Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on June 29, 2006 by CyberNet.

Not many people realized this but Microsoft has limited the number of downloads for Vista Beta 2 and the limit has almost been reached. Here is what the Microsoft blogger had to say about it:

In case you weren’t aware, we are only providing a limited number of copies of Windows Vista Beta 2–either download or physical copies–and we’re fast approaching the cutoff point. What this means is–if you want to get a copy, get it now (and I mean now).

What he also mentioned was that you need to download Beta 2 and activate it to make sure you are a tester for Vista RC1 when it is released in the coming months. If you have been holding off on downloading it then you better do it soon because tomorrow (Friday) is approaching quickly!

The Microsoft blogger said that the Office 2007 team has had similar thoughts about breaking access to the download but they are going to hold off for the time being.

News Source: CNet

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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The Lytro camera features an ’11 megaray’ sensor

The funniest thing about the new Lytro Light Field Camera is the obsession with megapixels. Despite the fact that the megapixel myth has long been shattered, people still want to know many pixels the Lytro’s sensor contains.

This seems absurd. The Lytro — which lets you refocus photos after you have snapped them — may use a standard sensor underneath its fancy micro-lens array, but it uses this information to feed the “Light Field Engine” that actually creates the image. Counting pixels in this case is like counting the bristles on an artist’s paint brush.

Which brings us to this cool cutaway picture of the Lytro’s insides, which shows us the ƒ2 lens, the sensor itself and the mystery-meat Light Field Engine. It looks a lot like a standard camera design on the inside, with only the outside sporting an unusual, flashlight-like design.

We can also guess at the physical size of the sensor. Michael Zhang of PetaPixel did the math, measuring the image and comparing it to the size of the camera as listed in Lytro’s specs. He puts the sensor at between 7.5 and 10.5mm on a side, similar to those used in high-end compacts.

There is one spec for the number weenies, though. Lytro’s blurb lists the resolution of the camera as “11 megarays.” That makes it sound like something Ming the Merciless would unleash on the world. Awesome.

The Science Inside Lytro [Lytro via PetaPixel]

See Also:

• Lytro's Light Field Camera Creates 'Living' Pictures
• Lytro Camera Lets You Focus Photos After You Take Them
• Ren Ng Shares His Photographic Vision: Shoot Now, Focus Later …

While it’s certainly not pleasant to think about future disasters in Japan (or anywhere else), they do happen, and with them come instant problems with displaced people, broken infrastructure, and sanitation needs. Since we cannot prevent most of these problems, we can only do our best to alleviate the symptoms, and the difference between the aftereffects of the earthquakes in Japan as opposed to Haiti can be summed up in one sentence: Wealth is Health.

Thus, the creative iBousai emergency kits from the Ritsumeikan University Research Center for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage (yes, that’s the name) are simple solutions to very First World problems. In fact, most would be seen as luxuries during the even the best times in the Third World.

The iBousai come in four varieties currently being developed:
– Kirei (Beautification): Essential oils and other products for women
– Miru (Medical Care): Gauze, alcohol, and other wound treatment
– Kaeru (Going Home): Maps, mini radio, and items to assist in travel
– Yoru (Nighttime): Socks, whistle, and other items needed in the dark

Additional products in the kits are soaps, LED lights, mobile alarms, dry shampoo, and other toiletries.

For future disasters, these types of kits are not only compact and easy to ship, but they are designed to improve the quality of life for people living in extenuating circumstances. It might seem trivial to receive essential oils during a tragedy, but the goal of the project is to be useful for both physical and mental health, and that’s an admirable goal.

This article was written on July 22, 2011 by CyberNet.

A few weeks ago someone came to me with their computer because it was in a virtually unusable state. They couldn’t download and install any applications anymore because of multiple viruses they managed to get infected with, and their existing antivirus app had been expired for quite awhile (sigh).

Since I couldn’t install anything I decided to turn to ESET’s free online antivirus scanner, and it worked beautifully. It runs in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Netscape, and Safari browsers without needing to actually install an application. In a few clicks I was able to kick off a scan, and it would show each virus it found as it chugged along. I don’t use online antivirus scanners often, but in this situation it saved me a lot of headaches.

Here are some of the features of the ESET Online Scanner:

• Uses the most current threat signatures and heuristic detection algorithms available from ESET’s Threat Lab.
• Detects both known and unknown forms of malware, such as viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing and spyware.
• All infiltrations and infected files are moved into the quarantine where they no longer represent any threat for your computer. In addition, quarantined files can be restored or deleted permanently.

Once ESET finished it managed to clean off about a half-dozen different viruses, and the machine was purring along just fine again. As much as I love ESET in the end I still ended up installing Microsoft Security Essentials on their computer because, well, having a free antivirus app installed on someone else’s machine is the way to go since you know they’d never renew a paid program.

Just remember that these online antivirus scanners are there to provide help when you don’t have many other places to turn. It also doesn’t hurt to run them on your own system from time-to-time to get a different set of “eyeballs” looking at your system.

ESET Online Virus Scanner

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on August 03, 2007 by CyberNet.

When I think of Amazon, I automatically think of books. I can’t help it. I’m still stuck on their early days when they were known as the online bookstore. They’ve certainly expanded to sell just about everything possible these days from housewares and electronics to clothing and furniture. And now they’ll be adding groceries to the list of products offered, and those groceries will be delivered “fresh” to your door. Sound familiar? There are a handful of “fresh to your door” online grocery services currently available. Peapod comes to mind as one that’s managed to stick around. There are several online grocery services that come to mind however, that haven’t been able to survive, like WebVan.

Amazon Fresh, as it’s called, will be serving people in the Seattle area by invitation only. It certainly sounds attractive with a pre-dawn delivery option which means you place your order, and the next morning you’ll have a “temperature-controlled” tote sitting on your doorstep (free delivery with a $25 order). Kinda sounds like the days of milk men delivering jugs of milk fresh do your door every morning. They also have daytime delivery (free delivery with a $50 minimum order) and a local pick-up option, and advertise “competitive prices.”

I’ve never tried the online grocery services before, mainly because it hasn’t been something offered in my area, but also because I’m one who likes to pick out my produce items and actually see what I’m buying before it arrives at my house. Craig Berman, spokesman for Amazon Fresh says, “When we feel we are ready to add neighborhoods and add more customers to the invite list, and we can provide those customers with a great experience then we will do so.”

While it sounds like a risky business for Amazon to get into, I think there’s potential to do well. Amazon says they have a fleet of 12 trucks to deliver the products, so who knows, you just might be seeing an Amazon Fresh truck in a neighborhood near you should they be successful in Seattle. Would it be delivering to your house? Or are you one who prefers to go to the grocery store and pick out everything yourself?

Source: Reuters

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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