Articles, Technology

Steampunk is a form of art where modern day objects are transformed to look like 19th century steam powered devices. An example is this laptop complete with its power-on key. Rich Nagy the creator of this beast sums up his passion for tinkering with technology "[Computer technology] was robbed of the fleeting, wonderful period right after invention, where it is celebrated and honoured by the finest craftsman, artists and creative minds and given a structure befitting its potential and greatness."

In the last few months I've had a hard time finding a reasonably priced dual core processor laptop in the consumer PC market. Most of the models I loved have been discontinued and moved off the shelves. You would think that they have been replaced by more powerful models, but no. Computer manufacturers are taking a step back in time and actually building slightly less powerful laptops but instead offering more portability and style. I take a trip down memory lane and look at the philosophy behind the next generation of laptops.

In the recent CEATEC Japan 2009 exhibition Sony presented a conceptual prototype of the future VAIO laptop that would use the flexible OLED technology or FOLED. While these may look and sound fairly futuristic, FOLEDs could become common in mainstream electronic devices of the future.

It seems that wireless devices are taking over our lives. Starting with wireless internet most other computing devices are now also wireless. We have wireless keyboards, wireless mice, wireless telephones, wireless headphones and wireless CCTV. Companies that sell these devices are fairly quick to point out how convenient it is to use the wireless device and how long the wireless range is, but very few of them actually publish information about if the wireless communication on the device is secure.

Security is a increasing source of concern for home owners today. Bad economic times have led to an increased risk of home breakins and theft. Most security installations are done by professional organizations which will charge you a hefty sum and provide you will iron clad security. However what many home owners need is a simple deterrent system, that will stop the street thief from getting in and wiping the house clean. There are an increasing number of security products in the market which you can install yourself, but it is important to understand the advantages of using each because incorrect use could create a false sense of security while actually leaving your home more exposed than protected.

In the small world of digital pocket cameras, increasingly the trend is to buy one with higher number of megapixels. Camera manufacturers have recognized this trend and are providing even higher megapixels at even higher prices. However, in reality they are not building better cameras that support higher mexapixels, they are simply extracting more megapixels from their existing cameras. This means picture quality is being compromised. So you may get better picture quality from a lower megapixel camera.

While it might seem like a simple task of buying a HDMI cable and plugging it in, in practice it might not work at all. So if you have tried and failed or are about to try you should be reading this.

If you are a gadget freak and always have the latest, coolest MP3 player or computer and you haven't encountered the term DRM you are missing out on some real action!
If you have already encountered this term and ever wondered 'what the heck!' read on...