ABOUT BLOODY TIME, now if only we can get them to do the same for
corn, sugar and beef.
US Congress scraps cotton subsidy
http://tinyurl.com/9fm6j
yet another bittorent client shootout
http://tinyurl.com/cds7b
Cleantech investor news..... worth a read (SHAUN) if you ever do
anything involving say... a clean tech type venture
http://tinyurl.com/9pn68
Energy efficient roofing – 511AS Classic Metal Roofing System
reaches the peak of ‘cool roof’ technology with its Rustic and
Oxford aluminium roofing shingles. Designed for residential use,
these products utilise new infrared reflective pigments in their
Kynar 500 coating to achieve total solar reflectivity of 25% and
more. The integral airspace between the naturally reflective
aluminium shingles and the roof decking prevents heat transfer by
conduction. Inside roof temperatures are reduced by 30% and more in
comparison to other roofing materials. This product is also lighter
in weight per square metre. Other benefits offered by the
interlocking shingles include keeping out: wind, drafts, dust, birds,
possums and flying embers from bushfires. It has full warranty in
coastal regions and is installed on a plywood base. Battens are not
required. Choose from the Oxford style for a low profile tile or
slate look and the Rustic style for the traditional shingle look. The
roofing has BRANZ Appraisal Certificate for use throughout Australia
and New Zealand including the cyclonic regions of Australia. The wind-
resistant fully-interlocking roof shingle comes with a 40-year
Materials warranty and 30-year fade warranty. Infolink December-
February 2006 Want more information on this product? Click on the
link below and select this product from the list. Then scroll to the
end of the page and fill out the online enquiry card with your
details. You can also select other products from the list as part of
the same enquiry. ILA 66 - request more information
http://tinyurl.com/7ec6x
pretty cool if weird looking
The Next Generation Supermarket February 1, 2006 11:49 AM - Collin
Dunn, Durham, North Carolina Designer Diana Jess is out to debunk the
myth that American consumers are apathetic about the environment. To
prove this, she has designed a supermarket concept called R3 (Rethink
the Way You Shop) that builds on the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"
concept. A finalist in Metropolis Magazine's 2005 Next Generation
Competition, her store would include a package-recycling center
shaped like an oversize stack of newspapers that adjoins to the
store, whose design is inspired by a two-liter bottle. Connecting the
two is a boutique stocked with a colorful array of branded but empty
reusable bottles. In the main grocery section, digital filling
stations equipped with informational LCD touch screens invite
consumers to inquire about their purchases. "It disturbs me that
American packaging is so wasteful and supermarkets are so ugly," she
says. Her project recognizes that without package recycling laws in
place in the United States (as they are in a country like Germany --
more details below the fold), financial incentives and provocative
branding will need to coerce consumers to do the right thing. Much
of this seems to be inspired by Germany's system for package
recycling -- in 1991 the nation enacted a packaging ordinance,
requiring all industries to take back used containers -- and Duales
System Deutschland, the country's leading package recycler. Not only
does the German system compel nearly everyone to sort their refuse
and recycle their used bottles, it also encourages manufacturers to
design products that are less of a hassle for consumers. Companies
that enroll in the Duales System Deutschland pay a licensing fee
based on the weight and material of their goods, so minimal packaging
is in everyone's best interest. Diana lived in Germay for four years,
and had a chance to see the system at work, and she asserts that the
Germans are no more partial to sorting their waste than stateside
citizens are. Germany's progressive environmental legislation may be
responsible for the nation's good behavior. A survey by Duales System
Deutschland revealed that 91 percent of the population sorts their
household waste, but of those, according to Jess's research, 44
percent admitted to not caring about environmental issues. Here's to
hoping she can get her store off the ground, so we can keep more
packaging out of the trash. ::Diana Jess via ::Metropolis
http://tinyurl.com/a93qn
Article Preview
Interview: Be green, think big Jesse Ausubel is an optimistic
environmentalist whose vision includes large-scale natural gas and
nuclear plants, and superdense high-rise cities Jesse Ausubel
believes technology has the potential to save the world and give
everyone more prosperous lives. His vision would be anathema to most
greens. So where, Fred Pearce asks, does his big thinking come from?
What makes you such an optimist? Working in The Rockefeller
University here in New York, I am overwhelmed every week by what
people are learning. Genetics offers the most dramatic example, but
in materials science and so many fields it's almost as astonishing.
Modern science is very young. Even if you go back to Galileo, it's
only 400 years old. Large-scale organised research is less than 100
years old. The chance to do things much better is enormous. Take
energy. It's a big cause for environmental concern. But if you look
at the whole system from mining fuel to powering my desk lamp, right
now it is about 5 per cent efficient. The other ...
http://tinyurl.com/a7uae
Toronto Goes Green (Well, its Roofs, Anyways) February 2, 2006 06:22
AM - Lloyd Alter, Toronto Hugs to Toronto for adopting a new green
roof policy. They did a study and found that "8% coverage of existing
rooftops with extensive green roofs, would generate over $300 million
in initial cost savings in areas such as stormwater management,
combined sewer overflow reduction, building energy savings, and the
urban heat island reductions." They committed to " install green
roofs on new and existing buildings owned by the City, whenever
practical to do so. For example, green roofs are to be considered for
existing municipal buildings when roofs are due to be replaced. For
new City-owned buildings, the Green Roofs strategy sets a target of
green roofs covering 50 to 75 per cent of a building’s
footprint.Council also recommended that a pilot program of financial
incentives be initiated this year for the construction of green
roofs." Stephen Peck of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (Treehuggers
met him here) sez: "These policies set the stage for a public-private
partnership that will result in significant improvements to the
quality of life in Toronto, reduce energy consumption and smog" Read
his press release below the fold. ::Toronto Green Roof Initiative
City of Toronto leads North America with new Green Roof Policy
February 1, 2006 "Green Roofs for Healthy Cities congratulates Mayor
David Miller and Toronto City Council for adopting the first
comprehensive set of green roof policies in North America" said
Steven W. Peck, Founder and President of Green Roofs for Healthy
Cities, a Toronto-based non-profit green roof industry association.
“These policies set the stage for a public-private partnership that
will result in significant improvements to the quality of life in
Toronto, reduce energy consumption and smog.” At its meeting today,
Toronto City Council approved Making Green Roofs Happen, its green
roofs strategy which includes commitments to install green roof
infrastructure on new and existing buildings, and recommends the
establishment of pilot programs of financial incentives for privately
owned green roofs. City officials will be working with officials at
Toronto Hydro and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund to develop programs
that recognize the significant energy, air quality and climate change
benefits of widespread green roof implementation. Mayor David
Miller said, “This is a perfect example of how we expect the new
City of Toronto Act will help us govern in the best interest of
Torontonians. Given the power to regulate green roofs in our City, we
can work with residents to implement major initiatives that will make
our city cleaner, healthier and more beautiful”. Deputy Mayor Joe
Pantalone and Chair of the City’s Environmental Round Table said,
“Torontonians have asked us to do more to promote green roofs. In
response, the City has approved a comprehensive approach – from
establishing standards and building our capacity to support Green
Roofs at the City level, to offering education, funding, expert
advice and promotion.” The City recently commissioned a multi-
disciplinary green roof benefits study by Ryerson University.
Researchers found that 8% coverage of existing rooftops with
extensive green roofs, would generate over $300 million in initial
cost savings in areas such as stormwater management, combined sewer
overflow reduction, building energy savings, and the urban heat
island reductions. Operational cost savings for the City from this
level of coverage were calculated at approximately $40 million per
year. Green roofs infrastructure are proven technologies that utilize
high quality waterproofing, root repellency and drainage systems, and
lightweight growing media to grow plants on roofs.
http://tinyurl.com/8d3mp
Article Preview
Teach your brain to stretch time Ever wished life was a little less
frantic? Need more hours to get things done? The extra time you need
is all in your mind, if you know how to find it MIKE HALL has taught
himself to stretch time. He uses his powers to make him a better
squash player. "It's hard to describe, but it's a feeling of
stillness, like I'm not trapped in sequential time any more," he
says. "The ball still darts around, but it moves around the court at
different speeds depending on the circumstances. It's like I've
stepped out of linear time." Hall, a sports coach from Edinburgh, UK,
is talking about a state of mind known as "the zone". He puts his
abilities down to 12 years of studying the martial art t'ai chi, and
now makes a living teaching other sportspeople how to "go faster by
going slower". For most people, getting into "the zone" at work or
home isn't a realistic option. But the idea of stretching time - or
at least having more control over its frantic pace - is an
attractive ...
http://tinyurl.com/8gumr
AWESOME, now if I could only get it to work as advertised:
Anonym.OS LiveCD Download via Sourceforge or LinuxTracker Like sand
through the hourglass, so are the vestiges of our privacy. From
increased governmental surveilance to corporate content restrictions
and data brokers, what you do, where you go, and who you talk to is
of more interest to more people every day. Anonym.OS is an OpenBSD
3.8 Live CD with strong tools for anonymizing and encrypting
connections. Standard network applications are provided and
configured to take advantage of the tor onion routing network.
Anonym.OS was first suggested by dr.kaos at Interzone 4 in Atlanta,
March of 2005. Nearly a year and a lot of marathon coding sessions
later, it's a reality and was released by elmore, fade, arcon,
dr.kaos, digunix, atlas and beth of kaos.theory at Shmoocon 2006.
Strong Egress Ruleset for PF Ruleset by elmore; built as a component
of Anonym.OS/BSD LiveCD Download the ruleset in TXT format
http://tinyurl.com/djohz
PRETTY COOL TECH, but can it save the ICE(internal combustion engine)?
Rotating Cylinder Valve (RCV) engine unveiled (link to this article)
February 2, 2006 UK-based RCV Engines is best known globally for its
range of model aircraft engines but the unveiling yesterday of a
prototype 125cc Rotating Cylinder Valve (RCV) scooter engine could
put it on the map in a far more significant way. The RCV engine is
ideally suited to sub-250cc applications such as motorcycles,
scooters and power tools where it offers 100PS/litre performance and
manufacturing costs akin to those of a two-stroke, with the emission
levels and fuel consumption of a four-stroke. International demand
for small motorcycle engines is massive with the Chinese, Indian and
Indonesian markets accounting for 22 million small capacity engines
annually – traditionally, these have been two-stroke engines but
with the advent of exhaust emission regulations the bulk of
production is now represented by larger, more expensive and less
powerful 4-strokes. The RCV engine offers a particularly attractive
solution for this large and growing market sector and also has
application in chain saws, leaf blowers, strimmers and the emerging
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market. Better still, RCV engines run
well on alternative fuels such as kerosene and bio-fuels and
significant further potential remains for this engine concept in
areas such as variable valve timing, variable compression ratio and
supercharging which could improve already impressive performance to
new heights.
http://tinyurl.com/bej7k
Electric slide for tech industry? SANTA CLARA, Calif.--The computing
industry is on a power trip, but it doesn't want to be. Technology
providers, customers, government officials and researchers gathered
at Sun Microsystems' headquarters here Tuesday to try to tackle some
of the problems posed by the runaway consumption of electricity by
computing gear. The problems arise from a confluence of business
demands, rising energy prices and technology changes, which have led
to chips and computers that consume more electricity. The result is a
conflict of priorities. Some people try to pack servers in more
densely to use floor space better, while others try to space them out
to reduce overheating problems.
http://tinyurl.com/c5oka
DIY Wind Power January 31, 2006 12:23 PM - Sean Fisher, Cincinnati,
Ohio The last time we heard the name Ben Jandrell, he was wiring
solar cordless headphones in our DIY Eco-Tech contest. Well, Ben is
back with a great resource for DIY TreeHuggers - his site
gotwind.org. Here, you can find pictures, descriptions, instructions
and even videos for DIY wind generators and other "small scale
renewable energy." Gotwind.org is in its infancy, so unfortunately
there are only a handful of projects available, but we are hoping
with continued success, Ben will be able to expand the site's
contents and provide more detailed step-by-step processes. However,
if you have the technical prowess and an interest in small scale wind
power, this is certainly a good way to get started. ::Gotwind.org
http://tinyurl.com/8xw3s
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S AIRBORNE WIND POWER | Jeremy Faludi A
Newly Electric Green – Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design see
all posts in this category Wind turbines are constantly getting
taller because everyone knows the higher you get off the ground, the
better the wind speeds. But building big towers is expensive,
especially if you want one 15,000 feet tall. So why not ditch the
tower and make the windmill fly?
Several people are trying to do that. They've been written about
before by others, but we've yet to tackle them, so here's a little
round-up of the three most notable projects: Sky Windpower,
Laddermill, and Magenn. Each is a bit sketchy, but deserves to be
given a shot. It seems obvious that once someone creates a workable
system, it will become a huge winner, because of the sheer amount of
power available up high: 1% of the jetstream's wind power could
supply all US electrical demand. Also, one of the main complaints
about wind power is its intermittency--the wind doesn't blow all the
time, and so (according to Sky Windpower), most wind farms are only
operating at their peak capacity 19-35% of the time. The wind is much
steadier at altitude, so you get even more advantage over ground-
based wind power. A final advantage is ad-hoc generation: devices
with a reasonably simple tether-system do not have to be permanently
installed in one place, they could be trucked out to any location
that needed them.
http://tinyurl.com/db9qw
Come The Quiet Revolution – XCO2’s Elegant Wind Turbine.
January 30, 2006 09:29 AM - Leonora Oppenheim, Barcelona

A compact, robust, elegant wind turbine with advertising space –
sounds like a good pitch right? Well it’s not just good, it’s real
and it’s coming to a roundabout, a street lamp, a building or any
space near you. The Quiet Revolution wind turbine was designed and
developed by XCO2. They are a London based consultancy who define
themselves as a low carbon engineering and design studio. Their
projects range from converting a library in Southwark into a high-
profile IT training centre, to an eco-resort in the Maldives, but
right now their new turbine is what’s on every local council’s
most wanted list. First in the queue is Bristol who have bought one
for a roundabout in the Temple Meads area. XCO2’s design is a
vertical axis turbine, which they claim is virtually silent and
vibration free. Further advantages are that the cylindrical structure
with the vertical ‘S’ blades occupies less space than the average
turbine, the structure is robust, and practically as well as
aesthetically it can integrate easily into the urban environment.
Trials were carried out at the end of last year and with the results
XCO2 say that the Quiet Revolution will be capable of producing
10,000 kWh per year based on an average wind speed of 5.8 m/s. “If
you had two of them that would satisfy the 10% renewable energy
requirement for a 1200 square-metre office building,” says their
marketing director Julia Grove.
As for the advertising part well that’s optional, but will do
wonders for it’s commercial prospects. LED lights can be embedded in
the blades so that when it spins round the lights flash in sequence
creating a kind of animated screen which could be purely decorative
or send messages and images.
The first permanent installation of the Quiet Revolution in Bristol
is slated for March this year. We are told screen space will be sold
to companies promoting eco-friendly products, which if true is a very
exciting prospect. If they can keep to this principled mandate that
will be a fantastic way to promote the growing eco-sector. thanks to
tippster Kate ::Quiet Revolution
http://tinyurl.com/cxvl7
New tech tools can help you become your own home energy auditor (link
to this article) February 1, 2006 So you called your local energy
service company, scheduled a free home energy audit, and came away
with some useful information on drafts to plug, light bulbs to use,
and which areas of your home could be better insulated. Don't forget
the programmable thermostats. All that is great, and hey, it didn't
cost you a thing. But most of what the auditor told you, well, you
already knew. As with health, love and war, there’s a plethora of
complexity that needs addressing as there is no simple, magic answer.
But if you’d like to comprehensively crunch your next energy bill
and take greater control of your kilowatt destiny, there’s a way of
building a detailed, visual profile of your household (or business)
energy use on your home. With new computerized energy-tracking
devices, getting a comprehensive snapshot of your building’s energy
consumption is just a few mouse clicks away. Data loggers are simple
battery-powered black boxes capable of recording temperature levels
in various rooms in your house, light usage, and appliance cycling on
a 24/7 basis.
http://tinyurl.com/bxerj
Kalgoorlie- Boulder to be sustainable regional City January 31, 2006
12:13 AM - Warren McLaren, Sydney With over 30,000 people living in
the West Australian city of Kalgoorlie- Boulder, they have positioned
themselves as the ‘largest outback city in Australia’. Now the
gold rush municipality, 600 km (375 mile) NE of Perth, has sets its
sights on a new moniker. To be a ‘sustainable regional City’. The
two key platforms of this strategy are energy and water. A $16
million, 2.5 megawatt solar power station is being built to
“contribute to the energy requirements of mining companies,” with
any excess being fed in to the local grid. They are also in the
running to be one four Solar Cities in Australia, a project, which
aside from use of photovoltaic cells also develops energy efficient
measures, smart meters, demand profiles and so on. In concert with
the solar efforts is their aim to be the “largest municipal user of
treated effluent in Australia.” The city plans to treat waste water
for use on their 55 hectares of parklands and playing fields, as well
as schools, community facilities and non-Council sporting grounds. It
is anticipated that this could cut their freshwater demand by 10%.
Pretty damn significant when you realise that all their potable water
is pumped from Perth. Yep, 600km away! ::Kalgoorlie- Boulder Council
http://tinyurl.com/exrl9
USEFUL TOOL:
WhyReboot is a small (~60KB) Windows application that displays a list
of pending file operations that will occur after rebooting your
computer. We hope this helps you determine the extent of any post-
reboot changes made by an installer.
http://tinyurl.com/aq5rn
Ipod could save Firefly Open the champers, shut down the hatches By
Nick Farrell: Monday 30 January 2006, 08:13 A HIGHLY cunning high
tech distribution plan may help a new season of cult sci-fi classic
Firefly to get off the ground. The maker of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Joss Wheedon, saw his favourite pet project Firefly being cut from
the air after one season in 2003. But, legions of fans managed to get
a film of the show up and running, but it unfortunately did not
translate to the big screen particularly well. Entrepreneur, Ace
Underhill - no really - is apparently trying to buy up the franchise
from Fox to run a second season. His big idea is to sell the show on
a direct pay-per-view model. The consumer would view it on her or his
computer, on his or her iPod, and on her and his on direct-to-DVD
sent to his or her house or on demand through her or his cable or
satellite operator.
http://tinyurl.com/78ont
e-Crete: An Aerated Version of Concrete Blocks January 31, 2006 07:30
AM - John Laumer, Philadelphia We recently featured a home with
"aerated concrete" blocks, that you might want to glance at before we
get into the block technology. A common brand in aerated concrete
blocks is E-Crete, makers of structural concrete block with high
insulating and sound dampening performance. Not so aerated as to
become excessively large, these blocks are highly flame resistant,
and perform well in load bearing walls. That means it may not be
necessary to add a foam or fiberglass inner covering to achieve peak
energy savings. According to the spec sheets, an exernal vapor
barrier also is not needed, which means skipping the VOC coat or
barrier sheet. Less stuff all around. The history is fascinating.
Aerated concrete blocks "have been used in most European countries
for more than 80 years as well as in the Far and Middle East for the
past 40 years, and in Australia and South America for over 20 years.
AAC has been manufactured and used in the US since the mid 90's.
Structures built over 75 years ago are still standing today and
continue to perform well and require little maintenance". Further
evidence that the good old USA is the last to wake up to energy
saving innovations. Most likely that's because energy has for so long
been relatively cheaper than those places where aerated blocks have
already penetrated the market.
Environmental Peformance Summary "The energy consumed in the
production process is only a fraction compared to the production of
other materials.The manufacturing process emits no pollutants and
creates no by-products or toxic waste products. E-Crete is
manufactured from common and abundant natural raw materials. The
finished product is twice the volume of the raw materials used,
making it extremely resource-efficient and environmentally friendly".
Thinking of a New Orleans or Mississippi rebuild with traditional
facade details? Apparently this stuff can be successfully carved. If
anyone has tried that we'd love to hear about it.
http://tinyurl.com/9o95o
Johnnie Walker not kosher? Group of rabbis says whiskey mixed with
non-Jews' wine in foreign breweries not kosher; Council of Torah
Sages set to rule on harsh dispute Haim Levinson A harsh argument is
causing a stir in the ultra-Orthodox world, after a group of rabbis
declared that whiskey no longer meets kosher certification standards,
Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday. The
issue was discussed in the past by the Council of Torah Sages, which
ruled that whiskey is completely kosher because it is not wine. In
addition, the rabbis relied on the ancient and strict wine production
methods in the different whiskey breweries and decided that there was
no fear that the whiskey was being mixed with wine produced by non-
Jews, which is not kosher. Following the decision, kosher keepers
were free to drink whiskey.
However, the Landau kosher supervision services of Rabbi Moshe
Landau, head of the Bnei Brak Rabbinate, recently published an
article claiming that whiskey is not kosher. The Landau kosher
supervision system is considered to be one of the most prestigious
kosher systems among the ultra-Orthodox public, and is the one which
supplies the kosher certification to Coca Cola drinks. According to
the article, whiskey is aged in oak barrels which were previously
used to produce wine. The aging in old barrels gives the whiskey an
extra taste which is not present in new barrels.The rabbis claimed
that since the wine produced in the barrels is not kosher, neither is
the whiskey. Among the brands that age whiskey in old barrels are
Johnny Walker, Chivas and Grant's. 'Most whiskey brands are kosher'
The issue was also widely discussed in kosher conference held in
Brussels last week. Rabbi Akiva Padwa from the London Beth Din's
kashrut division, ruled that most of the whiskey brands are kosher,
but that some brands undergo a special "finish" in barrels previously
used to produce wine. The taste of the wine can still be felt in the
drink, thus making it non-kosher, the rabbi said. Rabbi Padwa added
that the whiskey's label indicates whether it had undergone an
additional finish, using the words "two wood," "special finish" or
"double matured." On the other hand, an American group of rabbis
dealing with kosher issues claimed that it had thoroughly
investigated the issue and discovered that the oak barrels undergo a
process of fire and vaporization, which removes the wine taste. Other
rabbis wrote that aging in barrels of non-Jews' wine does not
disqualify the whiskey. One way or another, the controversial debate
has stirred up emotions among the ultra-Orthodox public. The Chief
Rabbinate of Israel, which is responsible for supplying import
permits for kosher food, will also have to deal with the issue. In
the meantime, kosher keepers will be forced to avoid drinking away
their sorrows with a shot of whiskey.
http://tinyurl.com/c7b9x
Reclaiming all that space in the attic - EZ Attic (link to this
article) January 29, 2006 Yet more proof that you don’t need an MBA
from Harvard and backing from Kleiner Perkins to have a good idea and
bring it to market is the EZ Attic, an idea spawned when Illinois
resident Mark Dzwonkiewicz was trying to create some usable storage
space in his attic one day. The amount of effort and the cost of
creating flooring made him believe there had to be a better way and
he started work on a solution. Two years later he brought the EZ
Attic Storage Flooring mat to market, enabling people to turn wasted
attic space into valuable storage. Each matt measures 50 inches by 72
inches, and offers 24 square feet of storage space for US$50.
http://tinyurl.com/9hthv
The Garlic Twist A Simple Garlic Masher My cool tool for the day is
the Garlic Twist. It's very hard plastic so it's easy (and
satisfying) to smash the cloves with it to remove the skin. The teeth
inside do a great job of quickly mincing two cloves at a time, and
it's easy to clean. The polycarbonate from which it is manufactured
is dishwasher-safe. I'm pretty proficient at mincing garlic with a
chef's knife, but I find this to be less trouble. It's far superior
to any garlic peeler or press I've ever used, even very expensive
ones. It's a simple thing, but it works very well.
-- Adam Fields The Garlic Twist $13 Available from Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/ahnps
ArchInfo: The World's 12 Best New Buildings by C. C. Sullivan Without
much introduction or fanfare, submitted here for your consideration
are a dozen great building that emerged over the courseof 2005. None
of these projects are, admittedly, found outside Europe or North
America, and none are designed by Lord Norman Foster or Frank Gehry,
the foremost architectural minds of our day. But I make no
apologies. In their defense, these buildings are quite varied, both
typologically (noted for convenience) as well as stylisticallyand
thematically (omitted to spare you). In other words, there's a
little something for everyone. One caveat, however: Not all of these
works actually had ribbon-cuttings in 2005, but they all became
completed, occupied, usable and publishable last year. If you
haven't seen these works yet, now's the time to add them to your
schedule. In their own ways, these works are defining what
architecture will become tomorrow. Are you curious about our built
future? Then have a look.
http://tinyurl.com/8tjmd
7 myths about the Challenger shuttle disaster
It didn't explode, the crew didn't die instantly and it wasn't
inevitable
http://tinyurl.com/bh34o
Common mistakes of new Mac users
http://tinyurl.com/bmzh3
The first gun-toting robotic combat soldiers set to be deployed (link
to this article) January 28, 2006 Meet the world’s first robotic
combat soldier – also known as the Special Weapons Observation
Remote Direct-Action System (SWORDS). The diminutive remote-
controlled US$230,000 SWORDS machine shares the same base as the
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Talon robots which have been
deployed in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Unlike many of it’s flying
robotic (UAV) brethren, the weaponised Talon is not autonomous, being
under the direct control of a soldier watching from up to a mile away
through an array of cameras which can include both night and thermal
vision. SWORDS is completely silent, can keep pace with a running
soldier (5mph), climb stairs, right itself, negotiate rock piles,
overcome concertina wire, and plow through sand, snow and surf. Most
importantly, it can shoot with astounding accuracy and thanks to its
universal weapon-mounting device, can carry and fire your choice of
an M-16, M-2, M-240 or M-249 machine gun, or the M-202A1 with a 66mm
rocket launcher. SWORDS will be deployed to Iraq and see combat for
the first time in the next few weeks, beginning a new era of ground
warfare.
http://tinyurl.com/8qo58
Power Plastics to provide electrical power to packaging and
intelligent clothing (link to this article) January 27, 2006 One of
the more interesting companies we’ve encountered in the last 12
months has been Konarka. For starters, Konarka was founded by the
winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for chemistry, Dr. Alan Heeger, who
has since become the company’s chief scientist. We first wrote about
Konarka’s light-activated plastic power supply for the battlefield,
but in more recent times we’ve seen the company announce a joint
development program with Textronics to create prototype garments and
fashion accessories with portable, wearable power generation
capabilities and more recently comes the news that the Konarka’s
Power Plastic materials are being developed to extend and enhance
packaging and display applications. Imagine a can or bottle with
dynamic content, boxes that light up or containers that serve as
power sources for their contents.
http://tinyurl.com/at3tw
Mapping out the future of transport You leave home, step into your
car, turn the seat around and start working your way through your e-
mail inbox, as the car drives you to work.
http://tinyurl.com/b7ywk
WORLD NEWS MAP WITH CONTINUES FLOW OF INFORMATION:
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/whatsup/
INTERESTING:
http://grou.ps/learn_more.do
ENOUGH FOR TODAY.
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