Answers to at least some of the problem are now on the way, thanks to a team led by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), and they come in the form of some remarkable computer software.

When dam and levee owners and emergency planners want to know what flood water over a breached levee or dam may do as it spreads, they must resort to technical specialists who use numerical modeling software to solve very complex equations that describe how water will spread over a particular terrain. Through complex equations, specialists calculate how water will move around physical objects such as hills, buildings, vegetation, bridges, and railroads. With such factors in play, calculating and modeling flood inundation caused by a dam failure can take a lot of time and resources and keep emergency planners and dam owners up at night worrying.

When the levees were breached in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, the Ninth Ward was inundated. (Photo Credit: FEMA)

Powerful software tools have been combined into a seamless Web application, combining speed with sophisticated technology to visualize a flood, address consequences, and properly train emergency responders.

And this new tool is fast. Really fast. If a flood would take 24 hours to inundate downstream areas, this software tool could potentially model the inundation in less than 24 minutes.

S&T combined the talents of several agency experts and academics to better understand what the owners and operators would need from the software. S&T worked with dam experts at the Office of Infrastructure Protection (which serves as the Dams Sector-Specific Agency) within the DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate to develop the flood simulation tool, and with experts at the University of Mississippi — specifically the National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering (UM-NCCHE)’s computational hydroscientist, Mustafa Altinakar, and his team.

This effort was funded by S&T’s Southeast Region Research Initiative (SERRI) and managed by S&T’s Infrastructure Protection and Disaster Management Division’s Mike Matthews. The key component of the project is DSS-WISE™ (Decision Support System for Water Infrastructural Security) and the underlying flood simulator, CCHE2D-FLOOD™, which provides unmatched ‘number-crunching’ speed. The flood simulator can replicate flooding caused by any cataclysm less fateful than The Great Deluge: a breached levee, a failed dam, a surging tide, a tsunami — even water waves caused by massive landslides.

In 2010, when one-fifth of Pakistan’s land was underwater, hydraulic engineers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) used DSS-WISE™ to help the country reallocate resources. Time was essential, and to achieve its unprecedented speed, the “DSS-WISE™ guys,” as Altinakar affectionately calls them, use several methods to ensure success. First, DSS-WISE™ selectively prioritizes affected regions. It also processes only the model’s “skeleton,” or wireframe, while applying the “skin” afterward. Finally, it divides the flood path model into tens of millions of geometric cells, using parallel processing to parcel them out to separate processors.

The other critical piece of the puzzle is the Dams Sector Analysis Tool, or DSAT. This powerful Web-based application — developed by the Dams Sector-Specific Agency in collaboration with USACE Headquarters’ Office of Homeland Security, who co-sponsored the development of DSAT — is a one-stop shop where dam owners and operators have secure access to state-of-the-art analytical capabilities within a user-friendly graphical environment. Dam owners and operators use algorithms in DSAT to identify and prioritize the most critical dams within their portfolios. Considering that there are more than 84,000 dams across the country, this is no easy task. DSAT also incorporates a state-of-the art geospatial viewer that provides powerful query capabilities as well as access to real-time information (earthquakes, weather, etc.).

The DSAT interface is extremely intuitive and mastered with little training. With DSAT, a dam owner or operator can prepare the input data required for the flood simulation using DSS-WISE™. For example, to characterize a potential dam failure scenario, operators would define the reservoir, identify the main dam, note structures using satellite imagery, and specify the type failure to be considered: a “sudden and complete failure” or a “gradual and partial breaching.” DSAT does the rest — drawing data from the National Inventory of Dams (NID), maintained by the USACE. The data are then bundled into a data file and emailed to a dedicated server at Ole Miss, where the simulation is run. When the simulation ends, the server automatically notifies the user, who may then upload the results on DSAT, where they are rendered onto a map.

“It works similarly to Apple’s Siri,” says Altinakar, referring to the iPhone’s intelligent digital assistant. “There’s no way all that processing could occur in the user’s computer — or phone — so it’s handed off to an external server. It looks simple to the consumer, but I assure you, it’s not.”

The two software systems — DSS-WISE™ and DSAT — are both effective enough to stand on their own, but their integration into a powerful system elevates the capacity for flood simulation. The DSAT geospatial viewer includes a function called DSS-WISE™ Prep. Select your dam on a map, fill in a few facts, direct DSAT how high the reservoir will be when the flood starts, and click Begin. The request is bundled into a data file and automatically sent to the DSS-WISE™ flood simulator. As the simulation unfolds, the consumer will not see heavy activity but will immediately receive automatic progress reports by email.

The DSS-Wise™ Prep module was launched on the DSAT portal on February 20, and days later, it welcomed its first user, delivering results in just 15 minutes. By March, queries poured in from dam owners, state dam safety officials, and emergency managers in seven states — each looking to lower costs, work faster, and make sounder planning decisions.

Like all SERRI projects, flood modeling projects have combined science and technology with validated operational approaches to solve local and regional problems that have a national impact.

Looking back on the tragedy of Katrina, writer Chris Rose ended his 2006 book with a chapter titled, “A New Dawn.” In it he wrote: “Last year ended with everything so unsettled; just a million questions piled up on the curbside like so much debris, the answers just beginning to be formulated in our heads…. It’s just one small step at a time, small triumphs… Who says there’s no good news?”

The powerful software from DHS — now easily available to dam owners and emergency planners — is just some of that good news.

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ThinkPads have long set the gold standard for laptop keyboards, but recent Lenovo laptop models and leaked photos of upcoming ThinkPads indicate the legendary, classic ThinkPad keyboards are being replaced with a more trendy chicklet-style design.

The traditional ThinkPad keyboard earned its reputation as being best for typing accuracy and comfort. For many a business user spending hours typing on their laptops, the renowned keyboard is one of the ThinkPad line’s main selling points.

For the next generation of ThinkPad laptops, however, Lenovo appears to be replacing the classic keyboards with AccuType keyboards featuring chicklet or island-style keys.

Lenovo describes the new style of keyboard this way: “An AccuType keyboard features a modern look and feel. Its flatter keys with a slight inward slope create a comfortable crevice for your fingertips; this design allows a more fluid, spacious and comfortable typing experience when compared to standard keyset designs.” Many of the company’s laptops already use the AccuType keyboard.

Lenovo W530A photo of the upcoming ThinkPad X230 posted on the Lenovo forums plainly shows an AccuType keyboard being used instead of the tradition one. Lenovo is also putting AccuType on the mobile workstation ThinkPad W530, as this picture–spotted on Lenovo’s site by blogger Keith Combs–shows.

Up until now, Lenovo has used the AccuType keyboard for its consumer-focused IdeaPad line and the ThinkPad Edge series (the flashier and more affordable business laptop), although we also saw a break from the traditional keyboard last year when Lenovo introduced its Ultrabook, the ThinkPad X1.

Lenovo Fan Reaction

The design change is causing some dismay among ThinkPad keyboard fans. Many people aren’t fans of chicklet keyboards, since the shallower keys don’t give a typist as much feedback and are typically flat (not very typing-friendly).

On the ThinkPad Edge 420 product page, Lenovo reveals one reason for the redesigned keyboards: A fresh makeover. The keyboards supposedly retain the traditional feel of the original keyboard but now have a “clean, contemporary, inviting look.”

Lenovo classic keyboardBut it’s not all about looks either, because surely Lenovo knew it would be playing with fire by changing the characteristic keyboard on the higher-end ThinkPad laptops. On the Lenovo Design Blog, David Hill, Lenovo vice president of corporate ID and design, calls the ThinkPad X1’s keyboard “the ultimate keyboard.”

While moving from 7 rows of keys to 6 rows and using a 2.0mm stroke instead of 2.5mm might seem like a step backwards, the keyboard is designed to feel identical to the original. The new keys are ergonomically contoured (with a “smile”) to reduce typing errors. At a press event for the ThinkPad X1, Hill explained to me that the new keyboard was based on months of detailed user testing–each keystroke measured and constant feedback gathered from even the most devout ThinkPad users.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 keyboard layoutIn my brief hands-on with the X1, I found the keys extremely comfortable and easy to type on–much more so than typical flat chiclet keys like the kind found on the Apple keyboard. PCWorld Senior Editor Jason Cross similarly found the keyboard a joy use when he tested the ThinkPad X1.

So, is it the end of an era–or perhaps a good step in the evolution of the ThinkPad? ThinkPad lovers, please let us know.

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Facebook revealed on Monday that it is just 99 million users shy of hitting the one-billion-users mark, which means about one seventh of the world’s population may soon be sharing photos, status updates, and pokes via the social network. The news comes as the company amended its paperwork on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of Facebook’s march towards its initial public offering.

Facebook now has 901 million monthly active users, according to the company and, every day, those legions of users are uploading 300 million photos and making 3.2 billion likes and comments online. The Facebook nation also accounts for 125 billion online friendships, and is less than half a million people shy of the population of China, Earth’s most populous country.

Chinese and Facebookian currencies aren’t that far apart when converted to American greenbacks either. The Chinese Yuan is currently worth about $0.16, while one Facebook credit will set you back ten cents.

Here are a few more comparisons between Facebook’s gigantic user base and the rest of the world.

McDonald’s Is no Facebook

McDonald’s may lay claim to having served billion of customers, but the global hamburger chain opens its doors and drive-thru windows to just under 68 million people on a daily basis. Facebook claims a daily user base nearly eight times that size at 526 million.

The Blue Continent

Once Facebook hits the one billion mark, it will have a user base almost equal to the population of the entire continent of Africa. Current estimates put the number of people in Africa at 1.03 billion.

Subscriber Base

There are almost as many Facebook users as there are cellphone subscribers in China. China revealed it was closing in on 900 million mobile phone subscribers last April and has since surpassed that number.

Buggy

Facebook’s current user population is equal to the total number of Internet Explorer users hit by a Windows bug in early 2011 that put users at risk of being hacked, according to Fox News. The flaw has since been fixed.

Linguistic Under-Achiever

Facebook may be closing in on one billion monthly users and available in almost every country on the planet, but the social network is a lightweight when it comes to languages. Facebook is available in over 70 tongues, including Esperanto, Latin, Leetspeak, and Pirate. The tiny country of Papua New Guinea, however, has a population of more than 6 million with over 860 indigenous languages, according to the CIA World Factbook. Well, as they say on Facebook: Vos potest non vincere omnes (You can’t win them all).

A recent report by Nielsen said the average Facebook user in the U.S. spends nearly 7 hours a month on the social network. Interestingly, that’s about the same amount of time it takes to understand Facebook’s privacy settings.

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[Photo: Festo]

Pretty much any man-made flying contraption has to use wings, propellers, or a gas in some combination to achieve flight. Get ready to add “flipping inside out” to the list.

SmartInversion is a helium-filled flying object built by Festo that achieves thrust by turning itself inside out: It’s a six-sided ring of articulating prisms with a carbon-fiber frame. At its widest point, SmartInversion measures 15.5 feet (4.75meters) across, and the contraption weighs a mere 5 pounds (2.334 kg). SmartInversion’s geometric jellyfish shape is based on the Kinematics of Inversion discovered by Paul Schatz.

The motion SmartInversion might look completely insane and trippy, but it makes complete sense from a mechanical standpoint. The object basically performs the equivalent of a breaststroke in the air. It begins its transformation by moving its arms forward to the center. When the object’s arms sweep back, they scoop up and push the air behind it giving it thrust.

Driving the framework are servos that are commanded by ARM processor and powered by an 8.4V lithium polymer battery. Festo says that you can be remotely control SmartInversion via an iPhone app, and that it can fly for approximately 5 hours.

Festo’s flying contraption is currently on display this week at the Hannover Messe technology trade show in Germany.

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Lenovo is expanding the recall of some ThinkCentre all-in-ones due to a component defect that can cause the PCs to overheat and catch fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.

The PC maker is recalling 13,000 more ThinkCentre M90z and M70z models after a fire and smoke incidents were reported in the U.S, the CPSC said. The government agency is asking consumers to immediately stop using the computers.

ThinkCentre desktops are all-in-one PCs with all components integrated inside a monitor. The expanded recall covers desktops that were sold online and through distributors from May 2010 through March this year.

Consumers will qualify for recall based on the manufacturing date code, which can be verified on a label underneath the PC. The expanded recall covers models with code numbers 201 to 203 and 1201 to 1203. Lenovo in March recalled 50,500 ThinkCentre M70z and M90z desktops due to the fire hazard with manufacturing code numbers 1001 to 1012, 1101 to 1112, 001 to 012 and 101 to 112.

Additional recall information can be found on Lenovo’s website. Customers call also call Lenovo’s recall hotline at 1-855-248-2194.

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Many of Samsung’s smartphones and tablets released in the U.S. will receive an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with a couple of notable exceptions. While newer Samsung Android phones will be graced with Android 4.0, if you have a Galaxy S, an original 7-inch Galaxy Tab or if you are a T-Mobile customer, you may be out of luck.

Samsung posted on its support pages a comprehensive list of specifics for the Ice Cream Sandwich update in the U.S., saying it is in close communication with both Google and carriers to upgrade devices to Android 4.0 “as quickly and as smoothly as possible.”

On AT&T, Android Ice Cream Sandwich is coming for the Galaxy S II, S II Skyrocket, the Galaxy Note, Glide, Nexus S and the 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab. For Sprint, the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch is set to get the update, while Ice Cream Sandwich for the Nexus S 4G is already available.

On Verizon, only tablets are listed for Android 4.0 upgrades: the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 7.7, and the Wi-Fi only versions of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 are on the list, too. Still, there are no specific dates when you should expect the update for your Samsung device.

Notably missing are details of T-Mobile’s Android lineup. No devices are listed for upgrade, and Samsung said: “We are in close communication with T-Mobile to ensure that eligible devices are upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the coming months and will provide updates as we have additional details to share.”

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Whats In Your Easter Egg? A Laptop Computer? http://t.co/9x8JtjeC

Yes, there is a stigma associated with buying refurbished laptops. I understand it to a degree—I mean, there is nothing like liberating a fresh, shiny gadget from its plastic packaging prison. What I don’t understand is how this stigma exists in a society where buying a used car is so widely accepted. As many others have pointed out, the process of buying a refurb and a used car are actually very similar—except the financial risk we take on with the latter is generally much, much higher. So why are we so hung up on this? We shouldn’t be—and here is why.

The Facts: Fact #1: The economy is busted right now. One of the sticking points people have with refurbished laptops is that they may not be getting top-of-the-line performance and features. While this is usually true, it is important to seriously analyze your computing needs and determine what you really need vs. what you really want. For example, in a recent Question of the Day, I asked Giz readers whether they really need a $1000 laptop. Out of nearly 9000 votes, 42% responded “No”, 21% responded “Yes, but only because I like to have the best of everything”, and 19% responded “Yes, but only because I am unwilling to sacrifice on the OS.” Basically, this implies that many of us are buying more laptop than we really need. Fact #2: The term “used” takes on a slightly different meaning when you are talking about refurbished laptops. Analysis of outlet stores and other refurb dealers reveals that “refurbished” laptops that have been used are most likely returns that have been in circulation 30 days or less. When the laptops are returned, they undergo a thorough inspection and should be good as new. They could also be demos or products with slight defects that are repaired during the inspection. Refurb outlets also sometimes offer discounts on overstocked items. In this case, the laptops have never been used at all.

Where to Purchase a GOOD Refurbished Laptop

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Today, Best Buy reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $1.7 billion and announced it is closing 50 stores.

The basic pattern that CompUSA (closed brick-and-mortar stores in 2007) and Circuit City (closed stores in 2008) followed was: first select stores were closed, then more were closed, then all stores were shuttered or sold off.

Is this Best Buy’s fate? And why? Below I try to offer some reasons for Best Buy’s troubles based on my own experience and input from Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies, and Larry Downes, a consultant and speaker on developing business strategies, who wrote a widely read article on the decline of Best Buy, “Why Best Buy is Going out of Business…Gradually” for Forbes (Downes is also a CNET contributor).

• 

  Going-out-business-gradually-then-suddenly pattern: Disruptive technologies shake up industries and the survivors appear to be successful when they’re not. “Incumbents are being transformed by disruptive technologies,” said Downes. “And as their competitors close, the remaining companies are shored up because it looks like their market share is growing because there are fewer places to shop. So, they either look like they’re stable or sometimes they actually pick up market share because somebody like Circuit City closes and it looks like Best Buy gets more customers. But over time, there’s only one or two left and then you see it’s really just the dwindling number of customers. And eventually you get the big collapse when the industry truly restructures. And that’s what I think Best Buy is heading for though I don’t know how quickly the big drop-off will come.”

• End of brick-and-mortar heyday and “hybrid” purchasing patterns: There was a time in the early 2000s when storefront electronics retailers like CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy thrived, said Kay. But that heyday is long gone. “In the early 2000s. That’s when consumers [as opposed to companies] became more interested in buying computers, when consumer purchases rose as part of total purchases…but now you have this hybrid purchasing pattern where consumers go to retail to look around and then they go buy it at the cheapest [online] site.”
• Convenience is king: A corollary to the bullet point immediately above, customers gravitate very quickly to a more convenient shopping experience. “Consumers easily adapt to alternative retail channels. Before the Internet, there was catalog shopping and home shopping from television. For consumers, buying online was just the next step in an obvious progression of more convenient ways to buy,” according to Downes, writing in his original Forbes piece.
• Impact of general merchandise retailers like Wal-Mart: Retailers like Wal-Mart and Target can devote shelf space to popular electronics items and therefore are not as vulnerable as a specialty retailer like Best Buy. “It’s easy enough for Wal-Mart to have a shelf with some computers, but their exposure is limited,” Kay said, who added that slumping TV sales have hurt Best Buy. “That’s a big piece of their stores’ floor space.”
• Misplaced bets in product categories: There was a big shift to tablets at Best Buy stores last year. While iPad inventory sold well, most of the floor space has been devoted to Android tablets, which have not been selling well.
• The Apple factor and the boutique store experience: The Apple retail experience hurts Best Buy. My not-so-hypothetical case (i.e., myself, family, friends) is you have a choice between buying a laptop at Best Buy or the Apple Store. Buy a MacBook at the Apple Store and it’s hard to go back to the Best Buy Windows laptop buying experience. Apple salespeople are generally more knowledgeable, the products themselves are generally higher quality, and the stores are more appealing, aesthetically and practically (looks, layout). This trend is exacerbated by the growing popularity of Apple products. If people are going to buy an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or Mac at a brick-and-mortar outlet, it’s going to happen more often at an Apple Store than at a Best Buy.
• Is there hope for hope for the brick-and-mortar electronics specialty store? Based on my experience, the Microsoft Store is a very good imitation of the Apple Store. Stores are well-organized, staff is helpful, and the product selection is better than Best Buy (which, conversely, is a reason for the decline of the Best Buy). At my local Los Angeles Microsoft Store there is a great selection of the latest ultrabooks, high-quality HP Envy laptops (for example), phones, and tablets.

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Forget the viewfinder and display. Ubi-Camera lets you frame a shot using your fingers, film director-style.

If you want to get more natural with your pics, Japanese researchers are working on a gesture-based mini camera that lets your hands frame the shot.

The group at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in Gifu Prefecture recently showed off something they call the Ubi-Camera, a play on “ubiquitous” and “yubi” (“finger” in Japanese).

As the vid shows below, the simple prototype attaches to your index finger while your other fingers form a viewfinder around it. Push a button with your thumb to snap the shot.

Instead of a zoom lever, your arms determine how wide or tight a shot you’ll get. An infrared rangefinder on the device measures the distance to your face, and then determines the appropriate zoom level for processing the shot on a PC.

The result is a photo that looks just like what you see through your finger frame.

The Ubi-Camera was shown off earlier this month at Interaction 2012 organized by the Information Processing Society of Japan at the Miraikan museum in Tokyo.

Yoshimasa Furukawa and colleagues at IAMAS want to make the device wireless and improve its sensor so that it can work in various lighting conditions.

The lightweight and compact nature of the device make it appealing, but I think it would tire your arms when shooting dozens of shots.

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