Dropbox hits 1.0!

Founded by MIT talent, Dropbox has now hit version 1.0. Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.

* 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
* Sync files of any size or type.
* Sync Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
* Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.

A free application for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and Android that lets you access and manage your Dropbox on the go.

Learn more about Dropbox here.

MIT's Sketch-Interpreting Software

MIT students are full of innovation, aren't they? The latest in the world of tablet computing is sketch-interpreting software. We already have handwriting recognition, but how about sketch recognition? Listen to this:

If a chemist, for example, uses a stylus — an inkless plastic pen — to draw a molecule on a tablet computer, the software can identify different types of chemical bonds and element symbols and determine the structure of the molecule. Similarly, if an electrical engineer draws a circuit diagram, the software will identify the circuit's separate components — like resistors, capacitors, batteries, and simple wires — and display them in different colors. Other applications of the system include programs that can interpret mechanical drawings, family trees, and diagrams of computer programs.

Sounds amazing, doesn't it?  Read about this on the MIT News website by clicking here.

What's an Exbibyte?

OK, you may be wondering what I'm talking about. What's an Exbibyte? Who cares, right? Forgive me, but I just couldn't help myself. As an MIT graduate, I feel like I should know something about these terms. Allow me to briefly talk about the exbibyte (EB), gigabyte (GB), terabyte (TB), and zettabyte (ZB). I won't even get into megabyte (MB) or kilobyte (KB) in this discussion.

I got onto this topic as I was looking at the maximum file size under different file systems for your computer. When you go to format a hard drive, you can typically choose between FAT 32 and NTFS. Why would you choose one over the other? One of the reasons for me is this: maximum file size.

• Under FAT 32, the largest file your computer can handle is roughly 4 Gigabytes (abbreviated as GiB or GB).
• Under NTFS, the largest file is roughly 16 Exbibytes (abbreviated as EB or EiB)

So how big is an exbibyte?

1 exbibyte = 1,073,741,824 gigabytes

Let's look at this another way. A terabyte (TB) is roughly 1,000 gigabytes (GB). We now see hard drives advertised as 1 TB hard drives.

1 exbibyte = 1,048,576 terabytes (or roughly 1 million terabytes)

So, when will we see a 1 EB hard drive?

While we're on this topic, let me also through out another term: zettabyte. Now, does that sound bigger or smaller than an exbibyte?

1 zettabyte = 1 billion terabytes

Where's the limit?

What's Your Favorite Gadget?

I love gadgets. I blame that on my MIT education. I just fell in love with technology at MIT. That's why I like to write about medicine and technology.

What's your favorite gadget? I'd have to say that my favorite is the Apple Newton Messagepad 2100. Why? Because it was so innovative for its time. It had a processor that was much faster than most processors found in laptop computers. Plus, the handwriting recognition was unbelievable! It used standard AA batteries, so I even traveled to China with my Newton because I knew that I wouldn't have any problems finding AA batteries.

So, what's your favorite gadget? I'm willing to bet that many young people would say the Apple iPhone. Some may even remember the days when Sony came out with the original "Walkman" (yes, I had one of those).