A British couple, currently in the captivity of the Somali pirates have pleaded for their lives to the British government and have stated that, the pirates are fast losing their patience and might be close to killing them. The couple was kidnapped from their yacht in the month of October by Somali pirates this year and the hostage takers had demanded a ransom of $7 million.

The heart wrenching plea made by the British couple was broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4. The unfortunate hostages have been identified as Paul and Rachel Chandler who were kidnapped from their yacht, Lynn Rival after the couple has set sail for their journey from Seychelles islands to  Tanzania.

During the video plea, Mr. Chandler was surrounded by armed pirates with the muzzle of their guns pointed at him. The entire video is of two minutes of duration. However, it still isn’t clear whether the statement was made voluntarily or it was coerced statement. In the video plea, Paul Chandler said,

“Our kidnappers are losing patience. They are concerned that there has been no response at all to their demands for money. We are also concerned that these people will lose patience and will not feed us — and I have no doubt that they will not hesitate to kill us, perhaps within a week or so of now if there is no response. So, please somebody get in touch. Otherwise we just sleepwalk to a tragic ending.”

The British government has refused to pay the ransom and has stated that, it will not negotiate with the pirates. So far, the the only reaction from the government is the condemning of the kidnapping and ha stated that the couple is innocent and should be released immediately.

According to the British Foreign Ministry,

“The government will not make substantive concessions for hostage takers, including the payments of ransom.”

The hostages have never appeared to the public via any media outlets since they were kidnapped, but had been given the opportunity to speak to Rachel Chandler’s brother, Stephen Collett. In the recorded plea to the British government, Rachel Chandler said,

“We are very concerned about the future. Our captors are very impatient that nobody has been in touch about negotiations. We ask the government and the people of Britain and our families to do whatever you can to at least open negotiations with these people about money so that perhaps our lives can be bought back.”

Via CNN.

The biggest and the most secured building in world, at least in terms of seismic attacks or in laymen terms, earthquakes is the brand new international terminal at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport which is now operational.

The foundations of this state of the art airport aren’t in based in the ground but have been designed to be integrated in more than 300 isolators that have developed to sway from side to side in the event of an earthquake. The principle behind this marvelous innovation is that, the entire building will move as an entire single unit, instead of parts of the building bearing the brunt of the earthquake, that would put more stress on the building and might even lead to its destruction.

During an earthquake, a building is shaken in a lateral motion that makes them sway in back and forth and puts tremendous amount of stress on the frame of the building. This in turn significantly puts the building at a risk of crashing down on itself and cause a high rate of casualties. However, the isolators are designed to slow the momentum of the building, thus giving the building a more stable momentum thereby preventing the destruction of the building.

Turkey learnt its lesson from the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the country in the year 1999 and claimed the lives of 19,000 people along with billions of dollars in structural damage. Due to the fact that, the North Anatolian Fault is located less than 15 miles from Istanbul, it makes the city more prone to another high magnitude earthquake.

According to Atila Zekioglu (Engineer, Arup),

“What an isolation system does is that it enables the building to move through large displacements in unison, and in doing that, you absorb earthquake energy. What we have done over the years is that there are many tests going around the globe in terms of shake tables, testing labs, and what we do is we take that data… test the ability of our seismic simulation software.”

Via Wired.

The age of laser offensive and defensive weaponry got a boost from one of the principal military contractors to the U.S Department of Defense, Boeing Company, that has reportedly tested an all new surface to air laser defense system and shot down six unmanned drones, paving the way for a possible successful implementation of laser based weapons into the front line military units of the U.S armed forces.

Laser weapons, especially in the role of land based air defense systems have long been visualized as the most optimum weapon systems, as they would significantly reduce the threat of the personnel manning the conventional surface to air missile batteries. However, such sophisticated and at times completely autonomous laser weapon systems had so far been a matter of science fiction.

The latest tests undertaken by Boeing involved elements of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California, that took extensive part in testing the reliability and feasibility options for the new weapon system. The purpose of the test, according to Boeing was to establish the capability of such defensive laser weapons in detection and destruction of aerial threats.

The mobile laser weapon developed by Boeing is called, Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated Experiments or MATRIX and was developed under the contract from the U.S Air Force Research Laboratory. The MATRIX is basically a trailer mounted laser defense system and employs a high powered targeted laser beam at the target, to to blow it out of the sky.

According to Gary Fitzmire (V.P, Boeing Missile Defense Systems’ Directed Energy Systems),

“The Air Force and Boeing achieved a directed-energy breakthrough with these tests. MATRIX’s performance is especially noteworthy because it demonstrated unprecedented, ultra-precise and lethal acquisition, pointing and tracking at long ranges using relatively low laser power.”

Via Space War.

The scientists at CERN in Geneva are reportedly getting close to activate the world’s biggest particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider to begin the experiment with which the scientists at the biggest physics laboratory expect to witness the environment and the situation at the time of the Big Bang. The time when the universe was created.

Large Hadron Collider was severely damages during an experiment that was carried out last year and the scientists as well the technicians at CERN are stunned at the pace with the LHC has become operational again. The restart of the particle accelerator means that the scientists will now be able to send protons circling in a 27 kilometer long tube almost at the speed of light.

At the time of the surprise restart, many of the scientists involved in the project had left for their homes and had to be immediately called called back to their offices for the resumption of the experiment. According to James Gillies (Spokesman, European Organization for Nuclear Research),

“The scientists basically had to tear up the first few pages of their PowerPoint presentation which had outlined the procedures that they were planning to follow. That was all wrapped up by midnight. They are going through the paces really very fast.”

The operational status for the LHC was expected to be around 0600 GMT on Saturday, but the sudden restart of the machine cut down seven hours off the time limit and scientists were able tp carry on with the experiment from yesterday evening itself. For the experiment, CERN is currently using about 2,000 superconducting magnets, that will allow the team to control the direction of the protons that are numbered in billions, so as to keep the sensitive equipment of the LHC away from harm’s way.

Via Associated Press.

The ever popular PopoPlug hard drive sharing device manufactured by Cloud Engines Inc. has finally been given a much needed upgrade and the all new PopoPlug now sports the support for upto four simultaneous USB hard drives, that can now be attached to the device and their contents can then be shared on the web.

The all new PopoPlug device is available for $129 and entails no service fee and keeping in tune to the social networking revolution, it also has integrated Twitter and Facebook services. This new device sporting four USB hard drives enables users to share their media files on the PopoPlug website and can even broadcast their files on Apple iPhone.

PopoPlug hard drive sharing device has also been given a complete facelift, with a new vibrant pink colored casing and still operates on the traditional Ethernet mode of connectivity for internet access. The new upgraded model also features a newly introduced drag and drop feature, along with multimedia slide shows that, significantly enhance use experience, especially when it comes to multimedia files. The files on your computers can now directly be synchronized with the PopoPlug device via tools like iTunes, Windows Media Player, and iPhoto.

Here is an excerpt from the the press release for PopoPlug:

San Francisco, Calif. – November 20, 2009 – Cloud Engines, Inc. unveiled the second generation of the award winning Pogoplug multimedia sharing device today giving consumers more flexibility to store personal content safely in the home and access, manage, and share it from anywhere on the Internet. The new Pogoplug hardware sports a new design boasting multiple USB ports supporting up to 4 external drives for expanded data capacity. The new Pogoplug also gives users improved sharing capabilities, an easy drag-and-drop interface to create engaging multi-media slide shows, seamless media playback, and enhanced sharing with friends on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Pogoplug acts like a gateway from your home or office through the Internet. It allows you to access, share and even stream your personal digital media directly to anybody, anywhere in the world. Your content always remains physically in your home or office, making it secure, convenient and available on your terms. Pogoplug is perfect for those individuals with increasingly mobile lifestyles and small businesses in need of simple, inexpensive mobile data access solutions.

“The reaction to the Pogoplug has been incredible. By listening to user feedback and following our own product roadmap, we are bringing a great second-generation product that gives our customers access to a host of new features that both improve the function of the Pogoplug, and add to the fun of using it as well.” said Daniel Putterman, CEO of Cloud Engines, Inc. “We are committed to giving our customers the best way to access their data from anywhere in the world, pushing the envelope with both product quality and design aesthetic. The result is what you see here today.”

NEW HARDWARE

The new Pogoplug design retains the simplicity and ease of use of the original while listening to consumer feedback and adding the ability to directly connect up to 4 external hard drives at once. The resulting product boasts an improved design with greatly improved functionality for users with multiple drives and an increasing need for easy synching and sharing of their digital libraries. This upgrade turns the Pogoplug into an even more prominent feature in the modern digital home or small business.

NEW FEATURES

Automatically Synchronize Photos, Videos, Music and Other Selected Content

Users can synchronize their Pogoplug with their PC or Mac to automatically import new content from popular applications such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and iPhoto. This feature allows Pogoplug owners to “set it and forget it” and always have access to new photos, videos and music from anywhere on the Internet.

Drag-and-Drop Music and Photo Slideshows

Users can easily create and share fun and engaging slideshows using their stored photos, videos and music. Creating a slideshow with Pogoplug is as simple as drag and drop, and sharing these slideshows is just as easy as ever. Once a user’s link is shared and viewed, their slideshow will immediately begin with the photos, videos and music they selected, playing seamlessly in the viewer’s browser.

Easier Sharing with Pogoplug Address Book

Pogoplug Address Book greatly improves the speed and ease of use of sharing with a user’s friends and family. Pogoplug automatically remembers all email addresses entered in a user’s previous shares – even if that share no longer exists – and makes them available in an easy to use address book to make sharing truly one click away.

Global Search Across Multiple Drives and Pogoplugs

With support for multiple drives on a single Pogoplug (and multiple Pogoplugs on the same account) Pogoplug has added “global” search support across all of a user’s Pogoplugs and drives. Search filters are now a distinct feature, allowing users to view all of their photos, videos and music in a single organized view, or to search for a specific file across all Pogoplugs and drives.

Organize Your Music, Photos and Videos

Pogoplug automatically displays music by Album, Artist and Genre, and shows cover art for quick access to a user’s favorite music. Photos are now displayed by photo timeline and videos are only a click away, including the ability to watch a preview in the thumbnail itself.

Play movies directly from my.pogoplug.com, or even to the iPhone

Pogoplug now supports the playback of videos directly from a Pogoplug, with support for the most popular cameras, video cameras and mobile phones. Movies can be shared and viewed directly from the Pogoplug website – or even from an iPhone!

Pricing and Availability

We are currently taking Pre-Orders for Pogoplug at www.pogoplug.com Units will ship before the end of the year – just in time for the Holiday Season. The Pogoplug has a suggested retail price of $129, with no additional service fees.

Via Crunch Gear & PopoPlug.

If you are familiar with European culture, especially French, you would not be a stranger to Accordions. These amazing instruments are not only cool but they also make for a great musical experience.

Now how would you like a speaker that looks like an accordion? Apparently, speakers that are shaped like accordions also sound better than the regular speakers. The Folding Speaker is a cool new USB and battery powered amplified speaker.

It has a folding style and can be used with computer media players, video games, and many more. Thanks to the accordion kind of shape, the speaker comes with greater resonance and a richer sound than normal box style speakers. These speakers are pretty cheap too and cost just $18 and I would so want to buy it.

It requires 2 AAA batteries and looks amazingly chic. I would say, do not wait at all and get this speaker so that you can impress all your friends without a break. I don’t think anyone would be left without being impressed as this speaker is not only innovative, but also sounds great, looks great and is quite cheap.

The coolest gadgets to be launched in this decade has to be the iPhone and the iPod which have taken cellphone usage and music listening to places that we could not have imagined earlier. Science and technology would surely take us to different places and over time we will get to use better products than what we are using today. However, the iPhone and iPod will surely remain popular for a long time.

The Combo Charger is a cool new charger that can be used to charge not just the iPhone and iPod when at home, but you can use it even when you are travelling or when you are outside. It comes with both AC and Dc compatible 12V power supplies. It comes with really fast high-speed USB ports and it can be used in the fastest possible way.

The Combo Charger is compact and lightweight and costs just $39.95 which makes it an ideal gadget to be bought this Christmas if you are penny broke. It looks good, works great and functions well and hence there is no reason why you should not buy it. I would say, go and grab it right away without any delay. You can rest assured that your iPod and your iPhone are charged always.

Via: go in case

This month has been particularly green as so many green gadgets have been launched. One such cool gadget is the Solargorilla, which is a portable solar charger. It has been launched by Powertraveller and can extend the life of laptops and other gadgets.

It can directly charge mobile phones, iPods, handheld consoles, and other gadgets which are small. It comes with two photovoltaic glass solar panels and when it is exposed to light, it produces electric current. Thanks to a tough rubber case, it can withstand water and can also be used in a rugged manner. It has a fold-up design thanks to which it can be carried easily wherever you want.

I would so love to get a gadget like this, as the price of electricity is increasing and moreover if we keep using gadgets at the rate we are using, then we shall use up all the energy. Thanks to its sleek and chic design, it can be used without any embarrassment in all the places. The Solargorilla won a prize at the British Innovations Awards and it certainly deserves that piece of cake. So go ahead and grab it the moment it is launched in the market.

Via: Gaj It

The researchers at Electrawinds have announced that, they have test driven a heavily modified Audi A4 diesel model for 24 hours on fuel made entirely of animal fats. The all new experiment has proven that, animal fat can in fact be used an alternative to petrol, gasoline and diesel, the fuels that drive our current vehicles and contribute enormously to the Global Warming phenomenon.

The team of Electrawinds, that was led by the manager of the company collected animal fats from places like slaughter houses etc. and ran only on animal fats and consumed zero bio diesel, making the world’s first automotive ever to run entirely on animal fats. Electrawinds is Belgium’s premier and the largest renewable energy plant has two operational installations in the cities of Ostend and Mouscron. It specializes in in extracting pure energy by burning animal fats and has been supplying clean and green electricity to 85,000 families in the region.

According to a company spokeswoman,

“Our aim was to show that renewable energy is more than just wind turbines and solar energy.”

Via Green Diary.

Philips has announced that, it has introduced a whole new range of service designed and developed specifically for the heart patients who check in the National Heart Center Singapore (NHCS), in which the cardiac patients will now experience virtual environments that have also been employed by Disney World.

This new feature is known as Philips’ Ambient Experience and the patients will experience a host of ambient environments including, African Savannah etc. that will also entail auditory fill ins as well. The goal is to make the grueling and at times the painful experience that the patients go through during the treatment phase.

As of now, there are more than 125 medical installations such as Fairview Hospital in Cleveland and the The Villages Regional Hospital in The Villages, Florida have already installed thhis new feature in their cardiac units, thereby creating a more friendly and rejuvenating environment, rather than the cold and and sterile room, as they usually are.

The psychological effects of this new technology are already proving to be a boon for the patients as, according to the latest figures released by several hospitals, there has been about 28% reduction in sedation given to the patients who are below the age of 4 and almost 16% reduction in sedation for those below the age of 18.

Via Cnet & Philips Healthcare.