Kayak

Kayaks designed for Slalom canoeing have a hull for manouverability and since the early 1970's, low profile decks. However, most modern mid-range laptops have integrated WiFi, so only require a wireless router to connect to the internet; or a wireless hotspot. Besides being portable, inflatable kayaks generally are stable and easy to master, but they take more effort to paddle and are slower than traditional kayaks. The growth of Metropolitan area networks may render a constant connection possible in the future. They are made of hypalon (a kind of neoprene), pvc, or polyurethane coated cloth. This is possible via Wi-Fi or related technologies, but most laptops do not maintain a constant connection to the Internet. The pressure sounds low, almost always below 3 psi. This is a myth perpetuated by many commercials, where a person is shown using the company's website from a laptop with no wires plugged into it.

They can be inflated with foot pumps, a variety of hand pumps, or electric pumps. Some computer novices assume that laptops are constantly connected to the Internet, even (for example) while located on moving vehicles. Inflatable kayaks usually can be transported by hand using a carry bag. The word laptop is often spelled incorrectly as "labtop," "lab top," or "lap top.". Another special type of kayak is the inflatable kayak. It is sometimes preferable to use a laptop on a desk. Surf Skis were originally created for surf and are still used in surf races in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa. Despite their name, using a laptop on one's lap can be both unpleasant (due to heat from the computer, particularly from its CPU) and possibly even dangerous to the laptop, as it may overheat.

A highly specialized variant of flatwater racing kayak called a Surf Ski has an open cockpit and can be twenty-one feet long but only eighteen inches wide, requiring expert balance and paddling skill. This still existent difference in performance continues to be minimized. Flatwater racing kayaks are closely related to flatwater racing canoes, and are usually paddled out of a common club or team, although it is rare for paddlers to compete in both canoes and kayaks. While desktops continue to outperform notebooks at the high end, both types of systems generally offer sufficient performance for the mainstream. In spite of this, these boats still require fairly large areas to turn. These new technologies take time to tranfer over to the laptop market because of its smaller package. The rudder is controlled by the feet of the paddler (the foremost paddler in multiperson designs). Desktops have outperformed mobile computers because new technologies expend more heat.

Due to their long length (a one person sprint kayak will be on the order of 17 feet long), sprint boats come equipped with a rudder to help with turning. Laptop performance has been inferior to desktops for the same price. These boats are raced at the Olympic level by both men and women, over courses of 200m, 500m and 1000m. There is not a standard for A4-size laptops. The most common types of flatwater racing kayaks (sometimes termed 'sprint boats') are K-1, K-2 and K-4. Outright replacement of faulty parts can include the display screen, drives, daughterboards, modem, storage devices and other components, but repair costs can be high, even when feasible (low upgradability). The beam of a flatwater boat is typically barely wider than the hips of the person who paddles it, allowing for a very long and narrow shape to reduce drag. Because nearly all functions are integrated into the proprietary-design mainboard theoretically to save space and power, laptops are difficult to repair and upgrade.

They require a good level of expertise to paddle well, but are extremely fast in the hands of proficient users. Many laptops also include a MiniPCI slot inside, however it is usually not intended to be utilized by the end user. They are thin, extremely unstable, and expensive, with a competitive boat running in the $4000 range. Often the CPU can also be replaced, and sometimes video card modules are upgradable too. Flatwater racing kayaks are generally made out of lightweight materials, and as such, are somewhat weak; they are not intended for anything other than flat water on a relatively calm day. Upgradability is severely limited: typically only the RAM and hard drive can be upgraded. Most canoe/kayak clubs will offer indroductory instruction programs in recreational boats as a way to enter into the sport.[1]. Performance is usually lower than that of a comparable desktop because of the compromises necessary to keep weight and power consumption low.

Using less expensive materials like polyethylene and including fewer options keep these boats inexpensive (USA$300–$800). Laptops generally cost more than a desktop computer of similar specification. Compared to other kayaks recreational kayaks have a larger cockpit for easier entry and exit and a wider beam (27–30 inches) for more stability on the water; they are generally less than twelve feet in length and have limited cargo capacity. Some parts for a modern laptop have no corresponding part in a desktop computer:. Recreational kayaks are designed for the casual paddler interested in fishing, photography, or a peaceful paddle on a lake or flatwater stream; they presently make up the largest segment of kayak sales. Many parts for a laptop computer are smaller, lighter, or otherwise adapted from the corresponding part in a desktop computer:. Elite waveski surfers are able to more closely imitate surfboard manouveres. The pricing goal is to start at $100 and then steadily decrease.

Although the waveski utilises similar dynamics, in terms of paddling technique and surfing performance on the waves, construction can be very similar to surfboard designs. Ad-hoc wireless mesh networking may be used to allow many machines Internet access from one connection. A variation on the closed cockpit surf kayak is an open cockpit design called a Waveski. These machines will be rugged, Linux-based, and so energy efficient that hand-cranking alone will generate sufficient power for operation. While typically seven or eight feet in length, competition surf kayaks can be nearly twelve feet long to increase both planing speed while on a wave and to provide faster paddling speed for catching waves. The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. Surf Kayaks are similar in design to whitewater kayaks, except they have a planing hull (flat side to side) to carve into a wave face, like a surfboard. The aim is to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education.

Ultra-low-volume kayaks that are designed to be paddled both on and below the surface of the water are used in Squirt Boating. In 2005, faculty members from the MIT Media Lab including Nicholas Negroponte introduced the $100 laptop as part of the One Laptop Per Child project. In "freestyle" competition ("kayak rodeo"), whitewater kayakers use features of rapids to do tricks, typically while remaining in one place on the river. Among them were:. Their speed comes from their ability to ride the crest of flowing river. Several developments specific to laptops were quickly implemented in their design, improving their usability and performance compared to desktop computers. Whitewater boats, however, do not need inherent speed. As technology improved during the 1990s, the usefulness and popularity of laptops increased while prices went down.

Whitewater kayaks are among the most maneuverable types made, however they are much slower than many other styles of boat. Later PowerBooks introduced the first 256-color displays, first true touchpad, and first built-in Ethernet networking. The size usually ranges from 6 to 10 feet/2 to 3 metres long; the trend was toward the shorter boats, but this is now reversing slightly to longer boats of around 7 to 8 feet that can become airborne more easily. The following year, IBM released its Thinkpad series, offering similar miniaturization. They are shorter than other types of kayaks. The Apple PowerBook series, introduced in 1991, heralded many changes that are now standard on laptops, including ergonomic improvements such as the placement of the keyboard at the back of the machine, thus creating a palm rest, and the inclusion of a built-in pointing device (a trackball). Whitewater kayaks are generally made out of high impact plastic, usually polyethylene. In the absence of a true Apple laptop, several compatible machines such as the Outbound Laptop were available for Mac users; however, for copyright reasons, the user had to supply a set of Mac ROMs, which usually meant having to buy a new or used Macintosh as well.

Of all modern kayaks, they are closest relatives to the skin-and-frame boats of the past. Another "luggable," rather than laptop, the Mac Portable was praised for its clear active matrix display and long battery life, but was a poor seller due to its bulk. Folding kayaks exhibit many of the same paddling characteristics as the original skin-and-frame vessels of the circumpolar north. The first Apple Computer machine designed to be used on the go was the 1989 Macintosh Portable (although an LCD screen had been an option for the transportable Apple IIc in 1984). Folders are known for their durability, stability, and longevity: The Klepper Aerius I, a single-seater, has been used successfully for white-water kayaking, due to its durability and excellent manouvrability, while many Kleppers have been in frequent use for more than 20 years. Truly the size of a notebook, they had hard drives and standard-resolution screens. Many types have integral air sponsons inside the hull, making the kayaks virtually unsinkable. The first notebook computers with standard drives were the Compaq LTE series, introduced toward the end of that year.

A folder is a modern kayak that uses a collapsible frame, of wood, aluminum or plastic, or a combination thereof, and a skin, of some sort of water-resistant and tough fabric. The NEC Ultralite, released in mid-1989, was perhaps the first notebook computer, weighing just over 2 kg; in lieu of a floppy or hard drive, it contained a 2-megabyte RAM drive, but this reduced its utility as well as its size. A special type of skin-on-frame kayak is the folding kayak, the direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak. By the end of the 1980s, laptop computers were becoming popular among business people. Lending maneuverability traits more adapted to the local environment. Although it anticipated the future miniaturization of the portable computer, as a ROM-based machine with a small display it can — like the TRS-80 Model 100 — also be seen as a foreruner of the PDA. East Greenland kayaks appear similar to the West Greenland boat, but are often more snugly fitted to the boater and possess a steeper angle between gunwale and stem. About the size of an A4 sheet of paper, it ran on standard batteries, and contained basic spreadsheet, word processing, and communications programs.

Possessing often fewer chines they are more angular in shape, the gunwales rising to a point at the bow and stern. Another notable computer was the Cambridge Z88, designed by Clive Sinclair, introduced in 1988. West Greenland kayaks are what most neo-traditional polymer boats are modeled after. These also introduced the now-standard "resume" feature to DOS-based machines; the computer could be paused between sessions, without having to be restarted each time. Their more rounded shape and high number of chines give them an almost Blimp-like appearance. Although limited floppy-based DOS machines (the operating system was stored in ROM), the Toshiba machines were small and light enough to be carried in a backpack, and could be run off lead-acid batteries. Baidarkas, from the Alaskan & Aleutian seas, and are a much older design. Among the first commercial IBM-compatible laptops were the IBM PC Convertible, introduced 1986, and the Toshiba T1000 and T1200, introduced 1987.

This spelling of the word kayak has evolved to be synonymous with “traditional kayak” and often encompasses three subcategories of boats separated by development local:. Initial specs included 8 kb of RAM (expandable to 24 kb) and a 3 MHz processor. The Dutch were some of the first Europeans to take interest in the indigenous American boat design, spelling the name for these Inuit & Aleut boats, Qajaq. It weighed less than 2 kg (4 lb) with dimensions of 30 x 21.5 x 4.5 cm (12 x 8.5 x 1.75 inches). They are often the lightest kayaks, and traditionally made of drift wood pegged and or lashed together and seal skin stretched over it, as those were the easiest materials to source in the arctic regions. Due to its portability, good battery life (and ease of replacement), reliability (it had no moving parts), and low price (as little as US $300), the model was highly regarded, becoming a favorite among journalists. Often an umbrella term for several types of kayaks, Skin on Frame boats are primarily considered a more traditional boat in design, materials, construction, and technique. With its internal modem, it was a highly portable communications terminal.

Greenland style boats are typically narrower, and are paddled with greenland paddles, typically wooden, long and narrow. The computer was not a clamshell, but provided a tiltable 8×40-character LCD screen above a full-travel keyboard. For the Inuit, without modern floatation devices or cold water protection, being thrown into the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean was almost certain death in any event. The Tandy's internal programs, including a BASIC interpreter, a text editor, and a terminal program, were supplied by Microsoft, and are thought to have been written in part by Bill Gates himself. This meant that what is now known as a 'wet exit' (getting out of a kayak that has overturned, righting it, and getting back in) was impossible, leading to the importance of the eskimo roll maneuvre, where the kayak is righted without leaving the cockpit. The machines ran on standard AA batteries. Because the user was sewn into the boat, it was almost like a piece of clothing, 'worn' by the boater. Although it was at first a slow seller in Japan, it was quickly licensed by Tandy Corporation, Olivetti, and NEC, who saw its potential and marketed it as the Olivetti M-10, NEC PC-8201, and [1] Radio Shack TRS-80_Model_100_line or Tandy 100.

Kayaks were used to hunt on the coastal and open waters of the Arctic Ocean, usually with harpoons and lances, but also with bird hooks. 1983 also saw the launch of what was probably the biggest-selling early laptop, the Kyocera Kyotronic 85. This measurement style confounded early European explorers who tried to duplicate the kayak because each kayak was a little different. Both had LCD displays, and had optional printers that attached to their cases. The man would measure the frame for the kayak based on his forearm, and a typical kayak is about 19ft long. Like the GriD Compass, the Gavilan and the Sharp were housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily running their own system software. The skin jacket of the hunter is then sewn into the skins of the kayak, to create a waterproof seal. The Gavilan was notably the first computer to be marketed as a "laptop." It was also equipped with a pioneering touchpad-like pointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard.

Kayaks were originally built by the man who would use them (with substantial assistance from his wife, who would typically sew the skins). Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 (1983) and the Gavilan SC, announced in 1983 but first sold in 1984. These first kayaks were constructed as a wooden frame covered by an animal skin such as seal skin. GRiD Systems Corp was later bought by Tandy (RadioShack). The word "kayak" means "man's boat". The GRiD company subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. Kayaks were originally developed by the Inuit, the indigenous peoples living in the Arctic regions of North America and Greenland. military, and was used on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s.

. However, it was used heavily by the U.S. A special type of kayak using pedals allows the kayaker to propel the vessel with underwater "flippers" . It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$ 10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. Most kayaks are rigid hulled, although folding kayaks that can be transported easily, and inflatable kayaks are not uncommon. The computer could be run from batteries, and was equipped with a 320×200-pixel plasma display and 384-kilobyte bubble memory. There are, of course, many more elements of kayak design— see the external links for more information. Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar clamshell design, in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard.

Radical changes in design philosophy, however, have lead to whitewater kayaks with very flat hulls that allow them to sit on top of the water (planing hull) rather than in the water (displacement hull) like most other boats. However, arguably the first true laptop was the GRiD Compass 1101, designed by Bill Moggridge in 1979, and released in 1982. Until recently, whitewater kayaks had very rounded hulls. While it was made to be used upon one's lap, it weighed 150 pounds, and therefore could not be deemed truly portable. Thus, sea kayaks, which are meant to be taken into open water and rough conditions, are generally narrower (22-25 inches) and less stable feeling than recreational kayaks, which are wider (26-30+ inches) and have a flatter hull shape. Another claim to be the "first laptop" was made by a novice programmer Thomas Kelly in 1982. The same boats that have lower primary stability will generally be easier to right once they are tipped too far in one direction. (IBM's own later Portable Computer, which arrived in 1984, was notably less IBM-compatible than the Compaq.).

Secondary stability refers to the ease of righting a kayak once it has been put off balance. Although scarcely more portable than the Osborne machines, and also requiring AC power to run, it ran MS-DOS and was the first true IBM clone. However, if one plans to take his or her kayak into rough water, secondary stability may be more important. A more enduring success was the Compaq Portable, the first product from Compaq, introduced in 1983, by which time the IBM Personal Computer had become the standard platform. Although every kayak will have some amount of side-to-side rocking, a wide kayak normally feels less likely to capsize than a narrow one, and a flat-bottomed boat will feel more stable than one with a rounded or V-shaped hull. However, it was not possible to run the Osborne on batteries; it had to be plugged in. Primary stability refers to the feeling of "tippiness" one has when seated in the kayak on flat water. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and importantly could be carried on a commercial aircraft.

After directional stabilty, the next most important design difference among kayaks is the tradeoff between primary and secondary stability. This and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker, developed at Xerox PARC in 1976; however, only ten prototypes were built. Similarly, although a whitewater boat may only be a few feet shorter than many recreational kayaks, because the whitewater boat is heavily rockered its waterline is far shorter and its maneuverability far greater. Although it was large and heavy compared to today's laptops, with a tiny CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. Although kayak hulls are not so extremely curved as a hoop, it is analogous to what happens when a kayak with rocker is sitting in the water: although the overall length of the boat may be 18 feet, the length at waterline may only be 16 feet. The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which used the CP/M operating system. When set on its edge on a table, only a small portion of that hoop touches the table. Before laptop computers were technically feasible, similar ideas had been proposed, most notably Alan Kay's Dynabook concept, developed at Xerox PARC in the early 1970s.

For example, imagine a hoop 30 inches in diameter. . A heavily "rockered" boat curves more than a boat with little or no rocker, meaning that the effective waterline of the rockered boat is less than for a kayak with no rocker. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may utilize a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external mouse or keyboard can usually be attached. A second design element that should be considered is rocker, or the curvature of the kayak from bow to stern. Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and use SO-DIMM (Small Outline DIMM) modules (rather than the larger DIMMs used in desktop computers) for their RAM. Although length is an important feature of directional stability, length alone is a poor basis for guessing at the maneuverability of a kayak. Laptops contain components that are similar to those in their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and efficient power consumption.

The design of recreational kayaks is an attempt to compromise between tracking and maneuverability, while keeping costs reasonable; their length generally ranges from nine to fourteen feet. Laptops are capable of many of the same tasks that desktop computers perform, although they are typically less powerful for the same price. These kayaks rarely exceed eight feet in length, and some specialized boats such as playboats may be only six feet long. Laptops usually run on batteries, but also from adapters which also charge the battery using mains electricity. Whitewater kayaks, which generally depend upon river current for their forward motion, are built quite short, to maximize maneuverability. Terms for subtypes of notebooks (and related computer types) include:. Flat water racing kayaks, which are built for maximum speed and efficiency, may be over 20 feet in length. A laptop computer (also known as notebook computer) is a small mobile personal computer, usually weighing from 1 to 3 kilograms (2 to 7 pounds).

Kayaks that are built to cover longer distances such as touring and sea kayaks are themselves longer, generally between 15 and 18 feet. Zyrex. Longer boats also have a higher maximum non-planing hull speed, but the effect is largely offset by increased friction, and only becomes a significant factor at racing speeds. Winbook. A longer hull creates a smoother transition from the narrow bow to the widest part of the boat and so "cuts" through the water with less resistance much like a sharp knife cuts more easily than a dull one. Voodoo PC - Envy. As a general rule, a longer boat is faster while a shorter boat may be turned more quickly. Rock Direct.

The first trade-off important to all kayaks is between directional stability ("tracking") and maneuverability. Relion. The design of different types of kayak is largely a matter of two types of trade-offs. Toshiba - Dynabook, Portege, Tecra, Satellite, Qosmio, Libretto. Some sit-on-top boats are also called kayaks, as the paddler propels the boat with a double-ended paddle. Tadpole - SPARCbook. They come in one, two, and occasionally three person models. Sager - NP series.

Modern kayaks are made of plastic, fiberglass, kevlar, carbon fiber, canvas, other fabrics, or wood. Sony - VAIO. These types may also be subdivided. Samsung - Sens. In modern times kayaks have been further developed into several types including: whitewater, playboats, surfing, sea kayaks, flat-water racing, downriver racing, slalom, canoe polo and recreational. Panasonic - Toughbook. This manoeuvre is known as an Eskimo Roll. Packard Bell - EasyNote.

This stops water splashing over the boat from entering it, and makes it possible that, should the kayak (capsize), the kayak will not fill with water, and the paddler, with skill, can right the kayak again without taking on water. NEC - VERSA. The paddler sits in a hole in the cockpit which may be sealed off with a spray skirt (or spraydeck). Medion. The top of the kayak is covered with a deck. Linuxcertified - Linux laptop. The user or paddler sits down in the kayak with feet facing forward. LG - XNOTE.

A kayak is a type of small human-powered boat and is a covered variant of a canoe, it is often called a canoe in Great Britain and Ireland, typically used with a double-bladed paddle instead of a canoe's single bladed paddle. Lenovo - IBM ThinkPad. iQon - Qompanion. Hypersonic. Hewlett Packard - HP Pavilion and HP Omnibook.

Gericom. Gateway. Fujitsu Siemens - Lifebook. ECS.

Dell - Inspiron and Latitude. Compaq - EVO, Armada, LTE, and Presario. Clevo. Bacoc.

Averatec. ASUS. Apple Computer - iBook, PowerBook and MacBook Pro. Alienware - Area 51m, Sentia and Aurora m series.

Acer - TravelMate and Aspire. These devices weigh about 500 g (about 1 lb) and often take the name "power brick.". Most laptops are powered or recharged from an external AC converter that usually takes the form of a plain black rectangular box. Docking stations may be used for expanding connectors and quickly connecting many components to the laptop, although they are falling out of favour as laptops' integral capabilities increase and USB allows several peripherals to be connected through one plug.

Batteries gradually degrade over time and eventually need to be replaced, depending on the charging and discharging pattern, from one to five years. Typical battery life for most laptops is two to five hours with light-duty use, but may drop to as little as one hour with intensive use. Current models use lithium ion batteries, which have largely replaced the older nickel metal-hydride technology. At one point, the Pismo G3, at up to 500 MHz, was faster than the fastest desktop G3 (then the B&W G3), which ran at 450 MHz.

However, the PowerPC G3 and G4 processor generations have been able to offer almost the same performance as their desktop versions, limited mostly by lower performance in other parts of the system bus bandwidth and peripheral units) in Apple's notebooks; recently, though, with the introduction of the G5s, they have been far outstripped. Generally, notebook processors are less powerful than their desktop counterparts, owing to the need to conserve electricity and reduce heat output. Motorola and IBM develop and manufacture the PowerPC chips for Apple notebooks. Notebook processor: There are a wide range of notebook processors available from Intel (Pentium M (with Centrino technology), Celeron, Intel Core Duo and Centrino Duo) and from AMD (Athlon, Turion 64, and Sempron).

Modern laptops can often handle sophisticated games, but tend to be limited by their fixed screen resolution and display adapter type. Display adapters and sound cards are integrated. Internal hard disks are smaller—2.5 inch (64 mm) compared to the standard desktop 3.5 inch (90 mm) drive—and usually have lower performance and power consumption. Most modern laptops use an active matrix display with resolutions of 1024 by 768 pixels (XGA) and above, screen sizes 10 inch (250 mm) or larger, and have a PC-Card expansion bay for expansion cards, formerly called PCMCIA.

Internal modems and standard serial, parallel, and PS/2 ports on IBM PC-compatible laptops made it easier to work away from home; the addition of Ethernet networking ports and, from 1997, USB, and from 1999, Wi-Fi, made laptops as easy to use with peripherals as a desktop computer. Improved interconnectivity. As thin, high-capacity hard disk drives with higher reliability and shock resistance and lower power consumption became available, users could store their work on laptop computers and take it with them. Early laptops had only floppy disk drives.

Improved hard disk technology. Improvements in production technology meant displays became larger, sharper, had higher display resolution, and could display color with great accuracy, making them an acceptable substitute for a traditional CRT monitor. Early laptop screens were black and white or grayscale passive-matrix LCD displays prone to heavy shadows and blurry movement (some portable computer screens were sharper monochrome plasma displays, but these drew too much current to be powered by batteries). Improved liquid crystal display design, in particular active-matrix display technology, and increasingly, color screens.

While laptops in 1991 were limited to the slower 80286 processor because of the energy demands of the more powerful 80386, the introduction of the Intel 386SX processor, designed for the specific power needs of laptops, marked the point at which laptop needs were included in processor design. Power-saving processors. The heavy lead-acid batteries were replaced with lighter and more efficient technologies, first nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and then lithium ion and lithium polymer. Improved battery technology.

Computers larger than PDAs but smaller than notebooks are also sometimes a called palmtops. Powerful laptops (often heavy) designed to compete with the computing power offered by a typical desktop are sometimes known as desktop replacements. Notebooks weighing around 5 kg are sometimes termed desknotes (desktop/notebook). Notebooks smaller than a A4 sheet of paper and weighing around 1 kg are sometimes called sub-notebooks or subnotebooks.