With the recent election and all, Washington is definitely entering a historic new phase and we all know that. What isn't known is that there was a lot of technology behind this election. We all know about the internet and how it fueled campaigns, but that is not what I'm talking about. This is the first of 2 posts about the technology used by broadcasters for Politics.
CNN released a lot of new technology on election night and I feel that as a Technology Blogger, it is only fair that I talk about them. I am not singling CNN out but merely stating that they, as opposed to the other news networks, did some really neat and noticeable stuff. One of the features was the touch-screen LCD (either that or Plasma) TVs. that were used. Yeah, we have all seen those TVs before but I found these new ones really cool because they have this multi-touch technology by a company called Perceptive Pixel.
This video demonstrates the fluidity and ease of use of a multi-touch screen used by a CNN reporter.
Perceptive Pixel has already shipped out numerous multi-touch screens but the one that is most notable is the huge TV wall that CNN used on election night. Until now, touch screens meant a single point of contact, by either using a stylus or your finger or whatever. Multi-touch, as the name suggests allows for multiple points of contact and thus, a greater level of control and manipulation of data, pictures, videos, etc.
Political Tech
Being Lazy, One Robot at a Time
The time it takes to get up and walk to the refrigerator to get a drink is enough to miss key parts of a commercial leaving you with a void that cannot be filled until the next commercial break...maybe. To combat the root cause of this void, the act of getting up and walking to the refrigerator needs to be changed. We need to find a new way to cut down on that time; maybe run to the refrigerator? That might work if you really gunned it, but you could come back to your seat short of breath and still miss something important.
What can we do about this dilemma? Go to the refrigerator and risk missing the commercial or sit there catching every second while your throat gets hopelessly thirsty and dry with a yearning for that one special drink...so close, yet so far. Enough of this philosophical stuff, here is something that will help alleviate the worries of almost every guy out there.
Introducing the Remote Control Bar-Bot, a one of a kind vehicle of laziness packed into a barrel of cold beverages. Created by InterActive Toy Concepts, this collapsible barrel of joy is maneuverable with a remote control and even though 0-60 timings have not been recorded, I feel confident that it will deliver thirst quenching refreshment with ease and reliability. This is of course only until the batteries last at which point you will have to get up. Hey, it had to happen sometime.
Want something better, do you want your drink to be poured into a glass and handed to you, ice cold? Well, there is something better, albeit it cannot be bought, but still, easily worth dreaming about owning.
What you're looking at is a robot that will not only come to you with an ice cold beverage, it will also take it out of its built in refrigerator and pour it into a glass and then hand it to you. Created as a marketing stunt for a Japanese brewery named Asahi. Sadly, it was not for sale but rather for some 5000 lucky Japanese. I'm about to pack my bags and move.
Hundreds and thousands of dollars have been poured into the develoment of robotics and the associated technology and this is what we end up using it for? To further our own laziness? Eh, sounds good to me.
The Bad Man Notice: All brands and products are registered and copyrighted under their respective owners.
Nuclear Backyard
Imagine if you could create your own electricity, enough to power your home and your appliances for decades, in your own backyard. Would you like a nuclear reactor in your back yard? I know I would!
Now i'm not taking about the gigantic nuclear reactors we are used to hearing about. No, i'm talking about a reactor that is slightly taller than a fully grown person and as wide as a king size bed. This is not your typical run-of-the-mill nuclear reactor. This is the new Hyperion Portable Reactor, tiny enough to be in a backyard but powerful enough to supply electricity to 20,000 homes.
With a self adjusting auto moderation of every reactor, there is no need for human oversight. To be able to do that, a nuclear reactor needs to carry out two very important things:
1. Dissipate heat from the core of the reactor.
2. Absorb stray neutrons before they can cause some damage.
To ensure safety, the folks at Hyperion Power Generation swapped out the traditional fuel of solid, low-enriched uranium hydride with that of lead hydride, which is chemically similar to the uranium hydrde. However, in this case, the lead hydride works not only as the fuel but also as the cooling agent and the stray neutron-absorber.
A Hyperion reactor can easily be buried deep underground and left there for years on end in remote locations, such as impoverished areas around the world and allow for the constant generation of power with the benefits of a nuclear reactor without the safety and security concerns. Now, even though the entire reactor is not that big, its not something that can be hauled away because it will literally be too hot to handle.
Nuclear power is still a very dependable and eco-friendly way to generate electricity and if we can make reactors safer and smaller, then this form of energy should be seriously considered as an alternative.
