Wireless networking meets social networking in WeFi (free). This useful software does double-duty: It helps you find reliable hot spots and then connect to them, and also helps you connect with your friends, and find new ones. Run the program and it shows nearby hot spots, with details about each such as signal strength and whether the network is encrypted. You can also have the program send you to a Web page where you can see all the hot spots mapped out. New to this version of WeFi is its ability to show information about each hot spot such as whether it is a school, coffee shop, restaurant, home, and so on. And a new feature allows you to find hot spots not just in your immediate WiFi range, but beyond it as well, by consulting the WeFit database.
(more…)
Posts Tagged ‘process’
Vacuum Cleaner
Sunday, June 6th, 2010Vacuum cleaners have been around since over a century now. They are considered to be indispensable units for housecleaning purposes. They are known for their convenience and efficiency. Running a vacuum cleaner over the surface to be cleaned will effectively remove the dirt and dust present in that particular area. Vacuum cleaners are known to remove any object from the surface provided it is light enough for the suction that it creates and can enter its inlet valve.
One reason why vacuum cleaners are preferred over traditional cleaning equipment such as brooms and mops is that they do not need the mechanical force that these devices need and because they are much more effective at the cleaning process itself. One more advantage is that vacuum cleaners can be used on horizontal, vertical as well as inclined and inverted surfaces and can clean even inaccessible nooks and crannies easily, something that traditional cleaning devices cannot do.
(more…)
Roll-to-Roll Plastic Displays
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
A new company puts silicon transistors on plastic for flexible displays.
Engineers and technophiles have long dreamt of plastic-based displays that are flexible, lightweight, and rugged compared to their glass-backed counterparts. But plastic screens still aren’t widely available, partly because they’re so hard to manufacture reliably in large numbers. Now a company called Phicot has adapted a technique for printing amorphous silicon electronics onto plastic that could finally make such displays practical. The manufacturing technique, already used to make cheap solar cells, involves depositing chemicals on long sheets of plastic as they are fed through a series of rollers. Phicot is a subsidiary of PowerFilm of Ames, IA, which already makes amorphous silicon solar cells using this roll-to-roll process.
“The basic technology of roll-to-roll can bring the price down and make plastic an excellent option for the back half of the display,” says Frank Jeffrey, cofounder and CEO of PowerFilm.
(more…)