale by next year. Compaq, NEC and Toshiba all showed off models at this week's Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.
These computers - typically the size and shape of an 1.5-inch-thick stack of typing paper - feature a screen that users can "write" on using a plastic stylus. The software, a special version of Microsoft's new Windows XP operating system, can interpret those pen strokes. And, instead of using a computer mouse to click on icons, users will merely tap on the screen to access the Internet or start programs.
Ted Clark, vice president for Compaq's Tablet PC, says such pen-based computers will have all the power, memory and features of an ordinary notebook computer.
Such snazzy portables may not be as cheap as ordinary notebooks, however. Early tablet PCs were priced well above $3,000 because of expensive parts such as the touch-sensitive screen.
23.7.08
Indonesians told to plant trees before marrying
Prospective newlyweds in an Indonesian province are being given one more promise to honor: planting trees to help slow the rapid deterioration of the country's forests.
As Indonesia marks World Environment Day on Thursday, husbands-and brides-to-be in Gorontalo, a rugged mountainous province on Sulawesi island, are being required to plant 10 seedlings supplied by the local government, said Hasyim Alidrus, head of the religious affairs office.
It is part of a nationwide "re-greening" initiative launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Conference in Bali last November and millions of trees were planted across the vast archipelago after the meeting.
The program, critics say, is largely symbolic in a nation that is losing its forests at one of the fastest rates in the world due to illegal logging, mining, new oil palm plantations and slash-and-burn land clearing.
Conservationists say deforestation on Borneo island has claimed an area the size of some European countries and continues virtually unabated.
That has hardly dampened the enthusiasm of 27-year-old Khairul Baso and his fiancee, Andini, who received two 6-month-old teak trees along with palm, fruit and flower seedlings ahead of their wedding this weekend.
The couple is just one of nearly 900 that this year received trees from Gorontalo's religious affairs office, where they are required to register their marriage documents. Couples are required to plant the trees to receive their legal paperwork, Alidrus said.
As Indonesia marks World Environment Day on Thursday, husbands-and brides-to-be in Gorontalo, a rugged mountainous province on Sulawesi island, are being required to plant 10 seedlings supplied by the local government, said Hasyim Alidrus, head of the religious affairs office.
It is part of a nationwide "re-greening" initiative launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bali Conference in Bali last November and millions of trees were planted across the vast archipelago after the meeting.
The program, critics say, is largely symbolic in a nation that is losing its forests at one of the fastest rates in the world due to illegal logging, mining, new oil palm plantations and slash-and-burn land clearing.
Conservationists say deforestation on Borneo island has claimed an area the size of some European countries and continues virtually unabated.
That has hardly dampened the enthusiasm of 27-year-old Khairul Baso and his fiancee, Andini, who received two 6-month-old teak trees along with palm, fruit and flower seedlings ahead of their wedding this weekend.
The couple is just one of nearly 900 that this year received trees from Gorontalo's religious affairs office, where they are required to register their marriage documents. Couples are required to plant the trees to receive their legal paperwork, Alidrus said.
20.7.08
The Magic Moneybag
Long, long ago there was a young couple who lived in a small thatched hut in a gully. They were so poor that every day they had to cut two bundles of firewood and carry them to market on their backs.
One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. The other bundle they kept in the kitchen for their own use. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle which they had kept for themselves.
That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on.
On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. From the outside it looked just the same as before. At midnight an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it.
On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, "Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. Why do you cut two?"
The woodcutter made a bow and replied, "We are penniless. That's why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. With it we can buy rice to make porridge."
The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, "I've known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. I shall give you a piece of treasure. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood."
As soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before. Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. The fairies asked him, "Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home."
The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, "I'd like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. Give me that round, bulging one." He chose the biggest one and took it down.
Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the y
oung man, "You cannot take that one. I'll give you an empty one. Every day you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more." The woodcutter reluctantly agreed. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground.
Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. She was most excited. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. Instantly, a lump of silver would roll jingling out. When they weighed it on the palm of their hand, they found it to be exactly one tael. Every day one tael of silver and no more came rolling out of the bag. The wife saved them up one by one.
Time went slowly by. One day the husband suggested, "Let's buy an ox."
The wife didn't agree. A few days later, the husband suggested again, "How about buying a few acres of land?"
His wife didn't agree with that either. A few more days elapsed, and the wife herself proposed, "Let's build a little thatched cottage."
The husband was itching to spend all the money they had saved and said, "Since we have so much money in hand, why don't we build a big brick house?"
The wife could not dissuade her husband and reluctantly went along with his idea.
The husband spent the money on bricks, tiles and timber and on hiring carpenters and masons. From that time on, neither of them went into the mountain to cut firewood any more. The day came when their pile of silver was almost exhausted, but the new house was still unfinished. It had long been in the back of the husband's mind to ask the moneybag to produce more silver. So without his wife's knowledge, he opened the bag for a second time that day. Instantly, another lump of snow-white silver rolled jingling out of the bag onto the ground. He opened it a third time and received a third lump.
He thought to himself, "If I go on like this, I can get the house finished in no time!" He quite forgot the old man's warning. But when he opened the bag for the fourth time, it was absolutely empty. This time not a scrap of silver came out of it. It was just an old cloth bag. When he turned to look at his unfinished brick house, that was gone as well. There before him was his old thatched hut.
The woodcutter felt very sad. His wife came over and consoled him, "We can't depend on the magic moneybag from heaven. Let's go back to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. That's a more dependable way of earning a living."
From that day on, the young couple once again went up to the mountain to cut firewood and led their old, hardworking life.
One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. The other bundle they kept in the kitchen for their own use. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle which they had kept for themselves.
That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on.
On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. From the outside it looked just the same as before. At midnight an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it.
On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, "Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. Why do you cut two?"
The woodcutter made a bow and replied, "We are penniless. That's why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. With it we can buy rice to make porridge."
The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, "I've known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. I shall give you a piece of treasure. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood."
As soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before. Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. The fairies asked him, "Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home."
The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, "I'd like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. Give me that round, bulging one." He chose the biggest one and took it down.
Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the y
oung man, "You cannot take that one. I'll give you an empty one. Every day you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more." The woodcutter reluctantly agreed. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground.
Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. She was most excited. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. Instantly, a lump of silver would roll jingling out. When they weighed it on the palm of their hand, they found it to be exactly one tael. Every day one tael of silver and no more came rolling out of the bag. The wife saved them up one by one.
Time went slowly by. One day the husband suggested, "Let's buy an ox."
The wife didn't agree. A few days later, the husband suggested again, "How about buying a few acres of land?"
His wife didn't agree with that either. A few more days elapsed, and the wife herself proposed, "Let's build a little thatched cottage."
The husband was itching to spend all the money they had saved and said, "Since we have so much money in hand, why don't we build a big brick house?"
The wife could not dissuade her husband and reluctantly went along with his idea.
The husband spent the money on bricks, tiles and timber and on hiring carpenters and masons. From that time on, neither of them went into the mountain to cut firewood any more. The day came when their pile of silver was almost exhausted, but the new house was still unfinished. It had long been in the back of the husband's mind to ask the moneybag to produce more silver. So without his wife's knowledge, he opened the bag for a second time that day. Instantly, another lump of snow-white silver rolled jingling out of the bag onto the ground. He opened it a third time and received a third lump.
He thought to himself, "If I go on like this, I can get the house finished in no time!" He quite forgot the old man's warning. But when he opened the bag for the fourth time, it was absolutely empty. This time not a scrap of silver came out of it. It was just an old cloth bag. When he turned to look at his unfinished brick house, that was gone as well. There before him was his old thatched hut.
The woodcutter felt very sad. His wife came over and consoled him, "We can't depend on the magic moneybag from heaven. Let's go back to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. That's a more dependable way of earning a living."
From that day on, the young couple once again went up to the mountain to cut firewood and led their old, hardworking life.
14.7.08
Deformation behavior of dispersion-strengthened copper at high temperature
The deformation behavior of dispersion-strengthened copper with different compositions was investigated by hot compression simulation tests on a Gleeble-1500 thermal-mechanical simulator. The microstructure during deformation at high temperature was also studied. The result shows that at the beginning of hot compression simulation, the flowing stress of the dispersion-strengthened copper quickly attains a peak value and the stress shows a greater decrease when the temperature is higher and the strain rate is lower. The dispersion particles lead to an obvious increase in the recrystallization temperature. Under experimental conditions, dynamic recovery is the main softening method. The constitutive equation at high temperature of 1.2﹪Al2O3-0.4﹪WC/Cu is obtained.
11.7.08
All Superman
Superman (played by Will Smith) in making a lot of trouble, become a headache for the hearts of the public figures difficult. In order to regain the people, Superman decided to find a new public relations to deal with the crisis, to improve its public image. Can not think of, the public relations of his wife Mary (played investigation Erziselong) actually were anonymous female Superman! On the sparks between two people together to make a wonderful occasion, Superman aware of their supernatural power was gradually fading, in the end how his hands and Mary, will soon release a group of common revenge against his villain »
9.7.08
Micro Heat Exchanger with a Novel Sintered Ni Microfibrous Structured Wick and Its Performance
Ni micro-fiber used sintering porous structural material (Ni-defibrillators) of the micro-heat exchanger, heat transfer and flow of their properties have been studied, inspected the micro-structure of heat exchangers and heat transfer coefficient resistance movement of the impact test The results show that the fiber-filled Ni could significantly strengthen the micro-heat exchanger performance, than the air flow under the same conditions, the size of micro-heat exchanger heat transfer coefficient increased 2 times more; Ni-defibrillators to reduce the porosity and by Small flow depth can significantly improve the micro-heat exchanger performance, but the result of the heat exchanger to increase pressure drop;Use of high thermal conductivity and thickness of the small copper heat exchanger film will help improve the micro-heat exchanger performance. Ni micro-fiber porosity of 95.1 percent, flow depth of 0.3 mm, heat transfer copper film thickness of 0.1 mm, water The volume of traffic to 14.6 L / h, the size of micro-heat exchanger heat transfer coefficient of up to 40.0 MW / (m3 K), heat transfer coefficient of up to 20 kW / (m2 K), pressure drop of about 0.2 MPa.
7.7.08
Experimental Study on Heat Production Mechanism during Fatigue Process
The traditional method of determining the fatigue test of pilot fatigue limit at the long cycle, the need for more samples, the high cost of a fatigue test pilot in a difficult issues. The use of text with accurate, rapid and convenient, low-cost advantages of the thermal imager Determination of a wide range of load condition of fatigue limit of Q235, and different sticky and / or plastic effects of heat-led mechanism. Materials in the course of fatigue, fatigue limit under the load caused by temperature fluctuations from Heat elastic effect, the temperature rise from non-bomb material, plastic effect (such as the stickiness effect), and fatigue limit on the total load from plastic work, have led to fatigue damage, making a downward adjustment mechanism of temperature rise. Through the test data The analysis calculated the stickiness of the material factor, given the use of plastic determine the starting point of energy consumption
6.7.08
Sister Venus to win war
Seventh seed Venus in the U.S. yesterday's temperature Budden tennis tournament women's singles final, 5, 6 to 7 than 4 Licuo than her sister Serena, successfully defending champion.
This became the focus of attention in the "family of civil war," the 28-year-old Venus Although the first set was the first sixth seed Serena broke serve, but she then calmly battle, gradually catch up, Recovering a 4 to 4 tie, and thrilling to win the first set.
Competition is also the second set, both sides played Nanfennanjie, lead has increased stalemate, with Venus finally better stamina, hard to play a beautiful victory. With the victory, Venus has won seven Grand Slam tournament title attached.
This became the focus of attention in the "family of civil war," the 28-year-old Venus Although the first set was the first sixth seed Serena broke serve, but she then calmly battle, gradually catch up, Recovering a 4 to 4 tie, and thrilling to win the first set.
Competition is also the second set, both sides played Nanfennanjie, lead has increased stalemate, with Venus finally better stamina, hard to play a beautiful victory. With the victory, Venus has won seven Grand Slam tournament title attached.
4.7.08
The future of one of the most professional - British electronic engineering analysis
In the United Kingdom's revenue, at least half are from engineering, electronic engineering in which occupy a significant share. This is extremely rich in expertise and skills in Formula One motor racing has been most obvious in the performance: this movement can be said to be testing some of the most remarkable mechanical and electronic engineering invention of the touchstone, and the British engineers To dominate this industry. British engineering and technology but also in the magic of the development of new fighters, new fighters on the application of such a voice activated receptors and the integration of electronic technology, but also able to take advantage of global long-distance wireless communication network. Britain's electronic engineering also deal with today's problems to find a more environmentally friendly, cleaner solutions, and make unremitting efforts.
3.7.08
Abdullah: To Increase Production If Oil Prices Will Not Drop
Kuwait local newspaper "Arab Times" recently quoted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah as saying, due to speculation, as well as heavy tax burden on oil prices is the main reason behind the continuing rise, so, even if oil prices do not increase oil production Will be reduced.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Yimi June 30 that Saudi Arabia is ready to provide its consumer market by the quantity of oil, but now the market's oil supply is adequate.
Riyadh has already promised in July, producing 9.7 million barrels of oil per day, making the country since the May crude oil output has increased by 550,000 barrels.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Yimi June 30 that Saudi Arabia is ready to provide its consumer market by the quantity of oil, but now the market's oil supply is adequate.
Riyadh has already promised in July, producing 9.7 million barrels of oil per day, making the country since the May crude oil output has increased by 550,000 barrels.
2.7.08
Computer Crashes What Are The Reasons For
I bought a new computer assembly machine, often crashes. Dead when the screen may freeze 2 to 3 seconds fixed, and then on a blank screen, after the resumption of self-inspection system will then be normal use. Heavy equipment after the system has the same problem, expert advice, thank you
29.6.08
Computer Keyboards Can Be Dirtier Than A Toilet: Study
Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard -- you might as well be eating off a toilet seat, according to a new study on the amount of germs on keyboards.
A study by British consumer magazine "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle, for bugs generally found in unhygienic places.
A study by British consumer magazine "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle, for bugs generally found in unhygienic places.
NASA mulls six-month stay on moon for astronauts
NASA mulls six-month stay on moon for astronauts
NASA wants astronauts who will return to the moon to take one long step for mankind by staying there for up to six months.
The US space agency has announced it hopes to build moon bases that can house astronauts for the long stays, with an intricate transportation and power system.
NASA is examining different designs for lunar outposts that could be inspired by the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), NASA’s director of Advance Capabilities Division, Carl Walz said.
NASA wants astronauts who will return to the moon to take one long step for mankind by staying there for up to six months.
The US space agency has announced it hopes to build moon bases that can house astronauts for the long stays, with an intricate transportation and power system.
NASA is examining different designs for lunar outposts that could be inspired by the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), NASA’s director of Advance Capabilities Division, Carl Walz said.
Let's Think Nothing Together
I have an insane desire to read,
And rack my brains to try to write.
Long-staying at home is so stifling.
Go out for a walk,
In the fresh air and very open place.
Here let's think nothing together.
Relax and enjoy for the
And rack my brains to try to write.
Long-staying at home is so stifling.
Go out for a walk,
In the fresh air and very open place.
Here let's think nothing together.
Relax and enjoy for the
Notes On Mountain
The telephone rang suddenly,which waked me up at about half past five this morning.One of my friends asked me to go climbing with him.I was so sleepy that I rejected his invation at first.Thinking about it carefully,I decided to go with him because I am an honest gentleman.Weather permitting,I would go with him,which is what I had promised to him.As one member in society,we shouldn’t break our promise no matter what happens.Through this,percentages of your friends or classmates will trust you more completely.
After some minutes later,both of us met a girl in her own village.Then we had a simple breakfast at a small store.When five of us got together finally,we rode our bikes to Longkeng Hill.Perhaps this is my second time to have a close touch to this hill.Long,a girl and our guide,said she likes climbing this hill every week.How determined and strong she is!As we all know,climbing has become a kind of sports which made majority of people excited.
Reaching the bottom of the hill,we set aside our bikes and began climbing. Excatly speaking,we were walking the hill roads because the hill is not steep at all.If you have ever gone climbing that hill,you may find that people can reach the top of it by cars.You know,when climbing,we can listen to some country music and heard the birds singing.At the same time, the sound of water came into our ears.You can fully image that you have this experience personally.The feelings of it must be so great that you would like to go there next time.Do you have a desire to go climbing Longheng Hill?If you are free,you may go and have a try.I think my friend,Long prefer to be your guide.
Indeed,it took us quite a long time to get the top of the hill.Of course,we cannot reach the real top.You know there is a Military Base at the top,which made us forbidden to go on climbing.Suddenly,several soliders came into our eyes and their strong-minded spirits made us admired.In my opinion,I think their daily life must be boring and hard,but maybe all of them enjoy it,which is quite unbelievable for me.
After arriving at the top of the hill,we all went back.Then we came to the “waterfall” to play with water and tried to climbe higher.It seems that we are a group of children.Suddenly,I picked a beautiful stone up.I know,Long was a “stone fan”.That means,she likes collecting different kinds of stones when climbing.So I gave it to her.Absolutely,she was so delighted.How a fan she is!
The water was pouring from the top of the mountain heavily because it rained a lot several days ago.Thinking back the experience,it haven’t occured to me that I am so brave.Although my trousers were wet,I still felt happy.It seemed that I came back to my childhood.
Walking along,you can forget the pressure on study or others.Maybe it is the reason why many people like climbing and enjoy the special feelings.In a word,just enjoy it!
By the way,when we went back to home.A car drove so quickly at the crossing that Han and I couldn't notice the car.Luckily,the car didn't do harm to us,but we were rather frightened from the bottom of our heart.God bless us!
After some minutes later,both of us met a girl in her own village.Then we had a simple breakfast at a small store.When five of us got together finally,we rode our bikes to Longkeng Hill.Perhaps this is my second time to have a close touch to this hill.Long,a girl and our guide,said she likes climbing this hill every week.How determined and strong she is!As we all know,climbing has become a kind of sports which made majority of people excited.
Reaching the bottom of the hill,we set aside our bikes and began climbing. Excatly speaking,we were walking the hill roads because the hill is not steep at all.If you have ever gone climbing that hill,you may find that people can reach the top of it by cars.You know,when climbing,we can listen to some country music and heard the birds singing.At the same time, the sound of water came into our ears.You can fully image that you have this experience personally.The feelings of it must be so great that you would like to go there next time.Do you have a desire to go climbing Longheng Hill?If you are free,you may go and have a try.I think my friend,Long prefer to be your guide.
Indeed,it took us quite a long time to get the top of the hill.Of course,we cannot reach the real top.You know there is a Military Base at the top,which made us forbidden to go on climbing.Suddenly,several soliders came into our eyes and their strong-minded spirits made us admired.In my opinion,I think their daily life must be boring and hard,but maybe all of them enjoy it,which is quite unbelievable for me.
After arriving at the top of the hill,we all went back.Then we came to the “waterfall” to play with water and tried to climbe higher.It seems that we are a group of children.Suddenly,I picked a beautiful stone up.I know,Long was a “stone fan”.That means,she likes collecting different kinds of stones when climbing.So I gave it to her.Absolutely,she was so delighted.How a fan she is!
The water was pouring from the top of the mountain heavily because it rained a lot several days ago.Thinking back the experience,it haven’t occured to me that I am so brave.Although my trousers were wet,I still felt happy.It seemed that I came back to my childhood.
Walking along,you can forget the pressure on study or others.Maybe it is the reason why many people like climbing and enjoy the special feelings.In a word,just enjoy it!
By the way,when we went back to home.A car drove so quickly at the crossing that Han and I couldn't notice the car.Luckily,the car didn't do harm to us,but we were rather frightened from the bottom of our heart.God bless us!
28.6.08
Land - Speed Record - LSR
In a particular venue or road cycling starting to create the maximum speed record car activities. The work by car engine capacity integral A - J a total of 10 levels.
Present to drive the car tyres the maximum speed record is in November 1965 by the brothersčµmime (Summer Brother) created, the speed of 660 km / h; jet engine to drive the vehicle is the highest speed recorded in 1983 Richard Nobel Prize by the British (Richard Noble) driving his own car design Thrust II (see map) northwest Nevada in the United States on the creation of the Salt Lake, the speed of 1019.89 km / hr. Its total power output of the engine to 60,000 horsepower.
Present to drive the car tyres the maximum speed record is in November 1965 by the brothersčµmime (Summer Brother) created, the speed of 660 km / h; jet engine to drive the vehicle is the highest speed recorded in 1983 Richard Nobel Prize by the British (Richard Noble) driving his own car design Thrust II (see map) northwest Nevada in the United States on the creation of the Salt Lake, the speed of 1019.89 km / hr. Its total power output of the engine to 60,000 horsepower.
Solar Race
Solar energy in environmental protection and utilization of natural there is a great advantage, increasing attention, solar car race has become the new technology of Yanshi Hui. Australia and Switzerland in the past, the game more famous, in the past two years, Japan has frequently held the international solar car competition, the teams play a wide range, from car factories, power companies, electrical equipment manufacturers, universities and Club and so on.
Solar race is divided into two general categories: the contemporary group and the next group. Contemporary group than the next group and more restrictions. Such as the 1992 Japan Suzuka solar car competition requirements: Contemporary Group vehicle solar panels of the total generating capacity of not more than 800 W, batteries can only use lead-acid batteries, and the future of the automotive group's solar panels generating capacity of no restrictions, The board provides only the size, and can use lead-acid batteries in addition to various other than the battery. From the above provisions that, the next group of contemporary group than the car is much more comprehensive superior performance
To lead-acid batteries as an example, in order to ensure Zkw h capacity, at least for the weight of 90 kg; instead of nickel-zinc batteries, weighs only 35 kg, the weight of the car to reduce the impact of great performance.
Solar race is divided into two general categories: the contemporary group and the next group. Contemporary group than the next group and more restrictions. Such as the 1992 Japan Suzuka solar car competition requirements: Contemporary Group vehicle solar panels of the total generating capacity of not more than 800 W, batteries can only use lead-acid batteries, and the future of the automotive group's solar panels generating capacity of no restrictions, The board provides only the size, and can use lead-acid batteries in addition to various other than the battery. From the above provisions that, the next group of contemporary group than the car is much more comprehensive superior performance
To lead-acid batteries as an example, in order to ensure Zkw h capacity, at least for the weight of 90 kg; instead of nickel-zinc batteries, weighs only 35 kg, the weight of the car to reduce the impact of great performance.
Advances In Petroleum Geology
As human petroleum geology is the oil and gas exploration activities and the birth of an applied science, it is human for the oil and gas exploration in the formation and distribution of awareness of the summary, is to guide the activities of human exploration of oil and gas weapons. Throughout the world, after nearly 100 years of exploration activities, exploration of virgin land without running low, they're easy to find most of the oil and gas fields have been discovered. The growing demand for energy and the increasing difficulty of exploration, is facing the world oil prospectors in the face of a major conflict. World oil exploration facing a severe challenge to a new depth (deep exploration), the new fields (natural gas, unconventional gas, non-structural reservoir) into today's oil and gas exploration is the general trend. Under the circumstances, we are forced to develop new oil and gas exploration geological theory, oil and gas exploration
Oil Ingredients
Mainly from the oil mixture of hydrocarbons, has a special smell, non-ferrous metals flammability of oily liquid! Gaseous hydrocarbon gas is mainly composed of various gases, has a special smell, colorless flammable gas mixture.
The Color Of Crude Oil
The very rich oil colors, red, golden, Molv, black, brown red, or even transparent; crude oil is the color of its own contained resin, the content of asphalt, the higher the color of the deep. The color of the light crude oil quality of its better! Transparent oil can directly increase the vehicle's fuel tank in place of petrol! The main components of crude oil: oil quality (which is the main component), glial (a sticky semi-solid material), asphaltene (dark or black brittle solid material), carbon (a non-hydrocarbon) .
The Formation Of Oil
On the causes of the current oil are two arguments: ① inorganic On that oil is in the basic form of magma; ② On both organic organic compounds such as various animals, plants, in particular the lower animals and plants, like algae, bacteria, mussels Shell, after the death of fish and other buried in the sinking of the Gulf hypoxia, lagoon, Delta, lakes and other places, through many physical and chemical in the end gradually formed for the oil.
OIL
Also known as crude oil, from the depths of underground mining of the brown-black viscous flammable liquid. Is the main variety of alkanes, Cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbon mixture. It is the ancient oceans or lakes of biological evolution through a long form of the mixture, and belongs to fossil fuels like coal.
Japan's Banking Crisis By The Loan-to-07 Fiscal Year Earnings By 37%
Tokyo - June 28 - Japan's National Banking Association recently released data showed that the United States, loan-to-crisis, the banking sector last year, Japan's total net profit decreased by 37.5 percent, was 2.1246 trillion yen (about 108 yen for one U.S. dollars).
Six commercial banks in fiscal 2007 (April 2007 to March 2008) net profit decreased by 47.4%, 64 local banks and seven trust banks were reduced by 31.2 percent year-on-year and 25.8 percent , And 45 second place turn into bad debts due to banks mortgage payments, and other factors, net profit increased by about 2.4 times.
Data also showed that the 07 year due to the Bank of Japan raising interest rates and other reasons, the National Bank of funds operation income increased 1.2 percent year-on-year. The shares fell as trust and investment led to sluggish sales of products to fee-based intermediate business income has decreased by 9.6%.
Data also shows that, since the banks to strengthen the business and an increase of business outlets and related posts, the Japanese fiscal year on the number of staff of the bank increased by 1.4% year-on-year to 286,000, is the first increase in 14 years.
27.6.08
Regal story of the world: the financial king Zanini
After a full half-century of struggle, Ahmadinejad Zanini finally boarded the U.S. general manager of the first large banks throne. His life, not only for the development of California has made great contributions, but also to the United States in two world wars during the rapid development of the economy produced a huge impact, he is well-deserved financial giant.
23.6.08
PlantsasImportantinSpaceasonEarth
Growing a vegetable garden isnt so difficult, on earth. But a space garden… well, thats another story. Still, as Sheri Quinn reports, plants will likely be an important part of future space missions, not only to sustain the travelers bodies, but their souls, as well.
Plants are a vital part of the earths eco-system, and theyre just as crucial in the artificial environment of an orbiting space station. As on earth, they provide food, and offer a sense of tranquility.
Scientists from the U.S. space agency NASA and Utah State University are working with Russian colleagues to figure out how to grow edible plants in space, and understand their psychological value to space explorers. Bruce Bugbee is a professor of plant physiology at Utah State. His lab helps test so-called space gardens.
"We now are trying to quantify, how important are they?" he explains, adding that he is not just talking about providing fresh greens for the crews diet. "Are there pe
Plants are a vital part of the earths eco-system, and theyre just as crucial in the artificial environment of an orbiting space station. As on earth, they provide food, and offer a sense of tranquility.
Scientists from the U.S. space agency NASA and Utah State University are working with Russian colleagues to figure out how to grow edible plants in space, and understand their psychological value to space explorers. Bruce Bugbee is a professor of plant physiology at Utah State. His lab helps test so-called space gardens.
"We now are trying to quantify, how important are they?" he explains, adding that he is not just talking about providing fresh greens for the crews diet. "Are there pe
Spain beat Italy in "ugly game" in quarterfinals of Euro 2008
VIENNA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Spain beat world champions Italy 4-2 in penalty shootout to win the "ugly game" in the quarterfinals of Euro 2008 on Sunday. The game was forced to extra time after the score was deadlocked at 0-0 after 90 minutes and after another 30 minutes of play, the score remained untouched.
Spain converted four of five attempts while Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas made two saves to send his team to the semifinals.
The victory was well deserved for the Spanish team as they gained an upper hand over Italy in the 120 minutes of action.
The Spanish team had 26 shots to Italy's 12 and were superior in ball possession (57%-43%) in the match which was played in a sluggish way.
Spain converted four of five attempts while Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas made two saves to send his team to the semifinals.
The victory was well deserved for the Spanish team as they gained an upper hand over Italy in the 120 minutes of action.
The Spanish team had 26 shots to Italy's 12 and were superior in ball possession (57%-43%) in the match which was played in a sluggish way.
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