Alternatives search engine

Google and Yahoo are two popular search engine. Microsoft also provide a search engine with MSN. There are many search engines that previously launched such as WebCrawler, Lycos and AltaVista but those search engine has lost thier performance in current growth.

A few alternives search engine has been launced such as Cuil, Cluuz and FindingDulcinea. Those new search engine has an more attractive appearance, but still have a low collection of data around the world.

iPhone 2.0

Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhone with faster Internet access will go on sale across major markets in Europe on July 11 at a range of lower prices, operators said on Tuesday.

Apple’s improved iPhone, which runs on a so-called third-generation (3G) networks offering faster data speeds, will sell for as little as $199 in the United States — half the current entry-level price.

More here.

Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe

Well, not just a pen—a computer that looks like a pen. The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen does have ink and it makes lines on paper, but it also records a digital file of whatever you write—both text and sketches—by using an infrared camera to read a code of tiny, nearly invisible gray dots on the paper. (It can also read bar codes.) To make it work, you need to either buy a recycled paper notepad from Livescribe, or roll your own by downloading a graphics file that prints on most laser printers.
It also records the sound around you and links it to what you were writing at the time. Tap the pen to that text again, it reads the little dots, and you get an audio playback from that time. As a journalist with lousy handwriting and no shorthand skills, I could use that. Just write an outline of what someone is saying in an interview, and tap on the notes to hear again what the person said.

Livescribe Pulse goes on sale in mid-March, starting at $150.

Wafer-thin, flat screen TV

Remember the first time you saw a plasma TV, the first television without a big caboose behind the screen? You were probably wondering, "Where's the rest of the set?" You might have the same reaction when you see the new Sony XEL-1.

This 11-inch widescreen television is wafer-thin, just 1/8th of an inch deep, a fraction of the depth of even the slimmest LCD or plasma sets. The XEL-1 uses a new panel technology called OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode), which offers stunning picture quality. The catch is the steep price: $2,500 for this small screen, which is half the size of some computer displays.

Main Features of "XEL-1"

1. Thinness: Proposes new TV form factor measuring approximately 3mm thinness (at its thinnest point)
2. High contrast: Reproduces realistic images using exquisite shades of black, and flexible control of colour tone and gradation
3. High peak brightness: Faithfully reproduces picture glow
4. Excellent colour reproduction: Delivers pure and vivid colours in both dark and bright images
5. Rapid response time: Smoothly reproduces fast-moving images such as sports scenes
6. Low power consumption

Read more here and here.

Nokia nanotech "Morph"

Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched today alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA's official website.

Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: "Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible".

Read details here or here.

Dive with the sQuba

More than 30 years since Roger Moore's 007 put the idea into every guy's head, someone has finally replicated the underwater auto experience. Swiss design company Rinspeed has created the sQuba ($1.4 million), the world's first submersible car. Based on the Lotus Elise (it was a Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me), the all-electric convertible can drive you to the lake in style and then dive underwater to a depth of over 30 feet. The car's engine was removed and replaced by three motors — one for land driving, good for up to 75 mph, and two others for the underwater propellers. Power is supplied by rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.

sQuba: world's first underwater car

Supersonic jet could slash flying times

An international team developing a new type of supersonic jet that would allow air travel at more than eight times the speed of sound said today that a test flight appeared to have succeeded.

A prototype of the scramjet, which uses the rush of oxygen in the air at high speeds to ignite hydrogen fuel, was blasted into the upper atmosphere on a rocket and allowed to plunge back to earth in the south Australian desert.

Researchers said they would have to wait a couple of weeks to marshal all the data before giving an authoritative assessment but the project leader, Dr Allan Paull of the University of Queensland, said: "It was at least a 95% success."

Scientists believe scramjets (short for supersonic combustion ramjet) could one day be used to build aircraft capable of flying from, say, London to Sydney in a few hours, a flight that now takes at least 18 hours.

During today's test, two Terrier Orion Mk-70 rockets blasted the scramjet to an altitude of about 314km (195 miles) before hurtling back to earth.

Just seconds before the rockets slammed into the red dust of the central Australian desert after a scheduled 10-minute flight, the scramjet was supposed to kick into action at a speed of some 8,000 kph (5,000 mph), said project spokeswoman Jan King.

Dr Paull said that it appeared to have worked, and told reporters: "As far as we are aware ... we certainly got in the right trajectory."

Onboard sensors sent flight data back to the researchers on the ground. "We got everything we wanted, we've just got to analyse the data now but it all seemed to basically work," Dr Paull told reporters.

Scramjets can theoretically halve payload weights by carrying only fuel - such as liquid hydrogen - rather than both the fuel and oxygen carried by traditional rockets. That would significantly cut the cost of launching satellites into space.

The international consortium led by Dr Paull's team launched a test in October but it failed when a rocket carrying the experimental jet veered off course and slammed into the desert.

In a scramjet, oxygen from the atmosphere is rammed into the combustion chamber where it spontaneously ignites, but the engine must be traveling at about five times the speed of sound for the process to work. Sound travels at 1,200 kph (744 mph) at sea level.

Source: guardian.co.uk

Salam Hijrah 1429

Bermula petang tadi, selepas solat maghrib bermula perkiraan tahun baru bagi kalendar hijrah iaitu tahun 1429. Saya yakin ada yang berdoa pada petang tadi selepas solat asar atau sebelum solat maghrib yang dikatakan doa akhir tahun. Dan ada juga yang berdoa sebaik selesai solat maghrib yang dikatakan pula doa awal tahun.

Namun perkara ini tidak dilakukan di Perlis darus sunnah, dan telah diarahkan oleh jabatan mufti perlis. Saya tidak berminat untuk mengatakan perbuatan bacaan doa akhir tahun dan awal tahun itu salah atau tidak, kerana saya tiada hujah yang boleh diberikan. Namun perkara yang baik, dan difahami serta dilakukan dengan niat yang betul serta tidak melanggar hukum-hukum yang qat'ie (putus) yang terdapat dalam nas Al-Quran dan hadis, maka bagi saya tidak menjadi suatu yang terlalu berat atau memberi kesan yang besar kepada akidah.

Namun yang lebih penting ialah pembawaan dalam diri kita sebagai penganut muslim. Ramai yang memasang niat serta azam yang baik sempena awal hijrah. Ramai juga di kalangan kita yang memberi SMS berbentuk ucapan atau nasihat yang baik sempena awal hijrah. Semuanya itu adalah suatu keadaan yang baik dan tidak perlu dipertikaikan.

Menyusuri sirah permulaan perkiraan tahun hijrah bagi kalendar penganut Islam, idea asalnya telah dilontarkan dan dilaksanakan oleh khalifah ar-rasyidun yang kedua, saidina umar al-khattab. Namun dari tarikh berlakunya peristiwa hijrah, ianya bukan berlaku pada bulan Muharam. Bahkan peristiwa hijrah kaum muslimin pada peringkat awal pembentukan kelompok muslimin, melalui beberapa kali.

Nabi SAW pernah pergi ke Thaif untuk mengeluarkan kaum muslimin daripada terus ditindas oleh kaum Quraisy. Namun penduduk Thaif menolak seruan nabi Muhammad. Kaum muslimin pernah juga berhijrah ke Najasyi. Raja Najasyi telah memberi layanan yang baik kepada kaum muslimin, namun perkembangan Islam di sana terlalu sedikit dan perlahan. Rasulullah perlu mencari tapak pengembangan dakwah yang lebih strategik. Selari dengan wahyu yang Allah berikan kepada nabi SAW, maka Rasulullah dan kaum muslimin berhijrah ke Yathrib (Madinah). Hijrah ke Yahtrib ini berkait dengan beberapa peristiwa seperti perjanjian Aqabah I dan perjanjian Aqabah II dengan kaum Aus dan Khazraj yang menetap di Yathrib.

Sememangnya fitrah kehidupan, berhijrah atau merantau ke beberapa daerah atau tempat akan mengembangkan lagi pengetahuan, kemahiran dan interkasi. Bahkan kaum muslimin boleh mengembangkan usaha dalam menggunakan method yang berbeza mengikut tempat yang berbeza.

Sepertimana berlaku ketika pengembangan Islam ke Utara Afrika dan seterusnya ke Eropah melaui Andalusia (Sepanyol), pendakwah-pendakwah Islam pada zaman lampau bersungguh-sungguh serta mempunyai keazaman yang tinggi serta mempunyai matlamat yang jelas. Dengan sikap sedemikian, Alhamdulillah Tanah Melayu juga menerima dakwah yang dibawa oleh pendakwah yang datang berdagang.

Melihat keadaan semasa umat Islam pada zaman sekarang, terlalu banyak kelemahan dan kepincangan yang dilakukan. Kita bukan sahaja lemah dari segi ekonomi, ketenteraan dan politik, tetapi akhlak umat Islam telah luntur, akidah telah goyah, dan tauhid juga mungkin telah terpesong.

Dalam apa jua keadaan, samada pada awal tahun hijrah atau pada akhir tahun hijrah, kita perlu sentiasa mengambil rujukan yang paling tinggi. Rujukan atau manual kehidupan yang diberikan oleh Pencipta semua makhluk sebagai panduan dalam perkara yang dibolehkan dan dilarang. Rujuklah kitab Al-Quran. Maksud hadis nabi SAW, "Aku telah meninggalkan dua perkara kepada kamu (kaum muslimin), seandainya kaum berpegang (teguh) dengan keduanya, maka kamu tidak akan sesat selamanya, iaitu Al-Quran dan Sunnahku". (maaf, tidak ingat perawi).