[H]ardNews - Blair's Tech Ed.

Seeing-Eye Computer:

Our blind readers and other people with visual impairment (Hi Mom!) will dig on this one. Researchers have developed a seeing-eye computer for the blind. This thing is pretty remarkable. It can correctly identify people and objects and allow blind people to read books and menus.

Researchers are developing a system that aims to provide something close -- a computerized "seeing" assistant that will help blind people read books, access Web pages, recognize faces and navigate unfamiliar rooms.

Longhorn In 2006:

Bill gates said that Longhorn will kinda-sorta-maybe-might be out in 2006. This is one of those “neither confirmed nor denied” kinda things.

Speaking at Gartner Inc.'s Symposium/ITexpo event in San Diego, Gates stopped short of setting 2006 as the year for Longhorn, but said that industry speculation that the operating system will come out in 2006 is "probably valid speculation."

Self-Cooled Chips:

Purdue University has patented a nanoscale self-cooling chip. Itty-bitty chips with teeny-tiny cooling.

Future chips may be self-ventilating, thanks to added microfluidic-like layers that pump heat-laden air off-chip using a classic "corona wind" effect.

Tiny American Flag:

Cornell University will present the world’s smallest full color American flag etched on a silicon chip.

In a salute to nanotechnology, Cornell University researchers have etched the world's smallest, full-color American flag on a silicon chip. The flag is part of an elaborate nanofabrication that includes six full-color flags and 15 White Houses, all etched on the chip.