ONM

2009-07-28T07:38:00.001-07:00

Sony’s latest gaming console, the multifaceted PlayStation3's another side has finally come to light, Hacker Security-Assessment.com's security consultant Nick Breese says that the PlayStation3 is really great asset for hackers. Nick Breese claims that the Sony PlayStation3's powerful Cell processors can crack passwords 300 times faster than what Intel hardware is capable of. He claimed that speed is the most decisive factor in "brute force" password cracking. To prove his claims,he implemented common ciphers and hash functions using vector computing. Nick pushed the current upper limit of 10–15 million cycles per second to 1.4 billion cycles per second in Intel based processors. Breese, who has been working on a project which he likes to call "Crackstation", for the past six months. He likes to credit his breakthrough to the use of Sony PlayStation 3 gaming consoles.

IBM, Toshiba and the insanely obvious Sony are the brains behind the creation of the PS3’s cell broadband engine technology. The team's collaboration created a Cell, a processor with one scalar processor and eight vector processors. Comparing Intel processors which are designed to do all kinds of complex calculations, with the PS3 which is good at simple calculations, Bresse said that fast calculations make the PS3 a really good cryptographic device. Breese, like everyone is hoping that his findings will force software-makers to step up their password security.

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignnone" width="475" caption="The baby faced Assasin :)"][/caption]

2009-07-28T07:37:00.001-07:00

I think you people might find it a little hard to believe, but touchscreen technology was invented in the 1960s, the time of the black and white tvs, the day long queues at the PCO, the stuttering four wheeled machines called cars, but it is really amazing to know that it was also the era of the birth of the touchscreen and almost half a century has passed before we've actually started touching things to make 'em work. SONY was probably one of the first to commercially introduce the concept of touchscreen computers in the 1980s... 83 to be a little more precise named the HP 150, technically speaking, it wasn't actually touchscreen, but used IR sensors to detect the position of any opaque object. Now everyone might start wondering how one of the most sought after gadgets of the year, the iphone actually works...!? The iphone and all touchphones coming now use a revolutionary technology called the self capacitance or the mutual capacitance technology which allows users to use more than one finger at a time to provide inputs by sending an electric impulse for every touch... which is how we actually get to use more than one finger at a time. Though a little heavy on the pocket, it definitely is worth every penny.
[caption id="attachment_29" align="alignnone" width="298" caption="Touch Technology"][/caption]What are you waiting for... Start TOUCHING :)

2009-07-28T07:36:00.001-07:00

In the computer, there’s a little pen which will let you pick the color settings of anything on your monitor screen so you can use it as your color in the comp. Ever thought of a Real Life Color Picker...!? A real life version of that – Just for the real world.

The Color Picker works by scanning any color in the real world using it's head, well... actually it's rear end, but that doesn't matter, 'cos all of us know, the tips did nothing more than letting us down while we were getting a new girlfriend's phone number :D. Color sensors inside the pen communicate with the attached RGB cartridge, which mixes the right proportions of red, green and blue when the scan button is pressed to come up with just the color that you wanted. It can then be used for... Do I really need to tell you...!?

It’s just a concept right now, but if this sucker gets it's share of research and development, I can see Parker or Paper Mate picking this up just in time for school.

2009-07-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

The time of the dvd has come to pass... with HD making its debut, even the average computer user finds the conventional dvd running out of space. This is where HD dvd and Blu Ray come into play. The former by Toshiba and Co. while the latter is by SONY Corp. Both these data storage devices use a blue purple laser to read and write discs. The Blu Ray's ridges are placed .13 micro meter apart, while HD dvds write data .20 micro meter apart which means that the Blu Ray is capable of storing more data... but... Blu Ray discs write data a mere 1mm from the disc's surface, while the HD dvd offers more protection
to data. Thanks to the close packing of the data ridges, a dual layer Blu Ray disc stores a staggering 54GB of data when compared to 30GB in HD dvd. But we find the HD dvd more competitively priced than the Blu Ray. The present condition is reminiscent of the battle between the video tape and the betamax in the 1980s. If quality is all that matters, there isn't really a comparison... Blu Ray wins the race Hands Down... But Everyone isn't a millionaire... and that's why we have every reason to believe that the HD dvd stands a very good chance.[caption id="attachment_14" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Mano a Mano...!?"][/caption]
Only time will decide who succeeds the good old dvd :)

HDTV

2009-07-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

The concept of HDtv was introduced in the USA during the 1990s. With the average man's expectations outgrowing what the cathode ray tv could offer, scientists introduced the concept of HDtv which is abbreviation for High Definition Television which boasts a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, as opposed to the normal television which telecasts images at 720 x 480 pixels. Needless to say, more pixels translate into better clarity.Trying to feed the hunger of wannabe naturalists, sportsmen, adventurists and performance freaks is motion flow technology, which claims to display images at the rate of 50Hz and 30 frames per second, which mean long range strikes on the football field will look like what they're supposed to... and not like a couple of balls strung together. Though not utilized to it's potential, the HDtv is a prodigy, a miracle waiting to happen. People have started looking towards HDtvs owing to it's aesthetic appeal, not fully realising what it is capable of delivering.But change for the better is always welcome... Ain't it...? :) [caption id="attachment_23" align="aligncenter" width="470" caption="Do we really need a comparison...!?"][/caption]

2009-07-28T07:31:00.001-07:00

One small step to turn the switch on, One giant leap for concept lighting :D

The Moon... Now, your moon is an eerily accurate curved relief of the real thing, designed to be mounted on your bedroom wall. Using a mini remote control, you can control the phases of the moon, or leave it on automatic and watch it progress through it's twelve stages, right from the Waning Crescent to the Waxing Gibbous to the New Moon. The Moon, equipped with light sensors, has been designed to automatically turn on in low light and turns itself off after 30 minutes though you can override this feature if you wish. It's powered by 4 AA batteries for the console and 2 AAAs for the remote. Also included is a CD which gives you a complete audio tour of the Moon replete with all the seas and craters - lasting 15 minutes. At 26cm x 26cm x 6 cm, it's not all that bulky. The moon is now in your hands, literally. Priced at £24.99. It is definitely not something you'll grow tired watching :)

[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Your personal satellite :)"][/caption]

2009-07-28T07:28:00.001-07:00

India is rightly known as the melting pot of all cultures, thanks to the Indian immigration laws which lets almost anyone to make India their home. In a bid to check illegal immigration, the report submitted by the high power committee constituted by the government of India has strongly recommended issuing Indian citizens, the Unique Identity Card aka Multipurpose National Identity Card. The initiative, which has initially shortlisted immigration prone regions like Karimganj (Assam), Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir), Kachchh (Gujarat), Jaisalmer (Rajasthan), Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand), West Tripura (Tripura), Murshidabad (West Bengal) and Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu), will also include other parts of the nation in the near future. Initiated in 2002, seven years later, the dream has almost become a reality. Also intended to facilitate easy verification and obviate the necessity for multiple documentary proof. It is expected that every Indian citizen will have a MNIC by 2012. Every MNIC is designed to be a smart card with 16kb of memory, said to be in line with SCOSTA (Smart Card Operating System for Transport Applications) specifications. Though people feel that privacy will be compromised if MNICs are made compulsory, privacy is a small compromise that we have to make for the greater good - National Security. India, really is Shining :)

[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="456" caption="Doing INDIA proud :)"][/caption]