Techalyzer

Lately, in magazines like PC world and on environmental blogs people are becoming very suspicious of computer and high tech gadget companies that keep boasting that they are green. The accusation is that claiming computer products are Green has been nothing more than a marketing strategy. Whether the product is a car or a hi tech lap top, the truth is that Green Sells.

One of the most obvious of Green campaigns is the Apple computer company’s “My Greener Apple” campaign. Microsoft made a big statement world wide when it sponsored the world wide series of Live Earth concerts.

Nintendo even put out a green game called Chibi-Robo. In this particular game, you are a robot that battles toxic Smoglings by planting flowers and building park equipment.

Many watchdog groups and writer believe that these companies are putting one over on us by claiming to be so green. Environmental watchdog groups are criticizing many technology companies that boast about their efforts to combat climate change and reduce e-waste. The critics say that companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Nintendo are lying about being green as they produce so much toxic garbage. Greenpeace is one of the environmental groups that believe that computer companies need to use the concept for more than marketing purposes.

Greenpeace actually put out a guide called Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics. In it the Apple computer company gets the highest marks for actually producing the least waste overall. However when Greenpeace did tests on the innards of the iPhone they found out that hey contains hazardous chemicals including brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and hazardous polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs),

Apple has sworn that they will eliminate these toxic chemicals from the manufacture of the iPhone as soon as possible but is this company to be believed? I guess we will all find this out by the end of 2008. Switching over a mass manufacturing process that makes millions of one thing is not easy and is also very expensive – even for a big company like Apple.

When it comes to phones the Greenpeace study recommends devices by Sony Ericsson and Motorola. Both these companies make devices that are totally free of PVC. Nintendo gets especially high marks for recycling parts and also not using banned substances such as leand and mercury in its production.

Microsoft, along with Dell, Google, Intel and IBM, and Intel, seems to be trying to make up for its lack of eco consciousness in actual production by forming the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI), which works with the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, and other organizations to tackle the problem of global warming. This is preferable to not addressing the problem at all but some critics say that paying a toll to “fix the environment” is not as effective as not damaging the environment in the first place by staying away from PVC, lead, mercury and other toxic materials.

If you feel like Big Brother is watching you when you are at the airport you are absolutely right. Cameras and high tech gadgetry that spies on you and the contents of your luggage is fully employed in today’s airports and even more sophisticated versions of it are being developed every day. One of the areas of industry where there are huge strides made in the invention and applied use of gadgetry is the airport business. In fact you can expect many airports to start resembling a set out of a James Bond movie in the near future.

One of the innovations you are going to see are called Tyre kills. These are serrated strips of metal about a foot high that are embedded into cement. When they are flipped upwards they look like shark’s teeth. Their intention is to rip the tires of terrorists speeding away from the scene of a crime in a get away car. A similar device is something called a boom barrier with is a pole that either drops from a height or flips up suddenly from the ground to block an escaping vehicle.

Yet another innovation are the Smart cards which will replace the photo ID cards. You will need to swipe one of these cards on a wall mounted reader, just like an ATM card slot, before you are even allowed to enter the country.

People who are trying to invent security devices are also always inventing new ways of fingerprinting you when you enter the airport. In India they are installing a special device in the airports called a hand geometry reader. Mainly this is used to detect bodies that may be smuggled aboard planes as a heat detector helps tell the difference between a live hand and a dead hand.

Yet another system of identification that may be put into place in a lot of airports in the world might be the retina mapping device. This takes a picture of your iris. Like thumbprints, no two human irises are alike in any way.

A new type of x-ray is also being developed that can detect traces of TNT, dynamite, RDX, nitroglycerine and it also gives results in seconds. It allows high resolution and three dimensional images. These provide quick non-invasive searches of passenger luggage. There are already over two hundred prototypes of this detector in place in airports al over the world.

New fangled fire alarms are also being installed in airports . These have ionization and optical dectectors which can tell firefighters exactly where the fire is. This is different than conventional fire alarms that can only target zones where the fire was actually started. This allows facilities with high populations of people passing through to be evacuated and even saved from death. These alarms were developed also to combat terrorism and the fires that can be started by both big league and small league terrorists. If there is even the smallest fire in a garbage can in an airport these fire detectors will sniff it out.

According to the New Scientist the muscle computer interface is almost here. Microsoft researchers are developing an armband that is worn on the lower forearm that can interpret finger movements by monitoring muscle activity. The acronym for this new high tech gadget is MUCI.

The intention of MUCI is to make computers and gadgets easier to control where the user is otherwise occupied. For instance it will be easier to give commands to your wireless device by just making a few simple finger movements. This way you can still operate your computer while you are in the middle of a meeting or while driving a car without making too much of a commotion.

Researchers have been developing a hands free computer for quite some time and the technology is still far from perfect. Hand gestures and speech are still too inaccurate. Computers do not easily recognize any o fit and errors are common.

The reason that this new armband, which is developed by Microsoft is so important is that it helps decode and detect the voltages given off by the twitching of the forearm muscles. These muscles are connected to other tendons and muscles that help move the fingers. The device can be hidden in a sleeve so noone knows you are wearing one. It is a discreet way to use a wireless device.

This technology has been introduced to us already to some extent. Already people use skin electrodes to control video or prosthetic arms with the wave of hands. However this type of technology is complex. You might remember it from the movie “Minority Report” which starred Tom Cruise.

Carefully-placed skin electrodes are already used to control prosthetic arms or hands (with video). But accurately placing electrodes in this way is beyond the everyday user without expert help. The technology being developed now is much more sophisticated. There are ten sensors that teach the device’s software how to recognize different movements. These movements are calibrated with your own movements and replicated by the machine. The system can actually recognize the movement of all ten fingers and also recognize the pressure of them. It is 95% accurate. In fact they are making this technology so sophisticated that it can detect the position and pressure of all ten digits with 95% accuracy. This is as close to a simulation of real movement as the world has ever seen.

Simple twitches or movements of the hand will symbolize different commands. For instance you could move your pinkie o indicate that you want to answer a call. However researchers are still working out the mechanics of how exactly people will be able to enter text.

One of its major benefits will be touch free typing. This will go a long way towards relieving conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome.

In the future this type of unit will also most likely be fashionable and designed to look like a cool bracelet that you wear on your forearm. Your MUCI will become the newest bling.