Young Scientist of the Year 2003

Congratulations to 16-year-old Adnan Osmani from St Finians College, Mulllingar, Co Westmeath who is the winner of the 2003 EsatBT Young Scientist and Technology competition.His winning entry incorporates a new type of browser for speeding up internet usage by 400%. The project, labelled 'The Graphical Technological and User-friendly Advancement of the Internet Browser: 揦WEBS is? says Adnan 搕he most feature-packed web browser the world has ever seen.?It will allow users to load up even the heaviest of websites in less than 18 seconds, something which the schoolboy says is up to four times faster than any existing internet explorer. The project impressed the judges with its comprehensive range of features which includes an animated character using human speech to read out web pages. The judges described his achievement and depth of knowledge as 'far in advance of his years' and tipped 16-year-old Adnan Osmani to take over from Bill Gates as the world's computer whiz kid.Already a number of major computer companies have expressed an interest in the teenager's invention. More than 1,000 students had taken part in the competition and out of 910 entries, 477 projects made it through to the final round. Minister for Education and Science Noel Dempsey and Tom Byrne, of ESAT-BT, presented Adnan with a cheque for ?,000, a Waterford Crystal trophy and the opportunity to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists taking place in Budapest in September 2003.Additional awards presented included Best Group Winners Cathal Mullin, Eimear Smith and Liam O'Kane from St Patrick's CoEd Comprehensive, Derry; individual runner-up went to Mairead McCloskey, Loretto College, Derry. For more information, visit the EsatBY Young Scientist and Technology Exbihition 2003 website: http://www.esatbtyoungscientist.com

http://www.esatbtyoungscientist.com/at_the_exhibition.html

Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge device

or BOOK

The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover!

?Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere -- even sitting in an armchair by the fire -- yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc.

Here's how it works:

Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.

Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.

The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, though like other display devices it can become unusable if dropped overboard. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish.

Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional BOOK mark accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session, even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOK marks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOK mark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOK marks can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK. (BOOK marks can be purchased commercially in a wide variety of styles, or easily created at home from readily available materials by the BOOK user.)

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with optional programming tools: Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS).

Portable, durable, and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment and information communication wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.