Solar Furnace Melts Steel

Looking for the best way to feed the world's hunger for energy, James May visited a solar furnace to see how powerful they really are. Usually, solar furnaces are used to boil water into steam to generate electricity or make hydrogen fuel. But May thought that the best way to make people understand their insane power is to do something equally as insane: Melt steel almost instantly.

A solar furnace is a mirror structure used to concentrate sun rays into a small area called the focal point. As you can expect, the concentrated rays produce extremely high temperatures: At the focal point, solar furnaces can achieve temperatures of 5,430 ºF (3,000 ºC). The idea is not new—coming from ancient Greece—but their potential is starting to become more relevant now as we try to cut dependency on fossil fuels.

2009 DTV Transition

This "PSA" on the upcoming switch to digital broadcasting that requires anyone who watches TV via an antenna to get a converter box is one of the funniest gadget-related videos I've seen in a long, long time. In it, Mae LaBorde, a 99-year-old grandmother, tries to figure out how to acquire and then set up a digital converter box. Man, do I love this video. What are you still reading these stupid words for? Just watch the video.

Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display

Here's the video of the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, one of those technologies that will probably change entertainment forever: A high-fidelity 3D force field on the air that allows you to actually touch virtual objects with your bare hands. Initially, this technology could find its way into virtual keyboards, but in the future—as the size and resolution increases—there are endless possibilities.

Large Hadron Collider Explination

This is pretty weird (and cool) stuff. This video explains the operation of the LHC, it's power, and the forces at work required to "peer into what created and governs our universe."
The first live test of the LHC was today (Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008) and apparently it's working properly. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here to read this article.

Speculations leading up to this event have been of "the end of the world" as the machine is said to be capable of creating "mini black holes" powerful enough to engulf the earth itself, or even our own solar system given the amount of matter available to grow the black hole.

Further testing and, ultimately, the actual full-speed, full-power shots will take place in the near future.

Hope to be here for the next post!
Fingers crossed...

Office Building Light Show

Some Poles calling themselves Project Piwo have been creating huge animations using the windows of Soviet era bloks and the larger office buildings around Poland. In this video, they recreate the James Bond opening by flashing lights throughout the building.

Real Hologram Device

Does art imitate life or life imitate art? I think this holographic display developed at USC demoing a TIE Fighter puts an end to that age-old debate. Using a high-speed DLP projection, a mirror reflects 5,000 images per second, which combine to make a pretty 3D object. But the most remarkable point about the system is that it updates in realtime at 200Hz, taking into account the user's position and adjusting the image placement as needed. In other words, the image could rotate for a still viewer, or stay absolutely still for a moving viewer. But that's easier to understand after watching the video:

Huge HD Video Wall At Philly Comcast Center

When you're Comcast and you have some serious cash to throw at an installation in your new Philadelphia-based Comcast Center, you go all out on a $22 million high-definition video wall, of course. The giant display measures 27 by 87-feet and mashes 10 million pixels across modules linked by a central system that contains 27,000 GB of info, six DX700 LED digitizers, seven Encore video processors, and three Matrixpro routers. So what does it do? It's kind of a giant screensaver that may get old over time, if you ask us. It displays the time, shows figures pushing the panels open, and plays with the space in surreal, 3D-esque animations that are, admitedly, fun to watch.

FireFox 3 Download Day

Today is Mozilla FireFox 3 Download Day. They are trying to set a world record by issuing the most internet downloads in a 24-hour period.

Go to www.spreadfirefox.com/worldrecord to download your copy. Mac or PC. You'll be getting the newest and most stable internet browser to date and help create a new Guinness World Record.

Click on the "Flaunt It" button at the top of the page to receive your own download certificate.
Sent from my Crackberry.

Sneak Peek Of The Blackberry Javelin

Here's a leaked video of the upcoming Blackberry handset codenamed "Javelin." This will be a smaller version of the Bold, similar to the relationship between the current 8800 series and the Curve 8300. The Bold, of course, being the larger of the two phones.
It is rumored that the Javelin will be "3G-less", still operating on the 2.5G EDGE or ED-DO network. However, it will come with an upgraded 3.2mp camera, a higher resolution screen than the Curve, and the new Blackberry OS 4.6.

ESPN's Axis Camera at Euro2008

This is pretty cool technology. ESPN is bringing the Matrix look to the playing field using a series of cameras surrounding the field in 360 degrees of video coverage. It's called "ESPN AXIS." Along with their 3D computer animations and graphics for showing replays more effectively, this adds a great deal of visualization and clarity to the TV experience.

Video courtesy of CrunchGear.com

BMW's Shape-Changing Concept Car

This is just crazy! BMW's new concept car that has a skeleton wrapped in a flexible skin material. Definitely a MUST WATCH!

Floppy Drive Speaker

Just for fun... Sound being created from an old 3.5" floppy disc drive by modulating the internal motors control signals. Technical, I know... but it's so darn cool!

Blackberry Bold 9000 And iPhone 3G Comparison

Here is a good Technical Specs and Features comparison for both the iPhone 3G and the upcoming Blackberry Bold 9000 from the guys over at Crackberry.com. Hands down, the Bold has the iPhone beat.

Click on the picture to view full size.

WWDC Keynote In 60 Seconds

This little video is pretty cool. If you don't want to sit down for over an hour and watch the entire keynote video, this is for you. It really is thourough and hits all the main points. This will save you a lot of time.

I'm here for you guys! ;)

iPhone 3G Price Chart

I just found this post over on Gizmodo detailing the prices of both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G over a two year period. Pretty interesting stuff considering all the hype around the new device and the crazy low hardware price.

Check the article out HERE.

Well, It's Finally Here!

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two days, you've heard by now that the second generation iPhone has been officially introduced to the public. "iPhone 3G" or "iPhone 2.0."

Improvements to the phone are as follows:

1.) 3G radio for faster data downloads and uploads when not connected to a WiFi network.

2.) GPS-A for location tracking wherever you are through Google Maps and other mapping software.

3.) Redesigned case back. Now glossy plastic rather than aluminum, available in either black or white.

4.) Two capacities available, 8Gb and 16Gb.

5.) Price drops to $199 and $299 with a 2-year contract or extension with AT&T.

6.) Addition of the App Store which will allow users to download both Apple Certified and third party applications.

You can log-on to Apple's website and watch the Keynote Video from WWDC where these new features, software and the new iPhone itself were announced by Steve Jobs and the Apple Design Staff. Follow the jump below...

WWDC Keynote Video

E-Trade Pro Mobile Software For Blackberry

This commercial was just too funny not to post! E-Trade, the online stock trading company is preparing to release a Blackberry based trading program that will allow users access to streaming real-time quotes, easy stock and option trading, live watch lists and portfolios, and quick cash transfers.

You can get all the details and even demo the software after the jump below:

E-Trade Mobile Pro for Blackberry

Some good news and some bad news

I've got two items regarding the Blackberry community today...

Google has updated it's maps application for the Blackberry adding transit info such as train routing, bus schedules as well as some performance upgrades for map updating. I've been playing with this app today to see for myself and I would highly recomend the download.
Follow the link below from your Blackberry browser to download OTA.

www.google.com/gmm

That was the good news...

The bad (or not so bad) news is that there are two scheduled data outages scheduled for this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday, June 7th and 8th the Blackberry Data Server will be down from 1am until 5am CST for "server performance upgrades." This could be a welcomed thing because of the recent problems that we've been having lately with the Blackberry's bouncing back and forth between having data coverage and being back in the GPRS stoneage over the past couple days.

Obviously not many of you will be using your handsets at that ungodly time of the morning, but, nonetheless, I would recomend a full battery pull both mornings just to make sure you get your phone to apply the server changes correctly.

AT&T Data Service Problems... Anyone?

Is anyone else having trouble with their Blackberrys here in Northwest Arkansas? I've been having trouble lately with my phone bouncing back and forth between GSM, low level edge and gprs. When it does this, obviously, it will not fetch my emal, won't send or receive text messages, or even send and receive phone calls. It will disconnect for hours and then eventually connect again and I'll get voice mails, emails and texts galore all at the same time. My wife keeps getting mad at me when I don't answer anything for a couple hours. :)

I've tried all of the normal tactics such as rebooting, hard and soft resets, even sending service books, but nothing seems to help. The thing that is confusing me the most is the fact that none of my blogs are saying anything about it. Normally when something like this happens, even on a small scale, they all go crazy with stories. They always take the opportunity to talk bad about AT&T.

Beyond that, it's not just me either. I thought for a while that it might be my new version of the Blackberry OS, but my boss Bryan is having the same problems. I haven't asked anyone else at work yet to see if maybe it's a church account thing (since all of the FBC and CPH phones are on the same account).

If anyone else reading this has had a similar situation, please comment or email and let me know. Maybe it's just a temporary thing.

Fingers crossed.

Automatic Weapons Are A Blast!

This was shot in Lawrenceville, GA while we were down for my brother's wedding. Travis and I were trying to find an E-85 ethanol gas station and stumbled upon this gun range that rented out several different automatic sub machine guns. Only missed 3 times out of 24 at about 30 feet.

Completely random, I know, but it was so much fun! Sorry for the long load time but I wanted a good quality clip.

World's Fastest RC Helicopter

This is really cool!  I just found an article about this on Gizmodo a few minutes ago.  It's a teaser video for a new RC helicopter that is boasting the title of "worlds fastest RC helicopter." From the short clip I would say that it has a good chance of claiming that title.  Video after the jump...

CLICK HERE

Verizon Wireless Acquiring Alltel?

This is a pretty interesting possibility...

Both Engadget and Gizmodo have credible information regarding the possibility of Mobile giant Verizon Wireless acquiring Alltel Wireless for approximately $27 Billon.  This information mainly emerging from a breaking report from CNBC today. If this merger were to happen, granted the FCC allows it, it would make Verizon the largest wireless coverage provider in the world with over 80 million customers. 

Countdown to WWDC, June 10th, 2008

Well, there's not much to talk about as far as tech goes from yesterday, so we'll talk about the latest rumors heading toward the June 10th Apple press conference at WWDC.  The conference, or at least the interesting part, is scheduled to start at 10 am local time.

As we've all guessed, the new version of the iPhone will most likely be announced along with the new iPhone App Store and possibly a new OSX version as well.  The iPhone 2, as some are calling it, is rumored to be packing GPS, WiFi, a 3 megapixel camera, a new slimmer casing and the new operating system 2.0.

The iPhone App Store will be a welcomed improvement to the phone as users will be able to download third-party applications, games and other content that was previously unavailable through iTunes.

There's not much info about the new Apple OSX 10.6 other than a few recent blog posts from the guys over at The Boy Genuis Report.  It's rumored that this new upgrade may be focused solely on the newer Intel absed Mac's.  This isn't good for me personally since both my work desktop and personal laptop are both still powerPC chips.  I guess we'll just wait and see.

I'll continue to update everyone about the newest Apple info as it comes in.

Here We Go...

Hello everyone!  This is officially my first blog ever!  Sure, I've posted hundreds of comments on other websites before, but never have I started my own.  All that to say, bear with me until I get the hang of this. :)  

So, what's new recently?  

My brother Matt got married last Saturday!  That was really cool.  Everything went very well there in Atlanta, GA.  That's where the wedding was, by the way.  He married a girl named Courtney DeLaney.  She's great, we all love her a lot.  They are on their honeymoon right now in Hawaii somewhere.  I don't remember, to be honest.  They'll be moving to Dallas, TX when they get back so that Matt can start his Seminary Classes at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I guess Courtney will be working down there somewhere.  I haven't heard anything about that yet.

Just a short review of the tech Blogs today:

We'll start with the Blackberry Blogs... BerryReview.com posted a link to download the classic mobile Game "Bubble Popper" for all of the Blackberry handsets.  I was pretty excited about this one.  I've not had much luck finding good free games for my BB.  Most of them are for sale, so this, being such a popular game, was a real find.  

Beyond that, there really wasn't any crazy good news to mention.  We're still waiting to hear some more info about the upcoming Blackberry Bold or the mystery handset RIM will introduce as the "9100 series".

I managed to get my hands on a Beta copy of the new Blackberry OS a couple days ago.  I was really excited.  It's working pretty well so far.  It took longer than I would have liked for it to install on my phone (about an hour and a half) but other than that it's pretty sweet.  The video camera capabilities and the new visual look of the email, messaging and system menus is much cleaner and loads a little faster in my opinion.  I've had a couple instances where the phone would lock up and eventually reboot on it's own, but it would work fine after the restart.  May be RIM will fix the rest of the bugs before the final release to the public. (fingers crossed)

Well, I think I'll call it a day for now.  I'll be back tomorrow to continue and hopefully upload some picture of my brother's wedding and all the fun we had down in Atlanta.

Signing off,

Phillip