Tag: duncan geere
Happy Square Root day!
Apple’s product release earlier seemed to happen at exactly 13:37GMT, which I’ve always had in my head as l33t-o’clock. I wondered briefly if that was intentional on Apple’s behalf, and then put the thought aside after remembering that Apple probably doesn’t run on GMT.
That disappointment was shortlived as various tweeters starting noting that it was Square Root day. Square Root Day occurs just nine times each century, and is when the day and the month are the same number, and when multiplied together make up the last two digits of the year?
So basically, today – 3/3/09 is like saying 3 * 3 = 9. The first of the century was the 1st Jan 2001, and then there was the 2nd Feb 2004. Before that, it’d been 20 years since 9th September 1981. After today, the next square root day will be the 4th April 2016.
People celebrating the occasion are expected tonight to carve square root signs into fruit and vegetables and burn them in a massive pyre. I’ll be taking part. See you in Hyde Park at 10pm, yeah? We won’t let some rubbish drizzle dampen our mathematical spirits!
Mac Mini refresh finally announced
There’s been rumours of a an upgrade of the Mac Mini for ages. First, back in December we thought it’d come at Macworld. Then, in Feb, we tracked down an image with a surfeit of USB ports and some basic specs. Then, yesterday, we thought the refresh would come at the end of this month.
Well, Apple has confounded all our expectations, and has announced a new Mac Mini, with the following specs:
- 5x USB
- 1x FireWire 800
- 1x mini DVI
- 1x Display poort
- Nvidia chipset (like the newest MacBook)
- starting at Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz
- 2 GB DDR3 memory (max 4 GB)
- 120 GB hard disk (max 320 GB)
Not bad eh? Not face-meltingly good specs, but they’ll do. As with every Apple product announced ever, it’s available now, and costs £XXX.
Apple UK
Retro: PC Plus from 1986 now online
If, like me, you get slightly weepy-eyed thinking about computers from 1986, then have I got a link for you. PC Plus magazine has put up its first issue ever online for you to flick through at your leisure.
There’s discussion of Word Processors, printers reviewed and tested, and in the ads at the back is a computer with an 8MHz motherboard, monochrome monitor, serial port, and floppy drive for £400.
Most intriguingly of all, in the back is a review of a game called “Leather Goddesses of Phobos” that comes in three modes – “Tame”, “Suggestive” and “Lewd”, and is accompanied in the box by a pair of 3D glasses and a scratch and sniff card(!). The conclusion? “Should keep you busy for months”.
Go check it out and remind yourself of the days when a help section offered advice on creating batch files, and the handy hint: “One thing to avoid at all costs is typing “DEL ” at the command prompt”. Brilliant.
PC Plus (via @richardcobbett)
Zavvi lives on, online
Zavvi – the remains of the Virgin Megastore brand – eventually closed a few weeks back, selling the majority of its remaining bricks-and-mortar stores to HMV and Head Group.
The name, however, has been bought by the Hut Group, which sees them taking ownership of Zavvi.co.uk domain. That domain has re-launched today, offering a much broader range of products.
Although the original site concentrated mainly on music, games and DVDs, the new version will be more like Amazon – selling electrical and computing goods, books, sports and leisure stuff, perfumes and lingerie as well as aforementioned music/games/DVDs trio.
The site is live right now, and have very similar prices to the old site – i.e. slightly higher than competitors Amazon and Play.com. Still, it’s worth a look. Especially if you’re into buying lingerie online.
Chuck Norris' PDA – the Getac PS535F
Do you work in a field where you need rugged equipment? Perhaps you’re a field engineer, a geologist, or maybe even a stuntman? Well, then the Getac PS535F is right up your alley. It’s a super-rugged PDA for use in tough environments.
It comes equipped with a GPS, 3.5″ VGA touchscreen, 3-megapixel camera, altimeter, electronic compass and Windows Mobile 6.1. There’s no modem, annoyingly, but it does have Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There’s 2GB of onboard memory.
The device weighs 300g, has battery for 8 hours and in keeping with its rugged design, it’s resistant to drops, water, dust and extreme temperatures. I’ve got an email in to Getac asking how much it’ll cost and when it’ll be available, so I’ll update this post when I know more.
Japanese disaster recovery robot
A coffin with tank treads. That’s what this thing looks like. Japanese city Yokohama’s disaster recovery department has come up with it as a way to ferry people from danger zones back to safety.
Basically, you stuff an injured person in the tube, and he can then be moved around remotely thanks to the onboard infrared camera. It’ll monitor the patient’s blood flow and vital signs, but I can’t help but think that it doesn’t look terribly cushioned, and there’s a good chance that the occupant might slide out if the robot goes up too steep an incline.
If you were lying in a disaster area with two broken legs, a concussion and a dislocated shoulder, would you get in this thing? Or would you rather walk? I know which I’d pick.
Kodak introduces the Easyshare Z915
Kodak's new Easyshare Z915 is defiantly average in every area but one – its zoom. Zoom is often overlooked in favour of megapixels when it comes to cameras, but Kodak has managed to cram in a 10X image stabilised optical zoom into this model.
Aside from the zoom, there's a 10-megapixel sensor, a 2.5" LCD, and an SD card slot. It takes AA batteries, strangely, unlike the onboard rechargable which is more standard these days. There's also some sort of light analysis system that'll auto-adjust camera settings to deliver the best picture.
It's available in red, blue, black and grey, costs £180, and will be available in May.
Is Gillette really marketing a gamer's razor?
If you spend your spare time perusing Gillette’s website, as I’m sure you do, you might notice that the company seems to be marketing a new razor specifically for gamers. The whole idea confuses me greatly.
Firstly, are they trying to say that gamers don’t shave much? If so, they’re not going to have much need of a razor. If that’s not the case, then I can only assume it’s all some massive misguided marketing idea. Let’s hope it’s not.
If you’re a gamer, would you buy a “Gamer’s razor”? Personally, I’ve always been more of an electric shaver kind of guy. Let us know your shaving preferences in the comments.
Gillette Fusion Gamer (via @the_b)
LG launches portable, but not pico, projector
LG’s got rather a range of projectors, and the LG HS102 is the newest addition to that range. Rather than the business end of things, the HS102 covers the portable side of the spectrum.
It measures 154mm x 117mm x 50mm, and weighs less than a kilogram (780g), so it’s pretty dinky. It can throw a screen size of 500″, though, which is rather more on the impressive side.
Best of all, there’s no costly bulb replacements involved. The traditional projector bulb has been replaced by an LED variant which uses less power and should last for the entire lifetime of the projector. There’s built-in speakers too, as well as a remote control.
STATTACK:
- DFC: 2000:1
- Brightness 160 (lumens, I presume, though that’s not specified)
- Native res: 800 x 600 (not great, but it is a portable model)
- Lens: Manual focus, fixed zoom
- Aspect ratio: 4:3 (no widescreen action here)
Not sure how much it costs yet, but I’ve got an email in to LG asking nicely. When they reply I’ll update this post. Meanwhile, ProjectorPlanet seems to be selling it for £500. It’s available now.
Mystery mobile phone found in bag of crisps
Last week we had “phone found in fish” and this week it’s “phone found in chips”, if you’ll excuse the slight Americanization. A lady in Wisconsin, one Emma Schweiger, found a Nokia 6810 in her bag of Clancy’s Ripple Potato Chips.
The phone wouldn’t turn on (probably out of battery) but it had a T-Mobile SIM card inside. There was also a “discoloured circle” of some sort on the back. Yuck. She didn’t finish the packet of crisps, but did get a free packet in replacement. She politely declined.
No word if the handset’s owner has been traced yet. I imagine they might be quite happy to see it again, but not as happy as the owner of the codded mobile.
Have you ever found a mobile phone in an odd place? No, not that place. Leave us a comment below, and we’ll see if we can turn two news stories into a TECH TREND.
Janesville Gazette (via CrunchGear)
