www.howcast.com
Without a doubt, Howcast has the best-looking how-to videos on the Web. Perhaps better yet, the videos don't take themselves too seriously. How else to deal with topics like "How to Become an Ultimate Fighter" (quote: "embrace your failures") or "How to Get Rid of a One Night Stand" (you will need cunning and a poker face). Sign up to get a How-To Video of the Day via e-mail, as well as to be able to edit their how-to wikis, talk to experts in the community area, or upload your own videos. The user-generated stuff is okay, but the Howcast-produced vids are particularly great.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Abu, Baboon you are too young for this birthday present
World's Fastest Production Car to Go Electric
SSC is developing the Ultimate Aero EV, a 500 bhp electric sports car that will come to market in late 2009
Last week saw the one year anniversary of SSC's Ulimate Aero becoming the fastest production car in the world at 256.18 mph, pushing past marks set by Koenigsegg's CCR and Bugatti's Veyron. It's the first time the top speed record has stood for a whole year since McLaren's F1 held it for seven years with 386.4 kmh (240.1mph). Now comes news that an Ultimate Aero EV (Electric Vehicle) is in development. A 500 bhp EV is planned for late 2009 and a 1000 bhp 4WD EV is also under consideration. Now here's the kicker—the press statement reads: "The drive train under development will feature a revolutionary power source allowing for extended time between charging intervals with the possibility of several years between charging."
The anniversary date was September 13 to be exact, but it's the prospect of the first 100% Green Supercar that is interesting. Engineering details are yet undisclosed but SSC expects to roll out its first prototype in February 2009. As for the revolutionary drive train, well, we have no idea what is planned and…we'll suspend disbelief in respect of the company's proven ability to do exactly what it has said it will do in the past. A track record as good as SSC's gives this otherwise ridiculous claim some credibility, though it'll need to be pretty special to run a few years between charges—maybe it's a micro-nuclear powerplant.
"I think we can do it faster, leaner and cleaner than any other manufacturer" says Jerod Shelby, SSC Founder.
Consistent with its company philosophy of being the benchmark, SSC plans next to break the record for the fastest electric car in the world.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Peapod
Take a golf cart, put a smiling face on the front and four seats inside, wrap it in a body that might have once been seen in an animated Disney feature, and what do you get? Peapod, Chrysler's answer for that pesky petroleum problem. The 1290-pound electric car is positioned as a neighborhood vehicle, aimed at planned communities, military bases, college campuses, and any other places where you won't get run over by poking along at a top speed of 25mph.
Don’t get us wrong — we love this little car with its four seats, iPod/iPhone dock, hands-free iPhone integration, 30-mile range (on a 6-8 hour charge from a standard 110-volt outlet), and kooky appearance that grows on you the more you look at it.
Could fill a niche, and we're sure Chrysler can get this cute conveyance on the road in 2009 as promised, because there are already 38,000 of its $10K predecessor on the road already. In 2000, Chrysler bought the North Dakota company formerly call GEM (but whose initials meant Global Electric Motorcars), and has now changed that name to GreenEcoMobility, added some cool design, and here's the result. So how about it, readers? Is Peapod the next-gen of neato electro-cars, or the next Segway?
Saturday, September 13, 2008
new trend Capturing the Moment (and More) via Cellphone Video
Capturing the Moment (and More) via Cellphone Video
By ANNE EISENBERG
Published: September 13, 2008
STILL keeping in touch with friends by texting? How old-fashioned. Some early adopters of technology are now using their mobile phones to send not typed words or photographs, but live video broadcasts. They’re streaming scenes from their daily lives — like trips to the mall, weddings, a new puppy’s antics or even a breaking news story that they happen upon.
At KCRW radio in Santa Monica, Calif., Frances Anderton, a producer, left, uses a cellphone to shoot video of Warren Olney, center, a radio host, and David Corn, an editor at Mother Jones. The feed goes to KCRW’s Web site.
“People have moved on from texting,” said Carla Thompson, senior analyst at the Guidewire Group, a marketing research firm in San Francisco. “Just typing in what you are doing is no longer enough. That’s why the field of live video streaming is burgeoning.”
People want to share visceral experiences immediately, Ms. Thompson said. But many cellphones, including the iPhone, do not yet permit live streaming, and many that do are not cheap — including the high-end Nokia N series of smartphones, for example, which can cost from about $400 to $895. Users whose mobile phone plans don’t include unlimited data streaming for Internet services will have to add the coverage, typically for about $15 to $20 a month.
Once they have the right phones and plans, users can aim their built-in cameras, press a few buttons and, with the right software, be broadcasting within seconds. Their videos can be seen on blogs, on social networking sites like Facebook or, among other places, on the Web sites of companies that provide the software and services for streaming, like Kyte (www.kyte.com) or Qik (qik.com).
“You can record whatever’s happening around you and send it back to wherever you’ve embedded your channel,” Ms. Thompson said. “You don’t have to set up a camera — it’s really instant.”
Viewers can respond immediately to videos, typing messages on their keyboards, for instance, and sending them along to a live session. The typed chat appears instantly at the bottom of viewers’ screens.
The relatively simple technology, which requires no television cameras or satellite links, has much potential, Ms. Thompson said, although the quality will vary when users stream live video, depending on the available bandwidth from the provider.
Still, the technology is appealing and easy to use, she said: “There’s no learning curve. People can pick it up right away.”
With Qik, people can use one of 40 or so Nokias, or some phones with the Windows mobile operating system, including the Motorola Q, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, the AT&T Tilt, the HTC Touch Dual and the Samsung Blackjack II.
Representative John Culberson, Republican of Texas, pairs video streaming with Twitter, the microblogging system that lets him broadcast messages of up to 140 characters to people in his network. He notifies his 3,000 or so Twitter followers when he is about to stream a video with his Nokia N95, so they can watch it live or later — at, for instance, Qik.
“I can talk directly to my constituents in real time without any filter,” Mr. Culberson said.
KCRW, the National Public Radio affiliate in Santa Monica, Calif., decided several months ago to try streaming video of live events from cellphones to its Web site. Anil Dewan, director of new media, said the station first used standard video camera-based footage. “The technology got in the way,” he said. “It didn’t capture the energy we wanted in a live event.”
Instead, the station made a relatively small investment, Mr. Dewan said: three Nokia N95 phones and three plans with AT&T allowing unlimited access to the company’s 3G network. The station signed up with Kyte and sent phones and staff members to the Democratic and Republican conventions to capture events.
“It’s been a tremendous success,” said Mr. Dewan, with more than 124,000 views of 67 convention clips.
“It’s a small, nimble technology,” he said of the streaming process. “You can record and upload quickly to our Web site using Kyte. The content is fed straight from cellphones to the Web site. No one has to encode or edit it.”
Daniel Graf, the chief executive of Kyte in San Francisco, said it allows viewers to respond not only with text but also with audio or video comments.
KCRW is using Kyte’s services on a trial basis, he said. In the future, commercial users will pay a flat fee based either on traffic or on a share of revenue; individuals are not charged for private use of the service.
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, a Web news site, bought a Nokia N95 after seeing other people stream video from smartphones. He signed up with Qik, and particularly likes the interactive chat feature.
“It gives every viewer a chance for feedback,” he said.
Mr. Rose says he thinks the prospects for cellphone streaming are promising.
“I have a whole group of friends,” he said. “The second they see this technology, they want it.”
By ANNE EISENBERG
Published: September 13, 2008
STILL keeping in touch with friends by texting? How old-fashioned. Some early adopters of technology are now using their mobile phones to send not typed words or photographs, but live video broadcasts. They’re streaming scenes from their daily lives — like trips to the mall, weddings, a new puppy’s antics or even a breaking news story that they happen upon.
At KCRW radio in Santa Monica, Calif., Frances Anderton, a producer, left, uses a cellphone to shoot video of Warren Olney, center, a radio host, and David Corn, an editor at Mother Jones. The feed goes to KCRW’s Web site.
“People have moved on from texting,” said Carla Thompson, senior analyst at the Guidewire Group, a marketing research firm in San Francisco. “Just typing in what you are doing is no longer enough. That’s why the field of live video streaming is burgeoning.”
People want to share visceral experiences immediately, Ms. Thompson said. But many cellphones, including the iPhone, do not yet permit live streaming, and many that do are not cheap — including the high-end Nokia N series of smartphones, for example, which can cost from about $400 to $895. Users whose mobile phone plans don’t include unlimited data streaming for Internet services will have to add the coverage, typically for about $15 to $20 a month.
Once they have the right phones and plans, users can aim their built-in cameras, press a few buttons and, with the right software, be broadcasting within seconds. Their videos can be seen on blogs, on social networking sites like Facebook or, among other places, on the Web sites of companies that provide the software and services for streaming, like Kyte (www.kyte.com) or Qik (qik.com).
“You can record whatever’s happening around you and send it back to wherever you’ve embedded your channel,” Ms. Thompson said. “You don’t have to set up a camera — it’s really instant.”
Viewers can respond immediately to videos, typing messages on their keyboards, for instance, and sending them along to a live session. The typed chat appears instantly at the bottom of viewers’ screens.
The relatively simple technology, which requires no television cameras or satellite links, has much potential, Ms. Thompson said, although the quality will vary when users stream live video, depending on the available bandwidth from the provider.
Still, the technology is appealing and easy to use, she said: “There’s no learning curve. People can pick it up right away.”
With Qik, people can use one of 40 or so Nokias, or some phones with the Windows mobile operating system, including the Motorola Q, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, the AT&T Tilt, the HTC Touch Dual and the Samsung Blackjack II.
Representative John Culberson, Republican of Texas, pairs video streaming with Twitter, the microblogging system that lets him broadcast messages of up to 140 characters to people in his network. He notifies his 3,000 or so Twitter followers when he is about to stream a video with his Nokia N95, so they can watch it live or later — at, for instance, Qik.
“I can talk directly to my constituents in real time without any filter,” Mr. Culberson said.
KCRW, the National Public Radio affiliate in Santa Monica, Calif., decided several months ago to try streaming video of live events from cellphones to its Web site. Anil Dewan, director of new media, said the station first used standard video camera-based footage. “The technology got in the way,” he said. “It didn’t capture the energy we wanted in a live event.”
Instead, the station made a relatively small investment, Mr. Dewan said: three Nokia N95 phones and three plans with AT&T allowing unlimited access to the company’s 3G network. The station signed up with Kyte and sent phones and staff members to the Democratic and Republican conventions to capture events.
“It’s been a tremendous success,” said Mr. Dewan, with more than 124,000 views of 67 convention clips.
“It’s a small, nimble technology,” he said of the streaming process. “You can record and upload quickly to our Web site using Kyte. The content is fed straight from cellphones to the Web site. No one has to encode or edit it.”
Daniel Graf, the chief executive of Kyte in San Francisco, said it allows viewers to respond not only with text but also with audio or video comments.
KCRW is using Kyte’s services on a trial basis, he said. In the future, commercial users will pay a flat fee based either on traffic or on a share of revenue; individuals are not charged for private use of the service.
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, a Web news site, bought a Nokia N95 after seeing other people stream video from smartphones. He signed up with Qik, and particularly likes the interactive chat feature.
“It gives every viewer a chance for feedback,” he said.
Mr. Rose says he thinks the prospects for cellphone streaming are promising.
“I have a whole group of friends,” he said. “The second they see this technology, they want it.”
Thursday, September 11, 2008
dont be afraid - Girl's suicide over Big Bang fear
Girl's suicide over Big Bang fear
The LHC aims to recreate conditions a few moments after the Big Bang
A girl in India has committed suicide after watching TV reports that a physics experiment could bring about the end of the world, her father says.
Sixteen-year-old Chaya poisoned herself at her home in the northern city of Indore, Bihari Lal said.
He said Chaya had asked whether the "world would end" when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was switched on.
Some news channels had held discussions featuring doomsday predictions about the European experiment.
'Village would die'
The £5bn ($8.75bn) machine, which aims to recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang, was switched on early on Wednesday.
Set on the Swiss-French border, it is designed to smash protons together along a 27km-long tunnel with cataclysmic force and scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics.
We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things
Bihari Lal
Father
Chaya's father, Bihari Lal, said his daughter - the eldest of his six children - had been frightened after watching local TV reports that the experiment would cause the "Earth to crack up and everybody in the village would die".
"We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail," he told reporters.
In a report published earlier this year, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said the the collider presented "no conceivable danger".
The police in Indore has begun an investigation into Chaya's death.
Many people rushed to temples in various parts of India on Tuesday fearing the "world's end" after watching the reports, reports said.
The LHC aims to recreate conditions a few moments after the Big Bang
A girl in India has committed suicide after watching TV reports that a physics experiment could bring about the end of the world, her father says.
Sixteen-year-old Chaya poisoned herself at her home in the northern city of Indore, Bihari Lal said.
He said Chaya had asked whether the "world would end" when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was switched on.
Some news channels had held discussions featuring doomsday predictions about the European experiment.
'Village would die'
The £5bn ($8.75bn) machine, which aims to recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang, was switched on early on Wednesday.
Set on the Swiss-French border, it is designed to smash protons together along a 27km-long tunnel with cataclysmic force and scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics.
We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things
Bihari Lal
Father
Chaya's father, Bihari Lal, said his daughter - the eldest of his six children - had been frightened after watching local TV reports that the experiment would cause the "Earth to crack up and everybody in the village would die".
"We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail," he told reporters.
In a report published earlier this year, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said the the collider presented "no conceivable danger".
The police in Indore has begun an investigation into Chaya's death.
Many people rushed to temples in various parts of India on Tuesday fearing the "world's end" after watching the reports, reports said.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Google wants to put every issue of every newspaper ever printed online
Google started its newspaper archiving effort with two papers -- The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Now, it has announced via the Official Google Blog that it's expanding the project and scanning all issues from dozens more newspapers.
This effort will enable us to help you find an even greater range of material from newspapers large and small, in conjunction with partners such as ProQuest and Heritage, who've joined in this initiative...You'll be able to explore this historical treasure trove by searching the Google News Archive or by using the timeline feature after searching Google News. Not every search will trigger this new content, but you can start by trying queries like [Nixon space shuttle] or [Titanic located]. Stories we've scanned under this initiative will appear alongside already-digitized material from publications like the New York Times as well as from archive aggregators, and are marked "Google News Archive." Over time, as we scan more articles and our index grows, we'll also start blending these archives into our main search results so that when you search Google.com, you'll be searching the full text of these newspapers as well.
According to the announcement, users will be able to see stories as they originally appeared. I'm not sure if seeing scanned images will be an option -- i.e. if users will also be able to choose to see stories in plain type -- or whether it will be the only way to view archived materials. Given how Google book search works, I guess it's going to be an option.
This phase of the project doesn't seek to archive every newspaper story ever published, but that is Google stated objective. It's nice to know that the company that's putting us newspapers out of business will at least preserve our memory.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Vample Where is our Water?
Where is our water stored?
We all depend on freshwater, but alas most of the world's water is salt water. The graphic belows shows where most of the water is stored. A huge 97% (a bit more than 97 of the 100 blocks in the graphic) is located in the oceans and thus is salt water.
Ice caps and glaciers (think of the Himalayas, Greenland and Antarctica) store about 2% of the total and are our biggest storage place for freshwater.
Then, still noticeable, groundwater. Next to quite a bit of freshwater that is stored there, there are also major parts of the world (mostly close to seas and oceans) where most of these waters are more or less salty (brackish water).
When you add all the storage places just mentioned, you have a small, small remainder of about 0.02% that is the total of lakes, rivers, rain, etc. So, that part of the water that is most visible in daily life, is actually a very very small part of the total. See the small red dot in the graphic, which represents all the water in all the lakes, rivers and in the air, of the whole world.
Percentage view of where water is located
 |
Largest containerports of the world
Largest containerports of the world
| rank | port city | country | containers (TEU) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2006 | |||
| 1. | Singapore | Singapore | 23,192,200 | 24,792,400 |
| 2. | Hong Kong | China | 22,602,000 | 23,234,000 |
| 3. | Shanghai | China | 18,084,000 | 21,710,000 |
| 4. | Shenzhen | China | 16,196,700 | 18,469,000 |
| 5. | Busan | South Korea | 11,843,151 | 12,038,786 |
| 6. | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | 9,471,056 | 9,774,671 |
| 7. | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 9,286,756 | 9,690,000 |
| 8. | Dubai | UAE | 7,619,000 | 8,923,464 |
| 9. | Hamburg | Germany | 8,087,545 | 8,862,000 |
| 10. | Los Angeles | USA | 7,484,624 | 8,470,000 |
| 11. | Qingdao | China | 6,307,000 | 7,700,000 |
| 12. | Long Beach | USA | 6,709,818 | 7,290,365 |
| 13. | Ningbo-Zhoushan | China | 5,208,000 | 7,140,000 |
| 14. | Antwerp | Belgium | 6,488,000 | 7,018,000 |
| 15. | Guangzhou | China | 4,683,000 | 6,660,000 |
| 16. | Port Klang | Malaysia | 5,543,527 | 6,326,295 |
| 17. | Tianjin | China | 4,801,000 | 5,950,000 |
| 18. | New York | USA | 4,785,318 | 5,092,806 |
| 19. | Tanjung Pelepas | Malaysia | 4,170,000 | 4,770,000 |
| 20. | Bremen | Germany | 3,743,969 | 4,450,000 |
| 21. | Xiamen | China | 3,342,300 | 4,010,000 |
| 22. | Laem Chabang | Thailand | 3,766,000 | 3,964,000 |
| 23. | Tokyo | Japan | 3,597,588 | 3,695,852 |
| 24. | Tanjung Priok | Indonesia | 3,282,000 | 3,350,000 |
| 25. | Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru | India | 2,667,000 | 3,300,000 |
| source: various. note: units are in TEU's (Twenty Feet-Equivalent-Units). | ||||
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Air car
Short intro to the air car
French company MDI has developed an "air car" that runs on compressed air technology. That's old news, but its new deal with Tata Motors means it may actually be going into production. (Photo courtesy of MDI)
The MiniCAT is MDI's in-town version of the compressed-air vehicle. It is reportedly planned for pre-production by Tata Motors in India this year. (Photo courtesy of MDI)
MDI also proposes this OneCAT idea for an extremely low-cost vehicle, thanks to no top or windows, among other economies.
Blender
AbuAbu Baboon this is a software for rendering your own animation movies guess its complicated but.....
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major
www.blender.org
operating systems under the GNU General Public License.
REally weird stuff can only be English
Shoe Lacing Photos | |||
 | Black & white Nike Dunks with white & black combination ofLattice Lacing and Checkerboard Lacing (from Mike D). Check out the twin lattices! |  | Black Adio shoes with blackBow Tie Lacing (from Andy S). This lacing looks really different on such wide shoes. |
 | Black DVS Shoe Company shoes with lavender Lattice Lacing(from Larrissa M). Rather than weaving, Larrissa has overlapped these laces, which looks pretty neat. |  Red & black Converse sneakers with white trim and red & black Checkerboard Lacing(from Scott D). Notice how the two shoes have reversed checkerboard color schemes. | |
 | Black Adio Kenny Andersons with white & blackCheckerboard Lacing (from Ross). These shoes are w-i-d-e, allowing a huge number of vertical runs. |  | White Santio sneakers with red & black trim and white Lattice Lacing (from kociaczeqq). The double-width laces create a strong weave. |
 | White Lugz sneakers with whiteCheckerboard Lacing (from John P). Using one color for the whole checkerboard gives a subtle result. |  | Grey Etnies sneakers with pink & white trim and patterned green & pink Checkerboard Lacing(from Catrina A). These star laces create an amazing checkerboard effect! |
 | Charcoal grey Adidas sneakers with white trim and white Loop Back Lacing (from Tosihirou S). This interesting variation has laces passing twice through each eyelet. |  | Black suede shoes with blackLadder Lacing (from Nicholas S). Ladder lacing makes these shoes look even more distinctive. |
 | White Nike sneakers with pink trim and pink Lattice Lacing(from Casey). This lattice has the loose ends hidden for a neat result. |  | White Adidas Stan Smiths with white Straight (Bar) Lacing (from Levi W). The lacing gives a very clean, minimalist look to these sneakers. |
 | Black Vans Sk8 Hi shoes with white trim and white Display Shoe Lacing (from Earvin A). Classic black & white look, with the lace ends tucked in. |  | Black Adio shoes with pale blueStraight (Bar) Lacing (from Andy S). These wide sneakers really show off any lacing method. |
 | Black Converse hi-tops with white trim and white Zipper Lacing (from Sara C). This shows off the sharp zipper design really well. |  | Transparent Brazilian Jellies with red trim and white Lattice Lacing(from Sara C). These are the most unusual shoes I've seen with Lattice Lacing! |
 | Grey Vans skate shoes with black & white trim and whiteLoop Back Lacing (from Ryan L). Ryan has varied the overs and unders of this lacing. |  | Pink Converse hi-tops with green & white trim and whiteZipper Lacing (from Raeanne P). The zipper lacing will certainly be noticed on these bright sneakers! |
 | Black combat boots with blue & yellow Double Helix Lacing(from SoLoN). The two colored laces even match my lacing diagrams! |  | Black Es (és) Accels with white trim and white Zipper Lacing(from Kyle S). Very effective with the lace passing through the bottom lug. |
 | Black Fallen Stings with grey & white trim and white & black combination of Lattice Lacingand Loop Back Lacing andCheckerboard Lacing (from Ben K). Ben has created some individual variations of several methods. |  | Black Fallen Stings with grey & white trim and white & black combination of Loop Back Lacing and Checkerboard Lacing(from Ben K). A black & white checkerboard alongside a white & black checkerboard. |
 | Black Converse hi-tops with white trim and white Over Under Lacing (from Casey). The "Over" crosses are very easy to pull tight. |  | White Globe Shoes Focus' with green Criss Cross Lacing (from Casey). These wide, green laces make even traditional lacing look great. |
 | White Globe Shoes Focus' with green Straight (Bar) Lacing (from Casey). Wide shoes and wide laces accentuate the "bars". |  | Black Converse hi-tops with white trim and white Straight (European) Lacing (from Casey). The underlying zig-zag can actually look interesting. |
 | Pink Converse sneakers with black & white trim and black & white Checkerboard Lacing(from Marissa B). The black lace has also been fed through the bottom eyelets. |  | White Phat Farm shoes with black & white combination ofCheckerboard Lacing andDisplay Shoe Lacing (from Bart Y). The Display Shoe Lacing is enhanced with an additional black crossover. |
 | Black Nike sneakers with white trim and black Straight (Bar) Lacing (from Shawn D). This lacing is finished with outside loops for cycling. |  | Brown military boots with brownLadder Lacing (from the Internet). What's left of leather ladder lacing on some old military boots. |
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