techfun89 - Slashdot User

Submission + - NASAs EM Drive Tested Again In A Vacuum - It still works (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by techfun89 on Friday May 01, 2015 @12:21PM

techfun89 writes: A revolutionary new space engine technology with the potential to make a trip to Mars in 10 weeks has been in the works by NASA the concept has been tested again. The last series of tests were done months ago and this time they have used a vacuum to test how it might behave in space.

Testing inside the vacuum allowed NASA to rule out the potential that the thrust was being created by head transfer from the outside, rather than from within the drive. The engine is supposed to work by generating force from the bouncing of electromagnetic waves inside a chamber, with some of that energy being transferred to a reflector to generate thrust. They insist that there is not a violation of the conservation of momentum.

This technology has the potential to one day send astronauts to Mars in as little as 10 weeks and beyond.

Submission + - AeroMobil Flying Car to Takeoff in 2017 (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by techfun89 on Thursday March 19, 2015 @02:53PM

techfun89 writes: AeroMobil, a Slovakian company is planning on releasing its flying car to the market in 2017, called the AeroMobil 3.0. They have released a video showing it in action. It transforms in seconds from a car to an airplane and is 20 feet long. It can reach 99 mph on the road and 124 in the air and travel 425 miles before running out of fuel.

Run out of fuel, pass out at the wheel? No problem. It features a partial autopilot and emergency parachute that can be automatically deployed in emergencies such as when the pilot falls ill. It has a ceiling limitation of 9800 feet due to cabin pressurization and will require a pilots license.

Submission + - Hack allows x86 Windows applications to run on Surface RT (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Wednesday February 20, 2013 @02:12PM

techfun89 writes: "Surface RT is highly restricted to only one single x86 legacy program and that is the Office software that comes on the tablet. All other x86 legacy applications can't run on the device, until now. Thanks to mamaich on the XDA developer forum, the ARM tablet can run classic windows games in fact along with several windows applications.

This emulation is done using a tool that emulates an x86 environment on the ARM system and allows RT to execute API calls without a major use of system resources. According to the developer, he is planning on releasing a standalone tool so that its automatically emulated each time Surface RT boots or each time the app is executed. It works with a handful of applications as of right now, but future releases should support a wider variety. In the video demonstration he is running Heroes of Might and Magic III. The steps involved with this hack are pretty simple and outlined on the XDA website in greater detail."

Submission + - Video shows how Google Glass feels - get your hands on a pair early (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Wednesday February 20, 2013 @01:23PM

techfun89 writes: "The video released by Google gives us a hands on demonstration of how the tech will work in all its sci-fi glory. The tech features voice activation and location awareness along with the ability to take video and photos all hands-free.

Google has also announced a competition that will put the Glass device in the hands of non-developers. Using Twitter or Google+ you need to use 50 words or less and outline what you would do if you had the device, most likely they are looking for big ideas. You have to tag it with #ifihadglass and can also include photos or a short video."

Submission + - Twitter makes official announcement about Vine, a video sharing service (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Thursday January 24, 2013 @12:41PM

techfun89 writes: "Twitter has just officially announced Vine, a new way to share videos through tweets. This came less than one day after Twitter CEO Dick Costolo had hinted of this new service on his own Twitter feed.

Vine is separate app that is already available on the iTunes App Store for iPhone and iPod touch. There is the same integration with Twitter as with Instagram, but Vine videos can be embedded directly in tweets. Videos from Vine can show up in a separate page. Vine will be spreading to other platforms in the near future, according to Twitter."

Submission + - Look its a blimp, no wait, A gigantic Aeroscraft (tech-stew.com) 1

Submitted by

techfun89

on Thursday January 03, 2013 @09:20PM

techfun89 writes: "There is a new type of aircraft taking to the skies, specifically, a new type of rigid aircraft that isn't a blimp.

Aeros CEO Igor Pasternak says "The final configuration and vehicle systems integration functionality testing has been completed as the Aeroscraft subscale demonstration vehicle reaches the finish line."

The aircraft is to begin flying tests over the next 60 days, followed by a full scale version. Pasternak also thinks that this transportation solution will be around and change the way we fly for the next 100 years. Possibilities for transportation include slow flight cruises over land like we currently have with sea cruises as well as military transport. The rigid design allows for new possibilities beyond what blimps offer."

Submission + - The Microsoft Office 2013 UI: A visual nightmare (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by techfun89 on Wednesday December 12, 2012 @12:46AM

techfun89 writes: There are major shortcomings with Office 2013 UI redesign. Some have stated that the white background and its overall lack of contrast and brightness has “caused their eyes to bleed.” There are some users who claim they have had eye problems after several weeks of using Outlook and Word for several hours per day. The new color scheme is quite bad overall and you have limited options in trying to change it. Outlook by default a low contrast white scheme which can be hard on the eyes and hard to tell what is what. That is, there is no clear distinction between functional areas like user controls and system controls. Not only this but white space optimization throughout the UI, particularly in Outlook and Lync is horrendous.

The preview area in Outlook becomes almost useless due to the huge consumption of space by elements in the header such as the photo, subject and title.

Typing in Outlook and even more so in Excel, often leaves your cursor in a lagged or streaky appearance, akin to that of typing on terminals of the 1990s.

Submission + - Astronomers discover a potentially habitable Super-Earth HD 40307g (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Thursday November 08, 2012 @03:32PM

techfun89 writes: "Scientists say they have found a new exoplanet that may have the right conditions to support life. The new planet called HD 40307g is part of a six-planet system. The discovery was made by a team of astronomers led by Mikko Tuomi at the University of Hertfordshire and Guillem Anglada-Escude of the University of Goettingen.

The dwarf star is considered "quiet and old" perfectly capable of having planets that could harbor life. This star is dimmer, cooler and smaller than that of the one in our solar system.

There is a 50 percent chance that HD 40307g would be a rocky planet like Earth, but there is insufficient data to know whether its a large Earth or a warm gaseous planet like Neptune. HD 40307g is the sixth planet from its star and orbits in 197.8 days. It is thought to be seven times larger than Earth and rotates on its own axis creating day and night effects. HD 40307 g is 42-light years from Earth, which means that its close enough that one day direct imaging telescopes may collect more data and images. It may have an average temperature ranging of around 9C or 48F if you scale up a terrestrial atmosphere."

Submission + - Mysterious spheres baffle scientists on Mars (tech-stew.com) 2

Submitted by

techfun89

on Saturday September 15, 2012 @09:20PM

techfun89 writes: "A new Mars photo shows a close-up of a rock outcrop called Kirkwood covered in what appears to be blister-like bumps which scientists have yet to explain. At first glance these formations are similar to the Martian "blueberries" which were first seen by Opportunity in 2004 but the new formations are different in several ways. According to rover mission principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithica, NY:

This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission. Kirkwood is chock full of a dense accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately thought of the blueberries, but this is something different. We never have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on Mars. Kirkwood is chock full of a dense accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately thought of the blueberries, but this is something different. We never have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on Mars.

They seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle. They are different in concentration. They are different in structure. They are different in composition. They are different in distribution. So, we have a wonderful geological puzzle in front of us."

Submission + - NASA to use 3D Printing for Self-Building Spacecraft aka Replicators (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Friday September 14, 2012 @11:19AM

techfun89 writes: "A new spin on 3D printing technology could have spacecraft building themselves by taking materials from space junk or asteroids. The "SpiderFab" project has received $100,000 from NASA's innovative Advanced Concepts program to determine the feasibility of such a self-construction design. With some planning and more funding they hope to launch a 3D-printing test mission within several years.

"The system could then morph in orbit into a very large system a dozen or hundreds of meters in size," Hoyt told InnovationNewsDaily. "It would be like launching a CubeSat that creates a 50 meter-length boom."

The possibilities with this self-building technology would allow for space telescopes the size of ARICEBO in Puerto Rico. Or even more intriguing, such technology can be sent to distant star systems and then build arrays and communications transmitters to send signals back to Earth."

Submission + - Facebook updates iOS app to be faster, "rebuilt from the ground up" (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Thursday August 23, 2012 @02:12PM

techfun89 writes: "According to Facebook, the app was "rebuilt from the ground up," and is supposed to be twice as fast as the past version. Overall the app features smoother and faster scrolling and photos load "instantly" thanks to changes from switching from HTML5 to iOS native programming. Aesthetically speaking there aren't any major changes with the 5.0 update, mostly under the hood and functionality additions."

Submission + - Windows RT Tablets may be as much as $300 less than Windows 8 Slates (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Monday August 20, 2012 @11:35AM

techfun89 writes: "Lenovo is revealing some clues to what it plans to offer for pricing on Windows RT tablets.

David Schmook, head of Lenovo's North America operations revealed a few details regarding pricing. Schmoock stated that those purchasing ARM-based Windows RT tablets can expect to pay between $200 and $300 less than if they were buying a Wintel machine running Windows 8 (an Intel based x86/x64 version). It would seem that Schmoock wasn't speaking about Lenovo specifically, though.

"RT will play in consumer and retail at very aggressive price points. It will do well but it's going to be more of a consumer price point play to begin with."

Schmoock also elaborated and said that Windows 8 tablets will cost $600 to $700 (and likely the Surface Pro models)."

Submission + - OnLive officially announces acquisition, name will remain OnLive (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Monday August 20, 2012 @12:46AM

techfun89 writes: "The restructured OnLive has issued an press release and FAQ to attempt to clear up any rumors and misinformation on the companies recent changes.

Onlive is emphasizing that the streaming game service will go on uninterrupted and the "Newly formed company" will continue to use the OnLive name. The press release also outlines the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process OnLive used to settle debts and that an affiliate of Lauder Partners, a technology investment firm, was the new OnLive's first investor. The firm talked about the necessity of laying off its staff, stating that "neither OnLive, Inc. shares nor OnLive staff could transfer under this type of transaction," and confirming that nearly have of the previous staff had been offered positions at the new company.

The new firm mentions that this acquisition holds hope for the future "of transforming the OnLive vision into reality."

This effectively means that OnLive was essentially bought out by OnLive, or rather, more specifically, one of their original investors in the company who backed the startup back in 2009."

Submission + - Rumor: Windows faster release cycles coming, next one codename "Blue" (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Thursday August 16, 2012 @12:12PM

techfun89 writes: "Rumors are that Microsoft is working on updates to Windows 8. The next set of updates is code-named "Blue" due out possibly next summer.

It is believed this update could be more than just patches, possibly including new features, making Windows release updates more like how Apple has done things for 10 years.

According to Mary Jo Foley:
"The word seems to be, whichever it is, that Microsoft is moving away from the big-bang Windows release schedule to which it typically has adhered, and is now attempting to move toward something more like what Apple does, with point releases. I'll be curious if Blue eventually gets a version number, like Windows 8.1 or 8.5 or something.""

Submission + - How to get sneaky with Windows 8 RTM and boot straight to the desktop (tech-stew.com)

Submitted by

techfun89

on Wednesday August 08, 2012 @05:44PM

techfun89 writes: "Microsoft has made it known that attempts to bypass the Metro (or whatever new name they choose to give it) interface, will not work in Windows 8 RTM. But there is a way to get around this behavior and have Windows 8 boot straight to the desktop if you really want to do so.

Three possible ways are outlined in this example, one is using a scheduled task to auto launch explorer.exe after having your user account automatically log into windows.

The other is using a small script file, launched from a task with or without logging in first, while the third way involves just moving the desktop tile to being the first tile and holding enter as you type your password.

Other methods will be found and created over time, but these should help the die hard users that simply can't stand seeing the Start Screen tiles first or don't want to hit the Windows Key to toggle to the desktop."

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