Starbucks is for coffee, not computers...

In a recent news story on CNN, I was informed that open wireless networks located in coffee shops and airports are becoming extremely dangerous.  Hackers have now created easy to use software that can be downloaded by anyone and used to view any webpages you open up while you are connected.  For instance, if you are looking through your private emails or entering your personal information on a website, someone sitting on the other side of the coffee shop can be viewing everything just as if he were looking over your shoulder.  This process is called "sidejacking" and has become increasingly popular in the past few months.  If this isn't scary enough, every week the software becomes more user-friendly and therefore more likely that anybody who wants to be nosy, can be.  Apparently there is some good news...  Most of the important webpages are secured logins (HTTPS), and are encrypted.  They cannot be viewed, however any pages following that secured login page will be accessible to anyone that is connected to the same network and wants to intrude.  If you like to use the internet away from home or work often, I recommend that you invest in a wireless internet card through Sprint or Verizon so that you can have your own internet connection and do not have to worry about intruders looking at your private information everywhere you go.

New Technology: Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel- Lucent, a French telecommunications equipment company, has unveiled a new device that could drastically simplify the infrastructure of mobile networks. The lightRadio system incorporates cell base and cell tower technologies into a device so small that it could fit on the side of mailbox, while reducing cost and energy consumption.

Developed by Bell Laboratories, the research sect of Alcatel- Lucent, lightRadio is comprised of a diplexer type, radio, amplifier and a passive cooling system. Additionally, they have created a Wideband Active Array Antenna that can service 2G, 3G, and LTE systems, eliminating the need for separate antennas for each network. lightRadio is set to replace the power-hungry cell towers that are deployed every time a wireless operator needs more capacity or coverage. Bell Laboratories reported that energy consumption and total cost of ownership for mobile networks will decrease by 50% with the implementation. This will cut the roughly 18,000,000 metric tons of CO₂ emitted each year by basestations in half.

Alcatel-Lucent is in advanced planning with Verizon Wireless, China Mobile, and other wireless carriers to begin customer testing in the second half 2011. According to the CEO, this technology will eventually enable the easy creation of broadband coverage virtually anywhere there is power. In today’s world where the use of iPhone, Droids, and PC tablets are growing ever more rapidly, the lightRadio breakthrough in technology could not have come a better time.

New Technlogy: Pixle Optics

The technology used in glasses has remained virtually the same for the past fifty years, but PixelOptics is making the first progressive leap forward with a new pair of electronic bifocals.  Founded by Ronald Plum in 2005, PixelOptics has developed emPower, a pair of glasses that automatically switch between normal and reading views by a simple tilt of the head.

Bifocals, generally prescribed to those with near and far sightedness, can cause severe dizziness and nausea. Inspired by this issue, Plum began developing the technology used in emPower twelve years ago and has obtained almost three hundred patents protecting his design. The lenses are made of two glass substrates, filled with liquid crystals, allowing an effortless and soundless transition between prescriptions. If the user does not want the device to automatically change, it can manually switch views my touching the frame of glasses. The emPower glasses can be charged at night, and will have a full battery that lasts two to three days by the morning.

According to the Vision Council of America, about seventy-five percent of Americans have some form of vision impairment. PixilOptic’s new technology is opening the door to many new solutions and improvements in the optics industry. At a pricetag of $1000, the glasses are scheduled to become commercially available in the U.S. by April. 

Pelican Imaging

Pelican Imaging Corporation, a California based technology start-up, is looking to revolutionize the mobile imaging industry. Founders, Aman Jabbi and Katrik Vebkataraman, have raised 17 million dollars since starting 2008 to make a mobile device camera that can refocus after a picture is taken, has gesture control, and 3-D depth.

Traditionally camera manufactures have believed the more pixels the better the resolution. Pelican has developed a new way to get better resolution cameras with out sacrificing the sleek, slim look mobile devices have today. Its new array camera is composed of 25 micro-cameras that together will form a single image. Since the picture will be taken 25 slightly different ways it allows for the user to manipulate the picture after it has been taken. Along with the new camera, they have developed a new patented software that takes the raw data and processes it instantly, which Jabi says is the key to their mobile technology. The user could sharpen the foreground in a picture, and blur the background almost instantly.

Pelican Imaging is in the final stages of finishing the prototype and will begin selling its patented technology to phone makers in the near future. With its new light sensitivity and sophisticated software, it will allow users to do things they have never been able to before.

Treepods

SHIFTboston is new organization looking to make an impact on Boston’s environment, businesses, and infrastructures. In a recent collaboration with Influx studios, SHIFTboston is trying to implement a new initiative called Treepods that will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

            Based on technology developed by Dr. Klaus Lackner from Columbia University, Treepods resemble trees both physically and mechanically. They are umbrella shaped in order to hold multiple solar-tracking photovoltaic cells that create energy to power the air cleaning system.  The branches contain an alkaline resin that reacts with air holding carbon dioxide. When this carbon dioxide mixture then touches the water, it releases the carbon dioxide for storage. The design of the trees was based off of the Dragon Blood tree, and they are made from common recycled plastics. The designers want to create a community of Treepods that form an urban canopy. This network would eventually be placed through out Boston.

            Not only would the Treepods reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and provide shade for the people, it would also encourage people to learn more about the environment as well as the new notion of going green.  

Tour Engine

With everyone trying to develop the most energy efficient cars, Tour Engines, Inc. has come up with a revolutionary new engine model that actually splits the engine in half to boost efficiency. Founded in 2006, the San Diego based company is working with universities and subcontractors from the top-engineering firms to develop the final round of prototypes.

            The traditional engine has four strokes, two of which work best when cylinder is cold and the other two work best when cylinder is hot. The radiator is continually working to heat one cylinder and cool the other, causing a great waste in energy.  Tour Engine’s prototype separates the engine into hot section and a cold section, dramatically reducing the energy that is lost.  By making the cylinder smaller as well, the Tour engine cuts down on the amount of fuel-air mixture that is lost as exhaust. A conventional engine wastes forty percent of energy during cooling and another thirty percent due to exhaust. In reality, only thirty percent of the fuel used to fill up a tank is converted into actual work. With gas prices rising as well as the shortening supply of fuel, the Tour engine could be a temporary solution to a long-term problem.

            Engineers at Tour Engine the new prototype can boost engine efficiency by twenty percent immediately, and hopefully by fifty percent in the near future. 

The Humanity Project: Concept

Exhibit narrative:

The Humanity Project exhibit serves to inform, evoke, and inspire the user on the topic of human rights. The design of the space as well as information given are used together to employ an authentic and raw experience for all visitors no matter what age, sex, or nationality. Many elements used in the exhibit address the human experience and its response to historical, current, and future cruelty upon our own human race.

I employ light, shadow and color to create a perceptual shift from the direct conscious viewing to a subtle, unconscious experience. Neutral shades of black, white and gray strengthen the viewer’s perceptual experience while red is used to connect the past with present. The environment created appears simple, and sometimes fragile. The transparent materials and still images used represent a brief existence, a memory, or recalled emotion that still remains.

The main conflict that is portrayed within the space is the struggle to obtain, protect,and respect human rights. The space portrays terrifying historical truths that can never be erased as well as the current genocide that is still occurring today in Sudan. Information and knowledge must be given to everyone on this topic in order to help and empower others as well as ourselves.