The Suzuki Q-Concept is a microcar for urban transportation. It is 2.5m long and has two seats positioned with one behind the other rather than next to each other, enabling the car to achieve a lower width.

The concealed wheel design limits its use to tar-top roads without protruding man holes or pot holes so it isn’t something that you would want to have in a third world nation.

Entry and exit from the vehicle is made easy with the rotating front seat. The seat back of the front seat is kept thin to provide as much leg room as possible for the rear seat passenger.

The rear seat would be harder to climb in to, especially if you are tall. The seat belt is well-integrated into the design of the seat and the rear passenger gets arm rests for increased comfort.

The dashboard is minimalist, with a display integrated into the steering wheel.

If you are using the MySQL database, you can write your INSERT statements to look a lot like UPDATE statements by using the INSERT INTO…SET syntax instead of the INSERT INTO…VALUES syntax (i.e. simply replace the “UPDATE” of your UPDATE statement with “INSERT INTO” and take away the WHERE clause).

The syntax is a MySQL extension rather than a standard form of the INSERT statement so if you do intend to port your application to a different database, it is best to avoid it.

Just imagine the looks on the faces of Oracle/MS SQL/Postgresql/DB2 DBAs and DB developers when they see an INSERT statement written as

INSERT INTO dept SET deptno = 10, dname = ‘ADMIN’

instead of

INSERT INTO dept (deptno, dname) VALUES (10, ‘ADMIN’)

I couldn’t find any pictures of my first desktop, the ALR Dart/12, but I did manage to find the motherboard specifications here: ALR Dart 12.5

My first laptop was an AST Premium Exec 386 SX. I still have it but the screen no longer works. It can be plugged into a monitor with a VGA interface though. It has a 2.4 kbps modem too and I ran HyperTerminal on Windows 3.1.

I found a YouTube video of the laptop here:

Computer games are just like movie goers. They expect sequels (or prequels) to create the same level of excitement as the earlier-released film in the series. However, the sequel (or prequel) does not necessarily meet their expectations and they come out disappointed. Flat Out 3 is one such sequel from last year that failed to live up to the expectations of fans worldwide.

After Bugbear, the developer of Flat Out 2, focused its attention to bringing the Flat Out action to Ridge Racer, the development of Flat Out fell into the hands of Team 6. The production by Team 6 seemed like the project lacked a budget. The manner in which vehicle damage is handled is inconsistent (think Counter Strike). When your vehicle has to re-spawn after a crash, rolling over, or going off the track, the game’s placement of the spawned vehicle can get frustrating and it suddenly seems as though the game hasn’t been well thought out. The sounds effects did not impress either, with less than realistic engine sounds. Bugs in the game become apparent to the extent that Edge reviewed Flat Out 3 and gave it a rating of 1, on a scale of 1 to 10.

The Volkswagen Transporter Camper, which appears in the picture above, gets you a camper in the size of a van. The van itself seats only two but when you extend the rear and the roof, you get a place to sleep and a place to do your cooking.

A team of researchers at MIT have been able to develop an anti-fogging and anti-reflective glass. It can have applications in consumer electronics, wind shields, solar cells, and even microscopes.

Ubuntu 12.04 (a Long-Term Support version) has been released. A web-based tour of the operating system is available at
http://www.ubuntu.com/tour/en/
so potential users can see what it looks like before downloading it. Ubuntu 12.04 has been code named Precise Pangolin.

If you own multiple iPad/iPod/iPhone devices, you have probably noticed that their chargers look almost identical. You can even connect the charger of one device to the other. Jason Smith of Tech and Life took a closer look at the chargers when he noticed that his iPad was taking considerable longer to charge. What he noticed is that the iPad charger is a 10W charger whereas that of the iPod and the iPhone are 5W chargers. Sure, it works, but you can reduce the charging time of your iPad by using the charger that was designed for it.

Vehicle theft has been on the decline because of anti-theft devices, remote immobilization, and vehicle tracking solutions. At a minimum, most modern vehicles prevent entry into the vehicle without a key so thieves cannot pick the lock or pull out the window gasket and stick a ruler in there to unlock the door. Although such security features prevent the theft of the vehicle itself, it does little to protect items placed within the vehicle. A thief still can smash the window, grab the contents, and make a run for it. It results in not only the loss of valuables but also damage to the vehicle itself.

To reduce the occurrence of theft of vehicle contents, you ought to make sure that you do not leave vehicles visible within the vehicle. Leave it in the glove compartment or stuff it into the storage areas within the vehicle. You can even use the ash tray if you don’t smoke, though I am assuming that you are using it for storing coins and keys already. If you need to leave expensive devices such as laptops in the car, consider covering it up with a newspaper. Nobody would go through the trouble of breaking into a vehicle to steal a newspaper.

You should also avoid leaving backpacks, laptop cases, and briefcases in your vehicle even if they are empty – even if you have nothing to lose, they attract thieves and the repairs to your vehicle can be expensive.