Discovery News Tech's New Look

November 08, 2009

Starting Monday November 9, 2009, Discovery News is getting a fresh new look and a fresh new navigation. And my blog, Material World, is going away. But just in name. All of my blogs, news stories, slideshows and more will be better incorporated into the Discovery News Tech web site under my name, Tracy Staedter. 

Obama Allocates Smart Grid Bucks

October 27, 2009

Today, Obama announced the largest ever investment in smart grid money. One hundred utility projects around the country will receive between $400,000 to $200 million in funding to improve the grid infrastructure and deploy smart meters, the digital meters that are connected to the grid and can tell home owners how much electricity they're using and when.

We've been covering this technology for some time now and have a bunch of related stories to give you the wide angle on the Smart Grid. So dive in:

• My Take: Weak Security Will Doom the Smart Grid

• Video: Smart Grid Makes Fridges Smarter

• Top 10: 10 Dumb Things About the Power Grid

• Podcast: Smarter Meters for a Smarter Grid

• News: Community Genome Could Produce Biofuels

• Feature: Moving Toward a Renewables-Friendly Grid

• Feature: How Smart Can the Grid Get?

• Puzzle: Plugging Into the Smart Grid

• Blog: Micro-Curtailment to Curb AC Use

• HowStuffWorks: How Power Grids Work

• HowStuffWorks: How Demand Response Works

• Planet Green: How to Choose a Home Energy Monitor

• Tree Hugger: Boulder, Colo.: First to Have a Smart Grid?

• Tree Hugger: Smart Grids Can Cut CO2 Emissions by 15 Percent.

• Tree Hugger: Will Smart Grid Corps Be As Shady As Big Oil?

Image: iStockPhoto

Tiniest Train Ever!

I would go cross-eyed trying to build this thing! Try not to go cross-eyed viewing the video.

Using Spoof Card Could Get You Time

October 22, 2009

Phone pranks have finally arrived in the 21st century and they're called "spoofing." Thanks to a new service called SpoofCard, which allows people to make calls via the Internet, subscribers can change the phone number callees see on their caller ID display, they can change their voice so that they sound like someone else and they can record phone calls.

In last few days, Ali Wise, publicity director for Dolce and Gabbana, has gotten into a bunch of trouble (and has gotten fired) for using SpoofCard to access the voice-mail accounts of girlfriends/finaces of ex-lovers. It was easy enough to do. She changed her own number to match the number she was calling. Not realizing the call was an imposter, the voice-mail service automatically granted access to the voice-mail accounts.

Water from Fog

October 20, 2009

Some desert beetles get their water from fog, by allowing it to condense on their bodies into dew drops and drinking it. Some humans living in super dry areas are doing the same thing. This morning I heard a spot on the BBC radio program about how people living in Peru use huge nets to capture fog rolling off the ocean. (Read How Peru is Netting Water Supplies.) The water in the fog condenses on the mesh screens and drips into troughs; pipes carry the water to where it will be used.

It's a great example of how can make a huge difference in the lives of people.

For more examples, see our Wide Angle: Technology Saving the World.

Image: courtesy of IDRC / CDRI; Photographer Sitoo Mukerji

Load Up Your Paranormal Activity Toolbox

October 16, 2009

The movie Paranormal Activity is out (see trailer below) just in time for the Halloween crowds. It's about a young couple, who move into a typical suburban house and are disturbed by some kind of presence that is  most active in the middle of the night. The husband sets up some basic camera equipment to record the night's activities and see if he can't capture the spirit in the act. I would have just moved out of the house. But that's just me.

I got to wondering what kind of technology and equipment real-life paranormal investigators use, in addition to cameras.

Broadband Internet Becomes a Legal Requirement in Finland

October 15, 2009

While those of us in the United States are arguing over whether health care is a legal right, the folks over in the Northern Europe are ensuring that all citizens have access to broadband Internet. The law, the first of its kind in any country, forces Internet providers to offer Internet connections that run at speeds of at least 1 megabit per second to all of the country's 5.3 million citizens.

I have two thoughts.

1) Sure the United States is a huge country and it would be a challenge to offer broadband to all of its citizens. But you'd think that our country, which invented the Internet and is a major leader in the industrialized world, would at least have broadband available to a large portion of its people. But it didn't even make the top 10 list of countries offering broadband.

2) And this gets back to my point about healthcare. If you have to argue and fight for universal healthcare, good luck with universal broadband. 

Photo: Digital Vision/Getty

Google Wave by Invitation Only

Google Wave is Google's new online communication tool. Google describes a "wave" as being "both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more." It sounds like email on speed. Hmmmm. Ok. So let's try it.

BUT WAIT! I can't try it. I haven't been invited. 

Ok, I get it. It's like those parties in junior high school that all the cool kids went, and I didn't hear about until Monday. And that's exactly why these invitation-only marketing schemes work so well, I suspect. Because they tap into that insecure kid inside us that just wants to be included. 

Floh Club is IT Support for Older Adults

October 13, 2009

There are more than 76 million people in the United States that are between the ages of 45 and 63 -- Baby Boomers! Many of those people didn't get any real hands-on computer use until they were in their 20s or even their 30s! Can you imagine? And for those who are even older, using a computer, even in today's ubiquitous email, text messaging, and chatting, is a bit confusing.

For that reason and probably because these folks represent a huge piece of the economy and have a good chunk of disposable income (provided they didn't lose it all in the recession), a new web site has been launched to appeal to them. It's called the Floh Club, named after Florence Henderson (Carol Brady on the Brady Bunch TV show). It's a telephone-based technical support service for older adults who may have questions about setting up, configuring and using computer hardware and install software or who may need a computer repaired or de-virsued. Members can also ask questions about digital cameras, MP3 players.

The service is available seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time by subscription.

• annual subscription: $250/year
• monthly subscription: $25/month
• repair, tune-up and protect which includes anti-virus: $60 flat
• one-time educational package: $50 flat

I'm not a baby boomer, but I'm also not the go-to gal if a computer a breaks down. I mean, sure, I can fix a paper jam in the printer and restart my Mac when once a year it acts up. But where do non-Baby boomers/non-Mac user take their computers? (I just go to the Genius Bar at the Mac store and Voila my problems are solved!)

I guess there's Geek Squad, right? I checked their web site and prices start at $49.99. You do the math, old timer.

Power Mat to Cords: This is It!

October 12, 2009

Check out my cord chaos (photo). It's not the worst confusion of power cords that you've ever seen, I'm sure. But it doesn't take much -- a laptop, speakers, phone charger, lamp -- to create an unappetizing spaghetti dinner  next to my desk.

But soon, I hope, will come the day when cords of any type go the way of the manual dial on the television set. (My dad used to make me change the channel when I was the kid. I was the remote control!) A new device called a Power Mat requires no cords. (Duracell also has one called My Grid) You just place your iPhone, BlackBerry, MP3 player, cell phone, headset, hand held electronic games, digital camera or GPS unit on the mat and sit back and eat a donut or something.

What a concept. Why has this idea taken so long to come to fruition? We've been tripping over power cords since the late 1880s, for crying out loud! 

The first time I heard about wireless power was in 2007 from a group a scientists at MIT who demonstrated how to light a 60W light bulb from a power source seven feet away. The scientists have gone on to launch a startup company called WiTricity. They have a nice explanation on their web site that explains how their wireless technology works.

I'm not sure if it's similar to how Power Mat's technology works (left), but the WiTricity site gives you some idea of how energy is transferred safely from one spot to another without zapping anything (including us) in between. I for one can't wait to toss these cords in the trash!

Photo: AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels