Saturday 16 September 2006

The Software From Minority Report

Remember the movie Minority Report? Tom Cruise starred as a cop who could manipulate huge amounts of data. The software was incredible. And, it seemed, a little futuristic. But truth be told, the software is available. And we can see a copy of it in action today.

Dr. Ben Fry, who completed his Ph.D in MIT in 2004, developed the software called "Valence" which is available for further information here:
Valence

You can see a live version of the software analyzing text. (Note: Java needed!)
Valence doing text analysis

Valence was developed using Proce55ing, a programming language for sound, images, animation and sound. The programming language is free for download. Click the following pages:
Proce55ing main page
Proce55ing Israel
Proce55ing Japan

Ben Fry's page is now at benfry.com :-) There's lots of java applets that can be seen both at his old page and his new. Pay a visit today.

Monday 4 September 2006

Power Up a House for Less Than USD700

Photovoltaic convertors, better known as solar panels, have the capacity to convert the sun's energy into electricity. Coupled with a sort of electricity storage system, this can probably lead to huge savings. Today we see how one man, by thoughtful design, was able to power up his home for less than USD700.

  • Ward's Cheap Solar Power System [click here for link]

    This site is packed with all sorts of "alternative energy" experiments. For some other "experiments", kindly visit the following site:

  • OtherPower.com [click here for link]

    Given a choice, however, I'd probably go for a flywheel battery: I think they are the wave of the future, compared to chemical based rechargeable batteries, flywheel batteries have an expected lifespan of 20 years.

  • Powerware PF2 Flywheel Battery-free Energy Storage System [click here for link]
    Manufactured by EATON International, they have a sales representative in Malaysia. Not "a" sales representative but "three" sales reps.


  • Advances in Flywheel Energy Storage Systems [click here for link]
    White paper by Active Power company, but it also gives quite an indepth study of the present day advances in flywheel technology.


    The funny thing is that I cannot seem to find a quotation price for the flywheel battery system... They might be trying to avoid scaring customers off (if the price is too high).
  • Popular Posts

    Blog Archive

    Giveaway of the Day

    Giveaway of the Day