Most Commented Technology Blogs (217)

The computer mouse is an important tool in my daily life.
I've tried lots of different brands of 'mouse-like' products including trackballs, joysticks, stylus pens and touch screens.

Depending on the setup there are 4 workstations in my condo plus a laptop and 3 workstations at my office. All of them were using the 'old standard' Microsoft wired mouse.
I like the shape, buttons and way it tracks. Wireless mouse? No thanks.
They are cheap... $10
Some products are in the $40 to $60 range so I'm getting a bargain at $10.

Actually, I prefer the accuracy of the old style mouse with a ball. Yeah, cleaning lint every other day didn't bother me. They are dinosaurs... no more are available on the planet.

The Microsoft mouse has a textured finish and after months of use I notice the left button would turn shiny. No problem, but I'm having to replace them when the wheel starts to skip.
Maybe there has been a change in manufacture as in 'they don't make them the same' and I'm replacing them in months and not years later.



Looking for a change, I've found a Logitech mouse for $10 that has a very similar shape and feel as the Microsoft mouse.

I bought 4 of them and put them into my main computers and will replace the others when the wheels begin to fail.

Every year, I tell my family not to get me anything for Christmas. They all develop selective hearing loss and get me something. This year, I received a small and simple gift that I will often use.
It's called GUARD YOURID.
My trash goes in a community dumpster, boxes into recycle bins. If you are like me, You'll probably peel off the labels bearing your name and address. If you cannot remove the label, covering the information with a marking pen is the next option.

This device looks like a date stamper with a roller wheel on the bottom. What it does is roll over a band of black ink quickly creating a security block to the information you want to cover.



Awesome

I was reading an old novel ... The plot was based on the background of 80's or before ...
It was a crime thriller , and the turning point of the whole thriller was a "Technical error" !!

You all probably remember that , before Mobile Phone , there used to be Land Telephones , through which people used to communicate with each other ... As the Telecommunication Technology was in it's primitive stage , many "Technical Errors" used to interrupt the service ...

One of such error was "Cross Connection"...

Well... As I never had any personal experience of this , so I can only try to understand and describe it as it was narrated in the Novel...

During a Phone Call between Two Caller through Land Telephone , sometimes some Third Party accidentally get access into the ongoing conversation ... Then it called as "Cross Connection" ...

As I am not a technical person , so I can't really say why this used to be happened !!

The closest thing I can relate to this , is "Wrong Number" !!!

As many times we get calles from unknown people and find out that it's nothing but a "Wrong Number"...
Though , many times , those "Wrong Number" calls look suspicious ... Like it was more of some kind of "Human Error (Preeplanned)" rather than a "Technical Error" !!

But anyway...
This idea of "Cross Connection" seems very interesting and dramatic to me (Though some may consider it as a serious Privacy issue) !!

Just imagine !!!
You and your Love , in the middle of an intimate passionate conversation over the phone , and suddenly you guys hear the sound of a deep breathing from an unknown unexpected source !!!!!

YouTube is filling up with videos now about how the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded. Fingers are pointing to the 5 inch thick hull 'spun' with carbon fiber claiming it was the culprit. They all say it was the materials used.

The video below shows a machine winding a large metal tube with carbon ribbon about 4 inches wide the same way a spool of thread gets put on a bobbin. This is how the hull was created. Was the metal tube part of the hull or was it only used for the process of forming the tube? The first part of the building sequence it appears the tube had something applied first and it could be a 'release agent' used in mold making or the bonding adhesive and the metal tube was part of the hull.

Did the layers of carbon fiber get bonded with resins making a solid casting?
Other than the fibers appearing shiny, the process wasn't clear and I'm guessing the machine that applied the ribbon was laying it on 'wet' with resin applied.
The problem with that process is resin has catalyst and you are limited by the amount of time to work before it hardens. Laying up 5 inches could take all day... maybe longer and take several sessions. The first layers would be curing while the layers on top would be applied over it. That creates a weak point where the layers are attached.

Molded carbon fiber components are used in automotive and aviation sectors... they have been for many years. The process isn't new. The process turns bad when you try to add several layers as one because they each have a different curing rate and may not have a uniform bond between each layer.

Were any layers of carbon fiber running crossgrain (left to right) or did it all get wrapped in the same direction? The video shows all in the same direction of the cylinder.

Note, in woodworking, the strength of plywood sheeting is created by running the layers in different directions giving it stability. If all the layers are in the same direction, the wood becomes flexible. That rule of lamination applies to fiberglass and carbon fiber technology too!

I read that OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush had a US Patent for a device to detect any sound or vibration that would indicate a stress crack in the hull. Maybe, I'll go into that part of the equation later.

From the look of things, the design had no internal ribs or supports.
The titanium rings on the ends were only glued in place. Only glue.
Say that again... Only glue.
What's missing in the construction??
The rings were applied to the OUTSIDE of the carbon fiber cylinder designed to withstand EXTERNAL pressure. Technical no-no.

I do cabinets for a living and have some model aircraft experience for 40+ years and things like that need both a mechanical and chemical bond.
Simple thought... anyone out there having done some soldering of 2 wires knows you first twist the wires making a mechanical connection before heating and applying the solder.

Did the people who designed the Titan forget the obvious...

There should have been double rings with bolts between them to 'sandwich' the hull to the end rings. Titanium and carbon fiber have different expansion/contraction rates so a mechanical connection should be first, with the glue/epoxy/sealant in between.

No assumptions, but let's say the external forces caused the carbon to flex more than the glue between the hull and the end rings, the failure really was the bonding agent and not the materials it was supposed to hold together.
Just a thought.

Another thought was the crane that hoisted the salvaged Titan submersible had a strap through the titanium 'door' where the viewport used to be.
Did it fail causing the craft to implode, or was it removed when brought on deck of the salvage boat making it easier to move it to the dock?

That may have been the weak link to the design and all the talk of carbon fiber would be meaningless.

Yep, they're at it again. The automatic sign out! Wasted half an hour posting a poem this afternoon (or rather trying to) and upon reaching the preview stage received the dreaded message "the page you requested requires you to be logged in"! Half an hours work right down the gurgler!
The fact is I WAS logged in, had been for over an hour Played a game of mah jong and a couple of games of sudoku as well as checking forum and blog posts. Also sent a mail so I must have been logged in or I couldn't have sent it! ...Surely I can't be the only one experiencing this phenomena? Frustrating to say the least....

This morning the light bulb at the entrance to my apt was out of service. I decided to modernize and instead of a plain incandescent bulb, I bought a LED type one. The former would cost me around a hundred yen which is around a dollar. In the name of modernization, I paid around 1,500 yen. Not sure if I'm going to save on electricity or it would last longer than 2 yrs. But I like the brightness it gives to the entrance. Anew kind of brightness for the coming New Year. A prosperous New Year to everyone!! Another advanced greetings!!

You know - like that legendary T.V. guy who can make/fix anything with nothing but a hairpin.

My house was built circa 1890.
Many of the fixtures are original - 125 years old.

A while ago, an original door lock went hawire.
I figured it was busted, so taking it apart couldn't hurt...what the hell, I might even be able to fix it.
Also, I'm rather fond of old things & like to keep them functioning.

A flat spring in the mechanism had broken.
I figured going to a hardware store asking for a spring for an antique lock would result in...
So I laid it aside for the time being.



A few days ago, I figured I might be able to cobble in a spring from a ballpoint pen.
Rummaging through an odds 'n ends bin, I found (are y'all ready for this?)
a...HAIRPIN!
Yes. Really!!

I figured it was just springy enough, and exactly the right size to snip & bend into a suitable flat spring.

VOILA!

Yep.
It fit just like it was custom made for the mechanism...which I guess it was, come to think 'bout it.

As long as it was disassembled, I also oiled up the whole mechanism.
It now works like everything's moving on jeweled bearings...far(!) smoother than it ever did since I've owned it...probably smoother than it has in fifty years.
Maybe a hundred years, even.

Pretty cool, huh?

Mic Guyver

I fight with my phone because it tries to put words different than what I'm thinking.
That was a struggle to say and the rest of this blog will be totally predictive text.

Sunday morning at the age of the United states and the United states and the United nations United nations meeting in Miami this week in the United kingdom Delray police department was the only place where did it come from being late in life and the situation was not immediately clear but the decision to leave the country alone would have prevented him from taking his own trip with the government and he would have been a little less concerned about the possibility of an attack on the country and a few other people who had a problem with his actions as well as the military or the government in the past to be fueled by the association between shit from the war or the military in Iraq to the client of the page and how to get the president to be fueled with a serviceman and the other side by the way he was in the middle of the war.



Google, WTF are you thinking?

SAMSUNG is to start work on the first ever smart TV that can be controlled by the user's mind, according to reports.

The software will allow people to change channels and the volume using only their brain.



Samsung are to start testing first smart TVs that can be controlled by your mind, according to reportsSamsung says it is developing the technology with the help of a team in Switzerland to help those with disabilities.

The research, called Project Pontis, wants to enable "users with physical limitations to change channels and adjust sound volume with their brains".

Brain-monitoring sensors and eye-tracking hardware are currently used to identify what selections the individual intends to make.

But they hope to make so advanced it will be able to work on brain commands alone.

That means you’d only need to think about changing the volume for it to happen.

The company predicts new prototype testing in early 2019 and there is not any suggestion it would be commercially available product.

It is currently aimed at specifically helping those with severe disabilities.

To begin, we have to narrow and define what we would mean by a subjective object we are calling a "Lie". ( I cannot think of an objective manifestation of a lie ) Also we have to define what a "Liar" is.

The word itself "Lie" has as far as I can recall has negative connotations exclusively.
Everything associated with untruth, non-truth being greyed toward evil or wrong.

We will have "White" lies, they are acknowledged as non-true however gain a special pleading as non-bad or evil on social grounds. We can imbue the "Liar" with no bad or selfish intent on the use of this memetic object. Many kinds of storytelling could be included.

With regard to non-true statements much of the shade of the greys comes from the use and intent of the liar.
We might define "Grey" lies as statements made not at all unlike white instances, but with a selfish or gainsaying intent. A listener may be able to acknowledge to themselves that the statements are in fact grey, but enjoys hearing them just the same.

I think we would have to include a great many jokes in the category of grey lies.
Also flirting to some degree could be included. Fictional works of many kinds, Blarney and Bullshit. Good story tellers may be called grey liars. PR firms would at best I think, have to be included with this sort of lying, being generous.

We would then be left with the "Black" lies. Foul words and phrases with ruthless intent. To indicate non-truth with bitter inclination to steal, injure, control and even destroy those to whom it it is delivered.

Serial killers, thieves, dictators, conmen, grifters of every sort would make best use of these particular memetic devises. Paedophiles, date rapists, partner abusers, propagandists and cult leaders would also swell their ranks.

It would seem important to distinguish some other species of untruth from lies and liars at this point. If someone is convinced of the veracity of a statement made that is actually untrue, I do not think it may be said that they are a liar or are lying.
I would say willful ignorance on a statement one offers as true has to be called black in the morality color chart we are proposing.
Confusion, misstatement, unintentional conflation, illusion and delusion should not label a communicator a liar.

So for the purposes of this exploration a Lie would be a statement by someone that is not true and the Liar has knowledge and intent not to communicate a particular truth and persuade by this without regard to the assumed morality of the misdirection.

Now we have some provisional definitions to work with and a frame on which hang our ethical considerations about this species of non-truth and its users.