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ki4amd

The Environment

CFL Disposal: It's In the Bag

By Posted on 7.10.2008 5 Comments
Compact fluorescent light bulbs solve one problem, but present another: Although the bulbs are longer-lasting and more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, CFLs contain mercury, a neurotoxin. If a bulb breaks or isn’t recycled properly, the mercury can be released into the environment.

7.11.2008 at 06:00am - Comment by ki4amd

Neat! A magic bag that teleports CFL bulbs to the recycling facility. Okay, seriously, the bag is a neat idea, but it falls short of being the solution to the weak infrasturcture to get a bulb from the house to the recycling facility, although I could see these Hg-absorbing bags as a useful tool to use within such an infrastructure.
Entertainment & Gaming

The Breakdown: Can YOU Bend a Bullet?

By Posted on 7.3.2008 31 Comments

7.7.2008 at 12:21pm - Comment by ki4amd

What this movie should've done to be more believable is issue the assassins guns that fire flat disks similar to a Frisbee, and then they would have all of the aerodynamic tricks of a Frisbee at their disposal.
Gadgets

Unlocking Android

By Posted on 6.10.2008 4 Comments
When Google squelched rumors of the all-powerful “G-phone” last November, we admit we were a bit bummed. Instead of an inexpensive smartphone that would free us from our carrier overlords, Google had been working on software—an open-source, mobile operating system called Android. Great name, but will unlocking cellphone code really change things for consumers? Miner says that more than 750,000 developers have downloaded the tool required to write an Android-based program, four times as many as accessed the iPhone’s tightly regulated kit. That means Android users could have far more mobile applications to choose from. But we still don’t know how those apps will stack up next to Apple’s. Android-equipped phones—set to go on sale this summer—should be less expensive than the iPhone, since manufacturers won’t have to pay licensing fees for the software. But instead of getting free, ad-subsidized service, like Google’s e-mail, you’ll still shell out to carriers. Which makes us wonder: Is this really so new, or just another offering in the crowded mobile market? We spoke with Rich Miner, head of Google’s mobile-platform division, for some clarity.

6.11.2008 at 09:36am - Comment by ki4amd

I've been cussing my LG since I got it because I can't do anything without going through Verizon. Take a picture? You have to upload it to Verizion My Pics website to get it into your computer. Bluetooth? Yeah, it's there, but only works with a handsfree device. Bluetooth is good for about a million applications, but my phone only supports one. Want to keep a backup copy of the phonebook and datebook appointments? Gonna cost ya'! You have to subscribe and download an application that uploads that stuff to Verizon's servers. It's about time someone made a phone with features that I can actually use!
Entertainment & Gaming

Double Amputee Sprinter Cleared For Olympic Competition

By Posted on 5.16.2008 30 Comments
Its about time. After an excruciating and absurd debate, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius won his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport today which immediately overturned an asinine ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations which stated Pistorius gained an unfair advantage from his prosthetics.

5.19.2008 at 10:52am - Comment by ki4amd

The Associated Press source article is far less biased than this one, but presents a better argument in favor of Oscar. Apparently an MIT study contradicted the German one. There's clearly a thin line somewhere between flesh-and-bone athlete and unfair advantage, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport has to carefully consider both sides of any argument and make these decisions carefully. I trust their judgement because they've researched this far more than I have. As for the plausibility of an unfair advantage arising from prosthetics like this, I'd say it can't be as easy as ruling out only prosthetics that add energy to the system. In the case of Oscar, his prosthetic legs are ultra-efficent springs, whereas the flesh and blood between my knees and the ground are energy hungry centers for viscous resistance. It's similar to the difference between rubber tires on asphalt and steel wheels on rails. Because so much of running is cardio-vascular, anything that increases efficiency by 25%, as the German study suggested, is unacceptable, but I trust the decision of Court of Arbitration for Sport and suspect the MIT study must have been quite persuasive. As for the journalistic quality of the article. There is none. It reads more like a blog rant, many examples of which can be found here in these comments.
Science

Broadband over Power Lines

By Posted on 5.8.2008 1 Comments
Broadband over Power Lines, or BPL, is a technology developed to send data over lines also used for electric power transmission. Simply put, it's high-speed Internet through your electrical outlets. Right off the bat, the appeal of a system like this is attractive for a lot of reasons. It could provide broadband service to rural areas without the physical infrastructure for DSL or cable and would require only minimal hardware installations by the power utilities.

5.9.2008 at 07:22am - Comment by ki4amd

Imagine a communication medium with which huge amounts of information can be moved around the world with absolutely no man-made infrastructure in between! No satellites, no underwater cables, no repeaters! It's impervious to ice storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes, recovers automatically from major solar storms that can wipe out satellites, and is extremely difficult for governments to censor. With a simple battery powered (or even crank powered) device you could monitor it, or with relatively easy to acquire permission from the FCC, you could even participate in 2-way communications in this medium. The best part is that there are no monthly subscription fees for its use. It’s practically free! Now stop imagining, because this amazing futuristic communication medium has existed under your nose somewhere off the left end of your radio dial since the 1920's. For your entire life, you've been immersed in news from China, Cuba, Brittan, and a host of other countries without even knowing it, as well as friendly conversations between users worldwide, secret messages sent to spies, and occasional life-saving emergency messages to and from places where nature has destroyed the man-made infrastructure. This amazing infrastructure-less communication medium is known as radio. In the frequencies below 30 MHz, it’s known as “shortwave” or “world-band.” Amateur radio operators enjoy the full benefits of these frequencies by communicating with relatively inexpensive equipment, and absolutely no intermediate man-made infrastructure for incredible distances. That’s the warm-fuzzy part. The problem with many BPL systems is that they operate in the extremely useful frequency range of 1.6 – 80 MHz where worldwide communications is possible—serving effectively to jam everything between the AM broadcast band and the FM music band. Powerlines look very similar to the most popular antennas used by amateur radio operators, and they function in much the same way as well. If you pipe an 11.7 MHz signal into a powerline it will radiate, and it will effectively jam any signals from Radio Bulgaria for any nearby listeners. Add to that the fact that the signals piped into the powerline can cover the whole swath from 1.7 – 80MHz and you’ve wiped out international radio completely for local listeners. It’s understandable why the Amateur Radio Relay League is so strongly opposed to BPL. Now a new technology known as “E-Line” is very intriguing as a win-win alternative to High Frequency BPL. “E-Line” uses frequencies in the microwave range which have much shorter propagation, and provides much higher data rates.
Entertainment & Gaming

X, X, The Magical Fruit

By Posted on 5.1.2008 4 Comments
An apple a day might keep away more than the doctor. HortResearch, a New Zealand company with 400 scientists studying all things fruit, has early data that suggests a specific (mystery) fruit can delay fatigue by 20 percent and increase muscle power by 70 percent. But don't raid the produce aisle quite yet. Hort won't say which fruit has shown the benefits and also notes their version is a variety bred internally for the right compound interactions. In other words, for those of use not lucky enough to be Hort test subjects, it doesn't exist.

5.2.2008 at 07:49am - Comment by ki4amd

Yeah, that's a neat photoshop trick to go with the story.