Magnetic avalanches (Go Wireless - Avoid Data Loss)

Magnetic avalanches occur when the polarity of a molecular nanomagnet is changed suddenly and sufficient energy is released to cause a chain reaction that changes the polarity of the other molecular nanomagnets in a crystal.

I first read the title from a syllabus written down for some diploma students I was to teach "data structures". I had no idea what it meant in relation with Data Structures for Software Engineers.

New research brings models of magnetic avalanches much closer to reality, helping physicists understand both why they happen and why they don't run out of control, wiping disk drives clean.

Correcting even a single typo in an e-mail means changing dozens of bits of information. For each bit, a magnetic head grazes a tiny patch of your disk drive, forcing its polarity, or "spin," to align up or down--the magnetic equivalent of a one or a zero. The patch's polarity in many magnetic materials changes in a haphazard series of large and small jumps that physicists liken to an avalanche--though Deutsch's research shows it often behaves more like an explosion or runaway fire.

So, the scientists know how to stop avalanches on the disks. But still we lose data due to magnetic avalanches.

Now this is one of the better reasons for us to go for inventions which store bits in digital format with an electricity supply like that of a wireless charger. Obviously it will be faster than a spinning disk and moving armature to access the sectors of the storage media.


References:
Magnetic Avalanche - Dynamic Combustion
http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/120196/magnetic-wobbles-cause-disk-failure.html
Wobbly Polarity Is Key To Preventing Magnetic Avalanches On Disk Drives

Slim G4 - World’s Thinnest Mouse ?

I do not have one of these yet.

But the pictures are good.

Do you not agree?

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OMG! Techonology... brilliant and cheap

It was last week we read about the wireless chargers.

There are three basic technologies for wireless charging: radio, resonance and induction.

Radio charging is well suited for charging low-power devices at long distances -- some 30 feet away. This technology is ideal for trickle-charging advance RFID chips affixed to, say, palettes loaded with products in a warehouse.

Resonance charging makes sense for robots, cars, vacuum cleaners and other applications that require massive power over minute distances -- essentially making contact with plastic, but not metal.

Toothbrushes now, and random gadgets will very soon, use inductive charging. This technology uses a coil to create an electromagnetic field across a charging station surface. The device then converts power from the field back into usable electricity, which is put to work charging the battery.

(Meanwhile, researchers at MIT said this week they have come up with a way to wirelessly supply power that could lead to the development of gadgets that don't require batteries at all.)

Read more

And now there are affordable laptops and other tech gear so cheap...

You've no doubt heard that Dell plans to sell PCs at Wal-Mart. It turns out that the prices of these systems will be extremely low. A Dell Dimension E521 with a dual-core Athlon chip, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Vista Home Premium and a 19-in. monitor will cost less than $700. (Note that Vista Home Premium by itself would cost you $200.)

Meanwhile, Asus announced at Intel's Computex a $189, full-size, solid-state Linux laptop that boots in just 15 seconds from its 2GB flash hard disk. Called the 3ePC, the low-cost PC isn't a humanitarian effort for third-world kids, but a consumer product that will be sold in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.

A tiny Windows XP laptop called the Via Mobile ITX made another price breakthrough at Computex. The laptop sports a 7-in. touch screen, plays DVDs and does other things similarly sized Ultra-Mobile PCs don't do. You can buy "modules" that give it cellular data, WiMax, Bluetooth or other capabilities. The price? Just $699.

Read more here

Eee PC 701


So, if I want to by an Asus 3ePC, is it going to really cost me only US$190? Wow! A real laptop that boots in 15 seconds!!!

Intel 'Santa Rosa' Centrino laptops hit shelves

"The new version adds longer battery life and faster computing to the technology bundle of a processor, chip set and wireless card. Intel will keep the name Centrino Duo for the consumer version, although changes include a faster Core 2 Duo processor, support for the draft version of 802.11n wireless networking and a Turbo Memory feature that supplements the standard hard drive with NAND flash for faster booting." Read here



Of course we love the fact that it is saving the power and extending the usage up to 9 odd hours. But still we are waiting for the Quad Core processors with FSB 1100+.

Intel said earlier this year that it was to launch Penryn or was it just rumours? Later of course they have a new name for it, "Quad Core" with a performance increase of about 40% to the existing "Intel Core 2 Duo".

Lets wait some more to find out what else they have up their sleeve.