TV Embedded in Contact Lens...Is it Possible?

Click here to check out an article from Yahoo! News entitled "Contact Lens TV in 10 years?"

Mini Laptops

Before the summer of 2008, a couple of computer companies came out with some odd looking laptops. These laptops aren't your parents laptop. They are smaller, lighter, and more mobile than ever before. They are simply called "Mini-Laptops." I know what your thinking, "I thought laptops were mini enough." I thought the same thing until I read about these new machines. Some of the well known companies include: HP, Acer, Asus, and Sylvania. When I first seen the mini's I thought it was a new children's toy, but then I saw the prices. These mini computers start out around $400. But you may be a bit surprised to find out what's inside of them. The processors are better, but the RAM and Hard Drives are a quite small in my opinion. Most of the RAM I have seen has been around 512MB - 1GB, but some can go to 2GB. And the Hard Drive size is not much better, 4GB - 8GB of flash memory. (Some of the newer models may have up to 80GB.) Also, Microsoft claims they have stopped selling XP to the public, but most the Windows based mini laptops have XP installed on them. (We all know Vista will not run properly on anything less than 2 GB of RAM. Some mini laptops have Linux.) It may sound like I hate these machines, but I don't. I am glad to see computer companies are making travel easier with smaller laptops. Now instead of carrying around a huge laptop bag, you can carry around a computer that's almost the same size as you hand ( size anywhere from 7 in. to 10 in.). Below is a list I have put together of some different mini laptops. Fell free to read about them, and let us know what you think

Acer

Asus

HP mini (Up to 60GB hard drive)
Sylvania (Up to 30GB hard drive)

iPod Touch?!?!

Today, I am going to be talking about the iPod Touch from Apple. The iPod Touch first appeared in 2005. It is much different than the traditional ipods, with an interface much like the iPhone (discussed in a previous blog). This ipod has a 3.5 inch touch screen, hence the name iPod Touch. The iPod Touch, itouch, also has a lot of similar features as the iPhone. (1) They look almost identical. The iPhone is a little longer and weights a bit more (as seen in the image to the left). (2) Both devices have Wi-Fi capabilities. The iPhone can access the Internet via the 3G network provided by AT&T. The itouch can only use Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). They also both have "Safari." Safari is MAC's Internet browser. Both the iPhone and itouch have the abilities to open full HTML web pages. This mean that you can pay bills, check scores, and watch YouTube straight from your iPod Touch. (3) Of course most people buy iPods for music and the itouch will not disappoint. You can store up to 1750 songs with the 8GB, 3500 songs with the 16GB, and 7000 songs with the 32GB version. You can also access iTunes from your iPod Touch, and when you find a song you like, you can purchase it as well. (4) I have one more feature I would like to discuss. The iPod Touch can access most of the iPhone applications; such as games, Wi-Fi finders, etc. Over all this is a great product. The 8GB iPod Touch starts around $229, 16GB = $299, and the 32GB = $399. So, if you are like me and don't have AT&T, then the iPod Touch is the way to go and much cheaper than canceling your contract (around $200) and getting an iPhone ($199 with a new contract plus the contracts monthly charges; $599 without).

Wiiitis: The real pain behind gamers!

The other morning, I woke up to a soreness in my shoulder. Not only was it sore, but I could barely move it. I started thinking, "What did I do that made my shoulder so sore?" I sleep on my back so I knew that wasn't it. I haven't lifted anything heavy in a while. Nor have I been in any wrecks. Then it hit me, as I walked by my Nintendo Wii, the thought struck me. "Not the Wii," I told myself. I shrugged it off, got dressed, and headed to work. As the day progressed, my arm started to fell better. No pain and no soreness. When I got home that evening, I decided not to play the Wii incase I did hurt my shoulder some how. The next day when I woke up, all was fine. Again, no pain and no soreness. That night, my fiancée came over and wanted to play the Wii so, being the man I am, I had to throw in some competition. We played for around 2 hours. After losing to her in almost everything we played, she left. Shortly after that I went to sleep. To my surprise the next morning, the pain and soreness was back. That answered my question. The Wii was the cause of my shoulder pain; commonly known as "Wiiitis." Below is an article, where a doctor actually diagnosed "Wiiitis."

BOSTON (Reuters) - "When Dr. Julio Bonis awoke one Sunday morning with a sore shoulder, he could not figure out what he had done. It felt like a sports injury, but he had been a bit of a couch potato lately.
Then he remembered his new Wii.
Bonis, 29, had spent hours playing Nintendo's new video game in which players simulate real movements. Bonis had been playing simulated tennis.
It was not quite tennis elbow, he decided.
"The variant in this patient can be labelled more specifically as 'Wiiitis,'" Bonis, a family practice physician, wrote in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The treatment consisted of ibuprofen for one week, as well as complete abstinence from playing Wii video games. The patient recovered fully."
Wiiitis -- pronounced "wee-eye-tis" -- is the latest ailment to develop from the video game era, beginning with Space Invaders' wrist in 1981, which was caused by the repeated button mashing required by the popular arcade game.
Nintendo's Wii game can captivate for hours and "unlike in the real sport, physical strength and endurance are not limiting factors," Bonis of the Research Group in Biomedical Informatics in Barcelona, Spain, wrote.
"What convinced me to send the case report was that a friend of mine, after playing 'Wii Sports' suffered from a similar complaint," Bonis told Reuters in an e-mail. "I have not found other cases in my clinical practice, but it is probably an underdiagnosed condition."
It is not the first time Nintendo has received attention in the medical field.
In 1990, a Wisconsin doctor characterized the thumb soreness brought on by pushing the buttons on a controller as "Nintendinitis" after it affected a 35-year-old woman who played a Nintendo game without interruption for five hours.
With virtual golf, boxing, baseball and bowling already on the market, "future games could involve different and unexpected groups of muscles," Bonis said. "Physicians should be aware that there may be multiple, possibly puzzling presentations of Wiiitis."
Bonis said he still plays the games, "but I try to use it with moderation. Sometimes it's hard to do!" "

Article: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0616721120070606

A fun gadget for the Gamer!

Ok, we have all heard what is said about people who sit inside and play video games all day. They are lazy and do nothing but eat potato chips and get fat (I know, my mom tells me the same thing). Well, Nintendo has come out with something that will change the way gamers are viewed forever. I am talking about the Wii Fit. I have yet to try the Wii Fit, but from what friends and family say, it is awesome. Wii Fit comes with a balance board and the Wii Fit game.

To start playing Wii Fit, you will choose a Mii (Wii Character) and check your BMI, Body Mass Index. After that you will receive a Wii Fit age. Now your ready to get started. Wii Fit features four main categories to choose from: Strength Training, Aerobics, Yoga and Balance Games. As you spend time exercising, you'll earn Fit Credits that unlock additional exercises and activities within these categories. Wii Fit also tracks the activities you do the most and puts them into the Favorites category.

Keep tabs on your daily progress with easy-to-understand graphs and charts. Using your personal profile, you can set goals, view a graph of your BMI results over time, see how many Fit Credits you've earned, check your Wii Fit Age and even enter exercise time you've done outside of Wii Fit. It's all about coming back and exercising a little every day, and the personal profile makes tracking your daily progress simple and easy.

So if you are like me and what to get rid of the evil name of lazy-fat-guy, then pick up Wii Fit and start something new for 2009.

*All Wii Fit info was compiled via http://www.gamestop.com/.*

SP3 - Is it really that bad or just all hype?

With nearly 200 computers in the library system, it is not uncommon for the I/T Dept. to be forced to reinstall the Windows operating system for computers here and there. As a matter of fact, it's a day-long process and although it's time-consuming, it's usually a no-brainer until....

Microsoft makes an "improvement" that they to call "Windows updates". When they do that, it makes reinstalling the operating system downight frustrating. Nearly a year and a half ago, they released a major update called "Service Pack 3" for the Microsoft XP Professional OS.

Now, if you don't know by now, you can't buy a computer with Windows XP anymore. I think Microsoft stop selling those back in the summer of 2007. That means if you go to the store (or online) and buy a computer, you are stuck with purchasing Microsoft's latest OS, Windows Vista.

(As an FYI, there were two different versions of XP: Home and Professional. While there are four different versions of Vista: Home, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate).

However, right before they stop selling and providing support for XP machines, they can out with SP3. Now, I am not a Microsoft hater, just a "consumer watchdog". I use Microsoft products everyday both here at work and at home. (This is a good place to sigh.) The problem with Microsoft choosing to release an update like this is that if it has "bugs" then they don't necessarily "have-to" fix those bugs and that leaves us with computer "that aren't acting right" (as my grandmother would say). That also means that if you are not a technie, then you will probably take your computer to somewhere like Best Buy. If that doesn't work, you get frustated and buy a new computer (as my grandmother would do). I think you see the benefit for Microsoft here, don't you? I know far too many people who have made Microsoft rich off of the number of computers that they have bought throughout the years (just ask my grandmother) but that's for another blog posting......

Soon after SP3 came out, I probably reinstalled Windows on 5-8 library computers and each one of them crashed soon after SP3 was installed it. As I backtrack my thinking to try and figure out what was different this time as opposed to all of the other times that I had reinstalled Windows, I realized that it was SP3, which took nearly an hour by itself to install. That made the whole Windows reinstallation process now - a day and a hour. :-) Unfortunately, I had to reinstall the OS on each of these computers at least once more leaving SP3 out of the picture and all has been well since. (Even Best Buy doesn't install SP3.) Just a few weeks ago, I was "checking up" on one of pre-SP3 computers and have since found SP3 did installed itself (if you have automatic updates turned on) and strangely enough it hasn't crashed - yet!!!!

So, if you have a XP Professional on your home (or small business computer) and it begins to act strange after installing Windows updates, you might want to check Add/Remove Programs to see if SP3 is installed. Even though some in the "tech world" have said that Microsoft has made "the appropriate improvement to SP3 to prevent problems", I still don't trust it and a year and a half later, I still do not install it on any of the library's Windows computer. Hopefully, you won't find yourself having to reinstall Windows because of SP3.

5 Safety Tips for Using a Public Computer

Sometimes patrons utilize computers at the local public library without fully understanding the risks involved. Public terminals are just that public—meaning they are used by hundreds of thousands of people each year. Below are five simple tips that are easy to follow and make it much harder for someone to gain access to your personal information when using a public computer.

1. Do not save your login information & always logout!

Avoid selecting any options for saving your login information especially when signing into financial account, medical/insurance accounts, email accounts and the like. Always logout of any site you visit instead of closing the browser window or typing a new address over the existing address. This help keep others from accessing your personal information.

2. Do not leave the computer unattended with sensitive information on the screen!

If you must leave the computer unattended, make sure that you utilize the “Lock” feature available in PCReservation to prevent another patron from getting onto that computer.

3. Erase your tracks!

When you are done using a public computer, you should delete at a minimum all the temporary Internet files and cookies and/or the Internet history (if preferred).

4. Watch for people watching your screen!

Consider this the old-fashioned way of snooping. When you are using a public computer, watch for people who collect your information by looking over your shoulder or watching as you enter passwords.

5. Do not enter sensitive information into a public computer!

As mentioned above, if you really want to be safe on a public computer, avoid typing your credit card number, social security number, or any other financial or otherwise sensitive information into a public computer. You should perform these types of actions on your home PC.

(Posting adapted from an article at Microsoft.com by the same title)