Robotic Exoskeleton Enables Superhuman Strength

Robotic engineering company Sarcos, based in Salt Lake City is under contract with the U.S. Army, to build robotic suits that amplify human strength and endurance up to 20 times (video).

Much as the brain sends signals to tendons to get muscles to move, the computer sends instructions to hydraulic valves. The valves mimic tendons by driving the suit's mechanical limbs, replicating and amplifying the wearer's movements almost instantly.

Chief designer of the robotic suit, Stephen Jacobsen,. says the invention, in essence, provides a way for people to increase their mobility and lift heavy objects with ease.

Although it's still in a beginning stage, the inventor envisages the suit as a valuable contribution to not just the military, but also to factory workers, firemen, and the disabled.

One Man Helicopter

World's smallest one-man helicopter, GEN H-4, is seen here flying in the city of Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture, central Japan. It will soon take flight in the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, who is credited with having first thought of a vertical-flight machine, according to its developer

Google knol challenges Wikipedia

Google engineer, Udi Manber, said, knol will invite “people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it”.

The name knol derives from “knowledge” and the service will be free to read online. However, knol’s authors will be able to attach advertising to their work and take a share of revenues. “The goal is for knol to cover all topics, from scientific concepts to entertainment,” Udi Manber said.

The Times (London) reports, “The project is the latest to distance Google from its roots in internet search and pitch it against well-established rivals in a new sector. The company recently squared up to the mobile phone industry by unveiling its own operating system for hand-held devices. It is also set to bid for a portion of America’s airwaves that it could use to build a wireless broadband network.”

Knol is currently an invitation-only beta service but it’s likely to be open to the public within months.

“In October, Wikipedia, which relies on donations for funds, was visited by 107 million people, or a third of the “active global internet population”, according to Nielsen Online, the analyst. That made it the eighth most-visited online destination.”

Google's Future? GBrowser, GooglePC, Google NetPC and Google ISP

Recent chatter indicates Google may be preparing to launch its own internet browser. But this might be only the first step in a much more massive Google strategy that could include a GooglePC and Google ISP service.

Concerning the Google Browser, many are giving the title GBrowser to this rumored challenger of Internet Explorer. The evidence that supports Google's GBrowser efforts are as follows:

• Google has recently hired several key programmers from Microsoft who worked on the Windows operating system
• Google hired key programmers from Sun and BEA Systems
• Google hired Ben Goodger, the genius behind the upstart Firefox browser (which Forbes says is "better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds)
• Google has even hired Microsoft programmers working on future operating systems Avalon and Longhorn (updates that are already out-of-date thanks to Google Desktop Search)
• Finally, last year Google registered the domain name GBrowser.com

Google Web Toolkit First Look Review by SitePoint

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications like Google Maps and Gmail, which similar to Atlas for ASP.NET, Yahoo!’s User Interface Library and Adobe Spry. Google Web Toolkit allows programmers to write the front end in the Java programming language, and the GWT compiler will converts the Java classes to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML.

For Ajax,Java class library gives you access to the XMLHttpRequest object normally used in AJAX applications. Beside, Java server-side code could be written in addition to client-side code, which doesn’t get converted to JavaScript, and thus the server-side code can use the full capabilities of the Java platform, and any additional class libraries you may require. Then in client-side code, classes that are able to communicate with the server-side code could be set up. When GWT compile the application, GWT will automatically generate all the JavaScript needed to communicate with the server on the client-side, and will compile your server-side code to a set of Java Servlets.

SitePoint concluded that Google has definitely put together an impressive platform with GWT, but as one would expect (especially from a beta product) it’s not perfect. But the biggest thing lacking in GWT is an example of a finished, real-world application running in the wild. No doubt Google is hard at work on its next big project using GWT, but for now at least GWT is unproven technology. The weak points include GWT detects and supports browsers by their user agent string, the bundled GWT widgets make extensive use of tables for layout, GWT was written to work with Java 1.4 or later, the development shell does not support Mac OS X and unclear best practices for security and performance.

Use Google Talk Chatback Badge to Have Instant Communication with Blog or Website Visitors

To encourage better communication with website or blog visitors, Google has released an instant communication tool called “Google Talk chatback badge” which allows blog or website visitors to chat with the blogger or website owner even if the visitors haven’t signed up for Google Talk or created a Google Account. Unlike conventional communication method via leaving comments, Google Talk chatback badge service allows visitors to chat to the bloggers or website owners instantly if they are online. The instant communication can be made directly amongst two parties and the conversation is private.

To initiate the Google Talk chatback badge service, users need to create a badge and put it in their blog or website. The badge will display their online status next to their name (status available, busy, offline) and visitors can directly chat to the bloggers or website owners. Since the Google Talk chatback badge service uses web-based platform, visitors do not need to download or install anything. A new Windows will be prompted out which allows both parties to chat. As in other instant messengers, both parties can continue chatting while browsing the net.

If you are interested to try this communication tool and create your chatback badge, just visit Google Talk.

If you’re using a Google Apps account, you can create a chatback badge by visiting Google Talk Domain where DOMAIN is the name of your domain. From the page, copy and paste the HTML into the page where you want the badge to be displayed. You’ll know it’s working if you see a large Google Talk bubble showing your current online status along with the message ‘Chat with [your name]‘ (or whatever you selected as your badge title).

Google Hiking

EcoGeek is noticing, for what we always tell ourselves is the first time, our metabolism slowing down. Gone are the days of eating with impunity in our teens, eating with minor repercussions in college and eating with noticeable but easily concealable effect in our early twenties.

So it's a change of diet and an exercise regimen we need which means, of course, that we are at an impasse. Bogus. At least Google Earth, increasingly EcoGeeky with each passing day, can help: now featured content includes hiking trails. Finally! An excuse to try to solar power our iPod and rock out to Alanis--look, we're way out in the woods, it's obviously guilty pleasure time--while doing the legwork to take the "Google" out of "Google Earth."

(By the way, EcoGeek happened to already have the latest version of Google Earth, but just hadn't noticed this particular feature--so you may not even have to download again.)

Open up your Google Earth, and display the following layer: Featured Content > Trimble Outdoors Trips. Then start looking around where you'd like to hike. Double-click the trailhead icon for more information on individual hikes, then you can send to your phone or a friend. Not bad!

Via LifeHacker. and the Google Blog