5 insanely cool robots

The SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is a tactical mobile robot developed by 

iRobot and Boeing that gathers intelligence while humans are a safe distance away.

The 320SUGV at work.

The SeaGlider is a submarine robot that can work underwater for up to 7 months. It can be controlled from an iPad.

The SeaGlider measures temperatures, salinity, and other qualities of the ocean then uses 

a satellite phone to send in the data.

The configurable Warrior is basically a Lego Mindstorm for those with Bill Gates’s or Uncle Sam’s budget.

It can even be used as a plow. How would you like that for the winter in the north?

The PacBot has been around for a while - saving many lives in Iraq. It's thermal camera will provide images in complete darkness, smoke obscured areas and battlefields.

The 80-inch arm extender lets the operator examine potential dangers from a relatively safe distance.

The Negotiator is a smaller robot that can sneak into tight spaces.

Monitoring the progress of the Negotiator

Yuri Gagarin's historic space flight

On April 12, 1961, an almost unknown 27-year-old became the most famous man on the planet. Yuri Gagarin, in an 108-minute orbital flight aboard the Vostok 1, became the first human into space. Today is the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, and though the Soviets were very quickly outclassed in the space race, that accomplishment a half-century ago is one that will live forever in the minds of most space enthusiasts.

Riding a converted ICBM, Gagarin lifted off in the cockpit of the Vostok 1. His flight lasted just 108 minutes, and it was only a month before the Americans' first manned space mission, but on April 12, 1961, no one was riding higher than Gagarin and the entire Soviet space program.

This reprint of "The Huntsville Times" heralds Gagarin's accomplishment.

The Vostok 1 capsule, which is said to have been difficult to get to separate 
from the final stage of its rocket, nearly causing catastrophe.

Each year, Gagarin is remembered with a series of special events held at locations the world over known as Yuri's Night.

In this photo from 1965, Gagarin is greeted warmly by members of the American 
Gemini 4 program at the Paris International Air Show.

Here, we see Gagarin in his spacesuit.

This is the control panel of the Vostok 1.

According to NASA, "Dr. George M. Low, acting administrator of NASA, presented to the USSR on January 21, 1971, a plaque in memory of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who made the first flight into space on April 12, 1961. Accepting the plaque at the Moscow ceremony was Soviet Gen. Kuznetsov, commander of the USSR's Star City space base, where cosmonauts have been training since 1960."

Although Gagarin gets all the ink, much of the praise for the Soviet Union getting a man into space first should go to Sergei Korolev, the father of that country's space program.

2010 Smartphone Survey

Apple tops customer satisfaction; Motorola, HTC No. 2; RIM hits bottom


According to the smartphone customer satisfaction rankings, Apple remains top dog, but Motorola and HTC are nearly tied for the No. 2 spot. In other words, HTC and Motorola—two of the flagship Android brands—are improving. Here’s the scorecard:

A few items worth noting:

• Motorola and HTC are equals in customer satisfaction, which may reflect more on Android commoditizing hardware.
• Research in Motion is in trouble and at the bottom of the JD Power rankings.
• Palm is in the middle of the pack and that may mean HP could get a smartphone foothold.
• Samsung also rated near the bottom. That ranking is a bit surprising given the good reception for the Galaxy franchise.
• J.D. Power said the ability to use social media on smartphones was a key factor in customer satisfaction. Smartphone users that used Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook on their phones had satisfaction averages 22 points higher than folks that didn’t use their devices socially. 

Apple reveals the iPad 2

The dimensions of the iPad 2.

Jobs opens the event with Apple success stories from the past decade.

The iPad 2 is officially official. At first look, the iPad 2 doesn't look much different from the original iPad.

The iPad 2 will be  thinner than even the iPhone 4. Jobs says the new edge will be easier to handle.

The iPad 2 killer detail may be the price tag - same as the original iPad.

Here are some of the upgrades from the original iPad.

Jobs touts how the original iPad is already dominating the market

The smart cover is a bendable flip that sticks to the side.

the iPad 2 will come in white and black. The polyeurothane case comes in five colors and the leather case also comes in five colors.

Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software, takes the stage to talk about iOS 4.3. Improvements to AirPlay now include photo slideshows, and video and audio from apps to other devices.

Apple beefs up MacBooks

Apple updated its MacBook Pro line with next-gen processors, graphics and I/O technology dubbed Thunderbolt.

The new MacBook Pros have a FaceTime HD camera, a multi-touch trackpad, and a 7-hour battery.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,199 and features Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors up to 2.7 GHz.

The height of the 15-inch MacBook Pro is 0.95 inches and the width is 14.35 inches. It weighs 5.6 pounds.

The ports include a Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), MagSafe power port, Gigabit Ethernet port, FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), and Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps).

Apple also gave a "Developer Preview" of its next Mac OS X version named Lion.

The Evolution of the Windows Start menu

In the early days of development of what would become the Windows 95 operating system, there were three buttons on the lower left part of the screen called System, Find, and Help. The System button had a Windows flag icon and was considered to be the main menu. The icon on the Find button was an eye looking into a magnifying glass, and the icon on the Help button was a question mark along with the letter I for information.

In its final form, Windows 95’s Start menu retained the Windows flag on the button with the addition of the word Start. And, you can see that Help, Find, and Programs were all put on the menu along with Run and Shut Down commands. Also added were Documents and Settings.

Soon after Windows 95’s debut, Windows NT 4.0 made its appearance and it too featured the new Start menu. As you can see it has the same base items, but its name is emblazoned vertically along the side with a colored gradient background.

When Windows 98 hit the streets, its Start menu indicated its tight integration to the Internet via the Windows Update button at the top of the menu and a duplicate of Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu right after the Programs menu. You can see that the Log Off command became a main part of the Start menu.

In Windows 2000, we saw a shift back to cleaner Start menu. Favorites were gone and the Log off command now appeared in the Shut Down Windows dialog box. (However, you could put the Log off command back on the Start menu, if you wanted.)

The Windows Me Start menu basically looked and worked just like the Windows 2000 version.

When Windows XP made its debut, it was immediately apparent that the developers had radically modernized the Start menu. So much so that they provided the option to switch back to the Classic Start menu, so that those who were not ready for a new start menu could go back to something familiar. The Classic Start menu looked and worked like the one from Windows 2000 and previous versions of Windows.

After 6 years of Windows XP, the developers of Windows Vista decided to shake up the user interface with Aero and made many changes to the Start menu. The most obvious was the Start button, which changed from a box with the word Start on it to a glassy orb sporting only the Windows flag. The next major new feature was the Start Search box, which served as the main Search interface for the entire operating system.

The most recent version of the Start menu, in Windows 7 is almost identical in appearance and functionality to its predecessor’s Start menu. However, you’ll notice that the Shut down button has changed back to words and the lock icon is gone. All shut down options appear on a small menu adjacent to the Shut down button.

Google's Android Honeycomb buzzes

On Wednesday Feb. 2, Google offered an in-depth look at Honeycomb, also known as Android 3.0.

Notifications pop up in the lower right hand corner.

You can view your notifications and read, look up or delete them.

There's a customziation tool to set up your home screen.

You can easily view your music apps.

You can use 3D customization tools such as this one for anatomy. Using this you can better describe your symptoms when talking to a doctor, for example.

You can take pictures or videos with the camera app.

CNN is very excited about Honeycomb.

Here's the beginning of a transaction. Again, it's easier to purchase items.