stuff 8-28-06

There is already an underwater hotel in the gulf of california...
been there fro years, but that one you must dive in order to get to/
from your room.
08. 28. 2006
Poseidon Resorts: spend your next vacation with the fish


We all know there are plenty of places in the world that let you
enjoy interacting with the beauty of perfectly clear blue-green
waters and undersea life. But, is there really anywhere you can
immerse yourself in it . . . literally? Presenting Poseidon Resorts,
where your entire vacation is spent underwater. Based on submarine
technology, with more than 60% of the exterior surface consisting of
transparent acrylic "windows," Poseidon offers guests the opportunity
to spend every minute of their stay enjoying spectacular panoramas.
Each guest suite is built around a private reef that is lit for
viewing. A food dispenser is included, as well, to attract various,
view-enhancing undersea creatures. The five-star luxury complex,
which is accessible by a series of tunnels from the surface, includes
a revolving restaurant, pool (?!?!), bar, café, tennis courts, dive
shop/water sports center (of course), library, and luxury spa/
hydrotherapy center. Poseidon’s website indicates that, although
construction has begun on the system of pods that make up the
individual suites and common facilities, the resort is due to be
relocated from its original site. So, alas, the time has not quite
come yet to whip out the rewards card and book a long weekend; but he
reality of this next step in vacation retreats seems near.

http://tinyurl.com/g9gke

FOR JACK:

Logitech MX Revolution laser mouse reviewed

The reviewer concludes that the extra features probably aren't
necessary, but could in the long term increase user productivity if
prospective buyers spend some time customizing the button functions
and getting used to the new features. If you think you can do without
the new features, you might consider picking up one of Logitech's
other no-frills gaming mice, which feature much higher sensitivities
and equal, if not lower, prices.

http://tinyurl.com/hgvcv

Venzero ONE media player spotted, snapped
Posted Aug 27th 2006 7:41PM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video


The last time we saw a Venzero ONE, it was at a café in New York and
was in severely pre-production condition; a little rickety, a little
shaky, but still showed some real potential. Now, from here it's a
little difficult to tell of these new shots of the ONE in the wild
indicate that it's much closer to completion than it was a few months
ago, but we hope they move fast and get this thing out because in a
couple months the Zune and the MusicGremlin (and maybe even the
wireless iPod) could make this device's big selling point, the
Shareport USB file swapping system, a little shall we say, démodé.

[Via DAPreview]
http://tinyurl.com/etz95

Top Gear: Mini Cooper Special


In this Top Gear segment, Richard Hammond takes several tuned Mini
Cooper S vehicles out for a road test — the “Works” (197bhp),
“Digitec” (216hp), and “Hartge” (200bhp). Video after the jump.
http://tinyurl.com/zp3m7

DIY Electro-Graf Here’s an interesting DIY project: “Electro-
Graf“, which is basically “a graffiti piece or throw-up that uses
conductive spray-paint and magnet paint to embed movable LED display
electronics.” Learn how to make your own with this tutorial. Video
after the jump.
http://tinyurl.com/hq77z

GM builds the Sequel advanced hydrogen fuel-cell concept vehicle
August 28, 2006 Way back at the start of 2005, the world’s largest
automotive manufacturer, General Motors, showed the Sequel advanced
hydrogen fuel-cell concept vehicle at the 2005 North American
International Auto Show (NAIAS), billing it as the culmination of US
$1 billion of intensive research it had conducted into fuel cell
technology. Like most show cars, the Sequel was not a working model,
but now General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has gone on
record as saying “the most technologically advanced car GM has ever
built” has actually been built, has an operating range of 300 miles,
and will be made available to journalists in the near future. The
Sequel is a truly remarkable vehicle, having superseded the AUTOnomy
and Hy-wire as GM’s primary showcase of future fuel cell vehicles.
See the extensive technical diagrams and photographic library we have
assembled here, and read on for all the available detail.
http://tinyurl.com/jpsnc

Syllabus for Mitch Kapor's Berkeley course on open source
http://tinyurl.com/f2sdh

Research, learn and collaborate at Zimbio
Zimbio is a collaborative media portal site. Users create portal
channels about key information they are interested in. These portals
provide significant meaningful information on topics that people are
knowledgeable and passionate about. Zimbio, like Wikipedia, is a
form of a social information network that actually works to provide
meaningful and useful information that people are passionate about.
Upon registering on Zimbio, users can collaborate by adding
meaningful information and pictures, and expanding on the topics in
question. It's nice to see that sites like Zimbio and Wikipedia are
around and easily accessible providing people with information from
well informed users. I will still have my fingers crossed that they
don't become infected with bunk content.
http://tinyurl.com/j25c5

FairUse4WM cracks Windows Media DRM
Posted Aug 25th 2006 1:25PM by Jordan Running
Filed under: Audio, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft


Critics of online music stores like the new Napster and Yahoo! Music
Unlimited say by giving them you're money you're really just renting
your music, since if you stop paying their fees, you lost the ability
to listen to the tracks you've downloaded. But if the makers of
FairUse4M have anything to say about it, that's no longer the case.
Engadget has the scoop on this new, probably-illegal program for
Windows that strips the DRM from Windows Media 10 and 11 files,
allowing you to play those Napster tracks indefinitely, even after
you've canceled your subscription. Engadget's Ryan Block says, "we
can verify with all certainty that yes, Windows Media DRM can now be
easily and quickly stripped from PlaysForSure media services," but it
didn't work on their Vongo videos or Windows Media 9 DRMed files.
This is a pretty big deal for Microsoft, which has busily been
ensuring record companies for years that PlaysForSure is the best way
to protect their content. For awhile software has been available that
strips the DRM from music purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store--
the difference is, one had to pay for each of those tracks in the
first place, whereas with Windows Media-based subscription stores,
one could buy a one-month subscription and potentially unlock tens of
thousands of files for the price of a single CD (or for free, if one
takes advantage of a free trial period). Yow.
http://tinyurl.com/kk7df

Philips Shows Light Emitting Clothing
Posted by Hemos on Monday August 28, @07:58AM
from the dear-god-do-i-hate-august dept.
Paul Cobbaut writes "From Physorg: Philips Research intends to
impress the visitors at this year's IFA (Internationale
Funkausstellung) with a world-first demonstration of promotional
jackets and furniture featuring its innovative Lumalive technology.
Lumalive textiles make it possible to create fabrics that carry
dynamic advertisements, graphics and constantly changing color
surfaces. Here is the Philips Press Release."
http://tinyurl.com/kywk2

Data Mining Used to Create New Materials
Posted by Zonk on Sunday August 27, @03:41PM
from the looking-forward-to-red-kryptonite dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "MIT researchers have successfully
integrated data mining tools and modern methods of quantum mechanics.
They've designed software which can help predict the crystal
structures of materials. To simplify, they say they've used methods
used by online sales sites to suggest books to customers. And it
seems to work: they claim they can determine in days the properties
of atomic structures that might have taken months before. Read more
for additional references and pictures."
http://tinyurl.com/knspb

Switch off television, ring in memory! Turning off the television,
picking up a crossword and eating more fish could be the key to a
better memory, an Australian survey has found. Results of the on-line
survey of almost 30,000 people, conducted as part of Australia's
science week, also found people who read fiction had better memories
than those who don't, while heavy drinkers found it more difficult to
recall names. But neuro-psychologist Nancy Pachana said television
was not necessarily bad for memory, with wider health and diet and an
active lifestyle more crucial to a good...
http://tinyurl.com/ed259

TEC Gas Grills
Ultimate grill heat


Serious chefs know that a hot bed of charcoal or wood coals is the
best way to grill meat. Unfortunately the 30-40 minute wait (and air
pollution) for the fire to be ready are a major drawback to using a
traditional fire, but most propane grills are too feeble to be a
useful alternative.

Enter the ceramic infra-red burner by the Thermal Engineering
Corporation (TEC) of Columbia, South Carolina. Ceramic plates
perforated with thousands of burner ports heat up to 1700 degrees and
throw off as much heat as any bed of coals. From a standing start,
it's ready to cook in 5 minutes, and will put a deliciously crispy
seared crust on whatever you're grilling. It's highly fuel efficient,
too, since radiant heat transfer is roughly proportional to the
fourth power of the burner temperature. Don't be fooled by the modest
BTU ratings, those are a measure of the fuel input, not the heat
output. One improvement can be made: replace the factory grid
(stainless steel channels) with the Char-Broil cast iron replacement
grid sold at Home Depot. Yes, these are expensive, but I have seen
similar prices for grills that are really nothing special... all show
and no go. TEC has a press release that says Char-Broil will be using
TEC's technology in 2007, so the entry price may come down soon. I've
been using the Patio II model for 5 years and am very happy with it.
-- Jan Gazda

TEC Patio II
$1,400
Available from Buck Stove, Pool & Spa

Manufactured by TEC Gas Grills

http://tinyurl.com/kjaag

50 Common Interview Q&A

Bhuvana Sundaramoorthy has collected some (actually 50 of them)
frequently asked interview questions, which makes it very handy when
you are going to have an interview. Best of all, there are answering
tips associate to the questions

http://tinyurl.com/ev9vm

School yourself on wine


Blogger and chef JoAnna offers some tips for expanding your wine-
tasting palette, suggesting that you buy two bottles of the same
variety of wine and do a side-by-side taste comparison. When you do,
you'll find:

One will be more acidic...
one will be perfumed more strongly...
one will be clearer in color...
one will have more tannin & astringency...
one will be more.... You get the picture?
If you still don't feel up to the task, we've highlighted several web
sites and tips for finding a good wine. Think you know your wine? Let
us know how you got so smart in the comments or at tips at
lifehacker.com. — ADAM PASH

Do It Yourself Wine Tasting Course [ChefBlog]

http://tinyurl.com/ze69s

DIY: Make an Altoids tin survival kit


Field & Stream online has a step-by-step for creating your very own
Altoids tin survival kit, complete with all the gear you'd need to
survive in the wild (well, maybe not you, but someone who doesn't cry
if they don't hear the Windows/Mac boot-up music every morning).

The "Pocket kit" includes fire-starting gear, an LED flashlight, a
compass, water bag, iodine tablets, fishing gear - and oh so much
more, all stuffed into your tiny little Altoids tin. We've covered
several inventive uses for the lovable Altoids tin, but there's
always room for more. — ADAM PASH

Make a Survival Kit out of an Altoids Tin (and Two More Life-Saving
DIY Projects)

http://tinyurl.com/msr7n

introChispito Wind Generator
The Chispito Wind Generator was designed to be simple and efficient
with fast and easy construction. There are no limits to what you can
do with wind power. There is nothing more rewarding and empowering
than making a wind powered generator from scrap materials. Most of
the tools and materials in this manual can be found in your local
hardware shop or junk pile.

For more information and inspiration on wind generator construction,
please visit http://www.velacreations.com
http://tinyurl.com/fooqz