journal 14, smart armor

Smart armor is being developed by the US Army Tank Automotive Research center in Michigan. Smart armor can detect damage and inform the soldiers what kinds of bullets are being fired. Another feature is it can predict its own failure. When the armor is struck it will send out an electric pulse to the computers to be analyzed. It is like any of the shooting video games where you can see your health decrease as you are getting shot. You can predict when you are about to die or when you need to retreat for armor. Intelligent armor uses piezoelectrics which are materials that generate a small amount of voltage when being bent. They are also reversible so that if you put a current to it they will bend. The material is not new but the sensors are. The sensors are crucial to show how the armor is holding up on the tanks or soldiers body. An electric current flows into one sensor and turns it into mechanical energy in the form of a tiny vibration that ripples through the armor plate. The other piezoelectric device takes that mechanical vibration and turns it back into electrical energy.

MSNBC

This will be a great use to soldiers and tanks when on enemy lines. If you can tell how your armor is holding up and how many more shots you can take before you drop it would give your army an advantage and result in fewer casualties. If a soldier could see that he can’t take but one more shot most likely he is going to retreat to a safe zone for new armor. The other advantage is we can what they are shooting. In a tank I would not see that being such a great advantage but if you are a foot soldier getting shot at it might be necessary. Smart Armor is a great start to creating a way to use defense as offense.

Popular Science

journal 13, Youtube autocaption

One more reason why Google is not an evil company out to rule the world is the unleashing of Youtube.com captioning. It would be hard to enjoy watching youtube.com videos without sound. Google has added the caption features that will allow users to upload videos and add captioning to their videos without a big hassle. Google has a lot of experience with speech recognition such as GOOG-411 free telephone information service for everyone. This would also be a great feature for people who are hearing impaired. This may have been pushed by the vice president of Google because he is also hearing impaired. This will give another reason why the internet is good in schools and to get out of the 19^th century books. The service is not perfect yet but it will get better in time if it is put to use and get training.

Media Post

Google 411 was not perfect when it came out but now I personally use it when I am looking for a restaurant or a local business. Google is using its power minds to get people who would not normally use the internet to explore without coming across frustrating problems. I know that people will use this feature even when they can hear because there are some times when you can’t understand what the person is saying an it might be crucial to the video. I would use this for a math video because I don’t need to hear what the person is saying but just watch how he/she does the problem. I could sit in my math class and have my main instructor going and a youtube.com video working on the same concept so that if I don’t understand one part of the main lecture I am not lost for the rest of the class. Google is using their power and reputation for good in Youtube.com and other products such Chrome OS which has yet to be released!

Google news article

journal 12 ,LCROSS

On October 9^th NASA fired an empty shell warhead followed be a camera loaded trailer toward the moon. It was called LCROSS mission which was to test for water on the moon. How it worked was the empty shell would impact the moon’s surface which would throw up a lot of debris that could be analyzed. This is why NASA sent a 90 second delayed trailing satellite that would capture a good close up image and video of the debris. The satellite would then send the information back to Earth which would an analyzed. There has been a long debate on if there is water on moon. On October 9^th the LCROSS mission did in fact uncover water on the moon. The thing that was so cool about this mission is that NASA used the slingshot method to fire the “bullet”. The empty shell was sent up into Earth’s orbit which revolved multiple times over 38 days. As you get further away from the Earth but remain in orbit the faster the object will travel. Once the shell had reached a very fast speed it was ignited out of orbit and slung towards the moon. The crash was so big that an amateur telescope was able to see it from Earth.

Water on Moon

One thing about this mission that was really neat was that NASA let the people watch what they were watching by streaming the trailing satellites video on the internet. I got up at 7am to watch it that morning. This would be a great move for NASA if they could involve the public more like they did with the LCROSS mission in future missions. There are people who think that NASA is just a waste of money. I believe that they say this because they don’t get anything out of it. There will be more people backing NASA if they can get the public somewhat involved instead of seeming mysterious and hidden.

NASA

Journal 11, Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft has released their own version of Anti-virus and spyware software called Microsoft Security Essentials. The best part is that it is free and good. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) was a beta software for just three short months. It offers real-time consumer antimalware solution for fighting viruses, spyware, rootkits, and Trojans. It is available for Windows XP 32-bit and up. It should not be installed along with other antimalware applications. It will also disable window Defender completely so there will freeze those annoying “Your computer is at risk” notifications. The only price it has is that your computer will have to pass a Windows Genuine Advantage validation test. MSE has the simplest and easiest user interface. The goal was to make it non obtrusive unless required. The program has a green banner when everything is “ok” but if there is a virus detected that green turns to red. Of course MSE updates itself automatic so users will not have to manually update the virus database. Microsoft is cracking down on virus's because if a virus is detected on MSE on anyone's computer the information is sent to Microsoft. Hopefully there will be an update out quickly and sent to all other users so that the virus is then quarantined.

Article on MSE

Microsofts Website

I have downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials and I am a fan. I have been a long time user of AVG free edition until the beginning of November. The problem with AVG was that when you get the free version, the scan speed is much slower than the purchased edition. MSE scans very quickly and quietly. The other problem with AVG free was the fact that it would bog down my CPU and make it hot. I think that the reason Microsoft is making this free is that PC has been getting slammed on the amount of virus's compared to Apple computers. If Microsoft can produce a close to virus free PC their sales should rise and boost the users of Windows 7.

Journal 11, Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft has released their own version of Anti-virus and spyware software called Microsoft Security Essentials. The best part is that it is free and good. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) was a beta software for just three short months. It offers real-time consumer antimalware solution for fighting viruses, spyware, rootkits, and Trojans. It is available for Windows XP 32-bit and up. It should not be installed along with other antimalware applications. It will also disable window Defender completely so there will freeze those annoying “Your computer is at risk” notifications. The only price it has is that your computer will have to pass a Windows Genuine Advantage validation test. MSE has the simplest and easiest user interface. The goal was to make it non obtrusive unless required. The program has a green banner when everything is “ok” but if there is a virus detected that green turns to red. Of course MSE updates itself automatic so users will not have to manually update the virus database. Microsoft is cracking down on virus's because if a virus is detected on MSE on anyone's computer the information is sent to Microsoft. Hopefully there will be an update out quickly and sent to all other users so that the virus is then quarantined.

Article on MSE

Microsofts Website

I have downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials and I am a fan. I have been a long time user of AVG free edition until the beginning of November. The problem with AVG was that when you get the free version, the scan speed is much slower than the purchased edition. MSE scans very quickly and quietly. The other problem with AVG free was the fact that it would bog down my CPU and make it hot. I think that the reason Microsoft is making this free is that PC has been getting slammed on the amount of virus's compared to Apple computers. If Microsoft can produce a close to virus free PC their sales should rise and boost the users of Windows 7.

Journal 10, Motorola Droid vs iPhone

Motorola is taking a shot at Apple's iPhone with the Motorola Droid. The iPhone 3GS is known for its speed and the Apple sexy style which makes it an attractive purchase. Motorola has juiced up their internal performace in the Droid compared to other Motorola devices. This is the first handset that truly realizes the full potential of Android. (Android is Google's Operating system that runs on the Droid phone). The Motorola Droid uses a processor chip like the iPhone's. It is based on a new architechture called Cortex-A8. This chip provides about a 3 times performace boost over the others. It has a 550 MHz processor and a 3.7 inch screen. The biggest hit that Apple will take from this is that it will be sold on the Verizon Network. This will most likely attract people who were going to switch to AT&T for the iPhone. With a phone that does just about all of the same things people will most likely stay on their plan. Verizon has been looking for an iPhone killer because that is what has kept people with AT&T. Verizon though that the Blackberry Storm would kill the iPhone but it didn't even make a dent in their sales.

Cnet Article

I have to hand it to Apple for their iPhone. When it came out it blew people away on how smooth and sexy it was. When a person buys a phone the first thing they go for is the look of it. The iPhone has just about nailed that. I don't think that the Motorola Droid is going to do much for Verizon honestly. The Droid is ugly. I looks fragil and just like any other smart phone. When someone pulls out and iPhone everyone knows what it is. It has that special look to it that know other phone has. Apple has that all over their products though. I am not an Apple OS fan but I will admit that their laptops and desktops look very smooth and attractive. The only way Verizon is going to beat AT&T is getting phone that is very sexy and great internal performance.

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