stuff 6-13-06

THE DIAMOND AGE IS APON US - - - ROD LOGIC IS HERE (see the pic)
Intel and TI brag about chip tech advancements

Posted Jun 12th 2006 4:18PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Laptops
Two of the biggest names in chips, Intel and Texas Instruments, have
taken this fine Monday to announce independent advancements made by
their R&D departments in the never-ending search to continue Moore's
law. TI kicked things off by unveiling their new 45nm manufacturing
process that uses some immersion lithography trickery to trump
Intel's current 65nm chips by 30 percent. They plan to use the tech
for memory chips. Intel, of course, is not to be outdone, and
announced a new better way to insulate circuits. Their new "tri-gate
transistors," which should be on the scene by 2010, reduce the power
leak problems experienced when transistors are dropped lower than
90nm. The tech could cut power consumption by as much as 35 percent
or boost performance by 45 percent. "This will be an option for chips
somewhere beyond 45 nm--in the 32 or 22 nm mode--so that gives us
confidence we can continue scaling Moore's Law into the next decade,"
said Intel's Mike Mayberry. The tech also does away with the
troublesome carbon nanotubes that IBM has been proposing, which are
currently too costly to produce chips with. Now we're just waiting
for AMD to announce a 22nm chip due next week and for half the cost,
then our day will be complete. Don't let us down, guys!
http://tinyurl.com/jvj6j

Gas station looks at gas-free future
SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- If the United States is going to end
its addiction to oil, the fuel station of the future might look like
Pearson Ford Fuel Depot.
Along with gasoline and diesel, the one-of-a-kind station -- part of
a dealership near busy Interstate 15 -- offers a full range of clean-
burning alternative fuels from ethanol to propane to BioWillie, a
brand of biodiesel made from soybeans and promoted by country music
legend Willie Nelson.
The station isn't profitable yet. But co-owner Mike Lewis said that
could change if oil prices force consumers to seriously consider
other fuels -- especially in San Diego, which regularly pays among
America's highest gas prices. (Watch what's the lesser of two evils
with gas prices -- 2:01)
"If you could make it profitable, you could do a whole lot more to
preserve the environment than all the mandates in the world," Lewis
said.
http://tinyurl.com/zekvb

OVERPRICED CRAPPY LOOKING ECO-FURNITURE FOR PEOPLE WHO YEARN FOR THAT
1970s FUAX MODERN LOOK!
http://www.inmod.com/fucotalo.html


TODAY IS A SHORT NEWSDAY FOR SOME REASON SO HERE ARE SOME THINGS I
DID NOT GET TO SHOW YOU FROM ANOTHER DAY:

Chinese remedy 'treats diabetes' Gardenia jasminoides The chemical
was taken from a form of gardenia A gardenia fruit extract used in
Chinese medicine for centuries to treat adult onset diabetes is
effective, scientists have found. The US team found a chemical from
the fruit blocks the action of an enzyme which stops the production
of insulin.
http://tinyurl.com/otm2k

In Israel, a Little Oil Goes a Long Way
June 7, 2006 08:00 AM - Karin Kloosterman, Israel
The Irish call it "the troubles"; over in Israel, we euphemistically
call political problems "the situation". As sad and complicated as
the situation may be for every human being involved, a few
individuals have risen above the crowd, like oil on water, and banded
together to make business over a much-loved Middle Eastern commodity:
olive oil. And converts to organic farming are emerging from unlikely
places. Thanks to the help of the environmental group Green Action
and the braveness of some entrepreneurial Palestinian farmers,
organic and fair trade olive oil is now available in Israeli shops.
http://tinyurl.com/od8f5

South Africa To Phase Out Incandescent Bulbs South Africa has plans
to phase out certain types of incandescent bulbs and replace them
with more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Malebo Mahape, a
spokeperson for the Minerals and Energy Department, said the project
would first be looking to phase out more readily replaceable bulbs
like the 60 watt and 100 watt incandescent bulbs currently widely
used in South Africa. “It will not be possible to phase out all
kinds of incandescent or halogen type bulbs until readily available
alternative fluorescent ones are on the market,” Mahape said. She
said the department of trade and industry had been approached to
start drafting regulations to prohibit the import of certain classes
of bulbs. Investigations would also need to be completed on types of
bulbs, possible impact on local manufacturers and economic impact,
created by the phasing out of incandescent bulbs. A fluorescent bulb,
while more expensive than regular bulbs, lasts up to eight times as
long and uses 80% less energy, saving the consumer on lighting bills
and the replacement cost of bulbs.
http://tinyurl.com/mxrdx

Pallet-House: Modular Refugee Housing
http://www.treehugger.com/files/th_images/pallet.jpg
Emergency shelters should always be an important and prescient
subject for designers. However the need for efficient shelters to
help house displaced people seems more urgent than ever after the
series of natural disasters over the last year and very recently
again in Java. The work being taken on by groups such as Architecture
For Humanity and Habitat For Humanity is on an unimaginable scale and
they need all the help they can get. Various design solutions have
been put forward time and again over the years, some with more
success than others. Today we learnt of a proposal by I-Beam Design
called The Pallet-House, which uses wooden shipping pallet as a
modular construction material. New York based designers Azin Valy and
Suzan Wines originally developed the concept as transitional housing
for the returning refugees of Kosovo. ‘The competition guidelines
defined transitional housing as that which bridges the gap between
temporary tent shelter and permanent home. They stipulated that the
house last about five years, the time it takes a Kosovar family to
rebuild a typical stone house.’
http://tinyurl.com/rrakd

Sage Baby Connects Parents to Healthy Products With so many organic
and all-natural products out there today, it’s sometimes hard to
decide what to purchase, especially when it comes to your children.
Sage Baby is a new online resource dedicated to helping new and
expectant parents make the right organic and healthy choices for a
green lifestyle. From the nursery to toddler, Sage Baby wants to
share great products and advice by teaching parents one step at a
time, one choice at a time, that they can make sound, eco-conscious
choices that are good for their families. Sage Baby’s website is
very organized and easy to click through, making online shopping a
breeze. Sage Baby's wide range of product categories includes stylish
organic clothing, bedding, sheets and mattresses and natural skincare
products that avoid harmful chemicals and preservatives. We really
like the “Healthy Room” section, where they even have all-natural
cleaning products, air purifiers (shown here) and furniture made
especially for the little one. See Bonnie's post from earlier today
for more ideas on healthy baby products. ::Sage Baby
http://tinyurl.com/m4yy5

Pull, not Push for Overcoming Procrastination By default, we try to
push ourselves to overcome procastination - “I must finish this by
Friday” - “Let’s try harder”. Instead of this, there maybe a
better way - how about you are in control instead of the task/
environment control you?
… 2. Advice such as “just buckle down and do it,” “get
organized,” and “try harder” are based on a dysfunctional
definition of procrastination. What they’re really saying is: “If
you weren’t such a lazy bum you could do this. No fooling around.
Life is dull and hard. There’s no time for fun. Work is a horrible
thing to contemplate, but you have to do it anyway.” Most
procrastination happens because through procrastinating we are
temporarily able to relieve fears: fear of failure, fear of being
imperfect, fear of impossible expectations. Most of these fears, in
turn, are ultimately based in the idea that work and life are awful
struggles which we must somehow get through and that this whole
horrible process will somehow make us better people in the long run…
Read the page and look for a possible solution.
http://tinyurl.com/oqfp7

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Condensed Summaries
If you don’t have time to read the great book, Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People by Steven Covey, Michael Gray has released
his summary notes for the book:
* From Dependence to Interdependence
* Personality vs. Character Ethics
* Proactive, Personal Vision
* Beginning with the End in Mind
* Personal Management
* Paradigms of Interdependence
* Think Win-Win
* Seek to Understand, Then Be Understood
* Principles of Creative Cooperation
* Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal
* Conclusion
http://tinyurl.com/orkce

MIGHT BE USEFUL:
Clip-n-Seal Bag Clips - Variety 3 Pack
http://tinyurl.com/ruofy

Special forces to use strap-on 'Batwings'
By MATTHEW HICKLEY, Daily Mail 13:33pm 6th June 2006
Elite special forces troops being dropped behind enemy lines on
covert missions are to ditch their traditional parachutes in favour
of strap-on stealth wings.
The lightweight carbon fibre mono-wings will allow them to jump from
high altitudes and then glide 120 miles or more before landing -
making them almost impossible to spot, as their aircraft can avoid
flying anywhere near the target.
The technology was demonstrated in spectacular fashion three years
ago when Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner - a pioneer of freefall
gliding - famously 'flew' across the English Channel, leaping out of
an aircraft 30,000ft above Dover and landing safely near Calais 12
minutes later.
http://tinyurl.com/z4dp2

Wormbots poised to invade your gut Posted Jun 6th 2006 10:34PM by
Evan Blass
Filed under: Robots It's likely that many of our readers are vocal
proponents of the benefits derived from robotics research, but how
many of you would be willing to put your money a robot where your
mouth is -- literally -- and let it crawl down your throat to explore
your guts? While we would certainly never volunteer to be guinea pigs
for such a nascent technology, a team of European researchers are
surely going to have to find someone to test out their latest medical
device: a small bot whose locomotion was inspired by so-called
"paddle worms" (and which sounds very similar to a Korean invention
we once saw). It turns out that mimicking their fleshy counterparts
allows the wormbots to effortlessly navigate the slippery, elastic
walls of human intestines, and equipping them with cameras would
offer doctors a degree of investigative freedom that's impossible
with traditional "smart pills" or endoscopic procedures. Sounds good,
but we're gonna wait until at least several thousand people have
successfully ingested these bots -- and more importantly,
successfully purged them afterwards-- before we sign up to star in
our own personal remake of Fantastic Voyage.
http://tinyurl.com/gxsqo