I searched CR4 and only found a couple of older links for "Fluorescent Dimmer" and "Custom Fluorescent Ballasts".
What is the current state of technology for dimmable fluorescent ballasts for 4' and 8' T8 lamps?
How much is the lamp life shortened by the use of a dimmable ballast? In my ap
Up north in the Canadian province of Manitoba, polar bears are receiving some unwelcome guests. Researchers have seen grizzly bears moving into the area for the first time, and that might not be good news for the already-troubled polar bears.
Linda Gormezano and her team, who are publishing the study (pdf) in Canadian Field-Naturalist, weren’t even looking for grizzlies when they started to spot the huge mammals; they were flying around counting fox dens. Before 1996, there was no evidence that grizzly bears encroached on polar bear territory. From that year on, however, there have been at least 12 sightings, negating the prior theory that the barren landscape north of the Hudson Bay was impassable, in terms of resources, for migrating grizzly bears [Discovery News]. If grizzlies can survive there, Gormezano says, they’ll probably want to stay, because there’s a bevy of caribou, fish, and other good things to eat.
This worries Gormezano. She says, “Grizzlies would likely hibernate in polar bear maternity denning habitat. They would come out of hibernation at the same time and can kill polar cubs” [BBC News]. In addition, the geographical proximity would make it more likely that polar and grizzly bears would produce hybrid offspring, labeled “pizzly,” “prizzly,” or “grolar” bears.
Of course, a story about competing grizzlies and polar bears can lead to only one place: nerd-tastic arguments over which would win in a fight. While debating this at length, Canada’s The Globe and Mail asks the experts. Manitoba Wildlands director Gaile Whelan Enns sees the grizzlies with the advantage: “The grizzly is more accustomed to the predator-prey relationship, whereas the polar bears are not quite as aggressive” [The Globe and Mail]. However, she notes, polar bears have the size advantage, outweighing their competitors by hundreds of pounds.
Study author Robert Rockwell says that the two bear species would most likely meet when the polar bears take to their dens to give birth, which could give the grizzlies an easy target. “If it’s a fight between a 1,200-pound male polar bear and a 600-pound grizzly, I think we know who would win,” Dr. Rockwell said. “But in this likeliest of cases, it’s debatable. There are actually reports in the literature where grizzlies have killed denning polar bear females” [The Globe and Mail].
Both kinds of bear receive protection from the province of Manitoba, and Canada lists both as species of special concern. Whether they have special concern for each other should their territories collide remains to be seen.
Related Content:
80beats: Obama Agrees With Bush: Polar Bears Won’t Drive Global Warming Policy
80beats: 2 Trillion Tons of Polar Ice Lost in 5 Years, and Melting Is Accelerating
DISCOVER: Polar Bears (Finally) Make the Endangered Species List
DISCOVER: The Electronic Grizzly, mapping the majestic creatures
Image: Wikimedia Commons / Shellie
I'm sorry if I cross posted this but I cannot find the original posting.
I am looking for a US standard that dictates the wire sizing leaving a fuse block (ie NEC, NFPA, IEEE, UL). The question is; is the wire sized for the maximum capacity of the fuse block or the fuses installed.
For ex
I vaguely have an idea to extract energy from rainwater and convert it to electrical. can anyone suggest some application of this particular concept. like where it can be actually used in rainy areas
I am planning on storing printed circuit boards for a customer. What are the requirements concerning temperature and humidity? Are there other requirements to consider beyond the two in question? Thanks for your help.
When Palm issued a release announcing lowered guidance and sales expectations for this year, Jon Rubinstein didn't even try to cushion it, admitting, "driving broad consumer adoption of Palm products is taking longer than [he] anticipated." OK. Now what?
The implication of "longer than expected" is that success will come if everyone just waits long enough. But to say something like that in February of 2010, over seven months after the Pre launch, three after the Pixi launch, and weeks after a by all counts anemic launch for their barely differentiated Verizon counterparts is to tacitly admit that there's a serious problem. If Palm's current lineup doesn't have momentum now, it never will—and their investors know it.
For Palm, this leaves two options: either build a new product—something they may not be able or positioned to do—and hope it's a wild success; or sell out. So who's buying? BusinessInsider throws the regular suspects on the table—RIM, Nokia, Dell, HP—but they seem chosen because they'd be interesting buyers, not because they've shown any real interest. Hey, wouldn't it be neat if Nokia or BlackBerry absorbed webOS, so they could both have truly modern, user-friendly smartphone operating systems? Yeah it would! Someone should tell them.
This leaves Palm with nothing to do but wait: to die; or to be saved by a hero it hasn't even glimpsed yet, and that probably doesn't exist. [BusinessInsider]
Thubten Chodron on cultivating compassion when there is anger or hatred in our hearts.
Henry David Thoreau once said, “Trade shows are opportunities to meet new people and old people.”
It’s not very poetic, but neither is the Thoreau I’m quoting … he’s actually the unkempt 50-something neighbor I run into every now and then when I check my mail. I forgot his name after the first time he introduced himself (it was either Henry or David), and his tattered appearance and hermit-like quality reminds me of someone just returning from an extended stay on Walden Pond. So, I arrived at the code name Thoreau, kind of like a McDreamy … minus the dashing good looks and medical degree. And ability to contribute in a large way to society (scripted for TV or not).
But I digress. The words of (neighbor) Thoreau are not wrong, and we’ve got a got a stacked event schedule for the month of March. Be sure to check us out if you’re in the area, so we can seize the opportunity to meet all the new people (and old people) we can.
Here’s a brief snapshot of where we’ll be in the coming month:
The Planet is one of the co-sponsors for Connect10 – the Sant customer conference. Sant Corp. provides software to major corporations for sales proposal and RFP response creation, and they’re also one of our managed hosting customers. Their two-day customer conference in Orlando is chock-full of excellent sessions on how companies can best leverage the Sant software suite.
When you’re roaming the halls at the conference, be sure to stop by our table and pick up a tchotchke or two.
Last fall, we launched The Planet Partner Plus – our channel program encompassing referral partners, resellers, and affiliates. Since then, we’ve been looking to evangelize the program to members of the partner community, and where better to do that than at THE conference for channel partners? (And, it doesn’t hurt that it’s in Vegas.)
We’ll be setting up shop at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in booth 1326 on the Expo Hall floor, and we’ll be giving away a couple video cameras, so it would behoove you to come say hi!
Visit the Channel Partners Conference site for more information.
Last but certainly not least, The Planet will be making its first-ever appearance at South By Southwest Interactive, and we couldn’t be more excited. Held just a few hours away from our Houston headquarters in Austin, Texas, the show has earned a national reputation for consistently popularizing emerging technology, from social media platforms to the latest and greatest websites.
We’re looking forward to meeting customers, prospects and new friends of all kinds – from software and web developers to e-commerce entrepreneurs. We’ve got a few surprises planned, so make sure to keep an eye out for us.
-Katie
An 2004 Apple patent app that was recently filed for continuation describes a touchscreen iMac that recognizes shapes, allowing you to interact with your computer as you might a toddler's geometric puzzle.
So, you could unlock your computer by holding up an appropriately shaped key. Or, well, Apple can explain it it full:
The pattern 122 may be any shape whether simple or complex. Some examples of patterns include circles, squares, triangles, dots, dashes, coat of arms, logos, symbols, text and the like. Other examples include binary patterns and Braille symbols. The pattern may be related to the action to be performed. For example, the pattern may be in the form of a conventional key for actions associated with gaining access to restricted areas, or in the form of a light bulb for actions associated with turning a light on and off. In some cases, the signet pattern may include an alignment mark for helping determine the orientation of the signet pattern relative to the touch screen, i.e., helps the pattern recognizer to determine orientation. The alignment mark may for example be a cross that helps distinguish the pattern relative to an x and y coordinate system. As should be appreciated, simple shapes are more easily counterfeited and thus complex shape may be desired. For example, a large circle may be relatively easy to counterfeit, whereas a complex series of dots may harder to counterfeit.
While at first the idea certainly sounds clever, the simple fact that car keys are a lot easier to lose than computer passwords is enough to temper any excitement over such a possibility.
But holding up a light bulb to turn on my computer? I'm all over that. [US Patent Office via MacRumors]
Lomography already makes an instant back for its more popular Diana F+ camera, so it was about time they did the same for their classic LC-A+ model too. It brings Polaroid-like instant photos to the highly-saturated, soft-focus photography format.
The instant back will set you back a rather steep $100, and if you think you can write that off against the saving you'll make on rolls of 35mm film, think again. You'll need to load it with Fujifilm Instax film which you can pick up on Amazon (which in my experience, is heaps cheaper for Lomo products and film than the actual Lomography store) for $20 for two packs—each pack can produce 10 photos. So you're looking at around a dollar a photo, plus the cost of the instant back. Better use that film wisely. [Lomography via CrunchGear]
"NASA's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request and Issues"
- Hearing Charter
- Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm EST
- Witness: Charles Bolden
- Webcast House - NASA TV
- Follow hearing on Twitter
Ten years ago, Quake III required a PC tower with some gaming cred. Today, all you need is a smartphone running Android 1.6 or later. And it's even a free download.
The hobby project of thunderbird2k, this video shows Quake III running pretty well on a the Motorola Droid—between 20 and 30fps—while allowing perks like multiplayer and customizable controls. (Also impressive: before the Quake was optimized for the platform, it still ran at about 22fps.) Given that the Droid doesn't have the fastest processor around, I'd be curious to see Quake III running on something like a Nexus One. In fact, maybe we should start using games to benchmark these phones, just as we do with beefy PC rigs.
Oh, and on a slightly related note...
Unreal 4EVER. [Android Quake III via Slashdot]
No, not Terra the Earth, Terra the satellite. NASA’s Earth-observing bird first opened its eyes on February 24, 2000, and for the past decade has been dutifully watching our planet. It has looked upon us at different wavelengths, different resolutions, at different times of day, and different times of year. It has tracked changes, and reported back what it has seen.
And oh, what it has seen! Here is a map made almost entirely of Terra data (small gaps in some coverage were filled with data from GOES weather satellites):
Click to get the massive 85Mb 5400×2700 pixel image. It’s totally worth it. Our planet is very, very pretty.
But Terra is more than just a camera. The data it returns track a lot of key environmental factors for our world. Here are representations of some of the data it takes: growing vegetation, carbon monoxide, aerosols (pollution), elevation, and net radiation (energy in from the Sun and energy radiated away as heat).
Again, click through to see how lovely data can be, or at least how it can be represented.
These maps, these observations, help us understand our own world, how it works, and how we’re changing it. These are all matters related to our very survival, and I’m very glad we have tools like Terra helping us ensure that.
Image credits: Marit Jentoft-Nilsen (image) and Robert Simmon (globes)
Hi all,
We have 4, 11 kv Auto reclosers installed for a 33/11 Kv ss.The AR(Auto recloser) have 3 sectionalisers each(Loads break switch) down the line in series.Each being supposed to trip when its alloted trip/fault sense count is exceeded,for example the the nearest SECT(sectionaliser). havi
It took a little longer than we expected but it happened: 10,000,000,000 songs sold through iTunes. Crazy.
Futuristic ships that look more spaceship than boat fascinate me. However, I can't deny that, if I had to get a yacht over a sailboat, I would go for this amazing tug boat, completely remodeled inside and out.
The original tug boat went to sea in 1967. It got bought in 2004 and put through years of interior and exterior remodeling, which included a spa, a gym, sauna, whirlpool bath, and luxurious suites. Then it was reborn under the name Ariete Primo, a kick ass ship that you can use to go to lusty beaches in the Pacific or push oil tankers in the Indian Ocean. [James List]
Obama's NASA budget could cost Houston 7,000 jobs, KHOU
"Houston stands to lose big. Economists estimate as many as 7,000 jobs could be lost as the space shuttle program is phased out this year and the Constellation program winds down."
NASA chief vows help for Florida employees, Houston Chronicle
"Florida, facing the loss of some 14,000 jobs from retirement of the shuttle and President Barack Obama's proposed cancellation of the Constellation program, is widely expected to be an electoral battleground in the 2012 presidential campaign."
David Vitter criticizes NASA budget as lacking in ambition, NOLA.com
"Vitter, who also is concerned about the impact on jobs at the Michoud facility in eastern New Orleans, which produces the space shuttle's external fuel tanks, faulted the new budget for "not only ending the shuttle but completely canceling its replacement, the Constellation, with little more than a hope and prayer that commercial providers will eventually pick up the slack."
Senators to NASA chief: Go somewhere specific, AP
"NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said after the hearing that critics were confusing the lack of a specific destination or timetable with the lack of a goal. NASA has a goal, a big one, Bolden said. It's going to Mars. But Bolden added that getting astronauts to Mars is more than a decade away and NASA needs to upgrade its technology or else it never will get there."
- Senators Say Plan Puts NASA On Mission To Nowhere, NPR
- Senators grill NASA chief on President Obama's space plan, USA Today
- Senators Decry NASA's Change of Plans, SpaceNews
- NASA Chief to Senators: We're Going to Mars, space.com
- Bolden: Mars is the 'ultimate' goal, Orlando Sentinel
- NASA chief says Mars is goal, lawmakers express doubt about budget, The Hill
- Senators Vow to Fight NASA Outsource Plan, WS Journal
- Challenger Center Statement in Advance of Today's Senate Hearing on NASA Budget
If you're a Mac user, you may not know about Steam. By Valve (makers of Half-Life and L4D) it's the greatest game distribution service in existence—like an iTunes for PC games. Now, it could be coming to Macs.
In Steam's latest beta release, a search through its files revealed a number of OSX-specific assets, like a Steam dock icon (among loads of others). Since there's no reason for OSX resources—that I should add, are specifically labeled "OSX"—to make their way into a PC product, it seems pretty certain that, yes, Steam is coming to Mac. Hooray!
Now, with Steam imminent, all the Mac platform needs is the actual games! [Steam Forums via Kotaku, who crafted the excellent lead shot]
Torque measurement formula in stepper motor
