INNOVATION

World”s First Flying Car !!!!!!..”Transition”….

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source::::: bbc .com

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US company Terrafugia has put on display a prototype car that is licensed to fly as well as drive, at the New York International Auto Show.

It is the first fully integrated flying car in the world to have met both the standards of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), according to Cliff Allen, vice-president of sales at Terrafugia.

This makes it the first “street legal aeroplane”, he said.

Known as the Transition, the versatile vehicle has two seats, four wheels and retractable wings.

“

It is expected to be available next year, with a price tag in the region of $279,000 (£176,300).

Test flight

The vehicle currently has an experimental certificate from the FAA, meaning the company has permission to fly it in US airspace for test purposes. The company hopes in time it will gain a light sport aircraft licence.

The hybrid vehicle completed its first successful test flight at Plattsburgh International Airport near Montreal in Canada last month.

A retired US Air Force test pilot took the maiden voyage – after volunteering his services.

Transition completed a successful test flight on 23 March this year at Plattsburgh International Airport

“We are very fortunate to have found him,” said Dr Samuel Schwegart, an engineer at Terrafugia working on the project.

The vehicle flew at 1,400ft for eight minutes.

However, important details still need to be worked out from test data, including the stall speed of the aircraft.

There are significant design challenges marrying a roadworthy vehicle with a skyworthy one, according to Dr Schwegart.

“We were curious to see how it would take off,” says Dr Schwegart. “Unlike a normal plane, it cannot rock back on its rear wheels at the moment of take-off, because it is designed to be stable as a car on the road.”

The engineers also found that Transition needed more speed than anticipated on take-off, to generate the necessary lift for ascent.

A hard landing was also reported, but nothing of concern, according to Dr Schwegart.

Maintenance levels

“You can pull up at a regular gas station to fill it up,” says Dr Schwegart. A full tank holds 23 US gallons (87 litres) of fuel.

The vehicle has retractable wings allowing it to fit in a suburban garage
It requires Premium 91-octane fuel, and does 35 miles to the gallon on the road, and 28 miles in the air.

“The discrepancy is because of drag,” according to Dr Schwegart.

Although Transition can be stored in a normal garage, it needs a 1,700ft (520m) runway to take off.

According to the company, this is no problem, as there are 5,000 state airports in the United States. And there are a further 5,000 private ones, which might just mean a simple runway belonging to a farmer in a field.

Terrafugia calculates that you are rarely further than half an hour from a take-off point – and there are apps like Foreflight which will tell you where the nearest one is, whether you are on the ground, or up in the air hoping to come down.

“You just do your pre-flight checks, unfold your wings and away you go,” says Dr Schwegart.

Target market

The automated folding wings are an important feature of the vehicle, as wing design has confounded previous attempts to bring flying cars to a mass market.

Moulton Taylor’s Aerocar in the late 1940s gained a flying certificate in the US, but its detachable wings put many potential customers off.

They had to be fixed to the vehicle by hand, and transported on a trailer that was so long, it required a special road licence.

Terrafugia’s Transition has 100 pre-orders, which in it’s current small production facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, already means a 2-3 year backlog.

The initial target market for Transition was pilots, according to Dr Schwegart, but the company is now reaching out to people with no aviation background.

Terrafugia says the New York Auto Show has expanded their order book
The vehicle offers an “advanced level of freedom in life, more efficiency in personal travel”, according to a company representative.

With a range of 644 miles (1,035km) on a full tank, the vehicle could in theory make a non-domestic journey. For the time being, however, the vehicle is restricted by its licence to flying in the United States.

Refrigerator sans Electricity!!!!!…..Mitticool….

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Source::::: ‘The Hindu’…..
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Besides Mitticool, Gujarat villager Mansukhbhai has developed a range of products in terracotta — such as pressure cooker (with a whistle), non-stick pans, a 0.9-micron water filter etc

The Mitticool achieves something that no modern, high-tech and supposedly energy-efficient refrigerator does — it works without electricity! And this rustic wizardry is just one of the many exciting innovations of Mansukhbhai Prajapati.

A traditional potter from the small village of Wankaner in Gujarat, this unassuming innovator was in the city to receive the 2011 Villgro Grassroots Innovator Award at IIT-Madras. For someone who failed in his Class X examination, Mansukhbhai now holds a patent for Mitticool, besides several national awards. While the Forbes magazine listed him the ‘Most Powerful Rural Entrepreneur’ in 2010, the likes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and techno-giants such as Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte have shown interest in Mitticool, and he has received orders for his products from 41 countries around the world, so far.

Not just the Mitticool, Mansukhbhai has developed a range of products in terracotta — such as pressure cooker (with a whistle), non-stick pans that can be used over a normal LPG flame, a 0.9-micron water filter, etc. It took many years of experimentation and labour to arrive at each of his extraordinary products.

It all began when Mansukhbhai decided to make a non-stick pan for his wife, as he couldn’t afford the ones in the market. “After a while, I quit my job as a terracotta tile-maker, took a loan of Rs. 30,000 and set up a small factory to shape terracotta gadgets. “At one point, it looked as if we would have to sell our house to keep the factory going,” Mansukhbhai shares. That was when IIM-Ahmedabad professor and vice-chairman of National Innovation Foundation, Anil K. Gupta stepped in with monetary help. Mansukhbai repaid the loan with interest eventually, and now is working to develop the ‘Mitticool House’ — a house that would keep itself cool without consuming energy!

All from the earth

The Mitticool keeps things cool because of the nature of the mitti (clay) it is made with. The structure is double layered, and water poured into the chamber just beneath the top of the Mitticool trickles down between its double layered walls, taking heat from the inside and evaporates, leaving the storage chambers cool. Cool water can be drawn out through a tap provided near the top, and used as drinking water, if drinking water is poured.

“I wouldn’t advise people to store milk in it, considering our city’s climate, but it can keep vegetables and fruits fresh for up to a week,” says Nadeera Harris, who stocks Mitticool refrigerators at her outlet Desi Basics.

Mitticool’s chief charm remains its electricity independence. Well, looks like terracotta technology is an idea whose time has come. Again!

MORE ON MITTICOOL

A refrigerator that doesn’t consume electricity

Keeps vegetables and fruits fresh for a week

Retains nutritive value of the vegetables

Serves as a water cooler too

Keywords: Mitticool, Mansukhbai Prajapati, terracotta products, Rural Entrepreneur

Electric Passenger Plane…. in Flightpath 2050!!!!!!

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 SOURCE::::BUSINESSINSIDER.COM …..  Amazing information….looks like a  story now…but it could be a reality oneday!!!!..
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How A Futuristic Electric Passenger Plane Could Transform Aviation Forever

 

If the aviation industry is going to meet the formidable fuel-efficiency goals laid out in the European Commission’s “Flightpath 2050,” a lot of progress needs to be made. 

The successful test flight of PC-Aero’s single seat Elektra One in 2011 proved that electric power is a potential solution.

But a concept presented by research institution Bauhaus Luftfahrt at this week’s ILA Berlin Air Show makes that vision of air travel more relevant, efficient, and downright cool.

The recently unveiled Ce-Liner is a fully electric commercial passenger plane that would carry nearly 200 travelers between continents and over oceans. To develop it, Bauhaus Luftfahrt is using a variety of new technologies.

The distinctive “C-wing” improves aerodynamic efficiency and makes the goal of powering transatlantic flights with electricity more viable. The research institution predicts that batteryto allow a flight range of nearly 700 miles. That will jump to 1,000 miles by 2035, and to 1,600 miles by 2040.

In addition to emissions-free flight (provided the electricity is produced from renewable resources), the Ce-Liner will have a half hour airport turnaround time, easily reversible motors for better speed control, and seat design that gives passengers more room when the plane is not full.

More importantly, electric flight could transform aviation. Airlines, no longer hostage to rising oil prices, would be freed from the need to pack flights and reduce service to produce profits. Electricity would actually make air travel pleasant, especially since there’s no headache-inducing jet engine noise.

To find out just how Bauhaus Luftfahrt plans to get the Ce-Liner built and into the skies in the next few decades, we spoke with Dr. Askin T. Isikveren, the head of the research institution’s Visionary Aircraft Concepts program.

Here’s what he told us.

Q: How does the C-Wing impact flight in terms of aerodynamics and efficiency?

A: The C-Wing concept, originated by [Ilan] Kroo of Stanford University and [John H.] McMasters of Boeing/University of Washington, focuses on reducing a significant amount of the drag attributed to aircraft lift – much in the same way winglets reduce drag on commercial transports and business jets. The difference here is we combine the traditional horizontal tail (usually a separate smaller wing at the back-end of the aircraft) with the main wing in such a manner that it can further enhance the benefits given by winglets. Think of it as a “winglet-let”. Our predictions indicate a total drag reduction of up to 11 percent compared to projected improvements in conventional, separate wing-horizontal tail designs.

Q: What makes the Ce-Liner’s motors capable of producing enough power for a large aircraft?

A: We utilise so-called High Temperature Super-conducting electric motors. These are very much in the experimental phase – currently a good measure of test-rig laboratory work is being performed in the US. These motors are well suited to aerospace application because they are expected to exhibit very good power-to-weight ratios. The Silent Advanced Fans utilising Electrical power (SAFE) propulsion devices of the Ce-Liner need a total of around 59,800 hp in order to take off.

By shrouding the SAFE fan blades, we project very quiet levels of community and cabin noise and yet still produce a high level of efficiency for the aircraft during operation. One additional benefit of utilising electric motors for propulsion is to generate reverse thrust (slow down the aircraft during, for example, landing) simply changing the direction of rotation achieves this. Today, kerosene-based engines require dedicated equipment for such a function, which increases weight and cost.

Q: What other design differences are there between the Ce-Liner and current, conventional passenger jets?

A: Bauhaus has also focused on the cabin. We propose a centre-fuselage boarding and de-boarding. Our novel Sideward Foldable Seat allows passengers to board and de-board quickly. In addition, when the cabin is not full (average US DOT numbers indicate cabins are not 100 percent full), by having the Sideward Foldable Seats collapsed when passengers do not require them, the cabin will have a feeling of more space in its surroundings, therefore affording more comfort.

To make sure the aircraft is ready for departure from the gate within 30 minutes, we have designed specially modified industry-standard LD-3 cargo containers (called Charge Carrying Containers, or 3Cs) to house the advanced lithium ion batteries. In this way, the aircraft can be turned around quickly without having to wait for them to be recharged (which takes up to two hours) – the procedure will be to load and unload these 3Cs when the aircraft is at the gate.

 

bauhaus luftfahrt ce-liner electric plane

Bauhaus-Luftfahrt

 

Q: What is the most difficult design challenge facing the Ce-Liner?

A: The most difficult challenge is to reduce the weight of the Universally-Electric Systems Architecture necessary for the Ce-Liner. Although we at BHL have set relatively aggressive weight targets for the electrical system components, the aircraft still ends up being heavier than, say, a future aircraft that operates with kerosene alone. This tends to penalise the performance of the aircraft, e.g. diminish range capability.

By communicating the outcomes of our research work, we look towards collaborating with the wider academic community and industry to assist us in addressing this problem. It should be highlighted that our investigations have shown, even with this high weight penalty, the Universally-Electric Systems Architecture alone produces up to 10 percent better vehicle efficiency compared to future kerosene based designs. Such an outcome is due to the inherently more efficient components and sub-systems associated with electrical based solutions. This is good news when one considers the potential when utilising energy, whatever it might be, for future applications in aerospace.

Q: How much is the design and construction of the Ce-Liner expected to cost?

A: We have not as yet conducted a full product development cost prediction for Ce-Liner. Seeing that many of the component technologies that constitute the Universally-Electric Systems Architecture are in the experimental phase nowadays, the target we have set is moderately higher than the cost one normally associates with advanced, kerosene-based narrow-body aircraft.

Q: What is the estimated sale price?

A: Our market value and subsequent aircraft list price modeling does not capture the effect of how zero-emissions capability would influence price. This is currently too difficult to predict. Based on a method generally accepted by the aviation community using range capability, passenger accommodation, and other cabin and performance attributes, we have projected a list price of $39.6 million.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com

Images of Earth Captured thro A Home Camera!!!!!

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SOURCE::::: THE TELEGRAPH  SITE….

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Teenager floats £30 camera into space to capture curvature of Earth

A teenager has floated a £30 camera he bought on eBay into space to capture amazing images of the Earth.

A teenager has floated a £30 camera he bought on eBay into space to capture amazing images of the Earth.

Adam Cudworth with his homemade camera and (right) one of the photos taken from the trip that reached an altitude of 110,210 ft (33,592m) Photo: Nigel Iskander/newsteam

 

They look like they could be the latest images taken from a multi-million pound NASA satellite but these stunning snaps were actually taken from a £30 camera bought off eBay by a teenager.

Adam Cudworth, 19, managed to capture these incredible views of the earth from space using little more than a balloon and his second-hand camera.

And while NASA spends hundreds of millions of pounds each year on high tech satellites Adam, whose scientific background consists of only a Physics A-Level, achieved his incredible feat – on a £200 budget.

 

 

The student spent 40 hours working on a home-made device consisting of a box containing a GPS, radio and microprocessor – which soared to an incredible height of 110,210 ft (33,592m) when he released it last Thursday.

After taking two-and-a-half hours to float over 20 miles up into the earth’s stratosphere, his contraption captured out-of-this-world images giving breathtaking views of our planet from space.

Adam used a GPS tracker similar to a car’s sat-nav to follow its progress and an attached radio transmitter to find it when it fell back to earth having reached speeds of over 150mph.

The teenager, from Ombersley, Worcs., said: “It’s just a bit of hobby really, I just wanted to set myself a challenge – but I’m amazed at the results.

“I saw a guy who did a similar thing a couple of years back and I just wanted to recreate them – but better.

“I have no background in astrophysics or anything like that, I’m just an engineering student.

“People think its something that costs millions of pounds but I’ve proved you can do it on just a £200 budget.”

Adam bought a standard Canon A570 camera off eBay a year-and-a-half ago when he first had the idea for the project.

He placed it in an insulated box along with a small video camera, two temperature sensors, two high-performance solar panels, a tracking device, microprocessor and radio.

The Nottingham University student then attached it to a high-altitude two metre latex balloon with a parachute – and named his contraption HABE 5.

Following the launch, Adam tracked the balloon as it climbed to three times the height of a commercial plane before it burst and landed in Broadway, Worcs., 30 miles from his home.

The built-in circuit board allowed for Adam to cleverly record the speed, G-force and altitude his balloon was reaching at all times.

And incredible video footage taken alongside the photos, shows HABE 5 swirling through the clouds to dizzying heights.

He added: “When I retrieved the camera I was stunned – it had captured some incredible photos and footage.

“The exposure settings were different to my previous two attempts and I used materials which would be more robust in extreme temperatures and this led to clearer photos at altitude.

“The onboard video camera recorded great footage close to the ground after launch, however the lens fogged up at about 3km in altitude because moisture got in the lens – but it still looked rather impressive.

“I’m now working on project, which will allow me to control where the box lands when it falls back to earth.

“But that’s work in progress at the minute and I’ll have to be content with this for now.”

History of Laptop….

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SOURCE:::: GOOGLE NET.. pl dont miss the tailpiece… information gathered by me thro’ a tamil daily….

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History of Laptop Computers –
It is a little hard to determine what was the first portable or laptop computer, the first portable computers did not look like the book-sized and folding laptops that we are familiar with today, however, they were both portable and lapable, and lead to the development of notebook style laptops.

The First Laptop? Maybe
Designed in 1979 by a Briton, William Moggridge, for Grid Systems Corporation, the Grid Compass was one fifth the weight of any model equivalent in performance and was used by NASA on the space shuttle program in the early 1980’s. A 340K byte bubble memory lap-top computer with die-cast magnesium case and folding electroluminescent graphics display screen.

Gavilan Computer As The First Laptop?
Manny Fernandez had the idea for a well-designed laptop for executives who were starting to use computer. Fernandez, who started Gavilan Computer, promoted his machines as the first “laptop” computers in May 1983. Many historians consider the Gavilan as the first fully functional laptop computer.

The First Laptop Computer – Osborne 1
The computer considered by most historians to be the first true portable computer was the Osborne 1. Adam Osborne, an ex-book publisher founded Osborne Computer and produced the Osborne 1 in 1981, a portable computer that weighed 24 pounds and cost $1795. The Osborne 1 came with a five-inch screen, modem port, two 5 1/4 floppy drives, a large collection of bundled software programs, and a battery pack. The short-lived computer company was never successful.

More History of Laptop Firsts

Also released in 1981, was the Epson HX-20, a battery powered portable computer, with a 20-character by 4 line LCD display and a built-in printer.
In January of 1982, Microsoft’s Kazuhiko Nishi and Bill Gates begin discussions on designing a portable computer, based on using a new liquid crystal display or LCDscreen. Kazuhiko Nishi later showed the prototype to Radio Shack who agree to manufacture the computer.
In 1983, Radio Shack released the TRS-80 Model 100, a 4 lb. battery operated portable computer with a flat and more of a laptop design.
In February 1984, IBM announced the IBM 5155 Portable Personal Computer.
Three years later in 1986, Radio Shack released the improved and smaller TRS Model 200.
In 1988, Compaq Computer introduces its first laptop PC with VGA graphics – theCompaq SLT/286.
In 1989, NEC UltraLite was released, considered by some to be the first “notebook style” computer. It was a laptop size computer which weighed under 5 lbs.
In September 1989, Apple Computer released the first Macintosh Portable that later evolved into the Powerbook.
In 1989, Zenith Data Systems released the Zenith MinisPort, a 6-pound laptop computer. (more Zenith laptops)
In October 1989, Compaq Computer released its first notebook PC, the Compaq LTE.
In March 1991, Microsoft released the Microsoft BallPoint Mouse that used both mouse and trackball technology in a pointing device designed for laptop computers.
In October 1991, Apple Computers released the Macintosh PowerBook 100, 140, and170 – all notebook style laptops. (more on Powerbooks)
In October 1992, IBM released its ThinkPad 700 laptop computer.
In 1992, Intel and Microsoft release APM or the Advanced Power Management specification for laptop computers.
In 1993, the first PDAs or Personal Digital Assistants are released. PDAs are pen-based hand-held computers.

Tailpiece…. Do you know that Mr.William Moggridge , who designed the first laptop ever in the year 1979, has passed away in SANFRANCISCO on September 8 this year ?…..the death of this unsung hero who originally designed the first ever laptop went almost unnoticed…..not even by Cyber world….

i phone 5 ….what is in store for Apple Fans!!!!

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SOURCE::::::::::YAHOO NEWS NET….what is in store for i phone 5 FANS !!!!! …Let us wait and see… till then something for their munch!!!!!!!
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Apple Inc distributed invitations to an event in San Francisco on September 12, setting the stage for what is widely expected to be the release of the iPhone 5. The typically cryptic invitation said ‘It’s almost here’, sported a number 12 – corresponding to the date of the event – and cast a large shadow of the number 5, a clue that the fifth version of the popular smartphone could be in the pipeline. The event will take place at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the preferred venue for the unveiling of past products such as the iPad.

Here’s a look a the top rumours about the most-anticipated Apple device till date:

#1 The new screen could measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source has said, an increase from the 3.5-inch display that has been held constant since the smartphone began selling in 2007 and revolutionized the mobile industry.

#2 A technology blog, 9to5Mac, that got hold of a purported photo of the next iPhone, say that the new phone would be taller than the previous iPhones, but not wider like many of the Andriod phones available today.

#3 The leaked images also show that the back panel appears to be covered in metal and the headphone jack is on the botton of the phone now.

#4 Apple Inc’s new iPhone will drop the wide dock connector used in the company’s gadgets for the best part of a decade in favour of a smaller one, a change likely to annoy the Apple faithful but which could be a boon for accessory makers. The iPhone 5, Apple’s next generation iPhone expected to go on sale around October, will come with a 19-pin connector port at the bottom instead of the proprietary 30-pin port “to make room for the earphone moving to the bottom”, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. It would mean the new phone would not connect with the myriad of accessories such as speakers and power chargers that form part of the ecosystem around iPods, iPads and iPhones, without an adaptor.

#5 The phone will have an advanced technical capability of LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network that would give all phone carriers a chance to sell their fastest data services to Apple’s base of iPhone customers. LTE technology is much more fragmented than the previous third-generation wireless technology, making it more difficult to make LTE phones that work seamlessly around the world.

#6 The next iPhone, is expected to come with a built-in chip which can serve as your credit or debit card for small payments. Tech savvies looking at leaked images of the internals of the device have spotted what they believe is an NFC chip within the phone. NFC is seen as the successor to the chip-and-pin, serving as a small contactless card that can be waved against scanners at tills to automate a payment, the Daily Mail reported.

#7 Audience Inc , which makes chips used in Apple Inc’s iPhones, said its top customer is unlikely to use its technology for the latest iPhone. Audience’s chips improve the voice quality in mobile devices by filtering out background noise, and the company supplies these to Apple’s contract manufacturers like Foxconn International Holdings Ltd and Protek Ltd.

#8 Vietnamese tech news site tinhte.vn, has speculative images of the newly designed earphones that could accompany the new iPhone.

#9 Photos that are believed to be that of the next generation iPhone’s motherboard that have surfaced on the WeiPhone user forum, show that a SIM card slot that seem to be smaller than the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.

தமிழ் விஞ்ஞானிக்கு வட அமெரிக்காவில் கெளரவம் ….ஆனால் நம் இந்தியாவில் ???????????

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source::::: input from one of my contacts……let us hope that we take pride and lead in  spotting our own people and appreciating their talents before some other nation hijacks this golden opporttunity!!!!!   in the indident under discussion, who is the loser???? certainly NOT the individual!!!!!!
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இந்தியாவால் அவமானப்படுத்தப்பட்டு வெளியேற்றப்பட்ட தமிழ் விஞ்ஞானிக்கு வடமெரிக்காவில் கவுரவம்.

இந்தியாவால் வெளியேற்றப்பட்டு அவமானப்படுத்தப்பட்ட தமிழ் விஞ்ஞானி சிவா அய்யாதுரையை வட அமெரிக்கத் தமிழர் பேரவையான பெட்னா சிறப்பித்து கவுரப்படுத்தியிருக்கிறது.
இப்போதெல்லாம் ‘மெயில்’ வந்துருக்கு ன்னு வீட்டிலே யாரும் சொன்னால் அது தபாலில் வந்த மெயில் என்ற எண்ணம் வருவதில்லை. ‘மெயில்’ என்றால் ‘இமெயில்’ தான் என்று ஆகிவிட்டது. ஃபேஸ்புக், டுவிட்டர் என வெவ்வேறு பரிமாணங்களில் தகவல் தொழில் நுட்பம் முன்னேற்றம் கண்டாலும், இமெயில் எனபது அன்றாட செயல்களில் முக்கிய அம்சமாகிவிட்டது. தற்போதைய வாழ்க்கை முறையையே மாற்றிப் போட்டுவிட்டது.
முதன் முதலாக இமெயில் என்ற பெயரையும், இன்பாக்ஸ், அவுட்பாக்ஸ், ட்ராஃப்ட்ஸ், மெமோ உள்ளிட்ட (Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, the Memo (“To:”, “From:”, “Subject:”, “Bcc:”, “Cc:”, “Date:”, “Body:”), and processes such as Forwarding, Broadcasting, Attachments, Registered Mail, and others.) அனைத்து பகுதிகளையும் உள்ளடக்கிய தகவல் பரிமாற்றத்தை கண்டு பிடித்தவர் அமெரிக்க நியூ ஜெர்ஸி மாகாணத்தில் வசித்து வந்த 14 வயதே நிரம்பிய வி.ஏ. சிவா அய்யாதுரை என்ற தமிழ்க் குடும்பத்தை சார்ந்த மாணவன்.
ஆனால், குடியேற்ற சிறுபான்மை இனத்தவர் என்ற காரணத்தினாலோ என்னவோ, அவருக்கு அந்த அங்கீகாரத்தை கொடுக்காமல், இமெயில் உரிமைக்கு பலரும் சொந்தம் கொண்டாடினர்.
நான்கு ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து அமெரிக்க அரசாங்கம், 1982 ஆம் ஆண்டு ஆகஸ்ட் 30ம் நாள் முறையாக வி.ஏ. சிவா அய்யாதுரையின் புதிய கண்டுபிடிப்பான ‘இமெயில்’ ஐ அங்கீகரித்து காப்பி ரைட் வழங்கியது. இன்றோடு சரியாக முப்பது ஆண்டுகள் நிறைவடைந்துள்ளதை ஒட்டி, டாக்டர். வி.ஏ. சிவா அய்யாதுரை ‘இன்னோவேஷன்ஸ் கார்ப்ஸ்’ என்ற புதிய நிறுவனத்தை தொடங்கியுள்ளார்.
நியூ ஜெர்ஸி மாகாணம் நேவார்க் நகரில் இந்த நிறுவனம் தொடங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதன் சார்பில், நேவார்க் நகர உயர் நிலைப்பள்ளி மாணவர்களை புதிய கண்டுபிடிப்புகளுக்கு ஊக்கப்படுத்தும் வகையில் ஒரு லட்சம் டாலர்கள் பரிசுத்தொகை வழங்கப்போவதாக அறிவித்துள்ளார் டாக்டர் சிவா அய்யாதுரை.
மாணவனாக இருந்த போது தனது கண்டுபிடிப்புக்கு அங்கீகாரம் கிடைக்காமல் பல்வேறு சோதனைகளுக்குள்ளான தன்னைப்போல், ஏனைய மாணவர்களுக்கு அந்த சோகம் நேரக்கூடாது என்பதற்காகவும், மாணவர்களின் கண்டுபிடிப்புகள் புதிய தொழில்களை தொடங்கும் வகையிலும் இன்னோவேஷன்ஸ் கார்ப்ஸ் உறுதுணையாக இருக்கும் என்றார்.
பல தொழில்களை நடத்தி வரும் டாக்டர் சிவா அய்யாதுரை, அமெரிக்க பிரபல பல்கலைக் கழகமான எம்.ஐ.டி யின் விரிவுரையாளராகவும் பணிபுரிகிறார். சமீபத்தில் நடந்த வட அமெரிக்க தமிழர் பேரவை (ஃபெட்னா) வெள்ளிவிழா மாநாட்டில் அவர் கௌரவிக்கப் பட்டார் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. அவரது ‘இமெயில்’ பயணத்தை http://www.inventorofemail.com/ தளத்தில் தெரிந்து கொள்ளலாம்.
இந்தியாவில் அவமதிப்பு
இதே சிவா அய்யாதுரையை மத்திய அரசின் அறிவியல் மற்றும் ஆராய்ச்சி நிறுவனம் 2008-ம் ஆண்டு டெல்லிக்கு அழைத்தது. அவரும் இந்திய அரசின் அழைப்பை ஏற்று டெல்லியில் வந்து பணியாற்றினார். ஆனால் மத்திய அறிவியல் ஆராய்ச்சி நிறுவனத் தலைவரை விமர்சித்தார் என்று கூறி அவரை இதர விஞ்ஞானிகள் பேசுவதற்கு தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டது. அவருக்கான இணைய தொடர்பும் துண்டிக்கப்பட்டது. ஒருகட்டத்தில் அவர் தங்கியிருந்த அரசு வீட்டிலிருந்தே வெளியேறவும் உத்தரவிடப்பட்டது.
இப்படி இந்தியா அவமதித்த அய்யாதுரைதான் பெட்னா மாநாட்டில் சிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்.
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Origin of a Computer Mouse…..

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SOURCE::::::Google NET……

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mouse, Engelbart, MITMOUSE TALE Douglas Engelbart originally invented the mouse as a way to navigate his oNLine System (NLS), a pre-cursor of the Internet that allowed computer users to share information stored on their computers.Image: © MIT

A little more than 40 years ago Douglas Engelbart introduced his “X–Y position indicator for a display system”—more commonly known today as the computer mouse—during a 90-minute presentation on a “computer-based, interactive, multiconsole display system” at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, Calif. This event—attended by some 1,000 computer professionals—would later be called by many the “mother of all demos” and would introduce a number of computing capabilities largely taken for granted today: the mouse, hypertext, object addressing and dynamic file linking.

Engelbart, now 84, filed the patent in 1967 but had to wait three years for the U.S. to acknowledge his technology, which provided the tool needed to navigate graphics-filled computer screens with a simple motion of the hand rather than by wading through screens filled with green-tinted text using keys or a light pencil pressed up against a computer monitor. “I don’t know why we call it a mouse,” he said during the demo. “It started that way, and we never did change it.”

The original mouse, housed in a wooden box twice as high as today’s mice and with three buttons on top, moved with the help of two wheels on its underside rather than a rubber trackball. The wheels—one for the horizontal and another for the vertical—sat at right angles. When the mouse was moved, the vertical wheel rolled along the surface while the horizontal wheel slid sideways. Mice grew more ergonomic over time and have adopted trackballs, lasers and LEDs, but the premise is the same—the computer records both the distance and speed at which the mouse travels and turns that information into binary code that it can understand and plot on a display screen.

Engelbart originally invented the mouse as a way to navigate his oNLine System(NLS), a precursor of the Internet that allowed computer users to share information stored on their computers. NLS, which Engelbart developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA—now DARPA), was also the first system to successfully use hypertext to link files (making information available through a click of the mouse).

Because his patent for the mouse expired before it became widely used with personal computers in the mid-1980s, Engelbart garnered neither widespread recognition nor royalties for his invention. Mouse technology found its way from Engelbart’s lab to the Xerox Corp.’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1971, when Bill English, a computer engineer who had worked for Engelbart at SRI, joined PARC. Xerox was the first to sell a computer system that came with a mouse—the 8010 Star Information System in 1981, but the term “mouse” wouldn’t become a part of the modern lexicon until Apple made it standard equipment with its original Macintosh, which debuted in 1984. The emergence of the Microsoft Windows operating system and Web browsers hastened the mouse’s pervasiveness throughout the 1990s and into the first decade of the 21st century.

Engelbart’s own work at SRI came to an end in 1989, when McDonnell Douglas Corp. (his ultimate employer there after his division at SRI had changed owners a few times) shut down his lab. That year, Engelbart formed the Bootstrap Institute (now known as the Doug Engelbart Institute) , a consulting firm in Menlo Park through which he still encourages researchers to share findings and build on one another’s achievements.

Logitech claims to have manufactured one billion mice, which “speaks volumes for the success of this pointing device and the dominance of the graphical user interface of which it is an integral part,” Gartner Blog Network analyst Steve Prentice blogged in December. Still, he adds, mice don’t factor into a future where touch-screen smart phones, touch-pad laptops and video game controllers with embedded accelerometers (such as those shipped with Nintendo’s Wii) rule the day. His prediction: the mouse is an endangered species with less than five years before it joins the ranks of the green screen, punch cards and other computer technologies now honorably retired to technology museums after years of faithful service on desktops everywhere.

Do You Know ?….History Behind the “QWERTY ” Keyboard layout

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Source::::GOOGLE SEARCH…

Have you ever wondered as to why the keyboard is arranged in this particular fashion? I was curios and found the following reason. The layout is called the QWERTY layout, the first 6 letters of this layout make up Q W E R T Y and hence the name.

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Fascinating facts about the invention of the “QWERTY” Keyboard by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1875.
QWERTY KEYBOARD AT A GLANCE:

In 1875, Christopher Sholes with assistance from Amos Densmore rearranged the typewriter keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine. The new arrangement was the “QWERTY” arrangement that typists use even today.

Invention: “QWERTY” keyboard

Function: name / QWER·TY
Definition: A standard typewriter keyboard — called also QWERTY keyboard . Name derived from the first six letters in the second row on English language computer and typewriter keyboards.
Patent: 207,559 (US) issued August 27, 1878
Inventor: Christopher Latham Sholes

Criteria; First practical.
Birth: February 14, 1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania
Death: February 17, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nationality: American
Milestones:
1868 Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule patent type writing machine
1873 Remington & Sons mass produces the Sholes & Glidden typewriter
1875 Sholes and Amos Densmore redesign keyboard layout
1878 Sholes awarded patent for QWERTY keyboard improvement.
CAPS: Sholes, Christopher Latham Sholes, Amos Densmore, James Densmore, QWERTY, ARY, qwerty, typewriter keyboard, computer keyboard, universal keyboard, qwerty keyboard, SIP, history, biography, inventor, invention.

The Story:

Look at the keyboard of any standard typewriter or computer. “Q,W,E,R,T and Y” are the first six letters. Who decided on this arrangement of the letters? And why?
The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. His machine was known as the type-writer. It had a movable carriage, a lever for turning paper from line to line, and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in alphabetical order.

But Sholes had a problem. On his first model, his “ABC” key arrangement caused the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly. Sholes didn’t know how to keep the keys from sticking, so his solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast.

He did this using a study of letter-pair frequency prepared by educator Amos Densmore, brother of James Densmore, who was Sholes’ chief financial backer. The QWERTY keyboard itself was determined by the existing mechanical linkages of the typebars inside the machine to the keys on the outside. Sholes’ solution did not eliminate the problem completely, but it was greatly reduced.
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The keyboard arrangement was considered important enough to be included on Sholes’ patent granted in 1878, some years after the machine was into production. QWERTY’s effect, by reducing those annoying clashes, was to speed up typing rather than slow it down.
The new arrangement was the “QWERTY” arrangement that typists use today. Of course, Sholes claimed that the new arrangement was scientific and would add speed and efficiency. The only efficiency it added was to slow the typist down, since almost any word in the English language required the typist’s fingers to cover more distance on the keyboard.
The advantages of the typewriter outweighed the disadvantages of the keyboard. Typists memorized the crazy letter arrangement, and the typewriter became a huge success.

RENJITH KUMAR FROM THIRUVANANTHAPURAM …..AN ENGINEER HONORED BY NASA….

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SOURCE::::::SILICON INDIA NET….. A MOMENT OF PRIDE FOR ALL INDIANS…..PL READ AND SHARE….
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Indian Entrepreneur Gets $327.5 Million and Highest Honor from NASA for ‘Curiosity’

 Entrepreneurs are usually known to be revolutionists or trend changers in the business field but we would have never imagined the business class being involved in space works, to be more precise, working for ‘Curiosity Rover’. This space machine has an Indian touch to it; Renjith Kumar a Virginia based Indian entrepreneur and engineer is the happiest person with the rover’s successful launch because his effort has been immense and this also brought him NASA’s highest honor for quality and performance, George M. Low Award.
Analytical Mechanics Association (AMA) is a Virginia based company owned by Renjith Kumar and President Hans Seywald; this company got the prestigious award for its outstanding contribution to the advancement of mastered excellence in National Space Program in USA. This award was presented at NASA’s eighth annual project management challenge in Long Beach, California.
This mission of launching Curiosity was a great challenge as it involved years of efforts and input.
When the rover landed on the red planet there were whoops of joy and celebration among people who toiled for years to make this mission possible. One of the happiest of all was Renjith Kumar who was packing off to Canada for a holiday. This 49 year old entrepreneur and his company were closely associated with the rovers Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL), which is also famously called ‘seven minutes of terror’.
AMA had a humble start. It began its operation with three mathematicians in 1962 in New York. Today this company works on aerospace engineering and employs around 250 people, this company works with automotive, defense, financial services and health care companies. The company just turned 50 years old and their great quality business has bagged $327.5 million with NASA’s Langley Research Centre. Renjith Kumar and his company have been closely associated with the Mars project and theirexcellence in quality has brought them this honor and contract.
AMA had a great challenge as it had to closely monitor ‘Curiosity Rover’ and it also computer-stimulated the complete dynamics of the spacecraft after it enters the Martian atmosphere. This involved a great challenge as it included accurately modeling the Martian atmosphere. It also had to coordinate between various parts of the spaceship such as bridles, heat shield and parachute.
“We predict what the spacecraft is going to do during the actual mission; We were also involved in the spacecraft instrumentation called MEDLI (Mars EDL Instrumentation), which will measure aero thermal environments, vehicle orientation and atmospheric density. We are eagerly awaiting data from Curiosity to do postflight analysis which will be useful for future manned missions” says Kumar as reported by Times of India.
“The mission cost upward of $2.1 billion. Moreover, Curiosity was heavy (about 1 ton) and the previous methods of airbag deployment at landing as used for Pathfinder wouldn’t work here. A new, never before-attempted idea — Sky Crane — was used for this mission where instead of rolling the rover off an elevated lander, it was attached to the bottom of the rocket-powered descent stage, and lowered directly to the surface” reports TOI as stated by Kumar.
Renjith Kumar hails from Thiruvananthapuram; he studied in Loyola College and got a gold medal for B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and then went to Virginia Institute of Technology to pursue an MS and a Ph D in aerospace engineering.