The Power of Computers

The power of code

From the scythe to the steam engine, we've always used technology to control the world around us. But our ability to shape our environment has been transformed by one machine more than any other – the computer.

What makes computers so powerful is the code they run. It's incredibly flexible, controlling games one moment and spaceships the next. It came to do this thanks to individual genius, invention driven by necessity, and the power of human imagination.

 

 

1679

Binary: Leibniz invents the language of computers

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Piers Linney retraces the roots of today’s digital world back to a simple idea by Leibniz over 300 years ago – binary code.

Transcript (PDF 66k)

Humans have created codes since ancient times. But it was a German mathematician who invented the code that underpins almost all computing today.

Gottfried Leibniz created a system that didn't use our normal ten digits, 0 to 9. Instead it used just two: 0 and 1. Leibniz called his code 'binary', and imagined a mechanical calculator, in which marbles could fall through an open hole to represent one and remain at a closed hole to represent nought. This calculator was never built, but Leibniz’s idea paved the way for the whole history of computing.

1842–1843

Babbage and Lovelace: the first idea of hardware and software

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Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician ahead of her time, describing how to program a calculating machine long before computers were developed.

British mathematician Charles Babbage took Jacquard's idea further and designed the Analytical Engine: the first general purpose calculating machine.

Babbage's idea was that punched cards would feed numbers, and instructions about what to do with those numbers, into the machine. That made the machine incredibly flexible. In 1842, fellow mathematician Ada Lovelace described exactly how punched cards could program the Analytical Engine to run a specific calculation. Although the engine was never built and so her program never ran, Lovelace is now widely credited as the world’s first computer programmer.

Project Zero - Samsung Galaxy S6

Project Zero

This is the internal codename of the Galaxy S6, the supposed next Samsung flagship. So far, Samsung has been quietly codenaming its flagships with letters from the alphabet - the S4 was Project J, the S5 -- Project K, but rather than the S6 being ‘Project L’ (which also coincides with Android 5.0 ‘L’ollipop), it decided it is time for a reset.

It’s all back to the basics. After a few prosperous and worry-free years of growth, Samsung has to go to the drawing board to re-think its ‘next big thing’, which no longer looks so big after sales tumbled and the Galaxy S5 sold slower than the S4.
And frankly, a lot of the fairy tale growth for Samsung thus far
inexcusably late with its product cycle, taking years to make an adequate, large-sized iPhone. Now that there are two of them, and a mature market with a plethora of strong offerings from China, Samsung is starting to feel the heat and this time it’s serious. Samsung mobile head JK Shin is said to be leaving, replaced by Samsung electronics head BK Yoon.

One thing is certain: the Galaxy S6 will be a vastly different smartphone, aiming to show the best of Samsung in one device.

Design: entirely new vision

Display: wave goodbye to 1080p, welcome Quad HD

Interface: an unknown direction for TouchWiz

First 64-bit Samsung flagship: Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7420 models

Camera: Galaxy Note 4-like excellence

Storage: 32GB in the basic model

Connectivity: first with all sensors on one chip, in-house LTE modem

Samsung Galaxy S6: release date, price, and carriers

Design: entirely new vision

We’ve been criticizing Samsung a long time for its uninspiring, all-plastic, cheap-looking devices, and that chant reached a crescendo in the Galaxy S5, where the company ignored all hopes and pleas for a more refined style, and stubbornly released the S5 with the same plastic design.

With ailing financials, though, and a series of well-made, metal devices, Samsung might finally make a change.

Going back to the ‘Project Zero’ codename, it’s very likely that the reset it implies refers to the visual style of the device at most. After all, previous Galaxy S series devices were never criticized for their processors and performance power. All of this leads to one logical conclusion - Samsung is probably developing an entirely new style for the Galaxy S6.

Bomb Blast In Nigeria

Dozens are killed and many more hurt in a bomb and gun attack during Friday prayers at one of the biggest mosques in Nigeria's city of Kano

And Google Chrome Soars On Mobile Devices

At Google I/O in June, the company announced that the mobile version of the Google Chrome browser had over 300 million users. That was a huge ten-fold increase from the prior-year. Nearly six months later, Google executive Darin Fisher told those assembled at the Chrome Dev Summit, that the current number is up to 400 million mobile Chrome users. Besides the new look of Material Design, and changes that have made the browser more secure, Chrome has added some new features as well.

One change that Google made was to remove a 300ms delay that the browser employed, to see if the user was going to double-tap on the screen. By eliminating this delay, Chrome is now smoother for the user, and allows the developer to have more control over animations. Web pages also take on the color of the toolbar, and show up alongside apps in the Recent apps view added to Android 5.0.

Fisher also showed some slides, which you can see in the video below, showing that those calling for the demise of the mobile browser might be jumping the gun. He talked about improving performance, and giving more of the workload to a mobile device's GPU. That move alone, could save battery life. And he also referenced Google's new Mobile-friendly label on search results, helping users find a website that is optimized for the smaller mobile screen.

Is the Government Spying On You?

Are you concerned that the government is spying on you? A consortium of human rights activists claim a new app called Detekt will alert you if spies are watching.

Detekt works like an antivirus scan. Run it on your computer, and it tells you if the machine has been infected with malware that many government-sponsored hackers are known to use to spy on activists and journalists.

For example, the Ethiopian government has been hiring hacking mercenaries to crack down on bloggers. Ethopia has jailed journalists for critical reporting. Their surveillance is widespread: An American citizen in Silver Spring, Maryland with Ethiopian ties recently found this kind of spyware on his home computer, according to a federal lawsuit.
Ala'a Shehabi, a British economist in Bahrain, was among those targeted with FinFisher spyware during that country's lethal military crackdown on pro-democracy protests during the Arab Spring in 2012.

And the Chinese government is widely suspected of spying on its citizens' online activities.
Related: How the NSA can 'turn on' your phone remotely
Detekt is the work of Italian security researcher Claudio Guarnieri, Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and similar groups in England and Germany.

Android 5.0 Hidden Features

The Android 5.0 mobile OS has been released and some Android users already have it installed on their Android enabled devices, but do you know of the hidden features that came with the new OS?

please open the link below to check all the new features.

THE LINK.

Goodnews For WIndows Phone Users

Microsoft is really putting the interest of its mobile phone users into consideration, the company has come up with a major update on the Windows 8.1 mobile operation system.

Microsoft has recently updated Windows Phone 8.1 update 1 to build number 4203.306. This version

 of Microsoft's mobile OS is available to those who are signed up to receive the Windows Phone Developer Preview updates. According to a report published on Sunday, the new build will make it easier for Windows Phone 8.1 users to monitor their phone's battery life in real time, and much more.

With the new build comes an improvement to the Battery Saver tile which will become a Live Tile showing the percentage of battery life remaining until the phone goes dead. You will also be able to add Battery Saver as one of the quick action settings. In India, the highest connection speed will be listed as 4G following the update. The phone's clock will show network time by default, and problems with the Russian Time Zone have been fixed. The dialer will once again include all call details, and Windows Phone updates can be scheduled.

Earlier today, I passed along the word that the Nokia Lumia 930, Nokia Lumia 830 and the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet will be the first three models to receive the Lumia Denim update, which includes Windows Phone 8.1 update 1. The firmware update will start getting pushed out later this month, according to the latest speculation.

Goodnews For Samsung Fans

 

According to the IDC, Samsung's market share dropped sharply in Q2 2014 to 24.9%, down from 32.2% in Q2 2013. Most analysts agree that this mostly has to do with the success of Chinese manufacturers, who, until recently, weren't really that much of a factor in the global rankings.

To counter, Samsung has already made it clear that it'll be adopting a two-pronged approach. It'll start by moving things around with its low- and mid-range line-ups by positioning them at even lower price points whilst, at the same, reducing the ridiculous number of different models available (up to 30% less), and work on keeping its premium handsets unique by incorporating tech that is either hard or impossible for competitors to mimic. If you've been keeping tabs on Samsung the last few months, you'll know that advanced display solutions are something the company has been working hard on – we've seen it first with the Galaxy Round, and now, with the Galaxy Note Edge. The next step, however, is to produce smartphones with displays that fold in half.

You read that right – according to Lee Chang-hoon, the VP of Samsung Display's business strategic team, who spoke at the Samsung Investor Forum 2014 in New York, the company "will secure production capacity of 30,000 to 40,000" foldable displays per month by the end of 2015. Chang-hoon says that the current plan is to bring a consumer-ready device with a foldable screen by next Christmas, and continue ramping up the company's production capabilities well into 2016. 

Lee also says that Samsung Display is working on lowering production costs associated with the manufacturing of AMOLED displays in order to better compete with LCD solutions which are comparatively cheaper. Apparently, the hope is for the company to reach a 50:50 ratio – or half of the panels that come off the conveyor belt should go to outside accounts.

We'll have to wait and see if Samsung's plans will work out and if the behemoth company will be able to pull out of the quicksand.

Space Travel So Far

It's hard to top the tricky, first-ever landing on a comet, broadcast live on the Internet.

That's what space lovers and other curious types got on Wednesday, when the European Space Agency's probe Philae touched down on Comet 67P.

It was high drama that continued into the afternoon as questions arose about whether the probe, in fact, stuck the landing despite the fact that harpoons designed to anchor it failed to fire. Then the probe's batteries appeared to conk out.

Many in the United States bemoaned the fact that it was a European agency, not an American one, that led the mission (although NASA was part of a consortium of partners for the mission).

Actually, NASA has done something very similar. The space agency made an impromptu landing on an asteroid called Eros on February 12, 2001.

The agency's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker (NEAR-Shoemaker), the first mission to orbit an asteroid, wasn't designed to land, but when the mission ended, NASA decided to give it a try. It worked. The probe continued to send back data for several days and made its last call back to Earth on Feb. 28, 2001.

There are dozens of other exciting unmanned missions underway -- and several really cool ones that have wrapped up. Take a look at the gallery above, which highlights 11 fascinating space missions.

The New Double Blue Check on WhatsApp

Earlier this month, an update to the Android version of WhatsApp added Read Receipts. This is the feature that shows you a double blue check mark next to your sent messages, which means that the recipient of your message has read it. Of course, with the messaging app's tit-for-tat way of thinking, adding the feature also means that those sending you messages will know if you read their missive.

Not every WhatsApp member was thrilled about the Read Receipts feature, so the messaging app's website is offering an update for Android users to version 2.11.444. After the update, you will be given an option to enable or disable Read Receipts. Keep in mind that if you do disable the feature, you won't be able to get the check marks for messages that you send (tit-for-tat, remember?). Also, you cannot disable the Read Receipts feature for group messages. Once everyone in the group has read a message you sent, the blue double check marks will appear regardless if you've disabled the feature for individual messages.

The update is only available for now from the WhatsApp website, which you can visit by clicking on the sourcelink. Eventually it might be available from the Google Play Store. Additionally, those running an Android phone powered by Lollipops are reporting that heads-up notifications have been added, following the installation of the update. Lastly, profile pictures are reportedly inside circles with Android 5.0. Previous Android versions used a square for profile pictures.

Witricity - Wireless ELectricity

 

Witricity or Wireless Electricity has been envisaged many years before now but so many people have expressed fear on how safe a wireless Electricity really can be. But that fear seems to be fading has wireless Electricity is gradually becoming a reality! Have you given thought to how nice it would be to do away with those many cords in your house? please read on to get a feel of witricity - wireless Electricity.

But please be informed, this article is a bit very technical, enjoy.

 

More than a century ago, engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla proposed a global system of wireless transmission of electricity—or wireless power. But one key obstacle to realizing this ambitious vision has always been the inefficiency of transferring power over long distances.

A sample of a Witricity home in the future

Near the end of the last decade, however, a team of MIT researchers led by Professor of Physics Marin Soljacic took definitive steps toward more practical wireless charging. First, in 2007, the team wirelessly lit a 60-watt light bulb from eight feet away using two large copper coils, with similarly tuned resonant frequencies, that transferred energy from one to the other over the magnetic field. Then, in 2010, they shrunk the coils down and significantly increased the efficiency of the system, noting future applications in consumer products.
Now, this "wireless electricity" (or "WiTricity") technology—licensed through the researchers' startup, WiTricity Corp.—is coming to mobile devices, electric vehicles, and potentially a host of other applications.

Your Gadgets, Devices in the future will be powered and charged wirelessly

The aim is to forge toward a "wire-free world," says Soljacic. Primarily, this means consumers need not carry wires and power bricks. But it could also lead to benefits such as smaller batteries and less hardware—which would lower costs for manufacturers and consumers.
"It's probably a dream of any professor at MIT to help change the world for a better place," says Soljacic, a WiTricity co-founder who now serves on its board of directors. "We believe wireless charging has a potential to do that."

He is not alone. Last month, WiTricity signed a licensing agreement with Intel to integrate WiTricity technology into computing devices powered by Intel. Back in December, Toyota licensed WiTricity technology for a future line of electric cars. Several more publicized and unpublicized companies have recently joined in the licensing parade for this technology, including Thoratec for their implantable ventricular assisting devices, and TDK for wireless electric vehicle-charging systems. There's even talk of a helmet powered wirelessly via backpack, specifically for military applications.
At present, WiTricity technology charges devices at around 6 to 12 inches with roughly 95 percent efficiency—12 watts for mobile devices and up to 6.6 kilowatts for cars. But, with growing research and development, the company is increasing distance, scale, and efficiency. It's also developed repeaters: passive devices that extend the distance of the power transfer. These can be developed into a wide variety of shapes and can be embedded in a carpet to "hop" the power across a room.