Crazy Winter Temperature

Weather in Houston has been strange ever since 2009. It was extremely hot for most of the year with very little rain. However, for the last two months of 2009 and first week of 2010, it has been unusually cold. We even got heavy snow for the first time in Houston in decades.

Reading the news has shown that this extreme temperature hasn’t been confined to the city of Houston. The northeast of America has received a massive wave of cold temperature in the last few weeks that has sometimes reached wind chills of -50 F.

Europe has also suffered a lot from cold temperature with an unusually heavy amount of snowfall, especially my birth country England. Here is a satellite shot of the United Kingdom showing the country blanketed by inches of snow.

I don’t know about you, but I would definitely like to have a snowball fight there.

Large Sculpture of E. Coli

We all have seen bacteria under a microscope in science class, but how about seeing a large bacteria in real life. The image, “Glass Microbiology,” above shows a 41 inch sculpture of E. coli bacterium created by artist Luke Jerram and virologist Andrew Davidson at the University of Bristol in England. While “Glass Microbiology” is only an artistic representation of E. coli, it was created with a microscope and does a good job in showing the detail the small microorganisms around us contain.

Best of CES 2010

The big news this week, in the tech world anyway, is the new technology that will be pouring out at CES 2010. Being a big follower in tech, I will post many of the coolest gadgets and innovations I see while the event goes on. So check out my website for updates I post regarding CES.

UPDATE:

Here is my best of CES 2010.

Best Smartphone

This year’s CES is definitely where the Android OS finally roared, with most of the major phone makers debuting phones that run the OS. This is a list of the best phones at CES 2010.

1. Sony Ericsson X10

It seems Sony Ericsson is back thanks in part to it’s Xperia branded phones. The latest in that line is the Xperia X10 which runs the Android OS, but with an unique interface. It also comes with a 8.1 megapixel camera and 1Ghz snapdragon processor, the same processor found in the Nexus One. Overall, when it comes to style and performance the Xperia X10 edges the Nexus One. It should be out sometime in 2010.

2. Google Nexus One

With an fast processor, responsive interface, and impressive structural design, the Nexus One takes a spot on the best smartphones at CES 2010. Why it didn’t take the one spot is due to complaints from users since it’s release. Find out more information about the phone on t-mobile.com

3. Motorola Backflip

The third spot goes to another android phone. This one is from Motorola, and it is the first smartphone with a flip phone design. So if you have problems protecting the surface of your smartphone, this may just be for you. Expect it in the first quarter of 2010.

Best Laptop/Tablet

This year saw the rise of the tablet PC and the green computing. The winner in both categories are:

Tablet: Lenovo Ideapad U1 hybrid

Okay, I cheated on this one. This is actually a combo tablet and laptop, but that makes it just that much awesome. The removable tablet allows for almost seamless movement from tablet mode to laptop mode. This allows one to type on their laptop, then pull out their tablet when they only need to do simpler tasks. For this creative idea the U1 hybrid wins the best tablet of CES.

Laptop: Asus ROG G73jh

Powerhouse. That is the word that comes to mind when thinking about the Asus ROG G73jh. With a features including the new intel i7 Core CPU, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, ATI Radeon HD5870, 1 TB of HDD, blu-ray, 2 megapixel webcam, bluetooth 2.1, 8-in-1 card reader, HDMI, and much more, this laptop will allow anyone to perform any task that one might need. Of course this might cost one an arm and leg, but this definitely the best laptop that might be available for the next few months.

Best Camera

There weren’t major changes to camera and camcorders this year at CES. Most camera makers simply added a few features such as wifi, hdmi, and lens changes.

The Samsung CL80 takes the best camera prize at CES. With a 14 megapixel camera and 7x zoom for taking pictures, and hdmi, wifi, 3.7 Amoled, and other features for handling the pictures taken, this camera provides a convenience and power to capture your most cherished moments.

Best Innovation

Personal Favorite

Best TV

Best Showing

Avatar the Movie

There aren’t too many movies that drag me from my cozy sofa to the sticky floors of the my local Edwards movie theater anymore, but Avatar may just change that. If you haven’t heard of Avatar yet, then you must be a very busy person, or live in cave. Avatar is the first major film that is being shown with the new 3D Hi def technology that has been developed over the last few years. While there are some qualms about the 3D viewing, such as the required use of the 3D glasses, it hasn’t stopped the eyes of movie goers from enjoying the amazing visuals of the film.

Avatar’s story may not be very original, but let’s be honest, not too many Hollywood films nowadays have original storyline. Also, I think the beauty of Avatar has more to do with the utilization of the new 3D technology, and not so much the originality of the story. I think most of the viewers of Avatar will agree with this point since the movie has become the #3 highest grossing film worldwide in less than a month with over $1 billion of revenue.

The big question is whether Avatar will break Titanic’s $1.8 billion global record and become the #1 highest grossing film of all time. It may be too early to answer that question, but one thing is certain, James Cameron has done it again with another billion dollar blockbuster hit. First with Titanic, and now with Avatar. Well done James Cameron, well done.

HAPPY NEW YEARS! Welcome 2010.

Let us hope this decade will be a great one.

Happy New Years.

My internet connection speed

Not bad, but it is under the national average which makes me sad. The average is about 12 Mb/s download, and 3 mb/s upload. It also makes me sad that I use comcast, but that is another story.

2.3 Gigapixel Photo of the Largest Skyscraper in the World

Wow! That is a shot of the Burj Dubai, the largest skyscraper in the world. The video shows how the photographer of the photo is able to zoom into the picture with incredible detail. The 2.3 gigapixel shots was created from 21 shots taken by a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera which were merged together into a panorama. Really awesome.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays.

I think this nano ice snowman created this month is fitting for the mood. It is the world’s smallest snowman with a size of 10 um, or 1/5 the size of a human hair.

Dark Matter Found? Physicists may go bonkiers.

Could it be possible that the elusive substance known as “dark matter” has finally be found? Well, maybe. It seems that scientists researching a Minnesota mine have detected weakly interacting particles (WIMPS). These are the particles that are known to constitute dark matter. It is unknown to the scientists whether the detection of these particles is due to possible background radiation, so more testing will be carried out in the coming months with a more powerful detection machine to verify whether or not the substance is truly dark matter. Still, physicist around the world are getting interested in what major discovery in the field of physics.

Read more about the discovery here.

Bacteria Powered Micromachines

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne Laboratory have discovered a way to utilize the power of bacteria to perform various tasks. In the image shown below, a gear is being turned by bacteria. Scientist are able to control the movement of the gear by controlling the amount of resources that are available to the bacteria. The success of this experiment and more could lead to the rise of micromachines that can powered by bacteria.

Read more at this link.