CONTEST. WIN 1000 EC.

Ive decided to make some changes to my site, I'm Working on the changes as we speak. Over the next day or so i will be removing blogtech and my new site will be called "its a mans world". MY posts will still be about technology, construction, sports, news, gadgets etc that men love so much.

I hope my readers will bear with me while im making and hopefully improving my site.

Over the next few days i would like readers to suggest a new subtitle to incorporate with my new title "its a mans world". Just leave you suggestion in the comment area and The best subtitle recieved will WIN 1000 ENTRECARD CREDITS.

Thanks.

30 St Marys Axe Also known as The Gherkin.

Another of the worlds technological marvels is the "Gherkin" in London, Its just another icon of the world that people will associate with a certain place, Here are a few facts about the "Gherkin".

Each floor rotates 5 degrees from the last but the spiraling atrium's were not fully realized. They stop every six floors for fire safety reasons.

The only curved piece of glass on the entire building is the very top piece that crowns it.

The advantages of the shape are numerous, at the bottom it tapers in creating more ground space and allowing a new public plaza to build whilst circular towers also create less downdraft. Tapering at the top into the crown reduces wind resistance further.

The lifts can carry a maximum of 378 people at any one time reaching speeds of 6 meters a second.

The floor to ceiling heights are 2.75 meters, three centimeters more than is needed to have accommodated the worlds tallest man ever.

The building contains the highest dining space in London at 163 meters. The entire top floors are occupied by the company restaurant for Swiss Re.

The building weighs 70,000 tonnes, contains 333 piles in the foundations, 35 kilometers of structural steel at 11,000 tonnes, and 24,000 square meters of glass cladding.

The building is the winner of the 2005 RIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture and has become an instant hit with the public appearing prominently in Olympic 2012 promotions.

DreamsWorks stuck on HD DVD deal.

DreamWorks needs the go-ahead from Toshiba before it can release Bee Movie on the high-def Blu-ray DVD format.

DreamWorks Animation says it is locked in an exclusive deal to distribute DVDs on Toshiba's HD DVD format even though the Japanese electronics maker plans to quit the technology.

Toshiba, which began selling HD DVD players in March 2006, has sold 1 million players and recorders. But this month it declared it would quit the technology after a bitter battle against Sony's rival Blu-ray, which won more studio and retail support.

In August, Viacom's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks signed exclusivity deals to distribute next-generation films on HD DVD for the next 18 months.

Shortly afterwards, the New York Times reported Viacom executives with knowledge of the deals said Paramount and DreamWorks would get a combined $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD.

DreamWorks plans to release the DVD version of "Bee Movie" next month and is waiting to hear back from Toshiba on how to proceed.

JP Morgan analyst Barton Crockett said the Blu-ray market was still small although he expected DreamWorks would like to have the issue settled by the 2008 holiday season.

"It might mean they'll lose the opportunity to sell 'Bee Movie' on Blu-ray, although the market for Blu-ray is still pretty small and the offset is that they'd get money from Toshiba, which may in fact be more," Crockett said. "But I'm sure they'll like to have this settled by Christmas."

Other HD DVD-backing studios like General Electric's Universal Pictures said this month they will switch to Blu-ray after Toshiba officially pulled the plug on HD DVD.

LCD flat panel TV leader.

Japanese researchers have indicated that the global flat panel TV market will be dominated by LCD by 2012.

LCD will continue to enforce its position as flat panel technology leader in coming years, according to Japanese industry research.

Demand for flat panel televisions is expected to more than double to 180 million units by 2012, This has been driven by strong sales in China and the United States.

Demand for liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs is likely to reach 155 million units in five years, up from 74.8 million sold in 2007, while plasma sales will likely total 25 million units in 2012, compared with 11.4 million sold last year.

The forecasts are based on expected demand from 51 nations, but they should represent the majority of global demand since all major countries are included in the study.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Sony lead the LCD TV market, while Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric controls one-third of the plasma TV market.

The reasons behind L.C.D Dominating flat panels is due to the variety of sizes, Color saturation, response time, Power conservation And most importantly, Lifespan.

First flight from renewable energy.

Nuts picked from the Amazon rainforest helped fuel the world's first commercial airline flight powered by renewable energy.

A Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet flew from London to Amsterdam with one of its fuel tanks filled with a bio-jet blend including babassu oil and coconut oil.

"Today marks a vital breakthrough for the whole airline industry," Virgin founder Richard Branson told reporters in a hangar at Heathrow airport prior to the flight's departure.
British billionaire Branson said, however, it was unlikely the nut of the wild growing babassu palm would play a key role as airlines turn to renewable fuel sources to cut the industry's greenhouse gas emissions.
"We did not want to use biofuels such as corn oil which were competing with staple food sources," he said, adding he believed algae produced in places like sewage treatment farms were the most likely future source of renewable fuel for the airline industry.

Biofuels, which are mainly produced from crops such as grain, vegetable oils and sugar, are seen by advocates as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The biofuels blend on the Virgin flight contained 20% neat biofuel and 80% conventional jet fuel. Branson said tests had shown it was possible to fly with a 40% blend.

Branson, whose Virgin Group business spans an airline, a rail service, drinks, hotels and leisure, has committed to spending all the profits from his airline and rail business to combat global warming by cutting carbon emissions.

Last year, Virgin started to power some of its trains using a fuel containing 20% biodiesel produced mainly using British rapeseed oil blended with US soybean oil and palm oil from the Far East.

Modern technology for safer driving.

Many of these products that have been around for a while but have been updated with all the latest Technology.

The latest trend in car gadgets in the United States is to combine multiple functions in one unit. There are the in-car computers that let drivers navigate, email and store MP3s. The Kenwood DNX8120 is a navigation system, complete with Bluetooth, that also works like a radio.

The Alpine EX-10 is an Apple iPod adapter that doubles as a Bluetooth receiver and allows drivers to play their iPods through their car speakers without using a radio transmitter or tape adapter, both of which compromise sound quality.

Even products that have been around for a while are getting substantial updates.
The Escort 9500ci is a radar detector with a built-in navigation system so it can warn drivers of upcoming speed traps and keep track of locations that set off detectors even though no police radar is present.
New satellite-navigation systems issue spoken directions. Text-to-speech technology has become the latest buzzword in the navigation industry because of its emphasis on safety.
Since street names during guidance are spoken, the driver spends more time with their eyes on the road instead of their navigation display.

Most car controls need to be touched in order to operate, which can be another distraction for drivers. But the latest gadgets are changing that.
Voice command is another emerging technology with an emphasis on safety. Instead of manually typing route guidance on a touch-screen display, address information is simply spoken. luxury cars have been offering voice-command functionality for some time but it's now trickling down to the majority.

The Ford Sync system takes advantage of Bluetooth wireless technology to make cell phones and audio systems safer and easier to use.
To use the phone, simply say the word. The stereo knows to turn the volume down so you can hear the person on the other end.

The Viper Responder LE combines a remote starter with an alarm system. And if you're warming up your car before leaving the house, it doesn't leave you to guess when the car is toasty. Lights on the side of the remote will signal that the car interior is at the right temperature for you.

Burj Dubai construction update.

I thought i would give you all a construction update on the Burj Dubai. I think this is the most amazing structure ever conceived to date.

Over 13,000 panels covering an area of well over 50,000 sq m has been installed on the tower, thats over 60 percent of the cladding now in place. They will need an estimated 22,000 panels to cover the entire skyscraper.

Burj Dubai is now around 620 meters tall and the final height and number of levels still have not been revealed. But is expected to be around 808 meters tall.



Construction is still said to be at completion in June 2009. I personally cant wait, That is a country i will definitely be visiting in late 2009.

Here are some construction facts for the Burj Dubai.

Architect: Adrian Smith (SOM).
Construction Company: Samsung E&C.
Cost : $8 billion compared to Petronas Tower 1.6 billion back in 1998.
Design company: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM).
Elevators : 66 double decker's moving at the speed of 18m/s (40mph), making it the worlds fastest.
Facade: Ferro concrete, steel-frame.
Foundation: Concrete with 55 m(84 ft)tall piles attached into the ground.
Frame: Reflecting glazing to cool and save energy.
Gross Floor Space: 314,000 m² (3,378,137.6 sqft).
Height : Over 800 meters
Observation deck: Indoor and outdoor at the 124 th floor, 34 floors above the current leader Taipei 101.
Project size: 190 hectares including artificial lake and downtown Dubai.

A joystick for mobile phone games.

One of the biggest barriers for wide adoption of mobile games is that a cell phone directional pad is often not suited for gaming. But Zeemote Inc. is trying to solve that with its remote joystick called the Zeemote JS1.

The wireless controller, about the size of two lighters, connects to a phone via bluetooth and offers a user a full thumb joystick and two main buttons. It doesn't matter if you're left or right-handed, the thing works fine in either case.

Zeemote is offering a software developer kit that allows game designers to easily integrate the Zeemote into their games. Sega, Eidos and Fishlabs are among the publishers who have signed on to produce games that work with the Zeemote.

You can play flying or racing games with the joystick and it's apparently very easy to move around. Try doing the same thing on a regular cell phone and its frustrating and not very fulfilling.

The cool thing is you can have two players play one game simultaneously if you like. Fergus McNeill, CEO of Finblade, showed me a mobile tennis game they have that allows two players to compete. Before the Zeemote you could never really do this using just one phone. If you want you can also have one player play with a Zeemote and the other play with the directional pad.

Pricing is still up in the air though Zeemote executives say they will keep it below $US50 for a stand alone purchase. It will launch in June this year and will likely be bundled with a phone and several games.

Talk About Cars

De Havilland Comet: Dawn of the Jet Age

Most of us take massive jetliners for granted, but the ability to fly from one continent to another is only about 50 years old. Technology has allowed us to improve with design and material used over the years to provide us with a more reliable and efficient form of air transport.

The four engine de Havilland Comet (named after their 1930s racing aircraft) first flew on July 27, 1949, ushering in a new age of Technology and high speed transportation. The aircraft entered commercial service in January 1952 and quickly became a favorite of elite travelers, capable of cruising at over 400 mph (twice the speed of propeller driven aircraft).

The original design could seat a maximum of 44 passengers and carried a cockpit crew of four (pilot, co-pilot, navigator and engineer). However, the aircraft started to experience inexplicable in-flight failures in May of 1953. It took several more crashes before investigators were able to pin the blame on metal fatigue: the design required an extremely thin metal skin to compensate for the low thrust generated by the four Ghost 50 Mark I turbojet engines. The fuselage surrounding the Comet's large rectangular windows proved susceptible to cracking after many thousands of pressurized flights. The end result was explosive cabin decompression that led to rather nasty structural failure in mid-flight -- definitely not a good way to earn repeat business. The design problems were eventually resolved and the Comet 4 entered service in 1958 with round windows, a strengthened fuselage, and high output Rolls-Royce Avon engines that dramatically increased cargo capacity and speed. Sadly, the damage to the Comet's reputation was irreparable and the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 went on to dominate the airline industry throughout the 1960s.

Its accidents like this that have improved the technology over the years, so that hopefully there will be alot less air accidents in future.

Toshiba to quit HD DVDs at the end of the month.

Japan's Toshiba Corp surrendered in the high-definition home movie war, giving up on its HD DVD format after losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp and said it would aim to end its HD DVD business by the end of next month.

The Blu-ray win means consumers no longer have to choose between rival incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax, Sony's videotape format that lost out to VHS in the 1980s.

The tide turned against HD DVD after the defection to Blu-ray by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studio last month.

The following week, Blu-ray took 93% of next-generation DVD hardware sales in North America, according to the NPD group.

Blu-ray made up 81% of all high-definition disc sales in the week ending February 10.

While Toshiba has lost the chance to be the leader in the next generation of movie discs, investors welcomed its decision to cut its losses on HD DVD early and invest in more promising businesses..

Toshiba has HD DVD agreements with studios including NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, which will now likely switch to Blu-ray.

Existing Blu-ray supporters include News Corp's 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Sony's PlayStation 3 game console also plays Blu-ray films.

Toshiba, which began sales of HD DVD players in March 2006, has sold 1 million players and recorders, including sales of drives for another supporter, Microsoft Corp, for its XBox 360 game console. Another roughly 700,000 HD DVD drives have been sold for PCs.

Blu-ray wins - Toshiba ready to 'pull the plug' on HD DVD

Sources say that Toshiba is ready to admit defeat in the high-def DVD battle and give up on its HD DVD format

Toshiba Corp is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high-definition DVDs, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-ray technology backed by the Sony Corporation.

The move will likely put an end to a battle that has gone on for several years between Toshiba and Sony vying to set the standard for the next-generation DVD and compatible video equipment.

The format war, often compared with the Betamax-VHS battle in the 1980s, has confused consumers, unsure of which DVD or player to buy, slowing the development of the high-definition DVD industry.

Toshiba's cause has suffered several setbacks in recent weeks, including last weeks announcement by United States retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc that it would abandon the HD DVD format and stock its shelves only with Blu-ray movies.

A source at Toshiba confirmed an earlier report by public broadcaster NHK that it was getting ready to pull the plug.

NHK said Toshiba would suffer losses running to tens of billions of yen to scrap production of HD DVD players and recorders and other steps to withdraw from the business.

Modern Tech, Online surverys

Theres another way that technology has allowed us to earn money online. It allows you to sell Social Surveys to organizations. You earn a percentage of money that bloggers or networkers make through the survey.

New Baggage handling technology.

Over the last 15 years Ive done a lot of traveling around the pacific, America and Asia, There has been a couple of occasions where my Luggage has gone to a different destination, Its really a frustrating experience that i wish upon knowbody. All airports around the world are using a relatively outdated form of baggage handling (barcode tracking). But until now thats all that existed. But things are about to change because the Technology is improving.

Emirates Airline have announced it is partnering with London Heathrow, Dubai International and Hong Kong International airports, to trial the latest RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology in baggage handling.

Emirates will be investing close to AED 2 million, to test the effectiveness and benefits of RFID against the existing barcode tracking system. The largest-ever trial of its kind for the airline industry, some half a million bags on Emirates flights will be tagged with RFID chips over the 6-month duration of the trial. This is about embracing the latest technology for the benefit of customers

The Dubai-based airline hopes its investment will help revolutionize the way bags are tracked and monitored, and present innovative solutions to handle the increasing volumes of baggage every year as more people around the world use air travel more frequently.

Previous RFID trials by other parties on a smaller scale have shown that the technology almost eliminates scanner misreads, significantly improving the efficiency of the baggage system and customer experience. We are now applying this on a much larger scale at three major airport hubs, including Emirates Dubai home-base, thus allowing the trials to include most possible baggage handling scenarios, including international transit." With 58 of the double-decked A380 aircraft entering Emirates service, each doubling the number of bags handled per aircraft, the airline is keen to find innovative technologies and new ways to improve baggage handling infrastructure and safeguard the level of trust of its customers.

Emirates will be encouraging airports across its network to embrace this technology. This could become a new industry standard for baggage handling." RFID equipment has been installed at some of Emirates check-in desks at the three participating airports. During the trial, trained staff will apply tags containing RFID chips to bags as part of the normal check-in process. The chips contain stored information including the bag unique ID number and route. In addition to the embedded RFID chips, these tags will also continue to display the traditional bar code.

The chips are read as they pass through the airports baggage system, enabling effective sorting, security screening and delivery to the aircraft. Arriving bags are read on entry to the baggage system and receipted into the system for effective tracking. Essentially, the chips will enable bags to be tracked at every stage of their journey, and minimize the possibilities for mishandling baggage.

In the future, RFID technology could also make it possible for airlines to send a text-message alert to notify passengers the moment that their luggage has arrived on the baggage carousel - meaning customers will have one less thing to worry about as they begin their holiday or business trip. So could this be the end to lost or misplaced baggage in the future? I certainly hope so...

Rebel sport Super14

The Rebel sport super 14 got underway yesterday, I'm from New Zealand so naturally Rugby is one of my interests that i will post on my blog under the interests category.

The Rebel Sport Super 14 is widely considered the finest provincial rugby competition in the world.
The Northern hemisphere or Europe has the Heineken Cup. The Rebel Sport Super 14 is very much the same just that it is the Southern Hemisphere equivalent.

The Super 14 is the largest provincial rugby union tournament championship in the southern hemisphere, consisting of franchise teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The Super 14 is currently contested by fourteen (14) teams. The teams are as follows alphabetically. Blues, Brumbies, Bulls, Cheetahs, Chiefs, Crusaders, Force, Highlanders, Hurricanes, Lions, Reds, Sharks, Stormers and Waratahs.

There are fourteen provincial franchise teams that compete against one another. Unlike the Heineken Cup there are no divisions or pools. Each team plays 13 games during the regular season which runs for fourteen and a 1/2 weeks.

The best four teams, finishing in the top four places on the competition ladder after the regular season, enter the finals of the tournament. The semi-finals are contested to decide the two finalists, which is played at the highest ranked winners' home ground, as opposed to a pre-selected neutral venue. The tournament is unique in that it is played across many time zones and often matches are played when visiting teams supporters are asleep.

Go the Hurricanes...... All the best for 2008......

Microfiber fabric makes own electricity

Scientists in America have developed a microfiber fabric that can generate electricity, apparently producing enough current to recharge a cell phone or ensure that a small MP3 music player never runs out of power.
If made into a shirt, the fabric could harness power from its wearer simply walking around or even from a slight breeze.

The generator takes advantage of the semiconductive properties of zinc oxide nanowires - There are tiny wires 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair embedded into the fabric. The wires are formed into pairs of microscopic brush-like structures, shaped like a baby-bottle brush. One of the fibers in each pair is coated with gold and serves as an electrode. As the bristles brush together through a person's body movement, the wires convert the mechanical motion into electricity and can produce up to 80 milliwatts per square meter of this fabric.

There is only one problem with this at the moment, zinc oxide degrades when wet. Im sure the scientists will be working on a solution to this problem.

Eye-fi.

To share photos quickly and easily a wireless camera is a must.

But for those people who do not want to invest in a new device help is at hand.

A company called Eye-Fi have developed a series of memory cards with built in wi-fi that automatically convert your camera into a wireless device.

The 2GB cards automatically connect to a wi-fi network and can dump photos to a folder on a PC or upload them to social networks or photo-sharing sites.

The firm has done deals with the likes of Flickr, Photobucket and Facebook.

The associated software takes care of log-ins and passwords and can even automatically resize pictures if the site requires it.

To send them to a computer the PC must be turned on and running the companies photo managing software.

Currently they are only available in the US but should be on sale in Europe later this year.

Slacker - portable media player.

This device joins a crowded market of portable media players.
Finding new music is always one of life's joys and web services like Slacker have helped. But now you can get access to undiscovered tunes on a portable device.
Slacker has released a portable media player which uses a wi-fi connection to help you discover new bands and musicians. It's being touted as the world's first personalized portable radio player.

Unfortunately this service and players are only available in the US, But possibly already in the U.K aswell.
It works by downloading new songs to your player, based on your music listening preferences, each time you enter a wi-fi hotspot or connect the device to your computer.
You can have 40 different "radio stations", holding up to 4,000 songs, on the player, which comes in 500MB, 1.5GB and 4GB.
More viewer feed back on this gadget is welcomed.

Pink Nano for your Valentine.

Whos thought about what to get for their significant other this year for Valentines day. (Personally i try not to think about it).

With Valentines day not far away, Its not a bad idea to start thinking about what your significant other really wants, (If you haven't already) And whats hot for the Valentines day 2008? Gadgets, what else? And that means pink.

Pretty much everything this time of year is colored pink and red and Apple is jumping on the bandwagon with their media player, its brand-new pink 8GB Nano which follows the pink Shuffle that was released in September last year as part of an industry-wide campaign against breast cancer.

I don’t know how long Apple will be leaving the pink iPod nano on the shelves, but I suggest they at least keep it going for a bit after Valentine’s Day so that the guy’s who forget about valentines day will have a chance to bail themselves out with this unique gift.

A vest for gamers ???????

I came across on the net earlier and i thought, This is really interesting, So i did some surfing and found some information, so if you have ever wondered what it feels like to fly a fighter plane or drive a formula one car, TN games have designed a vest for gamers that seem to recreate the on screen action as it would be in the real world of flying a fighter plane, Driving a Formula 1 car or even being shot.

The first version is designed for first person shooters and contains eight cells that can recreate the direction and force of bullet. The second version can recreate the G-forces felt whilst driving or flying. When the player accelerates, the cells inflate in the chest. Faster acceleration causes the cells to inflate quicker, whilst braking causes the back cells to activate.

The vests are based on technology that was originally designed for use by doctors to remotely examine patients. They connect to a computer by USB and consist of a light weight air compressor that pumps air into bladders. They have also designed sleeves, leg covers and a helmet that plug into the vests to deliver what it says is a "full body gaming experience".

What i haven't been able to find out is if these are on the market yet or at what price. Please feel free to leave any comments or updates to my post.

Make money blogging.

I found out a while ago that there are many ways you can earn money from the internet , One way is blogging, Thats just one of the many good things that modern technology has provided everybody with worldwide.

There are many blog advertising programs, where you can get paid to blog and to share your opinions about a product or service, and then give a back link to the advertisers, After you've submitted your advert, It will be reviewed by the administration of smorty and either approved or rejected, If it rejected you'll get a chance to make changes to your review and then resubmit it, And if its approved you will be paid. Its as simple as that.

How much you get paid depends on your Page Rank (PR). But can we earn a decent income from there? The answear is Yes, Smorty usually pay $6 per review made if you have a website with a low Page Rank, but if you have Page Rank 5 website, they will pay up to $24 per review you make. Thats nearly $1500 per month for 2 articles per day.

The ultimate Big Boys water toy.

Kawasaki has extended its high-performance on personal watercraft with the 250 horsepower 2008 Jet Ski Ultra 250X. The quickest and most powerful production PWC in history, Kawasaki’s supercharged Ultra 250X tears across the water at a pace that will invigorate even the most jaded of speed enthusiasts.

With a 1,498cc engine derived from Kawasaki’s capable Jet Ski STX-15F watercraft as the foundation, the Ultra 250X produces power comparable to a normally aspirated high-performance three-liter engine. It accomplishes this amazing feat via the addition of a Roots-type supercharger. Unlike centrifugal superchargers or turbochargers, the Ultra 250X’s high-volume direct-drive supercharger delivers boost virtually instantly at any engine speed from idle to redline. This produces a linear, smooth torque curve that is ideal for a personal watercraft that needs to accelerate hard all the way from a standstill to its breath-taking top-end speed.

In addition to more power and acceleration than any other production watercraft on the planet, the Ultra 250X also boasts all new technology, a race-developed hull. Its hull design is just as comfortable in rough conditions as in calm. Even at high speeds, rough water can do little to deter the Ultra 250X.
Heat build-up from compressing the intake air is a common drawback of forced-induction. The Ultra 250X uses of a large-capacity intercooler to overcome this handicap. With the 250X’s supercharger compressing the air to a maximum boost pressure of 11.4psi, the intake charge can reach extremely-high temperatures potentially limiting the engine’s power output. However, the 250X’s large-capacity intercooler brings the pressurized air down to ambient temperature or even less –ideal for producing maximum power.

The Ultra 250X features a five-step adjustable handlebar position that allows either stand-up or sit-down riding for a wide range of riders to enjoy superior comfort and versatility. As Kawasaki’s flagship watercraft, the 250X includes thoughtful standard features like an enormous 53 gallon of storage space including a detachable front storage compartment and a 20.6 gallon fuel tank for substantial cruising range. From horsepower to handling and everything in between, once the spray settles after the first ride, one thing will be certain. This powerful “ultra” 2008 Kawasaki Jet Ski Ultra 250X model delivers a level of performance and excitement that is unmatched by any other watercraft to date.

Acer Ferrari F-20 LCD.

The Ferrari F-20 from Acer is an LCD unlike any other. Acer, the market leader in the production of computers, has come up with a 20 inch widescreen LCD which is perfect for the home and office, Whether it be for normal everyday use or for gaming.

The distinct and world-famous Ferrari prancing horse logo of Ferrari is embedded on the flat panel. The total weight is only 15.0 lb. The Acer Ferrari F-20 LCD has got the most appealing of looks. This beautiful LCD comes in a rich black and luster red. Furthermore, it has CrystalBrite Technology which offers higher contrasts, brighter colors, crisper graphics and has a sharp finish and distinctive gloss red and black chassis, which separates Ferrari F-20 from other LCDs prevailing in the market.
It has an extremely fast response time of 8ms and assures high quality moving images. One of its most distinctive features is the playing of games on such a wide display. It has the resolution of 1680 x 1050 along with VGA and DVI-D connectors, contrast ratio of 800:1 and 300 cd/m2 of brightness.

Monster Trucks.

A monster truck is an automobile, typically a pickup truck, which has been modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension. They are used for competition and popular Sports Entertainment and in some cases they are featured alongside Motocross races, mud bogging, tractor pulls and car-eating robots.

Men of all shapes & sizes love monster trucks. The American Monster Truck Association combines the toughest drivers with monster machines to create non-stop, action packed, edge of your seat action. The show features side by side monster truck racing and freestyle monster truck competition.

Typically, a monster truck show involves the truck crushing smaller vehicles beneath its huge tires. These trucks can run up and over most man-made barriers, so they are equipped with remote shut-off switches, called the Remote Ignition Interuptor (RII), to help prevent an accident if the driver loses control at any time. At some events, only one truck is on the course at a time, while most feature two drivers racing each other on symmetrical tracks, with the losing driver eliminated in single-elimination tournament fashion.
In recent years, many monster truck competitions have ended with a "freestyle" event. Somewhat similar to figure skating with giant trucks, drivers are free to select their own course around the track and its obstacles. Drivers will often try a 'Donut', also called a Cyclone, which involves spinning the truck in a high speed circle, and maybe even deliberately rolling the truck over. Additional items for the drivers to crush - usually including a motor home - are frequently placed on the track specifically for the freestyle event.

Here are some facts about monster trucks.
Height – Approximately 12’ / 3.6 Meters.
Width – Approximately 12’ / 3.6 Meters.
Length – Approximately 20’ / 6 Meters.
Weight 10,000 lbs / 4500 Kilograms.
Tire Size 66”/ 167cm / 1.7 Meters X 43”/ 109cm / 1 meter on a 25” / 63.5 cm Tall Wheel.
Motor Type – Supercharged Fuel Injected Big Block American V8.
Suspension Travel 20-32” – Fully adjustable Nitrogen or Coilovers.
Body – Fiberglass Composite with Lexan Windshield.
Fuel Type – 99.9% Methanol (Alcohol).

So next time there is a monster truck display in your town or city, Make sure your there to appreciate the sights and sounds of American V8s.

The future of Hypersonic Air travel

The LAPCAT A2 is a proposed jet that could whisk passengers around the globe at a dizzying 6100km/h, about five times the speed of sound.
The A2 project - ponderously titled Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT) - was funded by the European Space Agency, which challenged scientists to produce a commercial jet using space-travel technology.

Supersonic aviation as a workable model may have ended prematurely with the death of the Concord, but that didn't stop other people from attempting to bring back the hypersonic civil transportation. The LAPCAT project is a study, funded by Europa General R&D, that seeks to determine whether or not it is possible to create a plane that can cover long distances in a very short amount of time. The result? The A2 Mach 5 Civil Transport Concept.

Aside from being fast, the new jet would also be clean and green, burning a liquid-hydrogen fuel that gives off water vapor and nitrous oxide (laughing gas), instead of polluting carbon emissions. At 142 meters in length, the A2 would be about twice the length of the Airbus A380, the largest airliner in service today.

The term hypersonic flight relates to speeds above Mach 5, a velocity at which friction can cause an aircraft's wings to heat to 1000C.
Unfortunately, attaining such external temperatures would mean doing without windows, but designers may put flat-screen televisions where the windows would be, giving the impression of seeing outside.
Despite being capable of traveling at twice the speed of its predecessor, The Concorde, the A2 would be quieter. Senior engineer and managing director Alan Bond said the A2 could be here within 25 years.

New Alfa Romeo designed for the younger drivers.

Despite its status as an icon of Italian style and speed, its sales are mediocre, it struggles to exceed a one percent market share in its main European market, and it is losing money.

Even though it has had the culture of motor-racing coursing through its valves and pistons since its inception nearly a century ago, years of poor-quality parts and service have deprived it of the premium status enjoyed by Volkswagen's Audi and BMW.
When the Fiat group, best known as a maker of cheap, small cars, bought Alfa in 1986, its factories were empty of ideas, with no investment in technology or product development.

Fiat's chief executive told analysts last year that Alfa is our hardest asset that we have that we have to work on it. Now rising to that challenge is Luca De Meo - at 40, the youngest executive within the Fiat industrial group - who brings a badge of success from overseeing the recovery of the Fiat brand, but success for Alfa will depend on him reinventing the brand magic of the 1950s and 1960s for a younger generation.

Enzo Ferrari used to race Alfa Romeos before he started up his own company, Alfa won the first Formula One World Championship in 1950, and in its 1960s heyday, cameo appearances in movies such as The Graduate and The Italian Job showcased the soft sleekness of its design.

So they have come up with the Alfa Junior.

Of Fiat's three car brands, analysts say Alfa has the greatest potential to produce the biggest profit margins. So much is hanging on this autumn's launch of the Junior, a new model compact car. Aiming at a younger driver than the brand is currently attracting, it will be a big step for Alfa. If it proves to be a hit, the Junior and the upcoming 149 sedan could make up nearly half of Alfa's sales volume. It will not be easy: some equity analysts doubt Alfa will be able to meet its unit sales target of 300,000 for 2010, let alone break even in 2008. They suspect a planned return to the United States has been postponed by a year to 2010. But Alfa is making limited progress. De Meo's predecessor, Antonio Baravalle, had been focusing on two key markets where he wanted to re-launch the brand: the United Kingdom and Germany. The results of his efforts are starting to show, with British sales rising.

Airbus tests flight on alternative fuel.

On Feb 2, 2008 Airbus tested a flight on alternative fuel.
An Airbus A380, the world's largest airliner, became the first commercial jet aircraft to use alternative fuel, marking a milestone on the road to biofuels. The A380 didn't need any modification to use the gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel, which was designed to be mixed with regular jet fuel.

Airbus hopes the plane will become the centerpiece of efforts to develop the next generation of cleaner fuel at a time when the aviation industry is under pressure over the impact of emissions on the climate.
By 2025 a quarter of jet fuel could be some form of alternative fuel.
The fuel used, a mix of 60 percent standard jet kerosene and 40 percent GTL, was used in one of the A380's four engines.
The GTL was made in Malaysia from natural gas and, as such, is a fossil fuel not a biofuel, which are made from renewable resources.
The A380's take-off from the planemaker's Filton base was watched by reporters and hundreds of Airbus workers. It landed at Toulouse, southwest France, after a three-hour test flight.
The first A380 to carry passengers entered service with Singapore Airlines late last year after an 18-month delay caused by difficulties in installing the aircraft's wiring.
Anxious to focus on what it describes as the aircraft's environmental benefits, in terms of the amount of fuel consumed per passenger, Airbus has already rebranded the A380 the "gentle green giant," and softened its marketing presentations.
Airbus staged Friday's display weeks before British billionaire Richard Bronson's Virgin Group planned to conduct a test jet flight on renewable fuels on a Boeing 747.
The company has said it plans a flight in early 2008 and the debut had been expected in February. The A380 was designed to break the 747's 30-year monopoly on very large passengers jets.
He said the first commercial use of GTL could be in 2009 by Qatar Airways after it has taken delivery of its first A380.
Qatar airways has the world's third-largest reserves of natural gas and Shell and Qatar Petroleum are building a GTL plant, called Pearl, which is due to be fully operational by 2011.
Qatar Airways want to use a 50 percent GTL blend from 2009 but only on a limited scale until Pearl is complete.
Is this type of fuel only for aircraft or can this new form of fuel be used in the future to power our cars?

The Boeing Factory. The worlds largest building by volume.

If you plan on visiting the Seattle area, You must visit the Boeing factory, The building itself is the largest building in the world by volume and Boeing's tour is one of the country's most popular factory tours.

The Boeing factory tour allows you to see the flight line where the 747, 767, 777 and the new 787 are built. On the tour you will walk through part of the largest building in the world by volume — some 472,000,000 cubic feet.
Boeing delivered its 3000th widebody airplane from its Everett, Washington, site on August 27th 2007. The airplane was a 777-200ER (Extended Range) model that was delivered to Korean Air.
Over the years, the 3,000 widebody airplanes assembled at the Everett site have established a strong track record. Combined, the 747, 767 and 777 have completed more than 34.5 million flights through June 2007.
They have logged approximately 148 million flight hours or nearly 17,000 years of flight time. The airplanes have flown approximately 71 billion nautical miles (131 billion kilometers), which is the equivalent of flying around the world 3.3 million times .The 3,000th-delivery milestone comes just nine years after the Everett site celebrated its 2,000th delivery — a 747-400 taken by British Airways May 15, 1998. The plant’s 1,000th widebody delivery was a 767-300ER delivered to Scandinavian Airlines on Aug. 14, 1989. Currently, more than 80 percent of the airplanes built at the Everett site — approximately 2,610 airplanes — are in service around the world.

Boeing are now producing the 787 Dreamliner, this is the first all-new plane made by Boeing in the last 12 years.
Strangely enough, While there aren't many changes on the outside, the 787 has drastic changes in the inside. They used alternative materials like carbon composite materials and 15 percent titanium to make it lighter, therefore it will consume less fuel, the final cost will become cheaper, and of course, it won't create as much pollution as other planes.
The largest model of the Boeing 787 has space for 330 people and prices can go from $146 million to $200 million.

This aircraft wasn't produced by Boeing to compete with the airbus A380 but Boeing believe that the market shows that people want reduced airfares on city to city routes rather than hub to hub routes that the A380 provides. With the A380 well into production now, Its only a matter of time before we find out who can win the battle for the skies. Just remember that the winner of the air wars could be whoever gets the contract to build the next generation aircraft for space travel.

Jet truck.

Ive always had a fascination with cars, trucks, planes and everything that can be made to go fast, but how fast can u make a truck with three jet engines go?
The answear is 376 miles per hour (605 kph). The truck is Shockwave and it uses three Pratt & Whitney J34-48 engines. The engines are arranged in pyramid formation, and tilted at a three-degree angle to help keep the 6,800-pound (3,084 kg) truck on the ground. The engines produce a total of 36,000 horsepower and 19,000 pounds of thrust. The outlet of the engine is fitted with a special fuel line that carries raw diesel fuel to a ring-like burner inside the outlet. This dumping of raw diesel fuel into the burner creates flames and smoke that make for some very special effects.
The front of the truck is the only stock part, an original 1985 Peterbilt cab. Hand-fabricated dashboard in the stock 1985 Peterbilt cab. Note the zero to 300-mph airspeed indicator above the steering wheel. The familiar twin vertical chrome exhaust stacks are modified with piezoelectric ignitors for lighting the raw diesel fuel to produce flames. This truck consumes 400 gallons per mile during a race. If the afterburner mode is used, the fuel is consumed even faster. After reaching speeds in excess of 300MPH it requires a lot to stop, which is why aircraft type parachutes are used to slow shockwave down at the end of a run.

RBS 6 Nations Rugby is back for 2008

Aside from technology and motorsports i have other interests, im a huge fan of rugby and i dont just support the All Blacks because im from New Zealand, The super 14, Bledisloe cup, tri-nations and the 6 nations are the best rugby tournaments held annually. I get all my latest news and updates on the 6 nations from rbs6nations.com. This is the official RBS Six Nations website. It honestly is a fabulous website where fans can get to download wallpapers aswell as watch video clips and review all the latest rugby news on the teams and players. The website features the six competing nations, Wales, England, Italy, France, Ireland and Scotland . You can subscribe to it so if you miss a game because of time differences in other countries, Or maybe the wife has made other plans that you weren't told about until it was too late, Or if you just want to watch a game again.

It also offers championship information aswell as the history of the game. On their competition page you can win stuff such as tickets to RBS 6 Nations games, the actual RBS 6 Nations trophy brought to your rugby club for a day, an international star running a training session at you local club, or even season tickets to follow your team for the entire 2009 RBS 6 Nations season.
So no matter what country your from, what hours you work or what plans have been made without you being aware of them, you can keep up with the latest from the RBS 6 nations games.

Understanding wireless.

As you may have noticed, everything is digital these days and soon they will all be wireless. It is important to keep updated with all the various methods of connectivity as it tends to change every now and then as technology gets more advanced. A lot of internet service provider companies make it sound easy to get connected, it really is easy but they tend to never tell you all the smaller details of getting the best possible connection without interference and security issues.
Ive put together some of things that people should know before setting up a wireless network, I hope you find them helpful. Like most people out there, I had to find out the hard way about wireless internet technologies and what is the best ways to use them. Hopefully with this guide you will be able to understand wireless technologies more.

The wireless network works on five different protocols. You may have noticed a number on your wireless router with the numbers 802.11 followed by an "a", "b" or a "g". These are the three most used protocols used today. Why do we use these three protocols anyway and not all five? Well here is the difference between them.

802.11a – Was released in October 1999. 5GH Frequency. Data rate is only 23Mbit/s to a maximum data rate of 54Mbit/s and an indoor range of 35m.
802.11b – Was released in October 1999. 2.4GH Frequency. Data rate is only 4.5Mbit/s to a maximum data rate of 11Mbit/s and an indoor range of 35m.
802.11g – Was released in June 2003. 2.4GH Frequency. Data rate is only 19Mbit/s to a maximum data rate of 54Mbit/s and an indoor range of 35m.

The industry standard has been set to everyone using the 802.11g protocol but you can still use any of the other two protocols. They all have their disadvantages and advantages. Try to stick to 802.11g as it will offer you the best results for the time being.

When subscribing to an Internet Service Provider, it is best to check which type of connection you can use. In most countries, you can use a cable connection or an adsl connection. You will require a telephone line for the adsl connection and not for the cable connection unless your area does not have cable. In that case, you will need to use adsl instead. Remember just as you would get a different type of wireless connection, you will need a router to connect to that connection (basically a modem). You can not use a cable router on an adsl connection and vice versa. Some of the newer routers support both methods of connection.

Once you have your wireless router installed and ready to set up your connection, keep these tips in mind as they will save you a lot of hassle and misery.
- Try not to do your online banking on a wireless network, it makes it easier for criminals to get a hold of your account details by hacking into your wireless network.
- Always make your network as secure as possible, you do have the option to choose between 64 and 128 secure connections.
- Use a random name with letters in your connection name to not make it too personal and easy for hackers to identify your connection with your address.

Signal Problems:
A lot of people have complained about interference on their wireless network connection where they do not have a strong signal. You can avoid this by not placing the router too close to a microwave. Buy a phone with different frequency settings as they interfere a lot. A Bluetooth connection is a big no-no for wireless networks.