Wireless World

Two observations in the past couple of days has got me thinking as to how far we can – or will – go in the direction of wireless technology.

When visiting my brother’s new house a few days ago, one of the first things I noticed upon walking into the sitting room (lounge) was the flat screen tv above the fireplace. You can’t miss it. So, of course, I asked him about it and was surprised to see that it was a wireless tv. A little trasmitter sits on top of the dvd player and a receiver in the back of the tv interprets the data and converts it in pictures. No more making holes in the wall to hide wires!

The second observation was when watching a Coldplay video on MTV. The guitarist was using a wireless guitar and was free to roam anywhere on stage without the need to watch where he walked ;)

Maybe these examples are more mainstream in other countries, but they’re not so much here. What’s next for wireless I wonder.

Google Book Search

Backlash and confusion have dogged Google’s plans to scan millions of books, and, while continuing with its efforts, it has opted for a name change from Google Print to Google Book Search.

Fully Story

“We don’t think that this new name will change what some folks think about this program,”

“But we do believe it will help a lot of people understand better what we’re doing.”

Do you believe them? I sure as hell don’t. Why does Gator… er, I mean Claria spring to mind?

Can we regrow organs? Mice Can!

According to a news item on Wired News, some mice are able to regrow organs.

Researchers systematically amputated digits and damaged various organs of the mice, including the heart, liver and brain, most of which grew back.

While the quote above does sound cruel, just think of the implications of this if the ability was reproduced in humans (and other animals for that matter).

Of course, it’s not like we could take a bullet to the chest and pass it off like the terminator in T3, but it sure would be nice to be able to replace lost limbs like fingers and toes.

That said, I want to state for the record, that I don’t like to see cruelty to animals.

Memory Upgrade

My PC got a nice increase in RAM. From 256MB to 768MB. The difference is sweet :D

I also purchased a 200GB HD while I was at it, but I’ve yet to install it.