NEWS 'O THE DAY 12-08-05

Virtual tour of Africa's heritage
By Mohammed Allie
BBC News, Cape Town
Africans will soon be able to take an online tour of the continent's
major world heritage sites like Great Zimbabwe, the rock-hewn St
Giyorgis church at Lalibella in Ethiopia and the great mosque of
Djenne in Mali.
http://tinyurl.com/8ywbp

A Camera That Has It All? Well, Almost
This month, for example, Sony has begun shipping a $1,000 digital
camera, the R1, that shatters a longstanding law of digital
photography. Understanding its significance requires reading four of
the techiest paragraphs you'll read all day, but it's worth the slog.
http://tinyurl.com/akz6n

Report: Syria wants peace talks resumed President Assad seeking to
renew negotiations in bid to deflect international pressure over
killing of former Lebanese prime minister, British paper says
Ynetnews Syria is seeking to renew peace negotiations with Israel,
in a bid to head off international sanctions over its role in the
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, British
newspaper The Guardian reported on Thursday.
http://tinyurl.com/bvah8

Still owe on your student loan?
Government can tap into Social Security benefits to settle debt, high
court says
http://tinyurl.com/dgczz

NEC’s paper thin, rapid recharge batteries, “ORB”
NEC has debuted some ultra-thin and flexible quick charging batteries
named ORB, for Organic Radical Battery. We’re having a hard time
deciding what is the coolest part about these; their 0.3mm thickness
that allows them to be flexible, or the fact that they can be
recharged in about 30 seconds. The organic radical materials inside
the battery are in an “electrolyte-permeated gel state,” which is
supposedly about halfway between a solid and a liquid. This helps
ions make a smooth move (no, the other one), reducing resistance,
allowing the batteries to charge faster. 1 square centimeter will
give you about 1 miliwatt hour. That’s not enough to power your
laptop, but according to NEC, one recharge of this battery allows an
active RFID tag to transmit tens of thousands of signals. NEC plans
on further developing the technology so it can one day be used in IC
cards, RFID tags, electronic paper, wearable computers, and other
such technologies stepping up to the plate in the coming decade.
http://tinyurl.com/76gyf

RSStroom Reader concept prints up toilet paper news
The next time you’ve got to spend some quality alone time on the
throne, make sure you’ve got an RSStroom Reader handy to print you
up some multi-use news items. We can’t quite tell if it’s
outputting some two-ply quilted feeds, or if it plans to keep us up
to date with that generic single-ply brand, but with wireless
connectivity, RSS 2.0/Atom compatibility, and a browser based control
panel, it should get the job done. Sure, this gag isn’t for reals,
but c’mon, you know you want one.
http://tinyurl.com/7dpp7

Domino’s to sell one-of-a-kind “Ultimate Man Cave Couch”
”The Ultimate Man Cave Couch” is something we’d imagine seeing
in Hammacher Schlemmer or Neiman Marcus around the holidays, but
instead the one-of-a-kind, $30,000 shrine to sloth is available
exclusively from Domino’s Pizza
http://tinyurl.com/daha3

IntelliScaner Kitchen Companion 100 keeps track of groceries
IntelliScanner — which developed the Wine Collector 150 we peeped a
while ago — now has a version of the Bluetooth barcode scanner for
folks who would rather keep track of less intoxicating substances.
The Kitchen Companion 100 is the same basic scanner, but adds a
database of over 300,000 grocery items, along with nutrition data
from the USDA. Scanned info can be downloaded to a PC, Mac, PDA or
cellphone, letting you compile detailed grocery lists. At $279 (a USB
version is $179), it seems a bit steep for a tool to help you figure
out how much peanut butter you need to buy, though it could come in
handy for big families that have massive shopping lists — and lots
of kids who can do the scanning, database analysis and list
production while you kick back with the output from the Wine Collector.
http://tinyurl.com/9q6gk

Flash Nuclear Power Plant Simulator, Today's Time Waster
Ever wanted to "drive" a nuclear power plant? Here's your chance.
It's a Flash-based simulator of a nuclear power plant. The online
version is free, but there are downloadable versions and a PocketPC
version, for fission on-the-go. It's fun, if a little creepy. Let's
face it, there's nothing too exciting about the interface of your
typical nuclear power plant. Except what could happen if you pull a
Homer and fall asleep at the wheel... For you advanced operators,
check out SIMULA-C.
http://tinyurl.com/a7pv4

Windows Live Local to offer 45-degree bird's-eye landscapes
CNET News.com has some info about Windows Live Local, a new mapping
service from Microsoft based on Virtual Earth and poised compete
directly with Google Local. Microsoft will be one-upping the
satellite views we've grown accustomed to by providing 45-degree
bird's-eye photos taken by Microsoft's fleet of supersonic spy planes
a company called Pictometry's low-flying planes. They're launching
with photo coverage of about one-fourth of the U.S., and the service
will "enable users to create customized maps by adding user-created
pushpins, as well as annotate maps and share local search information
with others," and integrates with MSN Messenger so that multiple
users can "simultaneously view and interact with the same map." A
beta of Windows Live Local will be unveilled tomorrow, though no word
on whether it will be a public or "managed" beta.
http://tinyurl.com/7qzxq

A Flash blizzard on your webcam
The Flash experts are really taking Flash 8's new features and
running with them, as evidenced by gSkinner's Webcam Snowstorm. It's
a Flash experiment that takes video from your webcam and superimposes
a snowstorm on it. The cool part is that the snow interacts with
whatever's on your webcam in real-time, so the snowflakes will pile
up on your shoulders, for example, and you can brush them away with
your hand.
http://tinyurl.com/b7k6y

USPTO Unable to Find Top Ten Patent Holders
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 07, @11:10PM
from the powdered-water dept.
lelitsch writes "So a journalist tries to interview the top ten
patent holders in the US. As he finds out, neither the USPTO, nor the
patent processing companies are able to identify them. Even more
surprisingly, "America's greatest inventor is apparently an obscure
guy in Japan who makes stuff most people can't comprehend. And the
nation's greatest native inventor seems to be a man who has come up
with 100 different ways to make a flower pot.""
http://tinyurl.com/awdca

NASA Seeks Help Carrying Cargo Into Space
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 07, @08:55PM
from the that's-a-lot-of-stamps dept.
Dotnaught writes "NASA wants to outsource space missions to the
private sector. The government space agency on Tuesday announced the
establishment of the Commercial Crew/Cargo Project Office at the
Johnson Space Center as part of the Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate. The objective is to "create a market environment in
which commercial space transportation services are available to
Government and private sector customers." Proposals are due February
10, 2006."
http://tinyurl.com/9r3jj

The StreetSurfer – like a bicycle, except very different
December 8, 2005 “The bicycle has effectively been the same since
the safety bicycle evolved from the Penny farthing more than a
century ago”, says Mark Palmer, chief evangelist of the
StreetSurfer, “and we figured it was about time to take the next
step.” Interestingly, those who have ridden the StreetSurfer tend to
agree that it is not just very different to the bicycle, but
significantly better in several key aspects – steering, cornering,
front wheel tracking and the general feel which is more akin to
surfing or snowboarding than a BMX or mountain bike – and more than
capable of creating its own following and a dedicated street culture.
The four-wheeled front foot of the StreetSurfer offers significantly
more traction than a bike tyre and the dynamics of the bike are
flowing like surfing. Suspension is equally unconventional, being
comprised of polymers which activate on impact. Limited supplies will
be available of the StreetSurfer prior to Christmas.
http://tinyurl.com/957ea

YOU HAVE TO SEE THE PICS OF THESE THINGS!
iant jellyfish destroying Asian fisheries
Giant, 450lb jellyfish are plaguing the fisheries of China, South
Korea and Japan, killing fish, breaking nets, and poisoning the catch.


They are 6ft wide and weigh 450lb (200kg), with countless poisonous
tentacles, they have drifted across the void to terrorise the people
of Japan. Vast armadas of the slimy horrors have cut off the
country’s food supply. As soon as one is killed more appear to take
its place...
In the meantime locals are making the best of it — rather than just
complaining about jellyfish they are eating them.
Jellyfish are an unusual ingredient of Japanese cuisine but are much
more prized in China. Coastal communities are doing their best to
promote jellyfish as a novelty food, sold dried and salted.
http://tinyurl.com/by7z8

New Gawker media site: The Consumerist
The Consumerist is a new blog that exposes retail scammers, poorly
engineered products, and lousy customer service. Gawker chief Nick
Denton says it's "a shopping site, with the Gawker signature, of
bitterness and frustration. Think Consumer Reports, if written by
someone who's been on hold for an hour with customer service in
Bangalore." I love it. Link
http://tinyurl.com/cbwsq

Ships power into faster future
From the deck of the world's largest container ship, Tracey Logan
asks how tomorrow's vessels will compare with the ocean-going
behemoths of today in the BBC World Service's Discovery programme.
The current expansion in world trade, particularly trade with China,
is causing a rethink of the way goods are transported across the
world's oceans. Almost all goods traded worldwide travel by sea, and
experts predict that trade will triple by the year 2020. This will
require bigger ships, faster ships and greener ships. Professor
Chris Hodge, chairman of next year's World Maritime Technology
Conference in London, explained the driving forces behind the search
for new shipping technologies. "Shipping is already huge. Perhaps
90% of the world's trade goes by sea and it's only going to
increase," he said. "Perhaps we'll see doubling of world shipping in
our lifetime. The needs of the environment, the need to reduce
manpower and costs, all present technological challenges."

http://tinyurl.com/92v6t

Skil 5-1/2" Saw
Nimble small circular saw


The vast majority of wood that people cut is 1-1/2" thick or thinner.
So, why use an oversized cumbersome heavy weight 7-1/4" saw? The
light weight and small size of the 5-1/2" Skil HD5510 saw improves
accuracy, dexterity, safety and reduces fatigue.

Couple the Skil 5-1/2" Circular Saw with the 95100 rip fence
accessory and you can cut long even thin strips of wood, vastly
easier than is possible with a table saw. The old adage applies, it
is much easier to bring the tool the work, than the work to the tool.

-- Bruce Hallman

Skil HD5510 5-1/2 " Circular Saw
$98
Available from Amazon
Amazon

Rip fence
Amazon

AgriSeek
Online agriculture marketplace
Buy from the producer, sell your own. Just about anything
'agricultural'; llamas, cotton, flower seeds, bean seeds, farms, farm
trucks (or trucks in general), bulk wine, employment ops, whew. I
found this site while looking for a cacao plant to buy. Some fellow
is selling his here. There's sort of an online list that's updated
when anyone puts something on the list.

http://tinyurl.com/7e7qn

Tree2mydoor — Give the Gift that Gives

‘Tis the season for gift giving. But there are some gifts that just
keep on giving, long after you have passed them over. Plant a tree,
and for decades, if not centuries, it gives shade, habitat, oxygen,
carbon sequestering, a sustaining water table and much more. Even in
it’s afterlife it can yield up quality building materials, fuel,
mulch, and eventually even soil. (Is it any wonder we like hugging
the things?) Tree2mydoor reckon they are so great, they’ll deliver
planting-ready trees directly to happy recipients. Cut flowers might
be aesthetically pleasing, but for say £22 you could be giving an Oak
tree, which if nothing else, will provide cool, beautiful, dappled
light on a hot, globally warmed day. If you do have to give flowers
consider their containers of native wildflowers. And they also offer
corporate promotion packs as well. (Could this foretell the demise of
the monogrammed golf ball? Oh, please, may it be true.) Currently
just in the UK, Tree2mydoor want to stretch their limbs into
“mainland Europe, North America (USA and Canada) as well as
Australia and New Zealand.” ::Tree2mydoor

http://tinyurl.com/amre4

Are VCs Screwed?

Sometimes when you play provocateur people lie down and agree, which
can be a little disconcerting, as a moderator discovered in a recent
panel at Harvard on the future of venture capital. He said that the
industry was screwed, and the assembled VCs nodded sagely: [Harvard
Business School] professor Bill Sahlman threw down the gauntlet at a
discussion on technology venture investing at the 11th annual
Cyberposium conference held at Harvard Business School on November
19. As an industry, he suggested, venture capital has little to
recommend it. "In the future, I see a median rate of return of zero
or less," stated Sahlman, observing that the top thirty venture-
backed firms contributed 50 percent to 70 percent of distributions in
the industry in the past ten to fifteen years. With so much global
liquidity, he added, it will become even more difficult to earn a
respectable rate of return as too many dollars chase too few
opportunities. "What's going to prove me wrong?" he asked a panel of
venture capitalists. At first, Sahlman found little resistance to
his gloomy forecast. "You're right in the aggregate," conceded Stan
Reiss (HBS MBA '00), a general partner at Matrix Ventures. "We're in
the lottery business—but we know we're in the lottery business.

http://tinyurl.com/cmftv

not quite morning news

no time to cut and paste and edit and editorialise.... just links
this morning:
http://tinyurl.com/df25z
http://tinyurl.com/a3lmt
http://tinyurl.com/cq6x9
http://tinyurl.com/8c9k4
http://tinyurl.com/a4lc6
http://tinyurl.com/7vc3x
http://tinyurl.com/bgpr6
http://tinyurl.com/d94j8
http://tinyurl.com/99rkk
http://tinyurl.com/c7uqa
http://tinyurl.com/ck8dw
http://tinyurl.com/d3mye
http://tinyurl.com/7eckx
http://tinyurl.com/af4db
http://tinyurl.com/9xnnu
http://tinyurl.com/cze8y
http://tinyurl.com/dek42
http://tinyurl.com/b7lug

In there somewhere are a whole bunch of robots, a new mammal, a
skating rink lit using my idea for solar shunting, a new take on the
altiverse concept (pay attention those who still own the altiverse
IP), some google questions, new planes, new uh.... stuff, .... and a
few other things I found interesting
ENJOY!

news 12-05-05

COOL FREE WAY TO CREATE ONLINE LEARNING SITUATIONS:

http://www.nuvvo.com/

Red Cross mulls 'neutral' emblem

In Geneva diplomats from the 192 countries which have signed the Geneva conventions are meeting to discuss a third emblem for the international Red Cross.  Red Cross officials hope approval of a third emblem will finally put an end to decades of controversy over the issue.  At the moment, the only two emblems recognised under the Geneva conventions are the red cross and the red crescent; relief workers and ambulances bearing these symbols are protected under international law.  In war zones or disaster regions, they must be granted free access to people in need of help.  Over the years, a number of countries have applied to have their own distinctive emblems recognised, but all have been refused. Francois Bugnion, director of international law with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), believes too many emblems could compromise protection.  "Hundreds of emblems would mean they would not be recognised, and so they would not be respected", he explains.  "They would be identified with different countries, so instead of conveying the message 'this is an ambulance, this is neutral and must be respected', it would be a sign of identification which would run against the objective of the protective symbol."  Red Star of David  One country in particular, however, refuses to use either the red cross or the red crescent.  Israel's Magen David Adom Society (MDA) uses the unrecognised red star of David as its emblem. As a result, the society is still not a member of the international Red Cross movement, something which many Israelis see as unjust.

http://tinyurl.com/blg8t

The tech inside Cirque's big tent

SAN FRANCISCO--It's six hours before a performance of the new Cirque du Soleil show, "Corteo," and backstage, computers are controlling a series of dollies hanging from two giant arched tracks bridging the stage.  Hanging from the dollies are three massive chandeliers from which acrobats are practicing gyrations and twists.  The dollies are the kind of rigging gear seen in just about any circus or theater with acts that require people or props to be elevated far above the ground. But the system running the dollies' deployment--a crucial element of the show, since nearly every act involves one or more performers flying or leaping high into the air--is entirely automated, something that would have been unheard of to Cirque du Soleil's progenitors and that is rare even in some of the Cirque's other shows.

http://tinyurl.com/75pmq

Growing pains for Wikipedia

For Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, last week was a tough one. And he's going to change the ground rules for the popular anyone-can-contribute encyclopedia because of it.  First, in a Nov. 29 op-ed piece in USA Today, a former administrative assistant to Robert Kennedy lambasted the free online reference work for an article that suggested he may have been involved in the assassinations of both Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy.  Then, on Dec. 1, a new flurry of attention came when former MTV VJ and podcasting pioneer Adam Curry was accused of anonymously editing out references to other people's seminal podcasting work in an article about the hot new digital medium.  To critics of Wikipedia--which, in a spin on the open-source model, lets anyone create and edit entries--the news was further proof that the service has no accountability and no place in the world of serious information gathering.

http://tinyurl.com/7cxke

GE Helps Centerpoint(1) Develop New Translucent Home Roofing System for Enhanced Aesthetics, Comfort & Energy Efficiency; Technology allows full spectrum, natural light into living spaces  PITTSFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 2005--GE - Plastics today announced that it will be assisting Centerpoint(1) Translucent Systems, LLC - a manufacturer and distributor of residential roofing products - to develop a new translucent roofing system that provides full-spectrum, natural light, and significantly improved aesthetics, comfort, and energy efficiency for the residential new-construction market. Centerpoint will build the new systems using GE's Lexan(2) Thermoclear(2) multiwall polycarbonate (PC) sheet - a material based on GE's tough, virtually unbreakable Lexan resin - in combination with Nanogel(3) translucent aerogel from Cabot Corporation. 

http://tinyurl.com/c97qv

Car Paint Changes With Temperature

PlayfullyClever writes "It's now common to build materials which can change colors depending on their surrounding environment because of progresses made in colloid chemistry. But now, German researchers have gone a step further. They've used ion bombardment and gold metallisation to produce new particles whose bonding behavior can be chemically tailored. This could lead to new shimmering car finishes which can change with temperature or humidity, new cosmetics, but more importantly, to new applications in optical data processing"

http://tinyurl.com/93cfe

Nissan develops self-repairing paint

(link to this article)

December 3, 2005 Nissan has developed the world’s first clear paint that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including scratches from car-washing machines, off-road driving and fingernails. “Scratch Guard Coat” contains a newly developed high elastic resin that helps prevent scratches from affecting the inner layers of a car’s painted surface. With “Scratch Guard Coat” a car’s scratched surface will return to its original state anywhere from one day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch.

http://tinyurl.com/dmodd

Promise of fuel cells turns out to be Fool's Gold 

AS the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) approaches, there are five computer technologies goodies I am really hoping and praying to see work – as in, built in working pre-production devices that will turned into real, on-my-Big-Box shelf gadgets by the 2006 holiday shopping season. Preferably before December 2006, thank you very much. I don't want to see breadboard gizmos or way-cool "engineering prototypes" that will take another two years to field. I want real things that I can spend real money on.

http://tinyurl.com/cwy26

Danish Researchers Develop Hydrogen Tablet

We all know we want to be cruising in hydrogen cars, but there are some safety issues associated with a vehicle whose fuel tank amounts to a powerful bomb of highly compressed hydrogen. Now, Danish scientists have made what they say may be an important step in the direction of safe and inexpensive hydrogen storage. Developed at the Technical University of Denmark, a new hydrogen tablet chemically stores hydrogen in a safe, solid form. The tabled consists of ammonia absorbed in sea salt. Ammonia is produced by a combination of hydrogen with nitrogen from the surrounding air, and the tablet therefore contains large amounts of hydrogen. A chemical catalyst releases the hydrogen when needed. Scientists claim the hydrogen tablet is so safe is could be carried in your pocket. :: DTU

http://tinyurl.com/8vbw3

Hydrogen-Emitting Microbe Examined

Concerned Onlooker wrote to mention an article at Science Daily discussing a microbe that lives in volcanic environments, which emits Hydrogen gas as a waste product. "As the world increasingly considers hydrogen as a potential biofuel, technology could benefit from having the genomes of such microbes. 'C. hydrogenoformans is one of the fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon monoxide to hydrogen," remarks TIGR evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen, senior author of the PLoS Genetics study. "So if you're interested in making clean fuels, this microbe makes an excellent starting point.'"

http://tinyurl.com/8qbfp

Stratospheric airship reaches near-space altitude during demonstration flight

(link to this article)

December 4, 2005 A team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) successfully demonstrated powered flight of the HiSentinel stratospheric airship at an altitude of 74,000 feet. The development team of Aerostar International, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and SwRI launched the airship from Roswell, N.M., for a five-hour technology demonstration flight. The 146-foot-long airship carried a 60-pound equipment pod and propulsion system when it became only the second airship in history to achieve powered flight in the stratosphere.

http://tinyurl.com/dxs84

Bees Recognize Human Faces

By Katherine Unger
ScienceNOW Daily News
2 December 2005

Think all bees look alike? Well we don't all look alike to them, according to a new study that shows honeybees, who have 0.01% of the neurons that humans do, can recognize and remember individual human faces.

For humans, identifying faces is critical to functioning in everyday life. When we look at another person's face, a special brain region, the fusiform gyrus, lights up (ScienceNOW 14 February, 2004). But can animals without such a specialized region also tell one face from another?

http://tinyurl.com/8skn6

Why lost weight can creep back on

Scientists have discovered why it is often harder to keep weight off than to lose it in the first place.

A team at New York's Columbia University has shown the key is falling levels of the hormone leptin, which controls appetite.

They found that giving people who had recently lost weight injections of the hormone helped them to avoid putting the pounds straight back on. The study features in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

http://tinyurl.com/9w39w

Drinking small amounts of alcohol regularly reduces risk of obesity

People who drink small amounts of alcohol regularly are less likely to be obese than people who do not drink at all. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Public Health shows that consuming no more than a drink or two a few times a week reduces the risk of being obese. Consuming four or more drinks per day, however, increases the risk of being obese by 46%.

Ahmed Arif, from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, in Lubbock, USA and James Rohrer, from Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, analysed the results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III in a subset of 8,236 non-smoker respondents. The respondents had all filled a questionnaire about their drinking habits and their body mass index (BMI) had been measured.

http://tinyurl.com/d3a3o

Concerns over IVF contamination risk

Some children conceived by a common IVF method could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, finds a study in mice

SOME children conceived by a common method of IVF could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, according to a study in mice. The researchers who conducted the work say that such accidental genetic modification would be very rare, but they argue that fertility doctors should take more precautions to exclude it.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or ICSI, is used to help would-be fathers with very low sperm counts or sperm that cannot swim normally. Rather than mixing sperm and eggs in a culture dish as in conventional IVF, technicians take individual sperm and inject them into a woman's eggs. ICSI has been growing in popularity since its debut in 1991, and now accounts for around half of the IVF procedures in many countries, including the UK and the US.

Over the past five years, researchers have experimented with using ICSI to make genetically modified animals by mixing DNA ...

http://tinyurl.com/dd5f7

Pregnancy drug can affect grandkids too

A drug often given to pregnant women to help their babies mature enough to survive can have effects on the subsequent generation, a guinea pig study finds

DOCTORS treating a woman at risk of having a premature baby may inadvertently be affecting her future grandchildren as well. A study in guinea pigs suggests that a drug commonly given to pregnant women to help their babies mature enough to survive can also affect the brains and behaviour of their grandchildren too. The finding raises a difficult dilemma for doctors, for while the drug undoubtedly saves lives, its side effects could last for generations.

Babies normally spend 40 weeks in the womb, but some can survive even if they are born 15 or 16 weeks early. However, their lungs lack enough of a substance called a surfactant to breathe unassisted. So since the 1970s, doctors have been injecting women at risk of having a very premature baby with synthetic glucocorticoid drugs, such as betamethasone, which hasten the development of a fetus's lungs.

A single dose cuts the death rate ...

http://tinyurl.com/8fsek

[Also useful on this world, for say.... building refugee cities]

Robots aim to explore and build on other worlds

NASA is offering two new $250,000 prizes to stimulate advances in the use of robots in planetary exploration and automated construction.

One, called the Telerobotic Construction Challenge, aims to promote the development of semi-autonomous robots that can build complicated structures with minimal remote guidance from human controllers.

The challenge will require robots to assemble structures out of building blocks strewn around an arena. Human controllers will only be able to see the arena using sensors on the robots and any commands they send will be subject to delays – just as they would if the robots were on the Moon.

The competition "may directly affect how exploration is conducted on the Moon", says Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for NASA's exploration systems mission directorate. "If the challenge can successfully demonstrate the remote assembly of simple and complex structures, many aspects of exploration in general will be affected for the better."

http://tinyurl.com/bz2e8

SPEAKING OF.....

miniHome: The Green Prefab Modern Trailer

For those who wonder why Treehugger likes modern prefab so much, here is the answer. We think people can live with less and don't need so much space. We think prefabrication generates less waste and more opportunities for greener construction methods and technologies. We think traditional land development restricts peoples choices and costs too much money. We think the miniHome is just about the best answer to the question that we have seen anywhere. Ever.

http://tinyurl.com/8m82d

I want One:

The Rider: An Electric Commuter Trike

Somehow we missed this one. An electric commuter vehicle that folds up (see extended post) not bigger than an umbrella. Okay, at 14 kg (31 lb) it might be a tad heavier, but can your brolly transport you around town at 15 kph (9.5mph) for 4 hours (4 hrs)? Even Mary Poppins would’ve been impressed. The removable 24v battery slips between a fork in the handlebars, the electric motor drives the front wheel, and it boasts regenerative braking, though this may not make it from prototype to production model. Conceived as complementary transport to buses and trains, the Rider’s Israeli designer, Elisha Wetherhorn, is seeking support to bring this cool design to a street near you. Oh yeah, and it carves (leans) as you corner to add a little buzz to your commute. Top pic from Core77. Elisha can be contacted via ::The Rider

http://tinyurl.com/7f43o

Three Good Reasons for a National Sales Tax

Scott Burns of the Dallas Morning News offer three good reasons to support a national sales tax (also know as the Fair Tax) to replace the current income tax system.

http://tinyurl.com/89fqr

Feeling old?

Supplement diet with leucine prevents muscle loss linked to ageing

Muscle in adults is constantly being built and broken down. As young adults we keep the two processes in balance, but when we age breakdown starts to win. However, adding the amino acid leucine to the diet of old individuals can set things straight again. This is the finding of research performed by Lydie Combaret, Dominique Dardevet and colleagues at the Human Nutrition Research Centre of Auvergne, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

After the age of 40, humans start loosing muscle at around 0.5–2% per year. Immediately after a meal degradation of protein slows down and synthesis doubles. This process is triggered by the arrival of a plentiful supply of amino acids. In older animals this stimulus is less effective; synthesis slows down, and previous work also suggests that breakdown may be affected. While adding leucine to the diet restores protein building there was no knowledge about this supplement's effect on breakdown.

To address this, researchers compared protein breakdown in young (8-month) and old (22-month) rats. They discovered that the slow down in degradation that normally follows a meal does not occur in old animals, so there is excessive breakdown. But adding leucine to the diet restored a balanced metabolism.

The team of researchers believe that the age-related problem results from defective inhibition of ubiquitin-proteasome dependent proteoloysis, a complex degradative machinery that breaks down contractile muscle protein, and that leucine supplementation can fully restore correct function.

"Preventing muscle wasting is a major socio-economic and public health issue, that we may be able to combat with a leucine-rich diet," says senior co-author Didier Attaix.

Commenting on the work Michael Rennie from the University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby says: "This is exciting because it strengthens the idea of a co-ordinated linkage between the meal-related stimulation of protein synthesis and the inhibition of breakdown."

http://tinyurl.com/7tt6e

news 12-1-05

The tall and the short of why caffeine works

By Ronald Kotulak

Tribune science reporter

Published December 1, 2005

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant in the world, consumed in coffee, tea and soft drinks by hundreds of millions of people to get started in the morning and as a pick-me-up during the day. That people like the jolt they get from caffeine is no secret, but what caffeine does in the brain has been unknown.

Now a team of Austrian researchers using advanced brain imaging technology has discovered that caffeine makes people more alert by perking up part of the brain involved in short-term memory, the kind that helps focus attention on the tasks at hand.

http://tinyurl.com/bhzta

Caffeine can improve short-term memory

By LEE BOWMAN
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

This is your brain. This is your brain on a cafe grande.  For the first time, researchers have been able to watch distinct areas of the brain -- the ones that relate to short-term memory -- fire up after volunteers ingested the equivalent of two cups of coffee.  "Everyone knows coffee makes us more alert, more vigilant, but our study documented how it works in the brain. We were able to show that caffeine modulates a higher brain function through its effects on distinct areas of the brain," said Dr. Florian Koppelstatter, a radiology fellow at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria.  Koppelstatter presented the findings Wednesday before the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

http://tinyurl.com/c6q54

Hosted apps on the board for AJAX

Slicker development techniques like AJAX, a way of building interactive browser-based applications, are fueling a surge in consumer Web applications.  These new techniques are even reviving efforts to create what was once considered impractical: online alternatives to Microsoft Office.  The launch of high-profile Web services, notably Google Maps, which provided a noticeably better user experience than traditional Web sites, helped publicize the AJAX technique. Now, dozens of start-up companies are using it to create hosted versions of desktop applications, from word processors to project management software.  But rather than simply replicate Microsoft Office online, many of these Web applications, sometimes referred to as Web 2.0, focus on publishing and sharing information over the Net.

http://tinyurl.com/clyg3

Perspective:  India's next big business?

DOHA, Qatar--Srhi Shankar Aiyar, minister of petroleum for India, knows the idea sounds outlandish, but he believes that India could become a petrodollar state in the 21st century.  "If you don't get into the Bay of Bengal now, you will be left back as an Okie," he said during a presentation at the International Petroleum Technology Conference last week. "Unless you step into the breach, you may regret one day dismissing me as a raving lunatic."  The optimism is grounded in massive oil deposits, close to 30 billion tons, in Central India. That's twice the size of the deposits in Iraq (13 billion tons, according to the Institute of Petroleum) and just shy of Saudi deposits. With this, India, which imports 70 percent of its oil, could become an exporter, Aiyar hypothesized.

http://tinyurl.com/b6kqm

 

Israelis trained Kurds in Iraq

 

Exclusive: A number of Israeli companies have won contracts with the Kurdish government in northern Iraq to train and equip Kurdish security forces and build an international airport, Yedioth Ahronoth reports; al-Qaeda warning of attack prompts hasty exit of all Israeli instructors from region  Anat Tal-Shir

 Dozens of Israelis with a background in elite military combat training have been working for private Israeli companies in northern Iraq where they helped the Kurds establish elite anti-terror units, Israel’s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronot revealed Thursday.  According to the report, the Kurdish government contracted Israeli security and communications companies to train Kurdish security forces and provide them with advanced equipment.

http://tinyurl.com/8aqer

 

Ragdoll Masters - Today's Time Waster

I'm not sure what to make of Ragdoll Masters. It's a fighting game, but unlike any I've played before. Rather than punching, kicking, using weapons, or casting spells, you attack the enemy by, essentially, dragging your ragdoll around by the head. In fact, it's best not to think of your ragdoll as a person at all, but as a weapon. You make its limbs flail at the enemy's, and if you hit your enemy's head or body you cause damage. For a game with a seemingly, well, stupid premise, it's pretty fun. Ragdoll Masters is a Windows or Mac download.

http://tinyurl.com/9g37z

Smart User Interface and Intelligent Storage

Glide Effortless features a Smart User Interface (UI) to help you manage your digital lifestyle. The UI is the same for each Glide environment, and it's a smart UI! No more grayed out buttons or confusing menus here. The UI guides you through only those options and actions that are relevant to the environment.

Glide Effortless provides Intelligent Storage to help you manage your files, keep them safe, and share them with peace of mind.

http://tinyurl.com/b2hda

Story of a guy who got jacked buying something online and the way nasty crap that followed.

PriceRitePhoto: Abusive Bait and Switch Camera Store

http://tinyurl.com/bkr4n

Security Flaws Allow Wiretaps to be Evaded

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 30, @08:09PM

from the it's-coming-from-inside-the-house dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times is reporting that a team of researchers led by Matt Blaze has discovered that technology used for decades by law enforcement agents to wiretap telephones has a security flaw that allows the person being wiretapped to stop the recorder remotely. It is also possible to falsify the numbers dialed. The flaws are detailed in a paper being published by the IEEE. Someone who thinks he's being wiretapped can apparently just send a low tone down the line that turns off the recorder. The link has a demo."

http://tinyurl.com/9l3nt

FOR DONI:

BUILD YOUR OWN HEATPIPE:

http://www.benchtest.com/heat_pipe1.html

I've been wanting to try using heat pipes for cooling a processor for a while.  The reason?  Well, imagine that you have the ability to "move" the heat source (the processor) out of the computer case.  Would you be better able to cool it?  Of course, the answer to this is yes.  A heat pipe, in effect, allows you to do this.

Why Heat Pipes?
A few years ago, the prime overclocker's processor was the Celeron 300A.  At its stock speed, the processor generated about 18 watts of heat. If you were lucky enough to get one to run at over 500, it would generate about 30 watts.  We routinely attached dual-fan heat sinks like the Alpha P125 with its huge dimensions of 4.8 x 2.1 x 2.3 inches (120 x 55 x 60 mm) which did a great job of keeping these puppies cool.  Now we have the Thunderbird at 1.2 gigahertz (stock speed) producing up to 66 watts and we are trying to cool it with a heat sink of about half the size of the P125.  If you add to this the fact that the contact area of the processor has shrunk to 1/4 of the size of the Celeron's, you'll see that the challenge of keeping the processor cool is becoming more difficult.

http://tinyurl.com/7fwn8

ALSO FOR DONI:

Abit Mobo Passively Cools CrossFire

Abit’s passively cooled AN8 Ultra and N18 SLI motherboards went down so well with you guys that we could’ve been forgiven for thinking we’d mis-linked our iPod nano review. Needless to say, we knew you eager laddies and lassies would be keen for more.

http://tinyurl.com/d32w3

Fruit bats may carry Ebola virus

Fruit bats may be acting as reservoirs of the killer Ebola virus, responsible for several deadly outbreaks in central Africa, research suggests.

Three bat species captured during outbreaks between 2001 and 2003 in Gabon and the Republic of Congo show evidence of symptomless infection.

Writing in Nature, researchers in Gabon say this means the animals may play a key role in spreading the virus.

They say local residents should be encouraged to refrain from eating bats.

The first human outbreak of Ebola was recorded in 1976, but scientists have still to pin down which species harbour the virus.

If bats are among the culprits, they are more likely to pass the virus on to great apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees, which have been badly affected.

http://tinyurl.com/8yfq3

Tips for the first VC Meeting

I had a meeting last week where an entrepreneur insisted on showing me a demo first.  He was scrambling around asking for wireless keys and looking for ethernet jacks, while I sat there and tried to engage him in conversation.  He lost my interest right then and there.  As I started to think more about it, I thought it would be helpful to share some of my thoughts on how to make the first VC pitch a better experience for all participants.

http://tinyurl.com/az6mt

A COMPANY BASED ON AN E-INK TECH PIECE:

The company's technology enables new applications by printing electronics on thin, flexible plastic substrates. Plastic Logic plans to license out its technology for use in applications such as flexible e-paper displays. Plastic Logic's backplane technology initial focus is e-readers, such as e-books, e-dictionaries, e-maps, and e-newspapers). These displays will typically be wirelessly connected to cell phones and PDAs, allowing mobile users to access newspapers or blogs more easily than with a laptop. Later on, by 2008 or so, the company envisions video displayed on flexible e-paper.