My favorite item:
Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Stuff 11-29-06
WISH I COULD AFFORD THIS:
Cuboro
Marble labyrinth
Context Shop: Neat Things with Magnets
LoopWing Wind Turbine From Japan
November 28, 2006 5:25 PM - Justin Thomas, Virginia
This is the "LoopWing" wind turbine. It is soon to be unveiled in Japan's Eco-Products 2006 Exhibition. The E1500 model turbine is aimed at homeowners, and it sports a unique wing design that operates with low vibration, and at wind speeds as low as 1.6 m/sec. The efficiency specs on the turbine are vague — "43% power performance at optimum wind speeds" is all published. :: LoopWing via Japan For Sustainability
BEST UPDATE NOTE EVER!
So I just updated my copy of TextMate and the update note says:
[REMOVED] TextMate no longer pays tribute to human sacrifices, rape,
nor does it show a picture of the God of the deaths in your dock --
ticket 945BEB5D
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
WATER
As far as I am concerned, this is old news. I have some ideas on how to capitalize on it, but of course no one in their right mind would/should listen to me.
Water is the New Oil
A just-released CIBC report makes the argument that water is the new oil. I have made the same case in various presentations lately -- the global water industry is larger and faster-growing than the global software biz -- so people won't be surprised to find that I think the CIBC report is good reading:
CIBC economist Benjamin Tal, author of the "Tapping into Water" report, estimates it will take "hundreds of billions of dollars" to fix dated water infrastructure in North America and Europe.
Federal governments are not rushing to fix the infrastructure and municipalities lack the means to do so. "As a result, governments are now much more open to the notion of privatizing their water infrastructure which, in turn, is providing a substantial boost to the private water industry," Mr. Tal said.
... Mr. Tal sees parallels between today's water industry and the oil industry in its golden era, before and after the Second World War. "The market is paying attention," he said. "Capital investment, deregulation, consolidation, and privatization of global water assets and services are advancing at a pace not seen before."
In the last three years, U.S.-based water companies — as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. water index — have surged 150 per cent, three times the rise seen by companies on the S&P 500, while paying twice as much in dividends. International water players are doing even better, Mr. Tal said, with their stock values rising twice as fast as their American counterparts in the past year alone.
In the last three years, U.S.-based water companies — as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. water index — have surged 150 per cent, three times the rise seen by companies on the S&P 500, while paying twice as much in dividends. International water players are doing even better, Mr. Tal said, with their stock values rising twice as fast as their American counterparts in the past year alone.
[Update] A few people are asking via email how to invest around water, and while all applicable disclaimers apply, there are, of course, oodles of options. One that is worth a look, however, and that doesn't involve quite as much stock-picking, is PowerShares water resources ETF, which has reasonable volume, a diversified set of holdings, and has delivered a low-teens return over the past twelve months, albeit with a 0.6% expense ratio.
Stuff 11-28-06
Microsoft Gets Desperate - Free Vista Business, Office Pro 2007
This isn't exactly the kind of promotion one normally sees leading up to a major OS update. PowerTogether.com is a promotion put on officially by Microsoft offering full licenses of Windows Vista Business or Microsoft Office Professional 2007 to any US resident (sorry international readers) willing to watch 3 (for each license) informational video or interactive presentations, answer a few questions regarding the content of the presentations, and sign over your first born give them a bunch of personal information.
Now, I can vouch for the legitimacy of this promotion, as Microsoft has done this kind of thing in the past (I participated in one about 3 years ago to get a free copy of Visual Studio, which I to this day have never taken out of the package). The subject matter of the presentations may be imposing to some, but if PowerTogether is anything like the VS promotion, the answers to the questions are more about the quality of the content than the content itself.
The PowerTogether promotion requires IE6 or higher to complete.
Student invents 256GB sheet of paper
An Indian engineering student has developed a new method of storing up to 256GB of data on a very familiar medium: an ordinary sheet of paper.
Sainul Abideen, a 24-year-old who recently completed a master of computer applications degree in southern India, created a way of storing data that uses colored geometric shapes instead of zeros and ones and storing those shapes in dense patterns on paper. While the data storage format can store up to 256GB of data on an A4-size sheet of paper measuring 8.26 by 11.69 in., when tranferred to a DVD, the format can store up to 450GB of data, according to a story in the Arab News. By comparison, a DVD can store 4.7GB of data.
Abideen has demonstrated a 45-second video clip being encoded on paper, which he called a "Rainbow Video Disk" (RVD), and then played back through a computer with an RVD scanner attached. Abideen said that smaller scanners could fit inside laptop computers or mobile phones and read subscriber identity module (SIM) card-size RVDs containing 5GB of data.
Read the full story at Computer World.
Xerox Reinvents Paper, Trees Rejoice
Not to be confused with the spy paper we showed you a few months back, the brainiacs at Xerox have invented a new self-erasable paper that fades to white after 24 hours. The invention "came from developing compounds that change color when they absorb a certain wavelength of light but then will gradually disappear." The paper is reusable though it appears you'll need a special printer to get images on to it. I can see this working in the newspaper industry and such, but I can also see a ton of scam artists making people sign contracts that "change" over night. – LOUIS RAMIREZ
Google Calendar Todo Integration
Plank + cheap mic = touch sensitive tablet
Matthew sez, "Some software and cheap microphones is all that is needed to turn a wooden board into a touch sensitive input device. The video is pretty impressive."
Acoustic sensors make surfaces interactive
A series of acoustic sensors that turn any surface into a touch-sensitive computer interface have been developed by European researchers.
Two or more sensors are attached around the edges of the surface. These pinpoint the position of a finger, or another touching object, by tracking minute vibrations. This allows them to create a virtual touchpad, or keyboard, on any table or wall.
Cheap air travel via bulk cheese purchasing
Buy a wheel of Swiss Knights Fondue and Cheese and you get 500 AAdvantage air-miles -- that's like a trip to Australia for $1,100 -- a serious bargoon (if you can book far enough in advance to use your miles, of course).
This weekend I was handed an opened wheel of processed cheeses by a friend. He said that his brother-in-law had caught wind of a frequent flyer promotion whereby you get 500 miles for each purchase of this cheese wheel and had purchased 75,000 miles for ~$300, which also means he's got more opened cheese wheels than he knows what to do with.
How to: Graphical Multiplication Trick
Linutop PC Keeps Computing MinimalIt doesn't get any simpler than this. The Linutop is a small form factor PC that comes pre-installed with Linux, and, well, that's about it. The PC has no hard drive, video card, or other components as it's meant specifically for Web surfing only and comes with just enough ports/connections for all the essential peripherals. A number of other pre-installed apps (Firefox being one of them) are also included. Cost and availability are still unknown, but if you're looking for a cheap, bare bones PC, I can't picture anyone topping this. – LOUIS RAMIREZ
Tracks - GTD application on Rails
Trillian Astra alpha testing sign-up
Boites de la Paix: Furniture made from Ammunition Cases
Organize your RSS Feeds and Optimize your Readflow
Monday, November 27, 2006
Stuff 11-27-06
Summary of Recent Venture Capital Research
While the stuff is sometimes unintentionally hilarious, there is a burgeoning academic industry in venture capital research -- and it's now and then worth a scan. The following papers have all recently appeared in academic journals (even if some of them have been floating around as working papers for considerably longer):
Get system information with Windows Inspection Tool Set
Windows Inspection Tool Set (WiTS) is an open-source utility that consolidates all kinds of information about your system into one central location with an intuitive user interface. Thanks to WiTS, you won't have to dig around the innards of your file system - or try to remember what to type at the command line - in order to find the information you need. In addition to eliminating the hassle of dozens of built-in Windows tools, WiTS offers additional functionality, such as the ability to terminate TCP connections.
SOME Best Buy Employees Are A Bunch Of Wiis
Hot tipster Elizabeth just got back from a failed attempt to score her lazy blogger husband a Wii at Best Buy this morning. After getting in line around 9:45, she realized there was little chance to get a console due to a line wrapping around the building.
So instead she stuck around to watch the fireworks ensue - namely some lame-ass employees on an ego trip.
Vtech Nitro Vision
Nintendo Says You Need To Be In Shape To Play The Wii
Quiet Revolution's QR5 addresses wind turbine issues
Read in style with book chairs
Friday, November 24, 2006
stuff 11-24-06
21st Century Technology Cracks Alchemists' Secret Recipe
A 500-year old mystery surrounding the centre-piece of the alchemists' lab kit has been solved by UCL (University College London) and Cardiff University archaeologists.
Since the Middle Ages, mixing vessels -- or crucibles -- manufactured in the Hesse region of Germany have been world renowned because of their ability to withstand strong reagents and high temperatures.
Previous work by the team has shown that Hessian crucibles have been found in archaeological sites across the world, including Scandinavia, Central Europe, Spain, Portugal, the UK, and even colonial America. At the time, many people tried to reproduce them but always failed.
Now, writing in Nature, the researchers reveal using petrographic, chemical and X-ray diffraction analysis that Hessian crucible makers made use of an advanced material only properly identified and named in the 20th century.
Dr Marcos Martinón-Torres, of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, who led the study, explains: "Our analysis of 50 Hessian and non-Hessian crucibles revealed that the secret component in their manufacture is an aluminium silicate known as mullite (Al6Si2O13).
Free eBook: Little book of Flow
Nick at blog Life 2.0 releases a small eBook (or huge essay) called ‘Little book of Flow’, which shows how to get into the state of flow and be extremely productive and getting things done. ‘Flow’ as introduced multiple times before, it is a state when we are doing something really enjoy - time flies, ideas streams, productivity is at high peak. This book looks into its detail - the topics include:
- Introduction
- Thinking about thinking
- Real choice - the power of our Free Will
- Flow on demand
- Towards a permanent Flow State
- A short cut to Perpetual Flow
- A miraculous way of getting things done
- Overcoming our resistance to Flow
- Allowing quantum principles to work in our life
- The takeaway - 4 steps to Flow
- Overview of this Little book of Flow
Shootout: Canon Rebel XTi vs. Nikon D80 vs. Sony Alpha A100
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
where to buy stuff
consumer reports article on where to buy stuff:
The best places to buy stuff
Before you go shopping, here are our readers’ picks for the top sellers of home electronics, appliances, books, and more
One of Consumer Reports’ greatest strengths is the ability to tap into experiences of hundreds of thousands of serious shoppers on subjects as diverse as restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, and theme parks. Year after year, our Annual Questionnaire provides fodder for some of the best-read stories in the magazine and on our Web site, in which we rate the stores and services people rely on day-in and day-out.
Whether your priority is quality, impeccable service, rock-bottom prices, or a combination of the three, our surveys identify the merchants that that did the best job of satisfying our readers’ needs. Chances are, you’ll be happy with these, too. In most instances, the results may make you wonder why almost anyone bothers to battle traffic and crowds by driving to a mall.
For home electronics
Readers who bought electronics products online were happier than those who bought at stores. That was the case for every product category we have data about. It proved especially true for digital cameras, audio gear, camcorders, DVD players, and digital video recorders. The top overall e-tailer was Crutchfield, closely followed by Costco.com, BuyDig.com, Amazon, Buy.com, and JR.com. Among the brick-and-mortar stores, readers gave the nod to locally run independents, but also praised Costco, Ritz Camera, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics, and H.H. Gregg. Each, however, had particular advantages.
• Low-price leaders: Costco.com (and Costco stores), BuyDig.com, Amazon, Buy.com, and BJ’s Wholesale.
• Widest selection: Crutchfield, BuyDig.com, Amazon, Buy.com, JR.com.
• Best stores for service and selection: Ritz Camera, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics.
For computers
Again, Web-based retailers tended to have better prices. Amazon was the only seller to earn the highest possible rating for its prices; PC/Mac Connection, PC/Mac Mall, and TigerDirect had the broadest selection and scored better-than-average on price.
A key limitation of independent online retailers such as these is that you may not have a lot of flexibility in customizing. The best place to do that is at a manufacturer’s own Web site. Among those, Apple rated tops in our survey, with superior selection and service. Lenovo (IBM) ranked among the highest overall for Windows PCs, though Dell earned top marks for selection. Our survey respondents were less satisfied overall buying at retail stores. Most of those stores offered average prices at best and few earned high marks for their service or selection. Two exceptions: Apple’s retail stores and Micro Center.
For retailers with both Web-based and physical stores, you’re better off going online. Costco and Circuit City Web sites, for example, offered a bit better selection than their stores. One advantage of dealing with a retailer/e-tailer: You can buy the system online, then pick it up almost immediately from the store. If you’re dissatisfied with your purchase, you can also return it to the store rather than shipping it back.
For small appliances
If you’re shopping for a vacuum cleaner, blender, toaster, or food processor, you’re probably better off skipping the stores entirely and clicking on Amazon, which won praise as the single best source for small appliances, even better than independent merchants. Shopping online eliminated many of our survey respondents’ complaints about regular retailers, such as finding good help and the lack of clearly marked prices. Amazon’s prices were unbeatable, and selection and product quality top-notch.
For bargain hunters
Who can resist a bargain? At manufacturers’ outlet stores, you can realistically expect to save between 30 and 50 percent off the everyday price of clothes, leather goods, housewares, china, and other merchandise sold elsewhere. Our tests confirmed that the goods are, in fact, quite good, even if they’re not always identical to what you’ll find at department stores and boutiques. And while prices are low, they’re not always rockbottom.
The outlets that offered the best combination of value, quality, service and selection: L.L. Bean (clothes, footwear, outdoor supplies), Jockey (apparel and intimates), Lenox, Pfaltzgraff and Mikasa (tableware and housewares), Carter’s and Osh Kosh B’gosh (children’s apparel).
For books
In a recent price study, pitting major booksellers Borders and Barnes & Noble against each other as well as Amazon, Jeff Bezos' megastore was the clear winner. Amazon discounted 21 of the 23 titles we checked – including hardcovers and paperbacks, bestsellers, and lesser-known works – for total savings of 36 percent off list. Barnes & Noble’s online store, BN.com, discounted 18 titles for savings of 19 percent. The stores themselves discounted only a few new releases and bestsellers; savings were minimal, around 5 percent. If you order through borders.com, you’ll be redirected to Amazon (which processes the orders) and pay the lower Amazon price. This time of year, book chains frequently waive shipping fees. Gift-wrapping is often free in stores, but may cost extra if you buy online. Gift cards from Borders and Barnes & Noble never expire and don’t have hidden fees. Amazon’s gift certificates become worthless after two years. In a sweeping story on buying bookstores we did several years ago, readers lauded independent sellers, largely on their strength of their knowledgeable and solicitous service. So if you need assistance, consider your local dealer.
Friday, November 17, 2006
stuff
American Science & Surplus
Following behind the juggernaut of high-tech industry is a trail of odd bits and stray leftovers. This surplus is a tinkerer's delight. One legendary source of cheap parts, weird stuff, cheap knockoffs, and plain junk is American Science & Surplus. They sell "closeouts, inventory overruns, mis-manufactures, and items whose time has not come. When a surplus item is gone, it is gone." It's the ultimate hacker's mail-order junk store.
They don't take themselves too seriously, either, often belittling the scrap they are selling. The items are illustrated with crude sketches on yellow newsprint paper in their crowded 95-page paper catalog. It's a cornucopia of irresistible bargains. Science fair motors! Chemistry kits! Craft tools. I dare you to open it without finding something you have to have. (AS&S's rustic tone is part of their "crazy cheap" schtick. On their website, in addition to the doodles you can also click to see a photo of an item as well.) While funny, their descriptions are always honest, and the stuff delivered will be entirely useable. More so than most catalogs, the bulk of the items listed are inspirational: " Oh, I could do that!" Prices are, as they say, incredible.
If you "make different," click here.
-- KK
Making of Robopet
Open Source MP3 Player By MAKE
Daisy MP3 Player Kit, a DIY DAP for $120
ETRI's Flexible OLED prototype
AMD unveils living room PC reference design: world squints in wonder
Cornell robot is "conscious," adapts to injury
Does anyone read this anymore?
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
stuff 11-15-06
10 Reasons to Buy a DSLR Camera
10 Reasons NOT to Buy a DSLR Camera
Physics promises wire-less power
Tangram Shelves
Ethernet speeds raised to 100 gigabits per second
High Powered Laser from DVD Burner
Want to learn a language? Try out FriendsAbroad
Starfall.com - teaching reading comprehension and phonics
DiggTorrents - torrent search using Google power
MAC OS X EASTER EGGS:
The Top 7 Free Utilities To Maintain A Mac. (I don't really agree with all the choices, but whatever)
Security From A To Z
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 14, @05:07PM
from the P-is-for-passwords dept.
Haruki Soma writes,
"Unearthed: An A to Z guide to security — from antivirus to zero-day. The writer includes the latest on the UK's newly updated Computer Misuse Act. She also pokes around rootkits, IM, and spyware, pens an ode to Gary McKinnon (aka the NASA hacker, in the 'E is for Extradition' entry), probes Google-induced Spear Phishing, and takes a look back at the Love Bug and Jaschan's Sasser."
Security pros won't find much new here, but the rest of us might learn a thing or two.
Dealzmodo: 10% Off at Target.comOur frugal hombres over at Dealhack scored some kind of super secret special at Target. They have snagged a 10-percent off coupon for Target.com. They suggest using it on Lego Mindstorms, but it works with almost anything, so get whatever you want. Ten percent isn't a huge discount, but every bit helps, especially this holiday season. Make sure to use the link below for the savings and the discounted price won't appear until the page where you choose the method of payment at checkout. – TRAVIS HUDSON
Target.com [Via Dealhack]
A good reason to get a Video iPod if you travel lots
Airlines add iPod connectivity, Apple crowned the king of schmooz
How many of us have tried to watch videos on our iPods while flying, or just plain wished we could charge the darn thing over long flights? Apple has felt our pain and announced today a partnership with six airlines to start adding in-flight iPod connectivity to the cabins.
The six airlines—Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United—plan to have integrated iPod seat connections by sometime in mid-2007. The seat connections will supply power to the iPod, but they will also be hooked up to the airplane's seat-back displays so that users may watch video from the iPod at eye level. This, of course, could provide ergonomic relief by keeping users from having to slouch over in order to watch videos from the iPod's screen in-hand, while also providing the luxury of watching videos on a larger screen.
There is no word yet whether these upgrades will take place only in specific cabins of the plane or whether everyone, even the lowly coach passengers, will be able to enjoy iPod connectivity. Apple also announced that it's in the process of working with Panasonic Avionics Corporation in order to bring these features to even more airlines in the future.
As someone who travels a lot, this will certainly be a welcome addition to my traveling experiences. Anyone who has ever had to sit on a double-digit hour flight overseas and back can also relate—those iPod batteries don't last forever. But what of those who don't use iPods? Will they be left in the dark, or will there perhaps be some kind of converter available (either from the airlines or via third-party accessory) for non-iPod players? One thing we do know is that Apple continues to solidify its dominance in the digital music player market by making partnerships like this, leaving other players in the game to try to play catch-up.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
entrepreneurial stuff
The New Venture Rules, Part XXIV: Get Big Cheap David Cowan touches on something I haven't articulated very well, so thanks to him for making the points below:
....the winning recipe today for aspiring entrepreneurs is GET BIG CHEAP. Don’t waste expensive development on untested ideas, and don’t let a fat marketing budget mask a weak value proposition. If instead you tinker your way to scalable organic growth, you’ll have a valuable business on your hands. Don’t worry about how long it takes—just make sure your burn rate is low enough to accommodate several cycles of iteration.
As one entrepreneur put it to me tonight when I forwarded the quote to him, "That doesn't sound like a venture guy." No kidding. Matter of fact, I'll wager that most venture guys will find the above terrifying, and, as nutty as might sound, will argue instead for the Big Burn model, where you raise money, build an expensive team, and then spend heavily as you sprint at the wall going after a specific opportunity.
Get Big Cheap
Two weeks ago I presented at Babson College, home of the nation's top ranked Blank Center for Entrepreneurship. (It's a beautiful campus, especially during the New England autumn.) Students asked for my slides, which I forgot to share, but the New York Times story on Wednesday on how cheaply one can launch a web startup reminded me to post a related segment of my talk here. (Be gentle--this was edited for a student audience far from Silicon Valley.)
...Conventional VC wisdom shied away from consumer ventures because consumers are unpredictable, branding is so expensive, and it takes a prohibitively long time to build a competitive distribution channel. So what changed? What’s now so attractive about consumer technology that makes 2006 such a better time to launch new services? Well, there are 7 new factors today that didn’t exist in the 90’s.
(I think this following one ended up in the wrong post, but whatever)
Confabb: Find, Track and Review Conferences
Confabb is a new service launching today that offers a centralized place to find information about all kinds of conferences. The site offers everything from speaker and event reviews to photos of the events after the fact through integration with Flickr. It’s an impressive full service site that could become the go-to spot for at least tech conference attendees and possibly a wider audience.
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