Toshiba and Intel to commercialize an educational-use tablet PC for school kids

Toshiba and Intel recently announced the launch of a tablet PC  in Japan for elementary and junior high schools kids named CM1. The tablet is focused to foster ICT (Information and communication technologies) skill among kids. The CM1 came up due to The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan which set out a policy of providing digital textbooks for all elementary and junior high school students by 2015.

Microsoft Instaload technology lets you put batteries the way you want.

You might have come across times when you insert batteries in the wrong way and the device wont start. It happens with a lot of people but no one came up with a solution, but the IT giant Microsoft with its new technology called InstaLoad.

How Instaload works

You might wonder it works on complex electronics but the fact is its a purely mechanical design that makes it work. It has a set of positive and negative contacts at both ends, unlike only positive at one end and only negative at the other end. So always the battery either interfaces with a positive contact or a negative contact. Check out the contact design diagram.

How to trace the location of a host server

Whenever you visit a website you are routed through various servers and locations before ending up to the final host server here's a method to trace the location of a host server through a really simple command and a website which can be used on any Windows PC.

Step 1
Click on Start and go to command prompt by typing cmd in the run box. OR Simply go to Accessories and click on Command Prompt.

Step 2
In the Command Prompt Type tracert followed by the address of the website you want to trace. For example if you want to trace the routes for my website-- 

tracert www.mytechcenter.co.cc
OR  tracert www.yahoo.com  

(Remember only type address beginning with www don't type the url with http://)

Now my website is hosted on blogger so it is hosted on google servers. It takes almost 18 routes before reaching my website from my internet connection.

Step 3

Now that we have traced the host server IP ie. the last line before trace complete, in my case as you can see it is 74.125.95.121 we can easily trace the server location and other details. Now you can't use copy in Command Prompt so just write down the IP address  on a piece of paper or type it on notepad and then put in the Lookup IP Information box on the website  

http://ip-address-lookup-v4.com  and hit enter.

It will show you all the details of the website like its location on google maps ,the hosting service, company name and a ton of other stuff.

You can also trace the location of the routes you went through by putting in the route IP addresses. 

Have fun tinkering and finding server locations of your favorite websites! If you have a problem doing it, put it in the comments and i can help you out.

7999 Rs Netbook with free internet for one year

Datawind Ltd. a leading developer of wireless web access products and services recently launched its first product in India the UbiSurfer, which just cost 7999 INR with a one year internet subscription plan. The netbook runs on a modified version of  the  Debian operating system (OS) which is what make it low cost. Another version runs on the classic Windows CE OS. The netbook is power by an AMR9 processor and has a 7 inch TFT – Wide screen display running at a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels (WVGA). 

The Ubisurfer is not your ordinary net book it runs on a patented client/server architecture to deliver the power of a powerful server in the palm of your hand. Plus its small form factor makes it more portable. 

"Our primary focus is on cost, and making the cost of both the hardware and the usage affordable for the masses"  is what Suneet S Tuli, CEO of Datawind said in a recent online interview.

Netra lets you tests your eyes through a mobile phone.

To get your eyes checked you have to take an appointment go visit the optometrist and then go through a series of test. All the equipment involved like an Aberrometer in the test costs a lot. Poor countries and civilizations cannot afford it and are therefore deprived from quality vision. But now the function of the Aberrometer has been shrinked to just a small lens device and a smart phone screen.

A team at MIT media labs consisting of Ankit Mohan, Manuel M. Oliveira Neto, Vitor Pamplona and Ramesh Raskar have come up with an amazing prototype device and a software which lets to detect the power of refractive errors in your eye anyplace anytime.

Courtesy gizmag.com

The whole system consists of  three things, a plastic device consisting of a lenses, a mobile phone and a software installed on the cellphone. The plastic device is clipped to the cellphone screen. Then the patient looks through the lens to see a pair of parallel  lines, now the patient has to press the arrow keys until the parallel green and red lines seem to overlap. This is repeated 8 times with different angles for each eye, the software comes up with prescription data. The devices has no moving parts and hence no maintenance. The software is based on a  technology called Bokodes which was developed last year which helps to store a large amount of information on a tiny square code. 

International Engine Of The Year Award Winners

This is for all you engine lovers.

The Engine Technology International , published by UKIP Media & Events has been organizing  The International Engine of the Year Awards since 1999 and now are considered the most prestigious in the auto industry. Here is a brief insight into the winner of the top four category winners.

International Engine of the Year 2010 (Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger)

For the second consecutive year Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger is the winner in this category. This is an amazing engine which uses a combination of a turbocharger and  a supercharger with a direct fuel injector The first engine of its kind in history. It gives a power output of upto 125kW (170bhp) and 240Nm of torque. 

(While most 1.4L engine produce around 100bhp)

As Volkswagen says "The 1.4-litre TSI engine manages to do the work of a 2.5-litre engine". That with great fuel efficiency figures of 7.2l/100km (13.9km/l). This engine proves the fact that even small engines can pack a punch whiles turning great efficiency  figures.