This week in Pictures
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/photogalleries/wip-week35/index.html
click through all the stories on the left, there are six
Monday, July 2, 2007
Worlds Largest Corn Labyrinth
An aerial view of the world’s largest corn labyrinth in Dalian, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, June 28, 2007.
The so called Travel of the Brave, covering an area of 340 mu, is set to open mid-July this year. It will take at least one hour to finish the shortest route.
Zapz Custom Insoles
Pop em in the microwave, step on em, and then presto- custom molded insoles.
http://www.masterfitenterprises.com/zapz.pdf
Greasy Pole
I attended the Greasy Pole event in Gloucester this past weekend, crazy stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juicebox/sets/510909/show/
http://www.stpetersfiesta.org/gpmain.htm
Mechanical Fingers Give Strength, Speed to Amputees
If the X-Finger looks like a prop from The Terminator, relax. It isn't out to kill you, and it isn't robotic. In fact, it's a mechanical prosthetic finger so effective it provides articulation as fast and flexible as the real thing.
Invented by Dan Didrick of Naples, Florida, the device has no batteries, electronics, servos or actuators. Instead, each digit incorporates a simple mechanism which, when pushed by the surviving part of the wearer's finger, curls a set of artificial phalanges.
"Having a body-powered device leaves little room for mechanical failure," Didrick said, adding that there aren't any robotic medical alternatives. "Many people assumed a device such as mine already existed."
In practice, however, robotic fingers are always attached to robotic hands and arms. Losing an entire limb, however unpleasant, allows the prosthetic manufacturer more room to conceal complicated electronics.
Made of steel and blue plastic, Didrick's X-Finger allows for a surprising degree of dexterity: Enough to grip (and swing) a golf club, operate a keyboard or even play musical instruments.
Hacked: iPhone Firmware Already in the Wild
That didn't take long. The folks at the iPhone Dev Wiki have got hold of the iPhone firmware, grabbing it from the iTunes server (presumably it is the software used when you hit the "restore" button within iTunes). The disk images contained within were encrypted, but that doesn't stop an intrepid hacker.
So, what do we know? The iPhone runs on an ARM chip, the Samsung S5L8900. No surprises there. It also has a 3D graphics co-processor. There is also a list of secret phone codes, for accessing engineering functions, and a whole slew of component info, probably only of interest to real hardcore hardware fans.
The question is, when will the hacking start? The Apple TV got a lot of great new features from resourceful crackers and Apple turned a blind eye. We'll wait and see what turns up in the next few days, but if the activation crack promised for tomorrow actually works, expect Apple and AT&T get those lawyers primed.
Wiki [iPhone Dev]
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