The Digitizing Line turns and scans 1500 to 3000 pages per hour. 4DigitalBooks ensures that only one page is turned at a time. This means that no page would be missed or would be scanned twice. The Digitizing Line is suitable for all types of books, magazines and newspapers for the business of professional scanning. According to their website, it is as easy to use as a photocopy machine.
There is no need to specify the size of the book prior to process it as the Digitizing Line has a set of sensors that measure all necessary dimensions of the book. After loading the book on the automatic book cradle, the Digitizing Line would automatically measure the book. There is no way for the operator to enter a wrong value or make a mistake that would damage either the book or the Digitizing Line.
Every time a page is picked up, the page detector checks if there is only one page. If more pages are stuck together, pages are released and the pick up process is repeated differently. The efficiency of the page detector is spectacular as it discriminates even if pages with radical thickness or porosity are stuck together. Turning pages without making sure that only one page has been turned at a time makes no sense to 4DigitalBooks. Imagine what would be to scan a book of 1000 pages and to get 999 files or less ?
During the process of turning pages, the page is pushed to the left by the right moving glass. The interface between the page and the glass is a special profile with an adequate soft shape. The fore edge of this profile presents a page-push air-blower that creates an air cushion between the page and the profile itself, that allows to gently push the page by air, without friction.
Micro GPS Mail Logger: Track Delivery Inefficiencies
The Mail Logger is a GPS Tracking Device specifically designed for tracking your mail. Simply mail it in an envelope and later review where your mail has been. The GPS Mail Logger records the global position of your mail throughout the delivery process. Once you receive your mail, plug in the GPS Mail Logger’s MicroSD card and find out where your mail has been in seconds. With time stamps and recorded downtime you can find out where your mail has been and if it was delayed or misrouted. With GPS you get your mail’s exact satellite location, how fast it was traveling, and even its altitude throughout the delivery process.
The customized time interval setting lets you choose how often you want the GPS Mail Logger to record your mail’s location. Choose to get updates every 2, 5, or 10 minutes, or select “Tilt Mode” that records when movement is detected.
Here are some of its features:
Tracks your mail with GPS location.
Records mail’s downtime to pinpoint inefficiencies and delays in the delivery process.
Customized time interval records mail’s movement as often as desired.
Battery lasts for up to 2 weeks on motion-activated, Tilt Mode, or 20 continuous hours with minute-by-minute updates.
Fits into an envelope at ¼ of an inch thin.
Integrates directly with Google Earth.
Use it to track mail anywhere in the world.
GPS Location information is stored onto a removable MicroSD card for later review.
Records location, speed, and altitude anywhere in the world for later review.
Hmmm, I can picture some people will misuse this gadget to track their spouses or teenage kids to find out where they "hang out". The Micro GPS Mail Logger is available for sale for (US $695.95) through BrickHouse Security.
I've always thought there should be an easier way to lift your car to change a flat tire. Now with the Exhaust Air Jack, you can lift your car without working out your muscles!
Lift your vehicle in 30 seconds without straining with an awkward, unstable jack. Simply fit the Air Jack's hose over your exhaust, position the airbag under the vehicle, and turn on your engine. The exhaust inflates the bag, lifting the vehicle to 17". A one-way valve keeps the bag inflated after the engine has been turned off. The durable Air Jack was originally designed for rugged off-road use and works in mud, snow, and uneven ground where a regular jack cannot. Has no negative effects on the engine. Comes in a handy carry case to fit easily in your trunk.
What would somebody say when he sees a "man" air lifting his car? He cannot handle a real Jack? ;)
The Exhaust Air Jack costs (US $129.95) and you can buy it from AJ Prindle.
It is so amazing & scary at the same time to look at the "pictures" above! They really look like real pictures ... so real and almost believable.
The images were created by 28-years-old (Pixeloo) from the west coast of the United States. He refuses to tell his real name for some reason and he works daily with Photoshop CS2. It took (Pixeloo) about 6 hours to create the images of Mario and Homer.
Play the following YouTube video to see how Pixeloo created the real Jessica Rabbit (using Angelina Julie picture):
Microsoft Reveals Live Mesh: Connecting Applications,People and Devices Online
Microsoft has begun testing technology that brings together a person's pictures, documents and other data scattered across a growing number of machines with the goal of allowing people to access their information from anywhere and at any time.
Microsoft's "Live Mesh" program, which uses the Internet as a data hub, synchronizes files across computers, phones and other devices so a digital picture frame at home could show a picture minutes after it was taken by a cell phone.
Initially the program will be limited to 10,000 U.S. testers and computers running its Windows operating system, but Microsoft said it plans to extend Live Mesh over the next few months to mobile phones, computers from Apple Inc and other devices connected to the Internet.
The project is the brainchild of Ray Ozzie, who replaced Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as chief software architect, and underscores the company's carefully balanced online strategy, which aims to capitalize on the reach of the Internet without cannibalizing its cash cow software business.
Live Mesh embraces the industry trend toward "cloud computing" in which information is centrally stored on Web sites rather than on local devices, giving users easy access from any computer. Industry analysts said the product may signal a watershed moment within Microsoft to embrace a technology that the company viewed as a threat in the past.
The software will also let friends and colleagues collaborate and share documents more easily. For example, if a shared document is changed on a work computer, those changes will be instantly updated and available on any device or computer that the user has registered with Live Mesh.
Users will have 5GB of personal online storage and unlimited peer-to-peer data, for synchronising information between devices. Microsoft plans to release Live Mesh in a widely-available test, or "beta" version before the end of 2008.
Disguise Your USB Flash Drive With Sawed-Off USB Cable
One aspect many people seem to forget about when thinking about securing their USB flash drives is Deception. In addition to securing your USB flash drive with passwords, encryption software, and fingerprint sensors ... you should first first disguise your USB drive. One cool way to do that is making it looks like a useless sawed-off USB cable.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories shows you how to create your own sawed-off USB flash drive. Those guys make it look so easy. I might actually try it in my spare time (if I can find any).
ADNOC Self-Service Pumbs With Rewards (20 Fils Per Gallon)
Today was my first day using self-service pumps at ADNOC petrol stations. I've been using ADNOC smartcard (Rahal) to fill my car for over a year now and I was wondering what benifit do I get over those who pay with cash or credit cards. Now motorists in Abu Dhabi, using self-service pumps at ADNOC will get rewards of 20 points worth 20 fils per gallon. It's about time! I know Kuwait has been using Self-Service pumps for over 10 years now.
Customers will have the option to redeem the points to purchase certain ADNOC products or services except petroleum or donate the money to charity, said a statement issued by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Monday.
The company officially launched the self-service on Monday (April 14), the first of its kind in the UAE. A few pumps in 15 petrol stations across Abu Dhabi provide the self service, in addition to the regular service. Self-service will have a positive impact in reducing the cost of petroleum by way of collecting rewards for every gallon purchased, said the company.
The points stored on customers' Rahal Smart cards (the prepaid and e-cash smart cards) can be redeemed with a minimum of 1000 points worth Dh10. But customers cannot redeem it to purchase petroleum products. They can later redeem to purchase other products from ADNOC Oasis, Lube Change, Car Wash and many other services and products offered by ADNOC service stations at the end of each month.
Customers will also have an option to donate the points accumulated to the Red Crescent society as a contribution by the company and its customers towards the charitable projects. Customers who wish to donate can make a request to the petrol station staff with their Rahal cards.
The Self-Service option will be applicable to 'EPLUS' 91 and Special 95 petroleum and Super 98, and exclude Green Diesel.
Rahal Smart Card, ADNOC Distribution's pre-paid smart card, worth minimum Dh 200 ,is available on all petrol stations. This new service is the most recent of many such initiatives ADNOC Distribution has launched for its clients and customers. Some of the recent products released include E-Plus, Green Diesel 500.
Super Genintary : 4-in-1 Atari 2600/NES/Genesis/Super NES Combo System
I like the idea of combining multiple video game systems into one. One reason to save time switching from one system to another, and another reason is to save space and get rid of tedious wiring. Super Genintary is a combo system (4-in-1) game console that combines Atari 2600/NES/Genesis/Super NES in one cool looking machine! Super Genintary has been designed and assembled by Richard DaLuz.
The basic idea of how this thing is wired is actually pretty simple, yet extremely tedious in practice (according to Richard). The system select buttons are hooked up to one of those little A/V selector switch boxes you can pick up from gamestop, but it re-routs the voltage through the unused s-video connectors, as well as the A/V signals through the RCA ports. This can be done electronically but I liked the clunky mechanical feel of the switch box. Relocating the cartridge connectors was probably the most difficult part, what with the literally hundreds of solder connections that had to be made.
"Some people seem confused as to my intentions for the Super Genintari, why I did/didn't do certain things to it, et cetera. I'd like to take a moment to clear some of that up before things get out of hand", said Richard. "I'm well aware of emulators. In fact, I've probably been using them longer than most of you have had hair in your special places. That isn't the point. I built it for ME, for my own reasons. I do not intend to sell it. And honestly, I'd rather just help inform people on how to build one for themselves. That's where the fun is anyway and it's one of the main reasons I built it in the first place."
Watch the following YouTube video of Richard demonstrating how Super Genintary works ...
Philip M. Parker, the chaired professor of management science at Insead (a business school with campuses in Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore), has developed computer algorithms that collect publicly available information on a subject — broad or obscure — and, aided by his 60 to 70 computers and six or seven programmers, he turns the results into books in a range of genres, many of them in the range of 150 pages and printed only when a customer buys one.
While the most popular of his books may sell hundreds of copies, he said, many have sales in the dozens, often to medical libraries collecting nearly everything he produces. He has extended his technique to crossword puzzles, rudimentary poetry and even to scripts for animated game shows.
While nothing announces that Mr. Parker’s books are computer generated, one reader, David Pascoe, seemed close to figuring it out himself, based on his comments to Amazon in 2004. Reviewing a guide to rosacea, a skin disorder, Mr. Pascoe, who is from Perth, Australia, complained: “The book is more of a template for ‘generic health researching’ than anything specific to rosacea. The information is of such a generic level that a sourcebook on the next medical topic is just a search and replace away.”
When told via e-mail that his suspicion was correct, Mr. Pascoe wrote back, “I guess it makes sense now as to why the book was so awful and frustrating.”Mr. Parker was willing to concede much of what Mr. Pascoe argued. “If you are good at the Internet, this book is useless,” he said, adding that Mr. Pascoe simply should not have bought it. But, Mr. Parker said, there are people who aren’t Internet savvy who have found these guides useful.
Mr. Parker described his motivation as providing content that the marketplace has otherwise neglected for lack of an audience. That can mean a relatively obscure language is involved, or a relatively obscure disease or a relatively obscure product.
Mr. Parker compares his methods to those of a traditional publisher, but with the computer simply performing some of the scut work. In an explanatory YouTube video, Mr. Parker shows a book being created. The computer is given an assignment — project the latent demand for antipsychotic drugs around the world, based on the sales figures in the United States.
“Using a little bit of artificial intelligence, a computer program has been created that mimics the thought process of someone who would be responsible for doing such a study,” Mr. Parker says. “But rather than taking many months to do the study. the computer accomplishes this in about 13 minutes.”
A rare and primitive frog living in a remote Borneo stream has no lungs and apparently absorbs oxygen through its skin, researchers reported on Wednesday.
The aquatic frog has evolved backwards, re-acquiring a primordial trait, David Bickford of the National University of Singapore and colleagues reported.
Studying the frog could help shed light on how lungs evolved in the first place, they wrote in the journal Current Biology, adding that illegal gold mining in the area may threaten the unique species.
"The evolution of lunglessness in tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) is exceedingly rare, previously known only from amphibians -- two families of salamanders and a single species of caecilian (blindworm)," they wrote. "Here we report the first case of complete lunglessness in a frog, Barbourula kalimantanensis, from the Indonesian portion of Borneo."
The frog may be endangered because of mining activity, the researchers said.
Toshiba to Introduce Light Bulbs With 12,000-Hour Life
Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp developed Neoball-Z Real Pride, a bulb shaped fluorescent lamp with a rated life extended to 12,000 hours.
The latest lamp has a rated life that is 1.2 times longer than that of the existing product (10,000 hours). Compared with an incandescent bulb, the rated life is approximately 12 times. The new lamp comes in three colors, warm white, day white and daylight. All types are a three band fluorescent lamp with high color rendering properties.
To extend the product life, the company increased the diameter of the electrode coils so that the amount of emitter applied to them may be increased. The company reportedly optimized the coils to prevent the dispersion of emitter, which occurs when the lamp is turned on. In order to contain larger coils, the diameter of fluorescent tube is increased from 8 to 9mm. This also stabilizes the voltage on lighting.
The luminous efficiency is usually deteriorated when the fluorescent tube diameter is increased. To compensate for the deterioration, the company increased the length of spiral fluorescent tube (discharge length) from 300 to 400mm. In this way, the new lamp ensures the luminous efficiency equivalent to that of the existing product.
Microsoft has dropped two strong hints in the past two days that the next version of its Windows operating system will arrive in 2009, shaving up to a year off previous expectations. It could also be a signal that Microsoft intends to cut its losses with Windows Vista, which has been poorly received or shunned by customers, especially large companies.
Microsoft has long said it wants to release Windows 7 (formerly known as Windows Vienna) about three years after Vista, which was released to manufacturing in November 2006 but not officially launched until January 2007. Given Microsoft's recent track record - Vista arrived more than five years after XP -- most outsiders had pegged sometime in 2010 as a safe bet for Windows 7's arrival.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates answered a question at a business meeting in Miami about Windows Vista by saying "Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version."
And during its announcement yesterday that it would extend the availability of Windows XP Home for low-cost laptops, Microsoft said it would retire the operating system only after June 30, 2010, or one year after the release of Windows 7, whichever comes later.
Italian engineer Enrico Berruti admits it was personal laziness that first motivated him to come up with the idea of a bed that makes itself. Three years later, his first prototype is on show at the five-day International Exhibition of Inventions that started Wednesday in Geneva. The bed has a contraption at the sides with tubes on which one wraps the sides of the duvet linen. A button activates the tubes to smooth over the duvet linen, while straps at the side will tighten the sheet itself.
"To be honest, I am a little bit lazy so I thought of something to do the job (of making a bed) for me," he said.
The application could be practical for people with back problems who may not be able to bend, he said. Like many other inventors at the show, he is seeking a deal that would eventually lead to the commercialization of his project.
Jeddah's Mile-High Tower: Twice As High As Burj Dubai!
Plans for a mile-high tower in Saudi Arabia have been unveiled by billionaire Price Alwalid bin Talal.
At 5,250ft, the £5billion project, masterminded by two British engineering consultancies, will be twice as high as its nearest rivals, skyscrapers under construction in Dubai and Kuwait, and almost seven times as high as the Canary Wharf tower in London's Docklands.
It is being planned for a new city near the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Behind the scheme is 51-year-old Prince al-Walid bin Talal. The plan gives the Middle East a clear lead over Asian countries and the U.S., who have vied in the past to construct the world's tallest buildings. None of the other skyscrapers under construction, including New York's Freedom Tower on the World Trade Centre site, will exceed 2,296ft.
The prince's company, Riyadh-based Kingdom Holdings, has set up a joint venture with the London firms Hyder Consulting and Arup.
Experts say the technical challenges are enormous. Much of the lifting will be carried out by helicopters, which will also be used as commuter transport for builders. The tower will have to be capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures, with its top baking in the desert sun by day but dropping to well below freezing at night. To resist the strong winds prevalent in the area and stop it swaying, giving its occupants a form of high-rise seasickness, it will be fitted with a giant computer-operated damper.
Two "mini-towers" - both taller than Canary Wharf - will be built on either side of the main tower. Linked to it by elevated walkways, they will anchor it and act as stabilizers. Until recently, the still-under-construction Dubai Tower was expected to be the world's tallest building.
Plans have changed several times to make it higher, but the final version is expected to be 2,300ft with 160 stories.
