The world’s fastest Internet connection - owned by and old woman!

Sigbritt Löthberg, a 75-year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has made IT history. Her home is now connected to the Internet by a 40 Gbit/second pipe. Yes, this is 5 GB/second. So, in theory, a DVD would take less than a second to download. Or, put another way, it could hold 1500 simultaneous full HD streams.

The woman is the mother of Peter Löthberg. Peter is a famous network technician, and works for Cisco. He collaborated with Karlstad Stadsnät (The arm of the local administration who’s concerned with the city’s networking) to get this gig going.

Peter Löthberg and his mother

If you’re wondering if this is practical, or just want to know WHY this has been done, read on.

Sigbritt Löthberg did not even have a computer until recently. Her son, together with Cisco and the Stadsnät wanted to demonstrate a new technology, and show people that they can all get extreme speed for relatively low costs.

The data is transfered exclusively via optic fiber wires. A new modulation technology allows transferring data at these blazing speeds without any repeaters for thousands of kilometers. Peter states that the maximum distance is virtually unlimited.

Of course, there’s yet no practical need for such speeds. No hard drive or SSD can write or even read at such speeds. Their regular data throughputs are mere fractions of what the connection can do.

As stated by Peter, the hardest part of setting up the connection was installing Windows on his mother’s new computer.

it’S A GUY thiNg

I was recently approached by Scott Seegert and asked if I’d like to review his new book, it’S A GUY thiNg. It’s the first time I’ve ever been contacted by a published author and as I’m not renowned for saying no to freebies I was more than happy to accept.

I received my signed copy of it’S A GUY thiNg last week and have flicking through it and giggling to myself ever since. The book is all about the crazy things that oddballs guys have registered patents for in the past. There are such gems as the “Helmet mounted Pistol” which incorporates a neck support so as not to strain your self when it fires. Patented in 2002 is “Tom’s Buttocks Cleavage-Revealing Pants” which are special pants for the ladies with a certain area of material removed in a nice fashion conscious pattern.

Scott’s writing style suits the subject material perfectly and if he ever fancies blogging he is more than welcome here. He’s given me permission to reproduce a couple of his patent posts here, so enjoy:

George’s Golf Practice Apparatus Patented 1956

Every guy knows that the length of his drive is directly proportional to the length of a specific anatomical member which, for the sake of being discrete, we shall refer to as “Mr. Johnson”. Suffice it to say nobody wants to hit a limp dribbler up the fairway. This explains why the typical guy will spend up to 83% of his pre-tax income on assorted equipment which promises to improve his golf swing.

Well, the best of this equipment, as determined by total weight, is George’s revolutionary golf practice apparatus (GPA), a device once described by Rube Goldberg as being “a bit complicated”. The GPA will allow any run of the mill guy to increase the length of his Johnson, err, drive right in the comfort of his very own structurally reinforced den or recreation room. For those interested, the GPA comes unassembled and all that you’ll require to put it together is a ¾” box wrench, an acetylene torch and Stephen Hawking. Once assembled, simply lubricate twice daily at points 1 through 203, and the GPA will stand ready to offer years of faithful service.

Jack’s No-Slip Hairpiece

If you’re a guy who wears a hairpiece, you’re all too familiar with the situation: one moment you’re showing off for the ladies by executing a perfect half-gainer into the clubhouse pool, and the next you appear to startled bystanders to be a man in a flesh-tone bathing cap trying frantically to rescue what seems to be a large guinea pig from the pool’s filter. That’s right – that darned hairpiece has fallen off yet again, supplying onlookers with another great anecdote at your expense.
Well, wind, water, starved predatory birds – nothing, and we mean nothing, is going to tear the no-slip hairpiece from its wearer’s dome. The secret lies in the plastic horseshoe-shaped component which is permanently, that’s right – permanently, attached to the head at the existing hairline via adhesives or braiding. The hairpiece itself contains a matching component that fits up to the head-mounted piece like a door hinge. Once aligned correctly, flexible pins are inserted through the hinge tunnel and the removable portion is rooted firmly in place. The result is a hair replacement system in which the wearer, after careful and meticulous grooming utilizing the latest advancements in hairstyling technology, could easily pass for a guy with a small cat asleep on his head.
As Jack points out, the non-permanent portion of the hairpiece may be quickly and easily removed “when conditions of privacy prevail”. Oh, we have a feeling they’ll prevail, all right.

You can buy It’s a Guy Thing from Amazon for $11.16 and it’s worth every penny.

Tagz - Geeky LED Dog Tags

Want to stand out at the next geek party and make people remember your name? Tagz the animated geek tag does the trick.

Stand out in the crowd, and make an impression with this customizable scrolling LED dog tag. They look awesome in the dark and are great for nights outs, whether you use it to pull or to offend. It is completely programmable to say what you want, with messages being easy and fast to enter using three button on the back.

You can get a Tagz for £10 (~$20) from the Red5 Gadget shop.

Concept cellphone take Transformers route

The folks at Parkoz Hardware must be smoking some pretty strong stuff to come up with this Transformer-inspired cellphone, changing from your average clamshell handset into a bi-pedal mini weapon of mass destruction which looks like the ED-209 of Robocop fame. A pair of miniguns are more than enough to shred away anything in its path though, and could work great when it comes to threatening your boss for a pay raise. I wonder what the battery life is on this thing, and what do the miniguns actually use as bullets? Broken pieces of plastic?

Source: Gizmodo

Beurer PM 100 heart rate monitor looks like a watch

For those who are serious in their fitness training, a heart rate monitor is definitely something they on of the devices at the top of their shopping list, ensuring that these athletes remains within the optimal BPM range in order to maximize the effectiveness of their cardio training or weight loss program. While most of us are familiar with chest-strapped heart rate monitors, these aren’t exactly the most popular devices in the world because short of being uncomfortable to wear, they are also annoying and get in the way as you go about with your fitness regime. Beurer hopes to solve this problem by coming up with a watch-like device in the form of the PM 100.

What makes the Beurer PM 100 different from the rest other than its form factor? Before we continue, let’s take a look at how other companies have approached this matter. Adidas, the sporting apparel giant, did try to build this sensor into a tight training shirt before while NuMetrex has incorporated the heart rate monitor into a sports bra for women, but I still think the watch form factor of the PM 100 is the most convenient. You wear it as half a glove, where it will obtain your heart rate from your index finger by using photoplethysmography.

There’s one snag though - it probably won’t be a fan favorite with those who need to use their hands in a sport, but for the majority of the rest who perform running or other pure cardio exercise will find this to be an extremely comfortable solution. Photoplethysmography is a process that shines a red LED on the surface of your index finger, and measures the reflected light back to a photodiode. The changes in reflective light will be calculated to give you the final reading. The PM 100 also tells you your calorie consumption and acts as a watch, alarm, and stopwatch simultaneously. There is no word on pricing as at press time.

Source: Gizmag

Autobot Keychain Light

Remember the Fantastic 4 signal as well as the Batman signal that drew those superheroes out from their respective pads during times of trouble? The Autobot Keychain Light attempts to do that, but unfortunately you’ll have to break it to little Johnny that Optimus Prime is probably rusting, er, resting away happily on Cybertron so he cannot attend to this distress call. You can only view the Autobot logo in pitch black darkness. The Autobot Keychain Light retails for $8 a pop and could go a long way in placating your Transformers-mad kid.

Product Page via Nerd Approved

AirDrives for safer hearing

There is nothing quite like having your own private space while tuning in to your favorite music on your iPod. Most of us tend to ditch the standard pair of headphones that come with our iPods, investing a little bit extra for that upmarket pair of earbuds to give us a better bang for our buck. Unfortunately, most people these days equate loudness with the quality of a pair of earbuds, and younger folks tend to crank the volume all the way up while rocking to the latest Top 40 hits. This doesn’t bode too well for your ears, and it could certainly be a health hazard especially when you’re walking or jogging around in public as being tuned out from your surroundings could result in a nasty accident. The AirDrives from Mad Catz aim to prevent that from happening. More details after the jump.

While most designs these days come in cupped headphones or in-canal earbuds, both of them encourage the listener to zone out. The AirDrives takes a whole new spin on the situation, marrying the best qualities of both camps by giving us small speakers with an over-the-ear clip which make them extremely portable due to their small size. A new technique known as InAir has also been incorporated into the AirDrives, letting these buds sit over the ear canal instead of inside. This change in placement not only produces a more natural sound, but it also prevents the buds from tuning you out from your surrounding environment by letting in some ambient noise. While audiophiles will launch a vehement protest, it must be said having an idea of what’s going on around you is important especially when you’re on the road.

The AirDrives will be available in two flavors - the regular Adult-sized model and a Kids model which will retail for $100 and $70 respectively when they’re released this September across all retail stores.

Source: Electronista