Nokia Siemens Networks wins order for HSDPA technology

Nokia Siemens Networks wins order for HSDPA technology from Norway's Telenor

HELSINKI, Nov. 9, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Nokia Siemens Networks said it has won an order for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology from Telenor in Norway.The value of the contract was not revealed.Nokia Siemens Networks, a telecoms equipment joint venture between Nokia and Siemens, said the technology would enable Telenor's mobile network in Norway to transmit data at up to 14 megabits/second compared with the current maximum of 3.6 megabits/second.The faster service will be launched in November.The company added the deal is part of a pan-Nordic contract between the countries on HSDPA technology that includes Sweden and Denmark.Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
Source: money.cnn.com

Digital technology brings 2,400-year-old Chinese bells to life

WUHAN, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The ancient sounds of a set of 2,400-year-old bells are chiming in central China thanks to the wonders of digital technology.
At the 7th China Arts Festival being held in central China's Hubei Province, digital technology has captured the sounds of a precious set of bronze bells and their ancient tones are one of the highlights of the ongoing gala.
Using high-definition microphones, the Hubei Provincial Museum recorded the sounds of the ancient set of bells from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). It transformed them into digital code which was stored in a soundtrack database with the help of midi technology.
The sound of the bells drew great public acclaim when the technology was used to play the Beethoven classic "Ode to Joy" at the festival which is being held in Wuhan and four other Hubei Province cities.
"The duplication took us about four months as the ancient bells were so precious that we had to try our best to strike every bell carefully during the recording," said Zhang Xiang, the person in charge of the bell display at the museum.
Ye Heshan, a lucky visitor who was among the first to play the bells on a digital keyboard, said: "It's unbelievable that the music from these famous ancient bells flows out from under my fingers."
In pressing a note on a keyboard, an image of an individual bell projected on the wall swings via animation to show the playing process of the instrument.
In 1978, the chimes were unearthed from the tomb of the Marquisof Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei Province. With a total weight of 2,500 kilograms, the set consists of 65 pieces and is the world's heaviest musical instrument. Each bell can produce two notes of three intervals apart.
The bronze masterpiece is regarded as one of the major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century and a wonder in theworld's musical history because of its outstanding sound quality.
Since the 1980s, about a dozen replicas of the chimes have been made around the world. They are often played with Western musical instruments or other Chinese ethnic instruments in symphonies, causing a great sensation globally.
"However, any replication activities will cause a certain degree of damage to the original set," Zhang said. "But the chance to listen to the melodious music it plays should not belong to only a small group of people; instead we must think of a good way to let more people know about it or even play it."
"Digital technology helps us solve that problem. It reproduces the exact sound of the bells and will not cause any damage to the precious cultural heritage."
Experts believe the bronze chimes are the world's most stable instruments. Fidelity of sound can be ensured as long as the bronze itself is not damaged.
A recent examination revealed the bell quality remained stable and accurate, which provided the basis of the successful digital reproduction.
Recently, digital technology has been widely used to give the public closer access to cultural heritages in China. For example, virtual technology has enabled the public to see into every corner of the Forbidden City. Elsewhere, people can get a glimpse of the world cultural heritage Koguryo Tombs in Jilin Province, which is not open to the public, through the technology.
During China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), advanced technologies are being widely used to give people more opportunities to appreciate the extensive catalogue of Chinese ancient cultural heritage, according to the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Editor: Du Guodong
Source: news.xinhuanet.com

Microsoft in alliance with Founder Technology

Nov. 9, 2007 (China Knowledge) – Founder Technology Group Corp<600601>, China's second largest personal computer maker, has agreed to pre-install Windows operating system in its products, in a bid to protect intellectual property rights, the Peoples' Daily reported.
Founder's tie-up with the world's leading software developer aims to enhance the growth of China's information technology market. Under the agreement, the Chinese computer manufacturing giant is going to sell Microsoft keyboard, webcams and other hardware in 500 stores on the Mainland.
Microsoft is seeking alliance with Chinese computer makers to combat widespread product piracy in the country. In March, China's largest personal computer producer Lenovo<992> has signed agreement with Microsoft to pre-install the company's tool bar and web search software. Lenovo will also load Microsoft’s Windows live on its computers.
The Window Live package includes the American company's search service Live Search, a search engine to compete with its rival Google Inc.

Source: chinaknowledge.com/news

Experts Urge Major U.S. Investment in Carbon Storage Technology

WASHINGTON, DC, November 8, 2007 (ENS) - Technology to sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants is at least a decade away from commercial reality, experts told a Senate subcommittee Wednesday. The hearing on carbon capture and storage offered a sobering view of what many believe is a critical component of the world's effort to seriously address global climate change.
The experts testifying before the subcommittee were unanimous in the view that a major increase in funding for carbon sequestration research and development is urgently needed.
"While geologic sequestration is scientifically feasible, it is not technologically or institutionally ready," said Howard Herzog, a carbon storage expert with the Massachusetts Institute for Technology's Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. "The number one impediment to moving ahead is lack of funding."
The U.S. Energy Department currently spends about $300 million annually on carbon capture and storage technology research and development. Herzog said that figure should be boosted to at least $1 billion if commercially viable technology is to be available within 10 years.
"The goal should be to achieve technological readiness by the time climate legislation creates market opportunities for carbon capture and storage technologies," Herzog told the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation. "Unfortunately we are currently not on that path."
Subcommittee chair John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, used the hearing to unveil a proposal to address many of the concerns raised by Herzog and other experts who testified at the hearing.
Kerry's bill would increase funding with the aim of establishing three to five coal-fired power plants with advanced carbon capture technology and three to five large-scale sequestration projects.
The legislation authorizes $2.4 billion in annual grants through 2015 for the power plants, as well as $1.6 billion annually through 2015 for the sequestration projects.
It also calls on the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, to complete an assessment of the nation's geological storage capacity.
"We've got a gigantic challenge," Kerry said in reference to climate change. "Everybody who is talking about the use of coal is now talking about carbon capture and sequestration … most people have suggested to me that we can only do this if we kick into high gear."
Democrats and Republicans on the subcommittee voiced support for the Kerry's bill, which was also met with approval from the panelists.
We needed to do it yesterday," said Sally Benson, executive director of Stanford University's Global Climate and Energy Project, which fosters ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "This is urgent."
The urgency stems from the major role coal-fired power plants play in the world's energy supply as well as their massive contribution to greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities.
Coal plants are responsible for 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and addressing this has long been seen as a vital piece of any climate strategy. Both China and the United States, the two leading emitters of greenhouse gases, have vast supplies of coal and little intent to stop burning the fossil fuel.
Coal is a critical fuel for the world," Herzog said.
Technology for capturing carbon dioxide from power plants is available, but storing it remains another matter. Despite small-scale success, much remains to be learned about the potential and pitfalls of storing large amounts of the gas underground, Benson told the subcommittee.
"The question of scale cannot be ignored," she said. "Today there are three active sequestration projects. To make a significant impact on emissions reduction, thousands of projects will be needed and each of these will be five to 10 times larger than any of the existing projects."
"The potential for unforeseen consequences from large-scale sequestration must be assessed and methods to avoid them developed," Benson said.
Geological sequestration involves the injection of carbon dioxide underground at depths of one to three kilometers, explained Robert Burruss, a USGS research geologist.
"At these depths, CO2 has the properties of a low-density liquid and it displaces the fluid that initially filled the porous space and will rise vertically until it is retained beneath a nonpermeable barrier or seal," Burrus said.
"A critical issue for evaluation of storage capacity is the integrity and effectiveness of these seals," he said.
Geological formations in the United States provide hundreds of years of capacity, Benson added, but little is know about the effectiveness of the most widespread option - saline aquifers.
"They have the largest capacity and are located closer to more emission sources," she said. "The sealing mechanisms for saline aquifers are the same as for oil and gas reservoirs - but here we need scientific proof that the seals are sufficiently thick, have uniformly good sealing properties, and are not penetrated by active faults."
Given the different challenges of different geological formations, Benson said, the research focus should not just be on large projects.
"We need to be sure we are building the fundamental research base and there is a high amount of leverage for a tiny fraction of the amount you are putting into these very large-scale demonstrations," Benson said.
"These small-scale pilot tests are very important … as there are 40 or 50 places where we would like to sequester carbon dioxide."
There are other "major non-technical issues associated with storage that must be addressed concurrently before carbon capture and storage can become a commercial opportunity," added Bryan Hannegan, a vice president of the Electric Power Research Institute.
Hannegan pointed to permitting challenges, legal and liability issues, environmental concerns as well as public acceptance of the technology.
"It also needs looking at possible new uses of CO2," Hannegan said. "We've been able to turn sulfur into wallboard, it is quite possible we could turn CO2 into a usable byproduct."
Source: By J.R. Pegg , ens-newswire.com

New Technology from Air Products

New Technology from Air Products Takes the Heat Off During Thermal Spray Coating Applications

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Products has introduced a new thermal spray cooling technology to the North American market that uses cryogenic nitrogen vapor (-320 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain part temperature during thermal spray coating applications. The company's United States patent-pending technology makes high-quality thermal spray coatings possible by maintaining part temperature within a pre-defined narrow range, even for heat-intensive spraying processes. The technology can enable the user to apply coatings faster and at a lower cost than traditional cooling methods.
Exposing a part to too much heat can negatively impact coating adhesion, substrate and coating hardness, fatigue life, corrosion resistance and dimensional tolerances. One method used by thermal spray applicators to keep part temperatures within a closely set range is forced air cooling combined with inter-pass breaks. This traditional practice, however, increases downtime and reduces productivity as well as wastes powder and process gases.
"Air Products recognized that thermal spray applicators needed a better solution to maintaining part temperature," said Dr. Rana Ghosh, project manager, cryogenic cooling applications at Air Products. "In response, we developed a thermal spray cooling technology that can maintain a part's temperature within a much tighter range during the spray operation versus traditional cooling methods by varying the cooling intensity to match the heat generated in the spraying process. Use of our technology can improve part quality, lower costs by reducing powder and process gas waste and enabling the use of inexpensive flexible masking, and allow better utilization of the thermal spray equipment and booth."
Air Products' thermal spray cooling nozzles can be mounted directly on the robotic arm next to the thermal spraying gun. During spray application, the cryogenic vapor jet follows the thermal spray plume to maintain the part's temperature within the specified range. Multiple cooling lines can provide additional part cooling, if needed. The part is continuously monitored by a thermal imaging camera and/or infrared sensors that provide temperature feedback to the computer-controlled cooling nozzles, which allows the cooling system to automatically maintain the substrate temperature set by the spray booth operator. The part temperature history also can be recorded and archived for future audit purposes.
Compatible with existing thermal spray systems, Air Products' technology offers a variety of system designs for application-specific use. The technology can be used in the aerospace, automotive, and heavy industries; oil fields; and job shops. Currently used by a major aircraft parts service facility, Air Products' technology has cut in half the spraying time and the amount of powder and process gases consumed in the coating of aircraft landing gear axles.
To learn more about Air Products' thermal spray cooling technology, call 800-654-4567 (code 555), e-mail gigmrktg@airproducts.com, or visit our website at http://www.airproducts.com/cooling.
Air Products serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment. Air Products has annual revenues of $10 billion, operations in over 40 countries, and over 22,000 employees around the globe. For more information, visit http://www.airproducts.com.
***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations.
Source: money.cnn.com

Phoenix Technologies Launches Into HyperSpace

You really shouldn't have to wait three minutes or more to use your laptop or desktop computer while it chugs along to boot up your Windows operating system. And if Phoenix Technologies CEO Woody Hobbs has anything to say about it, you won't.

Phoenix says its new technology called HyperSpace will ignite a "PC revolution" by transforming the mobile personal computing experience. The technology will provide an "instant-on" capability, quickly offering its users the ability to launch specially designed applications such as multi-media players, IP soft phones, email, instant messaging, Web 2.0 browsing and more, all by simply hitting the F4 button.

"For most of us, today's computing experience is a lot like air travel - offering tremendous possibilities, but plagued with security issues, delays and system failures," said Hobbs. "HyperSpace introduces a new framework to transform the personal computing experience through purpose-driven appliances that work within the HyperSpace environment. Working together with our partners within the PC ecosystem, we believe HyperSpace will ignite a new revolution of innovation built on the foundation of embedded simplicity."

Phoenix says that HyperSpace will deliver a high-performance, low battery-consumption environment that will enable mobile PC users to be productive at all times. The platform is enabled by an efficient hypervisor called the "HyperCore" which is embedded within the core system firmware or BIOS. HyperCore is a lightweight Zoned Virtual Machine Monitor (ZVMM) that runs specialized core services side-by-side with Windows.

This isn't the first time vendors have attempted to create such an offering. Products have popped up and disappeared over time with little to no fanfare, however, as operating systems continue to add features, functionality, security, etc. and continue to slow down the boot time, their time may have come. Not long ago, another instant-on technology called Splashtop hit the scene with limited distribution. However unlike Splashtop, HyperSpace can be invoked at any time, not just before the OS boots.

It doesn't sound like Phoenix is trying to completely replace the need for virtualization or the desktop operating system. At least not yet. It looks like there will be a limited amount of applications written for the technology, and it seems like it may be very controlled. In doing so, while limiting the applications, hopefully it will add to the security of the offering and keep the PC safe from malware.

Phoenix is already working with most major PC manufacturers, although they aren't naming names as of yet. But the company is expecting that vendors will start to integrate the new HyperSpace technology into laptops somewhere within the next six to nine months.

Two and technology

Two friends recently moved into our world of modern technology, particularly computer and computer-driven technology. One, after many years of ignoring it, and, the other, actively avoiding it. The first is my mother. She is not as averse to technology as she is avowed in her belief of being too old to learn how to work technology and, in turn, how technology works. Some years back I gave her a cell phone for her birthday. This was before the cell phone became a camera cum radio cum digital recorder cum organizer cum Internet surfer cum almost everything else. She was happy enough to receive it. But she was just as happy to return it a week later. “I just don’t think I can learn how to work this,” she said. “And the keys are awfully small. These are only good for a baby’s tiny digits.” “Oh, well,” was the only thing I could say. The other week I was on the phone with her asking if I could store some of my stuff at her house. Which stuff? she asked. This and that, I said. What about your computer? she asked next. What about it? Maybe you can just leave it with me, she said, straightforward. Hmm, I thought. OK, I said. I wondered: why the turn around? Computers are practically like cell phones for her, even if a computer’s keys are bigger than a cell phone’s. “I still continue to write workbooks,” Mom said, explaining. “I have a co-teacher who will help me learn how to use the computer.”Great, I said. But the computer is presently with the computer doctor. There is something wrong with the power supply. I might need to buy a replacement. I will bring it over as soon as it is fixed and after I copy my files into an external hard drive, clean up the hard drives (it has more than one), optimize the system, and delete or uninstall vector graphics software that she won’t need. But I kept this to myself. This would be information overload for my mom. The other friend is Ludo, who always jokes about being the other half of that famous multibillion, though now severed, business duo, Ludo & Luym. The other claim he makes is that he is just a simple farmer. That, he is. One with an extraordinary green thumb. Yet the only farming he does now is planting the seeds of language, another language, in students seeking to learn it. This he does well, too. Too much that he is in demand among people who are going abroad to seek better-paying jobs and employers from abroad who are seeking cheaper workers here. In both cases, learning another language is essential. A common complaint of the former group is that Ludo is inaccessible. The only way to get to talk to him is to go to him. He doesn’t have a cell phone. He holds cell phones in disdain. “If it’s important enough then one should take pains to say it in person,” he maintains. “Cell phones only make conversation too cheap to the point of having no value anymore.” He doesn’t put too much stock on computers either. I have my own desktop, he says with a mischievous grin. It’s a small white board he uses for his classes. It’s always on top of my desk, he explains, deadpan. But now he is working with a real computer. He has students from as far away as France. They have to conduct their classes through computers. He is resigned to it. He is genuinely amazed that such classes can be conducted through video-conferencing. I’m thinking of these two as I read this book, In the Absence of the Sacred : The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations. The author, Gerry Mander (yes, that’s his name) says that the present computer-driven technology will, most seriously, eventually lead to – even as it is now – concentrating power in a few corporations, increase the loss and invasion of privacy, drive consumption to unsustainable levels and seriously threaten our biosphere with us in it. He says we have much to learn from the “Indians,” the indigenous people – many in our own country – who, even now, battle against threats against their way of life, their land, their belief that everything is connected, that you cannot desecrate land by poisoning it, by disemboweling it without threatening the intricate web of life. This is not an easy read. Mostly because it is difficult for us to imagine, let alone live, an alternate life without ring tones, sick jokes, easy access pornography, super violent games, but also Wikipedia, eBay, www.greenpeace.com, Google, etc.+
Source: inquirer.net

Rambus, Intel to explore technology

Chip technologies maker Rambus Inc. said Wednesday it has an agreement with Intel to explore possible uses for Rambus' family of XDR memory products.
Intel is evaluating the technology for possible future uses, but no specific product plans have been named at this time, Rambus said. Several other companies already have XDR licensing agreements.
Rambus shares added $1.64, or 8.5 percent, at $21 in after-hours trading. They close at $19.36 in the regular session.
(This version corrects to note that Intel is not the only company that may use XDR technology in 2nd graf.)
Source: businessweek.com

Chip makers get serious about medical technology

After years of just letting their chips be used by medical technology companies, racking up the sales as they would in the mobile phone business, chip-makers are finally starting to compete for medical application dollars.
Business Week reports that many chips designed for one application space have proven useful in unrelated medical spaces.
STMicro created a chip for probing nuclear structures which was applied to devices examining patients for skin cancer. An IBM chip used in a game console found its way into an imaging system used for breast cancer. We reported here on an HP chip being used in skin patches.
Databeans says the medical chip industry is growing 12% per year, and is now worth $2.6 billion, so it’s finally mature enough and fast-growing enough to go after full-bore.
The growing unity between computing and medical equipment is also reflected in the recent appointment of Peter Löscher as the new head of Siemens, the 106-year old German technology firm.
Siemens Medical has an office in Alpharetta, GA, just a few miles from my Atlanta office, and has been a star performer for the company. (We profiled some of their innovative marketing here recently — vote for Americus.) Löscher intends to instill management disciplines he learned at GE, another big conglomerate with a large medical unit, to cut jobs at Siemens.
The takeover of medical technology by chip technology could lead to faster product roll-outs and the financial benefits of Moore’s Law. Hopefully these new thinkers will also bring with them other benefits of the computer space, like standards.
Source: healthcare.zdnet.com

New British Initiative to Develop Low-cost Hybrid Battery Technology

Leading British vehicle engineering company Ricardo and technology specialist QinetiQ are to jointly develop an advanced lithium-ion battery that costs a third of the price of today's equivalent, and weighs half as much. The two-year collaboration aims to dramatically reduce the price of manufacturing hybrid vehicles. Batteries currently represent about a third of the additional cost of adding hybrid technology to a production car, and add significantly to its weight, too.
Last year Ricardo showed a Citroen Berlingo diesel-hybrid prototype, developed with QinetiQ and PSA Peugeot Citroen, which achieved 100g/km CO2 emissions - this new project, called RED-LION (REDuced-cost Li-Ion) concentrates on reducing the cost of the technology, a major reason why there are not more hybrid models on offer today.
Ricardo has long experience in vehicle engineering, particularly with diesel technology, while QinetiQ's work with high energy lithium-ion batteries for military applications have given it much experience in this field. If the project is successful, Ricardo will be hoping to sell the technology to major car manufacturers, including PSA. The project is part-funded by the Energy Saving Trust, through its Low Carbon R and D programme for the Department of Transport.

Blackboard and Sony Partner to Offer Contactless Card Technology

WASHINGTON and SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blackboard Inc. and Sony Corporation announced today a partnership to support Sony FeliCa contactless technology in the Blackboard Commerce Suite(TM), a family of applications supporting one-card transactions on-campus, off-campus and online and allowing for identification, payment and access.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sony will engage Blackboard to support the FeliCa contactless chip technology. The combination of Sony's proven FeliCa technology and the industry standard Near Field Communication (NFC) protocol offers industry-leading application options and system performance.
"The deployment of contactless technology is very advanced across Asia where Sony is the clear market leader," said Russ Carlson, President of the Blackboard Commerce Group. "Sony's commitment to the U.S. market and to NFC standards allows for a solution to higher education institutions that improves student service in a cost effective manner, and enables a wide-array of new services in the future."
The FeliCa Contactless IC card technology offers high security complying with ISO standard in contactless applications. FeliCa also provides a supportive layer of user credentials which can be integrated with NFC-enabled devices including door access readers, point of sale terminals, mobile phones and a variety of attended and unattended devices.
"Our collaboration will help improve the daily life of students, staff and faculty with the benefits of FeliCa contactless technology as it allows educational institutions to combine multiple applications including student identification, access control and payment onto a single card," said Hiromasa Otsuka, Corporate Executive Senior Vice President at Sony Corporation responsible for the FeliCa Division. "We are ready and excited to expand the cool and smart lifestyle FeliCa technology enabled in Japan to the U.S. market."
Sony FeliCa technology is widely used across the globe, with more than 250 million cards and FeliCa chips embedded in mobile phones in circulation. Rail ticketing and payment systems throughout Asia have incorporated the contactless technology to increase speed of service and passenger throughput.
With Sony's FeliCa technology, contactless communication between the card and the card reader/writer is activated by electromagnetic waves radiated from the reader/writer antenna. FeliCa technology complies with ISO/IEC 18092 communication method. The solution allows for read/write transactions to be completed within 0.1 second, a feature that makes the card advantageous to be used for multiple university campus applications that require high-speed processing.
Transmission data is encrypted using a "transaction key" which is dynamically generated at every mutual authentication. These features make forgery and card fraud nearly impossible.

Pointer Telocation Appoints Mr. Israel Ronn as GM Technology & Products

GIVATAYIM, Israel, November 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pointer Telocation Ltd. (TASE: PNTR), a leading provider of services to insurance companies and car owners, including road-side assistance, towing and stolen vehicle retrieval services in Israel, Argentina and Mexico, announced the appointment of Mr. Israel Ronn, as GM Technology & Products.
Mr. Israel Ronn has over 15 years of experience in Business Management. Mr. Ronn served as CEO of several companies in US and Israel such as Telrad USA and Tenecs. Mr. Ronn led the merger of Tenecs and Congruency which created Telrad Connegy. In his most recent position, Mr. Ronn held the position of CEO at Cellmax Systems.
Mr. Ronn holds a B.A. in Computer Sciences and Economics from Bar Ilan University and is a graduate of Tafnit Executive Business Administration Program.
Pointer CEO Mr. Danny Stern said: "We welcome Mr. Ronn and are confident that he will contribute to Pointer Telocation due to his vast experience. Israel will lead Cellocator's products and technology to enhance and improve our service offering to our existing customers and to additional target markets".
About Pointer Telocation
Pointer Telocation Ltd http://www.pointer.com provides range of services to insurance companies and automobile owners, including road-side assistance, vehicle towing, stolen vehicle retrieval, fleet management and other value added services. Pointer Telocation provides services, for the most part, in Israel, through its subsidiary Shagrir and in Argentina and Mexico through its local subsidiaries. Independent operators provide similar services in Russia and Venezuela utilizing Pointer's technology and operational know-how.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the business, financial condition and results of operations of Pointer and its affiliates. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of Pointer, only, and are subject to risk and uncertainties relating to changes in technology and market requirements, the company's concentration on one industry in limited territories, decline in demand for the company's products and those of its affiliates, inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications, and loss of market share and pressure on pricing resulting from competition, which could cause the actual results or performance of the company to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. Pointer undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting the company, reference is made to the company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Teacher vs. Technology

Halfway through the semester in his market research course at Roanoke College last fall, only moments after announcing a policy of zero tolerance for cellphone use in the classroom, Prof. Ali Nazemi heard a telltale ring. Then he spotted a young man named Neil Noland fumbling with his phone, trying to turn it off before being caught.
“Neil, can I see that phone?” Professor Nazemi said, more in a command than a question. The student surrendered it. Professor Nazemi opened his briefcase, produced a hammer and proceeded to smash the offending device. Throughout the classroom, student faces went ashen.
“How am I going to call my Mom now?” Neil asked. As Professor Nazemi refused to answer, a classmate offered, “Dude, you can sue.”
Let’s be clear about one thing. Ali Nazemi is a hero. Ali Nazemi deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Let’s be clear about another thing. The episode in his classroom had been plotted and scripted ahead of time, with Neil Noland part of the charade all along. The phone was an extra of his mother’s, its service contract long expired.
Just as fiction can limn truths beyond the grasp of factuality, Professor Nazemi’s act of guerrilla theater, which he recounted last week in a telephone interview, attested to the exasperation of countless teachers and professors in the computer era. Their perpetual war of attrition with defiantly inattentive students has escalated from the quaint pursuits of pigtail-pulling, spitball-lobbing and notebook-doodling to a high-tech arsenal of laptops, cellphones, BlackBerries and the like.
The poor schoolmarm or master, required to provide a certain amount of value for your child’s entertainment dollar, now must compete with texting, instant-messaging, Facebook, eBay, YouTube, Addictinggames.com and other poxes on pedagogy.
“There are certain lines you shouldn’t cross,” the professor said. “If you start tolerating this stuff, it becomes the norm. The more you give, the more they take. These devices become an indisposable sort of thing for the students. And nothing should be indisposable. Multitasking is good, but I want them to do more tasking in my class.”
To which one can only say: Amen. And add: Too bad the good guy is going to lose.
At age 55, Professor Nazemi stands on the far shore of a new sort of generational divide between teacher and student. This one separates those who want to use technology to grow smarter from those who want to use it to get dumber.
Perhaps there’s a nicer way to put it. “The baby boomers seem to see technology as information and communication,” said Prof. Michael Bugeja, director of the journalism school at Iowa State University and the author of “Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age.” “Their offspring and the emerging generation seem to see the same devices as entertainment and socializing.”
All the advances schools and colleges have made to supposedly enhance learning — supplying students with laptops, equipping computer labs, creating wireless networks — have instead enabled distraction. Perhaps attendance records should include a new category: present but otherwise engaged.
In the past three years alone, the percentage of college classrooms with wireless service has nearly doubled, to 60 percent from 31 percent, according to the Campus Computing Survey, an annual check by the Campus Computing Project of computer use at 600 colleges. Professor Bugeja’s online survey of several hundred Iowa State students found that a majority had used their cellphones, sent or read e-mail, and gone onto social-network sites during class time. A quarter of the respondents admitted they were taking Professor Bugeja’s survey while sitting in a different class.
Naturally, there will be many students and no small number of high-tech and progressive-ed apologists ready to lay the blame on boring lessons. One of the great condemnations in education jargon these days, after all, is the “teacher-centered lesson.”
“I’m so tired of that excuse,” said Professor Bugeja, may he live a long and fruitful life. “The idea that subject matter is boring is truly relative. Boring as opposed to what? Buying shoes on eBay? The fact is, we’re not here to entertain. We’re here to stimulate the life of the mind.”
“Education requires contemplation,” he continued. “It requires critical thinking. What we may be doing now is training a generation of air-traffic controllers rather than scholars. And I do know I’m going to lose.”
Not, one can only hope, without a fight.
The Canadian company Smart Technologies makes and sells a program called SynchronEyes. It allows a classroom teacher to monitor every student’s computer activity and to freeze it at a click. Last year, the company sold more than 10,000 licenses, which range in cost from $779 for one teacher to $3,249 for an entire school.
The biggest problem, said Nancy Knowlton, the company’s chief executive officer, is staying ahead of students trying to crack the program’s code. “There’s an active discussion on the Web, and we’re monitoring it,” Ms. Knowlton said. “They keep us on our toes.”
Scott Carlin, an instructor of teacher interns at Michigan State University, advises his charges to forbid personal use of tech devices in the classroom. Of course he occasionally has to pause in his own lesson to make one of his graduate students stop scrolling through text messages.
“If the students actually found some creative way to use a cellphone or a BlackBerry in a class demonstration, I’d be all for that,” Mr. Carlin said in a recent interview, recalling his own years as a middle school and high school teacher. “Or if they could demonstrate how a chat room or AOL instant messenger would help them present a project. But what I found in most cases is that it was just a fancy new way of passing notes.”
In the end, as science-fiction writers have prophesied for years, the technology is bound to outwit the fallible human. What teacher or professor can possibly police a room full of determined goof-offs while also delivering an engaging lesson?
I am reminded of a story I heard from an Ivy League junior at a social gathering last year. She and a friend walked into the lecture hall for a class and noticed two young men in a back row surfing Internet pornography sites. They called out and waved to alert the professor.
He stopped his lecture. He turned his eyes to the young women, those would-be whistle-blowers. And as the pornography show proceeded undetected, he chastised them for interrupting.
Samuel G. Freedman is a professor of journalism at Columbia University. His e-mail is sgfreedman@nytimes.com.

Founder Technology To Preload Microsoft Windows On More PCs

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Founder Technology Group Corp. (600601.SH) will preload Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows operating system on more personal computers, the two companies said Wednesday.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two firms Wednesday, Founder will preload Windows software on laptops and commercial desktop PCs.
Founder, among the top five PC vendors in China by shipments, only preloaded Windows on consumer PCs under an earlier agreement with Microsoft.
The latest agreement marks an expansion in Microsoft's push to combat software piracy and promote the use of legitimate software in China. Some PC makers in China previously didn't preload the operating software, letting consumers install illegitimate software on their own.
Microsoft has similar deals with Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK), the largest PC firm in China.
Founder also agreed to distribute Microsoft mice and keyboards in 500 stores in 35 cities in China, and to preload Windows Live, Microsoft's Internet-based services, on its PCs over the next two years.

New Devices Open Communications for Deaf

Five years ago the staff at Ken Gan's auto repair shop told him they needed to find a better way of communicating with customers who were deaf.
"I said, let me go shopping _ I'll buy you whatever's out there," said Gan, of Rochester, N.Y., which has a significant community of deaf people.
For three months, Gan came up empty-handed. There wasn't anything in the market to facilitate face-to-face communication in a situation such as a shop or office.
So Gan hired some electrical engineers and a patent attorney and came up with the Interpretype. The small device with a keyboard and display hooks up to another Interpretype or a PC, allowing a hearing person and a deaf person to type messages to each other. It turned out to be such an improvement over passing scribbled notes that Gan gets up to 30 deaf customers a month, up from two to three per month before.
Gan started a business above the shop that has sold more than a thousand Interpretypes to schools, libraries, government offices and businesses. The basic setup starts at $995.
With roughly 1 percent to 2 percent of the U.S. population either deaf or hard of hearing, new technologies like Gan's device are coming into wider use. They allow deaf people to overcome many frustrations in simple commercial situations such as asking: What's wrong with my car?
Or if you want to rent a car. James Barons, manager an Enterprise Rent-a-Car branch in Rochester, said he's seen interactions with deaf customers improve markedly after installing one of Gan's text-exchange devices.
"It made the whole transaction of renting a car a lot smoother," Barons said.
Other technologies are also making inroads in bridging the gap between hearing people and the deaf.
Jason Curry founded a company in Independence, Mo. with his father that makes a communications device similar to the Interpretype. The UbiDuo uses two portable units, connected by wireless technology. A pair, which can be folded together, starts at $1,995.
Curry has already sold hundreds since starting sales at the beginning of the year, and expects to sell several thousand next year. He said he's talking with Starbucks Corp. about getting UbiDuos installed in coffee shops.
Curry, who is deaf, said that he was able to directly communicate with his wife's family for the first time last Christmas by using one of the devices. Not having his wife interpret was a "life-changing experience" for him, he said.
"Deaf people have a lack of power to sit down across from a hearing person and have a conversation without a third party interpreting for them," Curry said through a sign language interpreter.
Another technology that has seen even greater growth in recent years is the video relay service, which allows a deaf person to telephone a hearing person using a sign language interpreter. The interpreter and the deaf person communicate in sign language using a broadband video connection, while the interpreter speaks with the hearing person over a speakerphone.
Deaf people say video relay services mark a major improvement over the previous telephone method available, which involved an operator reading text that a deaf person would type into a device called a TTY _ a technology more than 20 years old that exchanged basic text over phone lines using a modem.
Norman Williams, a senior research engineer at Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in Washington, D.C., uses a video phone every day for a variety of calls including talking to his kids' teachers, arranging doctors' visits or ordering pizza.
"I can't imagine living without it," Williams said in an interview using a video relay service. "Before we could use TTY, but that's a really slow process. Right now I can sign, just like somebody is speaking, so it's more like real-time conversation."
Video relay services have only come into common use in the last three years or so, and usage is growing rapidly, having jumped from about 1 million minutes per month in August 2004 to about 6 million minutes in August of this year, according to the National Exchange Carrier Association.
Under federal law, phone companies are required to offer those and other telecommunications services for people with disabilities, funded by the charges at the bottom of your phone bill.
A number of deaf people, however, use other technologies that don't require sign language. Jay Wyant, the incoming president of The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said deaf and hard-of-hearing people were "among the first to be heavy users of e-mail and IM, and text messaging after that."
Wyant, who has some hearing thanks to a cochlear implant, was communicating through yet another assistive technology _ CART, or Communication Access Realtime Translation.
Wyant read text being typed online by an operator who was listening in on a conference call, and spoke his answers back. A Web link allowed all parties to see the text of what was being said in real time.
Alan Hurwitz, dean of the National Technology Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology, said many assistive technologies have been a godsend to deaf people.
"Any technology that allows me to communicate with hearing people instantly, without any barriers _ that's amazing to me," Hurwitz said in an interview through a video relay service.
But what really excites Hurwitz is a brand new technology already being used in Europe and Japan, but not yet in the United States, that allows deaf people to communicate with each other in sign language over cell phone cameras using real-time video.
It's unclear when the necessary approvals and upgrades will come in for that technology. But "once it gets here, that will hands-down be the biggest impact" on communications among the deaf, he said.
Source: foxnews.com

Advent Software Named Best Buy-Side Technology Provider

Advent Software Named Best Buy-Side Technology Provider by Buy-Side Technology Magazine
Advent's Flagship Portfolio Accounting Platforms Receive Best Portfolio Accounting Platform and Best Client Reporting Platform Honors

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Advent Software, Inc. , the leading provider of software and solutions for the investment management industry, today announced that it has been named best buy-side technology provider by Buy-Side Technology magazine. Advent's leading portfolio accounting platforms were also recognized: Geneva(R) has been named best buy-side portfolio accounting platform, and Advent Portfolio Exchange(R) (APX) has been named best buy-side client reporting platform.
Geneva(R) is Advent's platform for alternative assets, providing institutional portfolio managers, hedge funds, prime brokers and fund administrators with an integrated accounting solution that supports complex, global investment strategies and high-volume trading in multiple instruments and currencies.
APX is Advent's next-generation platform, providing institutional and high-net-worth asset managers with the functionality of portfolio management, client management and reporting in a single solution that integrates front and back office functions.
"We're extremely honored to have been named the best buy-side technology vendor, and to have our flagship portfolio accounting platforms recognized with top honors. These three awards demonstrate that Advent is successfully addressing a growing need in the investment management industry, where reliable, scalable solutions are vital to the continued growth of buy-side firms," said Stephanie DiMarco, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Advent. "Our expanding client base for APX and Geneva(R) highlights their status as innovative solutions that are streamlined, efficient and easily configured around the way our customers operate their businesses."
"We remain committed to meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations over the long term by providing continuous enhancements and new functionality to our solutions that will help increase value for our customers," concluded DiMarco."
"Advent was awarded the 'best overall buy-side technology vendor for 2007' on the basis of its lengthy buy-side track record and the quality and breadth of its offerings spanning the front and back offices," said Victor Anderson, Editor, Buy-Side Technology. "Advent's buy-side initiative is jointly spearheaded by its ubiquitous Moxy(R) OMS and Geneva(R), the benchmark for buy-side portfolio accounting platforms, both of which have large numbers of existing installations at a variety of buy-side organizations. APX, winner of this year's 'best client reporting tool', was added to the Advent line-up in 2005. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, Advent has a reputation for outstanding customer service, an increasingly important differentiator in the competitive buy-side technology market."
The awards were presented on November 2, 2007 during the Buy-Side Technology Awards luncheon at The Lanesborough Hotel in London. In late October, Advent was also recognized as the top portfolio management provider to the financial services industry by Securities Industry News and Financial Insights, an IDC company.
The Buy-Side Technology Awards recognize products and services in the buy-side technology vendor industry in order to identify the leading technologies and vendors in their areas of expertise through an auditable and transparent methodology. The category winners were decided by a panel of seven judges -- three Buy-Side Technology journalists and four buy-side focused technology consultants: Investit, Aite Group, Morse and Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Atlantis Technology Group Announces Three-for-One Forward Stock Split

Atlantis Technology Group (OTCBB: ATNOD) announced today, as part of a comprehensive organizational plan and to create the potential for greater market liquidity, the company has committed to a three-for-one forward stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company's common stock.
Atlantis shareholders of record at the close of business on November 16, 2007 will automatically receive two additional shares of common on the pay date of November 21, 2007 constituting a three-for-one forward stock split.
The forward stock split was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors. The number of Atlantis Technology Group shares outstanding will triple as a result, constituting what the Company expects to provide greater availability of common stock in the public marketplace, to help improve future market liquidity and further diversify the Company's shareholder base.
Atlantis Technology Group CEO Tim DeHerrara said, "We believe this move will allow the company to preserve capital and allow for reinvestment and growth. We are grateful for the support of our shareholders and want to reward them with potential for a greater return on their investment."
The forward stock split will occur automatically to Atlantis Technology Group shareholder accounts from the company treasury on November 21, 2006, at the applicable market price as of that date.

Motorola Tests 3G Femtocell Technology In Europe

The small base stations are designed for use in homes and offices to help spread cellular coverage inside buildings.

Motorola on Monday announced that it has completed the testing of its 3G femtocell technology and has moved on to a trial with a major European carrier.
The femtocell technology being trailed is based on open standards and includes customer premises equipment, 3G devices, a core network concentrator, systems integration services, and Motorola's customer premises equipment management software, called Netopia Broadband Server.
Motorola didn't disclose the name of the European carrier that is testing its femtocell technology.
Femtocells are small base stations designed for use in homes and offices to help spread cellular coverage inside buildings. They will attract more than 100 million users in the next five years, according to ABI Research.
Consumers benefit from the technology by being able to keep a phone call or an Internet session going as they transition from wireless networks inside their homes to outside networks. The switch is seamless when they use their 3G-enabled mobile devices, according to Motorola.
Potentially, the use of femtocells can improve indoor wireless coverage and help reduce "in-home" call charges on mobile devices.
Motorola is part of the Femto Forum, a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to promote the deployment of femtocells worldwide.
Earlier this year, U.S. wireless carrier Sprint launched a trial in Denver and Indianapolis to test femtocell hardware and service called Airave, which is designed to provide subscribers with enhanced cellular coverage in their homes and home offices. The technology works similarly to T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service. However, instead of using Wi-Fi to extend coverage, Airave uses femtocells.
Carriers are expected to install femtocells to make their networks more efficient and to provide better cellular coverage indoors. Traffic will be routed using the Internet Protocol, which means carriers will be able to offer additional services like voice over IP and IPTV to their subscribers.
Source: informationweek.com
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Carnegie Mellon Team Wins DARPA Robotic Car Race

Carnegie Mellon Team Wins DARPA Robotic Car Race
The driverless cars had to navigate urban roads, complete with traffic signals and merging, using only sensors and software, not remote controls.
A robotic vehicle, developed by Carnegie Mellon University professors and students, took the grand prize at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's 2007 Urban Challenge this weekend.
Last year's winning team from Stanford University took second place on a course that required driverless cars to navigate urban roads, complete with traffic signals and merging. The cars are not remotely controlled. Instead, they used sensors and software to "figure out" the California course for themselves.
The top two teams in the Pentagon-sponsored race have something in common (aside from really smart students and professors). They both used Applanix's Applanix Position and Orientation Systems for Land Vehicles (POS LV), an inertial/GPS mobile mapping technology.
Ten of the 36 cars that made it to the qualifying round used Applanix's technology. Five of the 11 teams eligible for the final race used it. Three of the six vehicles that finished, including one from MIT, used the technology.
POS LV systems provide a continuous stream of position and orientation data when GPS signals are blocked, reflected, or otherwise limited, allowing teams to gather data outside of a GPS system. Since GPS relies on line-of-sight for information, the obstacles in the race limited the usefulness of that technology alone.
"This year's race proved to be one of the most highly competitive fields we've seen," Steve Woolven, president of Applanix, said in a statement. "The advances made at the DARPA Urban Challenge have significant implications on how positioning technologies can be used in the future."
The race is used to spur research and development into technologies that will increase the safety of military personnel by eliminating the need to send troops onto dangerous battlefields.
DARPA revealed its demanding Urban Challenge course on Nov. 3 at the Southern California Logistics Airport, located at the former George Air Force Base in California.
Team Tartan, which consists of members from CMU -- including William "Red" Whittaker -- and several partners, won $2 million for being the fastest qualifying vehicle to make it through DARPA's mock urban military supply missions. Stanford received $1 million, with a vehicle called "Junior" taking second place. Victor Tango's "Odin" of Blacksburg, Va., received $500,000 for finishing third.
Source: informationweek.com
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Nigeria: Metallurgy - FG Told to Support Science And Technology

Abuja
The federal government has been told to "support science and technology" as a deliberate means of developing the nation's metal-based industries.
Director general of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. David Okongwu, made this call at the just concluded 3-day Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Metallurgical Society (NMS).

Okongwu, who had earlier called for innovation in all fields of metallurgy, however, hinted that the rules of World Trade Organisation (WTO), notwithstanding should not be a barrier should the nation decide to support science and technology.
"There is a big role for the government of Nigeria in the technological development plan of the country by being an enabler of learning and capability acquisition. Governments all over the world have assisted their nationals in various ways to acquire specific technological capabilities. Even in the face of WTO rules, smart governments deliberately and massively support science and technology," he said.
Okongwu's challenge to the federal government follows his desire to create an indigenous capacity on which an endogenous growth would be based.
According to the NOTAP boss, who had earlier noted that innovation would ensure the stability of metals in diverse environments, the scientific, technological, engineering community and the associated institutions of higher learning are among the most critical sources for innovation.

"They promote knowledge generation and its investment for economic development. To acquire technological knowledge as a basis for endogenous growth, there is need to create indigenous capacity to train scientists, technologists and engineers in relevant fields. This calls for universities, the business sector and professional bodies to promote learning and investment in scientific and technical education, training and learning," he hinted.
The NOTAP boss further noted that there is need to strengthen the scientific and technical skills base of the country to make its development endogenously driven if the objectives of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) are to be met.
"Economic activity is highly dependent on highly specific capabilities that are partly provided through markets and partly provided by the state. This creates a serious problem for the government in supplying these capabilities as it cannot rely on market mechanism for information and incentives. Creating a structure that can do this for existing activities is in itself a serious challenge. It involves deep complimentarity between state and market that can only be achieved in an environment of extensive public-private co-operation," Okongwu said.
Source: allafrica.com
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Brocade Data Center Solutions Featured in Microsoft Technology Centers Worldwide

Microsoft Demonstrates Evolving Data Center Infrastructures with Industry-Leading Brocade SAN, FAN, and Server Connectivity Solutions

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brocade(R) , a leader in data center networking solutions that help enterprises connect and manage their information, today announced that it has been selected to showcase and demonstrate its industry-leading data center solutions at Microsoft Technology Centers (MTCs) worldwide. MTCs provide enterprise customers with the opportunity to evaluate leading-edge and customized technology solutions from Microsoft and other leading vendors before deploying the solutions in their own environments.
"Today's enterprises require their data centers to be available 24x7, and many turn to Brocade solutions to provide the reliability, scalability, and ease of management required to power mission-critical data center environments," said Jens Moberg, Corporate Vice President of the U.S. Enterprise Partner Group, Microsoft. "By hosting Brocade products in our data centers, the Microsoft Technology Centers enable our customers to evaluate solutions based on Brocade and Microsoft technologies as they make preparations to evolve and build out their next-generation data centers."
MTCs are state-of-the-art facilities staffed by technology experts and supported by industry leaders to help customers envision, architect, and demonstrate Microsoft and partner solutions to solve their business problems. MTCs provide three types of offerings-strategy briefings, architecture design sessions, and proof-of-concept workshops-each of which focuses on a different stage of a customer's search for a solution.
"The Microsoft Technology Centers provide Brocade a valuable opportunity to demonstrate how data centers will evolve in customized, real-world environments," said Tom Buiocchi, Brocade Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. "Brocade is enabling data centers of all sizes and helping our customers solve the challenges of unprecedented data growth; data security and protection; and data center efficiency."
The Brocade suite of Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure and server connectivity solutions includes industry-leading switches, directors, routers, embedded switches for blade servers, fabric-based applications, and Host Bust Adaptors (HBAs), as well as management applications and utilities to centralize data management. Brocade SAN and server connectivity solutions featured in the MTCs include the Brocade 48000 Director, the Brocade Fibre Channel (FC) HBA, and Brocade Access Gateway. Brocade FC SAN products support standards-based N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), complementing Microsoft's virtualization strategy by optimizing blade server and server virtualization solutions with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
Brocade SAN and server connectivity products help customers save costs through high performance, high density, and lower power consumption. Since the inception of the Microsoft Storage Partner Program, Brocade has worked closely with Microsoft to ensure that Brocade SAN infrastructure and server connectivity solutions support Windows environments.
Additionally, the entire Brocade File Area Network (FAN) suite of products, including Brocade StorageX(R), uniquely utilizes Microsoft Windows-based technologies, such as Distributed File System (DFS), Active Directory (AD), and Common Internet File Services (CIFS), to help customers better manage their Windows-based file data enterprise-wide. The Brocade suite of FAN solutions helps customers optimize server and storage assets, increase operational flexibility, improve data availability, and significantly reduce overall storage costs in heterogeneous, distributed computing environments. The solutions provide IT administrators with policies for automating many file data management tasks, including data tiering; migration and consolidation replication, and failover.
Source: money.cnn.com
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Robots rated as street weapons

ROBOTIC cars have competed in a high-stakes race organised by the US military, which hopes to have driverless vehicle weapons on urban streets by 2015.
The competition, at an unused military base in Victorville, a California town 120km northeast of Los Angeles, promises a first prize of $US2 million ($2.2million).
Cars and trucks with electronic brains, sensors, radar and other gear crafted to eliminate the need for humans at steering wheels had to manoeuvre 100km along mock city streets in less than six hours.
The event began with mechanics, one by one, moving the 11 competitors to the starting line. At the fateful moment, drivers abandoned the vehicles, which began moving on their own, eliciting cheers from thousands of spectators.
The cars picked up pace as they found their way along streets of the closed-down base without any help. Forty other cars, driven by people, set out with the robot vehicles to simulate city traffic.
Teams that qualified for the DARPA Challenge include those from prestigious US universities such as Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech, where 33 people were slaughtered by a gunman in April.
A car developed by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at Sydney University, NICTA, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Technology Sydney, was eliminated during preliminary screening in August.
From one to 1.5 tonnes of equipment, including 17 radar units, was added to the Land Rover, according to Barrett.
Nearby was an entry built with more modest means by students at a Florida university, based on overhauling a 1996 Subaru stationwagon.
"What we had was the old car of the wife of one of our engineers," Florida team member Ben Patz said.
Only seven contenders remained by late morning, and it was Stanford's Volkswagen Passat, nicknamed Junior, that crossed the finish line first.
A colossal Chevrolet Tahoe entered by a team from Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania and backed by money from automotive giant General Motors, finished second.
Virginia Tech's four-by-four Ford took third place.
Finishing first does not guarantee victory because speed is one of several criteria used to decide the champion and who gets the prize money.
DARPA also rates precision while navigating the 100km course. The winner of the DARPA Challenge will be announced on Sunday morning.
Five cars dropped out, meaning the rally crown could be awarded to any of the six finishers, which include MIT, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania.
Second prize is $US1 million will third prize is $US500,000.
The US Department of Defence hopes using robotic vehicles with no driver will save soldiers from being killed by roadside bombs and other attacks in urban battlefields.
Source: australianit.news.com.au
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Align Technology Introduces Vivera Retainers for Superior Strength in Clear Retention

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Align Technology, Inc. today announced the launch of Vivera retainers, a new subscription-based program that delivers clear, fresh retainers to orthodontic patients every three months for an entire year. Studies show that without retention, even perfectly aligned teeth can gradually revert to their pre- treatment state, and that dentition continues to change into a patient's 50s and beyond.
Vivera retainers are an effective, aesthetic retention solution that delivers new retainers directly to patients or to the treating doctor four times a year. Unlike other traditional clear retainers, Vivera retainers are made with the same state-of-the-art technology as Invisalign aligners, which employ 3-D digital imaging, proprietary clear thermoplastic material and advanced fabrication technology to create a strong retainer with a precise, comfortable fit.
Retainers need to be strong enough to maintain tooth position. Align's lab tests show that Vivera's proprietary thermoplastic material is more than 30 percent stronger than other leading clear retainer materials. That strength is a key quality for retaining teeth in their final position. Align's research also demonstrates that many clear thermoplastic retainers begin to deform (warp or crack) after as little as two months of simulated daytime wear, impacting their ability to maintain teeth in their final retained position.
"Vivera retainers were created to fit the needs of patients' busy lifestyles," stated Rick Matty, general manager, new products at Align Technology. "Not only do patients get the convenience of fresh retainers delivered to their door throughout the year, they get a retainer that works."
"Vivera retainers are going to help me keep my patients in working retention," said Kenneth Carver DDS. Dr. Carver has a private practice in Kingsport, Tennessee and is CEO of U.S. Dental Institute, an organization that has provided continuing education courses to dental professionals for more than thirty years. "Vivera is a complete program that overcomes the typical barriers to good retention by delivering fresh, aesthetic retainers on a set schedule and by providing an easy process for replacing lost or damaged retainers."
Vivera retainers are suitable for Invisalign and non-Invisalign patients, and can be made directly from a final Invisalign treatment stage or from a dental impression (for non-Invisalign patients). The lab fee for a one-year, dual-arch subscription (totaling 4 sets of retainers) is $275. A simple and intuitive website is used to enroll patients and manage subscriptions.
Vivera retainers have been launched in select markets with general availability planned for late November. Initially, Vivera retainers will be available only through Invisalign-certified doctors in North America. Visit www.viveraretainers.com for full product and pricing details.
Source: money.cnn.com
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Microwave Fuel Recovery Technology

Global Resource Corp.'s Microwave Fuel Recovery Technology is Named by Time Magazine One of 'The Best Inventions of the Year'
Company Notes Environmentally-Friendly Technology Holds Promise of U.S. Energy Independence

WEST BERLIN, N.J., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Resource Corp. , a developer of a patent-pending microwave technology and machinery for extracting oil and gas, announced today that Time Magazine has named the company's microwave technology as one of the "Best Inventions of the Year" because of its ability to "pull fuel out of shale rock, tires and even plastic bottles."
In the November 2 article, Time wrote that Frank Pringle of Global Technology has developed "an emissions-free process" that uses microwaves that "might also help recover oil that is stuck in muck inside hundreds of capped wells across the country."
Said Pringle, "We are proud that 'Time Magazine' has recognized the revolutionary potential of Global Resource's microwave technology. This recognition along with the Department of Energy citing our technology as a possible help to the energy problem facing the world is really exciting. Time's choosing it as one of the 'Best Inventions of the Year' will help us spread the word about the technology's power to make the United States energy independent."
Pringle explained that Global Resource's microwave technology can make the U.S. energy independent because it economically converts existing domestic resources from oil shale, tar sands, capped wells and stranded gas wells into oil or gas. The process also produces oil and gas from cleaning up environmentally destructive old tires, PCBs on river and harbor bottoms and mountains of plastic garbage in its emissions-free process.
He noted that in a report made in June that was released July 17, the U.S. Department of Energy profiled Global Resource and its microwave technology for oil shale recovery as a help in making the U.S. energy independent.
In its annual round up of "Best Inventions of the Year," Time Magazine selected 46 inventions in 12 categories, from Cars & Buses to Health. Global Resource's microwave technology is listed in the environment category.

Photon Dynamics Announces Release of ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology

Innovative "Advanced Voltage Imaging Optical System" Marks Significant Core Technology Advancement for Company's Market Leading Test System

Photon Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHTN), a global supplier utilizing advanced machine vision technology to provide market leading Liquid Crystal Display yield enhancement systems and high performance digital imaging systems for defense, surveillance, industrial inspection and medical imaging applications, announced the release of the ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology, representing a substantial technology innovation of its Voltage Imaging Optical System (VIOS).
VIOS is the core technology of Photon Dynamics' ArrayChecker(TM), the Company's market leading Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) array test system; and the release of the ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology marks innovative core technology advancement for Photon Dynamics' test systems. Equipped with the new ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology, the ArrayChecker product line enables improved panel defect detection at a significantly larger working distance than previously possible.
"A key focus of the ParagonAVIOS(TM) development was delivering to our customers continuous improvement in our product's performance, productivity, and cost of ownership," explained Jeff Hawthorne, president and CEO of Photon Dynamics. "Through our extensive in house and Beta site testing and performance evaluations, the ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology has delivered in improving the ArrayChecker's defect detection capability, system throughput, and cost of consumables."
The Company has sold multiple systems equipped with the technology; and in addition, has sold and installed several upgrades into existing LCD fabrication lines. The ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology is in production operation at several major LCD manufacturers, and has achieved technical and commercial customer acceptance on the latest Generation 8 system.
"The ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology incorporates technical innovations in Photon's camera and illumination systems, optical design and components, software and defect detection algorithms, and substantial advancement of our electro-optic modulator's working distance, sensitivity and durability," added Hawthorne. "The ParagonAVIOS(TM) technical advancements reflect our core technical capability and the talent of the dedicated Photon Dynamics team to innovate and execute.
"The ParagonAVIOS(TM) product contributed to the recent market share gains Photon made during the September quarter, which were the direct result of strategic technological investments made by the Company."
The ParagonAVIOS(TM) Sensor Technology is commercially available and being offered on all new system sales, as well as a field upgrade product for the installed base of over 300 Generation 5 - 8 systems.
About Photon Dynamics, Inc.
Photon Dynamics, Inc. is a global supplier utilizing advanced machine vision technology for market leading Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) flat panel display test and repair systems and for high performance digital imaging systems for defense, surveillance, industrial inspection and medical imaging applications. For more information about Photon Dynamics (NASDAQ: PHTN), visit its website at http://www.photondynamics.com/.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations on the date of this press release and involve a number of uncertainties and risks including but not limited to; that the technical and cost advantages provided by technology will be realized or maintained, that customers will continue to purchase the technology or upgrades, and those risks and uncertainties described in the section entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" under the caption "Factors Affecting Operating Results" in Photon Dynamics' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2006 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, actual results may differ substantially from expectations. Photon Dynamics undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.
Source: money.cnn.com

Phoenix Technologies Collaborates With AMD

Phoenix Technologies Collaborates With AMD to Optimize New HyperSpace(TM) Platform
Optimization For AMD Virtualization(TM) Technology Ensures Premium Performance, Security of the Phoenix HyperSpace Platform on AMD Processor-Based PCs
MILPITAS, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Phoenix Technologies Ltd. , the global leader in core systems firmware, today announced a technology partnership with Advanced Micro Devices that is designed to ensure that the new Phoenix HyperSpace(TM) platform is optimized for AMD Virtualization(TM) (AMD-V(TM)) technology. AMD-V powers high-performing, flexible and secure client virtualization solutions. HyperSpace is an innovative platform that promises to ignite a PC revolution by transforming the mobile personal computing experience. It provides a unique computing environment that enables PC designers, security innovators and content providers to create instant-on applications that are available before, during and after Windows boot up and shut down.
By optimizing for AMD-V and input/output memory management unit (IOMMU) technologies, Phoenix expects to ensure that applications running within the HyperSpace environment deliver fast and interactive performance along with graphics functionality, when running HyperSpace on AMD processor-based PCs. The HyperSpace platform provides PC users with a secure and always available (reliable) computing environment.
"HyperSpace offers a revolutionary transformation of the user experience. PC system vendors gain the ability to remotely restore customers' PCs and deliver security that is far more powerful than what is possible today. In addition, PC users can avail of one-click access to everything from media, messages, safe shopping and web browsing, gaining the parallel computing experience they have always wanted," said Dr. Gaurav Banga, CTO & SVP of Engineering at Phoenix Technologies.
"AMD believes the PC is the next frontier for virtualization technology, and Phoenix is an exciting and early innovator. HyperSpace and the Phoenix concept of Embedded Simplicity(TM) promise a revolutionary computing experience that delivers the ease-of-use consumers and business professionals demand," said Emile Ianni, Corporate Vice President, Platform Solutions Engineering, AMD. "By taking full advantage of AMD's advanced graphics and virtualization performance innovations, HyperSpace promises to deliver an optimal virtualized computing experience that delivers the true performance, security and graphics potential that is possible from AMD technology.
AMD's leadership in virtualization in PC processors, chipsets, and graphics processors, combined with Phoenix's leadership in platform-level software solutions, provide a formidable ecosystem that is enabling new and exciting ways to evolve virtualization technology from the datacenter and into the PC."

GM-backed college students win US military's robot car race

VICTORVILLE, United States (AFP) — A robotic car built by private university students backed by General Motors was crowned champion on Sunday of a race sponsored by US military officials intent on putting the technology to work on battlefields by 2015.
Engineering students from Carnegie Mellon University in the US state of Pennsylvania won a two-million-dollar prize for being rated the top finisher in a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency "Urban Challenge" held Saturday.
In a race worthy of a science fiction film, Carnegie Mellon's "Tartan Racing Team" backed by automotive giant GM stuffed sensors, radar and other electronics into a Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle nicknamed "Boss."
"This competition has significantly advanced our understanding of what is needed to make driverless vehicles a reality," said GM vice president of research and development Larry Burns.
"Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast and watching the news. The technology in "Boss" is a stepping stone toward delivering this type of convenience."
Boss and five other driverless vehicles maneuvered themselves 100 km along mock city streets on a closed Southern California military base to a finish line within a mandated six-hour time limit.
In the only contest of its kind in the world, robotic entries were driven to the starting line by team members who then abandoned the vehicles, which set out on their own.
Competitors had to park, circle, and properly react to traffic while completing "missions" that DARPA said simulate tasks vehicles might perform on battlefields.
The only traffic accident during the event was a minor fender-bender between entries from Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Eleven robotic cars and trucks began the race, and an additional 40 cars driven by people joined them to simulate city traffic.
Boss crossed the finish line in second place behind "Junior," a Volkswagen Passat modified by a team from Stanford University in California.
Speed was just one of the criteria used to determine the overall winner. DARPA judges took into account how precisely vehicles negotiated the route and obeyed traffic regulations.
The two previous annual DARPA challenges held since the event was launched in 2004 were across open desert in the Western United States. No entries completed the race in 2004. A team from Stanford won the race last year.
This was the first time vehicles maneuvering completely by their own devices had to deal with city-style driving.
"The urban setting added considerable complexity to the conditions faced by the vehicles, and was significantly more difficult than the fixed desert courses," said Urban Challenge program manager Norman Whitaker.
Stanford's entry was awarded a second-place prize of one million dollars. Third place and a prize of 500,000 dollars went to a team from Virginia Tech, the scene of an April shooting spree that killed 33 people.
Vehicles that competed in the final event are designed to operate without anyone at the steering wheel or controlling them remotely.
The US military hopes to be the real winner at the Challenge by fostering technology enabling it to make a third of its vehicles robotic by 2015. The US Congress has sanctioned the goal.
The US Department of Defense believes using robotic vehicles devoid of people will save soldiers from being killed by roadside bombs or other attacks in urban battlefields.
Roadside bombs have killed hundreds of soldiers in Iraq since the US invaded that country in 2003.
GM stands to benefit by showing the US military its vehicles can be modified to meet the Pentagon's interests. GM produces Humvee trucks used by US soldiers.
Tartan Team sponsors include technology giants Google, Intel, and Hewlett Packard.

Monsanto to reveal new technology for protecting corn from insects

ST. LOUIS Monsanto Co. has identified a new way to protect crops against insect pests.
The world’s biggest seed company announced Sunday it discovered the new approach in partnership with Belgium-based biotech firm Devgen NV.
Monsanto said the technology would be unveiled this month in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.
The technology is called RNA interference, which uses a cellular mechanism in plants that regulates gene expression. Monsanto said it found a way to use the interface to enable plants to better fend off pests.
Monsanto hopes to use the technology in a strain of corn designed to repel rootworms.

Top Ten Server Virtualization Technology Considerations

SWsoft, a provider of both operating system and hardware virtualization products, has an interesting whitepaper titled "Top Ten Considerations for Choosing a Server Virtualization Technology".
This top ten list provides key guidelines for honing in on the differences between hardware virtualization, para-virtualization and operating system virtualization, and it attempts to help you understand the basic options and limitations of each virtualization approach.
While reading the whitepaper, keep in mind that it was written by SWsoft, so it will obviously tend to favor its own solution. However, it does give a good overview of these various techniques and does provide a lot of useful information, especially if you are just starting out and trying to make a decision for your own environment.
It writes:
The playing field for server virtualization has become much more crowded over the last few years. Competition is always good for a market as more choices always push vendors into providing better products at more competitive prices. It can be very time consuming to digest each vendor's marketing materials to come to the right solution for your organization. This checklist provides a list of the main considerations and basic differences between the technologies to provide a starting point for technology evaluation. The three main technologies discussed in this analysis are: hardware virtualization, para-virtualization and OS virtualization.
And the ten considerations include: management tools, virtualization level, performance, density, platform support, migration, resource management, isolation and security, intended virtualization deployment and a capabilities and performance comparison.
Source: infoworld.com

Ford Canada plant revs up green technology

One of Ford Canada's assembly plants will soon be running partially on fumes - paint fumes, that is - to lessen its environmental footprint.

The automaker is in the process of installing a patented "fumes-to-fuel" system at its plant in Oakville, Ont.

Hailed by Ford as "environmentally responsible technology" and the "first of its kind in the world," the pollution-control system will convert emissions from the Oakville plant's paint shop into electricity that will help power the plant.

FIRST OF ITS KIND

"There's nothing like this in the world," Kit Edgeworth, a manufacturing expert with the Ford Motor Company, told Sun Media. "You couldn't ask for anything greener in terms of technology."

For years, paint-shop emissions - known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs - have been siphoned and incinerated in natural gas-fired furnaces that are costly and consume huge amounts of energy.

In contrast, Ford's complex eco-friendly system, which is slated to be in use by the end of the year and at full capacity by late 2008, is expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 88% and eliminate nitrogen oxide emissions, Edgeworth said.

The actual power generated will be a small percentage of the plant's total power, but its future potential is limitless - including helping to rid harmful emissions in other industries, said Ford spokesman Kerri Stoakley.

A less-advanced version of the system is in use at Ford's truck plant in Wayne, Mich., where it was installed in 2005. A year before that, Ford experimented with a pilot installation at its Dearborn, Mich., truck plant.

"The Oakville system takes Ford's fumes-to-fuel technology to the next level," Edgeworth said, adding important lessons have been gleaned from the previous systems.

Meanwhile, other automakers have also been finding ways to leave a smaller footprint.

General Motors of Canada has cut VOCs from its paint booths by 70% in the past 12 years through its abatement system - one of its Green By Design initiatives, said Bryan Swift, director of environmental activities for the manufacturer.

In terms of VOCs, GM's new paint shop in Oshawa emits half the industry average per car, added Swift.

GM has also managed to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions at its plants by 42% since 1990, while increasing vehicle production by 30%, Swift told Sun Media.

"We're assembling vehicles more efficiently," he said, explaining efficiencies have come through waste reduction, waste diversion and improved use of electricity.

Honda Canada has switched its welding equipment from hydraulic to electric, a move that has reduced carbon dioxide emissions, said Jim Miller, executive vice president.

HONDA'S INITIATIVES

Other initiatives at Honda include ensuring that no waste goes to the landfill and that water gets recycled, Miller said, adding they have also been encouraging adjacent businesses to plant trees.

"Lots has and is being done," said Mark Nantais, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, whose members include DaimlerChrysler Canada, Ford, and GM. "Pollution prevention makes a lot of good business sense, too."

But while automakers have made major strides in energy conservation, Nantais warns that future advancements will be more difficult to attain. "Further improvements are going to be incremental and more costly."

Of course, automakers have also been striving to improve fuel efficiency on all vehicles. And that, says an environmental watchdog group, is where their focus should lie.

"It's good that they're doing something at the plant level," said Jesse Row, a Calgary-based spokesman with the Pembina Institute. "But when it comes to environmental footprints, the emissions from auto-manufacturing plants pale in comparison to the cars and trucks they produce."

Robot race at the starting gate

In 30 minutes, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will unleash 11 driverless cars on a 10-plus mile course here at the former George Air Force Base, as part of its $3.5 million robot race, the Urban Grand Challenge. It will be the first time DARPA has tested fully autonomous cars (with "no animals or midgets inside") driving on a course with other robots, as part of a test of the technology's capabilities as well as its safety, according to Norman Whitaker, DARPA Urban Challenge program manager.

DARPA's Norman Whitaker(Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET Networks)
"This is truly the first time we've taken robots and watched them interact with other robots," Whittaker said here Saturday before the start of the race. "They have not interacted so far."
As part of the competition, the robot cars must complete several driving missions within six hours at the closed air force base, which the government currently uses for military operations training in urban environments. The base is much like an environment where the government hopes to deploy autonomous cars by 2015 to complete missions like checking fence borders or clearing airport paths at night, Whittaker said.
On Saturday, the cars will be tested on driving skills much like they were 15-year-olds taking their California driver's exam for the first time, he said. They'll be faced with navigating four-way intersections, merging in traffic, and driving on the highway. About 100 officials from DARPA will be out on the field in safety boxes with ticket books, compiling data on how the cars perform and whether they're following basic traffic rules.
The robots may go as fast as 40 miles per hour on the highway, but watching the driverless cars move even at 10 miles per hour, "it catches your attention," Whitaker said. If there are difficulties on the course, each robot car has a so-called e-stop system installed that lets DARPA stop the car at any time.
In 2006, DARPA chose nine "track A" teams to receive $1 million in grant money to support their development efforts. Of those teams, only seven made it to the finals here Saturday. The seven track A finalists include Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Honeywell Aerospace Advanced Technology, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oshkosh Truck, Stanford University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
The four teams with $1 million from the government that didn't make the cut: Autonomous Solutions from Utah; the California Institute of Technology, The Golem Group from Santa Monica, Calif., and Raytheon from Tucson, Ariz.
DARPA plans to name a winner (or not) on Sunday after compiling all of the data it collects from the race. That's no small task, given the information coming from 100 officials and data from cameras following the vehicles, Whitaker said.
"We'll take an accounting of all the data this evening and weight the evidence," he said.
Even if a vehicle finishes all of the missions within six hours, it's conceivable that the team wouldn't win if the robot violates traffic rules.
"We're looking for the best system, not the fastest system," he said.
Source: Stefanie Olsen

Some gadgets can be tough on aging eyes

I had to buy a new pair of glasses last week. I would have preferred a new cell phone, but I can't find one I can read without glasses. Here's the problem: Like most people my age (57), my close-up vision began deteriorating at about the age of 40, at which point I started with a mild, one diopter, over-the-counter pair of reading glasses for books and newspapers - you remember newspapers, right? Computers were no problem - I just used a bigger screen and blew up the type. In fact, I can still get by without glasses if I write in 18-point Times Roman on a 15-inch laptop monitor. But that doesn't work for everything. The computer and Internet crowd are constantly trying to fit more stuff in less screen space. As Web design has evolved, we've seen more and more pages that don't follow the old conventions that allow you to click on view/ text size/largest and get big type. Some Web pages send you off to special style sheets instead; some don't display properly. And the current crop of slim LCD monitors, unlike clunky old CRT displays, must be set to their highest resolution for maximum clarity.

So this situation is all evolving at about the time I made a laptop my main production machine. That was when I got an e-mail from a longtime reader, Paul Glaser at Captree Opticians in Babylon (babylonvillage.com/captree.htm). Paul does a big business on the Internet selling exotic eyeware - prescription shooting glasses, diving masks, that sort of stuff. He had read one of my rants about non-standard Web pages, and offered to set me up with a pair of computer glasses.

So what are computer glasses? When you're reading a book, you're focusing at 12 to 15 inches. Your computer screen, on the other hand, is 20 to 26 inches away, what's known as the intermediate zone of vision. You can't use the same lens for those two distances. Assuming your distance vision is OK, you could buy a second pair of glasses for working on the computer. Or you could get bifocals, Lord forbid, that have a bottom lens for reading books, and a top lens for reading the Internet. You take the glasses off when you're up and about or driving. Until computers came along, this intermediate zone wasn't worth bothering with for a lot of people. How many occupations require crystal-clear vision at 24 inches for eight hours a day?

Computer glasses are one of the best-kept secrets of modern technology - I've seen way too many guys wearing drugstore glasses who are scrunched over a pricey state-of-the-art laptop. Bad allocation of resources. You should buy a pair.

Now the best computer glasses are "progressive" lenses, a relatively recent development. These are usually pitched as a vanity item, "no lines" bifocals, but the cool thing is that they can be made to focus at any distance from 12 inches to arm's length with a slight tilt of the head.

This is particularly nice for long computer sessions, since you can rock back and forth and alter your posture, which helps ward off repetitive stress injuries and lower back problems. You can't drive with them on, but they have a big fat vertical field of view out to about 6 feet. For a longer rundown on computer glasses see allaboutvision.com/ cvs/computer_glasses.htm

I love my progressive lenses. They're pricey compared to over-the-counter reading glasses or even fixed-focus prescription glasses, but I can wear them all day when I'm writing and wandering around the house, then put 'em in my pocket when I head out for the afternoon.

Or at least I used to be able to do that. This is where the cell phone comes in. For many years, I needed no optical help whatsoever in that department because I had a wonderful old Motorola T720. The T720 was primitive by today's standards - it had a tiny screen, no Web, no YouTube, no music downloads - but it did have one feature that's absent in today's cell phones: You could enlarge the type. I didn't need glasses to operate it. I wouldn't want to spend eight hours a day trying to read the darn thing, but for looking up a name on my phone list, it was fine. Life was good. Computer glasses at home, big type on the cell phone, naked eyes on the road.

Well, the T720 died a couple of years ago, and the only place you can buy one today is in Russia. Silly me, I got the newer model, the v710, only to discover Motorola had killed off the large-type feature in favor of a bigger screen for Web browsing, TV, music, etc. I assume that by the time they added all the cool stuff, they didn't have enough memory for more sophisticated type management for the 40-plus set.

The 710's display was a couple of points smaller than the 720's, but I could read it. Time marched on, and eventually I couldn't read it at all and was taking out my glasses constantly. I spend inordinate amounts of time juggling glasses, eyeglass cases, phone, shopping lists, keys, wallet, credit cards, etc., every time I have to make a call in public. When the 710 started acting up, I started shopping for a new phone. Imagine my horror when I discovered that the state of the art for cell phone type is now a couple of points smaller than the 710's. Absent glasses, the Motorola Razr, for example, is unusable.

In the course of surfing the Net for a large-type phone, I discovered I'm not the only one who's upset at the incredible shrinking cell phone type face. Back in August, in one of the least reported events of the year, the American Foundation for the Blind filed a formal complaint (afb.org/Section .asp?DocumentID=3596) with the Federal Communications Commission against cell phone carriers and manufacturers, citing, among other things that "the visual displays on most phones are hard to read." They called this "a failure of the market," an understatement to say the least. There are, after all, something like 100 million people (a growing number thanks to aging baby boomers) who wear reading glasses, and who, like me, probably are going nuts because they have to whip them out every time they make a phone call.

The industry isn't ignoring the problem, but it's looking at a high-tech solution, voice activation and feedback, e.g., you'll talk to your phone, and it will talk to you. There's an obvious solution - build a big honking phone, about the size of an iPhone, with big honking keys and type. Call it the Gezr if you want. Alas, that does not seem to be in the offing, probably because a) it would be expensive, and b) the folks who would buy such a device have enough sense not to waste their money subscribing to the overpriced music and video services that cell phone companies are pitching to the kids, most of whom are interested in Zoolander-size phones.

As for me, well, Paul set me up with a new pair of glasses. Progressives like my old ones, but I can wear them all the time because the upper half of the frame is set for distance, hence no fumbling outside the house. The lower half, because it has such a narrow vertical field of view, is less than great for computer work, but at least I can read the cell phone near-field in public if I roll my eyeballs way down. I still wear my old progressives at home. So thanks to technology, I have to own and maintain two pairs of sophisticated glasses, where I probably could have gotten by with a cheap pair of reading specs in the pre-computer era. Talk about progress.

Source: newsday.com