A Shotgun of Technology

[tw]

Some technology events widely unrelated-

From the WSJ:

A fusionlike reaction was created by nuclear scientists using a tabletop device that bombards dissoved bubbles with sound waves, a study in Science says. Unlike the 1989's cold fusion phenomenon, rejected in the end by scientists, the work was peer-reviewed.

EEPROMs, so often the storage device for computer BIOSes, may be replaced by a new technology developed by Intel and Ovonyx Inc. Existing EEPROMs use a higher voltage to write new data in alimited number of write cycles. EEPROMs cannot store of often changing data. Ovionic Unified Memory (OUM) technology, first proposed in the 1960s, writes by heating individual alloys. The amount of cooling sets the 'programmable volume' in amorphous or pollycrystalline phases thereby creating a logical one or zero according to 1K or 10K ohm resistance. The device can be read indefinitely and has tested to over 1 trillion write cycles without failure making seminconductor R-W CDroms a future possibility - currently a problem for data storage in portable, environmentally harsh environments - such as in the hands of store employees. Also under investigation are ferromagnetic EEPROM - memory using iron although FRAMs are sold by Ramtron.

Belden has created what could become Cat6 cable. Twisted wires are held apart by what looks like a distorted I-beam meaning less signal distortion even by twisting and kinking - events that adversely change wire impedances. Twisted pair are twisted at different twist per meter rates causing less cross talk. CAT3 cable is for data rates up to 16 Mhz. CAT5 for above 100 Mhz - to be limited at 250 Mhz. CAT6 makes Gigabit Ethernet possible as defined by TIA 568-B which also defines how your network cable attaches to its connector.

Sanyo has developed a detergent-less washing machine that uses ultrasound and electrolysis in water. Ultrasound created by air bubbles knocks dirt out of clothes. Electrolysis breaks down water into ozone and hypochorous acid from chorine in tap water. Of course detergent companies are already 'proving' the technology defective. It does have a weakness. The machine must adjust to different water conditions and is not effective on more subborn stains such as barbaque sauce.

Need a charger for your laptop, cell phone, etc while on a trip? ChargeSource Universal AC adaptor can attach to any rechargeable device and adjust electrical parameters as required. One 250 gram recharger replaces many 300 and 400 gram rechargers.
http://www.targus.com/accessories_power.asp


One industry that was boosted by 11 Sept was free space optics. A 20 gigabit per second network was quickly established between NYC and new offices in Hoboken. One concept that has alluded me is quantum key distribution - where two computers share a quantum encrytption key. It requires a dedicated, direct interconnection not always possible with hardwired networks. One problem is reliability. Free space optics suffer from 99.999% reliability due to weather or a flock of birds. 10 km quantum encryption has been successfully demonstrated. Have yet to read a good description of Quantum Encryption.

Entropy is a concept fundamental to Shannon's laws of data capacity. Those equations define, for example, the theoretical limits of a 56K modem (which runs more often at its reality data rate of...). The phrase "The Cat in the Hat", in theory, could be compressed to "abeh". "abeh" has greater entropy. But to make sense of it, one would require the compression algorithm. This is made more complex when the same phrase reads "El gato en sombarro". Clearly the same thought in a different language would not compress to same text. However Dr Caglioti in Physical Review Letters developed a program that can categorize high entropy documents by language and authorship using text as small as 20 characters.

To test his program, he chose a document that (according the Guiness Book of Records) is the more translated in the world. Not the bible. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Using 52 languages, the program identified family trees of all languages grouping, for example, Romance, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic into one group AND identifying unique Basque and Maltese into separate groups. It was also able to identify the author with 90% accuracy after having 'read' 89 texts from famous Italian writers. DNA matching? I would love to better understand this.

Schizophrenia is a disease most commonly found in colder environments and in cities. Research at Griffith University in Brisbane suggests that schizophrenia may be traceable to a vitamin D deficiency in mothers - more common in children of mothers who fail to obtain at least a few minutes of sun every day.

In 10 developing nations, a trend has developed that was previously believed to be a 1st world phenomena. Malnutrition and obesity co-exist even within same families. This phenomena is believed to exist in 10% of third world families. It is understandable. Take the carrot which is high in Vitamin A. Eat a large carrot and receive high nutrition - 100% of the required Vitamin A. Each a second carrot and get fat. Since the first carrot provided all necessary nutrition, the second carrot only provides junk food - excessive sugar. This is the problem with obesity. People falsely think they are hungry because the body required food. False. People are hungry because their body required and did not receive nutrition. Eat the wrong things, and the body is hungry again. Obesity and malnutrition often coexist from the same problem. Even in the developing world, where food is becoming more available, obesity is found in malnourished people.

How obese? The CNN now says that 80% of American adult men are overweight. They provide a Body Mass Indicator (BMI) calculator at:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/03/05...oll/index.html
25 is normal. 30 is overweight. The NY Times now says that 35% of adult are obese. I observe same. At over twice their age, I output more energy than volunteers I work with in a public service project. Most cannot even carry a single sheet of plywood alone. I vary between 24 and 26 on that calculator and use what I learned from wrestling to eat. MacDonalds - all crap. It once was not that bad. Burger King - the high fat leaves me dragging during the day. Superior is Wendy's, for example. Subway - excellent. I get hungry from two Quarter Pounder meals quickly. One 12 inch sub from Subways means no hunger for the day.

How to get fat? Diet Soda. Starving to lose weight. They don't work. One becomes obese because they eat the wrong things, then quickly get hungry again, and eat more wrong things.

Subway is my choice food. I would eat it every day if I could, and there have been many 5-day stretches where I have. You're right - a 12" sub and you're good to go for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, Jenni doesn't have much variety there - she's a vegetarian, and there are exactly 2 subs that don't have meat. So she tends to get tired of it rather quickly (which is a bummer, 'cause Subway is right near our house). But man, I just <b>wish</b> I could eat Subway every day. Good food. Good for you.

[elSicomoro]

I used to be a huge Subway whore. It was 2 blocks away from my old job in Bethesda. Now, there are only two within 10 miles or so of me, and both of them are poor on quality IMO.

It IS good stuff though...of course, don't load up on cheese, mayo, or oil/vinegar.

Bad food will make you fat and kill you, but I think the one thing that really (literally) kills people is sheer lack of exercise.

[matt]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
a 12" sub and you're good to go for the rest of the day.

Maybe I'm just a fat fuck, but that doesn't even come close to filling me up.

I should train for the next Glutton Bowl on FOX!

Ha. Man, I dunno. I just find them pretty filling. Pretty good. Very gooooood.

We have 2 Subways within probably 7 minutes, but the one right up on the corner (by the Fairfax Circle) is awesome. Best Subway ever. So we just go there instead Man it's tasty. I never leave there disappointed.

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by mmesker

Maybe I'm just a fat fuck, but that doesn't even come close to filling me up.

I should train for the next Glutton Bowl on FOX!

Or for the Wing Bowl here in Philadelphia. You could challenge El Toreador.

[tw]

Why is it when Nathan's sponsors their annual "Eat all you can" Hotdog contest, it is always won by the little Japanese guy? Now there's a technological mystery.

[elSicomoro]

I finally had Subway for dinner last night...probably the first time in 6 months. And I could almost understand the girl that took my order. It was pretty good stuff.

[verbatim]

I dunno, i like Subway, but I like Jersey Mike's better. Their subs are messier, and more tastey. There's just something so good about them.....

[elSicomoro]

I went to the other Subway in my area tonight. They have an after 5pm special--2 footlong subs for $7. So, I bought one for tonight and one for lunch tomorrow.

For some reason, my appetite has been really strange lately. For the last week, I have eaten nothing but sandwiches. 2 weeks ago, it was almost nothing but pizza. It's like, right now, nothing else will satisfy my hunger but a sandwich. Weird...

[Nic Name]

This thread is making me thirsty!

The first post in this thread is off-topic.

[jaguar]

how the hell can you have an offtopic *thread*!? :whofarted

[Nic Name]

Original post by tw

A Shotgun of Technology
Some technology events widely unrelated -

Jag, I was just making an observation that the first post seems to infer a discussion of technology ... and every other post follows the incidental comment about food. Granted tw did mention food at the end of his first post ... and the conversation followed that comment.

I'm not complaining. (just observing) We've often seen threads go off-topic. I just thought it particularly unusual this time that a thread was wholly on-topic of Subway and other fast food, yet unrelated to the main theme of the original post, the title of which indicated a Technology discussion.

Everytime I come back to this thread in the Technology section, thinking technology, I am surprised that this is a thread that, except for the first post ... is consistent to a topic unrelated to the lead topic of the thread.

UT has observed before that I crave order perhaps more than most, and that's a fair observation. I'm not advocating order in this thread ... just observing the curiosity that it is very consistently on a topic (food), though not on the topic that might have been anticipated by the original post called A Shotgun of Technology.

In a humourous way, I was wondering whether that made the first post retroactively "off-topic" ... so my observation was intended as a light joke.

[jaguar]

Nic Name, our local thread nazi ;:p
I meant my comment in jest too - argh now this thread is *entirely* offtopic...noooooooo