Pocket-Sized Holographic Projectors

Pocket-sized projectors capable of screening movies from a laptop or mobile phone could be on the market within three years, following a new deal agreed by the University of Cambridge.

The global electronic components manufacturer Alps Electric Co., Ltd has been granted an exclusive license to the University’s core patent for a revolutionary holographic video projector technology, developed in the Department of Engineering.

The company intends to manufacture miniature projectors based on the University’s patented technology that will be highly energy efficient, will always be in focus and will be extremely robust. These qualities would make them ideal for building into laptops, mobile phones and all manner of devices.

“This may be the first mass-market application of real-time holography,” he said. “I have been working on this idea with my colleagues for over 10 years, looking forward to the day when computer processing power, lasers and liquid crystal technology would become sufficiently advances to put our ideas into practice.”

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Graffitti Art in Rio

To set foot in Rio is to set foot in one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

From the stunning beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, to the soaring granite rock towers dotted around the city like exclamation marks of awe.

But more and more there is an encroaching beauty engaging the eye in Rio: Graffiti.

For the past 11 years, the paint sprayed on the walls in Rio has moved away from simple scrawls of names and epithets to eye-catching displays of wonder.

"I know the definition of art is something very relative, today, so many things could be consider art. But I believe, that even when a guy signs his name on the walls, that it is art because the letters are calligraphy, and there is such care and and love in that."

Echos of Warhol, Kandinsky, da Vinci, and Peter Blake intermingle with Japanese anime as well as the graffiti artists own ideas and concepts.

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Thanks to Dr. Dan.

2,000+ Year Old Computer Hacked

It was sunk with a wrecked ship in 80BC, found by divers in 1900 and until now has baffled scientists.

The device is a complex arrangement of more than 30 bronze gears, wheels and dials, and is at least 1,000 years ahead of its time.

Now, after painstaking reconstruction, physicists say it could track astronomical movements with remarkable precision.

It was also able to follow the movements of the Moon and the Sun, predict eclipses and even recreate the irregular orbit of the Moon.

It may have predicted the positions of some of the planets. Lead researcher Prof Mike Edmunds, from Cardiff University, said: 'The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely well.'

The findings, published in Nature, suggest Greek technology was far more advanced than previously thought. No other civilisation created anything as complicated for another 1,000 years.

Other marvels from the past...

- A 14cm clay battery was found near the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It appears to be 2,000 years old

More and here too.

Thanks to Mr. Battle.

La, la, la la la la... la, la la la la

SMURF VILLAGE! Yes, a real life sized replica of Smurf Village is currently sitting within the space of MoCCA.

On Monday, November 27th, the “Saturday Morning: Art and Artifacts from a Golden Age of Television” exhibit curator, Matt. Murray, will [offer] a guided tour through the history of the Smurfs - from their creation, to the marketing, the animated series, the phenomenon, and even conspiracy theories - a screening will follow.

The exhibit itself will be up through March of 2007, hours are Friday through Monday 12pm till 5pm. A list of all the cartoons you'll find in the exhibit, after the jump...

Looney Tunes, NBC TeleComics, Casper, The Woody Woodpecker Show, Tom & Jerry, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Mr. Magoo, The Alvin Show, Jonny Quest, The Pink Panther, Underdog, Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Speed Racer, The Archies, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Harlem Globetrotters, SeaLab 2020, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Schoolhouse Rock, Star Trek, Super Friends, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Captain Caveman, Godzilla Power
HourBattle of the Planets, New Fantastic Four, New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show, The Smurfs, Amazing Spider-Man & The Incredible Hulk, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, GI Joe, Inspector Gadget, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, Dennis the Menace, Hulk Hogan's Rock and Wrestling, The Wuzzles, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, The Ewoks, The Care Bears, My Little Pony, The Real Ghost Busters, The Original Ghost Busters, Rainbow Brite, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, ALF Tales, Garfield and Friends, New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Beetlejuice, The Simpsons, Bobby's World, Darkwing Duck, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Where's Waldo, Doug, The Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, ProStars, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Pinky and the Brain, Sonic The Hedgehog, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, The Tick, The Powerpuff Girls, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Samurai Jack, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and The Batman

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Thanks to Dr. Dan

Plastic Man!

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Global Warning

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The LG Breathalyzer Phone

The phone has a built-in breathalyzer and is selling very well in Korea. Indeed, given that between 15 and 30% of all road deaths (depending on your country) involve drivers over the legal blood alcohol limits(..) "this phone will not be launching in the US this year, and at this time there are no plans to bring it over to the US at all. The original article announcing this phone was incorrect."

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Apparently this phone will show a "car crashing" when your alcohol level is above a certain limit, and will also let you block (special someone) numbers from being called if you're too drunk.

See also Study Finds Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunk Drivers.

I think the GPS in cell phones should be used to limit conversations to a minute or so if you're going over 25 miles an hour. Or as some friends suggested, If you're on a cell phone while an accident happens you should automatically take the blame, even if you were hit from behind.

Vishing Crooks to Go to Hell

And consumers thought they were safe by not clicking on links in unsolicited e-mails.

Now comes a new batch of phishing scams that rely on an old tool — the phone — to trick people into giving away their personal information.

Vishing — short for voice phishing — is one of the latest iterations of phishing, a long-running e-mail scam that instructs recipients to click a link in the e-mail to confirm data such as their Social Security number and credit card number. But the link is really connected to a bogus website where the data are stolen.

Vishing has emerged as a new threat with the rise of Voice over Internet Protocol, technology that allows cheap and anonymous Internet calls.

The new batch of e-mails appear to come from PayPal, eBay's online payment service, and — like most phishing e-mails — they warn the recipients about a problem with their account. An e-mail advises victims to call a number to verify basic data. But the number is actually recording data with the intent to steal it. The information often winds up on cybercrime forums, websites that function as digital marketplaces for stolen personal data.

Some vishing attacks don't even begin with an e-mail. They come as calls out of the blue in which the caller already knows the recipient's credit card number, and asks for the three-digit security code on the back of the card.

"Hackers are moving away from the Web and using something victims are more comfortable with: making a call," said Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism at Secure Computing. "Consumers are programmed to enter in information on the phone. It's a natural evolution of phishing."

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Also check out Phishtank.com.

Amazing Percussive Guitar

Brazilian musician Arthur Kampela composed this "Percussion Study for Guitar I", performed here by Marlon Titre.

Some Things You Don't Want to See in High-Def

I just caught "Eats of Strength" on INHD. Trust me, you don't want to see ugly, overweight guys gobbling food like maniacs in High-Def.

Notably, champion eater Takeru Kobayashi (photo) is 5 feet 7 inches and weighed about 165 pounds (more now, but apparently it's more muscle mass, he's still under 10% body fat).

Still, competitive eating is not a pretty sight, especially in HD.