New Zealand Geek - news page 35Geek - a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
Cutting-edge camera may become first 'bionic eye'
A digital camera closely modelled on the human eye has been invented in what scientists are calling a revolutionary step towards the creation of computerised bionic sensors that can be attached to the body.
The camera's unique technology is its curved light-sensitive surface that was inspired by the human eye's hemispherical retina that collects light at the back of the eyeball and transmits electrical signals to the brain.
August 07, 2008
Nissan plugs new electric car
YOKOSUKA - Nissan has shown a spiffy electric car packed with a battery developed by the Japanese automaker to deliver more power than the type common in today's hybrids.
The electric vehicle, set for sale in 2010, carried a 300 kilogram lithium-ion battery and still zipped around a Nissan Motor Co. test course, accelerating more quickly than comparable petrol-engined cars.
August 07, 2008
Olympics? Whatever. Cybergamers go for gold
Forget the Olympics, this weekend will see nine of New Zealand's top computer gamers compete in Singapore in the run-up to the World Cyber Games Championships.
Gamers from 14 countries across Asia-Pacific will compete at the event, facing off over titles such as Guitar Hero 3, Virtua Fighter 5, Need for Speed: ProStreet and Fifa 2008.
August 07, 2008
Social networking goes to the dogs
RICHMOND - Cici confesses on her web page that she likes to greet everyone by licking their feet. Dolce admits to being a mamma's boy. And Jake and Tycho posted a video that chronicles their adventures of rolling around on their backs.
It's not on Facebook or MySpace, but the canine equivalent - Doggyspace.com.
August 07, 2008
Scientists look for new data mining tricks
ATLANTA - It turns out even computers can have information overload.
Powerful computers can make millions of calculations in a blink of the eye, but that leaves a nettlesome challenge: the task of analysing the resulting mountains of data.
August 07, 2008
Beijing 2008
GamesGrand Theft Auto IV pulled from shelves after killingTime to make your brain hurtXbox 360 G
August 07, 2008
Giant cyberspace security hole getting fixed, slowly
SAN FRANCISCO - A giant vulnerability in the internet's design is allowing criminals to silently redirect traffic to websites under their control. The problem is being fixed, but its extent remains unknown and many people are still at risk.
The gaping security hole enables a scam that targets ordinary people typing in a legitimate Web address. It happens because hackers are now able to manipulate the machines that help computers find websites. If the trick is done properly, computer users are unlikely to detect whether they've landed at a legitimate site or an evil double maintained by someone bent on fraud.
August 06, 2008
Yahoo vote gets a recount
SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo is recounting the shareholder vote for its board of directors after discovering that a tabulating firm failed to register the opposition of a major investor.
The revision, expected to be announced today, won't change the outcome of Friday's election, which retained Yahoo's incumbent directors despite shareholder anger about the board's handling of a now-withdrawn US$47.5 billion ($66.33 billion) takeover bid from Microsoft.
August 06, 2008
Google opens Australia to the eyes of the world
CANBERRA - Early yesterday morning, my home became the virtual property of the world. So did my neighbours' houses, the shop at the end of the street, the local church hall, the road to the nearby nature reserve, and the Catholic boys' school.
The internet search giant Google has put us all on the map - literally, and with 360-degree rotational views photographed by a fleet of Holdens in a massive virtual recording of Australia.
August 06, 2008
The filthy truth about life on Mars
LOS ANGELES - Nasa's Phoenix spacecraft has detected the presence of a chemically reactive salt in the Martian soil, a finding that if confirmed could make it less friendly to potential life than once believed.
Scientists previously reported that the soil near Mars' north pole was similar to backyard gardens on Earth where plants such as asparagus, green beans and turnips could grow. But preliminary results from a second lab test found perchlorate, a highly oxidising salt, that would create a harsh environment.
August 05, 2008
Olympics: High-tech and the haka break barriers
A barrage of haka and a little bit of technology is helping break down barriers in the New Zealand Olympic team.
As part of the effort to make athletes not based in the main village feel part of the wider team, the Oly-Whites will be hooked up via a live video link back to Beijing when they take the field for their important first-up soccer match on Thursday evening.
August 05, 2008
Entrepreneur dreams of global gadget brand
BEIJING - His company's gadgets are barely known abroad. But Aigo CEO Feng Jun, a boyishly exuberant walking advertisement for the fast-growing Chinese electronics maker, is out to change that.
Seconds after meeting a reporter at a business conference, the burly, baby-faced 39-year-old whips an Aigo computer memory card out of his wallet and throws it to the floor to show its durability. He plucks an Aigo digital camera off his belt and snaps pictures. Then he plays back the conversation on his MP3-equipped watch, also from Aigo.
August 05, 2008
Tanks for the memories - Yahoo's big Tiananmen mistake
Automated systems have again left web giant Yahoo looking stupid.
This time, the company's news site has displayed a photo gallery of Olympic scenes, tourists, performers and fluffy mascots under the bad taste headline 'Tiananmen Square massacre remembered'
August 05, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV pulled from shelves after killing
One of Thailand's top video games distributors is pulling Grand Theft Auto IV off the shelves after a teenager allegedly robbed and stabbed to death a Bangkok taxi driver in an apparent attempt to recreate a scene from the controversial video game.
Thai police said Polwat Chinno, 18, told them that he was angry his parents could not afford to buy him a copy of the game.
August 05, 2008
Motorola snaps up Qualcomm exec to save the day
NEW YORK - Motorola named Sanjay Jha, the chief operating officer of Qualcomm and a star of the wireless industry, to head its handset division as that unit prepares to become an independent company.
Jha will also be co-chief executive of the parent company, sharing the responsibility with incumbent Greg Brown until the spinoff next year. Brown will take responsibility for Motorola's other two divisions.
August 05, 2008
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