The Sixth Sense

Pranav Mistry is the inventor of SixthSense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between real world and world of data. I found this presentation and the device really amazing.
At the end of his talk, Mistry says the tool will be open-source...i'm already curious!

How many web browsers do you know?

It seems a tricky question, but it isn't. So, how many browser can you list a part the most famous firefox, IE and Opera?

Here it is my list:
Flock
Maxthon
Konqueror
Camino
evolt.org Browser Archive
iCab
Galeon
Crazy Browser
Neoplanet
SpaceTime
Backward Compatibility Viewer
NetCaptor
KidZui
Browzar
Amaya
SlimBrowser
Surf Monkey Kids Channel
Ghostzilla
Browse Happy
netomat
Phaseout
Winwap Technologies
Smart Explorer
Free Web Browsers.com
CubicEye
iRider
Buddy Browser
My Kids Browser
Klondike
AWeb
ChiBrow
OmniWeb
Arachne
CrystalPort
WebCopy
Chimera
Tablane
Terrapin Internet Software
Viola
Paessler Site Inspector
Auction Browser
QtWeb Internet Browser
BrowserSpy
Xanadu XP
OEMBrowser.com
Voyager
Smart Zone Kids Web Browser
General Picture
Breasy.com (Browse Easy)
International Browserday
Camera/Shy
Computer Science Services Group
Arena
AOL OpenRide
MMM
W3C Line Mode Browser
Charlotte (BC Systems)
Lynx


I counted almost 60 :) Surprised?

A tribute to Michael Jackson

Today will be held the funeral service of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I'd like to remind him with an episode of the Simpsons (he was a great fan of that series), in which he gives his voice to a white man who walks and talks like Michael Jackson.

The title of episode is Stark Raving Dad and can be watched on line here.

The Red Planet is very close! Hoax or not?

Yes, the Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN! :)

Update: When posting these lines, I was bit confused whether it is hoax or not. My opinion is that some part, especially the description about how big Mars will be, are wrong, since it would be problematic if something like happened...but on the other hand, I consider that just a way to put emphasis on the event itself and attract more people... So, at the end, raise your eyes into in the sky, you will see a lightning Mars...but the moon is something else ;)

500GB of Data on a single DVD!

In the last decade, we took part in a tremendous expansion in our capabilities to both generate and collect data. Advances in scientific data collection, for example from remote sensors, or from space satellites have generated huge amounts of data. Moreover advances in data storage technology such as faster, higher capacity and cheaper storage devices, better database management systems and data warehousing technology have allowed us to transform this data into “mountains” of stored data Especially in the last case I recently read about a new device,
which should be able to store till 500 GB!

General Electric Global Research, the society that developed such a support, claims they found out a way to put up to 500GB of data on a regular-sized DVD disc under laboratory conditions.
This result has been reached by writing 3-dimensional patterns that represent data onto a disc made of highly reflective material. The disc then acts as a mirror that makes it possible for a laser to pick up the entire piece of data.

Out of consideration about such technology where I am definitely not an expert, I found that news really interesting and amazing. As a matter of fact, if we compare that with current storage, there is no chance for them: the highest capacity Blu-ray discs can store up to 50GB of data, while the most common type of DVD holds less than 9GB of information.
So, holographic disc-based storage is a long ways off from consumers, but its potential is really great in the storage community!