Rocket Man
Posted 15th May 2008 at 9:06pm by M1ke, tagged as News | Commenting Closed
Some people go fishing on their day off. Yves Rossy likes to jump out of a small plane with a pair of jet-powered wings on his back and loop the loop above the Swiss Alps.
Rocket man flies over Alps with jet-pack strapped to his back | News | This is London
One of the reasons I love skydiving so much is that it has always been my dream to be able to fly, myself, not just in an aircraft. Whilst skydiving is to flying as a water slide is to a sailing boat, the height and the amazing window on the world is there - it just doesn't last long and takes a lot of effort to get there. This man, however, has really flown - using jets strapped to wings he was able to climb as well as fall, reaching fast horizontal speeds as well as controlling his height. He was also apparently able to land the creation.
He intends to do a crossing of the English channel and then fly the grand canyon - the latter task will require him to increase significantly the manoeuvrability of his wings. If it was me I'd be working on a way to take off from the ground - as yet he still needs to be dropped from a plane to begin his flight. They say it isn't commercially viable yet - but developments like this can easily effect new thinking in the technology business. If no one else does it first, I want in on this!
We Will Remember Them
Posted 18th March 2008 at 12:38am by M1ke, tagged as News | Commenting Closed
France has given full military honours to its last World War I veteran, Lazare Ponticelli, who died on Wednesday at the age of 110.It's surprising to think that out of an entire country there is no one left alive who fought in a conflict that to this day has shaped the world.
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | France honours last WWI veteran
I found out about this from the Flickr group Remembrance Day, Veterans Day & War Memorials. Check out the group - I have a few photos in there and it is warming to see the level of commitment of so many towns and villages to commemorating the sacrifices made by ordinary people in wars that weren't their issue.
Forget Manchester, How About Wireless Power
Posted 8th December 2006 at 9:21pm by M1ke, tagged as News | Commenting Closed
The tangle of cables and plugs needed to recharge today's electronic gadgets could soon be a thing of the past.
Well it seems that wireless is going crazier than ever. One limitation that all devices have is that of power. Mobile devices rely increasingly on batteries, but apart from a few innovative watches most require charging once in a while, and many items that could otherwise be fully wireless require power because batteries wouldn't be good enough.
The idea of wireless power was most experimented on by Nikola Tesla in the late 19th century with Tesla coils, which can discharge large amounts of electricity through air. Unfortunately they were never precise, efficient or indeed safe enough for use in a real world situation, though they have gained popularity in fiction as well as amongst engineering enthusiasts with low regard for personal safety.
The new method uses resonance in the materials to transmit the power, in much the same way as a note played on one instruments can cause others to sound a similar note (a good example would be a wind instrument played near, but not touching, a tuned drum). The same phenomenon has been mathematically proven on simulations to transfer power to devices such as laptops or MP3 players, but it is suggested that were it to be developed then areas of factories could be powered wirelessly, increasing productivity by removing a limitation in construction and an extra cost in laying cables.
Interestingly the wireless power system has appeared within the last few years - though on a rather suspicious date. Unfortunately it seems to be no longer in production.
- Link to BBC Technology, Wireless Power
A Funny Serious Article
Posted 8th December 2006 at 3:45pm by M1ke, tagged as News | Commenting Closed
A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.
Yes, it's a serious BBC article about what is still a serious issue, what with the spread of AIDs and things of that ilk. But imagine the embarrassment of having to walk into a chemists and ask for 'extra small'...
- Link to BBC, Indian Condoms
Wireless Manchester
Posted 8th December 2006 at 12:00pm by M1ke, tagged as News | Commenting Closed
Manchester could become the biggest free wireless internet hotspot in Europe under plans unveiled by the city council.
San Francisco became the first large city to announce municipal Wi-Fi earlier this year, and now it's coming to the North West. With growing problems in cable based systems due to ageing infrastructure, and increased desire to have high speed access to the internet anywhere the initiative makes sense, though as yet no details of exactly how they'll create the hotpsot have been released. It is likely that it will be standard Wi-Fi, as the new Wimax technology that was touted a few months ago probably won't come into commercial use for a few years yet. An interesting question would be exactly how many transmitters will be required considering the current Wi-Fi range - it would seem silly if they had to lay tons of cables to give wireless access.
Along with BTs new fibre optic system in south Wales it seems that Britain's communications technology is finally stepping up to the mark set by the US and the Far East.
- Link to BBC, Manchester Wi-Fi