ZZZ Online | Other Issues

PhoneSecure

On 12 January, 2005, by se99jmk

I'm not generally an insecure person. I'm perfectly happy with carrying in excess of ?1000 in electronics on my person... well, maybe I should get some protection after all, and I've found it, in the form of PhoneSecure.

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Phraselator

On 12 January, 2005, by se99jmk

One step closer to the babelfish from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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Epson fabricates 20-layer PCB using InkJet tec

On 05 November, 2004, by Dreadnought

Epson has fabricated a 200micron thick 20 layer using their own InkJet technology with a conductive ink containing silver micro-particles measuring from several nanometers to several tens of nanometers in diameter, and a newly developed insulator ink.

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PetaPixel displays, 100TB storage and more...

On 05 November, 2004, by Dreadnought

Colossal Storage is developing 14M dpi or 200Tpixels per square inch of near-non-volatile display. It is based on a ferroelectric material which gives each pixel a state retension of up to 12 hours. Display resolutions of up to 4Petapixel will be possible with this technology.
Colossal Storage is also developing a holographic media which can store 10TB on a single 3?" disc. The theory behind it can go up to 1.5Exabytes (1.5x10^1.
They are currently looking for companies who are interresting in licensing the products.

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3D Panoramic Video-Phonebooth

the TWISTER is a recent innovation from Tokyo university. in all respects it seems to be a new type of phonebooth. it's much like a videophone but it's 3D and panoramic. you step into it and a glass cylender lowers around you, then it starts to spin at 60 to 120rpm.

the LED wands that are spinning around you display an image only 1 pixel across at any one time, but because they spin so fast you are tricked into seeing the full picture. it's much like the spinning 3D display we covered back in Issue 126, but insideout. it also has cameras in the spinning LED wands to project your 3D image back to whomever you are talking to.

with the Twister you can talk to people in 3D, in a panoramic scene. you could easily talk to multiple people at the same time, as the people don't have to be displayed in front of you, can can be anywhere in the 360degree arc. so you can be in a virtual boardmeeting.

the 3D is achieved with use of parallax barriers and multiple spinning LED wands targeting your 2 eyes seperately. take out the cameras and microphones and the Twister is a great way to experience Virtual Reality.

if you can read japanese well, then here's the official website.

Twister Specs:
256 pixels height
1920 virtual pixels around 360degree arc.
60-120rpm
30fps

Bumpy SmartFinger

now we can put bumpmapping we can feel on ANYTHING.

a Tokyo uni has been perfecting a cute little technology called SmartFinger that fits onto your fingernail, and makes surfaces you touch "feel" like something else. you can run your finger over a smooth sheet of paper and it can feel like the surface of mars, or you can feel writing, or even braille, but the paper is actually smooth. this thingo that fits on to your finger vibrates your fingernail as you move your finger over a surface, to make whatever surface you are touching with your finger feel like whatever bumpmap you want.

the SmartFinger has a vibrating voice coil, a camera to see what your finger is REALLY touching, and another sensor that watches your fingernail. i think the fingernail sensor is somehow used to measure the amount of force you are applying to the surface you are touching. as you press down with the ball of your finger it must watch how much the fingernail bends.

blind people would get a lot of use outof something like this because much like a Head Up Display can add extra visual info to things that we see, the SmartFinger can add extra tactile info to things that we touch. for example the onboard camera could be used read writing that you are touching on a piece of paper, and then it could make it "feel" like you are touching braille. tactile realtime braille translation

the device is designed to be used as a part of a bigger Virtual Reality project. the way the SmartFinger doesn't get in the way of your normal sense of touch was an important part of the design because the Smartfinger is supposed to just "suppliment" your normal sense of touch without getting in the way of it.

Really Curing Hangovers and the I-Pill

Unfortuantely, acetaldehyde is a toxin and a vasodilator (causes your blood vessels to expand, making you feel warm and possibly have a headache). The rest of the metabolic process continues to ravage your body -- the ethanol in the body raises blood pressure and pulse, the kidneys struggle against the reduced vasopressin in your body?which ends up eliminating water rather than recycling it (e.g., you become dehydrated). Finally, when the drinking is over, your body experiences alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

Is there a solution to this? Well, none without consequences unless researchers are allowed to create safe, legal recreational drugs without side affects and other problems (e.g. "Soma" as in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley). In lieu of that perhaps there is .... Chaser.


Bartender, I'd like a Chaser ... No not beer ... the real "Chaser"

Something that caught my attention the other evening while I was wading through traffic to get to the Radiohead concert was a product called "Chaser".

As surely as some people apparently forget birth control on the "night of" a particular event, a little planning goes a long way. Like birth control, you pop Chaser before you start to drink. If you try to take it afterwards, good luck. It just doesn't work that way.

What this product is supposed to do is to grapple with some of the by-products of moderate drinking ...

"Congeners are the byproducts of the fermentation process that give alcoholic beverages their aroma, color and flavor. When congeners enter your bloodstream, your immune system eliminates them by releasing proteins called cytokines. This surge of cytokines causes inflammation leading to headache, nausea and body aches. This powerful reaction to alcoholic beverages can turn a night of celebration into a morning of misery."

Ok, I'm a chemist ... what the heck is a congener? Dioxin is a congener. PCBs are congeners ... can we be a little more specific? Well, starting in the dictionary, a congener is:

"Something closely resembling or analogous to something else: analogue, correlate, correlative, correspondent, counterpart, match, parallel. See SAME."

Duh.

From this site, a congener is defined as:

"a secondary product in alcohol fermentation that helps to determine the composition of the final product."

Ok then ... it took a lot of digging, but finally Google paid off by finding the appropriate page at alcoholmd.com:

"In addition to ethyl alcohol, alcoholic beverages also include trace amounts of other alcohols, such as amyl, butyl, and propyl alcohol, that result from the production process and storage (e.g., in wooden barrels). These organic alcohols plus other components produced during fermentation are called "congeners." They contribute to the distinctive taste and aroma of alcoholic beverages. Beer and vodka have a relatively low concentration of congeners; aged whiskies and brandy have a relatively high concentration (Lichine, 1990)"

This is all good biochemistry that surely any brewmaster should know. It's interesting stuff to read about, but I'm sure being a chemist actually helps


Chasing Chaser

My girlfriend and I went to a local GNC to pick up some Chaser for an "experiment". We figured that as we would be partaking of a company "free beer" event and had a lot to do the following day, it's be the perfect occasion. We discovered, however, that they were completely sold out due to a successful advertising campaign in the area ("We'll have another batch in on Monday ..." some good that'll do over the Labor Day Holiday!). In lieu of an actual test at the time of writing, we'll have to rely on the manufacturer's claims for now and test later.

Again from the Chaser Website:

Q: What is Chaser made of?
A: Chaser is a patent-pending formula of activated calcium carbonate and vegetable carbon (activated charcoal). Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in most calcium supplements and antacids. Vegetable carbon has been used for centuries to absorb toxins and is still used in hospitals today. Both ingredients are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the FDA.

Q: How does Chaser work?
A: Chaser absorbs the elements in beer, wine and spirits that cause hangovers. These elements, called congeners, are the byproducts of the fermentation process that gives alcoholic beverages flavor, aroma and color. When released into your bloodstream, congeners cause a reaction leading to inflammation and pain. In other words, a hangover. Chaser attracts and absorbs congeners, keeping them in your digestive tract where they are harmless.

This all doesn't sound that appetizing to me, but yet neither is the backward flow of half-digested White Castle hamburgers! Let's break this down for the less chemistry-inclined:

Calcium Carbonate = TUMS
Vegetable Carbon = Cellulose

Hmmm ... I'm still going to try this stuff out someday, but as for others, one guy said ... "I think I'll stick to my water". Drinking less is probably a good idea to, particulary as I've recently discovered that beer may actually be contributing to the "feminization" of men!

"The fact that alcoholic beverages are made from many plants and plant byproducts that contain phytoestrogens has led to the hypothesis that alcoholic beverages contain biologically active phytoestrogens as congeners."

The iPill

Perhaps someday, researchers will take this whole thing to the next level. When we silly humans end up toxifying our bodies in the name of someone's birthday, wedding, or whatever, we'll each have a little automatic device sitting in our guts such as the "iPill".

To me, it is absolutedly amazing that technology has reached this point. The iPill has onboard a small pump to deliver it's payload and is imbued with various sensors and a "brain" (really, an ARM VII microprocessor) to know when it's host needs to be medicated. "The iPill's electronic gadgetry, 400 square micrometers in size, fills a space smaller than the area of 10 blood cells. It is encapsulated in a penny-size plastic casing that is resistant to stomach acids" ... Good lord, imagine the possibilities! Diabetics, AIDS sufferers, and poor hungover fools could all benefit. As for me? I want mine to know when I need to get up in the morning so that it'll pump out adrenaline and caffeine