The last iteration of the Photoshop program that's included in the Creative Suite 4 bungle was destined to be launched by Adobe on October 1st. Guess what? They just couldn't wait.

This version comes loaded with new features and promises. Technological promises. For one thing, it's been rumoured that it will take advantage of 64-bit operating systems. Some have even mentioned that it will have GPGPU support. During a demonstration at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, the folks at TG Daily could see how a 442 megapixel image (roughly 2 GB) was manipulated like it had only 5 pixels.

Although you can see that the 64-bit environment is supported here, we'll have to wait for reviews to be on the safe side when it comes to performance. Watch this space.

 

This story has been a long time in the making; from the moment that the people at the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wired mice brains for remote guiding them, like some telecontrolled vehicles, we were headed towards something huge.

They haven't reached the point when they can start mass producing "Six Million Dollar Men", but monkeys have turned out to be pretty successful. The experiment was to initially have them follow a point on a screen with a joystick that allowed them to move a square on that same screen. But after a while, the robotic arm that "followed" the movements of the monkey started to move independently when the monkey realized it could move it without moving his own arm.

The project keeps going forward, and now we can see the robotic arm having quite precise movements. Curiously enough, we never get to see the head of the poor chimp, which must be quite messed up.

Link: Daily Tech.

 

Apple has announced that under certain conditions the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter’s metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating the risk of electric shock.

Apple had received reports of detached blades involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold. Although no injuries have been reported, Apple has urged users to exchange them. Replacement adapters will be available from October 10.

The company said the ultra-compact USB adapters in question have metal prongs that can break off. They were supplied with 3G iPhones sold in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico and several Latin American countries, and would be exchanged.

In the meantime, the users have been urged to charge their iPhone 3G by connecting it to their computer with the USB cable that came with their iPhone or by using a standard-sized Apple USB Power Adapter (with fold up prongs) or with a third party adapter designed to work with the iPhone, such as a car charger.

Details on the exchange program are available on www.apple.com/support/usbadapter/exchangeprogram.

 

The giant Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most expensive scientific experiment, will be shut down for at least two months, scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva said Saturday.

According to a press statement, "the most likely cause of the problem was a faulty electrical connection between two magnets, which probably melted at high current leading to mechanical failure."

The mishap resulted in "a large helium leak" into the collider's tunnel.

The leak means that the LHC will be down for at least two months, because workers must now warm up the faulty sector of the tunnel in order to repair it. The liquid helium is used to cool the LHC's magnets, which guide protons and accelerate them so they can be smashed together, down to within 1.9 kelvins (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) of absolute zero.

CERN researchers must warm the damaged section so they can fix the problem and this will take a while. The operating temperature of the LHC is of minus 271.3 degrees Celsius (minus 456.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

CERN officials said a full investigation is currently under way.

Link: Scientific American

An Australian company on Thursday launched a free tool it says offers web browsers a world-first opportunity to view the Internet in three dimensions.

Melbourne-based ExitReality said its application allows users to turn any regular website into a 3D virtual environment, where an avatar representing them can walk around and meet other browsers viewing the same website.

Founder Danny Stefanic said ExitReality allows you to view not just one website but the entire World Wide Web in 3D."

Compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome Internet browsers, ExitReality includes a 3D search engine, which gives the user access to the biggest repository of 3D objects and worlds on the Internet. It's free and easy to get started. After a quick 3.7MB download, the ExitReality Internet browser plug-in is installed and a button with the ExitReality logo appears on the browser. Visit any web page and click on this button to convert the 2D webpage instantly into a 3D place.

Browsers can use the tool to turn their social networking pages on sites such as Facebook and MySpace into a virtual apartment, where photographs are displayed on the wall and links to friends are "doors" leading to other apartments.

One of the most exciting features of ExitReality is that it allows users to decorate or customise their own 3D webspace with 3D objects.

Similarly, using ExitReality on video-sharing website YouTube creates a virtual cinema, where the browser's avatar sits next to other users also logged on to watch the clip they have selected.

Stefanic said such effects made the web more interesting for users, meaning they were more likely to spend more time browsing the page

It's an opportunity for any Internet user to connect with friends, meet new people with the same interests, and create a virtual home.

Source: Yahoo News

No, not your PDA, the one you were born with. Simply put, these are some tattoos you can print on your skin with, let's say, the shopping list or some cheat sheets for that big presentation at work.

The product has two components: a washable ink pen and a dozen sheets for guiding your writing.

At first sight, you may say that this isn't very advanced tech, but it all comes down to the quality of the special ink employed. It must be so that it allows for clear writing and at the same time you should be able to wash it easily... or it won't be that much of an improvement over a conventional pen. As for the guiding sheets, those wanting to write long "lists" will likely prefer a low profile.

Traffic congestion, growing pollution are issues that are the in the mind set of all of us, troubling every individual 24/7. Dedek Design has introduced an urban personal transportation concept in attempt to reduce traffic congestion as well as pollution caused by increasing car driving. This smart design E-go aims to achieve parking where the space is available. And this will also help in elderly mobility. This is a really cool and aesthetic urban vehicle concept, and we hope to see such concepts in the future. I hope this will help to alleviate the traffic congestion and air pollution in cities by encouraging more people to resort to green traveling means like E-go. I wish that good concepts get manufactured so that urban traffic woes will be solved.

Link: Dedek- Design

As the first particles began circulating in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this week, a group of hackers calling themselves the "Greek Security Team" penetrated computer systems inside CERN's Geneva, Switzerland, facility, where the world's biggest particle accelerator is housed, the Telegraph.co.uk reported.

Calling themselves the Greek Security Team, the interlopers mocked the IT used on the project, describing the technicians responsible for security as "a bunch of schoolkids."

"We're pulling your pants down because we don't want to see you running around naked looking to hide yourselves when the panic comes," they wrote in Greek in a rambling note posted on the LHC's network. However, despite an ominous warning "don't mess with us," the hackers said they had no intention of disrupting the work of the atom smasher.

Scientists working at Cern, the organisation that runs the vast smasher, were worried about what the hackers could do because they were "one step away" from the computer control system of one of the huge detectors of the machine, a vast magnet that weighs 12500 tons, measuring around 21 metres in length and 15 metres wide/high.

If they had hacked into a second computer network, they could have turned off parts of the vast detector and, said the insider, "it is hard enough to make these things work if no one is messing with it."

"There seems to be no harm done. From what they can tell, it was someone making the point that CMS was hackable," said James Gillies, spokesman for Cern. "It was quickly detected."

The website - www.cmsmon.cern.ch - can no longer be accessed by the public as a result of the attack.

Link: Telegraph.co.uk

 

Coolink today released its new Chillaramic thermal compound. Thanks to ceramic nano particles, Chillaramic achieves outstanding thermal transfer while not being electrically conductive. Chillaramic is easy to apply, easy to clean off and comes in big 10g tubes that will last you through more than 30 applications without breaking your wallet.

"Today's enthusiast user doesn't only want his thermal paste of choice to perform well, he also expects it to be safe, convenient, versatile and reasonably priced", explains Timothy Chu, Coolink CEO. "Our new Chillaramic compound was designed to meet precisely these requirements!"

Based on ceramic nano-particles, Chillaramic doesn't only provide excellent performance but also completely eliminates the risk of short circuits, making it perfect for crucial applications. Both novice and experienced users will appreciate the fact that the paste is very easy to apply and to clean off.

Tailor-made for the cooling enthusiast, Chillaramic doesn't require a longer burn-in time and can be used with air, water and evaporative cooling systems. Last but not least, the paste comes in big 10g tubes which are sufficient for at least 30 applications on today's CPUs. So at a suggested retail price of EUR 6.90 / USD 8.90, one tube of Coolink Chillaramic will give you a lot of excellent paste at an excellent price!  

Which is another way of saying that sales of HD players (we don't need to specify since there's only one High Definition format left, right?) went down 40% from January to February. And all that with the whole market for them alone.

But maybe the question is: are they really alone?. Now go take a look and you'll find the answer below your TV (or above or wherever you've place the damn thing): the good old DVD player. Unless your TV is HD ready, I'm sure you'll want to wait until prices of Blu-ray players fall... the hard way.

Link: Daily Tech.