Nokia Released Reset Generation on N-Gage

Nokia released Reset Generation, its game about video games, on N-Gage:

The objective is simple - rescue the princess. Players begin by choosing a hero from ten designs by celebrity artists, representing the pantheon of video game history and each with its own unique superpower. Players then either conquer the game in 18 single-player story missions or compete with up to four players online. The last princess standing wins!

Even more interesting is the fact that it supports multiplayer action between mobile and PC:

Players can also enjoy seamless multiplayer action between mobile and PC. On PC, the game is free to play and is available as an embeddable web widget and as downloadable content with N-Gage compatible devices. The mobile version sold through Nokia channels will cost around 10-12 EUR depending on local taxes and can be bought with a credit card or charged to an operator subscription where operator billing is available.

SQL Server 2008 Launched with Business Inteligence Emphasis

Microsoft just released SQL Server 2008 to manufacturing:

Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the new version of the company’s acclaimed data management and business intelligence platform. This version of SQL Server provides powerful new capabilities such as support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing, geospatial data, and advanced reporting and analysis services. SQL Server 2008 provides the trusted, productive and intelligent platform necessary for business-critical applications.

SQL Server is released in no less than seven editions: Enterprise, Standard, Workgroup, Web, Developer, Express, and Compact. It’s interesting to see how this new database will compete against its competitors such as Oracle.

Future Army Training with MMOG

U.S Army plans that future army training will use massive multiplayer online game (MMOG) similar to World of Warcraft:

“Potentially an MMOG could be created which adheres to the physical and behavioral reality of the world and provides an ‘always on’ environment in which to execute training, something like World of Warcraft, but focused on the military training customer,” says Dr. Roger Smith.

The Army has used games for training purposes before. One of them is America’s Army. It’s interesting to see how this new initiative will be different from the previous ones.

MIT Discovers Way to Store Solar Energy Efficiently

Almost all the power we consume on Earth can be traced back to the sun, but ironically consuming solar power directly has been difficult. Until now. MIT’s discovery opens to way to solar revolution:

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn’t shine.

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today’s announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Amazing. If this discovery leaves up to its promise, we won’t worry about lack of energy in the coming decades.

Martian Water is Confirmed by Phoenix Mars Lander

The way to finding Martian life gets an exciting boost today with the confirmation of water in Mars:

Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

It’s interesting to see how this discovery will lead to in the future.

X-37B Robot Military Spaceplane to Launch in November

Robot military spaceplane is an interesting new weapon and it will launch in November:

The X-37B robotic military spaceplane will launch on an Atlas V out of Cape Canaveral this November. The U.S Air Force and Boeing are currently preparing for the Orbital Test Vehicle’s (OTV) launch. Well, now we know just who had enough clout to bump the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)/LCROSS Atlas V launch into 2009. There had been talk of a "black" program that was going to launch ahead of LRO, but I didn’t realize it was going to be more than a satellite…

The original X-37 is a demonstration spaceplane:

The Boeing X-37 Advanced Technology Demonstrator is a demonstration spaceplane that is intended to test future launch technologies while in orbit and during atmospheric reentry. It is a reusable robotic spacecraft that is a 120%-scaled derivative of the X-40A. It flew its first flight as a drop test on April 7, 2006 at Edwards AFB.

Stopping Earth-Bound Asteroids: Nukes or Not Nukes?

What is the best way to stop asteroids coming to the Earth? NASA released a report that the best way to do so is by using nukes:

Scientists have sent Congress a report on ways to prevent an asteroid from hitting Earth. Among the proposals: Use nuclear weapons to nudge a big space rock off a collision course. Some scientists don’t think much of that idea.

But there are gentler alternatives:

The venerable scientist explained that all but the largest heavenly bodies can be redirected by rear-ending or towing them with an unmanned spacecraft.

The Cause of Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights - is Discovered by NASA

Ever wonder about how a phenomenon called "aurora borealis", also known as the Northern Lights, happens? NASA has found the answer:

The culprit turns out to be magnetic reconnection, a common process that occurs throughout the universe when stressed magnetic field lines suddenly snap to a new shape, like a rubber band that’s been stretched too far.

Just in case you are curious, here is more explanation about aurora:

Auroras (North/South Polar Lights; or aurorae, sing.: aurora) are natural colored light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar zone. They typically occur in the ionosphere. Some scientists[who?] call them "polar auroras". In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. It often appears as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun was rising from an unusual direction.

iTunes U: A Good Place to Learn - Now With 60 Second Lectures

If you love learning, one of the best places to go is iTunes U which offers a lot of educational materials for free:

While an episode of "Desperate Housewives" will cost $1.99, a series of lectures by renowned University of California-Berkeley philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus is absolutely free. A single song by pop diva Rihanna is 99 cents. The price of a course on modern theoretical physics by Stanford University quantum mechanics professor Leonard Susskind? Nada.

Recently it added a new podcast called 60 Second Lectures:

Got a minute? Then you have time to enjoy a lecture from a faculty member at the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Speaking on a wide range of topics — from enthography to philosphy to music — the lecturers offer insight, whimsy, and, above all, brevity.

Nokia E71 Launched in the U.S.

Nokia just launched its new cell phone Nokia E71 for the US market:

An eager crowd greeted the official arrival of the highly anticipated Americas version (GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/1900) of the Nokia E71 at a private event in the Nokia Flagship Store in midtown Manhattan on the evening of Thursday, July 24th. Attracted by its balance of style, features and services, the invited guests had each signed up to ensure that they would be among the first people in the United States to bring home this exciting new device. The Nokia E71, which at .39 inches thick, is the slimmest QWERTY device on the market, is now available to the general public through a variety of consumer electronics, wireless and online retailers, and at the Nokia Flagship Stores in Chicago and New York

Nokia E71 looks promising in the U.S. market, but its not without its defects:

A tougher call is for those buying the E71 for personal use, as the smallest qwerty-equipped S60 device. While the keyboard is very useable for anyone with nimble fingers, I found the multimedia side of the E71 disappointing, from the relatively low (compared to other recent S60 mainstays like 2006’s N95) camera quality to the undistinguished audio and video playback