The Hawkeye » Technology

Fear and loathing in iPad support

Samantha Clark — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:50:58 +0000

For the iPhone’s three generations, a common complaint among techies is the lack of support for Adobe Flash video, the most widely used video playback technology on the Web. Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated that the issue was Flash’s poor performance— badly written ActionScript code can, in fact, suck up resources faster than a tornado. Other techies suspect the reason had to be about maintaining control over video to favor Apple’s paid iTunes offerings.
The iTunes conspiracy theory seems unlikely, given Apple’s recent approval of a Slingbox iPhone app and a Netflix iPad app. With the recent launch of the iPad, it’s clear that Apple’s goal is to do more than ignore Flash. Apple wants to kill Flash and other RIAs. Its weapon of choice: the still-evolving HTML5 browser.
Apple has begun promoting Websites that use some of the more backed parts of HTML5’s standard, including the tag for video playback. Apple’s iPad website features Safari, a mobile Web browser that supports the latest Web standards— including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The message is clear: Flash can be dumped for the HTML5 video tag.
Because media sites are so desperate to find new ways to make money, the iPad will become the driving factor in Web access. They see the iPad as a way to change the expectations that content must be free, especially now that they know that advertising won’t pay for it either. Thus, they’ll support the iPad’s creator and driver: Apple.
Media sites’ influence over Web developers, videographers, and the like will push HTML5 into the sites that most people visit, and that will create the expectation that the HTML5/CSS3 approach is better than using proprietary formats such as Flash.
Anything “proprietary” means there’s a dollar cost, while the “open standards” line Apple is, usually means there is less cost and that will also push the eventual abandonment of Adobe Flash.
Flash, Silverlight, and WebFX will continue to have a place for delivering interactive capabilities, but Apple won’t support them. Apple wants developers to use the Web for lightweight content and capabilities and its iPhone for heavier-weight content and capabilities.
For Apple to win this battle against Flash, They’ll need Microsoft on their side. Microsoft is basing its upcoming Window Phone 7 with Silverlight as its main app provider. Its tied Silverlight to .Net to gain instant momentum. If Windows Phone 7 takes off, Silverlight might get some real traction.
.Net is used largely for app develoment, not for Web development, and certainly not for content development. Adobe has been the major force in content oriented development technology, and as Apple weakens Adobe’s role on the mobile side, content-oriented developers are no more likely to turn to .Net and Silverlight than they are to Java and JavaFX. They’ll turn to HTML5 and/or to Xcode, as well as the equivalent of Xcode for the Google Android platform.
None of this will happen overnight, but Apple has clearly declared war on Flash video and by proxy on today’s RIAs.

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Taser International is “methed” up

Samantha Clark — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:50:17 +0000

In a recent study found in the American Emergency Medicine Journal, 16 sheep were involved in an experimental atrocity that was aimed at testing how being shocked with a Taser affects the heart of meth-induced targets.
There is some scientific reasoning behind all the apparent madness, however.
Growing abuse of methamphetamines has led to arrest-related deaths in situations where law enforcement officers used their Taser devices to combat uncooperative, drug-intoxicated suspects.
These experiments were conducted at the Hennepin County Medical Center under Taser International’s Medical director, Jeffrey Ho. It was designed to test whether Tasers can lead to dangerous cardiac responses in meth-intoxicated humans. In this case, sheep stood in for uncooperative people.
The less lethal device of choice was the Taser X26, a standard law enforcement tool that can fire at suspects from a distance of 35 feet.
Researchers shocked the anesthetized sheep for up to 40 seconds, after dosing the animals with an IV drip of methamphetamine hydrochloride.
Some of the smaller sheep weighing less than 70.5 pounds suffered intense heart symptoms related to meth use – symptoms like increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. But neither the smaller nor larger sheep showed signs of the ventricular fibrillation condition, a highly abnormal heart rhythm that can be fatal.
Still, Taser has an understandable interest in assessing the safety of its less-lethal devices in these types of conditions.
Taser devices have evolved into a wide-ranging family that includes Taser shotgun cartridges that fire from a 12-gauge shotgun up to 100 feet. Taser has even had its employees put themselves on the firing line to vouch for the safety of its products.
Outraged animal rights activists, however, can begin writing their letters of protest now.

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iPad: A quantum leap in handheld computing

Carly Wicklander — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:54:36 +0000

Whatwill it be called? iSlate? iTablet? Something else? Will it even be announced? If so, will it float or bring about world peace? Well, questions are starting to be answered, as Steve Jobs has finally unveiled the iPad. At 0.5 inches thin, weighing in at 1.5 pounds and with a 9.7-inch IPS display, it’s a glorious piece of machinery, meeting up to many expectations. There will be three different models, with 16, 32 and 64 GB of flash storage, and you can find more of the specs here. You can play games on it, type on the on-screen keyboard, check out the iBook store and read newspapers, among many other features. If you thought the iTouch was the bee’s knees, just wait, the iPad is perfect for all those wonderful technology lovers.
This new sleek and shiny product from Apple is hitting the shelves in late March, but stores are accepting reservations for those who are just too excited to wait in line on opening day.

Environment: The iPad supports going green by reducing environment usage by having a mercury and arsenic-free LCD screen display and by using recyclable aluminum and a glass enclosure. It is also free of PVC (poison plastic, polyvinyl chloride) which may cause future health risks.

Battery Life: When fully charged, the iPad can get up to 10 hours of surfing the Web or watching videos. However, in order to charge it you’ll need to get a computer dock since the iPad does not have any USB output. The battery is built in, which means it has to take a trip to the Apple store in order to be fixed.

Positives: Of the many great features the iPad has to offer, there are several that really stand out, such as lighting fast Internet access with built-in Wi-Fi, and a microphone with an amplified speaker for perfect sound quality. The iPad also has a highly responsive multi-touch screen, which allows Web pages to be seen as they were meant to be seen – one page at a time, with vibrant color and sharp text. So whether it’s looking at a page in portrait or landscape, you can see everything at a size that’s actually readable. Scroll through a page just by flicking a finger up or down on the screen. Or pinch to zoom in or out on a photo. There’s also a thumbnail view that shows all open pages in a grid, to quickly move from one page to the next.
The large screen makes the iPad ideal for watching all kinds of videos: from HD movies and TV shows to podcasts and music videos. Not only can iTunes and the App Store be accessed, anything else on the Internet can also be.

Negatives: Unfortunately, the iPad comes with several flaws. No Flash support or USB connectors. No camera and no multi-tasking, meaning there is no way two apps can run at the same time. Another limitation is the relatively bulky adapters that are needed to connect the iPad to cameras or USB devices. Also awkward is the use of the touch keyboard, which typing longer texts, becomes rather complicated unless you have a flat surface to type on. If necessary, you can also buy an additional keyboard for around $30.
Although the iPad has a number of productivity applications, including e-mail, calendar, and iWorks, it doesn’t really function as a computer. You can’t have a browser window open at the same time you’re typing a document or working on a spreadsheet. That said, the iPad isn’t positioned as a computer, so if you want productivity, stick to a laptop.

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iPod vs. Zune

Sammie Clark — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:12:59 +0000

It doesn’t get much more epic than this. The Apple iPod Classic has been the undisputed titan of high-capacity MP3players, with a rich legacy dating back to 2001. Its adversary, the Microsoft Zune, stepped on the scene only a year ago and was promptly cast as an uglyduckling. In its latest embodiment, the Zune 80, Microsoft has finally presented a worthy challenger to the iPod family. Unlike the original 30GB Zune, which had the aesthetic charm of a bar of soap, the Zune 80 is capable of competing not just on features, but design as well. Of course, there’s more to an MP3 player than stunning good looks. To be a truly feared and respected MP3 player in this day and age, you need first-rate software, superior video playback, podcast support, a drool-worthy graphic user interface, first-class sound quality, and an affordable price. It also doesn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve, such as games, or a Wi-Fi connection.
The only thing certain about this fight is that it will inevitably stir up a monsoon of disgust from both sides, no matter who wins. So let’s stop being polite, take off the gloves, and pit Apple against Microsoft in a battle of MP3 supremacy!

ROUND ONE

The first-generation Zune was repelling so many people, Microsoft would have had better luck marketing the thing as birth control. Apple’s iPod, on the other hand, has been celebrated as one of the greatest design products of the decade. Will the Zune 80 be able to hold its own against one of the icons of the 21st century? In round 2, we focus on the players’ size and design, as well as any additional pimp factor that makes the user feel extra cool.
There’s no doubt that the Zune’s wide screen is far better for movie enjoyment than the iPod classic. And the Zune’s scratch resistant glass screen is more aesthetically pleasing to your eyeballs, than the smaller screen of the iPod. The new Zunes are a definite improvement over the old ones, but the device could still lose some thickness and clean up the antennae up top. Also good job Microsoft for giving the new 80GB a glass screen, which should make it a little less scratch-prone. It still feels a little breakable compared to some other device’s optical glass screens, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Sure the iPod Classic is slim, slick and metal, but its also boring! The chrome metal backing and scratch-magnet screen haven’t changed since the first generation. I want cool, not classic. Due to the lack of creativity on Apple’s part, the Zune wins round 1!

ROUND 2

You can cram all the features in the world into a gadget, but if no one can afford it, what does it matter? Which device is the better value?
$250 for an 80 GB zune is a great value, especially when it comes with free custom etching, Wi-Fi, FM, and other cool perks. Also The Zune Marketplace, gives you a pretty stellar collection of all-you-can-eat music for a very reasonable $15 a month.
When you buy an iPod, you also buy into the huge marketplace of iPod accessories everything from iPod-ready car stereos to boom boxes, to voice recorders. These types of accessories just aren’t there yet for the Zune,
At the same price as the Zune, the 80GB iPod Classic is also a good value but not quite so much so, given the comparative lack of desired features. Plus, you always hope that eventually the prices for the iPod will go down, but alas they never do. However, if you’re willing to throw down money on the 160GB, you’re getting a better deal per gigabyte. But because its slightly cheaper, Zune wins!

ROUND 3

Unfortunately, both the iPod and the Zune both have their own upsetting set of restrictions. I’m taking away points for the Zune on compatibility, mainly because it doesn’t even play nice with Microsoft’s own ecosystem of entertainment services. There’s no album artwork shown on the Xbox 360, and it needs to convert the DVR-ms files (videos) from Windows Media Center just to get them onto the player. There’s also the lack of support for these files unless you’re running Vista. Also, worth noting is the Zune software, which, despite being improved, has actually become more limited in terms of features. For example, the Zune isn’t compatible with Macs or iTunes.
The iPod isn’t much of a team player either, but at least it’s Mac/PC compatible and can be used with an endless amount of iPod-ready gizmos. The ability to easily purchase and download TV shows, movies, and audio books through iTunes is a big plus. The iPod takes round 3!

ZUNE WINS 2 OUT OF 3

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Back To School Technology

Sammie Clark — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:32:19 +0000

Ipod WAKE-UP LIGHT $ 199

Some teens need nothing short of a bullhorn blasting in their faces in order to wake up in the morning. However, some students appreciate a more subtle approach. The Philips’ Wake-Up Light looks like a soothing pillow with an iPod dock attached so the user can set its internal lamp to gradually illuminate in the morning just like a sunrise, even if the user is getting up before the crack of dawn to finish a paper.
The wake-up light can set the clock radio or iPod tunes to come on as the lamp begins to glow, or the user can even choose from a selection of wake-up sounds, ranging from “morning birds in the forest” to “sounds of the African jungle.”

SONY PSP GO $249

Available Oct. 1, the new Sony PSP Go is perfect way to blow off steam with an enhanced 3.8-in. display, slide-out controls, 16 GB of flash memory, Wi-Fi and a growing arsenal of downloadable games from the online PlayStation Web site.

DESIGNER USB FLASH DRIVES $16-25

With a mission to bring style and soul to consumer electronics, Mimobot flash drives offer a myriad of USB drives from 1GB to 8GB. Each USB drive has a specific theme or design. Like Star Wars? Or Halo? Mimobot offers a wide selection of clever USB drives based on the characters of Halo and Star Wars. Not into video games and sci-fi? Mimobot also carries various hello kitty USB drives, the ever popular Domo brand, as well. Each custom USB drive is 2.5” tall by 1” wide, and comes with a one-year limited warranty. For more information please check out the Web site www.mimoco.com.

LIVESCRIBE SMARTPEN $199

Taking notes during class just got a whole lot easier. At about the size of a Sharpie, this pen packs a voice recorder with up to 2 GB of storage; it remembers everything it has written in digital form so the handwritten notes can be synced with a PC or Mac. The smart pen also keeps track of whatever was being said while the notes were being taken — just tap a word to hear all of what Professor Motormouth was saying at that particular moment. How does it work? The Smartpen has infrared sensors that use the tiny dots on the custom (and required) Livescribe notebook paper.

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Carpal Tunnel Texting

Jessica Lim — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:24:48 +0000

Most people have heard that texting causes carpal tunnel in your wrists, but is it true? Carpal tunnel syndrome, a gradual progressive agonizing event that occurs in the nerves of the wrists, starts with a burning, tingling, or numbness in the palms of the hands especially, thumb and index finger. Then their ability to grab a hold of something goes down and that strength seems to go away and eventually muscles at the base of the thumb does deteriorate.
Due to the increase in texting and e-mail, the number of people that have attracted carpel tunnel has increased dramatically. 3.8 million people suffer for text messaging related problems each year. Soreness of the thumbs and wrist has gone up 38 percent in just five years.
There are many factors that contribute to the carpel tunnel syndrome, if detected early then it is possible to just rest the infected wrist for a couple of weeks. But if it is not detected early enough then there are a few ways to help treat this.
One is taking aspirin or ibuprofen for the pain and vitamin B6 also helps to ease the pain. Another is exercising these muscles with a supervised physical therapist trained for dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Surprisingly, acupuncture is also known as a treatment. Still, many in the United States opt to have surgery. The operation rarely requires and overnight stay unless there is another medical problem found.
This said, perhaps the easiest way to relieve symptoms is by switching hands, or stop texting if it hurts.

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Tech terms debunked

Amanda Lockleer — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:06:19 +0000

Living in a high tech world can be hard. There are so many terms that people use when talking about technology, but do they really know what they mean? When people buy things like software or computers they use words like RAM or hard drive, but in general do not truly understand what these words mean. People can use this “techtionary” to add to their vocabulary so that the next time they run into a “techie” term they won’t feel like such a noob.Living in a high tech world can be hard. There are so many terms that people use when talking about technology, but do they really know what they mean? When people buy things like software or computers they use words like RAM or hard drive, but in general do not truly understand what these words mean. People can use this “techtionary” to add to their vocabulary so that the next time they run into a “techie” term they won’t feel like such a noob.

Megabyte- Used to measure computer memory sometimes used to mean one million bytes.

Gigabyte- One gigabyte contains exactly -1,073,741,824 bytes.

Pixel- A pixel is the smallest logical unit (on-the raster scale) of visual information that can be used to make up an image.

RAM- Random Access Memory. The working memory of the computer. The memory used for storing data temporarily while working on it.

Hard Drive- A disk drive that reads and writes to the hard disk, or “computer filing cabinet”

Noob- A person that is new to an online gaming

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Following the “Green Trend”

Suzanne Cho — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:07:09 +0000

Global warming has become an important topic in the last ten years and there is much discussion as to how to reduce global warming, much of it focused on the auto industry.
Automakers have made hybrids to help the “going green” trend. There has been debate as to whether they are worth the price. However, these “green” cars have been made to help with the problem of global warming. Although hybrids are more expensive than regular vehicles, they switch between electricity and gas and create less pollution. The hybrid also reduces the dependency on fossil fuels. This also helps people save money since they have to buy less gas. Automakers have also made hydrogen powered cars. Hydrogen energy is a used as fuel for automobiles, as well as a source of energy for heating buildings and generating electricity. Hydrogen cars are the most clean out of all the gas alternatives and help greatly in “going green.” These cars have advantages and benefit the environment by providing a clean, low pollution type of energy; greatly decreasing the amount of emissions; and improving air quality in metropolitan cities. Not only are automakers trying to “go green,” but airlines as well.
Airlines, such as the Continental Airlines, have been “going green” by converting from traditional fuel to biofuel. This way, they can cut fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Technology companies, such as Samsung, are “going green” as well. They came out with a line of LED-backlit TVs, the series 6000, 7000, and 8000 models, which use 40 percent less energy than typical fluorescent-backlit LCDs.
Laptop computers are coming out being more eco-friendly. Laptops are getting more efficient, smaller, and safer for the planet. Packaging requirements are also reduced, saving materials, and energy.
U.S. industries are increasing the amount of alternative energy they use, due to the technology advances. Some alternative sources of energy are wind energy and solar energy.
Wind energy is converted to electricity using blade and turbine systems. Potato chip and snack-food maker Kettle Foods has installed 18 wind turbines. The turbines are expected to generate approximately 28,000 kilowatt-hours of power each year — enough to produce 56,000 bags of potato chips. Wind energy is converted to electricity using blade and turbine systems. Solar energy reduces both air pollution and CO2 emissions. Snack-maker company Frito-Lay uses solar panels to provide energy to bake an estimated 145,000 bags of chips per day.
More companies are continuing to adopt green technologies and using their part in “going green” to help save the planet.

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Evolution of Music

Megan Resler — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:05:26 +0000

It’s easy for this generation of students to take music for granted considering it has always been readily available to them, but this abundant freedom has not been around long; the ability to listen to music freely was only obtained a measly five generations ago.

It all started in 1877, with Thomas Edison’s first phonograph (more commonly known to this generation as the ‘record player’). This sound recording device was created as a result of a theory that connected the telegraph to the telephone. Edison theorized that a telegraph could write out its messages through indentations on paper tape, then that tape could be sent out via telegraph as often as necessary.

After his success with that idea, Edison speculated the same thing could be applied to the telephone. He tested his idea by holding an embossing point against a piece of rapidly moving paper, then the vibration from his voice made indentations on the pape which created a message.
The paper was eventually switched out for a metal cylinder with foil wrapped around it. By the end of November 1877 Edison had created a working sound recording device, and by 1930 people across the nation were listening to music as often as they liked. In 1929 Edison did make a drastic change to the over all phonograph design; he exchanged cylinders for discs which were easier to manufacturer and took up less space.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s records started being manufactured with vinyl. These new vinyl records could be bought as long play 78’s, which held and entire symphony, the ever-popular 45’s which only had one major radio hit on each side, or even 45 EP’s that had two songs per side.
By the 1960’s record players were being installed in cars but were quickly replaced with the latest sound replaying devices: eight-tracks and cassette players.

The eight-track tape recording system, although commonly associated with the auto industry, was developed by the Learjet Corporation: an airplane manufacturer. An eight-track tape included an endless loop of one-fourth inch magnetic tape contain in a plastic shell; the first Learjet Stereo 8 player was designed with only a few knobs and controls to make it easier for consumers to play their music while driving.

Despite being a great step up from Edison’s phonograph, this system was only marketable from 1965 to the late 1970’s; within almost a decade eight-tracks were being upgraded for compact cassettes.
The compact cassette/cassette tape was first invented in 1962 by the Philips Company of the Netherlands, but only obtained nationwide popularity from the 1970’s to the late 1990’s. The cassette tape was essentially and updated eight-track system; they were made with the same magnetic tape sound recording format, but cassettes contained two spools between which magnetically coated one-eighth inch tape was passed through (instead of the eight-track system’s one-fourth inch tape), and cassettes had a faster recording and playback speed of one and seven-eights inches per second.
The smaller tape allowed for a smaller plastic container, therefore naming the device a cassette, which is the French word for ‘little box.’

This advanced technology could be used for everything from portable listening, to home recording, to storing data on early microcomputers. Varieties of cassettes were usually based on their tape length, which was measured in minutes of playing time. The most popular styles were C46 (23 minutes per side), C60 (30 minutes per side), C90 and C120.

With the fall of the cassette tape in the late 1990’s came the rise of the compact disc (also known as the CD). The technology used to develop CD’s was created by the Philips Consumer Electronic Company in 1979 in the Netherlands, and has been on the market ever since 1988. A CD is an optical disc used for storing digital data; standard CD’s have a radius of 60 millimeter and hold up to 80 minutes of audio, or 700MB of data. The compact disc is made from almost pure polycarbonate plastic, and weighs only 16 grams.

Audio data is stored on CD’s (similarly to the phonograph) through tiny indentations in the polycarbonate called ‘pits.’ Pits are approximately 100 millimeters deep by 500 millimeters wide.
A thin layer of aluminum is applied to the surface of the polycarbonate to make it reflective and protect the pits.

The MP3 player was developed by Karlheinz Brandenburg, a mathematician who had been researching different ways of music compressing since 1977.

MP3 stands for Motion Pictures Expert Group Audio Layer III, and essentially is the compression of audio that will make any music file smaller without losing any sound quality; digital sampling is used to convert audio waves into chains of binary numbers that can be stored in digital formats.
All MP3 players have memory storage, an embedded processor, and a codec microchip that is used to convert compressed sound into analog from. MP3 players are also often built into cell phones, making them the most common form of digital audio player around today.

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Robotics update

Shahrum Ali — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:03:01 +0000

While winter sports are finishing up, Robotics Team is starting to prepare for this year’s competition.
The weekend of March 6 marks the start of this year’s regional competition. The team will start by traveling to Portland for their first face-off, and then later to the Seattle Key Arena for the second. The team has been preparing most of fall, have already shipped their robot, and spent the last few weeks planning strategies.
Despite being only around for a short three years, the team shows an impressive record. 2006, the year the team first formed, they took the Rookie All Star Award in Atlanta. In 2007, doubling in awards, they were a regional finalist and also took the Safety award, honoring safety features in design. Last year, they took another finalist spot in Seattle and also won the Imagery award, rewarding presentation and spirit.
Every year, the producers of the competition, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) throw in an extra twist to challenge their competitors According to Team 1778 Co-President Brandon Crader, their year’s challenge is a slippery playing field. “The floor is like ice,” he said. “There’s almost no friction. They always add a twist to the end to make it more fair.”
For now, the most important factor for the team is more recognition. Crader and his team are looking for more recognition of their club. “We’ve been looking for a lot of support from our school,” he said. “So that they can see our accomplishments.”

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