A computer browser that is said to least quadruple surfing speeds on the Internet has won the top prize at an Irish exhibition for young scientists, it was announced on Saturday.
Adnan Osmani, 16, a student at Saint Finian's College in Mullingar, central Ireland spent 18 months writing 780,000 lines of computer code to develop the browser.
Known as "XWEBS," the system works with an ordinary Internet connection using a 56K modem on a normal telephone line.
The software was tested by scientists at University College, Dublin last week and they found it boosted surfing speeds by between 100 percent and 500 percent depending on the basic dial-up connection rate.
Adnan says a six-fold increase is about the maximum practical boost.
"At seven times it actually crashes so I have limited it to six."
Other special aspects of his browser are the fact that access to 120 Internet search engines other features such as music and video players are built in.
"It has got every single media player built in. It is the first Internet browser in the world to actually incorporate a DVD sidebar. So you can watch a DVD movie in whatever screen size you want and browse the Internet at the same time."
To make the software more user friendly, it features a talking animated figure called Phoebe.
"The character interacts the entire way through the software. It can also read out web pages and e-mail and I thought it would be really useful for the blind and young children because they can't really experience the Internet.
"Someone like parents or guardians can load up some Web pages and it can read out the pages to them," the young programmer said.
A number of communications and computer companies have visited Adnan's stand at the Young Scientists exhibition in Dublin. He only patented his invention to protect it last Thursday.
"Five or six companies have approached me about it. I am keeping a lid on it for the time being. I am just waiting until after the exhibition and then I will try to get it all organized."
He said he was still in a state of shock as he had not expected to win and had only told three of his teachers last week about his competition entry.
"I thought I might get a good place."
He wants to study computer engineering in Harvard University and eventually set up his own Internet or computer company.
"Winning is a nice boost to my university application," he said with a smile.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS