Obscure Research Blog November Archive

Here is the actual original articles Data-driven enhancement of facial attractiveness by Tommer Leyvand, Daniel Cohen-Or, Gideon Dror, and Dani Lischinski; ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2008).

This brings us one step closer to making LOOKER real.

The question I have asked for years is how these body implants are being powered (at least the terrestrial ones), to which no one could ever give me a good answer. Now a good answer may be found in the Implantgen Project, using hardware from Zarlink Seminconductor.

"Using pressure responsive balloons within the right atrium and ventricle, advantage is taken of the pressures generated in the heart during the cardiac cycle to drive a reciprocating linear generator. In normal function, the atrium contracts first, compressing the atrial balloon and driving the generator mechanism in one direction; then the ventricle contracts, compressing the ventricle balloon and driving the mechanism back to its ‘starting’ position. The reciprocating movement of the mechanism generates the electricity used to power implanted devices."

Growth of Diamond Films from Tequila by J. Morales1,, L.M. Apátiga and V.M. Castaño.

If the original paper is a bit heavy reading for you, a good summery may be found on Phys.org, complete with pictures of Tequila bottles.

"The final diamond film was hard and heat-resistant - properties that could make the diamond useful as coatings for cutting tools, high-power semiconductors, radiation detectors and optical-electronic devices, the scientists explained. They plan to begin industrial-scale applications around 2011, and hope to interest a tequila producer in widening its market beyond the traditional beverage."

"The Silent Guardian™ protection system is a revolutionary less-than-lethal directed energy application that employs millimeter wave technology to repel individuals or crowds without causing injury. The system provides a zone of protection that saves lives, protects assets and minimizes collateral damage. Silent Guardian produces precise effects at longer ranges than current less-than-lethal systems and provides real-time ability to establish intent and de-escalate aggression. Various commercial and military applications include law enforcement, checkpoint security, facility protection, force protection and peacekeeping missions."

Non-Lethal Weapons have killed people...

It seems that there are now Infected Picture Frames on the market. You load your picture of Grandma on your USB Stick from your PC, put it in the Picture Frame, where it gets infected, then when you put it back on your Windows PC it gets infected.

They never mention that it is Windows that has all of those problems, and not Linux, xBSD etc.

Interesting countermeasure that just came out, a true self destructing part from Maxim.

Maxim makes the greatest parts on paper but their reputation for poor delivery are well known in the Embedded Design world. I've worked in two companies where designing in Maxim is out right band. Even their distributor in the area discouraged their use because of the continually screwing of their customers on delivery dates. Then Maxim took away their franchise rights and gave it to an other company, because they did not understand why their product line did so poorly in the "Rust Belt". A Maxim rep. was once at a meeting I was in, where they walked in to the room and said "I don't make it out here to the Rust Belt very often" with glee. If they view us that way here, maybe they should not come at all...