Computer firm IBM made technological history on 12 August 1981 with the announcement of a personal computer - the IBM 5150. Costing $1,565, the 5150 had just 16K of memory - scarcely more than a couple of modest e-mails worth. The machine had an “open architecture” which meant other firms could produce compatible machines. IBM banked on being able to charge a license for using the BIOS - the software which controls the heart of the machine.
The first 8086 processor took two engineers three weeks to design, and most modern CPUs are based on it.
Read more: BBC News
For a sneak peek at the future of computing, go to YouOS and click "Try a Demo." Your browser window turns into a desktop of its own, with sub-windows for e-mail, chat, and Web browsing. There are also links on the YouOS desktop for a sticky-notes program and a rich-text editor. But these programs aren't on your hard drive, they're running somewhere in the vast unknown Internet.
YouOS is the fledgling startup of four recent college grads with a bit of angel funding. Its simplicity makes it a great demo. Anyone who logs on can instantly spot the big idea: You don't need Windows! You don't even need a PC! You can login and work from anywhere using any gadget with a screen and a keyboard.
Just because the demo and the name are cool doesn't mean YouOS will replace Windows. It does, however, serve as a proof-of-concept for people who doubt the viability of Web-based operating systems. Check out YouOS for 10 minutes, then imagine the same project on a billion-dollar budget. Now do you think the mythical Google PC that's allegedly being secretly developed in Silicon Valley, or in China or on a Ukrainian IRC channel will become reality?
I can really see this as being the future, there'd be no need for any client side OS, apart from the browser you need to view the webpage. 
YouOS [Via: Slate]
Pretty mind boggling, but I think I understood most of it.
Watch presentation [Via: NoDomain.cc]
Researches in Japan have made a CGI simulation of what would happen if an asteroid hit the Earth… it would be destroyed. They obviously forgot to factor in Bruce Wiliis.
Watch Video [ Via: Digg ]
This is the hard drive developed by IBM for their RAMAC computer in 1956. It has an amazing 5MB capacity, and consists of 50 1200RPM platters. In the last 50 years, hard drive capacity has increased exponentially to 150,000 times as much, while size has decreased to about the tenth of that first hard drive. If things keep progressing at the rate they have over the last 10 years, in another 10 years we'll have 2.5″ 75TB drives. That's enough to hold over a century of continuous music as higher than CD quality.
“Information is stored, magnetically, on fifty disks which rotate at 1200 rpm. These disks are mounted so as to rotate about a vertical axis, with a spacing of three tenths of an inch between disks. This spacing permits two magnetic heads to be positioned to any one of the 100 concentric tracks which are available on each side of each disk. Each track contains 500 alphanumeric characters. Total storage capacity: 5,000,000 characters. The two recording heads are mounted in a pair of arms which are moved, by a feed-back control system, in a radial direction to straddle a selected disk. This new system promises memory storage possibilities never before accomplished.”
Read more [Via: Digg]
Ever thought it would look cool if you had a custom image displayed when you turn on your laptop instead of the Dell logo? I found a utility from Dell which seems to work on most models, and replaces the default logo with a BMP of your choice. I've bundled the utility with a few splash screens, all you need to do is either follow the instructions to create a bootable USB key or burn the included ISO image and type 'spl2 imagename' at the prompt.
A few splash screens are included with this release, but I'll probably add more later.
Download bootsector
Read more
This nifty dock lets you charge your PSP, iPod and SonyEricsson phone. Each one has S-Video and Composite out and comes with a HiFi receiver so you can stream your music wirelessly. For $149.99, it sounds like a damn good deal.
Product page [ Via: Gizmodo ]
BitTech have some nice pics of a custom built PC case that's looks sort of like a bomb. Not only does it look nifty, but it also has a decent spec aswell, including water cooling.
WMD case at BitTech
The man cannon is design to hurl SWAT team members and other emergency personnel onto otherwise inaccessible rooftops. It consists of a forward-facing chair mounted on rails that point at an angle of up to 80°. Powered by compressed air, the “payload” would shoot up until the saddle reaches the end of the rails, at which point he would flail free skyward.
Seems like a great idea, but what if the SWAT guy has an extra clip in his pocket that shifts his weight…
Read the patent [Via: The Register]
Supposed to be released this week, the Optimus Mini keyboard has been delayed until 15th August. Improvements are apparently being made, including increasing the button lifetime to 100,000 presses and the OLED lifespan to 8,000 hours. They’ve also bumped up the price to by $40 to $160, which for three buttons that would last less than a year in constant use, seems pretty expensive to me.
Read more [Via Engadget]
Some guy's taken pics of a 15000W Tesla coil and put them on flickr.
flickr album
Tesla coils on Wikipedia
Safe Talk is a new service in the UK that allows you to generate a temporary phone number to use for 7 days to give to people you don't trust/know.
It's simple - text CALL to 80876 and get a temporary number that diverts to your mobile phone for 7 days, and keep your own number safe - until you know if they're nuts or not!
Each number costs £1.50, and you can choose to either extend your usage of the number after seven days or cancel it.
Safe Talk [ Via: Gizmodo ]
Researchers at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, US, are working on a new non-lethal weapon that could quite literally bring them to their knees by sliming them.
The institute has developed a super-slimy substance. When fired at an unruly mob it causes rioters to simply slip over.
Riot police or troops would wear a back pack with three cylinders, one containing compressed air, another filled with plain water and a third containing a supply of very dry, finely ground, polyacrylamide powder. A nozzle, resembling a shower head, would blasts two separate jets, containing the water and the polymer powder, in the general direction of an ugly crowd.
As the two jets mix in the air, after clearing the nozzle, they create a slimy mixture that covers the ground and causes everyone in the area to fall down. Even vehicles should be unable to get a grip on the goo, the patent says. And because the gel is non-toxic, it should cause no permanent harm, besides a few bruised bottoms, that is.
Read more [NewScientist]
Mozmonkey has made a keyboard which sings when you press the caps lock key. It's one of the least used keys, and it controls an LED which can be easily modded to control a speaker instead.
The second victim found it sometime after lunch. I wandered by, acting as innocent as I could, and suggesting "Try turning your sound off" then asking "Did you install anything today? Could it be a virus?" She started getting a bit concerned and I couldn't hold a straight face any longer and ended up giving away my guilt.
The last guy never uses caps, so after waiting 2 weeks for it to happen I coerced him to press the key. He did and we had a good laugh about it.
I still have 5 more units setup and ready to go, I just have to find more victims"
View: Singing Keyboard
Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs have created a controller for Warcraft III which uses a projector and a touch screen to control the game. Very Star-Trekky, but damn cool
Video [Kontraband]
