Training with a computer simulator is nothing new - pilots have been doing it for years. And to be honest, the Americans have had systems in place long before anyone else. However, what makes this system unique, is the attention to detail.

“Virtual Battle Space 2″ (or VBS2) as it’s called, is an interactive area of Iraq, where the road systems and buildings have been replicated to create an environment that is as realistic as possible. The soldiers, when using the simulation, will face similar situations that they would likely face out in the field. From children throwing stones, to an IED planted somewhere en-route.

The system doesn’t replace traditional training - instead it is used to familiarise soldiers with the environment before they arrive. Over 2,000 troops have been put through the training so far, with most finding benefits when they have arrived in theatre. The company behind VBS2, Bohemia Interactive in Australia, also have aircrew simulators with helicopter and aircraft training, as well as ambush simulators to prepare foot soldiers for urban combat.

If you visit this BBC article you will notice a video which shows how detailed the area looks. Also you will notice a few funny moments, such as when a child throws a stone at the commander, and also when the reporter runs somebody over - who although are lying flat on the ground in pain, continue to throw stones at a Bradley! Glitches aside, I’m sure any extra bit of training our boys can get before heading out will hopefully save a few more lives in the field.

I know the title has probably got you interested, and I’m pretty sure the story will open your eyes too.

British company, P2i, have announced today their latest technology that makes materials waterproof at a molecular level. Unlike other types of solutions, their “Ion Mask” plasma surface enhancement technology [sic] will penetrate an object completely, without altering the look or feel of it. So you could technically treat a piece of paper with it, tear it into small pieces, and each piece would remain waterproof.

Current sectors the innovation is being aimed at are footwear, and textiles, but there is also talk of the inventors being in the early stages of testing with electrical items. Just think of how revolutionary that would be!

A truly water-cooled PC, or any other electrical system, without the need for noisy fans - cutting down on costs and repairs. Your computer keyboard could be fully treated with the technology - and if you spilt your coffee in it, simply unplug and stick in your dishwasher. But even better, it could mean diseases that breed on keyboards would be a thing of the past, as your electrical devices also get a “weekly wash.” Any electrical equipment that would need to be outside (street lamps, traffic lights, billboards, big screen TVs in stadiums etc.) wouldn’t need any special housing to keep the weather off, reducing costs. Even things like undersea research would be more effective, if the material didn’t react to the salt in the sea. This could really be a revolution in how we use things in the future!

For more information and to see some of the other projects P2i are involved in, visit their website.

Small, yet perfectly formed, the LifeBook FMV Biblo U/B50 comes complete with Windows Vista and a gig of RAM. With a tiny 5.6 inch screen, it’s setting new standards in ultra-portable computing. The device also sports a webcam and Biometrics, plus Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G capabilities.

The new FMV with it’s 1.6Ghz Atom chip won’t be breaking any benchmark tests - especially as it has Vista pre-installed. I would have thought Linux would be much better suited - due it’s lower resource requirements. And as Asus opted for Linux for their Eee PC, it’s strange how Fujitsu didn’t do the same. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see how it performs in the real world when released. Read The Register’s take here.

Intel have announced their new chip which is going to enter the market late next year. Code named “Larrabee”, the chip will be in addition to their on-board graphics offering they produce at the moment.

With another entrant into the graphics card market, which is dominated by the giants of NVIDIA and AMD (ATi), it should be good for consumers with Intel entering the race. Increased competition which should hopefully drive down prices, but at the very least, push the technology envelope for gamers.

And pushing the envelope is what this new project is all about. Rather than creating faster and faster GPUs, Intel are going to approach it from the multi-core angle: Squeeze as many cores onto a die as possible and let them do the math of a quick GPU. But that isn’t the only consideration for Intel - they are also expecting the technology to kick-start the computing world, preparing everyone for the 100’s or even 1000’s of cores we can expect in tomorrow’s CPUs and GPUs.

The Larrabee platform will initially work alongside DirectX and OpenGL - which hopefully means a good support for other OS’s like Linux in the future - a support that is clearly lacking with the current two big graphics cards manufacturers.

Even though I’m not that sure how many people will be buying, after the news that Apple is suing, Psystar still think that they’ll be selling in the future - with their website open for business as usual.

To add weight to Psystar’s cause, their founder, Rudy Pedraza says, “What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?” - Apple don’t say you can only use the Mac to surf apple.com by the same analogy. Or only use Apple software. That’s just missing the point. Anyway, if Honda said you couldn’t drive their cars on anything but their roads, you just wouldn’t buy a Honda - it doesn’t give you the right to buy the engines from a dodgy supplier and put them in Nissans, because they are cheaper and then drive them on Honda’s roads.. I know, it’s a bad analogy!

It’s a nice idea, and to be honest I think there shouldn’t be restrictions on what piece of hardware you can install an OS on, if you’ve paid for that OS. And I still think that this is a good thing for Apple, and advertising the OS. However, if those are Apple’s rules, and they’re the ones selling the OS, that’s how it is. If I had a product I was selling and built into the restrictions that it could only be sold to people who have moustaches, that’s my failing and I will ultimately loose out if it’s a bad idea. But it’s still my choice nonetheless. Not for somebody to interpret. Just as it is Apple’s choice to only allow OSX to be installed on Apple hardware.

That Apple clone I posted about over 2 and a half months ago has finally got Apple’s attention. Steve Jobs has seen that, as Psystar slowly drop out of the blogosphere, so he slowly starts to see the benefits disappear. Maybe if Psystar stayed popular - touting Apple products, Steve wouldn’t have bothered to sue the small outfit?

Psystar have of course said they’re doing nothing wrong. Apple, after all, don’t own the hardware, but they do own the software - and the EULA you accept when installing says that it can not be installed on anything but a bonafide Apple machine. Is Apple sueing Psystar stifling competition or just protecting Apple’s interests?

This day 60 years ago, the first modern computer, nicknamed the Manchester “Baby” was switched on to run it’s first successful program. Baby was the first computer to store information digitally, using a Cathode Ray Tube (or CRT), and is the predecessor for how we store information in modern RAM chips.

The invention and concepts 60 years ago were monumental after people realised for the computer to be of any real use, the information would have to be stored permanently and electrically by the machine. Although the data was added by hand, the Baby would constantly read and refresh the bits on the CRT, it’s memory, electronically to keep them from decaying, and is a concept still in use by RAM today. By the time it was revealed this method was capable of storing 4096 bits.

The first program was run on the Baby, this day 60 years ago. One of the inventors, F.C. Williams, spoke of the monumental occasion, “A program was laboriously inserted and the start switch pressed. Immediately the spots on the display tube entered a mad dance. In early trials it was a dance of death leading to no useful result, and what was even worse, without yielding any clue as to what was wrong. But one day it stopped, and there, shining brightly in the expected place, was the expected answer. It was a moment to remember. This was in June 1948, and nothing was ever the same again.”

So here we are, with the second instalment of Apple’s global domination plan, and what difference is it making to our lives?

OK, firstly I must hold my hands up and say that I am not an iPhone owner or user. I haven’t gone out of my way to get one, because to be completely honest I have more important things to spend my money on. Not that I begrudge anyone who has a few extra notes to spare, to throw it in Apple’s direction. One question really does keep popping up in my mind though - and I’m struggling for the answer..

Does anyone actually care about the iPhone? I mean, I’m in the UK so obviously it’s not going to be as big as it is in America - and also there’s the whole “if I subscribe to a contract, I expect a phone for free” mentality in this country, but I don’t think that explains the whole deal here. When I look around at the average person, I see people who have Nokias, and Samsungs, and Sonys and any other mobile phone make you’d like to throw in there. I don’t see many iPhones though (Not even a handful, to be completely honest.)

So it lead me on to a question (I’m getting good at these). Who actually buys iPhones? With millions and millions of them sold, surely I would be able to see a few in the street when I walk about, without living in San Francisco? And with the new version coming out very soon, with 3G and GPS and all other good things like that, surely everyone would be talking about them, no? Well no, and I think I know the reason. Bloggers. People like me and others spend all our time talking about them, and buying them, that everyone else is quite content to read it and move on. I think the vast majority of people that have bought iPhones are either bloggers, people involved in the tech industry, people who want or associate themselves with the tech industry or people that are quite happy thinking they’re with the “in crowd” (iCrowd?) and also believe that having an iPhone is the reason people will think they’re “cool.” Don’t get me wrong - it’s a great piece of kit, with some really intuitive and useful features - but does that make it essential to your average Joe in the street?

Don’t worry - the Mission Impossible link is completely warranted here, as this idea was launched with Mission Impossible 3 in Japan last year. So the idea is Flexplay made a DVD with a certain air-reactive chemical on the surface, that when opened from it’s air-tight packaging makes the DVD useless in 48 hours.

So what’s the point? Why not just go to Blockbusters - why would the film studios think this is a good idea - other than as a gimmick? Then there’s the question of what happens to your DVD player if it’s playing one of these when the chemical goes off! Plus if you wanted to keep it, what’s stopping you making a copy like a regular DVD? I think I’m saying that I’m struggling to see the benefit (cost or otherwise) to this idea! Thankfully not available in the UK yet (if they ever will be).

No sooner do I mention small laptops, and in particular the Eee PC’s from Asus, than Tech Radar report the Ebox, their soon-to-be-released desktop version.

Completely different to the Xbox (which is what I keep saying as I read it), the Ebox is thought to be Linux based, supporting the same apps as the Eee PC, and is to be unveiled next week. The home user will probably not be able to get their hands on the Ebox for a few months yet unfortunately, but when you can it should make an excellent second PC, as it comes with 160Gb HDD and 2 Gig of RAM.