IBM blasts off with ThinkPads in space

When the space shuttle Endeavour blasts off tomorrow, astronauts aboard will be equipped with IBM ThinkPad notebooks for the 11-day mission.

This isn?t the first time that the portable computers have been put to work in space. In 1993, NASA astronauts used an IBM portable during a mission to repair the crippled Hubble telescope. But their increased use in space missions and on international space stations demonstrates the versatility of portables in space.

For its part, IBM is trying to get as much public relations value out of the mission as possible, especially as the company plans to introduce a series of new products next month.

IBM has been touting what it calls the ?edge? of the network, or EON, as a guiding principal behind all its future PC products. Big Blue in February plans to rebrand its PC line and introduce simpler models, including one built around a LCD display.

Taking a page from science fiction, IBM plans to show off prototypes of a new portable, a wearable PC based on the ThinkPad 560. The U.S. Army is currently testing the wearable PC, and NASA reportedly has expressed some interest in using the technology.

Portables on space missions make a lot of sense, International Data Corp. analyst Roger Kay said. By relying on portable notebooks instead of installed PCs, NASA can spread its computing power and apply technology to specific tasks.

"I wouldn?t mind having my ThinkPad floating there next to me ready for whenever I want to use it," Kay quipped.

The shuttle?s notebooks don?t exactly float freely, but are held down by Velcro strips so astronauts aren?t injured by a flying PC. Keeping in mind that shuttle astronauts work in zero gravity, it is not unusual for portables to be attached to the shuttle?s wall or ceilings.

Three varieties of ThinkPads will be used on the mission. The crew will rely on several ThinkPad 760XDs as a general-purpose Payload and General Support Computers, "or PGSC, a good NASA acronym," said Andy Klausman, a staff engineer with Houston-based United Space Alliance, a contractor for the space shuttle.

Those units will primarily be used for email, sending files back and forth between the orbiter and the ground, displaying a world map with the shuttle?s current location, and tracking where gear is stowed.

A ThinkPad 755C will collect data from a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver during the shuttle?s ascent into space and re-entry. NASA eventually plans to incorporate GPS features into the shuttle?s navigational system.

Endeavour?s main mission will be one of radar topography, for which it will in part rely on ThinkPad 760Es. Two separate antennas separated will collect radar images to formulate three-dimensional maps of the earth.

One of the frequent problems for the portables is the effect of space travel. While the notebooks generally survive the ride into orbit, other things can potentially go wrong.

"The notebooks are not designed for space flight, so we have to be aware of the impact the environment can do, such as radiation hitting the memory and changing it," Klausman said. "That happens every flight."

So far radiation has not seriously compromised data collected on missions, but the potential for problems is one reason why NASA doesn?t use the IBM portables for critical operations.

NASA also locks down the power supplies, so the crew doesn?t accidentally kick them loose while they are floating around the shuttle space.

The notebooks are attached to a local-area network on the shuttle and connect remotely to a NASA computer for data transfer, sending email and transmitting other information. NASA eventually plans to use wireless networking. All the notebooks run Windows 95 with tentative plans to switch to Windows NT.

Some of the ThinkPads are equipped with videoconferencing equipment, which is used by medical personnel as well as families on the ground to talk with astronauts in space.

The International Space Station, which is partially constructed and tentatively scheduled to become operational later this year, also carries IBM ThinkPads. U.S. and European astronauts also left at least three ThinkPad 750Cs on the now defunct Russian space station Mir.

The space shuttle was originally scheduled to launch today, but was postponed due to computer problems and poor weather conditions in Florida, according to CNN.

By Joe Wilcox
Staff Writer, CNET News

LIMIT OF COMPUTERIZATION w.r.t. Security Breaches

What to you think about the limit up to which computerization take place?

Reason:
If every thing like power supply; your daily work starting from
bathing, brushing your teeth to sleeping; id cards; studies;
transportation; biological activities; financial information; top
secrets; emergency help services etc. then in view of the scene of
internet security breaches it may prove fatal.

You may take the practical demonstration in the movie Die Hard 4.0...

Give your comments.

E-Elections

Election process can be automated by providing the voting facility on
Internet.


Situation:
Lots of youth force is indulged in many projects abroad or the individuals who are not in their constituencies. These votes are lagged behind and are not counted which may affect a country's future.


Idea:
This process can be automated by providing this facility on internet.
Need of a id is there, which presently can be fulfilled by PAN / UID. Just
the user had to log in and cast his/her vote by using his PAN / UID and
voting is done.
Benefits / Revolution:
1.) Time saving.
2). No security expenses (physical personnel deployment at booths) incurred.
3). Reach to every person in any area (in country / abroad).
4). More votes can affect the election results.
5). Save revenue incurred on security, voting arrangements, EVM(s),
counting arrangements.
6). No need for voting holidays.
7). Election counting can become much faster.
Although this automation is not affective for the whole voting thing
but still affects a lot of things.

APOLOGIES AND THANKS

I express my gratitude and thanks to all for their critics and support on the post "India is not great presently".

I express my apologies to whom I had hurt with my word usage to their patriotism and feelings. But believe me it's not like area, state or country specific blame instead it was just a message to people who are still sleeping and whose awareness make India much better than present.

India is no doubt the best country and I love my country very much. I will try to make my language more refined and correct so that it may convey the message correctly. I need your support, guidance and valuable suggestions for making my effort useful and efficient.

Apart from this, this post(India is not great presently) was not in rhythm with the blog theme(despite it's an effort to create a revolution) so I had decided to make changes in the word usage for this particular post and in future, will try to post the theme matching, linguistically correct and proper matter only.

I request you to please go through the other post(s) for the theme matter and provide your comments on it. There are more ideas(posts) in queue.

Hope for your kind support and comments.

Thanks and regards

Abhy

"INDIA IS GREAT" but meaning will downgrade if you will sleep

Pardon for the language used in this post..
We are Indians..mera desh mahaan..India is the best....Just by saying these lines we are going to make ourselves superior, I don't know in whose eyes..
Yesternight at CMH road Defense colony (which is opposite to its name as no defense was there) in Bangalore, 7-8 guys boozed up brutally beaten two helpless African guys who were on their bike. They cried but nobody listened to them. 14-15 passersby were standing and enjoying the show..one or two who were ready to go obviously can't deal with 7-8 bad guys. As a result they were taken back by their colleagues.

We are crying for the Indian racists attacks in Australia now what is this..If we are doing the same then for what we are crying for.We don't have the right to cry. If the two Africans would have been our brother, do even then nobody had got and saved them? They were even not having any known person to help them..It was just assassination of cows by jackals and rabbits and monkeys watching the puppet show.

If we sleep and will only watch then India will loose its greatness as its greatness lies with the following of citizen's duties and responsibility. We have language based riots, religion based riots..What I am looking Karnatak and Tamil people are fighting for this or UP-Bihar,MP-Chattisgarh,Bihar-Jharkhand,Hindu-Muslim, Delhi-Haryana fights are also well known..and we call our India great...India is not 1000 people. It is taken as a whole 1 billion citizens. And if any fish makes itself dirty either it needs to be cleaned off or removed.

If we learn something and start doing may be least things then we can make India fully great.The meaning becomes fake if you don't respect your own culture ,your brothers and sisters and overall humans. I had informed the police and given whatever information I gathered from that place while they were running. May be this can help a little for finding those cowards.

BRAINOLOGY

Its neither a concept nor an invention but what I think its a divine
process which elaborates the masterpiece of god's creativity. I am talking
about brainology.

Situation:
Don't confuse with the term as you may not find it in dictionary. Just
suppose if I ask you to close your eyes and then ask you to touch your
middle finger or your right eyebrow or your left ankle or your left
thumb or your left little finger's nail or your right eyelash. You are
at all times be able to make the difference in the touch made. Also,
you may only touch the asked portion of your body.

Idea:
What I had concluded from this is that brain is acting like a powerful
supercomputer which is depended on many analysis, calculations and
many logical combination which helps it to give the solution to the
query made to it. If you are asked to touch your little finger of your
left hand by closing your eyes you may definitely touch the same
without any mistake. Eyes had nothing to do with it. But it is always
not correct with the other objects like if I ask you to touch a pencil placed on a table
with your eyes closed you may get it touched wrong. Well the
thing which is coming in gyst is that if you are having proper,
structural, logic, analytical knowledge of anything you may not need
visual understanding or information you may just recognize it by the
calculations same as your brain does. Even you may try by moving your
hand and try to touch any part keeping your eyes closed, still you
touch the right thing. Means that your brain knows that at what time
your finger comes at what place so that your other hand can go to the
definite position to touch the part asked. All is calculation performed.

Revolution:
Now can you think of a vehicle or a aircraft without a cockpit or a
driver's seat or you may now think of a machine which may take care of
your daily routine work without making you indulge in it. Just think
and yes do not forget to act...