You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2007.
About 2,000 low-caste Hindu Indians bowed before orange-robed monks and recited prayers as they converted to Buddhism in a mass ceremony Sunday. Traditional Hindu society in India sets limits on economic and educational progress among those born in low-caste families. Dalits say they are routinely barred from entering temples and schools despite
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People are switching to Firefox fast as ever, while IE’s share drops every day!
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Yesterday, Tesla Motors received $561,000 for the development of a UL-approved 16 kw (medium-power) public commercial charging station from CARB. They say the technology “could be used to power up electric vehicles throughout the state of California.” Might we someday drive our Roadsters and WhiteStars to the Tesla station for a fill-up?
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On May 24, Sony unveiled what it is calling the world’s first flexible, full-color organic electroluminescent display (OLED) built on organic thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. OLEDs typically use a glass substrate, but Sony developed new technology for forming organic TFT on a plastic substrate, so they’re thin, lightweight and flexible.
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Judge Submits Official Recommendation to DEA Urging End to 40-Year Barrier to FDA-Approved Medical Marijuana Research
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Google’s uber-efficient use of power saves a lot of money AND energy; its servers
’ power supplies now run at 90% efficiency or better, cutting down the energy losses by a factor of four. Says Google, “We believe this energy-saving power supply technology can be applied to home computers, too.”
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A new approach to delivering in-flight wireless may debut this fall, at least in North America, that doesn
’t suffer from the previous attempt’s sky-high satellite transmission costs and expensive, heavy radio equipment, that together made the service unprofitable and unwieldy to deliver at a mass scale.
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A dainty solar-powered plane with wings the width of a giant Airbus will retrace exploits in aviation history, including Charles Lindbergh’s first ever transatlantic crossing, before a pioneering round-the-world flight in 2011, project leaders said Tuesday.
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The current standard taxi, Crown Victoria, gets about 14 mpg in the city. It’ll be replaced by a wide variety of new taxis, from Prius, to Ford Escape hybrid SUV. 13,000 Taxis is a lot to replace, but apparently a 20% per year churn is about what taxi companies deal with in New York, so, basically, every new cab they buy will have to be hybrid.
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The company plans to use its MiniPup GNU/ Linux distribution for low-cost computers in the sub-$100 price range.
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A third broadband pipe may be coming within two years to the white spaces between TV channels, but only if the FCC is convinced that it won’t interfere. The White Space Coalition is trying to prove that it won’t.
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A U.S. government- and industry-led coalition aiming to equip every car and roadside in America with wirelessly connected computers has tapped Linux for a prototype design. The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium (VII-C) hopes to lower driver death rates, reduce traffic jams, and media-enable cars before 2017.
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Google filed a proposal on Monday with the Federal Communications Commission calling on the agency to let companies allocate radio spectrum using the same kind of real-time auction that the search engine company now uses to sell advertisements.
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Well, Google is never one to lie back and take it from the Redmond crew, so they’ve struck a deal with Stanford to license the sensing technology behind 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge winner Stanley to improve their maps. Stanley, as you probably remember, was a robotic Volkswagen Touareg put together by the Stanford Racing Team that zipped
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General Electric unveiled an $11.6 billion deal to sell its plastics division to Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial company, Sabic. GE will receive aftertax proceeds of $9 billion, which will be used mainly for a relaunch of its current stock buyback plan.
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A blog entry on producing bio diesel from algae and its advantages has a google video on the topic and also a interview audio Good one
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Yes, that’s Three THOUSAND, Seven Hundred Thirty One point Nine percent. Are you still complaining about how hard we have it? FTA: “Zimbabwe’s rate of inflation surged to 3,731.9%, driven by higher energy and food costs, and amplified by a drop in its currency, official figures show…”
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A look at the Montessori method of education that have resulted in successful alumni like Will Wright and both the Google founders.
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In skyscraper-crazy Dubai, tall isn’t enough. Now there are plans for a 68-story tower where the floors would rotate 360 degrees. Each floor would rotate independently, creating a constantly changing architectural form.
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A wind farm off the UK could power 1,000,000 homes
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Images that show how fingerprints can be used to reveal whether you are a smoker, an avid coffee drinker or even a drug addict have been revealed by UK scientists.
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Purdue professor makes hydrogen by mixing water, gallium and aluminum, eliminating the need to store hydrogen.
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Both popular music file formats MP3 and AACS are patent encumbered - that means we all end up paying too much for our music one way or another. Time to switch to playing Ogg! Playing Ogg is ethically, legally and technically superior. Download this Ogg friendly media player for Mac and Windows now! (Ogg support comes o’natural for GNU/Linux users)
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The smallest planet known to pass in front of its host star has been found – it may be made of exotic hot ice and shrouded in steam
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“The next generation of wireless Internet products certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance is expected to hit shelves this summer, even though a final standard for the technology isn’t due for another year, the industry group says.”
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A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.
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Following in the footsteps of schools ranging from Arizona State to Canton College, Illinois State University’s Board of Trustees approved a new bachelor’s degree program in renewable energy. If given the green light by the state’s Board of Higher Education Approval, the program would become the first of its kind in Illinois.
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It was the longest test drive of its kind: two hydrogen-powered Chevy Sequels drove 300 miles through New York state yesterday, and overall - despite three emergency stops - the test was a success. There’s a reason we’re not all cruising on hydrogen right now, but this shows just how much work is going on so we can do so in the future.
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The Lighthouse is another innovative green skyscraper to be constructed in Dubai. For energy generation, it will have three enormous 225 kilowatt wind turbines (29 meters in diameter), and 4000 photovoltaic panels on the south facing façade.
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Norway is the latest European country to move closer to mandatory government use of ODF (and PDF). According to a press release provided in translation to me by an authoritative source, Norway now joins Belgium, Finland, and France (among other nations) in moving towards a final decision to require such use. The text of the press release, as well
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BibMe.org is a new automatic bibliography generator that uses a multitude of web services to auto-fill bibliography info for a works cited page. It then lets you download the bibliography in MLA, APA, or Chicago formats.
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Charles Stross talks about his personal predictions when it comes to the next 20 years of Technology, What it will bring us, limitations and expectations.
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Iraq’s interior ministry has decided to bar news photographers and cameramen from the scenes of bomb attacks, operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said Sunday.
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“South Korea’s LG Philips LCD has developed the world’s first A4-sized colour electronic-paper - a paper-thin and bendable viewing panel. The e-paper - which measures 35.9cm across its diagonal and is just 300 micrometres (0.3 millimetres) thin - can display up to 4096 colours.”
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“It’s turned out that DDT is virtually harmless to man, bird or beast. But that didn’t help Africa’s malaria sufferers, who for 30 years were deprived of DDT because Western relief aid was often contingent on recipient countries not using DDT. Most poor countries that needed it most stopped using it or never got it. Tens of millions died…”
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“This skyscraper, to be built in Dubai, is called the Burj al-Taqa (’Energy Tower’), and it will produce 100% of its own power. The tower will have a huge (197 foot diameter) wind turbine on its roof, and arrays of solar cells that will total 161,459 square feet in size.”
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The San Francisco controller’s office issued a favorable review Friday on a proposal by EarthLink and Google to provide the city with free wireless Internet access.
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The Japanese government wants to go open source, as a way to rely less on a single vendor IT software infrastructure. And plenty of vendors are lining up to help make this happen. The move by the vendors to collaborate on Linux in Japan comes from a edict from the country’s government to make Linux and open source a priority for all IT procurements
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The plant would also have to come with a large energy storage system, be built next to others and be located close to users. To date, no one has completed a facility that comports to all of these parameters, said Fred Morse, an energy analyst who has studied the issue
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Open source Google
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If it seems Canadians weigh less than their American neighbours, they do – but not for the reasons you might think. A large swath of Canada actually boasts lower gravity than its surroundings.
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The UEV Spyder is an all-electric two-seat sports car that will soon be available for around $70,000 (plus $30,000 for optional lithium ion batteries). It has a top speed of 100 mph, does 0-60 in 7 seconds and a has a range of 70-150 miles (250 with li-ion). Is it a Tesla? No. Is it still really cool? Yes. New pictures and specs were released today
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“Foster + Partners is at it again with their design for Masdar in Abu Dhabi, the world’s first zero-carbon and zero-waste city. The new 6 million square meter walled sustainable development Masdar was driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company…”
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From China to Brazil, countries have begun setting aside tens of thousands of acres for the cultivation of jatropha – a plant many experts say is the most promising source for biodiesel. At the same time, companies from Europe and India have begun buying up land throughout Africa to establish jatropha plantations.
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Bush would have to deliver to Congress by July 13 progress reports about Iraqi military units in taking over operations from U.S. forces, along with reports on Iraq’s progress in passing an oil revenue distribution law and other measures to create domestic political stability.
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Last week was a big one: if we are lucky it may have been the week in which the US patent system imploded under the weight of its own recent ludicrousness, hopefully to be replaced by a saner one.
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“Scientists are eyeing the jet stream, an energy source that rages night and day, 365 days a year, just a few miles above our heads”.
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HU-210 (Dexanabinol, Sinnabidiol) is a synthetic cannabinoid that was discovered around 1988 in the group of Dr Raphael Mechoulam at the Hebrew University. HU-210 is 100 to 800 times more potent than natural THC from cannabis and has an extended duration of action. HU-210 is the (+)-1,1-dimethylheptyl analog of 7-hydroxy-delta-6-tetrahydroca.
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Dell, the second biggest constructor of personal computers in the world, announced last week that it will soon offer computers running Linux instead of Windows. Linux for the first time becomes a preinstalled OS on Pc’s. This puts an end to Microsoft’s long supremacy and absolute monopoly in this domain.
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Dell’s latest advertising campaign
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Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French presidential election, according to projections made from partial results. Mr Sarkozy is estimated to have won 53% of the vote, compared to 47% for socialist Segolene Royal.
The turnout was the highest in decades at 85.5%.
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New proof that cold fusion works could fuel additional interest in generating power from low energy nuclear reactions.
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In Saudi Arabia, gasoline costs about 45 cents a gallon. In Iran it’s 33 cents. Venezuelans pay less than a quarter.
These absurdly low prices are a direct result of massive government subsidies.
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A small country with a big heart! Delicious 29 photos.
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amazing photos of various types of spacecraft taking off - very dramatic
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A quarter of the world’s oceans will be protected from fishing boats which drag heavy nets across the sea floor, South Pacific nations have agreed.
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A new study details how nanomaterials can be created that are not only safe, but also cost less and perform better than conventional materials. “Green Nanotechnology: It’s Easier Than You Think,” was written by the Washington D.C. think tank, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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Electromagnetic “wormholes” results from turning invisible sphere inside out. Viewed straight on, light simply zips down the tube. But from the side, light would appear to come out of nowhere, as though sent on a detour to another dimension and back.
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This operating system market share trend study by Net Applications report an astonishing increase number of Internet access from Linux clients, about 100% in just 2 months!!!
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Indeed, the nutrition facts breakdown for one cup (8 ounces) can make you feel as if you’re hallucinating: 46 percent of your daily calcium and 43 percent of your phosphorus? “The hemp milk is selling like crazy,” says Kara Holsopple, member services coordinator for East End Food Co-op in Point Breeze, Pa.
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For anyone who struggles to get a good night’s rest, it could be a dream come true. Scientists have invented a technique which they say could help trigger deep sleep in the most chronic insomniac. Using medical equipment, they stimulated the brain with harmless magnetic pulses. These penetrate the nerves that control a type of deep sleep called “sl
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This prodigious new power station harnesses the sun’s energy and in effect, causes the air to glow around it. The pictures are phenomenal and totally rhombus!
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A research ship is about to begin a project around the Galapagos Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, that will highlight the importance of marine plankton in the fight against global warming and climate change.
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Dow Jones & Co. shareholders say Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion takeover bid may have opened the door for other bidders, including General Electric, Washington Post Co., Gannett and even Google. Says Lawrence Haverty Jr. of Gamco Investors: “There are sharks swimming around.”
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Researchers have created a robot that can run up a wall as smooth as glass and onto the ceiling at a rate of six centimeters a second.
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The problem with wireless Net access is you can’t take it with you. But a host of organizations — from ISPs to businesses and cities — are seeking to make cheap or free connections ubiquitous. What does the future hold?
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With $1.2 trillion in reserves, most of it in dollar-backed assets, China plans to launch the world’s largest investment fund. It could play havoc with the U.S. economy.
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Toshiba’s Italian channel sales and marketing operation reportedly is considering offering pre-loaded Linux in its Tecra, Satellite, Portege, and Qosmio notebook lines, according to a story published online last week in the Il Sole newspaper.
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A quick and easy intro to writing device drivers for Linux like a true kernel developer!
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Scientists are using nanotechnology to mend the broken spinal cords of mice. The results of their research could signal the end to diseases in humans, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and crippled people may walk again.
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“Daniel Strohl, painted some aluminum cans black, drilled some holes in the cans, stacked them, and then put them in a box and, voila, [solar panel].”
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With 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 IPs to hand out, you’re basically guaranteed your own public IP everywhere, even in a million-computer business. According to this, (http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-address-space) 09F9:1102:9D74:E35B:D841:56C5:6356:88C0 hasn’t been taken yet! Who has the millions to buy the 0900 range?
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