Mac vs PC: which one to choose? -- A vlog

Welcome back ladies and gents! We are very excited to bring you a special post today -- a 
vlog on 'Mac vs PC' made by four of us. In this video we briefly discussed the advantages and disadvantages for both Mac and Windows computers, and provided our opinions on which one is suitable for you. Below is our video, hope you find it enjoyable!

And that's our homemade video. Have you made up your mind after watching it? Still not? Don't worry. We have also came up with a summary of the video contents as well as some more information that might be useful to you.

Is Mac's Hardware Worth the High Price?

Many people feel the cost of a Mac is too high for what you get, but others justify the price tag by citing top-tier support, higher hardware build quality, and the benefits of the Apple ecosystem. Whether or not you feel those points are reasonable, Mac hardware does come with a number of limitations when it comes to specifications. If you want a machine you can upgrade beyond the drive, RAM, or sometimes anything at all, it'll cost you $2,499 for a Mac Pro.

Windows Has More Software

The Windows Store already has over 50,000 apps despite its youth whereas the Mac App Store had a little under 14,000 at the end of its second year.

Macs Have Fewer Viruses and Require Less Maintenance

People used to argue that Macs could not be infected by viruses. Although now it has been proven that statement is not true, some still have enough confidence in Mac. Nevertheless, far fewer viruses exist for Mac and most Mac users get by just fine without any antivirus protection. On the other hand, Windows does suffer from more than just a few security exploits.

Windows Offers a Better Gaming Experience

Apple hardware offers a paltry selection of graphics cards. While you'll find more and more popular games including several unique titles available for OS X, if you want a bleeding edge gaming experience you won't get it from a Mac. You are fairly limited in regards to what you can do with it when running OS X. Oftentimes, the same game will just run better in Windows than it will in OS X.

It is safe to simply say that, for heavy tasks go for a Windows PC, for day to day use go for a Mac.

Thank you all,
From,
Sakib, Alex, Claire & Nina

Wireless electricity- live life, wireless...

Your phone just notified that the battery is dying and you just got comfortable with your sleeping position but u need your phone fully charged for tomorrow; what should you do now? We face these kind of situations every now and again, and as a result we have to sacrifice either the comfortable sleeping position or the feeling that your phone is fully charged for the next day. Sacrifice no more, because wireless electricity is on its way to the rescue.

No, I don’t mean those inductive charging pads, when I say “wireless” I mean wireless! Those pads are really not wireless, are they? The transmission of electrical power without using solid wires or conductors is known as wireless power transfer. Technology has leaped so far ahead that it is now possible to provide power to electrical devices over the air (wirelessly) within a set range, however, the technology is still fairly new.

So how does it work?

Transmission of energy to a receiver from a transmitter through oscillating magnetic field. The is achieved by – the power source supplies direct current, which is then converted to alternating current by the help of specially designed electronics constructed into the transmitter. A copper wire coil placed inside the transmitter is energised by the alternating current, once the coil placed in the receiver is within the proximity of the magnetic field, alternating current is induced in the receiving coil by the field. This alternating current is converted back to direct current by the electronics and hence it becomes usable power.

People may be concerned about the safety issues, as this will mean that electricity will be going through our bodies; however, specialists have already replied to that saying, it’s not dangerous at all because it works the same way as our Earth does, using magnetic fields. In some cases it may even be safer when compared to wired technologies.

So, do you think wireless technology is the way to power and charge out electronics in the future? I certainly think so!

G-Sync: The way it's meant to be played

This blog is a bit special this time, because we are going to step into the "nerdy world" and take a look at the mind-blowing G-Sync technology from Nvidia. As a gamer (aka. nerd) myself, I am pretty excited to bring you guys the frontier of gaming experience.

Before jumping into G-Sync, let me explain an issue that was unsolved for a million years before the existence of G-Sync. When you play games, the action happening on the screen is made up of frames(images). The frames are measured at 'Hz', 1Hz can be seen as 1 frame per second(FPS). Your monitor is a device that has a built-in, fixed refresh rate. Today approximately 90% gamers are playing on a 1920 x 1080 (full HD) 60Hz display. The graphics card is always firing of frames as fast as it can possibly do, and FPS is dynamic and can bounce from say 30 to 80 FPS in an matter of split seconds. Obviously there must be a conflict between fixed and dynamic. So at the same time we have the graphics card rendering at a continuously changing frame rate while the monitor refreshes at 60 frames per second. Then there is a problem, as with a slower or faster FPS than 60, you'll get multiple images displayed on the screen per refresh of the monitor. As a result, you will get screen tearing, which is really annoying and ruins your gaming experience. Before G-Sync was invented, the old solution is called 'V-Sync', vertical synchronize. It forces the graphics card render at the same refresh rate as the monitor. The screen tearing problem might be gone, but lag occurs between the graphics card input and monitor output, which causes screen stuttering.

Nvidia G-Sync module

Today thanks to Nvidia's G-Sync technology, this problem is solved for good. G-Sync is both a software and a hardware solution that will eliminate screen tearing and stuttering. A daughter hardware board is placed into a G-Sync enabled monitor. With G-Sync the monitor will become a 'slave' to your graphics card as the its refresh rate in Hz becomes dynamic. So each time your graphics card has rendered one frame that frame is aligned up with the monitor refresh rate. Therefore the refresh rate of the monitor will become dynamic. With both the graphics card and monitor dynamically in sync with each other, the tearing and stuttering are gone for good.

It gets even better, currently there are G-Sync monitors on the market that have 144Hz refresh rate -- yes, the screen is able to actually refresh 144 images per second. What this means it that with the higher refresh rate comparing with traditional 60Hz, it gives you a much more smooth gaming experience. Your eyes will feel extremely comfortable while playing in front of one of this panel. And you won't feel dizzy after hours of gaming. 

Of course, there is no free lunch. G-Sync does come with relatively high cost. At the time of writing this blog, the cheapest G-Sync monitor you can get from the market is still over AUD$500. And owning one of this monitor is not enough to get the G-Sync ready for yourself, you will have to get a Nvidia graphics card -- yes, unfortunately that's the only option compatible with G-Sync. Last, in order to make the best of this awesome technology, you need to have a powerful PC that can render games at a high refresh rate. While having G-Sync may cost quite some fortune, the truth is that it is absolutely worth it. 'The way it is meant to be played' as said by Nvidia, and actually pretty much 100% reviewers on the Internet appreciates this gaming-changing technology. So gamers, brace your wallet and enter the future of computer gaming.

FinTech: Manage your money with IT

A contraction of the words ‘Financial’ and ‘Technology’, FinTech has become a ubiquitous term for any technology applied to financial services, typically where a technology is sold into the financial services sector working for the back office functions of these customers. But recently the term has started to be used for broader applications of technology in the space to front end consumer products, to new entrants competing with existing player. Taken at its broadest, FinTech is shorthand for ‘innovation in financial services’, whether that means new products from new start-ups, or the adoption of new approaches by existing players where technology is the key enabler.

New technologies could be applied to just about anything in the financial services arena, but to name just a few: payments and transactions; mobile banking; trading; commodities markets; peer to peer lending & crowd funding; retail banking; risk & compliance; security & privacy; digital & alternative currencies; digital wallets; financial advisory services; insurance.

Just for starters, aside from darn good tech talent, the new era of financial services will be enabled by data analytics and everything that that encompasses (behavioural analytics, machine learning, mass storage, data driven marketing), also cloud computing (both from a storage and security perspective) & broader business model innovation, and exploring where the chinks in the value chain exist; and exploiting opportunities in customer relationship management processes and platforms.

Screen Less Display

Have you ever wondered how cool it would be if you could get your hands on one of those screen less and holographic displays, as seen in the Iron Man saga or the Avengers? Then wonder no more, as this piece of technology already came into existence. According to MIT’s latest technology review, screen less displays are one of the biggest technology breakthroughs; give it a few more years, and this will be readily available to you! The main purpose of this type of display is to transmit information to the user without the aid of a screen or a projector.

There are three types of screen less displays available at the time being:

·       

•          Visual Image Screen less Display: an example of this would be holograms. These are any screen less images that the eye can see.
• ·     Retinal Direct Display: this is when images are directly projected in the retina of the eye. Images appear to be floating in space to the user.
• ·  Synaptic Interface: one step ahead of retinal direct display method. Information is directly transmitted to the brain, instead of projecting it to the eyes.
• 
  

This technology can greatly benefit its users at it promises to provide better quality images (higher resolution), greater profitability and besides that it consumes less power.

However, it also has its disadvantages and the main one of now would be that, this technology of the future, won’t be cheap!

For further information on screen less displays, click here.

Cefaly to prevent migrene

Nowadays it would seem like everyone has physical problems due to the increased use of technology devices. Whether it's because of the wrong sitting position in front of computers, or problems with eye sight. Although migraines can have a lot of reasons, using computers etc too much can be one of them. However, last year, Cefaly was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first device to prevent migraines.


It is only available by prescription, and should only be used for a maximum of 20 minutes per day. Cefaly is a headband-like device, running on battery and sits across the forehead and over the ears. It's using electrodes to stimulate brances of the 'trigeminal' nerve, which has been associated with migraines.
 Dr. Myrna Cardiel, a clinical associate professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center and NYU School of Medicine in New York City says that "This device is a promising step forward in treating migraines, as it addresses an important part of what we believe triggers and maintains a migraine attack,".

The device was developed by Cefaly Technology in Belgium, and promises 71% of the treatments to be successful, and 75% less use of medications.
As this device only came out last year, I assume we will soon see more of this, and see how well it actually works on people.
For more information about Cefaly, visit this page.

Brain-Computer Interface

Brain-computer interface (BCI) is collaboration between a brain and a device that enables signals from the brain to direct some external activity, such as control of a cursor or a prosthetic limb. The interface enables a direct communications pathway between the brain and the object to be controlled. In the case of cursor control, for example, the signal is transmitted directly from the brain to the mechanism directing the cursor, rather than taking the normal route through the body's neuromuscular system from the brain to the finger on a mouse.

The reason a BCI works at all is because of the way our brains function. Our brains are filled with neurons, individual nerve cells connected to one another by dendrites and axons. Every time we think, move, feel or remember something, our neurons are at work. That work is carried out by small electric signals that zip from neuron to neuron as fast as 250 mph. The signals are generated by differences in electric potential carried by ions on the membrane of each neuron.

Although the paths the signals take are insulated by something called myelin, some of the electric signal escapes. Scientists can detect those signals, interpret what they mean and use them to direct a device of some kind. It can also work the other way around. For example, researchers could figure out what signals are sent to the brain by the optic nerve when someone sees the colour red. They could rig a camera that would send those exact signals into someone's brain whenever the camera saw red, allowing a blind person to "see" without eyes.

Radar Can Save Lives in Nepal

Considering that the earthquakes in Nepal is currently such an big issue in the world, I found that it might be an appropriate topic. Because some researchers from California have created a device, called FINDER(Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response), that detects heartbeats of people and animals trapped underneath collapsed buildings etc. It can also differ between humans and animals.

The device uses microwave radar signals to detect heartbeats and breathing people, and the first time it was used was after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.


How FINDER works; An operator sets up the device in front of a rubble pile and hooks it up to a laptop. It takes about 30 seconds to scan the area with microwaves. It sends a signal equal to about one-thousandth of a cell phone's microwave output, NASA said. Any movement "reflects" back in the signal. Humans are identified by their unique heartbeat and breathing signals. The longer it takes for the signal to return, the farther away the body is. The system works whether people are awake or unconscious, NASA said.

 A person's chest moves about 1 centimeter from breathing and 1 millimeter from a heartbeat, these tiny movements are similar to detecting the very small changes of motion in a spacecraft.


This technology has been around for quite some time, however it's not until recently(or the earth quake in Haiti in 2010) that they started using it for this purpose. FINDER has been able to assist the other searching devices in finding surviving people, and has certainly helped saving lives.
 

Domed city: Is it just science fiction or truly something to our future?

In 2014, Dubai has announced plans to build the first climate-controlled city on the planet. The area, constructed under a huge glass dome, will contain the world's largest shopping center, over 100 hotels, and a wellness district for medical tourists.

What is a 'Domed city'? It is a structure that encloses a large urban area under a single roof. Under normal concept, the dome is airtight and pressurized, creating a habitat that can be controlled for air temperature, composition and quality, typically due to an external atmosphere that is inimical to habitation. Domed cities have been a fixture of science fiction since the early 20th century, and may be situated on Earth, a moon or other planet.

With the announcment of the first domed city ever from Dubai, it is no longer a mystrious idea only occurs in the sci-fi novels, but becoming a reality. And the construction of the domed city in Dubai might just be the best opportunity for us to learn about this amazing invention.
The city of Dubai is a popular tourist spot,however many are deterred from visiting due to the city's scorching heat and dry environment, the temperature normally reaches 45℃ in the summer.
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed confirmed plans for the world's first temperature-controlled city, named 'Mall of the World', in early July 2014. The city will be made “to enhance Dubai's tourist infrastructure as soon as possible,” he said. 

So what will people living in the dome city actually feel?
To control its climate, the area will be covered by a single glass dome, which will be open during the winter months. According to Dubai Holding, the Sheikh's property arm, "tourists will be able to enjoy a week-long stay without the need to leave the City or use a car. The 7 km long promenades connecting all facilities will be covered during the summer and open during the winter, ensuring pleasant temperatures throughout the year".
Inside the domed city will be a world’s largest mall and indoor park, as well as a theater area and wellness resorts. It will have the capacity to host over 180 million visitors annually.
The shopping area will be connected to 100 hotels and serviced apartment buildings, with a temperature-controlled covered street network between them.

While all these features sound fancy and exciting, the reality is, it is not yet clear when the construction of the project will start, but the chief executive said that the structure will need about 2.5 billion dirhams (over US$680 million) “every year for the next 10 years". With all the uncertainty underlying, one thing is certain that building such a domed city requires constructors to overcome technical and financial difficulties.

Lantern and the Outernet

Around the year 1980, two blokes called Robert E. Kahn and Vint Cerf were successful in creating a network of networks, which is now known as the Internet. The ways in which we use the Internet in today's world is almost infinite, but in the past three and a half decades or so the Internet has only changed so much.

Nowadays, we cannot think of a passing a single day without Internet and most of us are certain that it is true for almost everyone living in this world, however, that is truly a misconception. A staggering 4.4 billion people around the world still don't have access to the Internet, that is more than half, around 60% of the world's population deprived of this spectacular technology. However, the Outernet is now here to fix that!

So what is this Outernet? According to the Wikipedia, the Outernet is a global broadcast data foundation, which aims to provide access to content from the web through  geostationary and Low Earth Orbit satellites. The best thing about Outernet is that it's available in any corner of the world for completely free of cost! Isn't that amazing? All you need is to create a signal receiver (dish) and once that's done you can connect your Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to the Outernet. If you are not willing or able to create your own receiver, then you can just buy 'lantern', a device that connects to the space and enables you to access the Outernet.

So how does it work? The best way to explain would be to compare the radio with it. It works somewhat like a radio except the songs you listen to would be the information that you view is your smart devices. The lantern and the Outernet are infants when compared to the Internet. At this stage the developers are asking for our help to tell them what we need the most; information? education? emergency news? The Outernet has already gained wide recognition as the 'Humanity's Public Library', give it a few more years and people might slowly forget that Internet ever existed.

However, this concept is still very new, so we need to work together to make the world free from information poverty and censorship. Let's make our planet transparent and spread light equally over all of mankind.

Exoskeleton: what does it bring to human beings?

Simply saying, an exoskeleton is a mobile machine consisting primarily of an outer framework worn by a person, and powered by a system of motors or hydraulics that delivers energy for limb movement. It is also called exoframe or exosuit.

When talking about exoskeleton, the first thing lots of people probably would think of is military exosuit soldiers. Because it is indeed commonly designed for military use, a powered exoskeleton can assist the soldiers by boosting their strength and endurance, so that soldiers ar eable to carry heavy loads both in and out of combat.  

However, similar exoskeletons could also be used to help firefighters and other rescue workers survive dangerous environments in civilian areas. In the medical field, exoskeleton technology can be used for enhanced precision during surgery, or as an assist to help nurses move heavy patients. And of course, we have to mention that exoskeleton can change the life of people with disabilities.

 Lockheed Martin is a company that has expertise on exoskeleton technology. It has developed two main categories of exoskeleton, one for military use and one for industrial use. 

Lockheed Martin has developed HULC to support the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) test program. HULC stands for Human Universal Load Carrie,  it is an un-tethered, hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton intended to help soldiers in combat carry a load of up to 200 pounds at a top speed of 10 miles per hour for extended periods of time. 

The industrial type of exoskeleton is called FORTIS, it is an unpowered, lightweight exoskeleton ideal for the industrial environment. FORTIS enhanecs a user's strength and endurance by transferring the weight of heavy hand tools or other loads through the exoskeleton to the ground.  It has an advanced ergonomic design moves naturally with the body and adapts to different body types and heights. Using various mechanical arms, operators can effortlessly hold heavy hand tools,and increase productivity dramatically.

The industrial use of exoskeleton is truly an revolution to our current world. If it is properly developed and put on the market, exoskeleton has the potential to change so many industries and people's normal life.

Wearable Device

Wearable technology refers to electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories, which can comfortably be worn on the body. These wearable devices can perform many of the same computing tasks as mobile phones and laptop computers; however, in some cases, wearable technology can outperform these hand-held devices entirely. Wearable technology tends to be more sophisticated than hand-held technology on the market today because it can provide sensory and scanning features not typically seen in mobile and laptop devices, such as biofeedback and tracking of physiological function.

Generally, wearable technology will have some form of communications capability and will allow the wearer access to information in real time. Data-input capabilities are also a feature of such devices, as is local storage. Examples of wearable devices include watches, glasses, contact lenses, e-textiles and smart fabrics, headbands, beanies and caps, jewellery such as rings, bracelets, and hearing aid-like devices that are designed to look like earrings.

The implications and uses of wearable technology are far reaching and can influence the fields of health and medicine, fitness, ageing, disabilities, education, transportation, enterprise, finance, gaming and music. The goal of wearable technologies in each of these fields will be to smoothly incorporate functional, portable electronics and computers into individuals’ daily lives. Prior to their presence in the consumer market, wearable devices were primarily used in the field of military technology and had the biggest implications for healthcare and medicine.

As the potential uses in various fields continues to grow, the sociological and cultural impact wearable technology will have in the future should not be minimized. Already, the current hand-held devices available to consumers, such as Smart Phones, iPods and tablets, have changed the technological and social landscapes on a global scale, such that, walking out in public and seeing an individual engaging with a hand-held device is commonplace. Such an image was non-existent only 20 years ago. With that in mind, developers and analysts predict that wearable technology will very quickly change the technological and cultural landscapes once again, and may even change the nature of mobile phones and other hand-held devices entirely.

Self- Driving Cars - More than just a Promise

To all car enthusiasts- or everyone that has been waiting for a car you don't actually need to drive yourself- it looks like we finally might be quite close to turning dream into reality. CES2015 has announced that these kinds of cars might be on the road between 2017 and 2020. In fact, Audi has already let a car drive from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas, and the drivers didn't even need to touch the wheel.

The last 15 years this technology has gone from 'this will only happen in our dreams' to 'this will actually happen in about 5-7 years, which is a fairly big leap, and it's a true proof that the technology in the world is developing faster than expected.
In the beginning, the first cars will of course only be able to be used on limited access road, but eventually this will also improve. The cars will however have to be driven manually in urban areas. But the fact that the cars can be self- driven on long distance trip could also help decreasing the number of traffic accidents per year.

Let's go back to the example mentioned earlier, about the car that drove from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas all by itself. The A7, nicknamed Jack, looks quite normal, with few of the DARPA-era big sensors stuck to the top and sides. 

Audi said 'the A7 concept vehicle uses “various production-ready sensors as well as sensors integrated into production vehicles today that accurately detect the vehicles surroundings. … The sensors [are] close to production and meet financial targets for inclusion into future products.” Translation: The sensors work, they’re ready now or soon, and by the time a self-driving car comes to market, they won’t be outrageously priced but they may still be expensive, even on a $75,000 vehicle.The multiplicity of short- and long-range radars and lasers provides redundancy beyond what you’d need for almost-hands-off driving today. Currently, if you keep your hands lightly on the wheel, the car will drive itself for miles at a time so long as the road has no more than a gentle curve, no driver suddenly cuts into your lane and nobody in front panic-brakes.'

There will soon be possible to pre- order a self- driving cars. They will probably not be the cheapest cars on the market, but who knows where we'll be in another 15 years.

Internet of Things!

The Internet of Things is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Internet of Things has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems and the Internet. The Internet of Things is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and is able to identify themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method of communication, although it also may include other sensor technologies, wireless technologies or QR codes.

The ‘Internet of Things’ is significant because an object that can represent itself digitally becomes something greater than the object by itself. No longer does the object relate just to you, but is now connected to surrounding objects and database data. When many objects act in unison, they are known as having "ambient intelligence."

A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has been most closely associated with machine-to-machine communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities. Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often referred to as being smart.

For example, you’re walking down the supermarket aisle, and you get to the milk fridge. Your shopping trolley vibrates, and the screen mounted on the trolley handles displays a message: “There is no milk in your fridge. Would you like to purchase some?” Your fridge has identified that the teenager residing in your house has drunk the 2L milk bottle you bought 2 days ago. The fridge has sent a message to your phone. Your phone knows that you’re in the supermarket and has told your trolley. Your trolley knows you’re next to the milk fridge and has told you that you’re out of milk. So, you buy milk, and 50 other groceries. This is going to take a while to check out, right? Wrong, you simply wheel your trolley out through the smart gates, instantly scanning all the products in your trolley and charging your credit card. You receive an email with the itemized receipt.

OLED: Bring our visual experience to next level

OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode. Simply put, an OLED is made with organic compounds that light up when fed electricity. OLED technology is not exactly new to the market anymore. Cell phones have been using OLED screens in some form or another years ago. But now OLED televisions from Samsung and LG have drawn some serious attention from the crowd.

a very thin OLED Display

So, what makes an OLED TV better than an LED/LCD TV? OLEDs can be made to be extremely thin, small and remarkably flexible. On an OLED TV, each pixel lights itself up independently of the others. On contrast, LEDs are not small enough to be used as the pixels of a television, they are only used as the backlight for LCD televisions. This results in a substantial advantage that OLED has over LED/LCD, at the same time it means that OLED TVs will crush LED/LCD TVs in terms of picture quality. There is no doubt that OLED will provide a far more superior visual experience than our currently LED displays.

When it comes to a new technology like OLED TVs, apart from its mind-blowing capabilities, there is always a catch. Because OLED TVs are still in the development cycle, lots of aspects of the products are uncertain. Though it will become a popular trend in the foreseeable future, as for now, OLED is far away from our majority customers. Currently there are few OLED TVs in the market, from Samsung and LG. The options are limited and most importantly, they are all extremely expensive. A 55-inch one may cost you at least USD $9,000. Anyway, we have seen the potential of OLEDs, and we have every reason to be excited for this game-changer to come into our average customers’ eyes. Brace yourselves!