By Compiled from Times wires
Published May 26, 2003
Have you ever wished for a panic button when a hard drive crashes, taking all of your data down with it? The Rapid Restore Ultra program from IBM provides just such a button: the F11 key.
Rapid Restore Ultra, an enhanced version of the Rapid Restore PC program, comes preinstalled on IBM's new ThinkCentre desktop computers, which went on sale last week.
The program regularly stores backups of the system, including the software programs, settings, personal data, the Windows operating system and even open files, in a hidden hard-drive partition that typically takes up about 20 percent of the drive's overall space.
In desperate situations when Windows cannot start up, the Rapid Restore Ultra backup can be activated by pressing F11; the computer can be working again in as little as 20 minutes.
In addition to its user-friendly recovery program, the ThinkCentre system has a design that allows a user to open the computer's case easily and add or replace many of the components inside. The ThinkCentre line has several different desktop models in assorted sizes, and flat-panel monitors in matching black are also available.
More information is at www.ibm.com Owners of older IBM systems can download the Rapid Restore Ultra program free at the site.
Frequent-flier miles accepted at eBay
EBay Inc., the world's largest Internet auctioneer, said shoppers can use frequent-flier miles and points from other customer-loyalty programs to pay for purchases on its Web site.
Points earned from more than 35 rewards programs, including those run by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, can be transferred, eBay said. Points International Ltd. of Toronto will handle the conversion at its Web site (www.points.com) Points International charges a fee to open an account.
Space elevator: Going up, way up
Scientist Bradley Carl Edwards envisions an elevator that could carry people and cargo from a platform in the Pacific Ocean 62,000 miles up to a satellite in outer space.
The idea may sound outlandish today, but a small branch of NASA thinks it might work - just give it a few decades.
"This is a little out there," Edwards said. "NASA usually likes to fund things that are already developed."
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts picks the top research ideas that simply aren't possible with today's technology - and it tries to do them anyway.
"What we're looking for are things that stretch our imagination, stretch what we think is really possible," said Bob Cassanova, the institute's director. "We tell people, "Don't let your preoccupation with reality stifle your imagination.' "
The space elevator would make space travel convenient and cheap, and it wouldn't require dangerous rocket liftoffs, Edwards said.
The progress scientists have made on these sci-fi projects has persuaded NASA officials to look beyond the next few shuttle missions to projects that could pay off in one to four decades, said Ron Turner, who assists the lab and is the principal physicist at ANSER, an independent nonprofit that does analysis for the government.
"NASA has gone from being incredulous to saying it might work, and that's a big step," Turner said.
Here2Anywhere makes satellite radio portable
Like most mobile audio players, the Kenwood KTC-H2A1 Here2Anywhere is small enough to carry in one hand. But the Here2Anywhere is a satellite radio tuner that works only when it is resting in a somewhat less portable docking station. When it is plugged in, the Here2Anywhere becomes a broadcast node for the Sirius satellite radio service (www.sirius.com) which for $13 a month gives subscribers access to 100 digital stations.
Despite its small size, the Here2Anywhere boasts features such as a big blue dot-matrix display that lists the song title and artist with more clarity than the small LCD readout of an iPod. A Memo function allows users to tag an enjoyable song and refer back to the title or artist before heading for the music store.
The Here2Anywhere will be available at consumer electronics stores next month for a suggested price of $130. Two different docking kits ($70 each) will be offered: one for use in a car or boat, and one for listening at home with a PC or a stereo system.
Einstein's papers available online
Hundreds of Albert Einstein's scientific papers, personal letters and humanist essays are now on the Internet.
The documents, some dating back to Einstein's youth, can be found at www.alberteinstein.info The site is run by the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Among the documents are Einstein's papers on relativity and the quantum theory of light and matter. Also available are travel diaries and 3,000 digitized images.
Law targets video game violence against police
Retailers in Washington state would face a $500 fine for selling or renting video games to children that depict violence against police under legislation signed into law last week.
It's thought to be the first state law of its kind, according to the bill's sponsor and the Interactive Digital Software Association, a trade group for video game manufacturers.
Video game publishers promised an immediate legal challenge on free-speech grounds to the law, which applies to children under 17.
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the trade group in Washington, said parents, not the state, should police their children's games, which are rated for content by the industry.
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, the bill's sponsor, said she tailored the bill to withstand a constitutional challenge by focusing on the state's interest in protecting the lives of law enforcement officers.
