Tuesday 29 October 2013

Xbox One unboxing – headset included with all versions

Editors Note – this year will become a colossal year for the console industry. The new generations of Xbox and Playstation, are scheduled for being released inside weeks of each other. Both are vying for our attention and hard earned cash, unlike the last generation, Sony with the Playstation 4 have put a cheaper price together compared to that xbox one, which amazed everybody at E3 in june. But recent news announced by Microsoft proves that the xbox one features kinect plus a headset, proving that xbox ones additional price is actually for additional extras.

The standard and Day One editions of the Xbox One console will both include a headset, despite Microsoft suggesting that Kinect would be used instead.

As U-turns go it’s one of Microsoft’s more minor in recent months, but Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb has confirmed that all Xbox One consoles will be sold with a headset.

The unboxing video below is for the limited edition ‘Day One’ boxed set, although the only difference is an exclusive Achievement and a specially embossed controller.

That means the other contents of the box will also be included in the ordinary edition, namely a 4K compatible HDMI cable and the controversial Kinect sensor.

Initially Microsoft said that the Xbox One wouldn’t come with a headset, despite the console using a new audio connector port that means existing headsets need an adaptor to work.

The idea was that you were going to have to pay for that separately or just use Kinect’s microphone to speak to people. Microsoft then reversed its decision, then pretended it hadn’t reversed its decision, and has now admitted that actually, yes: it does come with a headset.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/08/xbox-one-unboxing-headset-included-with-all-versions-3917117/


’Earth-Like’ Asteroid Devoured by Dead Star

The Hubble Space Telescope has recorded an intriguing event some 150 light-years from Earth.

A large asteroid was pulled into the White Dwarf star (named ‘GD 61’ by astronomers) and utterly destroyed. This is not an unusual event, as even dead stars still exhibit a very high level of gravity. However, scientists are interested because the chemical signatures left in the star’s atmosphere indicate the presence of water and a rocky surface, both considered to be key building blocks for the creation of life on our planet.

Until this event was observed, water and a rocky surface had never been found together on an object outside our solar system.

The asteroid consisted of the elements magnesium, silicon, iron and oxygen, all of which are usually found in rock minerals, but scientists believe that the abundance of oxygen indicated the heavy presence of H20.

The object was at least 90KM across and as much as 26% of that is thought to have been water. Earth is considered to be just 0.02% water.

This discovery is important because it gives scientists a vindicating glimpse of how inhabitable environments may have been formed, receiving key components (such as water) from outside sources such as meteorites.

It is thought that water first arrived on our planet by similar means and that other planets in the GD 61 system would once have received water this way as well. According to BBC News, scientists consider the presence of rocky planets in the GD system to have been “very likely”.

Scientists have observed over 1,000 planets outside our solar system, but none is thought to contain water.

Closer to home, some planets and heavenly bodies are thought to contain water. Mars is considered by many to once have had liquid water, but if this is still the case, it is a greatly reduced amount.

Elsewhere, Jupiter’s moon Europa raises a tantalizing prospect that there are oceans under its icy surface. This has led to some convincing research into the possible presence of ocean currents there. However, Europa is not alone, its fellow moons Callisto and Ganymede have also been suggested as candidates for liquid water.

In addition, Rhea (moon of Saturn), Titania (moon or Uranus), Oberon (also orbiting Uranus), Triton (moon of Neptune), Pluto (dwarf planet), Eris (dwarf planet), Sedna (possible dwarf planet) and Orcus (another possible dwarf planet) are all speculated to have oceans, some of which may be in contact with the rocky core of the respective body, which would hypothetically result in a steady stream of minerals and salts into the water – an important factor in creating life.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has geysers, which is seen as proof of the presence of water or at least water vapours. It has even been theorized by some that Neptune contains oceans of liquid diamond.

The heavy presence of water on this asteroid is a vital clue for scientists and their understanding, not only of the cosmos, but also of how our home planet came into being.

SOURCES

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24491845

Saturday 26 October 2013

Sony 42-Inches of pure perfection

Like a lot of people reading this, I enjoy the festival of Christmas a great deal.

Although I’m not religious (actually, I have frequently described myself as a ‘spiritually inclined’ atheist – despite the fact that I’ve taken to observing all 8 Pagan Sabbats over the course of this year), I still view Christmas time as the joyous time being spent with family, friends and those you consider as belonging to the adjoining ring of the ‘inner circle’.

My family is one with many continuing Christmas traditions, lots of that will no doubt be passed on to my kids (should my girlfriend and I ever decide to have any). We bring out similarly decorations year after year (a number of which have been in the household for over a century).

On Christmas Eve, my Mum will very much read ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’ by Clement C. Moore to my brother and myself (and lately my girlfriend too), albeit we are now in our twenties. Until recently, we’d move out into the road and ring the ‘sleigh bells’ for our neighbours’ kids to hear from their window (as their mother and father did for my brother and I when we were children).

Perhaps our greatest family custom, however, often is the ritual viewing of the Frank Capra Christmas classic ‘It is a Wonderful Life’. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart as the perennial ‘nice guy fallen on hardship’ George Bailey, Donna Reed as his wife Mary, Henry Travers as Clarence, George’s guardian angel and of course, Lionel Barrymore as the truly shameful ‘Old Man Potter’.

It doesn’t matter what else goes on (or how frantic Christmas Eve can be, especially now that travel is a consideration our coming together), we ALWAYS find time to stream that specific film on that individual evening.

By the time George runs happily through the streets of Bedford Falls shouting “Merry Christmas you superb old building and loan!” My Father is welling up, by the point George’s brother Harry declares him to be “the richest man in town”, I am right there with him. There is just a certain, sparkling, honest-to-goodness magic to it, the writing is glorious, the direction is miles ahead of its time and the performances, well, (to quote Bernard Black of ‘Black Books’ fame) “Ah, they’d melt your face”.

Why am I revealing you this?

Well, considering as there is no way to boost upon the movie itself, the event would perhaps only be bettered if we had a Sony 42 inch TV. With the jaw dropping ‘X-Reality’ display, a wireless smartphone link-up feature and much more besides, this innovative 2013 smart tv is really a doozy. It might lack some of the more compulsive features of Sony’s other smart Televisions, but, after viewing the display and lustrous, ultramodern design of this Smart tv, it hardly seems to matter.

With the brand new Bluray edition of ‘It is a Wonderful Life’, a shiny Sony 42-Inch Television and a good surround sound, you’ll never be happier to view an angel getting his wings. 


Tuesday 22 October 2013

Using Urine to recharge your devices, can it be possible

Scientists functioning at the University West of England (UWE) in Bristol, UK, have discovered one way to recharge a mobile phone with Human urine.

The team have been capable of recharge a Samsung mobile by putting the liquid through a surge of microbial energy cells. With this method, enough energy has been produced to send text messages, browse the Web and also make a brief phone call.

Based on the scientists in charge, the next phase is to fully charge the device with pee…Seemingly cleaning their hands immediately afterwards.

Dr. Ioannis Ieropoulos has labored for a long time with microbial fuel cells; he’s considered a guru in harnessing energy from abnormal options. The possibe applications of his work are very attractive from an environmental viewpoint.

Dr. Ieropoulos said, “We are very excited as this is the world’s first, no-one has harnessed energy from pee to do this so it truly is an interesting discovery. Using the final waste product as the supply of power to produce electrical power is almost as eco as it gets.” Eco-friendly tech is, seemingly, the great doctor’s main area of appeal.

The microbial cells work as the energy converter, they take the organic matter straight into electrical energy, via the metabolism of live microbes. The electrical power is the by-product of the microorganism’s natural life cycle, meaning that as they ‘eat’ the pee, they produce power the energy that powers the mobile. Now that is what we call ‘pee as you go’.

Bathroom humour aside, the team have engineered a world first, as nothing as large as the phone battery has ever been charged using this process before.

There are, at present, no plans to market this technology on a large scale, but maybe someday we can be signing a ‘P’ mobile agreement, the trick, as they say, will be pissistance.

PS – I’m sorry about this one. The task and its implications are astounding. All credit to the UWE team. On the other hand, I continuously needed to do one to those ‘And Finally’ type stories and now I conclusively get to. Please forgive me, one and all.

SOURCES:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/urine-could-charge-mobile-phones-152225132.html


Does amazon promote a keyboard that works with the kindle fire

You would imagine that outer keyboards for tablet pc’s are ‘almost of a muchness’ by now, wouldn’t you? If only it was as simple as ensuring the keyboard in question is similar with your Operating system and then, oh, I don’t know, buying the damn thing…But it doesn’t seem to be that way, unfortunately.

Now, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD is well-matched with external keyboards, but not with all of them. So you’ll probably be stuck rooting through an intensive list of keyboards (many of which do not seem to bother letting us know whether they are ‘Kindle friendly’ or not).

The ‘Amazon Basics keyboard’ doesn’t appear to work for every reviewer, either. Some like it, some don’t.

Frustratingly, opinions are often inconsistent when it relates to Kindle Fire compatibility, with a few claiming that individual products work and others angrily reporting sentiments similar to “do they b******s”.

However, all isn’t lost, gentle reader. Users on Amazon.co.uk have claimed that the following models are compatible (to varying levels) about the Kindle Fire HD:

The Advent Bluetooth Keyboard

The Perixx Keyboard

The Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard 6000

The Belkin Android Mobile Bluetooth Keyboard

Obviously, I cannot personally confirm these user experiences, but online boards are commonly a great way to see what’s around and what tablets other people have used without spending any of your own money.

As I’ve said in another place about the internet, it really does pay to shop about. I strongly recommend reading the reviews for every of those keyboards before you commit your heard-earned cash to one of them.

On another interesting forum, I discovered that there’s even a little debate as to if Amazon have locked out third party keyboards deliberately. Amazon are renowned for their (occasionally) restrictive hardware, so it is not really an enormous leap of the imagination to consider the company blocking out external keyboards. However, I can find no official statement from Amazon with reference to this one way or another, so your guess is as good as mine.

When you do decide to perform an internet search so as to discover more, please keep in mind that the Kindle Keyboard is really a type of eReader that is essentially unrelated to the Kindle Fire or Fire HD. Articles, reviews and forums regarding this product will obstruct any search containing the terms ‘Amazon+Kindle+Keyboard’. ‘Annoying’ scarcely does it justice.

Update: As it seems, there is an official Amazon keyboard that works with Kindle fire, however it doesn’t appear within the UK Amazon site. In my opinion, I’d suggest getting this if you’re a US-based customer. If Amazon guarantees that it will work, then it’ll probably work.

Within the UK, well, its in fact frustratingly vague as to what keyboards will work and what will not. Another suggestion is to go down to the local computer store and ask them if you are able to try one out. That typically works.


Monday 21 October 2013

The new apple iphone 5s is released, what do we think?

Given the reliability, capacity to entertain and user-friendliness of the iPhone, its a small wonder more people don’t fall in madly love with them. You love your iPhone, it’s only natural to want to protect her. You can start by buying some iphone covers from this very site!

Your iPhone is beautiful, gets on with your friends and is always there when you need her. She’s smart, funny and the envy of everybody you know. So who wouldn’t hire a bodyguard for their iPhone? She’s in constant danger!

iPhones need iphone covers to keep them safe. In the course of a day iphone covers protect her from being dropped, waterlogged, smashed, cracked, burned and otherwise mistreated. In fact, sometimes the only thing standing between iPhones and their total annihilation are iphone covers.

iphone covers come in a variety of colours, designs and prices, so why not look around and see our selection of iphone covers? Ultimately, you may end up cradling your iPhone whilst leaving a busy London nightclub crooning “And iiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeiiiiiiiieeeeeeiiiiiiii wiiiiiiiil alwaaays loooove youuuuuuuu!!!!” at the top of your lungs, but this only happens in very rare cases.

The rest of us, after nestling our little beauties safely in their iphone covers, go on to lead mostly normal lives and in no way ever end up sitting behind a dumpster in Soho, holding our iPhones ever-so-tenderly. “Hey, why are you singing to that iPhone?” “Uh…No reason, officer…”


Thursday 10 October 2013

Communications in Airports:Safety and Security is Paramount

Latest news – The security in airports have in the last ten years improved exponentially, and with this the two way radio structure has also got better and developed. Interactions and departments that were formally segmented, were pooled for a more versatile and cheaper infrastructure along with a more secure system, that could not be evesdropped in was created, discover further in this interesting article

Efficiency, business continuity, service recovery, utilisation, safety and security on a massive scale.

Airports have become remarkable places, entire communities, employing tens of thousands of people within their perimeters, and covering areas measured in square miles, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Running an airport can be likened to running a large town, for instance the three hundred companies operating within London Heathrow Airport employ 80,000 people, which is roughly equivalent to the population of Warrington, a large conurbation in the UK. This is hardly surprising when they serve over 65 million passengers arriving at, departing from, or transferring through the airport.

Clear, reliable and effective two-way radio communications of both voice and data between diverse teams in an airport is not just important, it’s mission critical to operational efficiency, business continuity, safety and security.

In the past, different companies within airports operated as separate entities and developed their own two-way radio systems to allow them to communicate with their clients, typically airlines; while in turn, airlines needed to communicate with both their suppliers and their own teams.

This led to a proliferation of isolated communications systems and resulted in huge inefficiencies and the risk to the resident airport community and passengers in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Thankfully, in recent years this situation has changed across the world’s airports with investment in integrated solutions that allow cross communication between individuals and user groups operating at desks, on foot or from vehicles, including:


Airport management

Airlines

Airline agents

Ground services

Flight and cabin crew

Engineering

Construction

Maintenance

In-flight catering


Retail and catering

Hotels and Car Parks

Transfer services

Baggage handling

Cleaning services

Freight handling

Border control

Security teams

Safety teams





Kenwood’s NEXEDGE® digital two-way radio systems including walkie-talkies, in-vehicle units and repeaters, integrated in cost effective and scalable digital trunked systems, have proven themselves in delivering outstanding coverage and reliability in voice and data transmission across a wide range of airport operations, from small airfields to, most recently, one of Europe’s busiest international airports, serving 32 million passengers from its 3.6 square mile site.

Case Study – Turkish Ground Services (TGS): Switch to Digital & Kenwood NEXEDGE

Orgen, the official distributor of Kenwood radio communications systems in Turkey, has recently completed the first phase of building the biggest digital radio communication system in the country, utilising Kenwood Nexedge digital products. Their client, Turkish Ground Services (TGS), was formed on 1st January 2010 in partnership with Turkish Airlines and HAVAS and has already grown to become a major player in the global aviation industry.

For more information on Kenwood NEXEDGE® digital two-way radios, walkie talkies, trunked systems and networks for airport and airline operations,

Source - http://www.nexedgebusiness.co.uk/market_sectors/airports_and_airline


Saturday 5 October 2013

Sylvester Stallone to reprise rocky film once more

Rumours thrive that Sylvester Stallone will probably be playing the character of ‘Rocky Balboa’ again, in a new movie set in the ‘Rocky’ universe.

The incredibly popular character Rocky Balboa formerly appeared in the Oscar-winning 1976 movie ‘Rocky’ and has been the central character in no less than six films to date.

MGM films have officially offered the brand new project, at present recognized only as ‘Creed’ to director Ryan Coogler.

The proposed film is really a spin-off as opposed to a straight sequel.

Michael B. Jordan, star of this year’s ‘Fruitville Station’ along with HBO television drama ‘The Wire’, would play the grandson of returning series character Apollo Creed. The proposed story would call for young Creed to enter the world of boxing, with Stallone’s Balboa playing the job of his tutor.

Director Ryan Coogler, who worked with Jordan in the aforementioned ‘Fruitville Station’ movie, is said to be enthusiastic about the idea and is eager to co-write the script.

Apollo Creed, as portrayed by Carl Weathers, was originally presented as Rocky’s antagonist. In his original role, Creed (who was supposedly similar to a mixture of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Louis) was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champ also as a confidence businessman. When faced with a lack of appropriate opponents, Creed decided to put his championship on the line against a local, unknown fighter.

The initial film mainly centred around the chosen fighter Rocky Balboa as he trained for the largest fight of his life. In the later films, Apollo Creed became a tutor and a close friend to Rocky.

Weathers played Creed in each ‘Rocky’ film until ‘Rocky IV’, where the character was killed in a match with Russian boxer Ivan Drago (portrayed by Dolph Lundgren).

Despite the character’s death, he is prominently mentioned in both follow-up films and remains extremely popular with fans of this series.

The ultimate movie within the original Rocky series, ‘Rocky Balboa’ was released in 2006 to a strong critical and profitable reception. In 2010, Sylvester Stallone was inducted into the Worldwide Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum for his formation and depiction of Rocky, as well like the many tributes he has paid to boxers and the sport of boxing in his career.

SOURCES:

http://www.sylvesterstallone.com/stallone-inducted-into-boxing-hall-of-fame/

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/stallone-to-play-rocky-again-in-spin-off-creed-053257511.html


Tuesday 1 October 2013

Mark Henry and Mark Callaway showcase wellbeing and exercise through a world"s strongest man event

Sometime the other week, numerous schoolchildren from Round Rock, Texas came head to head with the World’s Strongest Guy.

Texas native Mark Henry, a previous Olympic weightlifter, record-breaking powerlifter and Professional Wrestling World Champion, was joined by a group of ex-NFL stars as well as his WWE best friend, Mark Callaway, AKA The Undertaker.

The occasion was invented to promote the importance of education, health and fitness in time for that new school term. Henry flew in from New York so as to visit the children and inspire them to better things for the coming school months. As part of the day’s celebrations, Henry pulled a Semi Truck for a considerable distance in front of a bunch of amazed children, event organizers and parents.

Mark Henry’s inventory of athletic activities is extraordinary. He competed in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games as a weightlifter; Henry was also a Gold Medal winner in the 1995 Pan American Games and was named Drug-Free World Champion Powerlifter in 1995. He was named U.S powerlifting champion two times. He is a reigning world record holder in a number of areas is credited with the largest raw squat and raw powerlifting total ever performed by a drug-tested athlete.

Henry is also a 3-time U.S National Weightlifting Champion, an American Open winner, Two-Time U.S Olympic Festival Champion and NACAC Champion. In 2002, he won the very first annual Arnold Strongman Classic Competition and has openly performed many feats of power, including pushing a tank.

Mark Henry’s claim to being the ‘World’s Strongest Man’ is fairly dubious and never considered official by most organizations, but having set lifting records all through his life and winning no less than one strongman contest, his claim is respected by most (and also the visual evidence is tough to deny).

Henry has too had a 17-year career in Professional Wrestling, competing within the WWE (formerly WWF) ever since corporation owner Vince McMahon learned that Henry was a wrestling aficionado. His subsequent profession has seen him win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship two times, as well as a ECW Championship and the WWE European Championship.

Regardless of his no-nonsense on-screen personality (a character who frequently welcomes his enemies to the ‘Hall of Pain’) Henry is very active with the ‘Make a Wish’ Foundation, (a charity group that grants wishes to children with life-threatening or fatal ailments) also as many anti-drug and anti-bullying campaigns.

When interviewed on the day, Henry said: “I would like the children to see what I did not have. I didn’t have a great deal growing up. I wish more people did it for me, so I try and do it in kind.”





SOURCES: http://www.keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/wwe-star-mark-henry-meets-round-rock-kids-11058.shtml



http://pop-break.com/2013/05/08/rant-a-mania-wwe-the-make-a-wish-foundation/



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_henry



http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/henry_mark.html