Technology Insight

The BA II Plus Professional calculator features all the great features of its predecessor while packing in even more time-saving functions to make short work of complex equations. It’s an ideal choice for entry level and advanced finance, accounting, economics, investment, statistics, and other business classes. It’s also a great choice to bring to the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. Along with the standard capabilities of time-value-of-money, accrued interest, amortization, cost-sell-margin, and depreciation calculations, users can calculate more advanced business and finance related issues. It will handle net future value (NFV), modified internal rate of return (MIRR), modified duration, payback, discount payback, and more. Its rugged metal exterior, firm-touch keypad and anti-slip rubber feet make it ideal for anyone in accounting, economics, investing, statistics, and related businesses. It also comes with a black protective case.

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Slim, attractive, and highly functional, the Olympus WS-300M digital voice recorder packs 256 MB of internal flash memory into its lightweight housing, letting you record up to 68 hours of high-quality audio in WMA format. It’s ideal for recording notes or long lectures, interviewing sources for an upcoming story, or capturing spur-of-the-moment song ideas before they disappear into the air. As an added bonus, the WS-300M can store up to 66 WMA or MP3 songs for high-quality stereo playback, letting you listen to your favorite tunes between (or during) classes or while waiting in line at the DMV. All this in a tiny body that measures 1.5 inches wide by 3.73 inches tall–roughly the size of a pack of gum. The WS-300M features five separate file folders capable of holding 199 files each, so you can organize nearly 1,000 files by subject, theme, or other categories. Users also […] Read More…

Put a Handset in Every Room With two handsets (one base and one charger) included and the option of adding up to two additional handsets–all while using only one base and one phone jack–go ahead and put one in the den, the kitchen, the master bedroom and the living room so you won’t have to make a run for it when the phone rings. Turn the Ringer Off… Don’t miss important calls when the ringer is off. The Light-Up Indicator at the base of the antenna will flash quickly to show that you have an incoming call, and it will flash slowly to let you know you have a new message in your voice mailbox1. You can also choose up to three different light-up indicator colors to link to your pre-programmed phonebook data. Light-Up ID1 requires corresponding Caller ID information to be received from […] Read More…

They are the zestiest bits of matter in the universe. They can zing through space for millions of years at essentially the speed of light and with 100 million times the energy produced by the biggest particle accelerators on the earth, before crashing occasionally into Earth’s atmosphere and dying in a spray of microscopic fluff.

Since these ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, as they are known, were first glimpsed in 1963, physicists and astronomers have scratched their heads wondering where they came from and what gargantuan process could produce such energies — wondering, even, if they were real.

Now 370 scientists and engineers from 17 countries in a group known as the Pierre Auger Collaboration say they finally have evidence of a fitting answer: supermassive black holes that rumble at the hearts of many galaxies, crushing stars and gas out of existence and spewing jets of radiation and subatomic particles into intergalactic space.

Using a new array of cosmic ray detectors known as the Pierre Auger Observatory, which is spread over an area the size of Rhode Island near Malargüe, in the pampas of Argentina, the scientists traced some of the highest-energy cosmic rays back to the vicinities of nearby galaxies bubbling with black hole fireworks, so-called active galaxies.

Here’s a very funky cotton candy machine made out of little more than a small DC motor, two bottle caps, a firestarter, and a chunk of wood. That flame makes me nervous.

Cotton candy machine - Original link

Related:

• HOW TO - Make your own cotton candy machine - Original link

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The Maker Faire team is joining forces with Felt Club for the upcoming Felt Club XL Holiday event - Sunday, November 18th from 11am-6pm on the Los Angeles City College campus (855 N Vermont Ave, LA CA 90029). This family-friendly event will feature 75+ amazing crafters, delicious food and great music, plus an all-new section called MAKER SQUARE, a miniature version of Maker Faire! (Felt Club is a biannual indie craft fair featuring the best and brightest of the SoCal craft scene: www.feltclub.com)

Maker Square is organized by the staff of Make and Craft magazines and is a mini-fair that brings together science, art, craft and engineering in a fun, energized and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. We will showcase the amazing work of all kinds of makers–anyone who is embracing DIY and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience.

We encourage you to join the fun and enter a project to exhibit. You can submit your entry by sending an email to sherry@oreilly.com. In your Maker Square entry request, please tell us about yourself and your project. Entries can be submitted from individuals as well as from groups such as hobbyist clubs and schools. Please provide a short description of what you make and what you will actually bring to Maker Square. Please provide Original links to photographs or videos of what you make. Maker exhibits should be non-commercial. We particularly encourage exhibits that are interactive and that highlight the process of making things. Please remember that our space is outdoors and we do not have access to electricity.

Here’s some suggested ideas for topics that we’re looking for:
Things Made From Recycled Items
Microcontrollers
Robotics
Making Musical Instruments
Bicycle Hacks
Ham Radio
Puzzles, Games and Toys
Cars (hot rods, custom vans, electric vehicles)
Airplanes and Aeronautics (models, etc)
Biology/Biotech
Chemistry
Cool RC Toys & Mods
Video Games (retro, home arcade and more)
Model Trains and Planes
Weaving/Looms (historical or unusual)
Kites
Temporary Structures (Tents, Domes, etc.)
Unusual Tools or Machines
How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.)

Maker Square Space: Our standard setup for each Maker is roughly a 10×10 space. Use this space to display your work and/or demonstrate how you make something. You will need to bring your own tables/chairs/displays.

NOTE: Makers whose entries are accepted will receive free admission to Felt Club XL Holiday featuring Maker Square. However, we cannot pay for transportation and accommodations. Makers do not pay a fee to exhibit at Felt Club XL Holiday featuring Maker Square and maker exhibits should be non-commercial.

If you have any questions about participating in the upcoming Maker Square, please contact us by email: sherry@oreilly.com or 707-827-7074.

We look forward to seeing you at Felt Club XL Holiday featuring Maker Square on November 18th in Los Angeles!

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The folks from Bug Labs just sent word that they’ve posted photos of their soon to be shipping open source hardware platform …

BUG is a collection of easy-to-use, open source hardware modules, each capable of producing one or more Web services. These modules snap together physically and the services connect together logically to enable users to easily build, program and share innovative devices and applications. With BUG, we don’t define the final products - you do.

BUGbase - shipping Q4, 2007. BUGbase is the foundation of your BUG device. It’s a fully programmable and “hackable” Linux computer, equipped with a fast CPU, 128MB RAM, built-in WiFi, rechargeable battery, USB, Ethernet, and a small LCD with button controls. It also has a tripod mount because, well, why not? Each BUGbase houses four connectors for users to combine any assortment of BUGmodules to create their ultimate gadget.

Bug Labs: Products - Original link.

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The editors of MAKE and CRAFT magazines picked their favorite projects and exhibitors and awarded blue ribbons at Maker Faire Austin. Here’ are our top picks - Original link.

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In today’s O’Reilly Digital Media newsletter, David Battino has a piece on how you can burn your own surround-sound DVDs without spending a fortune on encoding software.

In short, you load six mono WAV files into an AC3 encoder and then drag the resulting file to your DVD-burning program. Depending on the encoder’s capabilities, you may need to interleave the six mono files into a single multichannel file first. And in Roxio Toast, which we’ll use here to burn the DVD, the secret is to Option-drag the AC3 file.

DIY Surround-Sound DVDs - Original link

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Our pal Datamancer has finally finished and posted details on his steampunk laptop. And it was worth the wait. Seriously cool. He also has a tutorial on making the brass faceplate he used on the mod and a page showing his gorgeous custom-made steampunk keyboards. I like how he has a customer testimonial on the keyboards from sci-fi/fantasy author William King (who writes game fiction for Games Workshop).

Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop -Original link
Custom Keyboards - Original link
Brass faceplate mini-tutorial - Original link

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