PSA Station
Business, Marketing, and New Technology
Rolling Dustball Actually Collects the Dust
Feb 9th
A distant relative to the Roomba, perhaps, there’s a new kid on the dust-cleaning block. Invented by Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, the Dustball is a round sphere that resembles a cross between a golf ball, a tumbleweed, and a honeycomb. The designer sees it as an automated way to clean public spaces. It simply rolls itself around the area, picking up dust and debris, and even knows how to find it’s way back to a dock plugged into a wall whenever it needs to be emptied. The two sides of the sphere are honeycombed with latticework, and are attached to each other magnetically. It does require some manual attention, though, to empty the debris. It’s not hard, just pull the two sides apart.
Now, I’ve had some experience with rolling things underfoot, so I’m wondering if having little golf balls rolling randomly around a public place is such a good idea. Stepping on one is a definite hazard, and if the area is large, there would have to be multiple little Dustballs rolling around, increasing the possibility of accidents. Maybe if you made it the size of a beach ball- but then, it could not get under chairs, or tables, or radiators, etc.
I’ve watched the video, and gone to the designers site, but can’t really tell just how big the thing is. I thought it was golf ball size, but this video implies that it is beach ball size.
Hmmm… automatic cleaners are a real good i
idea, but this one might need a little tweaking before enjoying widespread use.
Cement You Can See Through? Not Exactly
Feb 4th
Cement is considered hard, dense and solid, and being inside a cement building is characterized by darkness, or artificial light. That is, until now. At the World Expo last year in Shanghai, transparent cement was seen for the first time at the Italian Pavilion. It’s quite remarkable. While the complete creation process is still a secret, the manufacturer, Italcementi, says that the technology uses a matrix of cement that has resins embedded within it that allow light to pass through, without compromising the overall integrity of the material. The resins fill holes that look like rectangular slats. These holes are about 2-3 millimeters . The end result is that the building is about 20% transparent.
The resins let light pass through, so from the inside of the building, the walls have a soft glow from sunlight, thus reducing the need for artificial lighting. During the day, from the outside, the building looks like any ordinary cement structure, but at night, if the lights are on inside, the outside of the building has a soft ethereal glow. Architect Giampaolo Imbrighi calls the new transparent cement i.light. The i.light material is also cheaper to use than other options, like using optical wires embedded in the cement. It also lets more light come through, and is easier to mesh/integrate with the surrounding cement mixture.
Hope For Those Waiting On Organ Donor Lists
Feb 3rd
Those needing new organs find themselves on waiting lists that number in the thousands. Often, the wait takes years, during which the health of the recipient declines, and the odds of a successful transplant declines with it. There are so many more people needing transplants, and so few organs available, the situation is critical.
However, scientists from the Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego have encouraging news on that front. They reported online in Nature Cell Biology (January 30, 2011) that they have managed to take ordinary skin cells, and “reprogram” them at the cellular level, so that they transform themselves into heart cells. The process only takes a few days to move from skin cells, to beating heat cells.
This has enormous potential in the organ-growing field. As research progresses, there is hope that scientists will be able to take a person’s own skin cells, and grow a new heart for him. There would be no waiting for a donor heart, and just as important, there would be no potential for rejection of the new organ, because it would be of the patient’s own makeup.
Other scientists have converted similar skin cells into nerve cells, so there is hope that this technology will be able to be adapted for other organs as well.
One Plus One Equals….What again? Calculators Online
Feb 1st
Yes, we all were supposed to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, way back in elementary school. We are supposed to be able to do it in our heads. But, well, I certainly don’t, and I bet you don’t either. I keep one, (or two, ok, three) calculators at my desk for quick answers to those numeric questions that come up.
However, I do spend a lot of time in front of the computer, which, I am told, is a whiz at calculating all kinds of things. So, how to tap into this? How to make it simple and easy to find a calculator right on the screen? I’ve found several ways to do this.
First, almost everyone already has a handy calculator right there. (I’m a PC person, so you Mac’s will have to forgive me, because I do not know where to find this on a Mac.) Just click on the Windows symbol in the far left corner of the screen, then click on All Programs, then Accessories, and right there is the link for Calculator. It opens right up on the screen and can be minimized to use anytime.
Second, is in the Gadgets section on the right of your desktop. A quick search of Windows gallery of gadgets brought up no less than 20 different calculators to choose from, all free and downloadable to go into your gadget column. Check it out at http://gallery.live.com.
Third, there are always online calculators galore. Just google “calculator” and choose your favorite. One of mine is http://metacalc.com. It is clean and has no distraction on the page.
So there you go, more ways than you’ll ever need to do all the adding, subtracting, etc. that you like. Happy ciphering!
Use Less Ink by Changing the Font – Ecofont
Jan 27th
Ink and ink cartridges are taking a toll on the environment. So hats off to Spranq, a company in the Netherlands, that has developed a new font, that uses up to 20% less ink. Just by choosing to print out your documents in a different font, you’ll end up saving a lot of ink! The font is called Ecofont, and incorporates tiny little holes in each letter. When printed out, the words look the same, but there is less ink used because of the holes in each letter. The eye does not pick up on the difference, unless the font size is over 10.
The font can be downloaded for either Mac or PC. It is free to use, being based on and Open Source font. It is a TrueType font. The download site includes instructions on how to install the font into your own local fonts folder. Instructions are available for Windows XP, and Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.
This new font is so impressive that it won the European Environmental Design Award 2010. Congratulations Spranq, and thank you for helping to reduce our carbon footprint, and helping the whole planet become more Green.
Working With HP Photosmart C4200 Ink Cartridge Issues
Jan 24th
I have the HP Photosmart 7350 and it has worked flawlessly ever since I got it. However, some of my friends, who have the HP Photosmart C4200 and C4300 series printers have been getting error messages like “incompatible cartridges” or ‘missing cartridges”. So I was very happy to find this YouTube video which shows a work-around for the problem.
If, for some reason you cannot see the video, these steps might help your printer to print again.
1- Press both the “Power” button, and the “Cancel” buttons at the same time.
2- Watch the screen; it should tell you to enter a particular combo key. Then press first the blue button, then press the green one, then the grey button.
3- Then press the grey button until you see the “information Menu”.
4- Press the green button to Accept.
5- Press the grey “down” button again until you see “Checksum for relock data input”.
6- Then press the green button for ok.
7- You should now be seeing a number on the screen. Just back out of everything by pressing the cancel button 3 times.
Hope this helps! Here’s a video for extra explanation.
Gadgets on your Windows 7 Desktop
Jan 19th
The Windows 7 operating system has many things going for it, but one of my favorites is the ability to display “gadgets” right there on the desktop. These gadgets are little windows (although they don’t look like windows) that have various functions. You can have one that will tell you the local weather, or get sports scores, or view photos, without having to open up a new browser or program. Some gadgets need internet access to work, but others do not. You can have one that is a timer, counting up, or down, and I have one that looks like a post-it note, where I can type quick notes to myself without having to open word or text.
You can start installing the gadgets by right clicking on your desktop, and then choosing, of course “Gadgets”. There are a dozen or so gadgets for you to choose from right there. Just click on one and choose Add. If you don’t see what you want, never fear. You can go to
http://windows.microsoft (dot) com/en-US/windows/downloads/personalize/gadgets
where you can find hundreds more to choose from.
When you want to remove a gadget, you can hover over it with your mouse and click X, or right-click your desktop to open up the gadget collection, and then right-click on the gadget that you want to uninstall.
Best Vacuum Ever- Dyson
Jan 17th
Dust. Dust, pollen, and pet hair. It’s everywhere, especially if you live in the South, with trees all around, and with 2 cats and a dog. Growing up, even with pets, I had no awareness of a dusty house, or pet hair everywhere. Then when I found myself with my own home, every day, new dusty surfaces to clean, not one day could go by without seeing it settle. I pondered this for a while, before remembering that my brother had had severe allergies when we were growing up. Hence, my parents had installed super-duper filters on the heating and air-conditioning systems, so that almost all of the offensive stuff was filtered out. Unfortunately I have no such system.
What I do have, however is a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I absolutely love my Dyson. I’ve lived with, tried and tested 4 or 5 of the ‘best” vacuums out there, but none even comes close to the contained tornado that the Dyson has. First time I used it I knew I’d fallen in love. I have one of the older models, the DV-14, and it still runs like a dream. I love the fact that it is so easy to maintain. Each part comes off intuitively, and easily without needing extra tools. It’s so simple to check for blockages (which, by the way very rarely happen) and emptying the dirt is a snap! Just position it over your trash can, put one loop, and it dumps right out. No bags, no backup, no mess.
Even so, I was impressed (once again) when we had a spill of ashes from the downstairs fireplace. Now, ashes are very fine indeed, and even a vacuum cleaner tends to “exhale” dust when it is that fine, or so I thought. Not my Dyson! It cleaned up every speck, with none escaping whatsoever. What a delight! There are very few appliances I’ve had in my life that I can count on like this one. Check it out folks, the very best vacuum out there- made by Dyson.
The Cell Phone – a Phone by any Other Name is Still a …What?
Jan 13th
As far a personal communication devices go, the cell phone is by far the gadget of choice. While at least 85 % of all adults now have their own mobile phone, the younger generation seems to think they just can’t live without them. According to a new Pew Research Center report, in the 14 to 29 year old range, a full 96% own a cell phone of some kind.
Of course, the name “phone” itself is becoming antiquated. These “phones” slice and dice and make dinner for you. Ok, well, not dinner, but they certainly can do a heck of a lot more than we ever imagined just a few years ago.
Now, they can double as your Mp3 Player, your GPS system, your email provider, your access to the internet, your personal notepad, your calendar, the list is virtually endless. And that is truly the case, as new applications are being invented and made available faster than a user could possibly test them all.
The new mobile phones are used for text messaging far more than they are used for phone calls. According to Neilson Mobile (yes, the same people who keep track of who’s watching what on TV) from 2006 to 2008, the number of text messages increased by 450%. Over the same time, mobile phone calls did not increase at all. So, calling the device a “phone” just seems a little out of sync with its use.
The problem with a new name is that the uses for our “phones” are changing so rapidly, that it could not be named after what it does. It needs a new name altogether.
Any suggestions?
Graduating Students- Clean up your (FaceBook) Act
Jan 4th
Students are almost unanimously plugged into FaceBook. So are their professors. And to the student’s surprise, so are their potential employees. What used to be just fun and games, a way to share your last weekends party antics, has become an open and available record of your life, and your character.
In a poll from CareerBulders, (that’s already a year old) Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed said that they screen the social media sites of prospective applicants before offering the job. That’s twice as many as the year before, and is increasing all the time.
Now, it is more important than ever to keep your online presence clean. Here are some tips to make sure you make a good impression online.
1- Delete those drunken photos!
2- Make sure that whenever someone tags you in a picture, you get informed, so that you can edit and delete the tag, even if you can’t delete the photo.
3- Refrain from making derogatory statements about…. anyone. Prospective employers looking for someone with a positive attitude will be turned off by any lambasting comments on your part.
4- Make sure there are no references to unsavory activities, illegal or otherwise (you don’t do drugs, do you?
5- Make sure you include pictures of club meetings, and community activities (that, yes, your friends might think are boring) so show that you are active and involved in more than just frat parties.
6- Be sure to include items in your profile that highlights your strengths, your abilities, and your social acumen.
With a little care and attention, your social site can give you a boost into the big bad world out there, instead of tripping you up. Take care.