::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Sci-tech

And the pirate's booty goes to...
Oscartorrents is a BitTorrent based people's choice award for the Oscar nominees - it invites you to acquire the movies in question via peer to peer file sharing (complete with links to the torrents) and then vote on which films should win the big awards. As of this post, they've got all but 11 torrents for the nominees, all from those other catagories from in between the musical numbers. So far there's no hint of a prize for the winners, which seems like an oversight to me. Maybe we have to look up wiki for their acceptance speeches.

Now in 3D!
We have no idea if this actually works worth a damn, but the camera looks so freaky that it deserves some attention. So hail and huzzah to the 120 Tri-lens Stereo Camera from China's 3D World. As the name implies, the medium-format film camera has not one, not two, but three lenses, each positioned at a specific offset from the others. The camera interpolates between the three views to produce two slides. Once inserted in one of the company's viewers -- handheld, tabletop and coin-operated models are available -- the slides combine to produce an image that gives an illusion of three-dimensional depth. No intel on the pricing and availability yet. And now we will pause to reflect on the golden days of stereoscopic imaging.

Eureka E! Powered Tent
If you're going to go camping, go camping. Don't use it as an excuse to play PS2 in the woods. This Eureka E! Powered Tent misses the point completely. Would it be kind of convenient to have outlets in your tent so you could plug in stuff like a hairdryer or your Nokia? Sure. Would you be totally lame to do so? Yes. Go camping to take a break from your tech obsession, people, not to challenge yourself to keep connected in the middle of nowhere.

Hard Drive-based Media System
Love them or hate them, Bose wants to be your car's media control centre with the just-announced Bose Media System. What's particularly interesting about their system is the way it's controlled via the device's two knobs (which have built-in proximity sensors). The two-knob set up lets you pick songs or cycle through the unit's functions, which include AM/FM radio, satellite radio, or CD playback. The unit also has a built-in 30GB hard drive, which holds your tunes as well as navigation data. You also get built-in Bluetooth and a USB 2.0 input for plugging in your MP3 player. No word yet on pricing, though it doesn't look like it'll come for cheap.

The Mind-Reading Machine
Researchers at Berlin's Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience have created the ultimate gadget, a device that can read people's minds. The doughnut-shaped contraption is basically a souped up MRI that scans the prefrontal cortex region of your brain (which is where decisions are made) and then predicts actions before you make them. So far, the machine's been tested on 21 people and its been spot on 71% of the time. The creators say they invented the machine for practical purposes - I say we put them through the doughnut hole and find out.

Say Hi to the Latest LG Hybrid
Samsung may have got there first, but now fellow Koreans LG have joined the race to be at the forefront of the hybrid hard drive market with their R400. Online stores are already taking orders for the laptop, which boots machines using a flash-based non-volatile cache. As well as all the normal hybrid benefits (longer-lasting laptops, quieter machines and less energy used) data processing will be three times as fast. Other features include a 14.1-inch widescreen display, two wireless antennae, integrated 1.3 mega pixel web-cam, and BlueCore 4, a variant of Bluetooth 2.0. Estimated date of arrival is March 30 and it will set you back a smidgeon over 1,000 USD.

Photo prints from your mobile phone
Cameraphones are great for spontaneous image capture, but there is also something of a memory graveyard, with most images never making it beyond the camera screen. Phone software specialist Exclaim is trying to change that with Teleprints, a new phone application and service that lets you order prints straight from your phone. Once you start an account and download the phone apparatus you have to send the potos to your preferred photo shop, where they'll be turned into refrigerator-ready prints and ready for pick-up in an hour.

Compiled by IMRAN H. KHAN

Source: New Scientist, Wired and Webindia123