| June 2008 |
DIY tech
Desktop special effects |
| Using consumer-grade software, you can create stop-motion and green-screen effects on your home PC. |
Amateur video doesn’t have to be as unpolished as the name implies. High-def camcorders and PC video-editing software have made huge leaps in quality and sophistication compared with what was... |more| |
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| May 2008 |
Shedding new light |
| Super-efficient LEDs and CFLs are outshining Edison’s glowing filament |
More than a century after Thomas Edison created a practical incandescent lightbulb, we’re still stuck with the same basic – and inherently inefficient – design. Of course, what we see as light is... |more| |
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The Manchurian chip |
| Experts worry that counterfeit chips could be used to steal data – or crash a network. |
This past January, two brothers from Texas – Michael and Robert Edman – appeared in court to face charges of selling counterfeit computer equipment to, among others, the US Air Force, Marine Corps,... |more| |
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Haptics – the technology of touch |
| Force-feedback exoskeleton gloves, remote-control surgical robots and touchscreens that touch back – tactile technology is taking off. Popular Mechanics’ resident roboticist shakes hands with a virtual world. |
The term “joystick” seems a bit frivolous for the device in front of me, but there it is, an interface that hearkens back to the days of Pac Man and Donkey Kong. Yet this joystick is special – a... |more| |
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Just the ticket! |
| If this inventor has his way, spectators at 2010 Soccer World Cup events will gain entry to stadiums with tickets that are much more than they seem… |
As you file into the stadium to watch the 2010 Soccer World Cup final between Bafana Bafana and Portugal, you’re handed a paper ticket and pencil and invited to make a mark beside the team you think... |more| |
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DIY tech |
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Sky-high Wi-Fi
Q I’ve heard that some airlines are rolling out Wi-Fi on their planes. How does this work, and wouldn’t the radio interfere with the navigation equipment? A There... |more| |
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| April 2008 |
Designing the future |
| The solidworks annual conference in san diego, usa, is the largest event of its kind anywhere in the world. It’s all about using advanced 3d cad (computer-aided design) software to create or improve the myriad objects – everything from simple pipe joints to aircraft, cars and other complex machines – that make our world tick. |
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) touches almost everything you do. Your toothbrush, your comb, your coffee maker, your car, your computer monitor, the chair in your office – even the tiny MP3 player... |more| |
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DIY tech
Good news, blown fuse |
| I recently had a party, and one of my friends turned up the volume of my AV receiver really loud. Suddenly, it shut down. Is it destroyed? |
It’s possible that your receiver is toast, but don’t give up hope yet. There are two things to check.Many modern receivers have “protection circuits,” bits of specialised hardware that recognise... |more| |
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Getting to the point |
| Fidelity, say some, has never been this high. Or this expensive. Meet the Blue Angel Mantis, a home-grown audio masterpiece |
Spending upwards of R15 000 on a music system component weighing a few grams may seem irrational. When the component concerned is revealed to be a phono cartridge – a record player “needle” to most... |more| |
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Ultimate fighting machines |
| First-gen armed robots are tough, smart and packing plenty of heat. Welcome to the age of the real killer apps. |
At a muddy test track in Grand Prairie, 21 km west of the city of Dallas in Texas, the robot is winning. It has climbed on top of a sedan, its 2 ½-ton bulk propped on the crumpled roof. The car never... |more| |
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