Science & Technology Briefs

Machine makes it all quiet on every front

The bustling noise of High Street or the music from the campus bar no longer has to keep you up at night. A British engineer has developed the "Silence Machine" to wipe out distracting noise.

The "Silence Machine" is designed to filter out any noise, allowing the customer to hear only the sounds they wish. It works by analyzing the sound waves of a noise source and neutralizing them.

Signal processors in the computer measure the frequency of a noise signal, and use this information to create the anti-noise sound, resulting in silence. The concept derives from the noise-proof headphones airplane passengers wear to drown out the sound of the engine while watching an in-flight movie.

The domestic version will run $1,500, while an industrial version size can cost $15,000.

—Ashley Schramm

Web lists haunts for novice ghostbusters

Witness the ghost of Mirror Lake or remember the haunted house in your hometown by visiting the Haunted Place Index at sjgr.org/haunted-places.

The site's state to state and country by country index allows visitors to scroll through cities and read numerous descriptions of ghost stories.

The site also allows visitors to add their own tales by clicking a link to write or update a story. For those who want to take the paranormal a bit further, a Ghost Hunting 101 link is offered.

—Caroline Soltesz

Compare autos' gas cost, stats online

Find out if the car you have your eye on is a gas guzzler before you buy it by visiting www.fueleconomy.gov.

Enter the year, make and model to get information on a particular vehicle. The site offers statistics on miles per gallon for both city and highway, annual fuel costs, GHG emissions and an EPA air pollution score.

Side by side comparisons allow visitors to contrast different makes and models. It reports the most and least efficient vehicles on the market and also cars that do not require gasoline.

—Caroline Soltesz

Playing video games can actually pay off

Video game gurus who have always dreamed of getting paid to play can now apply for a chance to fulfill this fantasy on the Nintendo Street Team, according to www.nintendostreetteam.com.

Interested parties can attend a casting call held in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston or Atlanta, or mail in a two-minute audition tape by June 14, the Web site said.

The finalists are paid by Nintendo to demonstrate gaming systems at high-visibility locations.

Requirements include an outgoing, friendly, and fun personality, and a possible relocation for the summer to a major U.S. city. The job demands work every day of the week from July 1 through Aug. 18 as well as a training period from July 8-9.

—Amanda Hardesty

Babel fish not just 'Hitchhiker' fiction

The Six-Language Translator from SEIKO Instruments offers cross language translation in a palm sized device, said www.seiko-austin.com.

The translator contains over 100,000 words and phrases that can be translated between English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese with an LCD display. It serves as an address book, 10 digit calculator and 25 metric and currency converter, SEIKO said.

It features password protection, a world-time travel alarm with eight-minute snooze and runs on a life long battery, the Web site said.

The price for the 3.2 ounce, 2.46 x 3.54 inch unit is $29.99 and includes a one year parts and labor warranty, the Web site said.

—Amanda Hardesty

Online service finds money for students

FastWeb Inc. provides a free online scholarship search service that helps students match their interests and profile with scholarships and awards ranging from $500 to $20,000.

Scholarships accessible through the Web site (www.fastweb.com) are open to a variety of majors and fields of study extending from high school level to college masters. Each scholarship includes a brief description including the application, award, deadline, and contact information.

FastWeb also sends a user e-mails regarding new scholarships and upcoming deadlines.

—Miriam Dick

Take photos with Nokia cell phones

Nokia hopes a cell phone combined with a digital camera will be the next big thing in portable electronic devices.

The phone, which is somewhat larger than other contemporary cell phones, uses its call screen as a color monitor to allow the user to see what they are capturing. After the picture is taken, it can then be stored in the four megabytes of on-board memory and exported to other phones or a computer, according to the Nokia Web site, www.nokia.com/phones/7650.

Pictures, which have an imaging resolution of 640x480 pixels, can also be looked through like a photo album on its color screen.

The Nokia 7650 is currently not available in North America, but sells for between $500 to $600 dollars in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Samsung and Siemens, among others, also have cell phone/digital camera on the market.

—Joe Renaud

Xbox fans get ready; now online gaming

Users of Microsoft's Xbox game console will soon experience a $1 billion computer gaming network that will allow large group tournaments to be played via the Internet. "Xbox Live" will premiere at the Electronic Entertainment Expo Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Access to the network won't be free; customer's reportedly will pay $9.95 a month to engage in these tournaments. This fee doesn't include the price of the games, and customers are required to have high-speed Internet connection to log on.