The Four-eyed Journal » Technology

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Now Available

jhay — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:09:43 +0000

Excited for Windows 8? Or you’re still content with Windows 7? Either way, the wait for getting a demo/preview version of the next operating system from Microsoft is now over as the the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is now available for public download.

Just bear in mind of the system specifications required to run Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch
To access Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768

The specifications are the same needed to run Windows 7, so if you’re running it right now, you’d have a smooth time installing and running Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Download Windows 8 64-bit here (3.3GB).

Download Windows 8 32-bit here (2.5GB).

Windows 8 Product Key: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J

You check out more information here on Windows 8 Consumer Preview download page here as well as versions available in other languages.

So, would you give Windows 8 a spin? To be honest, I’m a bit curious myself, though I’d still need a touch-capable PC or tablet device in order to fully appreciate its capabilities.

Have fun and enjoy!

Infographic: Where are the world’s nuclear weapons?

jhay — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:32:41 +0000

We’re all too familiar with how powerful nuclear weapons are and how an all-out nuclear war could wipe out the human race with just a few clicks of a button once the command has been given by the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations.

This doomsday scenario was best depicted by the movie The Sum of All Fears which starred Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck about how terrorists tricked the United States and Russia into thinking that the former was attacked by the other using a nuclear bomb which almost started World War III.

The movie featured secret locations and bunkers where the missiles carrying nuclear warheads were located but most of us don’t really know where those sites are actually located.

Don’t worry anymore, the team from Mozy has put together a cool infographic giving a quick summary of how many nuclear weapons are active and where they are in the world:

Via: Mozy

Cool yet it has chilling effect doesn’t it? Despite losing its status as a world military superpower, Russia is still a force to reckon with as it remains to be the country with the most number of nuclear weapons – 13000 which is way more than what the United States has which is 9400.

Even though nuclear weapons are banned in the Philippines, it could be a little consolation knowing that nuclear missiles can be launched from thousands of miles away and still hit their intended targets with great accuracy. Let’s just hope that the day will never come when nuclear weapons would not need to be used.

My favorite/top tech brands

jhay — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:32:06 +0000

There’s an on-going poll over at Yugatech.com asking for which brands are the faves of us consumers.

Over the years of craving and owning gadgets and using services, here’s a short list of the brands I consider my preferred, not actually favorites though, choice.

Cellphones: Sony Ericsson and LG

Personal Computing: Intel, NVidia, HP/Compaq

Telecoms: Globe (both mobile and landline)

Companies & Websites: Google & Amazon

Most frequently used but in no particular order: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Automattic (WordPress), Tumblr and Springpadit

What’s your preferred/trusted/favorite brands? Blog/Tweet/Comment about them below or at Yugatech

Biological Lasers – first step towards Cyclops?

jhay — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:02:06 +0000

It’s not science-fiction anymore, it’s a fact. Scientists have found a way to make lasers out of living cells. Kidney cells, of all candidates, have been utilized to prove that a biological laser is feasible.

Two physicists Malte Gather and Seok Hyun Yun were behind this project, they explained that:

Almost any organism, from bacteria to higher mammalians, can be programmed to synthesize such luminescent proteins, so we wondered if GFP could be used to amplify light and build biological lasers.

And that’s exactly what they did. They took human embryonic kidney cells and reprogrammed them with an enhanced version of the GFP gene. The cells where then sandwiched between highly reflective mirrors and a blue light were pulsed through the chamber.

The cells absorbed and re-emitted a green light enough to be used as a laser by amplifying it with mirrors. Unlike regular lasers that wear out with use, the new biological laser is able to “self-heal” and go on.

One of the practical uses this new technology offers is its potential to help reveal biological processes within the cell as the light emitted contained information about the insides of the cell as Gather told MSNBC.

The biological laser could also lead to new treatment for cancer patients, using light to activate drugs that attack cancer cells. Don’t you just love science? So this means that a human eye capable of projecting a laser blast can now be engineered and implanted on a human? (ehem X-Men!)

Read more about this new biological laser through the paper published online by Nature.

US Navy fries boat with Laser Cannon

jhay — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:18:40 +0000

First it was a working prototype of a rail gun, now the the US Navy has just successfully tested a laser weapon mounted on a warship and with it, they managed to fry a smaller boat’s engine.

The laser weapon was on the USS Paul Foster, produced a 15-kilowatt pulse from a solid-state high-energy laser (HEL) and despite the challenging conditions in the Pacific ocean, they crippled the target boat by setting its engine on fire. Check out the video below:

It may looked like the engine caught fire from some internal damage but it was really caused by a laser pulse, invisible to the human eye, fired from the USS Paul Foster. Which is even scarier as if you happen to be on the target vessel, you wouldn’t know you were being fired upon until your engine blows up or you yourself are suddenly fried.

Tomahawk cruise missiles and other smart bombs are cool, but lasers capable of melting your face off or blowing a hole through your ship, that’s just awesome! And the US Navy wouldn’t stop there, they are currently working on more powerful laser weapons in the megawatt range.

Gunpowder is medieval, lasers weapons and rail guns are just a few decades away. And I’m pretty sure force fields would be next.

Via PCMag.com

US Navy rail gun jet launcher (0)