Category: Recommended Products

The Year Is Ending: Is Your Computer Ready?

Another year is coming to a close, and as we get closer to the ball dropping and flipping the calendar page to 2014, think about getting your computer in working shape and ready to start fresh with the New Year.
Taking time to clean up your computer now and taking care of a few important issues will actually save you time down the road, especially if things go wrong.

While no one wants to think about the possibility of their computer crashing and losing all of their data, the fact is, it happens, thanks to viruses, overloaded hard drives and other issues. Even if you don’t lose your data, failing to keep your computer up to date and clean increases the likelihood you’ll fall victim to a cybercrime, and have to spend a great deal of time and money fixing the damage.

That being said, you can prevent some of the most significant computer problems by planning ahead and taking time at the end of the year to perform a few simple tasks.

Changing Passwords
Security experts recommend changing your passwords, particularly those for high stakes accounts like your bank, every 60 to 90 days. The reality is few people actually do make the changes unless prompted to — and that presents a security risk, especially if you use the same password for all of your accounts like so many people do. When a cybercriminal accesses one password, he or she may try those credentials in a number of places and stumble upon a great deal of information. So at the end of the year, change all of your login credentials, taking care to make the passwords challenging and unique. If you have trouble remembering the passwords, invest in password management software to keep them safe.

Manage Security Protection
It’s Dec. 31 – do you know where your antivirus protection is? Check your protection on a regular basis to ensure you have the latest virus definitions and your automatic updates are occurring properly. Check the expiration date of your virus protection to determine how much time is left; if you’re close to running out of time, update it now so you don’t have any gaps in your protection.

In addition to updating your virus protection, install any updates to your operating system or add-ons that you’ve been putting off. Doing so will repair any vulnerabilities in your system that can be easily exploited by criminals. Also, double-check your firewall protection and your wireless Internet connections. If your wireless router is not password-protected, make that a priority; if your connection is already locked, change the password to thwart hackers.

Run a Backup
Losing your data can be devastating. While the best hard drive data recovery software will most likely recover your files if your computer crashes, running regular backups of your machine doubly ensures you won’t lose any of your precious files, photos or other data, and your recovery will be quick and relatively painless.

Before you back up your files, delete unnecessary “stuff” from your hard drive. Do you need to keep every single photo from your daughter’s dance recital — even those that are blurry or where her eyes are closed? Deleting the files you no longer need and moving those files that are important, but using cloud storage or a removable disk will keep everything organized and can improve your machine’s performance.

Develop a Recovery Plan
The best way to avoid losing your mind if something goes wrong is to have a recovery plan in place. A computer crash can be devastating — and if you have to purchase a new computer or hard drive, not having all of your data can make the transition frustrating, not to mention disheartening when you realize everything is gone forever. That’s why it’s important to run regular backups, and know where to go for help should things go awry. Research your recovery options, watch a video tutorial and reviews for recovery services and know exactly who to contact before you have a problem. Having that information easily accessible will help get you back up and running as soon as possible.

Getting your computer ready for a fresh start in the New Year takes a few hours, but the rewards are great. Not only will you be secure in the knowledge your machine is protected and running as well as possible, you’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing you won’t be left high and dry — should something go wrong.

November 26, 2013
Smart Gloves That Will Change How We Interact With Our Environment!

Now, this is certainly something amazing! Just recall the most weird thing you always wished to have. Now just wait, till it turns to reality someday!

No doubt, human imagination has opened up the horizons of almost everything that ceases to exist in the world. Almost all our gadgets and new inventions/methods owe a great deal to the imagination of human mind. It is only after a concept has been imagined that scientists and engineers put their time and skills to manifest it into a reality.

Today, we’ve such a revolutionary concept that might turn to reality in the years yet to come. Say hello to these fascinating gloves that have a projector equipped in them. We call them ‘Smart Gloves’!

Smart Gloves are something that we all would surely desire to wear someday. These awesome palm-covers provide us a means to use hand gestures in order to accomplish various tasks by simply using the built-in projector and the smart glove. You can make calls, click pictures and can even browse through content by simply wearing these gloves. The pictures in the article provide a much better knowledge about what these gloves can do.

Although, at present we fall short of the technology to mould this concept into a reality but this might very well be possible in the not so distant future! After all, we never know what future has in stores for us!

Well, I’m just wondering how smart gloves would revolutionize the way things are done at present and how they would be done in the future. Even if it’s a virtual concept now, I’m completely mesmerized by it. It’s just too classy! I’m definitely looking forward to these.

November 20, 2013
Self-Stirring Coffee Mug!

Do you often keep up late at night and study or work on your office projects? At that time, if someone makes you a cup of coffee, you’ll surely love it! Won’t you?

But, what if there’s no one around to do that favour? Unfortunately, you’ll have to make coffee yourselves and later on will have to wash the dishes too? And in that case, the stirring spoon is an added burden. Wouldn’t it be better if the coffee stirred by itself? That sounds magical..

So, here comes the ‘Self-Stirring Coffee Mug’ for you that relieves you from the burden of that extra spoon!

This smart mug takes care of the self-stirring itself and it doesn’t add any new flavors to your coffee. The originality of your coffee stays intact! The device runs on battery and is made of stainless steel.

It blends your coffee for a perfect mix with the help of a spinning disc fixed at its base. You just need to place two AAA batteries in the cell cabinet. Then, fill up the mug with your favorite hot beverage, put in the additives and let them whip! The mug has a snap-lock lid that helps in keeping your coffee hot for longer durations. An advantage that the mug offers.

It’s a great device indeed! Plus, it can be really very useful. Well, if you’re planning to gift anything to your friends or colleagues then, this mug stands out to be the best one!

November 6, 2013
Autotram Extra Grand – World’s Longest Bus!

I’m sure the above image must have amazed you. Undoubtedly, the Autotram Extra Grand is another spectacular display of brilliance! German Engineers have built this bus in an effort to reduce the number of private vehicles on roads which would help curb traffic jams to a great extent.

The most common problem with the modern world is the growing population. So, the basic motive is to find the most efficient means of mass transportation that would replace hundreds of thousands of extra vehicles off the roads. As a consequence of which, we’ve the longest bus of the world now that extends up to 101 feets!

The Autotram Extra Grand runs on a fuel-efficient hybrid engine. When the engine battery is fully charged, it can take the bus up to 8kms. You must be wondering what sort of skill may be required to drive this engine, then I may tell you that there’s no per-requisite of having a driving license, pass a particular test or anything like that. The bus has an inbuilt steering mechanism which allows it to manoeuvre just like any normal 12meter long bus. It can also steer back and forth with great ease.

The steering mechanism runs on a complex algorithm devised by a team German engineers. The complete projects cost some 10 million dollars.

Now, the point that rises up is that how the Autotram would affect the city traffic. Well, the engineers are optimistic about it. They strongly believe that the grand bus would considerably reduce the number of private vehicles on the road. The engine is eco-friendly and controls the release of harmful gasses in the environment.

The Grand Bus has been debuted in Dresden, Germany. The bus moved around the city and transferred some 258 passengers successfully. So far, the feedback received from them have been gun. The bendy bus combines the ability of a train’s length and a bus’ maneuverability. It’s an awesome example of transportation plus system engineering!

Beijing and Shanghai city administrations have already ordered the bus. German teams are repeatedly conducting pilot tests to ensure full satisfaction. Final touch-ups are underway! Soon, we would be seeing these gigantic vehicles running smoothly on our city roads!

October 28, 2013
Disney Innovates Finger-Powered Energy Harvesting Technology!

Disney researchers have successfully furnished an energy harvesting mechanism that can effectively generate electric currents by simply finger-tapping a paper or plastic surface which are strong enough to light up LEDs or trigger actions within games.

The device uses a paper generator which has a thin, flexible sheet of polymer Teflon placed carefully between two conductive layers of metallized polyester which serves the purpose of electrodes. When the paper is rubbed against the Teflon sheet, electrical charge accumulates on it. Then, on moving the electrodes relative to each other, a tiny alternating current is generated. This current could then be used to light up LEDs, E-ink displays, sound buzzers and also some infrared communication devices.

The idea for this technology evolved when Interaction Designer Mr. Ivan Poupyrev collaborated with Mr. Mustafa Emre Karagozler, an electrical engineer.

“We were discussing about new ways of harvesting energy and then thought that, it would be cool to collect the electrostatic charge from rubbing materials” Poupyrev said in an interview.

The system relies entirely on electrets which are nothing but the electrostatic equivalent of permanent magnets, which carries the electric charge. Polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE), popularly known as Teflon and quartz are examples of electrets. These electrets are already a part of microphones and MEMS devices.

Researchers have practically demonstarted how to use electrets in order to convert finger-tapping into power to LEDs using much expensive microfabricated structures. However, the modern day researchers at Disney have come up with a way that enables us to do the same but in a much feasible way.

The technology would help in designing books and posters that would look attractive and more interactive and this all would be done without the use of batteries. No issue of low battery..! It produces a feeble current but has a high voltage range on the scale of 1,000 volts which can trigger e-ink paper displays easily.

Disney has given a few demonstrations of the technology, like an e-ink face of a cat astronaut could be revealed by just rubbing a button on a piece of Teflon material. Another example pits two people against each other to tap fast enough to turn on an LED first. The energy can also be used to trigger a buzzer sound by storing the charge in a capacitor when sufficient power is generated. Similarly, it can be used to send an infrared signal to trigger actions by a computer.

The team at Disney is still working to improve the technology. There’s a lot of optimisation that could be done inorder to make the system more efficient and acceptable. Significantly, the tiny amounts of power collected should be stepped up to the extent that it could charge a smartwatch or a simple e-ink reader.

Earlier, researchers at Disney even developed a microphone that lets a user record a voice message and then relays that message to another person simply by touching it with a finger.

Well, no doubt its an era of science and technology. I’m just looking forward to new technologies like this that could wonder struck me. Hmmm…I’m impressed Mr. Poupyrev and Mr. Electrical Engineer..! 😉

October 9, 2013
Tired Of Poor Wi-Fi Speeds??..Lets switch to Li-Fi!

Whether you’re using a wireless internet in a coffee shop, stealing it from the guy next door, or competing for bandwidth at a conference, you’ve probably gotten frustrated of the slow speeds you face when more than one device is tapped into the network. As the number of internet users increases day by day, their devices access wireless internet, clogging airwaves which are going to make it increasingly difficult to latch onto a reliable signal.

But hold on a second, if we see carefully then, radio waves are just one part of the spectrum that can carry our data. What if we could use other waves to surf the internet??..Looking forward to this concept, Dr. Harald Haas, a German Physicist has come up with a solution that he names as “Data Through Illumination”.

It aims at sending data through an LED bulb that varies in intensity much faster than what a normal human eye can follow. It’s the same idea behind infrared remote controls but is far more powerful.

D-Light can produce data rates as faster as 10 megabits per second, which has a lot more speed than your average broadband connection – says, Haas.

Dr. Haas envisions a future where data for laptops, smartphones, and tablets would be transmitted through the light in a room. And security would be just a snap — if you can’t see the light, you can’t access the data. Simple!

Li-Fi is basically a VLC(Visible Light Communication) technology developed by a team of scientists including Dr. Gordon Povey, Prof. Harald Haas and Dr. Mostafa Afgani at the University of Edinburgh. At TED global Conference, Prof. Haas amazed people by streaming a high-definition video from a standard LED lamp.

“It is typically implemented using white LED light bulbs. These devices are normally used for illumination by applying a constant current through the LED. However, by fast and subtle variations of the current, the optical output can be made to vary at extremely high speeds. Unseen by the human eye, this variation is then used to carry high-speed data,” says Dr. Povey, Product Manager of the University of Edinburgh’s Li-Fi Program ‘D-Light Project’.

In simple terms, Li-Fi can be thought of as a light-based Wi-Fi i.e. it uses light instead of radio waves to transmit information. And instead of Wi-Fi modems, Li-Fi would use transceiver-fitted LED lamps that can light a room as well as transmit and receive information. Since simple light bulbs are used, there can technically be any number of access points.

It has already achieved blisteringly high speeds in the lab. Researchers at the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, Germany, have reached data rates of over 500 megabytes per second using a standard white-light LED. It is even capable of transmitting data at 100 MB/s – faster than most UK broadband connections.

Thus, Visible Light Communication can potentially solve the problem of lack of spectrum space which could then be used for communication at very high speeds. Such advancements promise an efficient exchange of information among various people and organizations. This can definitely bring about a revolution in our internet experience.

Well, I’m desperately looking forward to the day when I would be downloading at a speed of 100Mbps..! Excited..!

September 30, 2013