LinuxDevices.com have put together a detailed review of the Aeronix Zipit instant messenger appliance which runs atop Linux and in many senses is a fully-functional PDA with WiFi built-in. The extremely low cost of $99 proves how advantageous free operating systems can be in terms of affordability. Hackers are already in the process of manipulting this device for other, more general purposes.

…priced at $99, in colors that include white, silver, blue, red, and pink. It includes an 802.11b WiFi radio, 16-color greyscale LCD with QVGA (320×240) resolution, and a thumb keyboard with rubber buttons. Also included is a stereo DAC (digital audio converter) connected to a speaker and headphone jack.

There is a growing trend which involves installing Linux on mobile devices, Palm handhelds included. It has already been determined that Palm O/S will migrate to sit in tandem with Linux if not be replaced by Linux.

Cited by: PalmAddict

An example of a poor appearance model of the brain

IPMI, an international conference on medical imaging, has come to its end. Worth pointing out is the fact that our presentation was delivered first among hundreds in this conference, which began last Monday. I am not the first author; Carole Twining is.

If you take interest in my research, have a look at project MARS, AART or the comprehensive research index. I also maintain the Computer Vision Digest, which is much broader in terms of scope.

t is relatively simple to incorporate valid printer-friendly versions into WordPress (see above for example). I coded up the feature early this morning; it did not require much time or effort. This involved little more than stripping of styles as well as other heavy features which contributed to clutter. More details and code at the hacks and themes page.

Contextually-related: PDF version of WordPress posts

s anybody else familiar the popular TV comedy called “Third Rock from the Sun” (the third planet — namely Earth — in our solar system)? The producers might wish to rename it “Third Sun from the Rock“. Third Rock from the Sun was a favourite television show in my late teen years though it did not equate to some all-time favourites.

Returning to the main subject, the following snippets cover the astronomical story sufficiently well and were delivered by CNN:

Astronomers have detected a planet outside our solar system with not one, but three suns, a finding that challenges astronomers’ theories of planetary formation.

…

If you stood on the planet’s surface, you would see three suns in sky, although its orbit centers around the main yellow star among the trio. The larger of the other two suns would be orange and the smaller would be red…

uch a suggestion will be best addressed to everyone in possession of a single mail account. It is nothing beyond a trivial E-mail management tip. The problem in question: When an E-mail account gets checked frequently in order to detect important incoming messages, false alarms or recurring E-mail distractions lead to disturbance and interfere with persistent work.

This is where the Urgent E-mail Account becomes of great value. By creating a new account, which is designated solely for important mail, notifications about urgent messages can be raised within just minutes. If the urgent account resides on the same domain as the normal/casual mail account, a filter can easily be created. This filter can be based on the name of sender/s or rely on a special word like ‘urgent‘ embedded in the subject line. Whenever such a filter test passes for a given messages, the message should automatically be re-directed to the Urgent E-mail Account.

Using a mail checker program, E-mail accounts which contain important messages can also be checked without consuming much computer power. By setting up a vocal/musical alarm, important messages can be configured to wake up their recipient. This type of solution is valuable if, for example, server problems occur late at night. Computer systems can automatically generate an urgent E-mail message once catastrophic events get detected. Unlike human, they are unable to make a telephone call.

Separating boxes to discern important message from the mundane

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

eople without hands-on experience with site management ought to know that Microsoft attempt to ‘re-invent’ the Web by introducing a set of Windows binaries and then requesting them from sites all across the open Web.

The consequence: errors get raised in every site that is not powered by Windows.

Such files include:

• /_vti_bin/owssvr.dll
• /MSOffice/cltreq.asp (Office)
• /_vti_pvt/service.pwd (Frontpage — grey area and an illegal password request)

On a roughly daily bases, my error logs will list these files. So, I have just re-directed requests for all such files to microsoft.com/eat_your_own_garbage

This shifts the errors over to Microsoft’s own domain and takes up their own bandwidth. If enough people take similar steps, the folks at microsoft.com will soon get the message, which will ‘bubble’ up their error log tables.

There are previous, contextually-related items on:

• MSNBot causing havoc to Linux servers and
• ways in which Internet Explorer breaks the Web

Fujitsu have introduced the bendable electronic paper. It has plenty of advantages over thin displays in existence:

• No electricity is required for continuous display
• Minimal power consumption when changing screen image
• High-level display performance
• Flexible film substrate

…electronic paper can be conveniently used in conjunction with mobile devices as an easy-to-read and portable display device.

…

Text or images from mobile phones or other mobile devices can be transferred wirelessly to larger displays for easy viewing.

Use in the home can offer more convenient digital-media devices that can be carried from room to room.

Overall, it is a very exciting innovation. On the downside, it makes the dream of a paperless office slip away.