Rabu, 08 Oktober 2008

Ovetto Recycling Egg : A New Age For Trash Can




What would you think if you see this metal egg? Another fashionable mp3 player? Or a rice steamer for your high-tech lover mum?

No, this is Ovetto recycling egg, yes this is some kind of modern trash can (but the producer won't call it as trash can). The designer, Gianluca Solid designed Ovetto in order to educate the population to correctly dispose of waste in order to be able to consequently recycle it. Ovetto is able to separate many kinds of daily waste, but you've got to waste quite big money to have this robo-egg : about $250. page

Rabu, 24 September 2008

Human Is Not The Only Creature Stressed By Social Rank - Baboons Do

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5856353


Are you suffering from stress in workplace, and your co-worker hs the same stress pattern with you?
You're boss can regularly go to vacation and looks happier, and you can't do just like him?

Thanks gee, science has proved that you're not the only one facing this stress pattern - baboons do, just like us, human. Neurobiologist from Stanford University Robert Sapolsky has been decoding the mystery of stress level among baboons population in Kenya. Baboons has been known as aggressive and wild, and have social rank in their population, just like human.

Sapolski has found that baboon's rank as leader or follower had a direction link to their stress hormones in its system. He discoverd that male baboons with lower social rank had higher heart rate and higher blood pressure, while dominant male baboons had the lowest stress level.

"Basically if you're a stressed unhealthy baboon in a typical troop, you have an immune system that doesn't work as well. Your brain chemistry is one that bears some similarity to what you see in clinically depressed humans." Sapolsky said. "They're not being stressed by lions chasing them all the time. They are being stressed by each other. They're a perfect model for westernized stress related disease."

Stress pattern in baboons population have a significant similarities to stress pattern in human population. Baboons with lower hierarchy had higher health risk, and the same thing happened in us, human society.

This finding suggested that lack of appreciation and reward leads to higher health risk in submissive groups in populatin. To solve this social problems, researcher suggested us to give more involvement and reward in work. That's sound nice, maybe you can send this posting to your boss and ask for salary rising...

Senin, 08 September 2008

"New Attraction" In Japan Zoo : Green Polar Bears




Polar bears are white colored animal, so they could blend to their inhabitant in snowy area. So, if they caged outside their inhabitant, is it possible for them to have other colors?

Yes, you could go to Japan to watch these green-colored polar bears. Since July, three polar bears in Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Japan changed their color to green, after swimming in a pond at their cage with an overgrowth of algae.

Sure many visitors amazed to see how the bears has changed "green". "Visitors seem to be shocked by the color, and we are asked every day why they are so green," said Masaru Kurobe, the zoo official. Kurobe said they expected their color will return to their normal color in November, when the algae growth subsides.

Sabtu, 06 September 2008

10 Years On Glory : How Google Has Changed Our World




I have one question, how did you found my blog? By blog listing, entrecard, seocial bookmarks, or Google search? I guess many of my blog reader came from Google search.

Google has changed our way to find our favorite web/blog, and also changed the way we use internet. But how a simple internet research project conducted by Larry Page and Sergey Brin grew as one of biggest company in the world, and changed our life?

On Sept 7 1998 Larry Page and Sergey Brin, while both of them were PhD students at Stanford Univ, founded Google Inc at their friend's garage. Google itself was a research project, based on their hypothesize that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better ranking of results than existing techniques, which ranked results according to the number of times the search term appeared on a page (later they call it as pagerank syste) . This geekie duo only had four computers, $100.000 check from Andy Bechtolsheim (co-founder of Sun Microsystems), and idealism to start their business.

On Sept 7 2008, Google Inc already kicking the rooftop. They had listed on NASDAQ, employed 20.000 workers, had $ 150 billion market value to redefine media, marketing, technology. Their service is very ranged now, starting from email, online documents, advertising, free blog, to online map. They also tried to make fortune in mobile phone project by Google Android. The company now occupies a 1.5 million-square-foot headquarters called the "Googleplex" - as well as two dozen other U.S. offices and hubs in more than 30 other countries.

Despite of their success story, Google gained many controversy related to their
business practices and services. They faced copyright and censorship issue, privacy issue, click fraud issue (on their adsense service). It may looks contrary to their slogan "Don't be evil" but they still gained positive credits for their contribution for internet technology development.

Happy anniversary Google!

Kamis, 04 September 2008

Sergey Brin : (Probably) Chrome Headed To Android



Google has launched their own internet browser, Chrome few days ago. Despite of controversy surrounding its launching (including rumor about future of Google's relationship with Modzilla, and content piracy issue) Chrome has kicking internet users awareness for days. Although they only released Beta Version (just like other Google service), Google already set up for their next break through.

Google's co-founder, Sergey Brin said that webkit based Chrome browser will soon supplant the webkit based browser in Android. "Probably a subsequent version of Android is going to pick up a lot of the Chrome stack," said Brin. "My guess is we'll have 'Chrome-like' or something similar,".

Are they trying to throw out IE and Opera from gadget internet browser business?
Geek everywhere, just get ready to surf with Chrome!

Kamis, 28 Agustus 2008

Airline Won't Block "Porn" But Be Careful, Stewardesses Are Watching You






Internet addicted airline travelers, your dreams already had come true. Thanks to Wi-Fi technology, now we can enjoy internet connection on American Airline and Lufthansa. But a big question leaking out : should airlines let the passengers to browsing porn site in the plane cabin, where underage passengers easily sneak out their gadget? If internet connection be filtered, will it harm our right to find information?

US air answered : they won't filtered internet access, but rely on their stewardesses on duty to maintain situation and handle complains from passengers.

They took a win-win solution : they won't ignore our right to find information, but they also have responsibility to maintain peace on plane. That's a good idea, but is it works? Stewardesses are already busy on their routine duty, and they have to keep on their eyes to passenger's gadget. Sorry, stewardesses are human, they only have two eyes, it's very hard to keep on their eyes to all passengers.

This question remain unanswered, but maybe we can flirt to pretty stewardesses by opening "hazardous" site on our gadget. What do you think?

Rabu, 27 Agustus 2008

Computer Virus Found On... Space Station




Every computer user knows that removing virus and worm is tricky job. Even with updated anti virus, sometimes they can still occupied our computer and attacks again. Many computer amateurs feels that removing virus is very devastating. So, should we ask for experts for help? From NASA's experts, perhaps?

Unfortunately, now they have to face common problem like we used to on space : struggling with computer virus. NASA has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a virus known as Gammima.AG. This nasty virus was first detected on Earth in August 2007, occupying laptops used by astronauts to run their nutritional program, waiting to steal login names for some Asia online games, such as Maple Story, HuangYi online, and Talesweaver.And the bad news is laptops carried by astronauts reportedly do not have any anti-virus software on them to prevent infection (!)

NASA stated ISS has no direct net connection and all data traffic traveling from Earth to the spacecraft is always scanned before being transmitted. They thought that the virus might have traveled to space via a flash or USB drive owned by an astronaut and taken into space.

Lessons for NASA : NOW they plans to put security systems to stop such incidents happening in the future. Better than never, right? NASA is working with partners on the ISS to find out how the virus got on to the laptop in the first place.

Lessons for us : always update your anti virus, and... pray for your computer safety.