Facebook's Timeline

Image via CrunchBase

Facebook has launched their new timeline visual approach to their user profiles. Initially I was not taken with the new lay-out but I have since begun to like it. It is certainly a big change from the existing profile lay-out. The lay-out of old seems to be so bland and boring now.

A nice feature on the timeline is the cover. This graphic is like the book cover to your profile and is a nice big space to show a picture of whatever you want compared to the small profile picture we have had for so long. It is still good to see the profile picture has remained but does take on a slightly less important role now.

The rest of the page is divided into two main columns by a dividing line, representing the passing of time, hence the timeline look and feel. This allows to include milestones or life events and you can record your life’s history easier than ever before.

All those links you used to have on the left hand side of the page have not disappeared they are just displayed elsewhere. There are now a couple of tabs displayed just under the cover picture. These tabs can be expanded by clicking on the little down arrow on the right hand side. What this means is that only three tabs will be displayed at any given time. This gives a bit more life to your profile as the tabs rotate through.

If you have a post that you wish to make more prominent you can select the post and highlight it. This will make your post appear across the entire page and give it more presence.  Also posts that have more comments / shares get a bigger portion of the page. It is a nice way of seeing at a glance which post got the most action.

The timeline is now available to those who have Facebook pages for their businesses or other reasons. The mandatory cutover date is 30 March 2012 to the timeline for pages. The timeline for pages will affect businesses in a big way.

Business will be able to place more branding images on the page now, think of a big Coca-Cola image on the cover picture and the bottle of Coke as the profile picture. Businesses will be able to make use of the milestones feature by way of promotions, specials, product launches. The will be able to build the brand better and engage with customers.

The ability for a page admin to take a message and turn it into a private messaging session with a customer will allow far deeper communication than ever before. Marketers will need to re-think their strategy on which tabs display above the ‘fold’ as this will be the first thing customers will see when landing on the business page.

It should all make for some interesting changes in the way we see people’s lives and businesses unfold in real time. Let me know what you think of the new Facebook timeline on my facebook page TechNOBLEgyIT.

Related articles

• Facebook launches timeline for pages (sujithselvan.wordpress.com)
• New Facebook Page Timelines Are Here (socialfresh.com)
• Facebook brings Timeline to brand pages (technologytell.com)

Building towards a supersonic Electric Aeroplane

The eGenius electric aircraft recently participated in the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Green Flight Challenge. It was sponsored by Google, at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. NASA and CAFE Foundation have the goal to advance technologies in fuel efficiency and reduced emissions with cleaner renewable fuels and electric aircraft.

The Green Flight Challenge had 13 teams competing for the $1.65 million prize provided by NASA. This is the largest purse for any aviation event in history. In order to win the prize teams needed their  aircraft must fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity.

In the end only three teams successfully completed the aircraft and flight qualification requirements. The winner was team Pipistrel-USA.com, a four seater electric aircraft called the Taurus 4, with an almost unbelievable 403.5 passenger miles per gallon efficiency over a flight distance of 200miles. Twice that of the already efficient piston powered aircraft in the same competition.

The e-Genius team won the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) for the quietest aircraft with a peak take off noise of just 59.5 dBA (A normal conversation ranges between 80-85 dBA). This brings the potential capability of having aircraft quiet enough to land near houses and businesses without the noise aggravation. Good news for those living and working near airports.

Some other interesting facts from the Green Flight Challenge:

• There were 20 exhibitors showing off their visions of the greener aviation future
•  Pipistrel G-4 achieved 403.5 PMPG over its 200 mile flight
• The eGenius achieved 375.8 PMPG
• The winning check for $1.3 million is the equivalent to a Nobel prize winner (1 million Euros)
• The G-4 could be charged for a two-hour flight at a cost of $7. (based on 8c for a KW)
• Receiving their electricity from geo-thermal powered generators on nearby peaks in the Geyserville area, CAFE’s fliers flew “green”
• A future challenge is now to create a supersonic Electric aircraft.

The Green Flight challenge 2011 has heralded a new change in aviation history. The future technology of aviation was most likely born at this event.

Related articles

• Electric plane wins $1.35 million (cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com)
• Electric Plane Wins $1.35 Million in NASA Challenge (space.com)
• Green Airplanes fly 200 miles at over 100 mph and use half of one gallon of fuel per passenger (nextbigfuture.com)
• Google and NASA Team Up for a Green Flight Challenge with $1.65M Prize (treehugger.com)
• eGenius electric aircraft makes successful maiden flight (gizmag.com)
• eGenius - Electric airplane takes flight (technoblegy.blogspot.com)

A dream-liner of the sky

Boeing have officially handed over the first 787 Dreamliner to Japan's All Nippon Airways. The 787 programme began back in 2003 and will compete with their European rivals Airbus A350. The Dreamliner is "The most technologically advanced commercial airplane in history" according to Boeing 787 Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett.

Image via Wikipedia

The Dreamliner is a twin-engine, bendy winged, widebody craft that has raised the bar for fuel efficiency. Some 50 percent of the weight of the 787 airframe is lightweight carbon-fibre composites that could, Boeing says, help reduce fuel costs by 20 percent. Whether travellers will benefit from the lower fuel consumption will depend on how greedy the airlines are.

The Dreamliner was in part designed to be a panacea to passenger discomfort. Numerous new technologies and design effects have allowed the Dreamliner to become more passenger friendly. Boeing spent years researching their customer's customer, us. Their research resulted in a number of design tweaks and improvements.

Image via Wikipedia

The initial boarding was found to be of utmost importance so Boeing worked with artists and architects to create arched entranceways which provide a relaxing contrast to the "stress of pre-flight security." Not only this but you can expect roomier seats, more storage and larger, manually dimmable windows. Even economy class will see some luxury additions, with a bar, female-only lavatories and Panasonic entertainment on demand for every passenger.

Older technology has also been re-purposed such as LED lights installed in the 787 cabin, allowing the ceiling to appear higher, lighting can be controlled to make the transition between day and night easier.

One of the biggest technological advancements is the cabin pressure within the Dreamliner. The Dreamliner allows for a more comfortable cabin pressure. The pressure inside the cabin is the equivalent of 6,000 feet and not the normal 8,000 feet. The air can be recycled more frequently due to the composite body of the plane. There is also more humidty in the air reducing symptoms related to dryness.

The single aisled Dreamliner, seats between 210-290 passengers and has an asking price of $202m. Boeing estimate the potential market to be about 3300 units. Boeing already has 821 orders worth $150bn for the plane in the pipeline. Although it has endured many delays from its start to now, Boeing hope to build up to 10, 787 Dreamliners per month by the end of 2013.

For those that are interested Boeing shares, were up 3.3 percent at $61.49 on Monday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

Related articles

• Boeing delivers first Dreamliner (bbc.co.uk)
• At long last, Boeing hands over 787 Dreamliner (photos) (news.cnet.com)
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NASA – Gravitating to the Moon again

Image via Wikipedia NASA will be launching two robotic probes each about the size of a washing machine to the moon. The near identical probes called Grail-A and Grail-B, Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory are due to blast off from the Space Launch complex 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida on Thursday.

The probes will lift off in an unmanned Delta II Heavy Rocket and will start its three month journey to the moon. NASA’s Apollo Astronauts used the Saturn V Rocket and covered the approximately 386,242 kilometres to the moon in a mere three days.  The ‘more economical’ rocket launch brings the cost of the mission from start to finish to US$ 496 million dollars.

Shortly after lift off the probes will separate from each other and travel independently to the moon.  Grail-A will arrive at the moon on New Year’s Eve with Grail-B arriving on New Year’s Day. They will go into orbit around the lunar poles and effectively chase one another around the moon. The probes will range in distance apart from each other from 64 kilometres to 225 kilometres. They will be bouncing radio signals between them providing their exact locations, even on the far side of the moon.

When the mission ends in late spring (northern hemisphere), Grail-A and Grail-B will be within 16 kilometres of the moon’s surface. Barring any changes, they will then eventually crash into the moon.

The mission aims to create the most precise lunar gravity map ever. Scientists are hoping to figure out what is beneath the lunar surface, all the way to the core. The moon actually has the most uneven gravitational field in the solar system, according to NASA. The moon’s gravity is about one-sixth or Earth’s pull.

Scientists will be able to measure even the slightest variations in the gap between the orbiting probes every single second. These changes as subtle as they may be will indicate shifting masses below the lunar surface: mountains in some places, lava tubes and craters in others. The probes will also help pinpoint the best landing sites for future explorers, whether human or mechanical.

A plan to put man back on the moon was scratched off in favour of an asteroid and Mars. There are three spacecraft currently orbiting the moon, making science observations. Since the Space Age began in 1957, 109 missions have targeted the moon. 12 men have walked on its surface in six separate landings. 342 kilograms of rock and soil has been brought back to earth and are still being analysed.

The launch of the GRAIL probes will be NASA’s second robotic mission since the end of the shuttle programme in July. A probe names Juno is headed for Jupiter following a successful launch on August 5. If the GRAIL is not launched on September 8, the mission’s launch period lasts until October 19.

Related articles

• NASA To Launch Two 'Grail' Moon Probes To Measure Gravity (huffingtonpost.com)
• NASA to Launch Twin Moon Probes This Week (space.com)

Russian Space Ship crashes - What now NASA?

A Russian space station supply ship, Progress M-12M, crashed into the Siberian landscape just

Image via Wikipediaminutes after its launch. It was carrying three-tonnes of supplies for the International Space Station astronauts.  All contact with the spacecraft was lost. Reports of the wreakage falling to ground with a deafening roar led to Russian space officials declaring the flight a total failure.

The loss of the supply spacecraft will not pose to big a problem for the astronauts in the International space station as they have more than enough supplies. It will threaten the launch of the next crew, just one month away. This is because the upper stage of the unmanned Soyuz rocket that crashed is similar to one used in the manned, Soyuz-FG, version of the rocket. In addition the crew presently based at the station may have to stay a little longer.

The crash immediately brings to the fore the discussion about the US stopping its Shuttle programme. With Russia being the only space going transport provider right now, if there is a major flaw in the present batch of Soyuz Rockets this may not be the last of the spaceship crashes. Keep in mind this is the second failure of a Russian rocket in a week. On August 18, a telecommunications satellite was put into a wrong orbit.

The Obama administration decision to abandon the space shuttle has been under much scrutiny. The idea being that private companies must come up with cheaper and efficient methods to launch payloads into orbit. Sounds great but why would a company like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and others spend millions of dollars to design a spacecraft that may or not be selected as the newest generation spacecraft.

Spacecraft like the Orion project, cancelled because of budget cuts, was destined to be the new 'shuttle' but now all the work for that project has been shelved for the time being. It makes you wonder if the decision to abandon a space going programme without an alternative available was the best decision to make? Sure the US may save some money now but what will the long term effects be?

Russia will continue to gain valuble experience and research into rockets, as will China and other near space going countries like India. Whereas the US are approaching the space race with a capitlistic point of view and not so much with national pride as the space race was run a couple of decades ago.

Related articles

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Clouds of 1's and 0's

Cloud computing is fast becoming the future of information technology. Everywhere you go people are talking about it, even people that would not normally speak about something technological are talking about it. Cloud computing and cloud based services are pretty impressive. This blog is done in the cloud, people have been using the cloud for a long time and may not have known about it even.

My initial thoughts on cloud-based services are less than favourable to using it from an enterprise perspective but from an end-user point of view cloud services are fantastic. My concerns are mainly around security of ones data mind you.

Why trust someone else to look after my data? What happens if the company whose hands you have willingly placed your data into fails? Big companies can crash especially in economic times we are in, think Lehman Brothers in 2008 or scarier Worldcom, the big telecommuncations company back in 2005.

Who is to say that the likes of Amazon, Apple, or Google may go bankrupt. Then what will happen to all that data and the businesses that have been reliant on their services being there and suddenly they are not.

At this stage there is no real security regulation of the cloud based services? We would like to think the corporations will look after our data but big companies are also targets for hacking groups which could led to unexpected down time of your business should you be making full use of cloud services.

The accountant may see benefit in moving things to the cloud but for the IT administrator / security engineer the cloud is a potential landslide of issues. In a country like South Africa where a decent internet connection is rare, why would a small business or for that matter a large business move to cloud based services.

Even if the Internet was better what about the issue of power, can we rely on Eskom to provide sufficient power. Sure UPS devices in businesses work for a shortime but eventually you will lose your Internet connection ergo your business. Not every business can have generators running 24/7.

In my opinion cloud based services are not for South Africa yet, the services will become mainstream in SA as they have elsewhere but only because the accountants think it is cheaper. This is until a Telkom outage or Eskom load-shedding incident occurs showing the folly of the decision.

We will not escape the cloud as it is the future. Microsoft are already designing and launching products aimed at the cloud and with pc's, tablets, and phones increasingly needing the internet it is not surprising.

The cloud is coming, will it be a big, grey and stormy one or a beautiful, soft and fluffy one we will not know. The cloud is there on the horizon looming large, lets wait and see what it brings.

Related articles

• Talkin' Tech: Cloud Computing (blogs.cisco.com)
• Everyone becoming a cloud provider: financial services (zdnet.com)
• Next-Generation IT: Why We Need A Cloud Middleman (bjconquest.com)

13,000 MPH plane crash

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, attempted to fly the fastest aircraft ever built. The experimental aircraft is called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2). This vehicle is designed to be part of the US defence force "Prompt Global Strike" programme.

The HTV-2 is designed to be able to strike anywhere in the world within 60 minutes. To be able to achieve this feat an aircraft would need to fly at 13,000MPH. The HTV-2 would be launched and successfully placed into desired trajectory by using a separate vehicle. After successfully separating from the launch vehicle the HTV-2 would transition into MACH 20 aerodynamic flight.

On August, 11, 2011, the HTV-2 was launched and separated from the launch vehicle, Minotaur IV. More than nine minutes of data was captured before an anomaly caused loss of signal. This anomaly has puzzled scientists and they are trying to understand what went wrong. It appears that the HTV-2 crashed into the Pacific Ocean along its planned flight plan.

“Here’s what we know,” said Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager and PhD in aerospace engineering.  “We know how to boost the aircraft to near space.  We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight.  We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight.  It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

There are a couple of technical areas of concern that DARPA are working on to get the HTV-2 operational. The areas are aerodynamics, aero thermal, guidance, navigation and control. When DARPA do manage to solve these vexing problems it is certainly going to make the US defence that much more powerful than it is already.