A reader asked me this recently, so here is the answer. DIN stands for Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. which, in English, means the German Institute for Standardization. DIN standards are used in more than electronics; there are around 30,000 different standards that cover all sorts of technologies, from metric screw threads to typefaces for engraving, from film speeds to hydraulic valves, and electrical and electronics technologies. Read more

The wearable technology fashion design company CuteCircuit has come up with a glowing multicoloured dress. The creation is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago .

The thousands of full color Light Emitting Diodes used, each only 2 mm by 2 mm, are embroidered onto a layer of stretchy silk laid over four layers of silk chiffon and a pleated skirt of silk organza crinoline. A group of iPod batteries hidden in the skirt’s lining power the dress for up to 30 minutes, which is probably all you would be able to stand walking around in the thing, heavy as it must be. Truly a museum piece. Read more

Following up on Microsoft’s Xbox Live banning owners of modified consoles, news is making the rounds in the tech press of the emergence of supposed workarounds from the modding community. There seems to be a lot of misinformation. What is known is that the ban, which permanently suspends Xbox Live (XBL) accounts, affects any user who has modified firmware on their DVD drive, and it affects them whether they used that console to play illegal copies of games or not. Read more

YouTube is bringing the 1080p HD format to it's site in order to keep up with the trend in camcorders towards HD. Up until now, the maximum the site supported was 720p. Broadband ISPs the world over are about to have a heavier load on their lines as more and more people upload HD videos of their cats and kid's birthday parties.

1080 means 1,080 lines of vertical resolution, 1,080 horizontal scan lines); the p after it stands for progressive scan, in other words non-interlaced. In order to get a pixel to pixel reporduction of 1080p, your computer's monitor needs to support 1920×1200 resolution. PS3 and Xbox 360 owners need to hook up a suitable monitor through the HDMI port.Read more

Microsoft’s Xbox Live service banned up to 1 million players this week suspected of modifying their consoles to disable DRM protection. The action came the same week as the highly anticipated release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Pirated copies of the game were circulating on known warez sites before the release, leading some to speculate that Infinity Ward, the games publisher, prodded Microsoft to make the move.Read more

Intego, Mac security specialists, have discovered a new piece of malware which takes advantage of the same vulnerability as the recent ikee worm.Both exploits target jailbroken Apple iPhones or iPod touch. For those not in the know, jailbroken mobile phones are ones which have been hacked by the owner to allow installation of unauthorized software. The vulnerability makes it possible for a hacker to connect to any jailbroken iPhone/iPos touch where the owner has not changed the root password.Read more