Saturday, March 30, 2013

Flash Memory Combines Graphene and Molybdenite

A while ago I posted "Newcomer: 2d sheet of MoS2 puts Graphene transistors in a corner, watch-out Silicon!"

Now:

"EPFL scientists have combined two materials with advantageous electronic properties -- graphene and molybdenite -- into a flash memory prototype that is very promising in terms of performance, size, flexibility and energy consumption."

"Combining these two materials enabled us to make great progress in miniaturization, and also using these transistors we can make flexible nanoelectronic devices," explains Kis. The prototype stores a bit of memory, just a like a traditional cell. But according to the scientist, because molybdenite is thinner than silicon and thus more sensitive to charge, it offers great potential for more efficient data storage.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

My development environment

Being stranded home recovering from knee surgery should be a great opportunity to watch pending movies play games and generally laze out.. But fortunately I'm a geek.  :-D

So since last week I've started my on my new project :) and I'm loving every moment of it. 

But this post is not about the project, instead about the development environment. 

First time I used an Integrated Development Environment, was back in 1996. I was using Turbo Pascal. Back syntax highlighting was all you needed and (for me) Object Oriented Programming was just a way to put procedures (methods) inside structures.

I started using Java in 99 in my first year at University of Coimbra. The editor of choice was Kawa and OMG it was SLOW! :-)

JBuilder was the first real IDE I've ever used, at that time Borland was king. That was ofcourse until Eclipse gained momentum (sorry, but for me Netbeans or other were never a real choice).

I've used Eclipse for a long time and was happy with it. But I was always disabling that annoying "Tasks" view on the right.. until I learned how wonderful it was!

I still have a very simple IDE, but now with Mylyn I feel super-human. If you don't know yet what Mylyn is, please check this out:

It's worth it, I promise! 

Additionally to Eclipse & Mylyn, another big part of my IDE is my phone (or Phablet if you prefer). Buying a Galaxy Note 2 was not an cheapeasy decision, but it is probably the best investment in technology and productivity I've ever done.

I use an app called Papyrus which I find much more valuable than the default S-Note from Samsung.

So now I can take notes and make the most creative tasks  such architecture sketches on the go (which right now means either in Bed or on the Couch) translate those notes into actions using Mylyn+Bugzilla's(I use the free provider www.bugheaven.com). And implement the actions at "speed of thought" using Mylyn's contexts.
Another relevant tool is Google Drive, which empowers me to seamlessly move files between Phone and PC, like the one I drafted below while writing this post:


So yes, while Java is still only Java, I can see how technology helps itself out in a synergy that not only makes me more powerful but allows for newer, fast development of even more tech. Aren't exponential times the best?


Friday, March 15, 2013

How to share?

I just found a very interesting article, so interesting that I would like to share it with my friends.

I pressed the tweet button, but the title was truncated. 
Better, I'll share it on Facebook. Well.. Facebook may be overkill,  only some may be interested. 
I shall use Google+'s relevant circle. 
But.. I may want to read it later, so I'll put this on my Blog.

minutes later...

Is it just me? Somehow it feels like everyone is asking me to share this, share that, promote (like) this, promote that.. and oddest of all, I feel obliged  to do it. 

When I read or watch something really interesting then I immediately feel this urge that won't go away until it's discharged via a Like or a +1, or  a tweet, or whatever they throw at me. Am I alone? 

Is this normal? Would I feel the same if I did not had the Like/+1/tweet/... option?

Also, is this retribution or self-advertising? Do I want to post as a thanks to the writer or associate myself to the writing by sharing it?

I don't know. If you're reading this, please let me know your thoughts. If and how you share articles, videos,.. Also, how do you select what to share? Or you never share anything?

Oh, and don't forget to press the +Facebook+ button.

btw, this was the article: Google, destroyer of ecosystems

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Monday, March 11, 2013

Rocha Birnen :-)


Very that happy my wife found this on our local super market here in Germany. They taste like home :-)

Monday, March 4, 2013

Wireless rechargeable brain sensor relaying real-time broadband signals from up to 100 neurons in freely moving subjects

“This device is a billion times more valuable per constant dollar than the computer I used as a student at MIT in the late ’60s. In 25 years, it will be the size of a blood cell. And it will be a billion times more powerful.” - Ray Kurzweil holding an iPhone - 2011 (link)




Brown unveils novel wireless brain sensor (Fev 2013)


In a significant advance for brain-machine interfaces, engineers at Brown University have developed a novel wireless, broadband, rechargeable, fully implantable brain sensor that has performed well in animal models for more than a year. They describe the result in the Journal of Neural Engineering and at a conference this week.

(...)In the device, a pill-sized chip of electrodes implanted on the cortex sends signals through uniquely designed electrical connections into the device’s laser-welded, hermetically sealed titanium “can.” The can measures 2.2 inches (56 mm) long, 1.65 inches (42 mm) wide, and 0.35 inches (9 mm) thick. That small volume houses an entire signal processing system: a lithium ion battery, ultralow-power integrated circuits designed at Brown for signal processing and conversion, wireless radio and infrared transmitters, and a copper coil for recharging — a “brain radio.” All the wireless and charging signals pass through an electromagnetically transparent sapphire window.
(continue to website)
Other related news...


Brain-to-brain interface lets rats share information via internet

(...) "These experiments showed that we have established a sophisticated, direct communication linkage between brains," Nicolelis said in a statement. "Basically, we are creating what I call an organic computer."
(...)
The rats were trained to press a lever when a light went on above it. When they performed the task correctly, they got a drink of water. To test the animals' ability to share brain information, they put the rats in two separate compartments. Only one compartment had a light that came on above the lever. When the rat pressed the lever, an electronic version of its brain activity was sent directly to the other rat's brain. In trials, the second rat responded correctly to the imported brain signals 70% of the time by pressing the lever.
(continue to website