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Transforming PC Tower Gives New Meaning to Robot in Disguise

The 2015 Computex Taipei conference is the largest IT trade show in Asia. According to Yahoo News, “the Taiwanese event is one of the key dates in the calendar for major announcements on the latest chip technology for PCs and mobile platforms, pointing to what we can expect in the year ahead for desktops, laptop hybrids, tablets, mobiles and even wearables.”

One of the more impressive products at the trade show is a transformed PC tower with the capability of showing off the inner workings of the machine. There is very little information released about this machine. At the moment, ASUS has partnered with In Win, a company that designs computer cases, towers, servers and power supplies for computers. This means that in the near future, a product of this magnitude will be on the market for mass consumption. However, the date and more details are yet to be released.

Here is a clip of the ASUS Tower in action:

Source: YouTube

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Oculus Seeks to Make Virtual Reality a Social Experience

Oculus wants to expand into 3-D animation and 3-D filmmaking as it continues to push the boundaries of virtual reality.

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According to Engadget.com writer Edgar Alvarez, “Oculus Story Studio, arguably the Pixar of virtual reality, this is the first step in making the medium more social. And it’s using its short film Lost, introduced earlier this year at Sundance, as a test bed. Still, whether we’re talking about a cute movie or a fun game, most VR activities so far have one thing in common: They’re solitary experiences. Oculus wants to change that.”

Blerds reported that the Oculus Rift headset will hit store shelves for virtual reality enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy in 2016.

Oculus’ goal is to make story-telling and virtual reality as interactive as possible. The Lost short film allows people to be characters in the film. Two people wearing Oculus Rifts can be the fireflies in the film that interact with the story world and the other characters.

The end game is to convince filmmakers to make works that are flexible enough to have audience members interact in the story as actual characters.

“We think the future of VR in cinema is social, that you’re with your friends. You’re not in the same room, maybe; maybe you’re all going in together at the same time, and that’s where the lines between cinema and an MMO (massive multiplayer online) start to blur,” states Story Studio producer Edward Saatchi.

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Six-Part Web Series Illuminates Race and Gender Boundaries in Silicon Valley

Blavity is a San Francisco-based tech startup founded by Morgan DeBaun in 2014. The site is an interactive and thriving social engine that focuses on the lives, stories and shared experiences of Black millennials in the United States. However, the site is just the tip of the iceberg. It features listicles, curated videos and articles about Black current events and history in addition to providing resources for Blerds in tech.

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However, there is much more.The startup created the Blavity House for women of color to stay at during the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. This house is for women interested in tech, brainstorming ideas and networking to change the very homogeneous industry that is technology. For more info on that, check out their site.

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Their most current project is a web series that shines a light on the inner workings of Silicon Valley from the perspective of women working there.

According to Elon Evora for Blavity.com, “the six-part web series, premiering this Thursday, June 4, features entrepreneurial women who hold positions at Google, Facebook and a variety of emerging startups. The series delves into the unique experiences of professionals who range in age, background, career and workplace. Despite differences, each of their stories has one commonality, they are all black women working in Silicon Valley where they are a part of a scarce minority.”

For those who are interested, here is a trailer for your viewing pleasure:

Source: YouTube

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iPhone Text Message Bug Can Crash Apple Products

As Apple products continue to dominate the tech consumer market, many users are discovering bugs and issues with their iOS operating systems.

If users send a text message via their new iPhone containing a certain string of non-Latin characters, the phone will reboot itself and eventually come to a stop. This bug can affect Apple Watches, iPads, and Macs from working.

According to writer Samuel Gibbs for The Guardian,  “the crash is caused by a bug within a core system common to all of Apple’s devices that handle text. When presented with non-Latin characters in a specific sequence – including those from Arabic, Chinese and Marathi – the CoreText system chokes, causing it to fail and bring the entire operating system to a halt.”

The text is not easily duplicated and takes knowledge of what characters can trigger the products’ response. This text message bug was discover by redditors at the subreddit “explain like i’m five”.

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Mathew Hickey, principal security consultant at MDSec, told Forbes that “as the issue also affects OS X applications, a malicious party could set the triggering text as a server message of the day or welcome message, causing a user’s terminal to crash when authenticating to network services.”

This looks like one more bug that Apple has to fix. The problem may be addressed in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

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Hackathon Hopes to Keep Money in Black Communities

On May 30, the organization Deep Lab will host a hacking event to figure out how to keep money circulating in Black communities for a longer period of time.

According to the group, “on NYC’s Upper East Side, a dollar circulates for an average of 17 days inside the community. Jog 20 blocks north to Harlem, and spend a dollar there; it only circulates in the community for 6 hours.”

Deep Lab is an organization of cyber-feminists featuring researchers who explore privacy, security, surveillance, anonymity and large-scale data aggregation within the arts, culture and society.

The event will feature digital security trainer for Freedom of the Press Foundation and Deep Lab Harlo Holmes, Calena Jamieson, Mutale Nkonde and Sacha Thompson.

“Online retail gives a chance to keep more money in the hands of the Black community,” Holmes said.

“Once this money starts circulating, we can use it to stimulate employment, build institutions and increase the tax base of traditionally underserved communities,” Holmes explains in an interview with Mutale Nkonde for The Brooklyn Reader.

The goal of the event is to create solutions for poverty, inform attendees about managing finances and creating wealth and finally creating a sense of autonomy and power in the vain of Black Wall Street in the early 1920s.

The event is currently sold out, but there is a strong chance that the event could return. For more information, check out Deep Lab.

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Scientists Reveal Nanocell That Mimics Human Memory

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have developed nanocell technology that could restore the memories of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients. Professor of electrical and computer engineering Dmitri Strukov, lead researcher Mirko Prezioso, research assistant Farnood Merrikh-Bayat and researcher Gina Adam make up the research team.

The nano memory cell is estimated to be 10,000 times thinner than the width of a person’s hair strand. At this point of its development, the cell has the capability to store and process data simultaneously like a real brain cell. There are 100 different synapses that also are able to  perform image classification. In the near future, the cell will be expanded to act like the human brain.

According to writer Ellie Zolfagharifard for Dailymail.com, “in the latest demonstration, the circuit with artificial neural network was able to successfully classify three letters; ‘z’, ‘v’ and ‘n’. It analyzed the letter by their images, each letter stylized in different ways or saturated with ‘noise’ in a process similar to how we humans pick our friends out from a crowd.”

The cell is comprised of memristors that act like neurons and transmit electricity. These memristors were created in the 1970s by circuit theorist Leon Chua, and memristors are still vital to this type of research and innovation.

Writer Emma Tiller for the New Hampshire Voice believes “ethical issues involved in experimenting on the brain could be minimized by replicating a brain outside the body.”

The fascinating thing about this research is that millions of people can live a healthier and happier existence. Only time will tell if technology like this is feasible on a large scale.

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Military Tech and a 19th Century Engine Could Revolutionize Solar Energy

A new way solar energy will be harnessed could change how people worldwide get their electricity.

“In the remote Northern Cape province, huge mirrors reflect the sun across the brown Kalahari sand. This is the test site for Swedish company Ripasso, which is using the intense South African sun and local manufacturing know-how to develop their cutting-edge kit,” explains Jeffrey Barbee for The Guardian.

Work on the project began in 2011. The South African team is led by Jean-Pierre Fourie who has overseen the project in the extreme desert temperatures for four years.

The system works by taking sunlight that is directly hitting the satellite-dish-like apparatus and converting it into electricity. The 100-square-mile apparatus has solar panels that do the work. While most other solar energy generators with photovoltaic panels only get 23 percent to 25 percent of the sunlight, this machine gets 35 percent.

All of the sunlight is focused into one hot point that then turns the energy into electricity to power a 19th century engine created by Swedish inventor the Rev. Robert Stirling. The engine was created for steam-powered boats. Ripasso has been using updated models of the engine for submarines.

“The technology looks good to me. I’ve seen it working, and I believe it meets the efficiency goals. The technology is proven with years of performance in the navy,”  according to Paul Gauche, director of the Solar Thermal Energy Research Group at the University of Stellenbosch.

The problem with new tech is that it is very difficult to get funding from financial institutions. Ripasso will have to learn to adapt in order to continue this project.

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Google’s Self-Driving Cars Are Coming to Consumers in 2020

Google’s self-driving cars are just a few of the “top secret” projects the mega company has been working on in the past decade. The first working prototype hits the roads this summer to show the world Google’s commitment to the project.

According to The Associated Press, “This prototype is the first vehicle built from scratch for the purpose of self-driving, Google says. It looks like a Smart car with a shiny black bowler hat to hide its sensors, and it can drive, brake and recognize road hazards without human intervention. It has more capabilities than the prototype Google introduced last May, which was so rudimentary it had fake headlights.”

The prototype has been involved in 11 accidents. Though these incidents have been minor, there is clearly more work to be done.

The news of the prototype began Wednesday when Google showed it to the public during a demonstration on its campus in Mountain View, California.

“With 360 degrees of awareness, the self-driving cars are gaining new insights into dangerous driving behaviors, including drifting lanes and red light running,” reports ABC News digital reporter Alyssa Newcomb.

The fascinating aspect to the project is that 20 self-driving cars has gathered an estimated 100,000 miles driving in urban areas.

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Liquid Processor Cooling Innovation May Save Consumers Billions

University of Alabama in Huntsville researchers have developed a new cooling apparatus that could bring many changes.

Dr. James E. Smith Jr., Cuong Nguyen and Xiaolin Wang have invented a way to cool down processors without electricity, using liquid, and is more cost-efficient than the everyday cooling systems currently being used.

Cooling is possible because of the excellent heat-transfer characteristics of Fluorinert FC-72.

TechRepublic writer Michael Kassner explains that the process works because “heat from the computer processor vaporizes the Fluorinert liquid. Then the vapor being lighter moves upward to the heat exchanger. The FC-72 transfers its heat load to the exchanger, which in turn transfers the heat to the surrounding air. Removing heat causes the FC-72 to condense into a liquid that flows into the holding tank below the heat exchanger. From the holding tank, the liquid FC-72 travels to the processor where the cycle is repeated.”

The researchers made progress due to a $10,000 grant from UAH Charger Innovation Fund last year. The team has estimated that computer manufacturers could save up to $600 million and consumers could save more than $6.3 billion per year if the cooling innovation is used in future computers.

“Our system can absolutely work, and it can work for 12 hours in a stable condition,” Nguyen said.

This type of cooling system could possibly be used for propulsion systems for space travel and 21st century power delivery systems. Since the project is in the early stages, there are a large number of people who still need convincing.

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NASA Tests 10 Engine Plane That’s Half Copter and All Awesome

NASA revealed a new prototype drone with the capabilities of a helicopter and airplane. The Greased Lightning or GL-10 is a concept for a future aircraft with the goal to make drones and unmanned planes more efficient in the years to come. It uses 10 engines to maximize speed and mobility.

The prototype was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Aerospace engineers Bill Fredericks, David North and Zack Johns are some of the members of the team that developed the drone. As they worked on the project, they had many different ideas about how it could be utilized.

“It could be used for small package delivery or vertical take-off and landing, long endurance surveillance for agriculture, mapping and other applications. A scaled-up version — much larger than what we are testing now — would make also a great one- to four-person-size personal air vehicle,” Fredericks said.

With news of Amazon starting a drone delivery service (Amazon Prime Air) to its customers, The Greased Lightning’s innovation may make attract other companies to join the drone delivery service.

According to Kathy Barnstorff for the NASA Langley Research Center, “The GL-10 is currently in the design and testing phase. The initial thought was to develop a 20-foot wingspan (6.1 meters) aircraft powered by hybrid diesel/electric engines, but the team started with smaller versions for testing, built by rapid prototyping.”

The plane is also very quiet even though there are 10 engines at work. Fredericks goes on to say that the plane is quieter than a lawn mower.

The Greased Lightning prototype will be the main attraction at the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International 2015 conference in Atlanta through Thursday.