<![CDATA[[MobileRatty] tag: secret]]> http://mobileratty.com/tag/secret Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:10:15 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[My Burning Man project: LEDs lit by wireless power]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/272386f4eed524cfc75fffc57d47fad3 http://mobileratty.com/article/272386f4eed524cfc75fffc57d47fad3

When I asked about making 900 MHz antenna, this was the project I was working on: tiny wireless power fobs that will go on the keychain of those in my camp at Burning Man this year. As you can see they're relatively big — they're repurposed wireless LED Christmas ornaments that were part of this tree from Frontgate (now discontinued) — and they have antennas in the green boards themselves. I figured why mess with success (especially when my attempts at making little coiled antenna failed)?

As you can see in the video, they're obviously at their most bright when you get the transmitter antenna right next to them, but I've had them start glowing when on the same plane as the transmitter from up to almost ten feet away. Not exactly a homing beacon for those lost on the playa, but they should work fine as little secret power crystals — well, test tubes, thanks to my roommate Jesse's work — that light up when you get near enough to our most important Burning Man camp project: our own private Port-A-Potty.

Also, they light up when my GSM cell phone talks to the tower, not unlike those little bracelets you can get in Chinatown. Makes you wonder what sort of special sauce Powercast, the maker of the hardware, actually added to the system.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions. I've got another 50 or so of these that haven't been messed with so if I can manage to bring the transmitters back in one piece I may be able to play around with boosting the power and range in the future.


]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:18:23 +0000 power project mhz antenna antenna camp project transmitter antenna secret power crystals camp special sauce powercast My Burning Man project: LEDs lit by wireless power <![CDATA[Canon ships 100 million compact digital cameras, 90 million of them broken with E18 lens errors]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/582c45c2e82720bda84df8bc7e99c9b0 http://mobileratty.com/article/582c45c2e82720bda84df8bc7e99c9b0 Filed under:


Okay, okay, we're kidding -- we definitely think it's quite an achievement that Canon's hit another camera milestone and shipped out 100 million compact digital cameras since the PowerShot 600 first rolled off the line in 1996, and it's no secret that the PowerShot line's terrific image quality and friendly UI have a lot to do with it. Still, they're fragile little buggers, aren't they? A quick count amongst Engadget eds reveals at least 10 broken Canon digicams, ranging from a 2000-vintage PowerShot S100 all the way to a more recent PowerShot SD850 IS, and we know we're not outside the curve -- have you felt our pain? And, more importantly, do you keep coming back for more? Let us know in comments!

[Via PhotographyBLOG]
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]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:21:00 +0000 2000-vintage powershot s100 powershot powershot line canon recent powershot sd850 digital cameras canon digicams line engadget eds reveals Canon ships 100 million compact digital cameras, 90 million of them broken with E18 lens errors <![CDATA[New modeling technology breathes life into animation]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/8bef79b27f27b55cb3953fbfc35a514b http://mobileratty.com/article/8bef79b27f27b55cb3953fbfc35a514b Filed under:

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/tech_news/New_modeling_technology_breathes_life_into_animation';

Ask any animation modeler about the "uncanny valley," and you're sure to get at least a grimace, if not a groan. Said term describes the long-standing barrier which refers to the perception that "animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness." Image Metrics is hoping that a newfangled approach used to create Emily (pictured) will finally allow animations to look more like humans and less like "corpses." As you could probably surmise, the secret is the tech's ability to survey and replicate the most subtle of movements, though even Raja Koduri, chief technology officer in graphics at AMD, doesn't see the line between reality and fiction being blurred before 2020. We'll see what Emily's posse has to say about that.

[Thanks, Przemek]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:25:00 +0000 animation technology breathes life animation modeler digg robots digg url approaches human likeness chief technology officer raja koduri uncanny valley New modeling technology breathes life into animation <![CDATA[ UK Gov't Creating Centralized Snooping Silo to Monitor all Calls, Texts, Emails, IMs and Surf Histories [Privacy] ]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/7635c3d03f404959953cbe093d92bce1 http://mobileratty.com/article/7635c3d03f404959953cbe093d92bce1 The UK government has decided to spend hundreds of millions of pounds (gajillions of dollars in US currency) on a huge central silo for all of the country's communications data. What'll that entail? Well, apparently "the one-stop-shop database will retain details of all calls, texts, emails, instant messenger conversations and websites accessed in the UK for up to two years." Oh my.

This Orwellian nightmare center would obviously take a while to get put together, and it's not clear exactly what it'll consist of or how it'll be put together. The folks behind it have, however, figured out a way to push it through without requiring approval by parliament.

Sources said secret briefings revealed the cost of the database would run to nine figures and has already been factored into government spending plans. The IMP budget was part of the intelligence agencies' undisclosed allocation in the Comprehensive Spending Review last year. In an answer to a parliamentary question on 8 July, the Home Office refused to provide any budgetary details, citing national security concerns.

A Communications Data Bill mandating the database was expected to be proposed before the summer parliamentary recess, but did not appear. It had been planned that the database would be bundled with the EU Data Retention Directive (EUDRD), which must be enshrined in UK law by March 2009.

However, last week the government released a consultation paper on transposing the Directive as a standalone statutory instrument. Laws made by statutory instrument do not require a vote in Parliament.

Well, I guess the silver lining here is that all this garbage going on in the UK is making the US seem like a shining beacon of freedom and privacy. Which is not a good sign for you poor Brits. [The Register]


]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:20:00 +0000 communications data statutory instrument standalone statutory instrument communications data bill database one-stop-shop database data retention directive directive huge central silo UK Gov't Creating Centralized Snooping Silo to Monitor all Calls, Texts, Emails, IMs and Surf Histories [Privacy] <![CDATA[Leaked: Palm Treo Pro Photos, Videos]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/6c4c534cfa82e87e423169f7b0028a8f http://mobileratty.com/article/6c4c534cfa82e87e423169f7b0028a8f Treopro1 The blogosphere is aflutter with chit chat about the Palm Treo Pro handset, whose details have been leaking in a less-discreet-than-Apple way.

High-resolution photos and a video reveal that the handset will feature a 320-by-320 touchscreen, the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, Wi-Fi connectivity, a microSD memory slot, a microUSB port and a QWERTY keyboard similar to that of the very popular Palm Centro. 

You can't help but assume that Palm is calculatively leaking these details in an attempt to generate a buzz similar to that created by Apple's secret-product campaign. It's somewhat working, but a hidden flash video on Palm's web site and high-resolution photos kind of take away from the "surprise" factor, don't they? 

Treo Pro [TreoPro.net via Engadget]


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]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:51:39 +0000 palm popular palm centro treo pro high-resolution photos microsd memory slot qwerty keyboard similar chit chat web site windows mobile Leaked: Palm Treo Pro Photos, Videos <![CDATA[New modeling technology breathes life into animation]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/7e20cb197a93a9718433c1b51e0c00fd http://mobileratty.com/article/7e20cb197a93a9718433c1b51e0c00fd Filed under:

Ask any animation modeler about the "uncanny valley," and you're sure to get at least a grimace, if not a groan. Said term describes the long-standing barrier which refers to the perception that "animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness." Image Metrics is hoping that a newfangled approach used to create Emily (pictured there on the right) will finally allow animations to look more like humans and less like "corpses." As you could probably surmise, the secret is the tech's ability to survey and replicate the most subtle of movements, though even Raja Koduri, chief technology officer in graphics at AMD, doesn't see the line between reality and fiction being blurred before 2020. We'll see what Emily's posse has to say about that.

[Thanks, Przemek]
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]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:25:00 +0000 animation animation modeler approaches human likeness chief technology officer raja koduri uncanny valley emily term describes image metrics New modeling technology breathes life into animation <![CDATA[Apple pushes out Apple iPhone OS 2.0.2 through iTunes]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/ea3047f1c600578ea97b84d0f04f4088 http://mobileratty.com/article/ea3047f1c600578ea97b84d0f04f4088 Well that sure was quick. It seems like just an eye-blink ago that Apple released their iPhone 2.0.1 OS for iPhone and iPhone 3G owners looking to get enhanced performance out of their sometimes laggy iPhones. And, following on the iPhone Dev Team’s release of the iPhone 2.0.1 OS-jailbreaking solution, Pwnage Tool 2.0.2, Cupertino has released their latest iPhone OS.

iPhone OS 2.0.2 isn’t yet officially supported by PwnageTool 2.0.2, so if you want to preserve your jailbreak you’ll want to wait for the DevTeam to announce iPhone 2.0.2 OS compatibility for PwnageTool. The new iPhone 2.0.2 OS presumably comes bundled with that new baseband firmware that the DevTeam warned could potential kill any future iPhone 3G SIM-unlock solutions, so updating your iPhone 3G without first “pwning” the firmware file could leave you without an unlockable handset (when, and if, the DevTeam releases an iPhone 3G unlocking solution).

iPhone 2.0.2 OS

Apple vaguely lists “Bug Fixes” in the iPhone 2.0.2 OS changelog, which doesn’t help pin down the iPhone 2.0.2 OS’s improvements over iPhone 2.0.1 OS. But, some users are reporting that web browsing has been improved, typing lag reduced, and transition from music list to CoverFlow has been updated.

We’ve previously speculated that a new iPhone OS update could bring with it a solution to fix iPhones with shifty 3G signal reception, but it’s not yet clear if the iPhone 2.0.2 OS fixes these reception woes. If you update your iPhone 3G and find that your signal reception has taken a turn for the better, please drop us a line and let us know.

Grab the iPhone 2.0.2 OS through iTunes (after connecting your iPhone, that is).

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]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:06:06 +0000 iphone apple iphone apple announce iphone secret iphone feature future iphone itunes require itunes subscription itunes ringtones tab Apple pushes out Apple iPhone OS 2.0.2 through iTunes <![CDATA[InfoWorld finds 35% of enterprise-class users downgrade to XP]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/bca53ee00666c58bf8351259b08d209b http://mobileratty.com/article/bca53ee00666c58bf8351259b08d209b Filed under: ,

Hold your horses, vaquero. Let's not blow this all out of proportion here. While it's no secret that a certain amount of Vista purchasers are utilizing that "downgrade to XP" option to its fullest extent, a small (and let us emphasize "small") collection of data suggests that some 35% of "mainly enterprise-class users" have opted for XP over Vista on their newly-purchased rig. By scouring data from the 3,000 or so members feeding information to the InfoWorld Windows Sentinel tool, the site found that just over 1 in 3 users had defected to Microsoft's previous OS. Granted, the tool cannot take into account Linux users or even the "Hackintosh crowd," though as Randall Kennedy puts it, 35% is "still a huge percentage, and way out of proportion for even the dramatically unpopular Windows Vista."
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]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:11:00 +0000 users vista unpopular windows vista account linux users data suggests vista purchasers data laptops hold downgrade InfoWorld finds 35% of enterprise-class users downgrade to XP <![CDATA[Chinese 3G still waits for mass adoption]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/06967ed75f2f64c8d78136535d3c8338 http://mobileratty.com/article/06967ed75f2f64c8d78136535d3c8338 China Mobile TD-SCDMAIt’s not a secret Chinese 3G aka TD-SCDMA isn’t delivering the numbers expected. According to China’s CCID Consulting, the number of TD-SCDMA subscribers is expected to reach 2.31 million by the end of this year, falling substantially short of the optimistic projection of 20-50 million subscribers.

Since launching the service in early April, China Mobile has attracted slightly over 50,000 subscribers plus 8,000 trial business users, CCID noted.

At the moment more than 40 TD-SCDMA enabled mobile phones have received a network access license in China. However, only a few models are being sold, hence limiting the sales of TD-SCDMA phones. In addition, the TD-SCDMA handsets currently available in the market have only limited multimedia functions, while the data transmission speeds of most models are also not fast enough.

I’m guessing now that potential introduction of TD-SCDMA compatible Symbian S60 handsets in China may boost the sales. Digia certainly hopes so. ;)

[Via: DigiTimes]

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]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:47:24 +0000 td-scdma subscribers subscribers aka td-scdma td-scdma million td-scdma phones million subscribers million users china mobile Chinese 3G still waits for mass adoption <![CDATA[The History of GIF News (1988 - 1993)]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/0a9b2165a4dc855272fc6b4c9efa1d66 http://mobileratty.com/article/0a9b2165a4dc855272fc6b4c9efa1d66 2762843771_7164b89ee4.jpg

Courtesy of Waxy's illustrious Andy Baio, a wonderfully written history of the halcyon years of GIF News, a distributed online newsletter distributed via BBSes (the Internet's underground, trilobitic evolutionary precursor) dating back to 1988. Luridly pixelated Flickr gallery and all!

As for the content of this newsletter itself, it's important to note that the content was not about the GIF format itself (the Graphics Interchange Format is described in excruciating detail here), but simply used the GIF format to provide something that in 1988 was pretty unique for a person working out of upstate New York: a full-color, easily transmittable, completely static presentation of computer news. Because he had the 256 color palette to work from, Hsiao could intersperse color screen shots, artwork, and all range of unusual fonts. While not preceding the era of vector-based formats like Postscript, GIF News could produce a relatively low-size file (almost none exceed 100k in size) that could then be archived with other pages and transferred throughout the world...

Beyond the transport mechanism, of course, is the content being discussed. The GIF News would only arrive every 60 days or so, and each issue would be at most four pages/images, so the ability to devour the content in a world with RSS feeds and news shooting at us by the bucketful blows through a given posting in no time. It would be unfair, again, to sit here in 2008 and compare what tools rest in our hands for generating an image-and-text newsletter and berate or sneer at Eric's seemingly glacial release pace; every one of these pages could have been hours of painful adjustments and drawing, writing the articles and then carefully placing pixels or groupings around captured artwork.

My heart always suffers from a pang, a fond ache, when I read-up on the incredibly creative BBS scenes of the late 80s... a scene I largely missed in lieu of downloading shareware games from Software Creations and playing pornographic door games. There were these clusters of incredible creativity and ingenuity hidden inside a sprawlingly disjointed, 1200 baud spaghetti structure of isolated communities tied together (at best) by the tin-can transmission system of FidoNet. I was never a part of these, but these secret conclaves of phreakers, programmers, artists and writers were the first cowboys of cyberspace. I wish I'd spent my youth getting to know them.

History of GIF News [Textfiles via Waxy]

GIF News Gallery [Flickr]


]]> Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:10:15 +0000 gif news news gif news textfiles newsletter image-and-text newsletter content history gif format computer news The History of GIF News (1988 - 1993)