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NOVEMBER
10, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 44 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK
Cutting
Edge
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illustration
by Emilio Rivera III.
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COMPUTERS:
Smoke Signals Prompt Recall
Owners of Compaq Armada E500 or V300 notebook computers could find themselves
unwitting guests at an impromptu barbeque. Compaq fears some Sony battery
packs installed in the Armada and also sold as separate parts could short-circuit
and catch fire. It's recalling 55,000 battery packs worldwide, after a
single unit overheated and started emitting smoke, damaging the laptop
it was installed in. Users affected by the recall are entitled to two
replacement packs for each one they now have. For more information, check
out Compaq.com.
The Compaq problem, combined with a similar recall by Dell Computers in
the U.S. recently, has some critics worried that the industry's quest
for ever more powerful, smaller batteries has taken a dangerous turn.
FLASH: Going
Up, Up and Away
Someday, we will all travel to space in a lift, according to NASA.
People will board, push buttons, stare uncomfortably at their shoes, and
sigh impatiently as others stop at various space stations. Okay, so maybe
elevator etiquette needs to evolve before we're ready for the space
elevator. But the Otis Elevator Co. says it could have the
proper technology within a decade. NASA's plan calls for a 50-km high
base station, with a 35,500-km diamond-fiber cable extending out into
geosynchronous orbit meaning it would circle the earth at the same
speed as the planet revolves. The cable would be tethered to a heavy object
- an asteroid maybe - to keep it from falling back to earth. Electromagnetic
cars would zoom up to the last stop in a matter of hours. That is, if
they don't get stuck. In case of emergency, take the stairs?
GADGETS: The Robot Who Loved Me
If
robots are really going to take over the world, they'll have to do a lot
better than the AmigoBot e-Presence. The cheery little red machine
is about as threatening as a vacuum cleaner. But it does have some potential
as a spy. Equipped with a wireless modem and video camera, the AmigoBot
lets you use the Internet to keep an eye on children, elderly shut-ins,
or lonely pets prone to furniture destruction (yes, it can even bark
watch out Aibo). You can make it roam the house to look for family
members, and then hold an impromptu video conference or just chase them
around in a game of remote-controlled tag. No chance of playing tricks
on the bot though. Sensors keep it from running into objects, even if
you try to deliberately send it stumbling into a wall. Buy it for $3,195
at Mobilerobots.com.
JUNK
MAIL: Choking on Too Much Spam
Like the goose being fattened for fois gras, e-mail users are being force-fed
an ever-bigger diet of spam. Four times as much junk mail reaches U.S.
Internet service providers as a year ago, according to Brightmail Inc.,
an e-mail filtering firm. It says the bulk of the unsolicited messages
carry financial advice, pornography, or product pitches. A standard mailing
can include hundreds of thousands of letters the majority of which
get through filtering applications. Recipients have little recourse beyond
an angry reply and the delete button.
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