It looks like Apple has decided to refund all rush shipping charges for iPad pre-orders after we noted that Apple was charging $12 for the same delivery day as free shipping. More »
Apple Refunds All iPad Rush Shipping Charges [Ipad]
Amazon to Produce YouTube Clips of Your Shipments? [Amazon]
How strange would this be? Amazon emails you a link to a video that allows you to watch a person packing your product. Well, it just might happen. More »
Switched Reluctance Drive
I am currently stumped on a Switched Reluctance Motor drive.
It has to be open loop, isolated, be soft start and run at a minimum of 20 RPM. I was going to use a PLD but a friend mentioned that using a PLC with a 555 timer might be better? Any help? Also how would I put a soft starter into it?
‘Glee’s’ MySpace Auditions: What Not To Sing – Wall Street Journal (blog)
'Glee's' MySpace Auditions: What Not To Sing Wall Street Journal (blog) To be considered, you need to upload a video to MySpace of yourself singing one of the show's hit songs a capella or with one instrument. ... |
How Deep Fryer Grease Can Become an Energy-Saving Coating for Your Roof | Discoblog
What’s to be done with the waste oil left behind in fast food restaurants after all the French fries, onion rings, and chicken nuggets have been sizzled to perfection? While many enterprising tinkerers use the stuff to run modified cars, one group of scientists is hoping to use fast food waste oil in an entirely new way: They want to turn it into a “smart roof coating system” that would help keep houses warm in winter and cool in summer.
Presenting the idea at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, project leader Ben Wen from United Environment and Energy says the waste oil can be turned into a high-tech polymer that reacts to the environment.
Wen notes that most houses traditionally have light or dark roofs, depending on their geographic location. People who live in warm locations typically have white roofs (think of those Grecian islands) to reflect the sun’s heat and help keep the homes cool. Colder places typically have houses with darker roofs to absorb heat in the winter and warm the home. But what about those people who live in regions that have both punishingly hot summers and frigid winters? For them, Wen set out to make a roof coating that changes function with the seasons.
To make the roof coating, fast food waste oil is processed into a liquid polymer that hardens into a plastic after application. At a certain temperature, the roof coating undergoes a “phase change,” and switches from heat-absorbing to heat-reflecting. (Wen wouldn’t go into more detail about the science behind this cool trick, to the frustration of one science reporter.) The non-flammable, non-toxic material is also odorless–in contrast to some waste oil biodiesel blends that can have a distinct odor of fried foods.
CNET reports:
When tested the new roof coating showed a decrease between 50 and 80 percent in warm weather when compared to regular asphalt shingles, and an increase in roof temperature by 80 percent in cold weather.
PhysOrg adds:
The coating can be applied to virtually any type of roof. Wen expects that the coating can last many years and can be reapplied when it wears off. If further testing continues to go well, he estimates that the coating could be ready for commercial use in about three years.
Calling it the “most innovative and practical roofing coating materials developed to date,” Ben Wen added that the new technology would also “provide a new use for millions of gallons of waste oil after it is used to cook French fries and chicken nuggets.”
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Image: Ben Wen
OD to Thread check
What equipment/method will check the Threads to another outer diameter on the same part?
Machine Gun Bacon Is the Best Part of Waking Up [Bacon]
Well that pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Turns out all you need to crisp up your bacon is some tin foil, string, and a locked and loaded 7.62mm machine gun. More »
thread vs wrench
If I have a 3/8" - 16 UNC thread on a nut what size heax head is the nut?
Microsoft Attacks Google Chrome on Privacy [Microsoft]
Microsoft has apparently decided that a good way to promote Internet Explorer 8 is by attacking Chrome over privacy concerns. Like, say, right here in this video. But something doesn't add up. More »
Doctor Who Season 5 trailer | Bad Astronomy
We’re getting closer to the premier of Doctor Who… and here’s the trailer the BBC released. Spoilers, of course:
Hmm, hard to say what’s what here, but it looks like the gravitas and buffoonery are both still there, which are the two aspects I really like about the character. I guess we’ll find out in a couple of weeks: the premier is Easter in the UK and a week later (April 17) here in the States!
And… "No, they’re scared of me." Awesome.
The Search
Click here to view the embedded video.
Something a little different for today. I quite enjoyed the video.
About:
A lonely man’s search for the existence of life outside our universe takes a remarkable turn when he connects with a recently bereaved family.
Starring: Matt Berry, Flora Montgomery, Tim Plester
Director: Mark Buchanan
Producers: Colin Bell, Mark Buchanan
Writer: Gregor Barclay
Director of Photography: Jean-Louis Schuller
Editor: Nathan Haines
Production Designer: Elizabeth Schuch
Music: Gregor Barclay, Gavin Thomson
Colourist: James Willett
Used by permission and thank you Mark for a great video.
The Great Cable Rip-Off, For Visual Learners [Infographics]
Expensive cables are a big rip-off. No surprise there, we wrote about it at length in our "The Truth About Monster Cable" trilogy in 2007. (1, 2, and 3.) But if you're a visual learner, Mint.com offers this helpful infographic. More »
So It’s Come to This: Linkin Park Makes an iPhone Game [Bad Ideas]
Attention, angry teens in 2001! This iPhone game's based on the rap-rock music that you'll listen to for a year or two! Get Linkin Park's 8-bit Rebellion now before you realize you have no reason to be so darned angry! More »
Apple’s German iPad Demand 3.5 Times Higher Than Expected [Ipad]
In Europe, each Apple country orders products from the mothership according to their marketing experience and expectations. According to a reliable source, Apple Germany had ordered only 75,000 iPads. Against all their predictions, they got 250,000 orders. More »
Aluminum Foil Chair Clings To You Like Foil On Day-Old Leftovers [Design]
It's not like designer Tokujin Yoshioka just wrapped some aluminum foil around a garden chair. Oh no. He created a special fabric with similar properties to the foil, so when it's sat on it memorizes the shape of your bum. More »
How to Manually Update Your Droid to Android 2.1 RIGHT NOW [Droid]
Android 2.1 is here for Droid. That's good! But it's a staggered over-the-air rollout, meaning some of you won't get it until next week. That's bad! Fortunately there's a way to take matters into your own hands. More »
There’s Going to Be a Flood of Amazing Gmail Apps [Gmail]
People love Gmail. There are a few programs that make it better, like MailPlane, but now Google's implementing the OAuth standard, allowing developers to access your Gmail in a new way, so we'll probably see even more awesome Gmail apps. More »
Obama Proposes Oil & Gas Drilling in Vast Swaths of U.S. Waters | 80beats
Offshore oil and gas drilling is coming to much of the east coast. Today President Obama announced plans for energy exploration through 2017 that would open up drilling in coastal areas off the southeastern United States, and potentially some areas near Alaska.
Under the proposal, 167 million new acres in the Atlantic Ocean from Delaware to Florida, as well as new swaths in the Gulf of Mexico, would be opened to energy development. Parts of the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea, both of which are north of Alaska in the Arctic Ocean, could see drilling after 2013 if viability studies give them the go-ahead. But not all areas that energy companies would like to explore are available in the plan.
No areas off the west coast would be made available. Obama also said proposed leases in Alaska’s Bristol Bay would be canceled. He would also limit any oil and gas drilling off the coast of Florida to no closer than 125 miles from the shore [USA Today]. Bristol Bay has been off-limits since the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989, when the tanker spilled at least 10 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean. President George W. Bush’s energy plan, which Obama overturned upon taking office, would have opened the bay to drilling.
In his announcement, Obama stressed that the United States should allow oil and gas drilling in new areas to reduce foreign dependence and add to the country’s energy portfolio. But just how much energy is down there is unclear. There could be as much as a three-year supply of recoverable oil and more than two years’ worth of natural gas, at current rates of consumption. But those estimates are based on seismic data that is, in some cases, more than 30 years old [The New York Times]. The first results could come from the waters off Virginia, as the first new lease could be sold there next year.
More than the country needs that oil, it might be that Obama needs the political support from drilling advocates. With health care finished, the President’s next major task is to drum up support for a bill to address climate change. The administration is pushing expanded offshore exploration as a bargaining chip in its attempts to enact sweeping legislation to curb oil imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions [Los Angeles Times]. As another part of the energy push, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week (viewable free on the DOE Web site) praising nuclear power, and specifically the potential for small nuclear reactors.
Related Content:
80beats: In the Arctic Oil & Gas Lottery, Russia Looks Like a Big Winner
80beats: Did a Natural Gas Operation Cause a Spasm of Texas Earthquakes?
80beats: Oil Cos. Buy Rights To Access Water Before Communities & Farmers
80beats: Health Care Reform Passed. So What Does It Mean?
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Orbit Looks Like a Brain-Liquifying Rollercoaster [Architecture]
It looks like a vomit-inducing, brain-liquifying rollercoaster, but sadly it's a new London landmark to be built by steel conglomerate ArcelorMittal for the Olympic Park. Called the Orbit, is almost as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza. More »
YouTube’s Going to Look Mighty Different Soon [YouTube]
The new design elements YouTube introduced back in January to 10% of their users are about to be the standard across the site. While they've added a few things, it's mostly all about removing clutter. More »
