NYT: Israel Goes Electric

“With $100 a barrel oil, we’ve crossed a historic threshold where electricity and batteries provide a cheaper alternative for consumers,” Mr. Agassi said. “You buy a car to go an infinite distance, and we need to create the same feeling for an electric car — that you can fill it up when you stop or sleep and go an infinite distance.” full story

Gawker's New Sci-Fi Blog

"io9s were marketed as cheap time machines in the 2070s. They were actually just low-grade input/output devices for the brain that tuned tachyon waves and gave users vivid images of possible futures. The things were so addictive, and drove so many people insane, that io9s were eventually outlawed. Today the word is just slang. io9ers are the early implanters who obsessively upgrade themselves with beta tech. People who tweak out on buggy brainware are sometimes said to have "gone io9."

Yeah and if you want safe water just put a few drops of io9 in it. (tee-hee)

The only blog that compares with mine in cool content. 'Course they have have 4 contributors, 3 editors, and money. There is that.

Everything Is A Screen: Guitar Hero

iRobot Soldiers Inlist in the US Army

Major contract signals shift from experimental deployment to new use of force. What happens when they become self aware? Deathbots are great when the enemy doesn't have them.

Sarcos ExoSkeleton

Ray Kurzweil: Futurist

"..we will reach the Singularity, a moment when technology is advancing so rapidly that 'strictly biological' humans will be unable to comprehend it."

I hate it when that happens, wait a minute...what?

Brian O'Keefe gives a good write up on Ray Kurzweil. Inventor of the flat bed scanner, author, and visionary futurist.

Swarming DIY Quick Response Emergency Aircraft

The Raw Feed reports that Bill Lishman has invented

a rescue tricycle story here

I like the citizenship behind the low cost solution for emergency aircraft, The invention would be far cheaper, faster and more flexible than current methods of getting helicopters to deliver supplies for disaster relief.

Futuristic Eye In The Sky Scam

My friend Dean sends me this story from the Associated Press. A couple has been convicted of bilking people for cash claiming that they can scan their bodies via satellite imaging and that government agents will repair any maladies found while you are sleeping. This is great Utopian science fiction.

Google to Replace Everyones Massive Storage Hardrives

Wired magazine touched on this last year, and noted that the 'Goog had moved it's headquarters not far from where I am along the Columbia river for it's abundant low cost hydroelectric access (needed to power it's massive server farms).

According to a report today from the WSJ Google will be offering mass storage for free and larger amounts at a fixed cost and could be operating within a few months.

I have investigated it and if I spend $100-$250 per year on upgrading my drives to bigger and bigger storage formats I am losing money and have less security than storing on a semi-dedicated server with one of the big company's who offer scalable solutions. This is hard for many people to wrap their minds around as we are so used to physical memory hardware. The other benefit is you can access your info anywhere in the world. Security? You are far more vulnerable at home then at a clean room with armed guards, video surveillance, redundant backups, and a team of technicians and 24 hours support.

The biggest hold-up? Now that broadband is readily available for most it's good FTP software. Firefox seems to have that licked though with it's latest in-browser plugin.

I am now looking at a terabyte as the minimum size drive I would purchase. 1000 gigs just doesn't seem like that much if you consider a DVD is just under a gig. Mind boggling.

Culled from Smartmobs

The Pondering Primate questions the Goog's commitment to service.

Green Cycle Could Catch On

Cool recumbent manga-style electric motorcycle charges in six hours goes 180K before needing recharge. via StrangeThingsFromJapan

North Korea Needs Segways?

via thedaytheytriedtokillme

banksy

Personal information of 25 million people lost

Guilty of not regularly backing up your files? HMRC doesn't back up it files either apparently.

Living breathing humans known as individual citizens:0 Ministry of Information: -2. Orwellian debacle: Priceless. For everything else there's Socialism.

"They simply can not be trusted with people's personal information,"


In other news I noticed that according to the websitevaluecalculator.com Whuffie blog is worth $71,518,847. How does one cash in on that value?

I am thinking on moving this blog to wordpress.

Super Cool "Inviso Helmet"

The new JSF x-35 helmet is being developed to where the entire plane is invisible, no longer limiting the pilot to a mere cockpit display. The first plane without a Heads Up Display (HUD) in 50 years.

via nu

Book Release: "Darwin’s Paradox"

Fellow blogger and author Nina Munteanu's book "Darwin's Paradox" has just been released a by Canadian publisher Dragon Moon Press. "It's a sci-fi thriller that explores co-evolution, artificial intelligence, nature's 'intelligence' and destiny."

The novel is available online through Amazon and Buy.com.
And at the following retailers: Barnes & Noble , Borders.com , Wal-Mart, and Target.

Nina's literature has been nominated for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, Ecataromance Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Aurora Prix, and the Foundation of Speculative Literature’s Fountain Awards.

I will have to see if I can get a hold of a copy and give it a review. In a unique turn of events it will likely cost less to purchase in Canada then here in the US. :)

Newspapers Answer

Whuffie Ring

It shows the number of Google hits you get, when you search for the name of the person who wears it. Need I say more? This Berlin college project is looking for investors.

Lampooner of Worlds

You know I thought Bored with Boing Boing was a funny idea. So many people read Boingx2, I thought that a little cerebral satire would do the world good. Okay it made laugh. Maybe at the expense of the hard working folk at that site. But funny just the same. The author known only as "The Advocate" was wacky, zany, and from left field. In a good way. But alas it was a "FIPS". Flash In the Pan Site. So I bid you a dieu, and hope all is well in your freaky little world, and while you are likely on your way to important stuff; don't forget us here ion the interwebs.

Samsung releases 64 gig chips for memory in MP3 players. Hold off on buying the new Ipod?

"Satellites could also heat the cloud tops (of hurricanes) by beaming microwaves from space."