Developages - Development and Technology Blog

The satellite dish has become a ubiquitous fixture of 21st Century living. Office buildings in the city, tract homes in the suburbs, even historic enclaves in the hot spots of the Middle East all share a bumper crop of dishes pointed toward an imaginary point 35,786 kilometers above the equator. Satellite dishes come in varying sizes, but they all share a similar shape. It’s a quirk of nature that a parabolic curve produces the perfect antenna for extremely high frequency, extremely short wavelength, transmissions.

This is not a new discovery. Archimedes helped describe it in mathematical terms. In the 10th Century physicists were playing with parabolic mirrors. Later on, lighthouses used parabolic lenses to take a lantern′s light and turn it into a beam. In the 18th Century parabolic lenses found use in telescopes. The common goal in all these pursuits was the same as what’s accomplished with a satellite dish–you′re taking a weak signal and amplifying it.

We have not repealed the laws of physics. You can’t increase a lantern’s light with a simple lens, but you can concentrate it. Most areas will see less light, but those favored by the lenses geometry will see a great deal more. Technically speaking, the light has been collimated.

What we think of as a satellite dish is actually just a parabolic reflector. The real antenna sits in front of dish at its “focus.” Here’s the science that makes it happen: Any radio waves that strike the dish and are traveling parallel to its axis are reflected to the antenna at the focus. It doesn′t matter where on the parabola the signal strikes. As long as it’s coming in at the right angle it’s going to the focus.

Instead of just picking up what randomly strikes the antenna, you′ve now got the force of everything that strikes the dish–a much larger area. Antenna gain in the direction the dish is pointed can easily exceed 20dB, or 100 times what you′d expect without the parabola. As an added bonus, interference coming from anywhere but where the dish is pointed is attenuated. That’s a pretty sweet trick which allows satellites to use the same frequencies as their neighbors while sitting reasonably close to each other over the equator.

A signal coming down from space then passing through the atmosphere is very weak. Without a dish there is little chance home satellite reception would be practical. And, since the dish itself is a passive participant in the signal path, it’s easy and cheap to build. Thanks Mother Nature. Nicely done.

Original post by Geoff Fox

Filed under: Cellphones

A number of shots have surfaced of an upcoming Sidekick that we’ve alternately known as the Gekko and Gecco, but the rumor du jour on the naming front is that we′ll actually be calling it “Sidekick 2008″ by the time it launches (later this month if we′re lucky). The grainy photography shows a device looking roughly like what we expect the new model to look like — but more interestingly, it shows the phone wearing a variety of different shells, some of which rock as much bedazzlement as a Swarovski one-off. Pretty cool. Oh, and don’t bother trying to go to sidekick.com.shells — we did, and it isn’t online yet.

[Via Hiptop 3]

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this&nbsp|&nbspComments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Rumors swirling around Danger’s upcoming Aspen and Gekko Hiptops are approaching a rolling boil at this point, and seeing a new model fly through the FCC’s testing procedures certainly isn’t going to help to quell them. Honestly, we probably would′ve passed this one right over had it not been for the big “Powered by Danger” label on the FCC approval sticker here, detailing a new Sidekick known internally to Sharp as the PV210. We’ve gone through the test reports and we’re sorry to report that there still isn’t any 3G here — so despite the device’s perfect form factor for consuming gobs and gobs of data, EDGE is going to have to continue to suffice. We imagine we’ll be seeing this one announced before too long.

Read&nbsp|&nbspPermalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Seems that Blu-ray sales have not taken off, despite the all-but-official demise of HD DVD. You can read more at Ars Technica here.

Really hard not to see why, when prices remain high and supply remains low — besides, how many copies of the same movie in different formats do you need?

Am sure many of us still have video copies of the DVDs stuck in our closet, taking up space and being considered for sale at a pittance on eBay …

Now through in a sluggish economy, and Blu-ray may be the DAT of the 21st Century — another Sony product that hit the market at the wrong time.

Tags: Blu-ray, DAT, DVD, HD-DVD, Sony, video

Related Entries
• Do We See a White Flag in the DVD Format Wars? -
  Jan 04, 2007
• Blu-ray DVD - Buy 2 Blu-ray DVDs Get 1 Free on Amazon -
  Apr 09, 2008
• HD DVD RIP, Long Live Blue-ray! -
  Feb 21, 2008
• Star Trek Season One Boxed Set on HD DVD -
  Nov 21, 2007
• Provia ʋ GPS - too cool! -
  Aug 27, 2007
• Sony PS3 haters video -
  Feb 26, 2007
• The Next Gen DVD Format War Is Over (Maybe, Maybe Not) -
  Sep 27, 2006
• Another HD-DVD Format! -
  Aug 31, 2006
• A Unified HD-DVD Format (Or at Least a Player)? -
  Jul 18, 2006
• The HD-DVD Age Is Officially Upon Us -
  Apr 18, 2006

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Household

We’ve seen plenty of houses of the future, but none quite like this so-called Bioscleave House by artists Madeline Gins and Arakawa, which promises to force people to “use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium.” Those equilibrium-inducing measures include, as you can see above, a vast undulating floor (somewhat curiously made of concrete), as well as off-kilter power outlets, walls painted in about 40 different colors, and windows of varying heights, all of which is designed to keep occupants and visitors “on guard” at all times. That equilibrium also comes at some risk, however, with visitors required to sign a waiver before they enter (children aren’t allowed in at all). What’s more, while they seem quite pleased with their creation, the artistic duo didn’t build the $2 million dollar house for themselves, and they’re now looking for someone else to call it home.

[Image courtesy Eric Striffler / The New York Times, thanks TSM]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

r3lody writes “Finding a single book that encompasses what you want to learn can be difficult. Most cover a few portions of a subject in depth and skim over (or omit) others. Other books will cover each topic at about the same level: high enough to give an impression of what can be done, but not with enough depth to do it without a lot of effort. In A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux, Mark G. Sobell has created a single volume that gives the reader enough information to effectively install, configure and run workstations and servers using Ubuntu Linux. He has come the closest I have seen to containing all of the necessary information without being too shallow. Granted, to include everything you would want to know about Ubuntu Linux would take several books of this size, but this particular one provides most users the best bang for the buck. A DVD with the Gutsy Gibbon release of Ubuntu in a directly bootable form is included with the book.” Read below for the rest of Ray’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

Don Wolf writes “Computer forensics is a rapidly growing discipline and an even faster growing business. Whether it’s the natural progression of technological science pertaining to crime or perhaps the digression of a few elite information security professionals, computer forensics is every so slowly gaining credibility in the otherwise PhD dominated field of criminal science. Computer evidence continues to be showcased in some of the most high-profile and controversial court cases in history, from the murder case of Lasie Peterson to the multi-billion dollar Enron scandal. Whether society will allow it or not, computer forensics geeks will play pivotal roles in the prevalence of justice.” Keep reading for the rest of Don’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

stoolpigeon writes “Head First JavaScript is one of the latest entries in O′Reillys Head First series. Like the other Head First books, it takes a somewhat unique approach in conveying information. The stated intent of the series is to help readers learn and retain material by formatting it in a manner that assists in meeting those goals. This means that the book is full of graphics, exercises and humor. There is also a refreshing note on who will benefit from the book. I’ve pretty much always thought of these sections in books as entertaining, in that I get to see what new way a publisher has found to say, “Everyone should buy this book!”. Head First Javascript actually does a decent job of describing who this book will help, and who it will not help. That alone had me intrigued right from the start.” Read on for the rest of JR’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

Michael J. Ross writes “When software developers need to manipulate text programmatically &mdash such as finding all substrings within some text that match a particular pattern &mdash the most concise and flexible solution is to use “regular expressions,” which are strings of characters and symbols that can look anything but regular. Nonetheless, they can be invaluable for locating text that matches a pattern (the “expression”), and optionally replacing the matched text with new text. Regular expressions have proven so popular that they have been incorporated into most if not all major programming languages and editors, and even at least one Web server. But each one implements regular expressions in its own way &mdash which is reason enough for programmers to appreciate the latest edition of Regular Expression Pocket Reference, by Tony Stubblebine.” Read below for the rest of Michael’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

sdedeo writes “Less known than he deserves to be among American science fiction readers is Iain M. Banks. In his native United Kingdom, Banks’ work is released in hardcover at the front of bookshops; here, those seeking his science fiction work, at least, must dig down into the trade paperbacks — and often find things out of print. Those who do discover him in the States are usually pleasantly surprised to find the writing far more clever and engagingly written than the low-budget production values imply. With Orbit’s release of his latest work, Matter, as well as its planned re-release of some of his earlier classics, things look to change.” Read below for the rest of Simon’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

yukster writes “As Ruby on Rails rocketed into the development community’s hearts and minds a few years ago, the number of books on the subject climbed with it. However, a lot of these books were introductory in nature (Agile Web Development with Rails, Beginning Rails, Build Your Own Rails Applications, etc.). What’s a budding Rails-head to do once they’ve gotten the basics down? Books like Advanced Rails, which was released late last year by O’Reilly, aim to fill this void.” Keep reading below for the rest of Ben’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

stoolpigeon writes “Throughout much of his life, J.R.R. Tolkien worked on a series of stories set in his well known middle earth. A few he considered his “Great Tales” and he would return to them often, writing them multiple times and in multiple forms. One story that he worked on often over many years was the tale of Hurin and his children Turin and Nienor. Following his death, Tolkien’s youngest son Christopher has worked to collect, edit and publish much of what his father wrote but never published. The tale of Hurin’s children has been told in part already in some of those works. But it is in this book that for the first time the complete tale is told from start to finish of The Children of Hurin.” Read below for the rest of JR’s review.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

Aeonite writes “Let there be no doubt — Douglas Wolk loves comics, and his is a tough love, the sort of love that leaves comics out in the rain pounding on the door because they snuck out after curfew again and wrecked the car. I’ve never dived deep enough into the industry to form a strong opinion of it one way or the other, but Wolk is both a fan and a critic of comic books, and his insights make Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean Read below for the rest of Michael’s review

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Original post by samzenpus

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

We’ve seen some pretty shady dealings from disgruntled ex-employees in the past, but this one has just skyrocketed into the upper echelon of corporate tales. Apparently, a 49-year old (known only as Jeong) felt the need to copy over 1,182 top secret plasma files onto his personal HDD before waltzing out of LG’s doors for the final time in July of 2005. A few months later, China’s own Changhong-Orion PDP-Chaihong welcomed him in, paid him around $300,000 a year (not to mention the free apartment / vehicle) and casually accepted the aforementioned files from LG. But here’s the kicker — the Chinese firm which received the information is on schedule to “start making plasma panels this December with the LG technology that it bought from Jeong.” Can you say: hot water?

[Via The Raw Feed, image courtesy of RPG Classics]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

We’ve seen some pretty shady dealings from disgruntled ex-employees in the past, but this one may have skyrocketed into the upper echelon of tales of corporate deceit. As the story goes, a 49-year old man known only as Jeong felt the need to copy over some 1,182 top secret plasma display technology-related files onto his personal drive before waltzing out of LG’s doors for the final time in July of 2005. A few months later, Chinese manufacturer Changhong-Orion PDP-Chaihong welcomed him with open arms and paid him a fat salary of roughly $300,000 a year (not to mention a few perks: free apartment, vehicle etc.), while casually accepting both the aforementioned files and continued insider leaks at LG — information supposedly valued at over a billion dollars. But despite Jeong’s arrest upon his last return home to Korea, Changhong is still apparently on schedule to produce plasma panels based on LG’s technology come this December. Can you say: hot water over international trade-secret law?

[Via The Raw Feed, image courtesy of RPG Classics]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph