Sunday 25 January 2015

3D-printed 'Star Wars' Buddhas: Zen and the art of the Force


3D-Buddha
We all know about an epic space opera, Star Wars and its hero Zen master. If you are the fan of Star Wars, so you can easily find Star Wars movies, books, television series, and videos games, but now you can also get Star Wars Buddhas with the help of 3d printing technology. Yoda was always known to have some kind of Zen master inside him. Chris Milnes, proprietor of the muckychris storefront and Etsy seller has really put in lot of effort and brought g the Zen side of this little green person with the help of his 3D-printed Zen Yoda figurines. These 3D statues have the combination of Buddha's pleasingly plump body apart from the Yoda’s head.

So what all is in for offering? 

As far as Milnes in concerned, Zen Yoda is just one of his many creations in offering. He has also design many greek related items which includes Boba Fett (Buddha Fett?), Iron Man, Darth Vader, "Battlestar Galactica”, Stormtrooper Buddha and Judge Dredd figurines. These statues are built using the Hotei body (laugh Buddha), figure, which was originally created by Sammy Davis, Thingiverse user. After this Milnes takes the most popular 3D models of superhero and sci-fi heads and melds these two onto a base. Thus, create flawless little nerd-gods. These designs have been possible due to the modeling work of Milnes apart from Creative Commons licensing from the original 3D modelers.

According to Milnes, his art comprises of mash up of existing item and creating new items with meaning. In case of the Zen Zode, it is aiming to create and balance Creative Commons licensing from the original 3D modeler with the force and the 'Star Wars' lore. Milnes is a digital sculptor and carries out all his modeling and 3D print work himself. Apart from being busy with his Etsy Store, he has been quiyte busy with the invention of the SquareHelper, which is a 3D-printed widget capable of keeping Square card readers from spinning around in case of being attached to an iPad or iPhone. He is a Makerbot user with Replicator 2x and Replicator 2 machines in use. According to what he offers, it takes nearly an hour to print a 2-inch figure, about three to four to print a 4-inch figure and around six hours to print a a 6-inch figure. This at present is the largest size offered by Milnes. The prices of these statues ranges from $7.99 (about £5, AU$10) for the small ones and about $27.99 (about £19, AU$34) for the big statues. What catches the eye most is the chrome and shiny gold offerings.

According to Milnes, his Etsy store has a few popular geek brands in offerings but even he agrees that Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and Yoda statues are the most popular ones. Considering the fact that Jediism has a very minor religious following around the world, it is quite obvious for the Yoda-Buddha to become immensely popular and such a hot commodity.

Saturday 24 January 2015

US Military Social-Media Accounts Hacked


CENTCOM
According to the reports, a hacker group who is claiming to be with the terrorist group ISIS and call themselves as the “Recently, Cyber Caliphate, took the complete control over the operation of Centcom YouTube channel and Twitter account that represents the United States central military command. There was a Pastebin tweeted by the hackers titles as “Pentagon account hacked with a message that, American soldiers, we are coming, now its time when you should watch your back. #CyberCaliphate”. This message included links to what is suppose to be with some confidential US Army files.

However, according to sources, it has come to light that these files might have been made available to public previously, in other words, these files cannot be deemed highly confidential. These files might not be confidential but at the end of the day, it was the files of Centcom’s social accounts that were compromised. This clearly indicates the pathetic state of the cyber security in the United States government. And if the hackers are able to get their hands on some of the most confidential files then it clearly indicates that ISIS is a more dreadful cyber-opponent than anyone can expect.

According to the tweets of Politico reporter Hadas Gold at 9:46AM PST, Twitter is aware of the cyber attack on Centcom and taking necessary steps to work on the issue. According to the update at 10:05AM PST, Twitter was able to remove the cover image and the profile image from Centcom. This was followed by the suspension of the Centcom account at 10:10AM PST. At 10:15AM PST, there was an update posted indicating one of the defense officials has confirmed these attacks to Fusion reported Brett LoGiurato. Brett LoGiurato tweeted that, defense official have confirmed that the United States Central Command Twitter account has been compromised. At 10:35AM PST another update followed indicating that even YouTube has suspended the hacked account of Centcom from YouTube. Around 11:55AM PST, The Next Web’s Matt Navarra tweeted that there has been a request received from Pentagon pertaining to an account security issue and they are working on the issue to resolve it.

Before the accounts could be shut, the following tweets were released from the account: 

1. Pentagon network hacked: Korean scenarios.
2. American soldiers, we are coming to you, now it’s time when you should watch your back.
3. We will not stop; we know everything about you, your wife, and your children.
4. ISIS is already here, we are in your computers, in each of your military base

While the US and its satellites kill our brothers and soldiers in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, then we broke into your networks and personal devices and know every information about you. The Cyber-Caliphate has also claimed to have taken control over the US media affiliates of CBS News and Fox in Tennessee. According to one of the Anonymous post left out in Pastebin, “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Cyber-Caliphate under the auspices of ISIS will continues with its Cyber-Jihad.

Gogoro, the Electric Scooter Could Make Battery-Swapping Work


Gogoro
We all know that technology is growing day by day and now one more chapter in the world of advanced technology as after smartphones, smartscooters are ready to hit the market globally. Recently, Gogoro launched as smartscooter by occupying the stage at CES. Gogoro is electric scooter and work on the zero-emissions policy. This smartscooter is designed to get power from batteries and in present it is available in all over the world through the subscription from a wide range of network vending machines.

Technology on wheels: 

Gogoro is smartscooter, which is equipped with cloud connectivity, an integrated mobile app and in an addition 30 onboard sensors. It allows all the users to take an advantage of premium features like; customized regenerative braking, adaptive throttle control, to find the battery-vending GoStation and detailed scooter diagnostics. Apart from these extra features, riders can also track the driving details such as; top speed, time and they can also analyze the driving patterns in order to energy consumption to optimize power.
According to the Megan Zaroda, spokesperson of company, it is expected that Gogoro will ship its first product this year as they are targeting the megacities on worldwide level.


The more he added that other devices will integrate into this smartscooter and it is kind of portable power. Before four years, Gogoro raised US $150 million, when they was looking for funding to start its operations, but the price plan for Gogoro smartscooter is still surprise. In present, Gogoro's Smartscooter is targeting the teenagers and young people, who are in the age of 18 to 28 years. While coming to its component, it is consist of ultracompact G1 electric motor, which drive performance. This smartscooter is made up of Aeroframe monocoque chassis, which is light in weight with inbuilt programmable LEDs. You can drive it with maximum speed of 95 km/hour as it can reach to 50 km/hour in just 4.1 seconds.

This smartscooter is designed for customizability and it allows riders to choose any specific throttle acceleration, lock-and-unlock audio, lighting themes and the dashboard-screen color spectrum. According to officials of Gogoro, If user will take the monthly subscription plan, so he will be free to use unlimited battery swaps and this process will take only six seconds, apart from that use will get the free roadside maintenance for the time period of two years. Each full battery will provide a chance to run the scooter up-to to 100 km. Battery is consist of automotive-grade lithium-ion, which is cylindrical with a 18650-size of energy cells from Panasonic. It also provides near field communication connectivity, which is of 256-bit security encryption.

When it comes to looks, so no doubt it looks great with sleek lines as it is so common in most of the scooters and motorcycle in these days. As per the company officials, If user will handle the batteries carefully with regular diagnostics, so it can work till several years, as regular diagnostics is one of the key element.


Friday 23 January 2015

Galaxy Tab Price – The Tab Offer Full Value for its Price

Galaxy Tab
Samsung is no new name in the entire arena of mobile phones’ industry. With a complete set of phones in each series, Samsung seems to push itself ahead of others. Like its other series, Samsung Galaxy with its tablets saw a huge number of buyers rushing to get their hands on thei first tablet.

Prices of Samsung Galaxy Tab

Samsung Galaxy Tab is considered as one of the best series of tablets available in the market. The tablets falling under this category include:

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Neo SM-T111 (WiFi+3G+8GB) priced at Rs. 9,599
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 T231 (WiFi+3G+8GB) priced at Rs. 14,849,
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 211 T2110 (WiFi+3G+8GB) priced at Rs. 12,999,
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 SM-T331 (WiFi+3G+16GB) priced at Rs. 21,160,
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 311 T3110 (WiFi+3G+16GB) priced at Rs. 19,990,
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 (WiFi+3G+16GB) priced at Rs. 31,670,
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 (WiFi+3G+16GB) priced at Rs. 38,900 and
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 SM-T531 (WiFi+3G+16GB) priced at Rs. 25,999,

Each of these above tablets actually has more or less the same specifications. But some of the high end models have better camera quality, storage capacity and a high quality processor and better RAM capacity. It is because of these variations in specifications that Galaxy Tab price India varies from model to model.


For example the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Neo SM-T111, priced at only Rs. 9599 has basic features like 3G, Wi-Fi, Dual Core 1.2 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB inbuilt memory, 7 inches, 600 x 1024 px display and many more. But for the operating system the device uses an outdated Android version that of Jelly Bean 4.2. Along with it, the device also lacks the front camera, which is a necessity for all tablet users, these days. This is due to the rising demand of video calls and video conferencing. It also doesn’t have flash and FM radio, which makes this tablet a bit old fashioned in the market, with respect to the configurations.

On the other hand Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, which comes around at a price of Rs. 31,670 is loaded with tons of unstoppable features like Quad Core 2.3 GHz Processor, 3 GB RAM, 16 GB inbuilt memory, 8.4 inches, 1600 x 2560 px display,8 MP Camera with flash, an operating system of Android Kit Kat version 4.4.2, 2.1 MP front camera, 1080p HD Video Recording, auto-focus and a lot more. These features make it stand like a “diva” in the market.

Likewise the reason behind the varying prices is the difference of configurations. Of course, since each tablet comes from the reputed house of Samsung, the quality of each would be different but really good. Each tablet can actually give you one new and a perfect experience of its own kind. Samsung doesn’t compromise with the satisfaction of its customers and never will.

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Mercedes-Benz Shows Off Self-Driving Car of the Future

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz_Interior
Mercedes had taken an innovative and influential step in developing a highly advanced car which might even look too much futuristic. Mercedes has revealed a concept car which boasts of self-driving capabilities at the Consumer Electronics Car in Las Vegas. This innovative and futuristic car has been dubbed as the F015 Luxury in Motion. It features a sleek four-door automobile which brings in a futuristic design and construction dynamics that would feel like a slice of future.

Mercedes Believes in Better and Advanced Future 

Mercedes is upbeat about its product which is turning heads at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Dieter Zetshe is the head of the Mercedes Benz cars and he stated that if you solely focus on the technology then you won’t be able to grasp the advantages of the autonomous driving which could change our society dramatically. He further affirms that this innovative car is beyond its role a mere transport product and it will become more like a mobile living space.

Features Of the Mercedes New Car

The low contour design of the new car is more oriented toward providing comfortable riding than just driving. This car is over 17ft long which is just similar to the length of a Cadillac Escalade SUV. This car provides lounge style char which can swivel 30 degree when the suicide-style door open and it allows the four people to sit facing one another. The two front chairs could easily swivel around to face the windshield if the manual driving is necessary in some case.

Its steering wheel can easily fold up into the dashboard when you are not using it. It also features six display screens in the instrument panel and side & rear panels which can relay information from the outside world or play movies and other entertainment content from online sources.

How Autonomous System Works In New Mercedes Car? 

This car’s autonomous systems are designed to be guided by the stereo camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors. You can differentiate whether the car is being run autonomously or not by looking the headlights colour beams. If the car is being driven autonomously the headlights and grille would light up in blue colour and white if driven manually.

F 015 is built from the industry based lightweight carbon fibre, high-strength steel and aluminium. This car possesses a rechargeable hydrogen fuel cell technically. This car uses an innovative method to charge up the battery by just parking the car on a charge pad.

This Car Is Just In Conceptual Stage

This car is no where likely to come on the streets before 2030. This car had however allowed the Mercedes to flex its technical and creative abilities and let it test to the utmost limit. Apart from the Mercedes many new cars are offering the self-driving basics which include the radar-based cruise control, autonomous braking system as well as lane keeping assist. It is being expected that by 2017 the brands like Cadillac, Audi, Tesla and Mercedes would allow the high end-models to travel autonomously.