The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from January 2008

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from January 2008

This month in Odyssey.(Science Scoops)
January 1, 2008... What's the speed limit of developments on the Information Superhighway? Too fast for even the most knowledgeable alpha geek, knowbot, or cybrarian to keep up to speed. Not familiar with those terms? Well, that's my point. Everyday new...

Multitasking maniacs--beware!(Science Scoops)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you're like 17-year-old Sarah in Lakewood, Ohio, you often have several online chats as well as email going at the same time as your homework. "I get everything done," says Sarah. However, the idea that we can...

Wishing for a new, improved Internet?(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If you had a genie in a bottle and three wishes, how would you change the Internet? Don't you think it would be nice to have better security? Fewer pop-ups? Worldwide wireless? Virtual reality? Well, the National...

Galaxy zoo.(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] READY TO BOLDLY GO where no one has gone before? Well, you won't actually take off in a space ship. But if you surf to www.galaxyzoo.org, you could be the first human being to see an image of a distant galaxy. This...

Wireless world whopper!(Science Scoops)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... WOW -- 238 miles! That's the distance from Washington, D.C., to New York City. It's also the world record for the longest-distance, point-to-point wireless link set on April 29, 2007, in Venezuela. The Escuela Latinoamerica de Redes...

The checkers solution.(Science Scoops)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chinook can beat you at checkers. Even if you're a genius and don't make a single bad move, the game will end in a tie. If you don't believe it, go to http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook/play/and play against Chinook...

Getting connected--wirelessly!
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RECENT TECHNOLOGIES make our world more connected than ever. Read on to learn how. Computers on the Go Almost all new notebook (often called laptop) computers are now wireless. Plugged-in components, called...

Teens in the metaverse: how many teens play quidditch? Or fly over alien landscapes? Not many. But that may be about to change if Teen Second Life (TSL) turns science fiction into reality.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEAL STEPHENSON'S 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash describes a future in which a virtual world, called the metaverse, runs parallel to the real world. People enter the metaverse by creating virtual representations of...

A wizard's vision of a wireless world.(Nikola Tesla)(Brief article)(Biography)
January 1, 2008... In 1900, wires were cutting-edge technology. The first electrical engineers were busy weaving a worldwide web of wires. Wires conducted power to Edison's incandescent light bulbs. Wires relayed information to Bell's telephones and Morse's...

Wormy multiplication.(BRAIN STRAIN)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After spending a tow frigid January days cooped up inside surfing the waves of cyberspace, I decided I needed a vacation where I could catch some real waves. So I turned off my computer, and headed far, far away......

Sqezng yr wrds: data compression is the secret to wireless communication. Hw shrt cn u tlk?(Activity to Discover)
January 1, 2008... You need to leave an important message for a friend. But you can find only a very tiny piece of paper. You write small and abbreviate a lot. In a simple way, you've just applied an important rule of information theory--the science that makes...

Albina's cell phone.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Albina Ibraimova lives in Kyrgyzstan, a small country in the mountains of Central Asia. Every day, she walks for forty-five minutes to get to school. In the afternoons, she makes bread from scratch, sorts through...

Have you been exposed to electrosmog?!?(Table)
January 1, 2008... Is a free ride along the information superhighway really free? It sure is! At least to anyone with the right equipment. Soon they will be able to cruise along in the fast lane of wireless wavelengths jammed with information, entertainment, and...

Take another look--with "Many Eyes".(ACTIVITY TO DISCOVER)
January 1, 2008... Do you and your friends debate the details of different TV shows? Why not "see" who's right, who's wrong, and what's really going on with Many Eyes? Many Eyes is an online networking site from IBM that lets users visualize all sorts of...

Simply weird: has Sam's metaverse gotten better or worse? To find out, fill in the blanks, using the terms in the accompanying list.(Activity to Discover)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Junpacked my laptop first thing. "Is there a place with 1. --around here, Grandma. I asked. My grandmother wiped her hands on a dish towel, stood on tiptoes to kiss my cheek, and gave me a puzzled look....

Career watch: working on the internet.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Millions of people around the world access the Internet every day. And some of them are getting paid to do it. Here's a look at a few young professionals who make their living online. MICHAEL FURDYK-Internet...

Urban geocaching: treasure right under your nose.
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Victory Cache." The title sounds intriguing, along with its code name, "GCGoXR." I put the coordinates of the geocache into Google Earth and wait as the world spins around on my screen. Within seconds I hover...

Wiki wise.(KIDS CAN ...)
January 1, 2008... WHAT IF YOUR SOCCER TEAM COULD CHAT, share practice schedules, review sports movies, and post local soccer events on a shared Web site? Or, the next time you have to do a school presentation with other kids you could review and comment on...

Star chart.(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The monthly All-Sky Chart depicts the sky (minus the Moon) as it appears at 6 p.m. on Jan. 15. Useful all month (except for planet positions), the chart is also accurate for 7 p.m. on Jan. 1 and 5 p.m. on Jan. 31....

The birthday stars of winter.(STARGAZING)(Cartoon)
January 1, 2008... GREETINGS, GREETINGS, FELLOW STARGAZERS, WANT TO SEE TWO ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL STARS THAT CAN BE USED TO CELEBRATE CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAYS? C'MON... I'LL SHOW YOU. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] COME THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY, JUST STEP OUTSIDE ON...

2007 index.
January 1, 2008... A Activities alien species in the Everglades, Mar 07:41-43 ant maze, Apr 07:41 bio-hitchhikers, Apr 07:42-45 bird in the hand, Feb 7:16 bone builders quiz, Sep 07:18 build a bee condo, May 07:17 build your...

Career Ideas for Teens in Information Technology.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... CAREER IDEAS for Teens in Information Technology by Diane Lindsey Reeves with Gall Karlitz and Don Rauf (Checkmark Books, 2006) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Have you ever been asked what you want to do you grow up? Some common answers...

Avian Avatar.(ANIMAL ANGLES)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Cartoonist Chuck Jones drew inspiration from a Mark Twain quip about starving coyotes chasing roadrunners. Sixty years later, Wile E. Coyote is still after Road Runner on YouTube. What's true and what's 'toon? The greater...