The Memorial Diamond

So, today I have what some folks may consider a morbid bit of technology for you. This picture features a memorial diamond, though it is just one style of many.

What is a memorial diamond? Basically, it is a diamond made from the ashes of your loved ones, should they choose to get cremated.

Death is a touchy subject for a lot of people, especially when it is the death of someone you love. I, for one, am ridiculously close to my parents, both of whom have expressed an interest in being cremated. Usually in such cases, ashes are either buried or placed in an urn, which is in turn put in a place of pride in your home.

With the LifeGem Memorial Diamond -- and with other companies which do similar work -- you can still do that, but you can also take a portion of your loved one's remains and have it made into a diamond, which is then set into a ring -- or a necklace, or bracelet, or any other piece of jewelry you fancy, I would imagine.

This may not be a piece of technology made to help humankind, it may not be the most helpful invention. However, there are a lot of people out there who dread the thought of being parted by the people they love most, and I just think that something like this gives you a way to memorialize them and keep them close to you forever. And I, for one, quite fancy that idea.

Cisco Unveils New SAN Technology

My precious computer geek, l33t brethren, rejoice – Cisco is unveiling some new technology. Specifically, they’ve developed a new Storage Area Network, or SAN, which they promise will improve the performance and scalability of SAN systems. As well, the management of the systems will be much simpler, the date will be safer, and the SAD services on virtual machines will be better. The premise behind this new technology is to help users create, from design to construction, the next generation of data centers.

The new SAN is part of an expansion of the Data Center 3.0 series of Cisco’s products. They expect it will make data centers respond better, in addition to making them more resilient and efficient. The SAN technologies include three new modules from the MDS 9000 line as well as new features found in their SAN OS. Its new name is the NX-OS. The new switch modules has eight gigabits. You can use them in any combination, and they will increase both port density and performance, by into a preexisting Cisco chassis. The bonus is that this will not require any major upgrades.

MBI Breast Cancer Technology

There’s some brand new technology out, beneficial to women. It’s a new screening tool, designed to detect breast cancer. The clincher is that it can work three times better than the typical mammogram, thereby finding tumors faster and earlier. Furthermore, it can find tumors in women who have very dense breast tissue, which mammography has had problems with for years.

A mammogram is essentially an X-ray of a woman’s breasts. In comparison with the new technology, the old standard was found to find less than one third of the tumors discovered by the new technique.

The technique is called molecular breast imaging – MBI for short. It promises to make the process of finding breast cancer tumors faster, easier, and less invasive. For instance, patience will no longer need to be injected with the radioactive agents, which are absorbed by the tissue and used to make the tumors themselves show up in the X-ray. Instead, MBI uses cameras. It has a very low risk of radiation, but the makers are working to make even that small risk a non issue.

"We can rebuild him. We have the technology."

Well ... kind of. See, Nike made this. It’s the PreCool vest. The way it’s made, it’s supposed to take longer for the core temperature of your body to heat up to the point where you start getting exhausted. Right now, it’s being used during the Olympic Games over in Beijing – just as a prototype, of course.

You fill the vest up with cold water, which adds about 8 pounds onto you. The fabric keeps you from freezing, there’s insulation, and even a layer of aluminum that will reflect heat.

Naturally, it’s supposed to help you when you’re out on the playing field. Supposedly, like you’re the Six Million Dollar Man, it will make you faster, stronger, healthier – just better, basically.

And a little known fact: it’s actually styled after the mini dresses that were popular in the 60s.

You know, my birthday was Sunday...

...and if any of you awesome readers that I don't really know would like to get this for me, I'll ... well. Write a post on your piece-o'-technology-o'-choice. Okay?

Seriously, I don't even really have anything to say. I just think this is beautiful. It's the diNovo Edge from Logitech. Mind you, up to this point, I've really only thought of Logitech as a good product that I looked for when I wanted to get something useful but basic for, you know. Cheap. Like, I've got 9856 of their optical mice, one wireless optical mouse, one wireless keyboard (they came in a set, don'cha know?), and two webcams. Why? Because I needed them at the time, they were moderately cool in the tech department, and more importantly, I could afford them.

I cannot afford this. Well, I can, and I'll probably by it eventually because my GF got one for frigging FREE, and I saw it up close and touched it and admired my reflection in its shiny, shiny surface ... and then I had to leave it. And my soul still weeps.

Also, typing is a dream, it is hot as hell, and it's got what they call "backlit stealth controls" and I'm sorry, but that just seeps of awesome like an infection and I want one.