Educational Articles: 10/1/08

Oct 31, 2008

Electronic Gadgets

OLED liquid crystal display panel technology is rapidly improving; Sony debuted a flexible (bendable)screen that was only 0.3mm thick; the flexible screen could usher in an era for gadgets with screens that match the contours of the device, not a device that matches the contours of the screen. The flexible screen prototype was 2.5" in size and had a resolution of 169x120 pixels.

Advantages of OLED :
a), the fabrication process is easy, and devices are thinner and lighter than those fabricated by cathode ray tube (CRT) display technology.
b) there are also some advantages over liquid crystal (LCD) displays: OLEDS can be viewed from different angles and don’t need a backlight.
c) the drive voltage and power consumption are low.

Wi-Fire uses a powerful directional antenna, highly sensitive receiver and proprietary software to find and enhance normal WiFi signals; install the Wi-Fire Connection Manager, plug the Wi-Fire into an available USB port and you are done . The signal to wireless Internet connection is about three times the range of your internal wireless adapter - 1000 feet away.

The price for Wi-Fire is about US$79.00.

Wind powered battery pack charger for your gadget. This device has blades that take in wind energy, and lets you transfer said energy to any chargeable device with a mini-USB port. This power generator is available for roughly US$55.

Oct 17, 2008

Dubai

Nakheel Tower is to become world’s tallest concrete structure; the tower will be more than a kilometre high, covering a space of around 270 hectares, and will become home to around 55,000 people, a workplace for 45,000; it will comprise of four individual towers within a single structure, a distinctive crescent-shaped podium encircling the base and complementing the structure’s remarkable height. It includes 250,000 sq m of hotels and hospitality space, 100,000 sq m of retail space and huge expanses of green spaces, including canal walks, parks and landscaping.

Oct 12, 2008

Stingrays

The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters.

Gliding silently beneath the waves they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind; it's hard to say exactly how many there were but in the range of a few thousand; according to the amateur photographer who took the above photo.

Stingrays are commonly found in the shallow coastal waters of temperate seas. They spend the majority of their time inactive, partially buried in sand, often moving only with the sway of the tide.

Stingray's eyes are on top of their body and their mouths on the underside, stingrays cannot see their prey, instead they use smell and electro-receptors similar to those of sharks. Stingrays feed primarily on mollusks, crustaceans, and occasionally on small fish. Coral reefs are favorite feeding grounds and are usually shared with sharks during high tide.

Barbecued stingray is commonly served in Singapore and Malaysia.