Since the PSP Go is coming tomorrow, it was reasonable to expect a firmware update the PSP. We just didn’t expect one this full of content. Will it be enough to get the homebrew people to upgrade? Probably not, but for the casual user it’s quite the step forward.

The new firmware update adds compatibility with the new MediaGo function, as well as with the upcoming change to the way PSP titles are published. The update will also make it possible for you to tether your PSP to any Bluetooth connection (mobile phone, PC, etc) and game online when you don’t have access to a wifi.

Included in the update (in a way) is the upgrade to the PSP store online. Sony is changing the look of the store in order to make sure that it works properly with MediaGo, which is a PC application that will enable you to organize and transfer your music, movies, and photos to the PSP/PSPGo. It will also enable you to purchase and download software from the Playstation Store using your computer, as an alternative to downloading using your actual device.

Over, it’s quite impressive for a combination firmware update and store refresh. But the PSP Go is still overpriced.

National Geographic magazine is running an article about the redwood forest this month, and part of that article included a very special vertical panoramic shot of a 300 foot tall tree. Shooting in the redwoods is particularly difficult because you lose the sense of scale. If there’s not something like a house or a bus next to the tree, you really can’t show how massive the trees really are.

Photographer Nick Nichols traveled out into the forest to do just that: capture a photo of a tree that’s over 300 feet tall, while keeping a sense of scale. Standard photographic techniques just wouldn’t cut it, so Nick had to get creative.

What the photographer ended up doing was building a custom rig containing 3 cameras, each one taking a slightly different shot: one to the left, one to the right, and one on the dead center. The rig was mounted to a gyroscope, and then the cameras took a series of pictures as the rig was lowered to the ground.

The end result: a vertical panorama comprised of 84 pictures, all stitched together to create one of the most complete pictures of a redwood tree we’ve ever seen. Check it out:

[via Hackaday]

For sure, you can’t count on your fingers and toes the number of batteries that you have used, right? You used rechargeable batteries for all types of gadgets, from digital cameras to automatic razorblades, to toothbrush and even used batteries for automatic pencil sharpener and can opener. The next thing you’re going to do if you want to use those batteries again is to recharge them, right? But what if these rechargeable batteries have finally expired after a lot of recharging, would you throw them all out immediately? If you can find a book guide that will teach you how to recondition a battery or two, you don’t have to. You can save a lot of money by learning how to recondition them and use them time and time again and this time, you can even use them up to 5X more. You can even help in saving the environment, too, when you learn to recondition your battery.

But those are not the only things that you can enjoy when you learn how to do your own DIY battery reconditioning. Are you not aware that you can also earn money from it? There will be a lot of people who would surely like to have their dead rechargeable batteries reconditioned especially those who are also very much concerned about how the environment and Mother Earth in general can be affected by irresponsible disposal of batteries. They know very well the adverse effects of throwing dead batteries. If any person out there who can still vividly recall the Chernobyl incident, you will be very interested to learn how to recondition dead rechargeable batteries.

But there are some who would look for someone to do that for them. If you can learn how to recondition batteries, then, you can also learn how to have your own battery reconditioning business and you don’t need a separate book guide for this. You only need one battery reconditioning book guide to learn how to recondition your dead rechargeable batteries and how to make good business with it.

One different type of external hard disk for backup is very useful for backup, but it is not a hard disk in the common sense. This is a data device which is fast without any moving parts. It is memory drive which is easy to unplug. You can move and carry around from one location to another. It is what is called a flash memory device or you may have heard it with other names such as a pen drive, memory stick, memory card or SD card. But the flash device is basically a unit memory unit that is capable of transfer rates of up to 18 GB per hour and has the advantage of being non-volatile, unsusceptible to magnetic interference, lightweight, and compact. In a business environment these memory clips pose safety risks. You have several methods for backing up data on a PC in order to recover data : computer tape backup drives, external disk drives, DVD-RW, and internet. But flash is probably the most handy and flexible there is.

Memory clips come in different forms and sizes but the most frequent is in a shape of a small “stick” with a cap over the USB port and a pin which you can care in your pocket. They are made of shock proved flash memory—the same type of card that that you use in your digital camera. When you remove a flash memory drive, the data files don’t disappear. This technology is derived from the old Erasable Programmable ROM used for chips to store BIOS firmware information of Windows computers.

File transfer to these memories clips are not as fast as that of hard disks. But they are still much faster than a DVD or a CD. Flash devices are very useful for making smart and fast backup of files and folders from desktops and laptops used in offices so that data files can be moved to other computers in other places at the company or for extra work at the home office. This is very easy and fast to do as memory stick fit quickly into a pocket.

The convenience the flash drives offer with its small size and mobility has a prize. One problem is that it is easy to lose track off and if it remains inside a pocket in your clothes which has gone though in a washing machine, it’s lost (although, in rare instances if you dry your clothes, they have been known to function without memory loss). The mini size makes it also easy to get it lost when you are searching for a change and need to pay for something.

Another problem businesses and government departments have to face is potential loss of sensitive data connected with this type of transportable memory. Just think about how simple it is to let sensitive customer or business information to be loaded on one of these flash memories to be lost or in the hands of the wrong people. This is one reason that many departments and businesses have set up no guidelines which prohibit any employee from using memory flash clips for use inside the office.

One benefit from using flash memories is that support technicians are able to upload operating system such as Windows XP on a flash drive. This memory drive then be kept as an emergency boot device for the PC if the hard drive reject to start the computer. The key to be able to do this is having computers where the USB flash drive can be identified by the system as a drive by the BIOS and can be set as a primary disk drive. Not all PCs have BIOS where you can use a USB based device as the primary boot drive.

If you are looking how to use solar and wind energy to power your home, earth4energy is a guide which shows how to do that. The idea of using renewable energy sources is very environmently-friendly, moreover, your will save so much money. Let’s talk more about it.

The guide has helped me to buid a solar panel for just $200 while they cost about $3000 in shops. You know, when I started building renewable energy sources I did it because of curiosity. I had heard that many people managed to create energy-generating devices, so I thought I will manage to do them to. Earth4energy was the only guide at that moment, so I decided to give it a try and ordered it.

The guide contains so many different solar panels blueprint, personally I used only portable solar panel, however if you want for example a grid-intertied panel you will find how to build it there. One of my friends has built an off-grid solar panel, it was enough to generate electricity for his big house, he was really satisfied with the result. But what about the price of the materials?

Another part that I found very helpful in the Earth4Energy manual was where to get FREE solar panels. For exmaple I took wood from my father’s garage and some glass from our old windows.

The whole guide is not only about building solar panels, it will also show you how to build wind turbines. Believe it or not, but a small turbine could cost less than one hundred dollars, you know, they are ten times as expensive in shops. But bear in mind, that if your area is not windy enough, you will not be able to generate lecricity. If your wind speed is about 10mph, it is enough to produce electricity and power your house.

So, if you really want to build a good renewable energy device such as solar panel or wind turbine, earth4energy is the way to go. How does solar energy work

We hear about holographic storage time and again, but look around — do you see any holographic drive arrays around you? Didn’t think so. At the moment it’s just not cost-effective (compared with plain ol’ HDDs) and not fast enough (compared with SSDs and other flash arrays). That doesn’t mean it’ll be an exotic technology forever, though: GE is hard at work making it more compatible with existing technology, and thinks they’ve come up with something good. Their optics labs have increased reflectivity in their media to the point where a standard Blu-ray laser can be used to read them, though nothing is said about writing.

The resultant discs, the same size as CDs and DVDs, would be able to hold 500GB at current densities, going up to 1.6GBTB in densities achievable in a year or two. What does this mean for you? Probably nothing, but it’s good to know they’re all hard at work, right?

Maybe in 2011 you’ll be able to buy a modified Blu-ray drive (assuming the format is still around) that will have a mode for reading these holographic discs. You might even be able to get a special drive to write on ‘em. Seems a bit weird talking about “next-generation” optical technologies when almost all media is going online, but there’s always a use for discs like these. Assuming the discs aren’t too volatile, this kind of storage capacity would be great for backups.

Aaanyway, don’t worry your little head about it. When something happens, you’ll know (because we’ll tell you). In the meantime, get your holographic storage shirt here.