System

It used to be that powerful microscopes were reserved for laboratories, but magnification levels that were once possible only with professional equipment are increasingly available to the masses thanks to advances in digital technologies. Some gadgets are finding a natural home on the science toy market for kids, complete with night-vision features.

But the most certain way to tell if a product category has attrained common-denominator status is when it reaches the prolific mass manufacturers of Asia. To wit: Korean company 3R Systems has unveiled the "ViTiny," a pocket-sized digital microscope.

Measuring 4.7 by 2.2 inches … Read more

Cisco Systems is expanding its video expertise with yet another acquisition.

The maker of networking gear said Tuesday that it plans to buy Denmark-based DiviTech, marking its 128th acquisition.

DiviTech has developed software that allows media broadcasters, as well as cable and Internet Protocol television service providers to provision local programming and content, such as regional news and on-demand video service, for specific geographic areas.

Cisco said in a statement that it plans to integrate the DiviTech technology into its existing product line, which includes products gained from the Scientific-Atlanta, Arroyo Video Solutions, and Tivella acquisitions.

Financial details of the … Read more

Six technology heavyweights came together Monday to announce an alliance to jointly license patents for the broadband wireless technology WiMax.

The group, which calls itself the Open Patent Alliance, includes Intel, Cisco Systems, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, and Alcatel-Lucent. The intent of the group is to gather rights to WiMax patents and license them to makers of consumer electronics devices, networking equipment, and computers.

During a Webcast Monday, executives from each of the six companies emphasized the openness of the alliance that was being created. And the companies said they hoped other companies would join the group.

"As … Read more

"It's a periscope," Poggenpohl's showroom manager Oliver tells me as I stare at the futuristic-looking device installed on one of Poggenpohl's sleek steel countertops.

At first I believe Oliver, who provided my tour of the luxury kitchen-maker's San Francisco design studios yesterday, because he is rather poker-faced.

Then again, I can be gullible.

I look again and realize that the submarine-style thing might have something to do with the in-counter steamer next to it. The steamer, made by Gaggenau, one of two appliance makers Poggenpohl usually works with, (the other is Miele), looks normal … Read more

For whatever reason, the last time I booted my Vista laptop the network icon was missing from its usual spot next to the clock in the system tray.

I right-clicked the Start button, chose Properties, and clicked the Notification Area tab to recheck this option under "System icons," but it was grayed out.

I found the solution on Colin Cochrane's blog. Here are the steps in a nutshell:

Back up the Registry by creating a restore point. Press the Windows key, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to and select HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\… Read more

For components of the Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems program, two key rites of passage are field trials at a military base in the West and a field trip back East to Capitol Hill.

Next week, the Army will bring prototype 1 of the Non Line of Sight Cannon, or NLOS-C, to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., just in front of the Capitol, for its public debut. The NLOS-C is one of eight different manned vehicles in the still evolving FCS plan. All of them will share a common (if not identical) chassis.

The FCS vehicles … Read more

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are using low-cost titanium powders to develop lightweight, corrosion-resistant, bulletproof alloys for military vehicles and what they hope to be other military and commercial applications.

The latest project is a titanium door for the next-generation Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which is meant to replace the Humvee and other front-line conveyances.

"By using a titanium alloy for the door, BAE Systems was able to reduce the weight of its vehicle yet at the same time decrease the threat of armor-piercing rounds," said Bill Peter, a researcher in ORNL's Materials Science and … Read more

I stumbled across this news from Openbravo this morning, and thought it indicative of the type of contribution typical to commercial open-source projects. Egyptian accounting for Openbravo's open-source ERP platform. No way that a proprietary software company is going to write that, not until every other aspect of the product is already complete.

For organic open-source communities, bug fixes, code contributions, etc. can be expected, though not to the levels commonly expected. It turns out that all (or nearly all) communities are small, even for projects like Linux and Apache. Some, like Drupal, break this mold, but they are the exception, not the rule.

For most projects, including commercial open-source projects, localization and some bug reporting constitute the primary contributions from the community.… Read more

One of Power Downloader's big concerns is that the average user lets his computer get away with too much. How many of us, Power D asks, truly know exactly which programs and processes are active at all times? There are several programs that can help you answer that question, and one of Power Downloader's favorites is What's Running.

What's Running is similar to Windows Task Manager, except far more informative and useful. The cramped multipane interface can be hard to read, but even it has its good points: it lists processes in a parent-child hierarchy--incidentally, not … Read more