news 1-6-06

I like the idea, manners are nice to have and these classes also
probably give the kids a lot of confidence in formal settings that
are usually daunting to younguns. But why is it that the twelve year
old boy looks like he is 9 and the twelve year old girl looks like
she is 15?
A Return to Grace, and Cha-Cha-Cha Growing Numbers of Area Youths Are
Enrolling in Junior Cotillion Programs
By Michael Alison Chandler Washington Post Staff Writer Friday,
January 6, 2006; Page B01 Before there can be a new Ginger Rogers
and Fred Astaire, there must be a seventh-grade girl in her big
sister's homecoming dress and a much shorter seventh-grade boy
sporting a beginner's Windsor knot doing the step, step, slide to Tom
Petty and the Heartbreakers. At the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn,
90 such couples waltzed like bumper cars Wednesday night and
showcased their newly acquired skills of pinning boutonnieres and
making small talk at the second annual winter ball for the Belmont
chapter of the National League of Junior Cotillions, a program set up
to teach ballroom dancing and etiquette to the nation's rising
teenagers.
http://tinyurl.com/dzjd4

On this one I must say that i do not know enough to be happy or sad.
Done correctly the voucher system sounds liek it should be good, but
all too often a goof idea is hijacked by politics and turns out
horribly wrong, which might be the case here, which means it is good
it got shot down..... I just don't know.
Court tosses out school voucher law in Florida By Linda Kleindienst
Tribune Newspapers: South Florida Sun-Sentinel Published January 6,
2006 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The state Supreme Court on Thursday struck
down Florida's landmark school voucher law--the only statewide
voucher program in the country and a cornerstone of education reforms
championed by Gov. Jeb Bush. In a 5-2 decision, justices ruled that
the Opportunity Scholarship Program violates a constitutional mandate
that the state provides for a "uniform, effective, safe, secure and
high quality system of public schools" by illegally siphoning off
public dollars to benefit private schools. The ruling affects 733 of
the state's 2.4 million public school students. They will be allowed
to finish out the school year at the private schools where they are
enrolled but then will likely return to the public school system
unless the law or the constitution is changed.
http://tinyurl.com/dacjd

This sounds cool:
Radar Scope sees through walls Posted Jan 6th 2006 6:10AM by Kevin
C. Tofel Filed under: Misc. Gadgets This one is for the military
but we think it's handy if you play a bunch of Madden '06 with a bud
on the other side of a concrete wall. Just slap a Radar Scope on that
wall and see what play the opposition is calling. Not only that, but
the device detects movement up to fifty-feet beyond the wall, yet
it's still sensitive enough to detect breathing as well. Sounds
useful for when you called that all-out blitz and you want to see if
the QB is still in one piece, no?
http://tinyurl.com/998er

Except for the horror flicks and the fact that I do not have an HD
TV..... this was made for me:
DISH ups VOOM HD lineup to 15 channels Posted Jan 5th 2006 4:45PM by
Marc Perton Filed under: CES, HDTV EchoStar's DISH Network is
expanding its HD offerings, adding five new channels to the existing
10 that the network gets from Rainbow's VOOM HD Networks (yes, that
VOOM ... or at least what's left of it). The channel lineup,
available in 1080i with 5.1 surround sound, may not exactly wow you
— unless, that is, you're into martial arts films (Kung Fu HD),
horror flicks (Monsters HD) or cartoons (Animania HD) — but, hey,
it's a start (and come to think of it, this sounds like the perfect
package for any budding Tarantino). And, according to DISH, it's
double the number of HD channels being offered by other satellite
providers. And, of course, you can still get HD programming from TV
networks via DISH, but that's not an exclusive offering.
http://tinyurl.com/ad2aw

To quote a close friend of mine "meh".... the truth is that this
looks mildly uncomfortable..... cool looking but uncomfortable:
NeThrone promises a new computing environment (link to this article)
January 6, 2006 Anyone spending eight plus hours a day on a computer
knows that using a desk and an ergonomic chair is not the answer to
ergonomic happiness. A quick recap of the evolution of the human body
will show we’ve been a work in progress for countless millennia,
that desks and chairs are a very recent invention, and that the lure
of the computer is causing millions of people every day to have sore
shoulders, necks, backs etcetera There has to be a better way and
we’ve written about quite a few alternative chairs in recent years
including the Topform computer lounge chair, Netsurfer Ergonomic
Computer Chair and the very promising MYPCE (My Personal Computer
Environment). Now there’s a new chair we clocked at the 2006 CES
which we think has a big future – the NETHRONE. Highly adjustable
(including the keyboard, screen and every aspect of the seat), very
comfortable, with electronic adjustment, massage facilities, and a
wow factor just short of 10 on the Richter scale, the chair goes on
sale later this month at US$2500 in blue, red, green, purple, and
yellow. Extensive image library inside.
http://tinyurl.com/d58av

um.... nasty storm.... go away.... please.....
Zeta, Tropical Storm That Won't Quit Thursday January 5, 2006 3:32 PM
By JOHN PAIN Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) - Zeta again
strengthened into a tropical storm Thursday and could break the
record for the storm lasting the longest into January since record
keeping began in 1851. Zeta, the 27th and final named storm in a
tumultuous, record-breaking hurricane season that officially ended
more than a month ago, had sustained winds near 40 mph at 10 a.m., up
from 35 mph earlier in the day, according to the National Hurricane
Center in Miami. Winds had reached 65 mph on Wednesday. Zeta posed no
threat to land. Its first incarnation as a tropical storm lasted from
Dec. 30 to around 4 a.m. Thursday. Its second stint as a storm was
expected to last more than a day, because another weather system is
likely to ``decapitate'' it with strong wind shear, hurricane
specialist Stacy Stewart said. ``This thing has been very
tenacious,'' he said. ``It's probably its last gasp.'' Zeta is only
the second Atlantic storm in recorded history to survive into
January, joining Hurricane Alice in 1955. After Zeta dissipates,
Stewart said, forecasters will review records to determine whether it
or Alice lasted longest into January.
http://tinyurl.com/87vab

Cool Idea:
FoldzFlat Pen Foldable wallet pen I carry a pen that I wish was more
readily available. It's a plastic pen shaped like an airplane that
folds flat and sort of clips together to make a sturdy shape. It
folds once lengthwise to fit in your wallet. Then, to write with it,
you snap little plastic notches together inside so that you have
three reinforced surfaces. Now I never need to borrow someone's pen.
They're pretty cool. I even bought 48 of them figuring the company
would go out of business at some point. My only problem with the
FoldzFlat Pen is that they're totally ugly, produced mainly for
little kids. I'm hoping that with the right publicity they will start
marketing to the nerd elite. -- John Cory Strischek FoldzFlat Pen
$1.69 Available from Fabgear Closeout prices on Foldz Flat pens
atGeddes Schools!
http://tinyurl.com/bmxfj

Go look at the pics of this one, very cool.... maybe there IS hope
for ford..... nah
American Automaker Turns Young Man's Dream in Reality: The Ford
Reflex January 6, 2006 07:00 AM - Jacob Gordon, Los Angeles, CA 
Amazing. Someone finally made my car. At least they have the concept
built. The Ford Reflex will be displayed at the North American
International Auto Show in Detroit this month—then they will give
this car to me. Isn’t that nice of them? I still can’t get over
it. Anyway, this sexy beast has a diesel/electric hybrid drivetrain
powering the front axle, and an additional electric motor on the
rear. (I’ll pump it full of my best biodiesel, of course) Solar
panels grace the roof and help juice up the lithium-ion battery for
the hybrid system. Interior sound insulation is made from Nike Grind,
a material created from pulverized sneakers (but the legend is it's
really made from the shoes of the poor suckers who lost to the Reflex
drag racing). They claim it can get 65 mpg—but not the way I’m
gonna drive it! Daryl Hannah already said she'll go out with me. ::
Auto Week

http://tinyurl.com/a3ve9

I am always interested in this stuff:

New York Times: Earth Friendly Materials Go Mainstream January 6,
2006 04:46 AM - Lloyd Alter, Toronto Read how purchasers are
beginning to consider green products for their homes and how
entrepreneurs are setting up to supply them. "There is a growing
sensibility and sensitivity about taking care of ourselves, our
homes, and our earth," Ms. Liebmann said. "It's not a fringe movement
like we saw 15 years ago." but it is still tough and there are
problems: "Unfortunately for consumers, there is no all-encompassing
regulatory system or governmental body that oversees or establishes
green standards for the entire industry. So for the most part, green
retailers select products based on their own criteria, often with the
help of consultants." Treehugger has discussed most of the products
listed on the websites noted in the article and will review them in
greater detail over the next few days. Read ::New York Times (free
subscription required)

http://tinyurl.com/9hqhu

Hmmmm:

Sea Solar Power, or Ocean Thermal Energy if you prefer January 6,
2006 12:07 AM - Warren McLaren, SydneySome days at Treehugger one
gets the sense of what it must have been like in the hey days of
Edison and his light bulb, or Bell and his telephone. The promise of
wondrous inventions that promise to ease a burden or two. Think of
the more recently inspiring Sunball concentrated solar sphere and
Magenn floating wind turbine. Now we bring you ocean thermal energy
conversion or OTEC from Sea Solar Power International. Their idea is
to take the warm water 80oF (27oC) from the tropics and pump into the
depths of the ocean to a heat sink of cold water at 40oF (4oC). The
difference in temperature is “sufficient to operate vapor turbines,
which drive generators and produces electricity and fresh water as a
byproduct.” And as they rightly point out the ocean is the worlds
largest solar collector, so it seems prudent to consider this
resource. Though it would appear that the US government already tried
this concept a while back, albeit with little success. Sea Solar
Power don’t think they had the scale of economies right. So, they
are proposing a floating plantship, generating 100 MW's of net power
and 32 million gallons of fresh water per day. Such a marvel is
calculated to cost a mere $250 million USD. Yet unlike wind and solar
technologies Sea Solar figure theirs can run 24 hours a day. Thanks
to Brendan P. for bringing this tip to the surface. ::Sea Solar Power
International

http://tinyurl.com/b6gv3

I am not so certain about this:

Bye-bye hard drive, hello flash The world as notebook users know it
is about to change in a flash. Manufacturers of NAND flash memory say
they will expand the market for their chips over the next few years
and colonize devices that now rely on hard drives or other types of
memory. In turn, this could mean phones that can record several hours
of video, or smaller notebooks with twice or more the battery life.
The NAND noise will be particularly strong at the Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas, with manufacturers
showing off the solid-state technology as an increasingly important
component in cell phones and talking up how it will find its way into
notebook hard drives in 2006.

http://tinyurl.com/e2b9v

Google to sell video, take on Apple; announces Google Pack 1/5/2006
8:34:34 AM, by Ken "Caesar" Fisher Tomorrow Google will announce a
new commercial video download service, according to multiple sources.
The service, which will be an addition to Google's Video Search, will
allow users to buy video content for pre-determined prices, and the
company is expected to announce partnerships with the likes of CBS
and the NBA. To date, CBS has been slow to get into bed with any
particular video sales partner, but plenty of eyes are watching them:
currently CBS is the undisputed leader in major network primetime
television, owning seven of the top ten spots nearly every week. As
we reported in November, CBS chairman Leslie Moonves said that the
network was shopping their content around to the likes of Google,
Yahoo, DirecTV, and others, looking for the best way to monetize
their content. Last week CBS announced a brief promotional trial with
Yahoo for two shows. Plenty of questions remain. Will Google be
streaming shows, or offering them for download? Currently Google only
supports streaming. Will Google stick with a Flash-based video
delivery system? Will this mark the unveiling of the mysterious
Google Wallet?
http://tinyurl.com/djyek

Snakes and Rubies downloads On December 3, 2005, Ruby and Python
developers from Chicago and vicinity gathered at DePaul University to
hear two of the leaders in rapid Web-application development debate
the merits of each other’s frameworks. Adrian Holovaty, one of the
creators of the Django framework for Python, and David Heinemeier
Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails framework, answered questions
about their work and the future of Web-application development. You
can read more about the event at the Snakes and Rubies website. That
event was recorded, and now audio and video are available for download.

http://tinyurl.com/b8b4y