by Allan Hoffman, Newhouse News Service
I've always wanted to work on a family tree, but I've never had the time for it. Now I've found the way: Other people will do it for me.
This may work for you too.
An online startup, Geni, is bringing the social networking craze - yes, as in youth-oriented spots like MySpace and Facebook - to the sometimes stodgy world of genealogy. By building a family tree online with Geni's free service, you can easily share your family tree with any relative who has an e-mail address. When your relatives add names and dates to their family tree on Geni, these new branches will be added to your tree, too. If you get enough relatives working on this, you can have a family tree with hundreds or thousands of relatives.
Friday, October 05, 2007
SpiralFrog
It has finally come to this: labels are simply giving their music away.
A new Web site named SpiralFrog.com allows visitors with label approval to download music free of charge. It launched Monday in the U.S. and Canada after a beta-testing period.
The fine site features more than 800,000 tracks and 3,500 music videos, and promises hundreds of thousands more soon. It makes money through advertising, rather than by the 99-cent downloads popularized by Apple's iTunes.
The service, founded by Joe Mohen, pays record companies part of its advertising revenue. Thus far, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, is the only major label to dip its tunes into SpiralFrog's pool.
Songs from several big acts can be found, including Maroon 5, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, Weezer, Amy Winehouse and Kanye West. All the tracks from many albums are available (from the Who's "Who Sell Out" to Nirvana's "In Utero") so the content here is no small potatoes.
***
SpiralFrog, the pioneering ad-supported music service, quietly closed down on Thursday. SpiralFrog's site went dark at about 4 p.m. PDT.
A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to creditors. To keep operations going last year, the company issued secured notes in order to borrow at least $9 million from several hedge funds and others.
SpiralFrog representatives weren't immediately available for comment.
New York-based SpiralFrog made a splash in August 2006 by attempting to offer music free of charge to the public while supporting the site through ad sales. Media outlets such as The New York Times, Reuters, and USA Today questioned whether the site might one day challenge Apple's iTunes.
Some argued that SpiralFrog's business model was the answer to illegal file sharing. But the model has yet to be proven. SpiralFrog is the second ad-supported service to shut down in 2009. Ruckus, which catered to college students, also shuttered operations.
A new Web site named SpiralFrog.com allows visitors with label approval to download music free of charge. It launched Monday in the U.S. and Canada after a beta-testing period.
The fine site features more than 800,000 tracks and 3,500 music videos, and promises hundreds of thousands more soon. It makes money through advertising, rather than by the 99-cent downloads popularized by Apple's iTunes.
The service, founded by Joe Mohen, pays record companies part of its advertising revenue. Thus far, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, is the only major label to dip its tunes into SpiralFrog's pool.
Songs from several big acts can be found, including Maroon 5, Rihanna, Gwen Stefani, Weezer, Amy Winehouse and Kanye West. All the tracks from many albums are available (from the Who's "Who Sell Out" to Nirvana's "In Utero") so the content here is no small potatoes.
***
SpiralFrog, the pioneering ad-supported music service, quietly closed down on Thursday. SpiralFrog's site went dark at about 4 p.m. PDT.
A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to creditors. To keep operations going last year, the company issued secured notes in order to borrow at least $9 million from several hedge funds and others.
SpiralFrog representatives weren't immediately available for comment.
New York-based SpiralFrog made a splash in August 2006 by attempting to offer music free of charge to the public while supporting the site through ad sales. Media outlets such as The New York Times, Reuters, and USA Today questioned whether the site might one day challenge Apple's iTunes.
Some argued that SpiralFrog's business model was the answer to illegal file sharing. But the model has yet to be proven. SpiralFrog is the second ad-supported service to shut down in 2009. Ruckus, which catered to college students, also shuttered operations.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Increase your RAM - free of cost
Now this is called a tip of the year! While working with the Task Manager I observed the following. You can also try it out.
- Start any application, say Word. Open some large documents.
- Now start the Task Manager processor tab and sort the list in descending order on Mem Usage. You will notice that Winword.exe will be somewhere at the top, using multiple MBs of memory. Note down the number.
- Now switch to Word and simply minimise it. (Do not use the Minimize All option of the task bar).
- Now go back to the Task Manager and see where Winword.exe is listed. Most probably you will not find it at the top. You will typically have to scroll to the bottom of the list to find Word. Now check out the amount of RAM it is using. Compare it with the original. Surprised? The memory utilisation has reduced by a huge amount.
- So where is the tip of the year? Simple — minimise each application that you are currently not working on by clicking on the Minimize button, and you can increase the amount of available RAM by a substantial margin. Depending upon the number and type of applications you use together, the difference can be as much as 50 percent of extra RAM—and all this is free of cost!
Friday, September 21, 2007
jatropha
When Suleiman Diarra Banani’s brother said that the poisonous black seeds dropping from the seemingly worthless weed that had grown around his family farm for decades could be used to run a generator, or even a car, Mr. Banani did not believe him. When he suggested that they intersperse the plant, until now used as a natural fence between rows of their regular crops — edible millet, peanuts, corn and beans — he thought his older brother, Dadjo, was crazy.
“I thought it was a plant for old ladies to make soap,” he said.
But now that a plant called jatropha is being hailed by scientists and policy makers as a potentially ideal source of biofuel, a plant that can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, that does not require a lot of fertilizer and yields many times as much biofuel per acre planted as corn and many other potential biofuels. By planting a row of jatropha for every seven rows of regular crops, Mr. Banani could double his income on the field in the first year and lose none of his usual yield from his field.
“I thought it was a plant for old ladies to make soap,” he said.
But now that a plant called jatropha is being hailed by scientists and policy makers as a potentially ideal source of biofuel, a plant that can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, that does not require a lot of fertilizer and yields many times as much biofuel per acre planted as corn and many other potential biofuels. By planting a row of jatropha for every seven rows of regular crops, Mr. Banani could double his income on the field in the first year and lose none of his usual yield from his field.
Friday, September 14, 2007
bye-bye batteries?
An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 805km roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without petrol.
By contrast, some plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight and promise only 80,5km of petrol-free commute. And the popular hybrids on the road today still depend heavily on fossil fuels.
Sceptics, though, fear the claims stretch the bounds of existing technology to the point of alchemy.
By contrast, some plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight and promise only 80,5km of petrol-free commute. And the popular hybrids on the road today still depend heavily on fossil fuels.
Sceptics, though, fear the claims stretch the bounds of existing technology to the point of alchemy.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Is your password safe?
We won't dwell on passwords today. But there is a way to test the one you use, to make sure it is secure. Go to this site - www.securitystats.com/tools/password.php - and enter a password. You'll be told just how secure that password is. If the bar turns red, the password is bad. If it's yellow, the password is weak. If it's in the green, so are you.
cleaning your LCD monitor
Q: Can you explain how to clean my new LCD monitor?
— Sarah Starr
A: Any of the commercial LCD screen cleaners sold at computer stores or online will work fine. You can also make your own cleaner. The best commercial cleaners contain a 50/50 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol.
While there may be other ingredients listed, the alcohol/water mixture does the real work. It's better to spray it onto the screen rather than wipe it on. I use an old glass cleaner bottle that was thoroughly washed (using glass cleaner on an LCD screen is a bad idea). Use a soft, lint-free cloth and wipe from top to bottom, not in a circular motion. Never use a paper towel — it'll scratch the screen.
— Sarah Starr
A: Any of the commercial LCD screen cleaners sold at computer stores or online will work fine. You can also make your own cleaner. The best commercial cleaners contain a 50/50 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol.
While there may be other ingredients listed, the alcohol/water mixture does the real work. It's better to spray it onto the screen rather than wipe it on. I use an old glass cleaner bottle that was thoroughly washed (using glass cleaner on an LCD screen is a bad idea). Use a soft, lint-free cloth and wipe from top to bottom, not in a circular motion. Never use a paper towel — it'll scratch the screen.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
How to tame the e-mail monster
E-MAIL, a blessing or curse? E-mail is one of the world's top communication tools. It is also our No. 1 annoyance.
Hoala Greevy, the creator of Hawaii-based PauSpam.com, reports that an average of 80 percent of all the e-mail we receive is either spam or viruses. What an incredible waste of time! Think how much more efficient we would be without the distraction of junk, spam, or advertising e-mails. Actually, e-mail that we do need to read is a distraction, too, and can become a virus in and of itself.
You can avoid these distractions by implementing a policy we've developed as to how to check e-mail. My coaching clients are gaining up to a full workday in free time by implementing this system which you can model to work best for you to maximize your time. But, be forewarned. This method challenges the e-mail addict.
First, check e-mail no more than three times a day, and do this at set times in your day.
When a new e-mail message comes through, don't stop what you're doing to attend to it. If you are guilty of checking your e-mail as soon as you hear the sound announcing that you have a new e-mail, you are not alone. It's almost like a trigger that reminds your brain, "Oh, a new e-mail just came in. I'd better check it. It could be important." Stop the temptation by turning off the e-mail announcement sound on your computer.
Install some type of spam-filtering software to combat that evil spam creature.
The next thing you want to do is to organize all your incoming e-mail.
» Folder No. 1: This is for clients. Your clients come first. They're the reason you're in business, and why they're in Folder No. 1.
» Folder No. 2 is for my partner's e-mail. Often, he asks questions that need to be acted on immediately. It could be about a client or a strategy that he wants support on. Other times, he's following up on e-mails that I have sent him. If you have a partner, or do business with someone in a strategic-partner manner, or with someone at that level whose e-mail needs to be responded to as soon as it comes in or within several hours, their e-mail would go in Folder No. 2.
» Folder No. 3: This is a low priority, read-later folder. Newsletters and e-zines that I subscribe to go into this folder. It's organized based on the particular title of the newsletter. This lets me get caught up with cutting-edge trends on my own time, without distracting me the minute it comes in.
Hoala Greevy, the creator of Hawaii-based PauSpam.com, reports that an average of 80 percent of all the e-mail we receive is either spam or viruses. What an incredible waste of time! Think how much more efficient we would be without the distraction of junk, spam, or advertising e-mails. Actually, e-mail that we do need to read is a distraction, too, and can become a virus in and of itself.
You can avoid these distractions by implementing a policy we've developed as to how to check e-mail. My coaching clients are gaining up to a full workday in free time by implementing this system which you can model to work best for you to maximize your time. But, be forewarned. This method challenges the e-mail addict.
First, check e-mail no more than three times a day, and do this at set times in your day.
When a new e-mail message comes through, don't stop what you're doing to attend to it. If you are guilty of checking your e-mail as soon as you hear the sound announcing that you have a new e-mail, you are not alone. It's almost like a trigger that reminds your brain, "Oh, a new e-mail just came in. I'd better check it. It could be important." Stop the temptation by turning off the e-mail announcement sound on your computer.
Install some type of spam-filtering software to combat that evil spam creature.
The next thing you want to do is to organize all your incoming e-mail.
» Folder No. 1: This is for clients. Your clients come first. They're the reason you're in business, and why they're in Folder No. 1.
» Folder No. 2 is for my partner's e-mail. Often, he asks questions that need to be acted on immediately. It could be about a client or a strategy that he wants support on. Other times, he's following up on e-mails that I have sent him. If you have a partner, or do business with someone in a strategic-partner manner, or with someone at that level whose e-mail needs to be responded to as soon as it comes in or within several hours, their e-mail would go in Folder No. 2.
» Folder No. 3: This is a low priority, read-later folder. Newsletters and e-zines that I subscribe to go into this folder. It's organized based on the particular title of the newsletter. This lets me get caught up with cutting-edge trends on my own time, without distracting me the minute it comes in.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Gates and Jobs old pals?
CARLSBAD - The words that come to mind when trying to describe tech titans Bill Gates and Steve Jobs don't usually include "nostalgic," "sentimental" or "soft."
Yet in a historic joint appearance at the D: All Things Digital Conference on Wednesday, the two were at times overcome about their history together. Indeed, by the end, both men seemed choked up by the emotion of the moment.
Gates in particular took special pride in his role as co-founder and chairman of Microsoft. Even after being praised for his recent philanthropic efforts, Gates talked more about what he did in the technology industry than what his charitable foundation is doing now.
"The most important work I got a chance to be involved in - no matter what I do - is the personal computer," Gates said. "That's my life's work."
It's been quite a life for the two of them, and they have been at the center of the action for most of their careers. Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple, noted that when they started working together in the mid-1970s, he and Gates were often the youngest people in the room. Now, he said, he's often the oldest.
Paraphrasing a Beatles song, he added, "You and I have memories that are longer than the road that stretches out ahead."
To be sure, the appearance wasn't a love fest. Jobs at times, as he's wont to do, seemed to get under Gates' skin.
At one point he tried to convince Gates that Apple isn't trying to be mean by poking fun at the "PC guy," the lovable loser who stands in sharp contrast to Apple's cool "Mac guy" in a popular series of commercials.
"The art of those commercials ... is for those guys to like each other," Jobs said. "The PC guy is what makes it all work, actually. It's worth thinking about."
Needless to say, Gates didn't appear to be convinced. In an interview with Newsweek earlier this year, he'd even questioned the ads' veracity.
Still, the two did show their mutual respect for each other. Gates, for instance, praised Jobs' aesthetic sense, noting that it sharply differed from his own sensibility, which is to approach problems from an engineering perspective.
"I'd give a lot to have Steve's taste - in terms of intuitive taste for people and products," he said. "The way he does things, it's just different. It's magical."
Similarly, Jobs said that Apple could have learned a lot from Microsoft's penchant for partnering with other companies in the industry. Partnering simply wasn't in Apple's DNA, and the company didn't learn how to do it until decades after its founding, he said.
"The funny thing is Microsoft's one of the few companies we were able to partner with (where) that actually worked for both companies," he said.
The conversation was moderated by longtime technology journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, who organized the event, and took place in front of such luminaries as movie director George Lucas, domestic diva Martha Stewart and former AOL Chairman Steve Case.
The event marked the first time Jobs and Gates have made a joint public appearance since the 1997 Boston Macworld event, when Gates joined Jobs via teleconference to announce a landmark deal between their two companies. The previous time the two appeared together at a public event was in the early 1980s.
Jobs' participation in the event capped a long day for him and the company. Earlier in the day, the iconic CEO participated in a separate conversation with Mossberg. During that event, he announced that the company's Apple TV set-top box would soon allow users to watch YouTube videos from the Internet.
Meanwhile, Apple announced early Wednesday morning that it has added unprotected digital songs from music label EMI to its iTunes music store as part of an agreement the companies announced in April. The company also announced that it was adding course lectures and other education materials for download from the iTunes store.
The two tech titans have long been known for their rivalry. What isn't as well understood is that they and their companies also have a history of cooperation. Microsoft has been one of the most important software developers for the Macintosh, and the company arguably helped save Apple in 1997 with a $150 million investment and a commitment to continue developing its Office suite for the Mac.
On a personal level, Jobs and Gates were good enough friends in the 1980s to double date occasionally and for Gates to leave friendly prank calls on Jobs' answering machine.
That said, Jobs is well known for taking pot-shots at his company's bigger rival. And he didn't disappoint on Wednesday. The company's iTunes software is one of the most popular programs on computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system, Jobs noted in his conversation earlier in the day with Mossberg. Indeed, he said, some users have written to tell Apple that it's their favorite Windows application, he said.
"It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell," he said.
By Troy Wolverton
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/30/2007 11:14:18 PM PDT
Yet in a historic joint appearance at the D: All Things Digital Conference on Wednesday, the two were at times overcome about their history together. Indeed, by the end, both men seemed choked up by the emotion of the moment.
Gates in particular took special pride in his role as co-founder and chairman of Microsoft. Even after being praised for his recent philanthropic efforts, Gates talked more about what he did in the technology industry than what his charitable foundation is doing now.
"The most important work I got a chance to be involved in - no matter what I do - is the personal computer," Gates said. "That's my life's work."
It's been quite a life for the two of them, and they have been at the center of the action for most of their careers. Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple, noted that when they started working together in the mid-1970s, he and Gates were often the youngest people in the room. Now, he said, he's often the oldest.
Paraphrasing a Beatles song, he added, "You and I have memories that are longer than the road that stretches out ahead."
To be sure, the appearance wasn't a love fest. Jobs at times, as he's wont to do, seemed to get under Gates' skin.
At one point he tried to convince Gates that Apple isn't trying to be mean by poking fun at the "PC guy," the lovable loser who stands in sharp contrast to Apple's cool "Mac guy" in a popular series of commercials.
"The art of those commercials ... is for those guys to like each other," Jobs said. "The PC guy is what makes it all work, actually. It's worth thinking about."
Needless to say, Gates didn't appear to be convinced. In an interview with Newsweek earlier this year, he'd even questioned the ads' veracity.
Still, the two did show their mutual respect for each other. Gates, for instance, praised Jobs' aesthetic sense, noting that it sharply differed from his own sensibility, which is to approach problems from an engineering perspective.
"I'd give a lot to have Steve's taste - in terms of intuitive taste for people and products," he said. "The way he does things, it's just different. It's magical."
Similarly, Jobs said that Apple could have learned a lot from Microsoft's penchant for partnering with other companies in the industry. Partnering simply wasn't in Apple's DNA, and the company didn't learn how to do it until decades after its founding, he said.
"The funny thing is Microsoft's one of the few companies we were able to partner with (where) that actually worked for both companies," he said.
The conversation was moderated by longtime technology journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, who organized the event, and took place in front of such luminaries as movie director George Lucas, domestic diva Martha Stewart and former AOL Chairman Steve Case.
The event marked the first time Jobs and Gates have made a joint public appearance since the 1997 Boston Macworld event, when Gates joined Jobs via teleconference to announce a landmark deal between their two companies. The previous time the two appeared together at a public event was in the early 1980s.
Jobs' participation in the event capped a long day for him and the company. Earlier in the day, the iconic CEO participated in a separate conversation with Mossberg. During that event, he announced that the company's Apple TV set-top box would soon allow users to watch YouTube videos from the Internet.
Meanwhile, Apple announced early Wednesday morning that it has added unprotected digital songs from music label EMI to its iTunes music store as part of an agreement the companies announced in April. The company also announced that it was adding course lectures and other education materials for download from the iTunes store.
The two tech titans have long been known for their rivalry. What isn't as well understood is that they and their companies also have a history of cooperation. Microsoft has been one of the most important software developers for the Macintosh, and the company arguably helped save Apple in 1997 with a $150 million investment and a commitment to continue developing its Office suite for the Mac.
On a personal level, Jobs and Gates were good enough friends in the 1980s to double date occasionally and for Gates to leave friendly prank calls on Jobs' answering machine.
That said, Jobs is well known for taking pot-shots at his company's bigger rival. And he didn't disappoint on Wednesday. The company's iTunes software is one of the most popular programs on computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system, Jobs noted in his conversation earlier in the day with Mossberg. Indeed, he said, some users have written to tell Apple that it's their favorite Windows application, he said.
"It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell," he said.
By Troy Wolverton
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/30/2007 11:14:18 PM PDT
eBay parties on, but not Google
SAN FRANCISCO, June 13 — It had all the appearances of a marketing stunt gone awry, the Internet industry’s version of a wily playground taunt that quickly escalated into a tense standoff, until the taunter — Google, in this case — blinked.
Here’s what happened. As thousands of eBay’s largest sellers prepared to gather in Boston for their annual eBay-sponsored convention and party this week, Google, the Internet search and advertising giant, decided it would be a good idea to invite those sellers to its own party. Not just any party, either, but one to promote Google Checkout, a payment system that competes with the eBay-owned PayPal and which eBay has banned from its auctions.
“Let Freedom Ring,” read the invitation on an official Google blog. And in classic Google style, it promised “free food, free drinks, free live music — even free massages.”
That did not sit well with eBay, and early Wednesday the IDG News Service reported that eBay had decided to drop all the ads it places on Google’s search engine. EBay is the largest buyer of Google search ads, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
“I won’t comment whether that was directly tied to Google’s plans to have that party,” said Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman. He said that eBay was simply running a test — something it does frequently — by shifting marketing dollars to determine the best way to attract users.
That’s not how some people interpreted eBay’s move. “I don’t think anyone believes that any more than we believe that eBay does not allow sellers to use Checkout because the service is unproven,” said Scot Wingo, the chief executive of ChannelAdvisor.com, a company that helps store owners sell on multiple online sites, including eBay.
Regardless, by late Wednesday, Google rescinded the invitation to eBay sellers and canceled the party. “EBay Live attendees have plenty of activities to keep them busy this week in Boston, and we did not want to detract from that activity,” the Google blog read. “After speaking with officials at eBay, we at Google agreed that it was better for us not to feature this event during the eBay Live conference.”
A Google spokesman declined to comment further.
“We are pleased that they apparently have seen that the party was inappropriate,” Mr. Durzy said. “It is not the way one partner should act with another.” Besides being rivals, the companies have a deal for Google to sell ads on eBay sites overseas.
Analysts said eBay’s decision to withdraw its ads is not likely to hurt the search giant. EBay spends less than $25 million on Google a quarter, said Jordan Rohan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, or only a tiny fraction of Google’s nearly $3.7 billion in revenue in the latest quarter.
Will eBay bring its ads back to Google? “We have no firm date for how long the experiment will go,” Mr. Durzy said.
[via Russ]
Here’s what happened. As thousands of eBay’s largest sellers prepared to gather in Boston for their annual eBay-sponsored convention and party this week, Google, the Internet search and advertising giant, decided it would be a good idea to invite those sellers to its own party. Not just any party, either, but one to promote Google Checkout, a payment system that competes with the eBay-owned PayPal and which eBay has banned from its auctions.
“Let Freedom Ring,” read the invitation on an official Google blog. And in classic Google style, it promised “free food, free drinks, free live music — even free massages.”
That did not sit well with eBay, and early Wednesday the IDG News Service reported that eBay had decided to drop all the ads it places on Google’s search engine. EBay is the largest buyer of Google search ads, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
“I won’t comment whether that was directly tied to Google’s plans to have that party,” said Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman. He said that eBay was simply running a test — something it does frequently — by shifting marketing dollars to determine the best way to attract users.
That’s not how some people interpreted eBay’s move. “I don’t think anyone believes that any more than we believe that eBay does not allow sellers to use Checkout because the service is unproven,” said Scot Wingo, the chief executive of ChannelAdvisor.com, a company that helps store owners sell on multiple online sites, including eBay.
Regardless, by late Wednesday, Google rescinded the invitation to eBay sellers and canceled the party. “EBay Live attendees have plenty of activities to keep them busy this week in Boston, and we did not want to detract from that activity,” the Google blog read. “After speaking with officials at eBay, we at Google agreed that it was better for us not to feature this event during the eBay Live conference.”
A Google spokesman declined to comment further.
“We are pleased that they apparently have seen that the party was inappropriate,” Mr. Durzy said. “It is not the way one partner should act with another.” Besides being rivals, the companies have a deal for Google to sell ads on eBay sites overseas.
Analysts said eBay’s decision to withdraw its ads is not likely to hurt the search giant. EBay spends less than $25 million on Google a quarter, said Jordan Rohan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, or only a tiny fraction of Google’s nearly $3.7 billion in revenue in the latest quarter.
Will eBay bring its ads back to Google? “We have no firm date for how long the experiment will go,” Mr. Durzy said.
[via Russ]
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
ethanol is not green
UNIVERSITY of California-Berkeley professor of civil engineering Tad W. Patzek has argued that the use of ethanol as a gas additive is a misguided public policy decision because it takes more fossil fuel to produce ethanol than the energy that comes from it.
David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, added that ethanol is not sustainable because its production from corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced. The government spends more than $3 billion a year to subsidize ethanol production, but the vast majority of the subsidies go to large ethanol-producing corporations, not to farmers.
Worse yet, their analyses do not address the additional problem of wasting food for humans and animals by converting it to fuel.
Consumer Reports in October 2006 presented "The Ethanol Myth." The magazine tested identical large SUVs in gasoline and E85 versions. The overall mileage was 14 mpg for gasoline and 10 mpg for E85. The ethanol-powered vehicle required 40 percent more fuel!
Ethanol is not green: Civil engineering professor Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University modeled a scenario in which all U.S. vehicles ran on E85 by 2020, and found that because ethanol produces more hydrocarbon emissions than gasoline, it causes an accelerated ozone formation and a 4.2 percent increase in deaths due to ozone.
David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, added that ethanol is not sustainable because its production from corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced. The government spends more than $3 billion a year to subsidize ethanol production, but the vast majority of the subsidies go to large ethanol-producing corporations, not to farmers.
Worse yet, their analyses do not address the additional problem of wasting food for humans and animals by converting it to fuel.
Consumer Reports in October 2006 presented "The Ethanol Myth." The magazine tested identical large SUVs in gasoline and E85 versions. The overall mileage was 14 mpg for gasoline and 10 mpg for E85. The ethanol-powered vehicle required 40 percent more fuel!
Ethanol is not green: Civil engineering professor Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University modeled a scenario in which all U.S. vehicles ran on E85 by 2020, and found that because ethanol produces more hydrocarbon emissions than gasoline, it causes an accelerated ozone formation and a 4.2 percent increase in deaths due to ozone.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Dark Energy
Scientists have long recognized that the universe has been growing larger since its origin 13.7 billion years ago in an extremely rapid expansion called the “Big Bang.” But we assumed that this expansion should be slowing down due to the pull of gravity. In 1998, however, two teams of astrophysicists discovered that the expansion is actually speeding up. They observed a mysterious form of “energy” that opposes gravity and is causing the galaxies throughout the universe to move apart faster and faster.
It’s as if you dropped this magazine and, instead of falling to the floor, it suddenly soared toward the ceiling. That would certainly signal the presence of an unexpected force of some kind. In the same way, the galaxies’ accelerated expansion signaled the presence of a previously unknown entity in the universe.
The discovery of “Dark Energy” is arguably the most important scientific breakthrough of the last 50 years. A full understanding of it eventually could have an effect on our daily lives.
It’s as if you dropped this magazine and, instead of falling to the floor, it suddenly soared toward the ceiling. That would certainly signal the presence of an unexpected force of some kind. In the same way, the galaxies’ accelerated expansion signaled the presence of a previously unknown entity in the universe.
The discovery of “Dark Energy” is arguably the most important scientific breakthrough of the last 50 years. A full understanding of it eventually could have an effect on our daily lives.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
cellulosic ethanol
[6/8/07] At a Brazilian ethanol conference June 4-5, Brazilian government-funded researchers said they have perfected a method of producing cellulosic ethanol that drastically reduces the cost of processing. At this point, the assertion -- and many other similarly optimistic claims made at the conference -- is unconfirmed. But should it prove true, the world could well be peeking over the horizon at a massive geopolitical, not to mention economic, shift.
[6/22/06] Cellulosic ethanol has all the advantages of corn-based ethanol - there is no difference in the ethanol, only in the way it's produced.
But unlike corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol can be made from a variety of things that might otherwise be considered waste – sewage sludge, switchgrass, plant stalks, trees, even coal – virtually anything that contains carbon.
Ashworth said there are an estimated one billion tons of such material available in the U.S. every year, enough for 100 billion gallons of ethanol.
While it's not feasible to actually go out and collect every ounce of that one billion tons, he said it's not unreasonable to expect ethanol to replace 40 billion gallons of gasoline in the near future.
"There's a lot of venture capitol out there that's willing to invest in cellulosic ethanol," he said. "You're likely to see some plants built in the next 12 to 18 months."
[via InvestorGuide Daily]
[6/22/06] Cellulosic ethanol has all the advantages of corn-based ethanol - there is no difference in the ethanol, only in the way it's produced.
But unlike corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol can be made from a variety of things that might otherwise be considered waste – sewage sludge, switchgrass, plant stalks, trees, even coal – virtually anything that contains carbon.
Ashworth said there are an estimated one billion tons of such material available in the U.S. every year, enough for 100 billion gallons of ethanol.
While it's not feasible to actually go out and collect every ounce of that one billion tons, he said it's not unreasonable to expect ethanol to replace 40 billion gallons of gasoline in the near future.
"There's a lot of venture capitol out there that's willing to invest in cellulosic ethanol," he said. "You're likely to see some plants built in the next 12 to 18 months."
[via InvestorGuide Daily]
Monday, May 07, 2007
Severn Suzuki
Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been doing her best to save her planet from environmental catastrophe since she was knee-high to a grasshopper.
At age six when most girls would be playing with their Barbie dolls Cullis-Suzuki was selling her father's hardcover books at lawn sales for 25 cents each to raise money for native land claims in British Columbia.
By age 10 she had co-founded ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization, with a group of like-minded grade six girlfriends at Lord Tennyson Elementary School in Vancouver.
Their first project was to buy a water filter for natives in the Malaysian tropical rain forest whose water supply was threatened by over logging and the effluence of an ever-encroaching population.
In 1992, when she was only 12, she brought world leaders to tears with a speech at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in which she chastised them for failing to protect her and her friends from the looming environmental catastrophe.
"I'm afraid to go out in the sun now because of holes in the ozone. I'm afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it," Cullis-Suzuki said in a six-minute speech heard around the world. "I used to go fishing with my dad in Vancouver until just a few years ago. We found the fish full of cancers."
Then she read out a checklist of the things the adults had failed to do to protect and preserve the health of the planet and urged them to get on with the task of making it fit for 5 billion people, or get out of the way.
"I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize neither do you...if you don't now how to fix it then please stop breaking it," she pleaded with the delegates.
At age six when most girls would be playing with their Barbie dolls Cullis-Suzuki was selling her father's hardcover books at lawn sales for 25 cents each to raise money for native land claims in British Columbia.
By age 10 she had co-founded ECO, the Environmental Children's Organization, with a group of like-minded grade six girlfriends at Lord Tennyson Elementary School in Vancouver.
Their first project was to buy a water filter for natives in the Malaysian tropical rain forest whose water supply was threatened by over logging and the effluence of an ever-encroaching population.
In 1992, when she was only 12, she brought world leaders to tears with a speech at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in which she chastised them for failing to protect her and her friends from the looming environmental catastrophe.
"I'm afraid to go out in the sun now because of holes in the ozone. I'm afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it," Cullis-Suzuki said in a six-minute speech heard around the world. "I used to go fishing with my dad in Vancouver until just a few years ago. We found the fish full of cancers."
Then she read out a checklist of the things the adults had failed to do to protect and preserve the health of the planet and urged them to get on with the task of making it fit for 5 billion people, or get out of the way.
"I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize neither do you...if you don't now how to fix it then please stop breaking it," she pleaded with the delegates.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
learning Chinese
Anyone who has tried to learn Chinese can attest to how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand it. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges. Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese.
Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience, researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on parts of the brain that help people detect changes in pitch.
One of the study's authors, Nina Kraus, said the findings suggested that studying music "actually tunes our sensory system."
This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs, Dr. Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.
Mandarin speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is presumably because in Mandarin and other Asian languages, pitch plays a central role. A single-syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.
For this study, the researchers looked at 20 non-Chinese speaking volunteers, half with no musical background and half who had studied an instrument for at least six years.
As they were shown a movie, the volunteers also heard an audiotape of the Mandarin word "mi" in three of its meanings: squint, bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activity in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds.
Those with a music background showed much more brain activity in response to the Chinese sounds.
The lead author of the study, Patrick C. M. Wong, said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments, Dr. Wong said.
Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience, researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on parts of the brain that help people detect changes in pitch.
One of the study's authors, Nina Kraus, said the findings suggested that studying music "actually tunes our sensory system."
This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs, Dr. Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.
Mandarin speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is presumably because in Mandarin and other Asian languages, pitch plays a central role. A single-syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.
For this study, the researchers looked at 20 non-Chinese speaking volunteers, half with no musical background and half who had studied an instrument for at least six years.
As they were shown a movie, the volunteers also heard an audiotape of the Mandarin word "mi" in three of its meanings: squint, bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activity in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds.
Those with a music background showed much more brain activity in response to the Chinese sounds.
The lead author of the study, Patrick C. M. Wong, said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments, Dr. Wong said.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Drunk on ethanol
By Matt Crenson, Associated Press
NEW YORK -- America is drunk on ethanol. Farmers in the Midwest are sending billions of bushels of corn to refineries that turn it into billions of gallons of fuel. Automakers in Detroit have already built millions of cars, trucks and SUVs that can run on it, and are committed to making millions more. In Washington, politicians have approved generous subsidies for companies that make ethanol.
And just this week, President Bush arranged with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for their countries to share ethanol production technology.
Even alternative fuel aficionados are surprised at the nation's sudden enthusiasm for grain alcohol.
"It's coming on dramatically; more rapidly than anyone had expected," said Nathanael Greene, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
You'd think that would be good news, but it actually worries a lot of people.
NEW YORK -- America is drunk on ethanol. Farmers in the Midwest are sending billions of bushels of corn to refineries that turn it into billions of gallons of fuel. Automakers in Detroit have already built millions of cars, trucks and SUVs that can run on it, and are committed to making millions more. In Washington, politicians have approved generous subsidies for companies that make ethanol.
And just this week, President Bush arranged with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for their countries to share ethanol production technology.
Even alternative fuel aficionados are surprised at the nation's sudden enthusiasm for grain alcohol.
"It's coming on dramatically; more rapidly than anyone had expected," said Nathanael Greene, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
You'd think that would be good news, but it actually worries a lot of people.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Global Warming
[1/21/13] Travis Holum pens this article for the Motley Fool.
Like it or not, the evidence that the Earth's climate is changing is no longer up for debate in mainstream scientific communities. In less-scientific communities, it's also becoming harder to make the argument that some sort of climate change isn't present (no snow in Minnesota in January!).
As might be expected, lots of comments.
[8/16/12] Somehow a debate on global warming erupted over on chucks_angels.
There was a number of scientists who are skeptical of global warming and I was wondering what percentage of scientists believe in global warming.
According to wikipedia
Since 2001, 32 national science academies have come together to issue joint declarations confirming anthropogenic global warming, and urging the nations of the world to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The signatories of these statements have been the national science academies of 32 countries.
Since 2007, when the American Association of Petroleum Geologists released a revised statement,[105] no scientific body of national or international standing rejects the findings of human-induced effects on climate change.
In an October 2011 paper published in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, researchers from George Mason University analyzed the results of a survey of 489 scientists working in academia, government, and industry. The scientists polled were members of the American Geophysical Union or the American Meteorological Society and listed in the 23rd edition of American Men and Women of Science, a biographical reference work on leading American scientists. Of those surveyed, 97% agreed that that global temperatures have risen over the past century. Moreover, 84% agreed that "human-induced greenhouse warming" is now occurring. Only 5% disagreed with the idea that human activity is a significant cause of global warming.
This article (linked from the above wikipedia article) asserts that it's an American thing
As glaciers melt and island populations retreat from their coastlines to escape rising seas, many scientists remain baffled as to why the global research consensus on human-induced climate change remains contentious in the U.S.
The frustration revealed itself during a handful of sessions at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, coming to a peak during a Friday session, "Science without Borders and Media Unbounded".
Near the forum’s conclusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology climate scientist Kerry Emanuel asked a panel of journalists why the media continues to cover anthropogenic climate change as a controversy or debate, when in fact it is a consensus among such organizations as the American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Physics, American Chemical Society, American Meteorological Association and the National Research Council, along with the national academies of more than two dozen countries.
And here's an article summarizing a recent debate.
First an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, No Need To Panic About Global Warning, by a group of 16 scientists.
Then a courageous response by a Professor of Economics (courageous in the sense that a Professor of Economics tackles a groups of scientists in a field out of his specialty).
Then a response to the response by three of the 16 scientists (and a response to the response to the response).
[Don't know if there was a response to the response to the response to the response.]
[7/16/10 Brill] Critics, mostly nonscientists, were quick to pick out errors and falsifications in the original 2007 IPCC report that brought climate to the global stage, calling it "ClimageGate" and alluding to a worldwide conspiracy to "convince the public either with no facts or falsely created ones," as one source put it.
It is puzzling that the sparsest evidence will sway people to believe that the moon landings were faked; yet the abundant and competent evidence for anthropogenic climate change is disdained and discredited.
The existing data on the climatic system suggests a high probability that we are affecting the climate. Anyone with data to the contrary, this is the time to speak up and not just criticize that which you don't understand.
Climate change is arguably the most significant and difficult problem ever faced by the human race, and we are treating it like a political campaign. Are we the frogs who won't jump out of the boiling water, or are we the intelligent beings we claim to be who will continue to monitor as we hope for the best and plan for the worst?
Do I believe in climate change? No, what I believe is that our meager science has not afforded us an adequate understanding of nature, and I'll take the worst verifiable knowledge over the best unfounded speculation whether it supports my beliefs or not.
[5/7/10 Brill] Climate change is an issue that is likely to remain unsettled for an indefinite period of time. The geosystem is too big for us to understand at present with our puny minds and primitive computers.
If we are experiencing a catastrophic climate change, there is little doubt that the last humans left alive on the planet will still be debating and denying it.
But suppose we did discover that global climate change is occurring and there is the likelihood of a catastrophic future. What would we do?
There are several lines of mediation that geoengineers are studying. One is reducing the sunlight that reaches Earth's surface by reflecting it from mirrors in space or on the ground, or by dispersing reflective particles in the atmosphere. Another is removing pollutants such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides or whatever is deemed to be a cause that can be efficaciously mediated. A third is to reduce emissions and pollutants so that natural processes can re-establish a cooler equilibrium.
The first two present technical problems but are doable. The third presents sociopolitical problems that are unlikely to be solved in the near future.
[7/17/09 Brill] It might seem that to determine whether carbon dioxide influences Earth's heat budget is merely a matter of taking Earth's temperature, measuring carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, then looking for a correlation.
The correlation is there. Earth's temperature is increasing in concert with greenhouse gases. Can we be sure which is cause and which is effect?
Confounding the problem are multiple variables (carbon dioxide plays multiple roles in geochemistry) and nonlinearity of the relationship (at higher temperatures the oceans release stored greenhouse gases resulting in positive feedback). Because of these and other confounding factors and bias, we cannot easily determine causality and thus cannot predict with certainty what the effects of mitigation might be.
All of this and more is wrapped up into this complex political, social, scientific quandary we call global climate change.
[who knew Brill was a right-winger?]
[11/17/08] If the Greenland icecap melts, the Sahara expands and the Siberian permafrost disappears, don't blame carbon-emitting SUVs or billowing smokestacks, says a group of scientists who claim their research on global warming has been repressed. The explanation, they argue, might be simpler: Mother Nature is just going through her natural cycles.
Researchers from around the world have begun to question the growing acceptance among the public, the media and the scientific community that labels human behavior as the primary cause of global warming.
The researchers who go against the scientific grain on the climate change issue know their ideas are unpopular. In fact, many claim their research is so disliked the rest of the scientific community is working to suppress it in spite of convincing scientific evidence.
[2/17/07] Richard Brill states:
There is a nearly 1-to-1 correlation between carbon dioxide and temperature only for the past 450,000 years during the extremes of the ice age, but the correlation is much weaker for other stretches of geologic time.
Furthermore, carbon dioxide is not the only factor that correlates with climate change, and it is not the sole determinant of Earth's temperature.
[8/11/07 via brknews] Freeman Dyson says that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated.
[4/3/07] You probably remember the Doug Hornig/Brent Cook debate about global warming in these pages. Now the movie world has caught up to the discussion: a recent UK documentary called The Great Global Warming Swindle (1 hr. 16 min.) presents evidence that counters the content of Al Gore's box office hit. Not CO2, but the sun, the researchers say, is responsible for global warming. Click here to watch.
[2/2/07] PARIS, Feb. 2 — In a bleak and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate change scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is the main driver, "very likely" causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.
They said the world is already committed to centuries of warming, shifting weather patterns and rising seas, resulting from the buildup of gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. But the warming can be substantially blunted by prompt action, the panel of scientists said in a report released here today.
The report summarized the fourth assessment since 1990 by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, sizing up the causes and consequences of climate change. But it is the first in which the group asserts with near certainty — more than 90 percent confidence — that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from human activities have been the main causes of warming since 1950.
In its last report, in 2001, the panel, consisting of hundreds of scientists and reviewers, put the confidence level at between 66 and 90 percent. Both reports are online at http://www.ipcc.ch.
Many energy and environment experts see such a doubling as a foregone conclusion sometime after midcentury unless there is a prompt and sustained shift away from the 20th-century pattern of unfettered burning of coal and oil, the main sources of carbon dioxide, and an aggressive quest for expanded and improved nonpolluting energy options.
[2/2/07] PARIS - Scientists from 113 countries issued a landmark report Friday saying they have little doubt that recent global warming has been caused by man, and predicting that hotter temperatures and rises in sea level will “continue for centuries” no matter how much humans control their carbon emissions.
A top U.S. government scientist, Susan Solomon, said “there can be no question that the increase in greenhouse gases are dominated by human activities.”
Environmental campaigners urged the United States and other industrial nations to significantly cut their emissions of greenhouse gases in response to the long-awaited report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“It is critical that we look at this report ... as a moment where the focus of attention will shift from whether climate change is linked to human activity, whether the science is sufficient, to what on earth are we going to do about it,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the U.N. Environment Program.
“The public should not sit back and say ‘There’s nothing we can do’,” Steiner said. “Anyone who would continue to risk inaction on the basis of the evidence presented here will one day in the history books be considered irresponsible.”
Pressure on world leaders
The scientists wrapped up the various chapters of the report Friday, and then released a 21-page executive summary for policymakers. The full report will be published in May.
The report represents the most authoritative science on global warming as the panel comprises hundreds of scientists and representatives. It only addresses how and why the planet is warming, not what to do about it. Another report by the panel later this year will address the most effective measures for slowing global warming.
One of the authors, Kevin Trenberth, said scientists are worried that world leaders will take the message in the wrong way and throw up their hands. Instead, world leaders should to reduce emissions and adapt to a warmer world with wilder weather, he said.
“This is just not something you can stop. We’re just going to have to live with it,” said Trenberth, the director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. “We’re creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we’ll have a different climate.”
The scientists said global warming was “very likely” caused by human activity, a phrase that translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that it is caused by man’s burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.
It also said no matter how much civilization slows or reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and sea level rise will continue on for centuries.
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level,” the scientists said.
Hotter nights, killer heat waves
The report blamed man-made emissions of greenhouse gases for fewer cold days, hotter nights, killer heat waves, floods and heavy rains, devastating droughts, and an increase in hurricane and tropical storm strength — particularly in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sharon Hays, associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, welcomed the strong language of the report.
“It’s a significant report. It will be valuable to policy makers,” she told The Associated Press in an interview in Paris
* * *
[1/31/07] In response to Doug Hornig’s article, longtime friend Brent Cook, a seasoned geologist, has prepared comprehensive and well-thought-out arguments. We’d like to share them with you here, in the interest of fostering information not based on pseudo-science or exaggerated threats, but scientific data of merit.
[1/15/07] Al Gore and others, including most of the media, have been telling us there now exists a "consensus" viewpoint on man-made (anthropogenic) global warming (or AGW). For purposes of economy, let's call them the alarmist faction. Furthermore, we're told that the faction questioning the majority view--we'll call them the skeptics--consists of only a tiny handful of shills for the oil industry.
Not so. (My note: be ready for a deluge of letters to the editor)
[7/16/06] Tom Brokaw reports on global warming on the Discovery Channel
[7/16/06] As we learned last year in New Orleans, weather can be a weapon of mass destruction. With the 2006 hurricane season now upon us, scientists say the climate is changing in ways that could produce many more superhurricanes, as well as extreme floods, droughts and heat waves that could threaten our way of life.
Still, it’s easy to ignore the signs of global warming because we’ve always had crazy weather. Unfortunately, many of the predicted changes have begun, and they already affect our health and pocketbooks. We ignore them at our peril.
[7/7/06] "An Inconvenient Truth," Davis Guggenheim's new documentary about the dangers of climate change, is a film that should never have been made. It is, after all, the job of political leaders and policymakers to protect against possible future calamities, to respond to the findings of science and to persuade the public that action must be taken to protect the common interest.
But when this does not happen — and it is hardly a partisan statement to observe that, in the case of global warming, it hasn't — others must take up the responsibility: filmmakers, activists, scientists, even retired politicians. That "An Inconvenient Truth" should not have to exist is a reason to be grateful that it does.
Like it or not, the evidence that the Earth's climate is changing is no longer up for debate in mainstream scientific communities. In less-scientific communities, it's also becoming harder to make the argument that some sort of climate change isn't present (no snow in Minnesota in January!).
As might be expected, lots of comments.
[8/16/12] Somehow a debate on global warming erupted over on chucks_angels.
There was a number of scientists who are skeptical of global warming and I was wondering what percentage of scientists believe in global warming.
According to wikipedia
Since 2001, 32 national science academies have come together to issue joint declarations confirming anthropogenic global warming, and urging the nations of the world to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The signatories of these statements have been the national science academies of 32 countries.
Since 2007, when the American Association of Petroleum Geologists released a revised statement,[105] no scientific body of national or international standing rejects the findings of human-induced effects on climate change.
In an October 2011 paper published in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, researchers from George Mason University analyzed the results of a survey of 489 scientists working in academia, government, and industry. The scientists polled were members of the American Geophysical Union or the American Meteorological Society and listed in the 23rd edition of American Men and Women of Science, a biographical reference work on leading American scientists. Of those surveyed, 97% agreed that that global temperatures have risen over the past century. Moreover, 84% agreed that "human-induced greenhouse warming" is now occurring. Only 5% disagreed with the idea that human activity is a significant cause of global warming.
This article (linked from the above wikipedia article) asserts that it's an American thing
As glaciers melt and island populations retreat from their coastlines to escape rising seas, many scientists remain baffled as to why the global research consensus on human-induced climate change remains contentious in the U.S.
The frustration revealed itself during a handful of sessions at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, coming to a peak during a Friday session, "Science without Borders and Media Unbounded".
Near the forum’s conclusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology climate scientist Kerry Emanuel asked a panel of journalists why the media continues to cover anthropogenic climate change as a controversy or debate, when in fact it is a consensus among such organizations as the American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Physics, American Chemical Society, American Meteorological Association and the National Research Council, along with the national academies of more than two dozen countries.
And here's an article summarizing a recent debate.
First an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, No Need To Panic About Global Warning, by a group of 16 scientists.
Then a courageous response by a Professor of Economics (courageous in the sense that a Professor of Economics tackles a groups of scientists in a field out of his specialty).
Then a response to the response by three of the 16 scientists (and a response to the response to the response).
[Don't know if there was a response to the response to the response to the response.]
[7/16/10 Brill] Critics, mostly nonscientists, were quick to pick out errors and falsifications in the original 2007 IPCC report that brought climate to the global stage, calling it "ClimageGate" and alluding to a worldwide conspiracy to "convince the public either with no facts or falsely created ones," as one source put it.
It is puzzling that the sparsest evidence will sway people to believe that the moon landings were faked; yet the abundant and competent evidence for anthropogenic climate change is disdained and discredited.
The existing data on the climatic system suggests a high probability that we are affecting the climate. Anyone with data to the contrary, this is the time to speak up and not just criticize that which you don't understand.
Climate change is arguably the most significant and difficult problem ever faced by the human race, and we are treating it like a political campaign. Are we the frogs who won't jump out of the boiling water, or are we the intelligent beings we claim to be who will continue to monitor as we hope for the best and plan for the worst?
Do I believe in climate change? No, what I believe is that our meager science has not afforded us an adequate understanding of nature, and I'll take the worst verifiable knowledge over the best unfounded speculation whether it supports my beliefs or not.
[5/7/10 Brill] Climate change is an issue that is likely to remain unsettled for an indefinite period of time. The geosystem is too big for us to understand at present with our puny minds and primitive computers.
If we are experiencing a catastrophic climate change, there is little doubt that the last humans left alive on the planet will still be debating and denying it.
But suppose we did discover that global climate change is occurring and there is the likelihood of a catastrophic future. What would we do?
There are several lines of mediation that geoengineers are studying. One is reducing the sunlight that reaches Earth's surface by reflecting it from mirrors in space or on the ground, or by dispersing reflective particles in the atmosphere. Another is removing pollutants such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides or whatever is deemed to be a cause that can be efficaciously mediated. A third is to reduce emissions and pollutants so that natural processes can re-establish a cooler equilibrium.
The first two present technical problems but are doable. The third presents sociopolitical problems that are unlikely to be solved in the near future.
[7/17/09 Brill] It might seem that to determine whether carbon dioxide influences Earth's heat budget is merely a matter of taking Earth's temperature, measuring carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, then looking for a correlation.
The correlation is there. Earth's temperature is increasing in concert with greenhouse gases. Can we be sure which is cause and which is effect?
Confounding the problem are multiple variables (carbon dioxide plays multiple roles in geochemistry) and nonlinearity of the relationship (at higher temperatures the oceans release stored greenhouse gases resulting in positive feedback). Because of these and other confounding factors and bias, we cannot easily determine causality and thus cannot predict with certainty what the effects of mitigation might be.
All of this and more is wrapped up into this complex political, social, scientific quandary we call global climate change.
[who knew Brill was a right-winger?]
[11/17/08] If the Greenland icecap melts, the Sahara expands and the Siberian permafrost disappears, don't blame carbon-emitting SUVs or billowing smokestacks, says a group of scientists who claim their research on global warming has been repressed. The explanation, they argue, might be simpler: Mother Nature is just going through her natural cycles.
Researchers from around the world have begun to question the growing acceptance among the public, the media and the scientific community that labels human behavior as the primary cause of global warming.
The researchers who go against the scientific grain on the climate change issue know their ideas are unpopular. In fact, many claim their research is so disliked the rest of the scientific community is working to suppress it in spite of convincing scientific evidence.
[2/17/07] Richard Brill states:
There is a nearly 1-to-1 correlation between carbon dioxide and temperature only for the past 450,000 years during the extremes of the ice age, but the correlation is much weaker for other stretches of geologic time.
Furthermore, carbon dioxide is not the only factor that correlates with climate change, and it is not the sole determinant of Earth's temperature.
[8/11/07 via brknews] Freeman Dyson says that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated.
[4/3/07] You probably remember the Doug Hornig/Brent Cook debate about global warming in these pages. Now the movie world has caught up to the discussion: a recent UK documentary called The Great Global Warming Swindle (1 hr. 16 min.) presents evidence that counters the content of Al Gore's box office hit. Not CO2, but the sun, the researchers say, is responsible for global warming. Click here to watch.
[2/2/07] PARIS, Feb. 2 — In a bleak and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate change scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is the main driver, "very likely" causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.
They said the world is already committed to centuries of warming, shifting weather patterns and rising seas, resulting from the buildup of gases in the atmosphere that trap heat. But the warming can be substantially blunted by prompt action, the panel of scientists said in a report released here today.
The report summarized the fourth assessment since 1990 by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, sizing up the causes and consequences of climate change. But it is the first in which the group asserts with near certainty — more than 90 percent confidence — that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from human activities have been the main causes of warming since 1950.
In its last report, in 2001, the panel, consisting of hundreds of scientists and reviewers, put the confidence level at between 66 and 90 percent. Both reports are online at http://www.ipcc.ch.
Many energy and environment experts see such a doubling as a foregone conclusion sometime after midcentury unless there is a prompt and sustained shift away from the 20th-century pattern of unfettered burning of coal and oil, the main sources of carbon dioxide, and an aggressive quest for expanded and improved nonpolluting energy options.
[2/2/07] PARIS - Scientists from 113 countries issued a landmark report Friday saying they have little doubt that recent global warming has been caused by man, and predicting that hotter temperatures and rises in sea level will “continue for centuries” no matter how much humans control their carbon emissions.
A top U.S. government scientist, Susan Solomon, said “there can be no question that the increase in greenhouse gases are dominated by human activities.”
Environmental campaigners urged the United States and other industrial nations to significantly cut their emissions of greenhouse gases in response to the long-awaited report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“It is critical that we look at this report ... as a moment where the focus of attention will shift from whether climate change is linked to human activity, whether the science is sufficient, to what on earth are we going to do about it,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the U.N. Environment Program.
“The public should not sit back and say ‘There’s nothing we can do’,” Steiner said. “Anyone who would continue to risk inaction on the basis of the evidence presented here will one day in the history books be considered irresponsible.”
Pressure on world leaders
The scientists wrapped up the various chapters of the report Friday, and then released a 21-page executive summary for policymakers. The full report will be published in May.
The report represents the most authoritative science on global warming as the panel comprises hundreds of scientists and representatives. It only addresses how and why the planet is warming, not what to do about it. Another report by the panel later this year will address the most effective measures for slowing global warming.
One of the authors, Kevin Trenberth, said scientists are worried that world leaders will take the message in the wrong way and throw up their hands. Instead, world leaders should to reduce emissions and adapt to a warmer world with wilder weather, he said.
“This is just not something you can stop. We’re just going to have to live with it,” said Trenberth, the director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. “We’re creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we’ll have a different climate.”
The scientists said global warming was “very likely” caused by human activity, a phrase that translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that it is caused by man’s burning of fossil fuels. That was the strongest conclusion to date, making it nearly impossible to say natural forces are to blame.
It also said no matter how much civilization slows or reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and sea level rise will continue on for centuries.
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level,” the scientists said.
Hotter nights, killer heat waves
The report blamed man-made emissions of greenhouse gases for fewer cold days, hotter nights, killer heat waves, floods and heavy rains, devastating droughts, and an increase in hurricane and tropical storm strength — particularly in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sharon Hays, associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House, welcomed the strong language of the report.
“It’s a significant report. It will be valuable to policy makers,” she told The Associated Press in an interview in Paris
* * *
[1/31/07] In response to Doug Hornig’s article, longtime friend Brent Cook, a seasoned geologist, has prepared comprehensive and well-thought-out arguments. We’d like to share them with you here, in the interest of fostering information not based on pseudo-science or exaggerated threats, but scientific data of merit.
[1/15/07] Al Gore and others, including most of the media, have been telling us there now exists a "consensus" viewpoint on man-made (anthropogenic) global warming (or AGW). For purposes of economy, let's call them the alarmist faction. Furthermore, we're told that the faction questioning the majority view--we'll call them the skeptics--consists of only a tiny handful of shills for the oil industry.
Not so. (My note: be ready for a deluge of letters to the editor)
[7/16/06] Tom Brokaw reports on global warming on the Discovery Channel
[7/16/06] As we learned last year in New Orleans, weather can be a weapon of mass destruction. With the 2006 hurricane season now upon us, scientists say the climate is changing in ways that could produce many more superhurricanes, as well as extreme floods, droughts and heat waves that could threaten our way of life.
Still, it’s easy to ignore the signs of global warming because we’ve always had crazy weather. Unfortunately, many of the predicted changes have begun, and they already affect our health and pocketbooks. We ignore them at our peril.
[7/7/06] "An Inconvenient Truth," Davis Guggenheim's new documentary about the dangers of climate change, is a film that should never have been made. It is, after all, the job of political leaders and policymakers to protect against possible future calamities, to respond to the findings of science and to persuade the public that action must be taken to protect the common interest.
But when this does not happen — and it is hardly a partisan statement to observe that, in the case of global warming, it hasn't — others must take up the responsibility: filmmakers, activists, scientists, even retired politicians. That "An Inconvenient Truth" should not have to exist is a reason to be grateful that it does.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Intel's new generation chip
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has overhauled the basic building block of the information age, paving the way for a new generation of faster and more energy-efficient processors.
Company researchers said the advance represented the most significant change in the materials used to manufacture silicon chips since Intel pioneered the modern integrated-circuit transistor more than four decades ago.
The microprocessor chips, which Intel plans to begin making in the second half of this year, are designed for computers but they could also have applications in consumer devices. Their combination of processing power and energy efficiency could make it possible, for example, for cellphones to play video at length — a demanding digital task — with less battery drain.
Company researchers said the advance represented the most significant change in the materials used to manufacture silicon chips since Intel pioneered the modern integrated-circuit transistor more than four decades ago.
The microprocessor chips, which Intel plans to begin making in the second half of this year, are designed for computers but they could also have applications in consumer devices. Their combination of processing power and energy efficiency could make it possible, for example, for cellphones to play video at length — a demanding digital task — with less battery drain.
Doomsday Clock moves to 11:55
LONDON, England (AP) -- The world has nudged closer to a nuclear apocalypse and environmental disaster, a trans-Atlantic group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday, pushing the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight.
It was the fourth time since the end of the Cold War that the clock has ticked forward, this time from 11:53 to 11:55, amid fears over what the scientists are describing as "a second nuclear age" prompted largely by atomic standoffs with Iran and North Korea.
But the organization added that the "dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons."
It was the fourth time since the end of the Cold War that the clock has ticked forward, this time from 11:53 to 11:55, amid fears over what the scientists are describing as "a second nuclear age" prompted largely by atomic standoffs with Iran and North Korea.
But the organization added that the "dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons."
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wave Hub: Hawaii
In Hawaii, where we are blessed with the second-best wave climate in the world, Wave Energy Converters could supply all the power needs of neighbor islands and 80 percent of Oahu's.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Educational Software
[1/19/09 via frwr-news] - MemoryLifter is a scientific memorization tool based upon the work of Ebbinghaus and Leitner. The FREE MemoryLifter software enables you to lift any kind of information into your Long Term Memory. Many clever, scientific and intelligent features speed up and enhance the memorization process to make your brain the strongest organ in your body.
[8/25/07] FMSLogo is a free implementation of a computing environment called Logo, which is an interactive programming language that is simple, powerful, and best of all fun. [via frwr-news, 8/18/07] (see also Kid's Programming Language)
[7/5/07] Question Writer - Personal Edition is software that lets you make your own multiple-choice quizzes. It's free for personal use, easy to use and even a beginner can create high quality quizzes. [from frwr-news, 2/10/07]
[4/18/07] Q & A is a freeware flashcard program that is simple to use, yet customizable in terms of font, color, and alignment. It includes helpful features such as an intuitive deck editing mode, deck shuffle option, and the ability to import and export decks so you can share decks that you have created with others. [from frwr-news, 4/16/07]
[12/27/06] Educational games from BlackRat Studios [frwr-news, 12/26/06]
[8/25/07] FMSLogo is a free implementation of a computing environment called Logo, which is an interactive programming language that is simple, powerful, and best of all fun. [via frwr-news, 8/18/07] (see also Kid's Programming Language)
[7/5/07] Question Writer - Personal Edition is software that lets you make your own multiple-choice quizzes. It's free for personal use, easy to use and even a beginner can create high quality quizzes. [from frwr-news, 2/10/07]
[4/18/07] Q & A is a freeware flashcard program that is simple to use, yet customizable in terms of font, color, and alignment. It includes helpful features such as an intuitive deck editing mode, deck shuffle option, and the ability to import and export decks so you can share decks that you have created with others. [from frwr-news, 4/16/07]
[12/27/06] Educational games from BlackRat Studios [frwr-news, 12/26/06]
Thursday, December 21, 2006
chess: man vs. machine
[12/12/06] Although it received little mention in the popular press, Vladimir Kramnik, the world's reigning chess champion, was defeated last week 4-2 by the computer Deep Fritz, in a best-of-six-game match.
The defeat was not really that surprising. When Kramnik last met Deep Fritz four years ago, he battled the computer to a 4-4 tie. Since then, however, the computer has only gotten better. In fact, since 2002, Kramnik's "Elo" rating -- which measures the strength of a chess player -- has dropped, while Deep Fritz (an improvement from IBM's (NYSE: IBM) famous Deep Blue program) increased the number of positions it could calculate per second from 2.7 million to 8 million.
The defeat was not really that surprising. When Kramnik last met Deep Fritz four years ago, he battled the computer to a 4-4 tie. Since then, however, the computer has only gotten better. In fact, since 2002, Kramnik's "Elo" rating -- which measures the strength of a chess player -- has dropped, while Deep Fritz (an improvement from IBM's (NYSE: IBM) famous Deep Blue program) increased the number of positions it could calculate per second from 2.7 million to 8 million.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Thirty Pieces of Software
Battle of the Thirty
What follows is a list of thirty pieces of software that are the cream of the crop of open source software for Windows. Not only is every piece of it free, almost all of them directly replace expensive software packages.
1. Firefox
2. Thunderbird
3. Sunbird
4. Abiword
5. OpenOffice
6. ClamWin
7. Gaim
8. BitTorrent
9. GIMPShop
10. Gnucleus
11. VLC Media Player
12. Juice
13. Audacity
14. RSSOwl
15. Filezilla
16. Keynote
17. MusikCube
18. Handbrake
19. X-Chat 2
20. KeePass
21. TrueCrypt
22. PDFCreator
23. Freemind
24. NASA Worldwind
25. Notepad2
26. HealthMonitor
27. Workrave
28. GanttPV
29. GnuCash
30. True Combat: Elite
[via frwr-news]
What follows is a list of thirty pieces of software that are the cream of the crop of open source software for Windows. Not only is every piece of it free, almost all of them directly replace expensive software packages.
1. Firefox
2. Thunderbird
3. Sunbird
4. Abiword
5. OpenOffice
6. ClamWin
7. Gaim
8. BitTorrent
9. GIMPShop
10. Gnucleus
11. VLC Media Player
12. Juice
13. Audacity
14. RSSOwl
15. Filezilla
16. Keynote
17. MusikCube
18. Handbrake
19. X-Chat 2
20. KeePass
21. TrueCrypt
22. PDFCreator
23. Freemind
24. NASA Worldwind
25. Notepad2
26. HealthMonitor
27. Workrave
28. GanttPV
29. GnuCash
30. True Combat: Elite
[via frwr-news]
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Woz speaks
While many of us may now associate Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) more with an iPod than with an iMac, the Apple of old played a key role in developing a new type of computer --- a more, well, personal computer. The Fool's Mac Greer recently talked with the man behind that motherboard --- Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the author of iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It, a book that he wrote with Gina Smith.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Web Space
[11/19/06] Google is offering web hosting via Google Page Creator. Saw this because Michael Zipf (see Anti-Virus programs) was using it to host his site.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
jajah.com
We found another service for making free phone calls over the Internet; it's free to many countries and nearly free to the rest. It's Jajah.com, and using it is reminiscent of the old phone systems that used an operator to connect your call.
There's no software to download, and you don't need a high-speed Internet connection; dial-up will do. You just go to Jajah's Web site and type your phone number in a box on the screen. Then select the country you're calling and type in the phone number you want to reach. A few seconds later your phone will ring and you will hear a message telling you that Jajah is connecting your call.
-- Bob & Joy Schwabach, On Computers
There's no software to download, and you don't need a high-speed Internet connection; dial-up will do. You just go to Jajah's Web site and type your phone number in a box on the screen. Then select the country you're calling and type in the phone number you want to reach. A few seconds later your phone will ring and you will hear a message telling you that Jajah is connecting your call.
-- Bob & Joy Schwabach, On Computers
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Look ma, no hands!
Teenage boys and computer games go hand-in-hand.
Now, a St. Louis-area teenage boy and a computer game have gone hands-off, thanks to a unique experiment conducted by a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis.
The boy, a 14-year-old who suffers from epilepsy, is the first teenager to play a two-dimensional video game, Space Invaders, using only the signals from his brain to make movements.
-- via annleach06@TheGreatSecret
Now, a St. Louis-area teenage boy and a computer game have gone hands-off, thanks to a unique experiment conducted by a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis.
The boy, a 14-year-old who suffers from epilepsy, is the first teenager to play a two-dimensional video game, Space Invaders, using only the signals from his brain to make movements.
-- via annleach06@TheGreatSecret
Thursday, September 28, 2006
World of Science
Eric Weisstein's World of Science contains budding encyclopedias of astronomy, scientific biography, chemistry, and physics.
This resource has been assembled over more than a decade by internet encyclopedist Eric W. Weisstein with assistance from the internet community.
Eric Weisstein's World of Science is written and maintained by the author as a public service for scientific knowledge and education. Although it is often difficult to find explanations for technical subjects that are both clear and accessible, this web site bridges the gap by placing an interlinked framework of mathematical exposition and illustrative examples at the fingertips of every internet user. [via frwr-news, 9/21/06]
This resource has been assembled over more than a decade by internet encyclopedist Eric W. Weisstein with assistance from the internet community.
Eric Weisstein's World of Science is written and maintained by the author as a public service for scientific knowledge and education. Although it is often difficult to find explanations for technical subjects that are both clear and accessible, this web site bridges the gap by placing an interlinked framework of mathematical exposition and illustrative examples at the fingertips of every internet user. [via frwr-news, 9/21/06]
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
C++ and Java
Bruce Eckel has kindly provided his book "Thinking in C++, Second Edition" free of charge to on-line readers.
Bruce Eckel has provided us with another amazing work of his. "Thinking in Java", 2nd edition, and now the new 3rd edition beta.
[frwr-news, 9/26/06]
[6/4/08] Thinking in C++ is are also here. [frwr-news, 5/21/08]
But perhaps the best place would be from the author's company Mindview.
Bruce Eckel has provided us with another amazing work of his. "Thinking in Java", 2nd edition, and now the new 3rd edition beta.
[frwr-news, 9/26/06]
[6/4/08] Thinking in C++ is are also here. [frwr-news, 5/21/08]
But perhaps the best place would be from the author's company Mindview.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Free Games
[5/4/07] Game Speed Adjuster [via frwr_news 6/19/06]. I wonder if this'll work with the DOS War2?
[8/31/06] This Windows XP Freeware Game Guide mentions some of the same games below. (So that tells me that they're probably pretty decent.)
[8/30/06] Some commercial-quality games are now available for free downloads including: Abuse (2-D scroller), Grand Theft Auto, Marathon Trilogy (precursor of Halo), Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Star Control II.
[6/3/06] C-evo is a freeware empire building game for Windows.
With a time scope of several thousand years, it covers aspects of exploration and expansion, industry and agriculture, warfare and diplomacy, science and administration. The game is based on Microprose's famous Sid Meier's Civilization and has many basic ideas in common with it. Actually, this project has arised from the wish to correct annoying design mistakes and AI weaknesses of Civ II. The priorities of the C-evo project are considerably different from big commercial games. While those are focused on easy entertainment and mainly compete for the most realistic and exciting up-to-date multimedia, this one aims at ageless challenge. [frwr-news]
[11/26/05] Most of us have whiled away some spare time playing the cheap and cheerful games that come with Windows, while others invest a little more time and money in the latest 3D games. This is an expensive luxury for lots of people, but the good news is that there are plenty of fun games to be had for free. [frwr-news]
[8/31/06] This Windows XP Freeware Game Guide mentions some of the same games below. (So that tells me that they're probably pretty decent.)
[8/30/06] Some commercial-quality games are now available for free downloads including: Abuse (2-D scroller), Grand Theft Auto, Marathon Trilogy (precursor of Halo), Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Star Control II.
[6/3/06] C-evo is a freeware empire building game for Windows.
With a time scope of several thousand years, it covers aspects of exploration and expansion, industry and agriculture, warfare and diplomacy, science and administration. The game is based on Microprose's famous Sid Meier's Civilization and has many basic ideas in common with it. Actually, this project has arised from the wish to correct annoying design mistakes and AI weaknesses of Civ II. The priorities of the C-evo project are considerably different from big commercial games. While those are focused on easy entertainment and mainly compete for the most realistic and exciting up-to-date multimedia, this one aims at ageless challenge. [frwr-news]
[11/26/05] Most of us have whiled away some spare time playing the cheap and cheerful games that come with Windows, while others invest a little more time and money in the latest 3D games. This is an expensive luxury for lots of people, but the good news is that there are plenty of fun games to be had for free. [frwr-news]
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Pluto no longer a planet
PLUTO was stripped of its status as a planet when scientists from around the world redefined it as a "dwarf planet", leaving just eight classical planets in the solar system.
Discovered in 1930, Pluto has traditionally been considered the ninth planet, and farthest from the sun, in the solar system.
However, the first definition of a planet approved after a heated debate among some 2500 scientists and astronomers drew a clear distinction between Pluto and the other eight planets.
The need to define what it takes to be a planet stems from technological advances that enable astronomers to look further into space and to measure more precisely the size of celestial bodies in our solar system.
In addition to the categories of “planet” and “dwarf planet”, the definition creates a third category to encompass all other objects, except satellites, to be known as small solar system bodies.
“The eight planets are Mercury, Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune,” said the IAU resolution, passed in a raised-hands vote after what, by the discreet standards of the astronomical community, was a stormy debate.
Discovered in 1930, Pluto has traditionally been considered the ninth planet, and farthest from the sun, in the solar system.
However, the first definition of a planet approved after a heated debate among some 2500 scientists and astronomers drew a clear distinction between Pluto and the other eight planets.
The need to define what it takes to be a planet stems from technological advances that enable astronomers to look further into space and to measure more precisely the size of celestial bodies in our solar system.
In addition to the categories of “planet” and “dwarf planet”, the definition creates a third category to encompass all other objects, except satellites, to be known as small solar system bodies.
“The eight planets are Mercury, Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune,” said the IAU resolution, passed in a raised-hands vote after what, by the discreet standards of the astronomical community, was a stormy debate.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
fight viruses & spyware
[3/6/13] The best antivirus for 2013. Neil Rubenking the antivirus/security products for 2013. AVG took the honors for the best free antivirus (over avast!). Comodo Cleaning Essentials was the top free cleanup-only antivirus (over malwarebytes, though malwarebytes was the top if you read the review).
[5/11/12] Way back in the day ZoneAlarm set the computer security world alight with a cool, very powerful personal firewall product which defined the world of Windows PC safety for years.
Then the company seemed to lose its way, the technology started to wilt, and their products disappeared from popular use as other products took over. Well they're back.
ZoneAlarm Free AntiVirus + Firewall takes the original personal firewall product and tacks on an anti-virus pack, so you get a two-in-one lock down of your computer where it counts.
[7/16/11] Trying out Multi-AV. "The Multi-AV Scanning Tool is a software utility that provides multiple anti malware command line scanners to find or detect malware as well as remove it from your computer."
Hitman Pro is another one to use to double-check after you used your normal scanner(s).
[1/26/11] Top 10 Best Free Antivirus Software for 2011 (according to SofoTex)
[5/22/05] Free alternatives to Norton and McAfee.
AVG Free Edition
Panda ActiveScan (online scanner)
Trend Micro Housecall (online scanner)
One I'm trying out now is Avast
[8/21/05] AntiVir is another one. I think I tried this before, but decided not to use it. [4/25/10 - Avira has a pretty good review at download.com.]
[8/5/06] Cyberhawk's ActiveDefense technology hunts down and paralyzes threats that are too new or too clever to be recognized by traditional security software. [via frwr-news, 7/23/06]
[8/10/06] Active Virus Shield is free anti-virus for your PC that combines traditional antivirus programs, stopping them before they can infect your computer.
Active Virus Shield is brought to you as a free service of AOL and is based on Kaspersky Lab's award winning Personal Anti-Virus. [frwr-news]
[1/2/08] PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition provides world-leading protection, with rapid database updates, IntelliGuard™ real-time protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your system remains safe and virus free. PC Tools products are trusted and used by millions of people everyday to protect their home and business computers against online threats. [via frwr-news]
[7/12/08] Kapersky removal tools [frwr-news, 2008-06-29]
[8/31/08] a couple more: Rising AntiVirus, Moon Secure AV [via frwr-news]
[10/20/09] new, free Microsoft Security Essentials [via twitter.com/cyberlifepc]
For spyware:
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Spybot Search & Destroy
[7/4/05] Yahoo! Anti-Spy, which comes with the Yahoo! Toolbar, looks like it has promise. Its partner is PestPatrol and, I suspect, is using PestPatrol technology
[7/4/05] According to the Adware Report (found as a google sponsored link), the best spyware product currently is Aluria Software's Spyware Eliminator
[8/21/05] Spyware Tools
[9/28/05] This guy uses multiple layers of security on his computer (see Reader Feedback)
[12/11/05] From frwr-news, I tried out the EMCO Malware Destroyer. It seemed to catch a lot of junk, though there were two items (NMC.WSN and NMC.WHENU.WEATHERCAST) it found but didn't removee.
[12/20/05] Oh yeah, Microsoft AntiSpyware seems to be OK too, though it's still in beta (for WinXP).
[2/27/06] SpyCatcher
[6/3/06] superantispyware might find spyware that others miss, but it's reportedly slow [frwr-news]
[6/13/06] SpyDefense [from frwr-news / haven't tried it out yet, for Windows XP and the like]
Firewalls:
ZoneAlarm
Sygate
[1/19/06] More firewalls
[8/15/05] more scanners
* * *
[5/26/06] Here's a handy place to download free anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls
[11/13/06] GeeksToGo mentions many of the products mentioned above
[11/19/06] Michael Zipf's list
[5/25/08] filehippo lists many of the popular anti-virus and spyware programs
[5/11/12] Way back in the day ZoneAlarm set the computer security world alight with a cool, very powerful personal firewall product which defined the world of Windows PC safety for years.
Then the company seemed to lose its way, the technology started to wilt, and their products disappeared from popular use as other products took over. Well they're back.
ZoneAlarm Free AntiVirus + Firewall takes the original personal firewall product and tacks on an anti-virus pack, so you get a two-in-one lock down of your computer where it counts.
[7/16/11] Trying out Multi-AV. "The Multi-AV Scanning Tool is a software utility that provides multiple anti malware command line scanners to find or detect malware as well as remove it from your computer."
Hitman Pro is another one to use to double-check after you used your normal scanner(s).
[1/26/11] Top 10 Best Free Antivirus Software for 2011 (according to SofoTex)
[5/22/05] Free alternatives to Norton and McAfee.
AVG Free Edition
Panda ActiveScan (online scanner)
Trend Micro Housecall (online scanner)
One I'm trying out now is Avast
[8/21/05] AntiVir is another one. I think I tried this before, but decided not to use it. [4/25/10 - Avira has a pretty good review at download.com.]
[8/5/06] Cyberhawk's ActiveDefense technology hunts down and paralyzes threats that are too new or too clever to be recognized by traditional security software. [via frwr-news, 7/23/06]
[8/10/06] Active Virus Shield is free anti-virus for your PC that combines traditional antivirus programs, stopping them before they can infect your computer.
Active Virus Shield is brought to you as a free service of AOL and is based on Kaspersky Lab's award winning Personal Anti-Virus. [frwr-news]
[1/2/08] PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition provides world-leading protection, with rapid database updates, IntelliGuard™ real-time protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your system remains safe and virus free. PC Tools products are trusted and used by millions of people everyday to protect their home and business computers against online threats. [via frwr-news]
[7/12/08] Kapersky removal tools [frwr-news, 2008-06-29]
[8/31/08] a couple more: Rising AntiVirus, Moon Secure AV [via frwr-news]
[10/20/09] new, free Microsoft Security Essentials [via twitter.com/cyberlifepc]
For spyware:
Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Spybot Search & Destroy
[7/4/05] Yahoo! Anti-Spy, which comes with the Yahoo! Toolbar, looks like it has promise. Its partner is PestPatrol and, I suspect, is using PestPatrol technology
[7/4/05] According to the Adware Report (found as a google sponsored link), the best spyware product currently is Aluria Software's Spyware Eliminator
[8/21/05] Spyware Tools
[9/28/05] This guy uses multiple layers of security on his computer (see Reader Feedback)
[12/11/05] From frwr-news, I tried out the EMCO Malware Destroyer. It seemed to catch a lot of junk, though there were two items (NMC.WSN and NMC.WHENU.WEATHERCAST) it found but didn't removee.
[12/20/05] Oh yeah, Microsoft AntiSpyware seems to be OK too, though it's still in beta (for WinXP).
[2/27/06] SpyCatcher
[6/3/06] superantispyware might find spyware that others miss, but it's reportedly slow [frwr-news]
[6/13/06] SpyDefense [from frwr-news / haven't tried it out yet, for Windows XP and the like]
Firewalls:
ZoneAlarm
Sygate
[1/19/06] More firewalls
[8/15/05] more scanners
* * *
[5/26/06] Here's a handy place to download free anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls
[11/13/06] GeeksToGo mentions many of the products mentioned above
[11/19/06] Michael Zipf's list
[5/25/08] filehippo lists many of the popular anti-virus and spyware programs
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Expert Mind
A man walks along the inside of a circle of chess tables, glancing at each for two or three seconds before making his move. On the outer rim, dozens of amateurs sit pondering their replies until he completes the circuit. The year is 1909, the man is José Raúl Capablanca of Cuba, and the result is a whitewash: 28 wins in as many games. The exhibition was part of a tour in which Capablanca won 168 games in a row.
How did he play so well, so quickly? And how far ahead could he calculate under such constraints? "I see only one move ahead," Capablanca is said to have answered, "but it is always the correct one."
He thus put in a nutshell what a century of psychological research has subsequently established: much of the chess master's advantage over the novice derives from the first few seconds of thought. This rapid, knowledge-guided perception, sometimes called apperception, can be seen in experts in other fields as well. Just as a master can recall all the moves in a game he has played, so can an accomplished musician often reconstruct the score to a sonata heard just once. And just as the chess master often finds the best move in a flash, an expert physician can sometimes make an accurate diagnosis within moments of laying eyes on a patient.
But how do the experts in these various subjects acquire their extraordinary skills? How much can be credited to innate talent and how much to intensive training? Psychologists have sought answers in studies of chess masters. The collected results of a century of such research have led to new theories explaining how the mind organizes and retrieves information. What is more, this research may have important implications for educators. Perhaps the same techniques used by chess players to hone their skills could be applied in the classroom to teach reading, writing and arithmetic.
How did he play so well, so quickly? And how far ahead could he calculate under such constraints? "I see only one move ahead," Capablanca is said to have answered, "but it is always the correct one."
He thus put in a nutshell what a century of psychological research has subsequently established: much of the chess master's advantage over the novice derives from the first few seconds of thought. This rapid, knowledge-guided perception, sometimes called apperception, can be seen in experts in other fields as well. Just as a master can recall all the moves in a game he has played, so can an accomplished musician often reconstruct the score to a sonata heard just once. And just as the chess master often finds the best move in a flash, an expert physician can sometimes make an accurate diagnosis within moments of laying eyes on a patient.
But how do the experts in these various subjects acquire their extraordinary skills? How much can be credited to innate talent and how much to intensive training? Psychologists have sought answers in studies of chess masters. The collected results of a century of such research have led to new theories explaining how the mind organizes and retrieves information. What is more, this research may have important implications for educators. Perhaps the same techniques used by chess players to hone their skills could be applied in the classroom to teach reading, writing and arithmetic.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The End of Medicine
John Mauldin writes about an intriguing new book by his friend Andy Kessler called The End of Medicine, subtitled "How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor."
What happens when you go to the doctor today? He uses a stethoscope to listen to your heart, looks down your throat and ears, and asks you questions. These were all 19th-century technologies, with some minor updates. X-rays? 80 years or more ago.
Medicine today is focused on fixing what ails you. If you have heart problems, let's put in a stent or repair a valve. Lipitor to help control your cholesterol. Chemotherapy to deal with your cancer, if we can't cut it out.
In short, we spend $1.5 trillion just in the US on trying to fix what goes wrong, and precious little on preventing things from going wrong. Health-conscious people try to eat right, exercise, take supplements, have regular check-ups, and avoid things that are bad for us; but if there is a problem, we go to the doctor to get it fixed.
That is going to change, and it is going to change at an even faster pace than did our cellular phone service. It will come one innovation, one small step at a time; but in 10 years, 15 at the outside, we will be more focused on preventing illness than fixing it.
Your front-line doctor is going to be displaced by technology. It is going to be one of the most massive disruptions in history.
What happens when you go to the doctor today? He uses a stethoscope to listen to your heart, looks down your throat and ears, and asks you questions. These were all 19th-century technologies, with some minor updates. X-rays? 80 years or more ago.
Medicine today is focused on fixing what ails you. If you have heart problems, let's put in a stent or repair a valve. Lipitor to help control your cholesterol. Chemotherapy to deal with your cancer, if we can't cut it out.
In short, we spend $1.5 trillion just in the US on trying to fix what goes wrong, and precious little on preventing things from going wrong. Health-conscious people try to eat right, exercise, take supplements, have regular check-ups, and avoid things that are bad for us; but if there is a problem, we go to the doctor to get it fixed.
That is going to change, and it is going to change at an even faster pace than did our cellular phone service. It will come one innovation, one small step at a time; but in 10 years, 15 at the outside, we will be more focused on preventing illness than fixing it.
Your front-line doctor is going to be displaced by technology. It is going to be one of the most massive disruptions in history.
UFOs at NASA?
The search for proof of the existence of UFOs landed Gary McKinnon in a world of trouble.
After allegedly hacking into NASA websites -- where he says he found images of what looked like extraterrestrial spaceships -- the 40-year-old Briton faces extradition to the United States from his North London home. If convicted, McKinnon could receive a 70-year prison term and up to $2 million in fines.
[from frwr-news, 7/15/06]
After allegedly hacking into NASA websites -- where he says he found images of what looked like extraterrestrial spaceships -- the 40-year-old Briton faces extradition to the United States from his North London home. If convicted, McKinnon could receive a 70-year prison term and up to $2 million in fines.
[from frwr-news, 7/15/06]
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
put your unused computer time to use
Researcher David Baker believes the key to an AIDS vaccine or a cure for cancer may be that old PC sitting under a layer of dust in your closet or the one on your desk doing little else but running a screen saver. Those outdated or idle computers may be just what Baker needs to turn his ideas into scientific breakthroughs.
Baker, 43, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington, realized about two years ago that he didn't have access to the computing horsepower needed for his research — nor the money to buy time on supercomputers elsewhere.
So he turned to the kindness — and the computers — of strangers.
Using software made popular in a massive yet so far fruitless search for intelligent life beyond Earth, he and his research team are tapping the computing power of tens of thousands of PCs whose owners are donating spare computer time to chop away at scientific problems over the internet.
Baker's Rosetta@home project is attracting PC users who like the idea of helping find a cure for cancer and admire the way Baker has involved regular people in his research that aims to predict how protein structures unfold at the atomic level.
"We're getting these volunteer virtual communities popping up that are doing wonderful things," Baker said. "People like to get together for good causes."
Baker's work could one day lead to cures to diseases from cancer to Alzheimer's. The project takes a more direct approach to other diseases, including the search for an HIV vaccine. In that case, his team hopes to develop a way to help the body recognize critical parts of the virus' proteins so that it can no longer hide from the body's immune system.
-- Donna Blankinship, Associated Press
Baker, 43, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington, realized about two years ago that he didn't have access to the computing horsepower needed for his research — nor the money to buy time on supercomputers elsewhere.
So he turned to the kindness — and the computers — of strangers.
Using software made popular in a massive yet so far fruitless search for intelligent life beyond Earth, he and his research team are tapping the computing power of tens of thousands of PCs whose owners are donating spare computer time to chop away at scientific problems over the internet.
Baker's Rosetta@home project is attracting PC users who like the idea of helping find a cure for cancer and admire the way Baker has involved regular people in his research that aims to predict how protein structures unfold at the atomic level.
"We're getting these volunteer virtual communities popping up that are doing wonderful things," Baker said. "People like to get together for good causes."
Baker's work could one day lead to cures to diseases from cancer to Alzheimer's. The project takes a more direct approach to other diseases, including the search for an HIV vaccine. In that case, his team hopes to develop a way to help the body recognize critical parts of the virus' proteins so that it can no longer hide from the body's immune system.
-- Donna Blankinship, Associated Press
Monday, July 10, 2006
fans keep Star Trek alive
Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek" uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a leathery-looking gang.
Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Sieber, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Sieber, writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the obvious — not all Klingons are trained actors — and bellow, "Quiet on the set!"
From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans are filling the void left in a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original 1960s "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to make episodes.
Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the "Star Wars" movies. But they now can be downloaded from the Web, and modern computer graphics lend them surprising special effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount, owner of the to "Star Trek" rights, has been tolerant. (Its executives declined to comment.)
Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes, according to its Web site (www.hiddenfrontier.com), and has explored gay themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in Austin, Texas, at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original "Star Trek," but now has been repopulated by Texans.
"I think the networks — Paramount, CBS — I don't think they're giving the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Sieber, a 40-year-old engineer who likens his "Star Trek" project, at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
"The fans are saying, 'Look, if we can't get what we want on television, the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves,' " he added.
And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original "Star Trek," is guest-starring in an episode, and George Takei, who played Sulu, is scheduled to shoot one this year. D.C. Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a script.
-- Danny Hakim, New York Times
Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Sieber, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Sieber, writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the obvious — not all Klingons are trained actors — and bellow, "Quiet on the set!"
From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans are filling the void left in a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original 1960s "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to make episodes.
Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the "Star Wars" movies. But they now can be downloaded from the Web, and modern computer graphics lend them surprising special effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount, owner of the to "Star Trek" rights, has been tolerant. (Its executives declined to comment.)
Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes, according to its Web site (www.hiddenfrontier.com), and has explored gay themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in Austin, Texas, at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original "Star Trek," but now has been repopulated by Texans.
"I think the networks — Paramount, CBS — I don't think they're giving the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Sieber, a 40-year-old engineer who likens his "Star Trek" project, at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
"The fans are saying, 'Look, if we can't get what we want on television, the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves,' " he added.
And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original "Star Trek," is guest-starring in an episode, and George Takei, who played Sulu, is scheduled to shoot one this year. D.C. Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a script.
-- Danny Hakim, New York Times
Who Killed The Electric Car?
[7/8/07] Tesla: The Next Generation. Tesla Motors, based in Silicon Valley, recently began selling its first production car, the Roadster. Beyond its stylish looks, Tesla's top selling points are downright revolutionary: There's absolutely no gasoline. The car is 100% electric. This isn't a hybrid, folks. It can go roughly 221 miles on a single 3.5-hour charge. Zero to 60 MPH in 3.9 seconds, enough to put many Ferraris to shame. Top speed is 125 MPH. The base price -- $109,000 -- isn't for the squeamish, but cheaper models are on the way.
[1/8/07] Unlike hybrid gas-electric offerings from Toyota, Honda, and Ford, the Volt promises to be truly unique -- the first commercial car not powered by the internal combustion engine.
[8/30/06] A new breed of electric car poses an attractive alternative for drivers tired of pricey gas
[7/10/06] Chris Paine's ode ode to General Motors' EV1, an electric car whose brief promise of a future free from dependence on gasoline and its choking by-products was rudely crushed, leaving devoted EV1 owners so devastated that a group of them staged a mock funeral.
Paine was one such owner (executive producer Dean Devlin was another), and if he's hell-bent on finding a conspiracy behind the rise and fall of the EV1 he's also decent enough to allow that a naturally occurring perfect storm of broad-based consumer boneheadedness, corporate bad faith, shortsighted governance and general resistance to change might also have been to blame.
Paine begins in 1990, when car-clogged California's smog crisis, coupled with the fact that GM had recently unveiled the prototype for a workable electric car, prompted the state's Air Resources Board to pass a radical resolution: the Zero Emissions Mandate. It required that within eight years, two percent of all cars sold in California had to be emissions-free, and that the percentage was to reach 10 by 2003. The EV1 was the commercial version of the unfortunately named Impact, which was developed at the behest of notorious CEO Roger Smith (the "Roger" of Michael Moore's 1989 ROGER AND ME) after a custom-built "sun racer" built by GM engineers won the 1987 World Solar Challenge race.
EV1s began rolling into dealerships in California and Arizona in December 1996. The quiet, snazzy-looking two-seater got between 70 and 120 miles to a charge, but was available for lease only; prospective buyers endured long waits, vague delivery dates and intrusive interviews. And they still loved their cars, from celebrities like Tom Hanks, who talked up his on Late Night with David Letterman to Peter Horton, whose EV1 wound up as the last one in private hands.
Paine argues persuasively that as a corporate entity, GM undermined the EV1 at every turn, then cut back production after claiming there was no consumer demand. When leases came due, GM repossessed the cars and crushed them.
He also marshals extensive evidence that the automotive and petroleum industries banded together to force the Zero Emissions Mandate's repeal; that the Reagan and Bush administrations systematically dismantled federal policies supporting fuel economy, conservationism, and alternative fuel sources instituted by President Carter during the '70s gas crisis; and that hidebound automakers poisoned mainstream consumers against the very idea of electric cars by exploiting bigger-is-better status consciousness, resistance to government interference (the same interference that mandated seat belts, air bags and safety glass), and suspicions that tree-hugging sissies wanted to force everyone to drive mingy little golf carts.
Impassioned, unwieldy and padded with celebrity interviews, Paine's documentary ends on a surprisingly upbeat note, suggesting that America's "addiction to oil" is complex and deep-rooted but not hopeless, given the collective will to find a solution. — Maitland McDonagh
[6/26/06] Silicon Valley is trying to do something Detroit couldn't -- build an electric car that people will buy. Start-up Tesla Motors is using money from investors including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to build a sports car you can plug into the wall.
[1/8/07] Unlike hybrid gas-electric offerings from Toyota, Honda, and Ford, the Volt promises to be truly unique -- the first commercial car not powered by the internal combustion engine.
[8/30/06] A new breed of electric car poses an attractive alternative for drivers tired of pricey gas
[7/10/06] Chris Paine's ode ode to General Motors' EV1, an electric car whose brief promise of a future free from dependence on gasoline and its choking by-products was rudely crushed, leaving devoted EV1 owners so devastated that a group of them staged a mock funeral.
Paine was one such owner (executive producer Dean Devlin was another), and if he's hell-bent on finding a conspiracy behind the rise and fall of the EV1 he's also decent enough to allow that a naturally occurring perfect storm of broad-based consumer boneheadedness, corporate bad faith, shortsighted governance and general resistance to change might also have been to blame.
Paine begins in 1990, when car-clogged California's smog crisis, coupled with the fact that GM had recently unveiled the prototype for a workable electric car, prompted the state's Air Resources Board to pass a radical resolution: the Zero Emissions Mandate. It required that within eight years, two percent of all cars sold in California had to be emissions-free, and that the percentage was to reach 10 by 2003. The EV1 was the commercial version of the unfortunately named Impact, which was developed at the behest of notorious CEO Roger Smith (the "Roger" of Michael Moore's 1989 ROGER AND ME) after a custom-built "sun racer" built by GM engineers won the 1987 World Solar Challenge race.
EV1s began rolling into dealerships in California and Arizona in December 1996. The quiet, snazzy-looking two-seater got between 70 and 120 miles to a charge, but was available for lease only; prospective buyers endured long waits, vague delivery dates and intrusive interviews. And they still loved their cars, from celebrities like Tom Hanks, who talked up his on Late Night with David Letterman to Peter Horton, whose EV1 wound up as the last one in private hands.
Paine argues persuasively that as a corporate entity, GM undermined the EV1 at every turn, then cut back production after claiming there was no consumer demand. When leases came due, GM repossessed the cars and crushed them.
He also marshals extensive evidence that the automotive and petroleum industries banded together to force the Zero Emissions Mandate's repeal; that the Reagan and Bush administrations systematically dismantled federal policies supporting fuel economy, conservationism, and alternative fuel sources instituted by President Carter during the '70s gas crisis; and that hidebound automakers poisoned mainstream consumers against the very idea of electric cars by exploiting bigger-is-better status consciousness, resistance to government interference (the same interference that mandated seat belts, air bags and safety glass), and suspicions that tree-hugging sissies wanted to force everyone to drive mingy little golf carts.
Impassioned, unwieldy and padded with celebrity interviews, Paine's documentary ends on a surprisingly upbeat note, suggesting that America's "addiction to oil" is complex and deep-rooted but not hopeless, given the collective will to find a solution. — Maitland McDonagh
[6/26/06] Silicon Valley is trying to do something Detroit couldn't -- build an electric car that people will buy. Start-up Tesla Motors is using money from investors including Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to build a sports car you can plug into the wall.
BASIC
[6/23/10 frwr_news] Just BASIC is a programming language for the Windows operating system. It is completely free and it is suitable for creating all kinds of applications for business, industry, education and entertainment. Just BASIC borrows many features from our popular commercial product Liberty BASIC.
[3/11/07] FreeBASIC - as the name suggests - is a free, open-source, 32-bit, MS-QuickBASIC's syntax-compatible compiler, that adds new features such as pointers, unsigned data types, inline-assembly and many others.
[7/10/06] GW-BASIC was once the main language used on home computers and is still useful in learning the fundamentals of computer programming and smaller utility programs.
You can get GWBASIC 3.23, GW-BASIC Manual, Compiler, tutorials, examples and games courtesy of KindlyRat.
[frwr-news, 7/6/06]
Actually though, I like QBasic (and the commercial QuickBasic) much better.
[9/9/06 frwr-news] It is possible to develop GUI applications with well known BASIC syntax in a modern fashion. KBASIC comes with truly Java-like object orientation and backward support for VB6 and QBasic, as it is 100% syntax compatible.
[3/11/07] FreeBASIC - as the name suggests - is a free, open-source, 32-bit, MS-QuickBASIC's syntax-compatible compiler, that adds new features such as pointers, unsigned data types, inline-assembly and many others.
[7/10/06] GW-BASIC was once the main language used on home computers and is still useful in learning the fundamentals of computer programming and smaller utility programs.
You can get GWBASIC 3.23, GW-BASIC Manual, Compiler, tutorials, examples and games courtesy of KindlyRat.
[frwr-news, 7/6/06]
Actually though, I like QBasic (and the commercial QuickBasic) much better.
[9/9/06 frwr-news] It is possible to develop GUI applications with well known BASIC syntax in a modern fashion. KBASIC comes with truly Java-like object orientation and backward support for VB6 and QBasic, as it is 100% syntax compatible.
Friday, July 07, 2006
A Virtual Keyboard
Women seem to carry their entire house in their purse. Most gals can usually whip out a band-aid, assorted make-up products, tissues, and of course, a wallet and cell phone, but how about a keyboard? Perhaps a techie like me could. I admit, in addition to the aforementioned items, I usually have my PlayStation Portable (PSP) along with some spare games, digital camera, and extra memory sticks. No my purse isn’t that big, and I don’t actually carry around a humungous keyboard with me. I’m talking about a virtual keyboard that’s about the size of a pack of gum - no joke!
The iTECH Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard has a red plastic window where a projection module uses a red diode laser to emit a keyboard template. The holographic optical element used to display the virtual keyboard then produces a full-size keyboard image onto your desk, or any other flat surface (with no protrusions over 1mm), and allows you to type wherever you are. It will make simulated key click sounds as your fingers press the virtual keys and break the laser, so it will sound like you’re typing.
-- Alison Stewart, MidWeek, June 16, 2006
The iTECH Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard has a red plastic window where a projection module uses a red diode laser to emit a keyboard template. The holographic optical element used to display the virtual keyboard then produces a full-size keyboard image onto your desk, or any other flat surface (with no protrusions over 1mm), and allows you to type wherever you are. It will make simulated key click sounds as your fingers press the virtual keys and break the laser, so it will sound like you’re typing.
-- Alison Stewart, MidWeek, June 16, 2006
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
WebReaper
WebReaper is web crawler or spider, which can work its way through a website, downloading pages, pictures and objects that it finds so that they can be viewed locally, without needing to be connected to the internet. [from frwr-news]
I tried it on my Yahoo fantasy basketball league and it worked pretty decently, though it didn't support the popup windows and crawled only so far.
I tried it on my Yahoo fantasy basketball league and it worked pretty decently, though it didn't support the popup windows and crawled only so far.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
PC World's Info Centers
Doing product research? Wondering about spyware, Windows, and other major technology topics? Provisioning your small business or home office? Our Info Centers are your one-stop shop for everything you need: reviews, charts, how-to's, articles, downloads, and pricing info on the products and topics that most interest you.
-- from frwr-news
-- from frwr-news
Monday, May 29, 2006
Kid's Programming Language
KPL stands for Kid’s Programming Language. KPL makes it easy for kids to learn computer programming. KPL makes it fun, too, by making it especially easy to program computer games, with cool graphics and sound. KPL is not just for games - it can be used for teaching many different subjects. KPL's emphasis on games is based on the belief that learning is best when learning is fun. KPL's success around the world - which is substantial but still just getting started - is proof that this approach works.
-- from frwr-news
-- from frwr-news
Segway to the rescue
Thieves used to break into as many as five cars a week in the parking garage at Los Angeles' Union Station. Then the Metropolitan Transportation Authority came up with a simple solution: They put a security officer on a Segway Human Transporter.
"The first day that one of the security officers was on the device was pretty much the last day there was a break-in," said Robin Blair, a transportation planning manager for the MTA, which owns about 19 Segways.
"The first day that one of the security officers was on the device was pretty much the last day there was a break-in," said Robin Blair, a transportation planning manager for the MTA, which owns about 19 Segways.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Computer Drop-off Event on hold
THE BIANNUAL Computer Drop-off Event involving the Hawaii Computers for Kids Program, CompUSA, Lenox Metals, and the City and County of Honolulu is on hold indefinitely, after the state Department of Health informed the sponsors that commercially generated cathode ray tubes no longer can be dumped into city landfills.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition
Discover the basics of digital photography with Adobe® Photoshop® Album Starter Edition software, the free software that makes it easier than ever to view, find, fix, and share your photos. It's fast, easy, and best of all — it's free!
[frwr-news, 5/2/06]
[frwr-news, 5/2/06]
Friday, May 05, 2006
amazing water bridge!
Water Bridge in Germany.... What a feat!
Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long.......now this is engineering!
This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration.
To those who appreciate engineering projects, here's a puzzle for you armchair engineers and physicists. Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?
Answer:
It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water!
Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.
Remember your high school physics, and the fly in an enclosed bottle project? Similarly, the super sensitive scale proved that it didn't make any difference whether the fly was sitting on the bottom, walking up the side, or flying around. The bottle, air, and fly were a single unit of mass and always weighed the same.
Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long.......now this is engineering!
This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration.
To those who appreciate engineering projects, here's a puzzle for you armchair engineers and physicists. Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?
Answer:
It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water!
Why? A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.
Remember your high school physics, and the fly in an enclosed bottle project? Similarly, the super sensitive scale proved that it didn't make any difference whether the fly was sitting on the bottom, walking up the side, or flying around. The bottle, air, and fly were a single unit of mass and always weighed the same.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
YouTube.com
Though it debuted only five months ago, YouTube.com attracts 6 million visitors each day to watch two-minute video clips that amount to the Internet's version of "America's Funniest Home Videos" meets "American Idol." Every day, users stock the site with 35,000 homemade videos of lip-syncing, dancing, silly animation and commentaries on any topic, all of which are commented on and rated by viewers.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Going Wireless With RangeMax
If you don’t already have a wireless network setup in your home or office, chances are you’re probably searching for a good solution. Throughout the years I’ve used countless wireless routers both at home and work, but my favorite, and the latest to go through Click Chick’s careful scrutiny is the NetGear RangeMax Wireless Router (Model WPN824).
As soon as I plugged everything in and configured the router and computer, I immediately noticed how powerful the signal strength was no matter where I took my laptop.
-- Alison Stewart, MidWeek, 4/14/06
As soon as I plugged everything in and configured the router and computer, I immediately noticed how powerful the signal strength was no matter where I took my laptop.
-- Alison Stewart, MidWeek, 4/14/06
Friday, April 21, 2006
email better than dope?
A British study commissioned by Hewlett Packard found that a nonstop barrage of email can cause a greater loss of IQ than smoking a small amount of marijuana. Workers who constantly break away from tasks to react to incoming emails and phone messages suffer an average loss of 10 IQ points, the equivalent of missing a whole night's sleep and more than double the 4- point drop from marijuana.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Apple turns 30
Apple Computer Inc. turned 30 on April Fool's Day.
It was three decades ago when a pair of prank-loving college dropouts, who also shared an interest in electronics, created computer circuit boards in a Cupertino garage, named the product Apple I and sold it to a local computer store.
It was three decades ago when a pair of prank-loving college dropouts, who also shared an interest in electronics, created computer circuit boards in a Cupertino garage, named the product Apple I and sold it to a local computer store.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
free (and legal) music and videos
iMesh recently launched a new service that enables users to share about 15 million free songs and videos with P2P file sharing that is 100 percent legal. More than 2 million are original, high-quality songs licensed from the record labels. iMesh is able to do this because of an agreement it signed with digital music distributor MusicNet to supply it with songs. MusicNet’s collection includes inventory from Virgin, HMV, Yahoo! and AOL.
CD-R burnout
Popular CD-R and CD-RW discs used to 'burn' digital photographs, videos and songs for the long haul seem to have a crucial shortcoming, says an IBM information storage expert. The discs, unlike pressed compact discs used for professionally produced music and video recordings, typically last only two to five years.
-- from AARP Bulletin, March 2006
Digital Dave responds.
-- from AARP Bulletin, March 2006
Digital Dave responds.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Microsoft Origami
Thursday, March 16, 2006
internet growth
the growth of the Internet in the U.S. has stalled. Despite cheaper prices and faster speeds, analysts expect uptake to creep just one percentage point this year, to 65%, and to only 67% by 2009.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
bndmod.exe
This was another annoying virus. [see log on 11/9/05] Panda found it but didn't remove it. And I couldn't delete it manually even in safe mode. AntiVir apparently got rid of some other viruses but bndmod.exe was still there. MoveOnBoot didn't work (couldn't even see the file). Finally I tried a WindowsME boot disk and that worked and I could delete the file.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Battle of the Microchip Giants
The greatest, nastiest, costliest and most enduring feud in Silicon Valley — and in all of high-tech — is the 30-year-old fight between Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices. What makes it particularly memorable — and bitter — is that it deals not only with products and markets but with friendships, personal animosities, even paternal loyalties.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
What We Don't Know?
In a special collection of articles published beginning 1 July 2005, Science Magazine and its online companion sites celebrate the journal's 125th anniversary with a look forward -- at the most compelling puzzles and questions facing scientists today. A special, free news feature in Science explores 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century. [from Cool Tricks and Trinkets]
The Good Earth
Frontier Multimedia presents their second show, "The Good Earth." It's a view of Earth from space - seen from a range of satellites, the space shuttle, and the International Space Station. The views are sometimes beautiful - such as clouds streaming past South Georgia Island - and sometimes bizarre, such as the alien landscape of Lake Disappointment, or the inland Mali delta. [from Cool Tricks and Trinkets]
save on ink
[3/3/06] On the face of it, the logic of buying refilled ink cartridges seems pretty obvious. A new HP 26A cartridge, for use in about two dozen Hewlett-Packard printers, costs $29 at Staples. Buy a $21 Staples-brand remanufactured unit and you save 28 percent. Go to Cartridge World and you pay $18.39, a 37 percent discount.
Walgreens is installing cartridge refilling machines in the photo department of 1,500 of its 5,120 drugstores. Office Depot is testing the same kiosks in Charlotte, N.C., and Minneapolis. These machines, called the Ink-O-Dem, cost about $40,000 and can refill a cartridge in about 2.5 minutes. "We cut out the middlemen," said Harry Nicodem, chief executive of TonerHead, the maker of the kiosk.
The automation gives Walgreens a price advantage: its HP 26A is $14.50. (You can also refill one yourself at home and, after you scrub the ink from your hands, save even more, 65 percent.)
End of story, right? You would go for the cheaper alternatives. But saving money is not just a matter of finding the lowest price. Two recent studies suggest that the more important consideration is the price per page printed, a number that is affected by the quality of a refilled cartridge.
Hewlett-Packard executives argue that you are wasting your money with refills, which is what you might expect the company to say. Manufacturers have a lot riding on a business model in which they sell ink cartridges that can cost a third of what the printer did.
The company has a point. QualityLogic, a Moorpark, Calif., test laboratory found that while new Hewlett-Packard cartridges had a 2 percent failure rate, 70 percent of remanufactured units did not last as long as promised. Hewlett commissioned the study, but Consumer Reports magazine came to a similar conclusion last May. Testers there found that in almost all cases, the refilled cartridges cost as much or more when evaluated on their per-page output.
* * *
[10/30/04] you can get refilled ink cartridges here
Walgreens is installing cartridge refilling machines in the photo department of 1,500 of its 5,120 drugstores. Office Depot is testing the same kiosks in Charlotte, N.C., and Minneapolis. These machines, called the Ink-O-Dem, cost about $40,000 and can refill a cartridge in about 2.5 minutes. "We cut out the middlemen," said Harry Nicodem, chief executive of TonerHead, the maker of the kiosk.
The automation gives Walgreens a price advantage: its HP 26A is $14.50. (You can also refill one yourself at home and, after you scrub the ink from your hands, save even more, 65 percent.)
End of story, right? You would go for the cheaper alternatives. But saving money is not just a matter of finding the lowest price. Two recent studies suggest that the more important consideration is the price per page printed, a number that is affected by the quality of a refilled cartridge.
Hewlett-Packard executives argue that you are wasting your money with refills, which is what you might expect the company to say. Manufacturers have a lot riding on a business model in which they sell ink cartridges that can cost a third of what the printer did.
The company has a point. QualityLogic, a Moorpark, Calif., test laboratory found that while new Hewlett-Packard cartridges had a 2 percent failure rate, 70 percent of remanufactured units did not last as long as promised. Hewlett commissioned the study, but Consumer Reports magazine came to a similar conclusion last May. Testers there found that in almost all cases, the refilled cartridges cost as much or more when evaluated on their per-page output.
* * *
[10/30/04] you can get refilled ink cartridges here
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Free Utilities
[7/26/10 frwr_news 8/6/09] Partition Wizard Home Edition is a free partition manager designed by MT Solution Ltd. It supports 32/64 bit Windows Operating System including Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Home users can perform complicated partition operations by using this powerful but free partition manager to manage their hard disk partition such as Resizing partitions, Copying partitions, Create partition, Delete partition, Format partition, Convert partition, Explore partition, Hide partition, Change drive letter, Set active partition and Partition Recovery.
[7/22/10 frwr_news] Snowbird is a simple file-searching utility that seems to be a bit faster than the regular Windows Explorer search.
[7/18/10] A couple of promising-sounding utilities from the 7/29/09 frwr_news.
Auslogics Registry Cleaner v1.5.11.155 - 2208 KB
Keeping the Registry clean and error-free is the key to optimal computer performance. Auslogics Registry Cleaner will help you get rid of registry errors and make your computer as fast as ever, all of this for FREE.
Virtual CloneDrive v5.4.3.2 - 1516 KB
Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD or CloneCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.
[6/9/10] Partition Assistant Home Edition is completely FREE partition manager software. It allows you to manage partition, redistribute disk space easily, and you can use it to perform more complicated partition operations on your hard disk, which like the commercial Partition Magic.
[6/8/10] DirGraph provides a graphical view of the space used by your files and directories. It allows you to navigate around this view - zooming in to see greater detail and zooming out to see the bigger picture. [see my separate entry for more]
[1/23/10 frwr-news] EASEUS Partition Master Professional is comprehensive hard disk partition management tool and system partition optimization software; it can let you enjoy all the powerful basic and advanced partition functions for Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 32/64 bit users.
[7/1/09 frwr-news] ImageScaler - "I wrote this program because I've got tired of the poor quality image scaling (i.e. resizing) in image manipulation programs like: PhotoShop, PaintShopPro, Picture Publisher, ACDSee etc. which only offer the crappy bicubic algorithm."
[4/18/09 frwr-news] Paragon Hard Disk Manager Special Edition v8.5 -
Partitioning, cloning, backup, defragging, recovery: managing your hard drive throughout its life normally requires many different functions, and a library of tools. But there is another way. Install Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5 SE and you'll get all the most useful hard drive tools collected together in a single, easy-to-use interface. [3/25/12 - no longer offered, so see next paragraph]
[3/25/12 frwr-news] Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free Edition v11 - 43041 KB
Partitioning is not for amateurs. That is why millions of people have
trusted our safe, stable technology and professional software solutions for
over 15 years. Our latest 11 version easily organizes your hard drive and
redistributes free space to enhance system performance.
[12/26/08 frwr-news] Unknown Device Identifier enables you to identify the yellow question mark labeled Unknown Devices in Device Manager. And reports you a detailed summary for the manufacturer name, OEM name, device type, device model and even the exact name of the unknown devices. With the collected information, you might contact your hardware manufacturer for support or search the Internet for the corresponding driver with a simple click.
[7/1/12 frwr-news] Undelete 360 v2.15 - 2697 KB
Powerful but easy to use data recovery software that can restore files and
folders lost due to virus attacks, human errors, software or hardware
failures.
Software supports recovery of files deleted from computers, flash drives,
cameras, and any other data storage. With an optimized algorithm and smart
built-in cache system, the tool has incredibly fast scan of hard drives.
Operating system: Windows 2000 / XP / VISTA / Windows 7 / 2003 or 2008
Server.
[12/22/07 frwr-news] Glary Undelete is a free and easy-to-use yet powerful file undelete solution for FAT and NTFS file systems. It will bring back files emptied from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down. It will even recover files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!
Glary Undelete works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32,NTFS/NTFS5 and image recovery from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards.
Absolute Uninstaller is similar to standard Windows Add/Remove program but more powerful.The standard Add/Remove program can't uninstall applications completely which often leaves broken registry keys ,unnecessary files on the hard disk.The more junk files your computer have ,the slower it runs. Uninstall Manager can wipe off all the junk files clearly in seconds.It offers a more user-friendly way to remove unneeded applications and to improve your computer efficiency.
[11/11/07 frwr-news] filehippo.com is a good source of freebie utilities
[10/7/07 frwr-news] Drive Rescue is a program for exploring your hard disk, and locating lost files on it. The idea for this program originated from processing a disk with Scandisk--which suddenly contained no data. Since off-the-shelf Windows methods could not recover any of it, this program was successfully created.
[9/14/07 frwr-news] Undeletion Wizard is a file undeletion program for windows. It can recover (undelete) deleted files from your hard disk. Currently Undeletion Wizard supports undeletion only from fat 32 partitions. It can search your hard disk for undeletable files. Advanced Search options allows you to search deleted files by specifying their file names (whole or part) or by their extensions. Undeletion Wizard can also undelete files from deleted directories. It can scan recursively your disk's directory structure.
[1/17/07 frwr-news] Slawdog AquiMem is a small utility for Windows 95-XP that allows you to defragment your system's physical memory. Have you ever noticed that it is nearly impossible to keep your computer running over a week without a crash or system slowdown occuring? Defragmenting RAM is necessary to keep the operating system stable and healthy without the constant need to reboot.
Slawdog AquiMem's purpose is to regain that lost memory and make it available to the application again. This is done by instructing the operating system to remove portions of unused memory and relocating it to the hard drive swap file.
[11/12/06 frwr-news] Ultimate Data Recovery will quickly and easily recover deleted files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin, or lost due to the format or corruption of a hard drive, virus or trojan infection, unexpected system shutdown or software failure
[11/12/06 frwr-news] Cute Partition Manager (CPM) is an advanced hard disk partition management utility. Using Cute Partition Manager, you can easily add, edit, delete and manage the partitions in your computer.
[11/1/06 frwr-news] Directory Lister will create a file listing the files in your directories. Or simply try
[10/27/06 frwr-news] DriverMax is a new program which allows you to easily reinstall all your Windows drivers. No more searching for rare drivers on discs or on the web or inserting one installation CD after the other. Simply export all your current drivers (or just the ones that work ok) to a folder or a compressed file. After reinstalling Windows you will have everything in one place! [for Vista and XP]
[9/27/06 frwr-news] SoftPerfect File Recovery is a free and useful tool to restore accidentally deleted files from hard and floppy disks, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media. It supports the popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption. If your important files disappeared and you can’t find them in the recycle bin, try this software product and get the files back to life. Easy to use, no installation is required.
[9/20/06 junk mail] Registry Defender is a complimentary and easy to use program that can scan for and correct problems in your computers registry. Correcting such problems can provide benefits such as:
[9/10/06] What is gone is gone? Far from it! Avira UnErase recovers data that have been deleted from the hard drive – either accidentally or as a result of a virus infection, an uninstaller or defective software. The danger of important data being lost forever is averted with Avira UnErase.
[9/01/06 frwr-news] Floppy Image v1.5.2 - 135 KB. Creates image files of floppy disks and back (for backup, storage or transfer). You can choose to save the image file compressed, uncompressed or as a self-extracting exe file. You can also add descriptions to your image files.
Floppy Image Creator v1.4.1 - 244 KB
This program allows you to make an exact image of a floppy disk and save it to a file, and of course restore the image to disk when ever required. It is especially useful for making backups of system and/or boot disks.
[8/11/06 frwr-news] AntiCrash a system utility that’s designed to free memory and prevents Windows from crashing. Primarily, the program works by monitoring every application running in the background. It goes further by displaying processor threads, DLL files and other system items you won't ordinarily find in the Control-Alt-Delete menu.
Making Windows more stable must be one of the holy grails of programming. AntiCrash, its designed to spare you from countless boot-ups. Essentially, it provides access to several functions and tasks that tend not to crash the operating system. It controls memory threads and virtually forces commands to reach the system Kernel. AntiCrash is completely multi-threaded, allowing you to work with applications without the usual instabilities and grinding slowdowns.
This utility use an ‘Application Protection Engine’ that can potentially repair problem applications or system files. For example, it automatically fixes annoying memory links that slow your system.
[I'm using it now and it seems to have somewhat improved the slowdown of my system so far. But maybe it's coincidence because it did slow down the second day.]
[7/27/06 frwr-news] With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.
(Unfortunately, it found nothing on my Windows ME system)
[6/16/06] What Abexo Free Registry Cleaner? A.F. Registry Cleaner is a utility software to make your computer run smoother and faster. What is registry? Registry is a database where Windows and programs store their data. Why do I need to clean the registry? When data changes i.e. you delete a file, the registry doesn't remove the invalid data, thus in this case a reference to a non-existent file remains in the registry. As the registry gets filled with invalid data, Windows and programs consume more system resources to search the database for any data. Therefore your computer gets slower and slower. [haven't tried it yet, frwr-news, 6/11/06]
[6/16/06] ADRC Data Recovery Tools contains a collection of DIY recovery tools that supports a wide variety drives and file systems.
The software incorporates extremely simple GUI with novice users in mind. The software zooms in to do only critical recovery functions with minimum complexity. It gives you full control to undelete files, disk image back up, restore a backup image, copy files from hard disk with bad sectors, disk cloning, backup, edit and restore your boot parameters. [frwr-news, 6/13/06]
[6/1/06] Driver Magician Lite identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the "saved" drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands. [frwr-news, 2006-06-02]
[5/6/06] Apparently Partition Logic now supports resizing [frwr-news, 4/25/06]
[2/24/06] HDClone Free Edition enables you to move the content from an entire hard drive to another, larger one. The program installs itself on a bootable floppy or CD, and include it`s own operating system, so it runs completely independent from Windows. Once HDClone has created the bootable floppy or CD for you, you can use it to boot your computer and copy the drive content to the new (installed) drive, using a graphical interface. The free version is perfectly suitable to upgrade your existing drive to a larger one. It supports IDE/ATA/SATA hard disks and is able to copy up to 300 MB/min. The software does not recognize a USB mouse or keyboard (after boot), so you need to connect a non-USB mouse and keyboard to operate the copy interface. License: Freeware Windows: 98/ME/2000/XP [from frwr-news]
[11/6/05] Partition Logic is a free alternative to Partition Magic. One big drawback is that it doesn't look like it supports resizing. - frwr-news, 11/5/05
[7/22/10 frwr_news] Snowbird is a simple file-searching utility that seems to be a bit faster than the regular Windows Explorer search.
[7/18/10] A couple of promising-sounding utilities from the 7/29/09 frwr_news.
Auslogics Registry Cleaner v1.5.11.155 - 2208 KB
Keeping the Registry clean and error-free is the key to optimal computer performance. Auslogics Registry Cleaner will help you get rid of registry errors and make your computer as fast as ever, all of this for FREE.
Virtual CloneDrive v5.4.3.2 - 1516 KB
Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD or CloneCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.
[6/9/10] Partition Assistant Home Edition is completely FREE partition manager software. It allows you to manage partition, redistribute disk space easily, and you can use it to perform more complicated partition operations on your hard disk, which like the commercial Partition Magic.
[6/8/10] DirGraph provides a graphical view of the space used by your files and directories. It allows you to navigate around this view - zooming in to see greater detail and zooming out to see the bigger picture. [see my separate entry for more]
[1/23/10 frwr-news] EASEUS Partition Master Professional is comprehensive hard disk partition management tool and system partition optimization software; it can let you enjoy all the powerful basic and advanced partition functions for Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 32/64 bit users.
[7/1/09 frwr-news] ImageScaler - "I wrote this program because I've got tired of the poor quality image scaling (i.e. resizing) in image manipulation programs like: PhotoShop, PaintShopPro, Picture Publisher, ACDSee etc. which only offer the crappy bicubic algorithm."
[4/18/09 frwr-news] Paragon Hard Disk Manager Special Edition v8.5 -
Partitioning, cloning, backup, defragging, recovery: managing your hard drive throughout its life normally requires many different functions, and a library of tools. But there is another way. Install Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5 SE and you'll get all the most useful hard drive tools collected together in a single, easy-to-use interface. [3/25/12 - no longer offered, so see next paragraph]
[3/25/12 frwr-news] Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free Edition v11 - 43041 KB
Partitioning is not for amateurs. That is why millions of people have
trusted our safe, stable technology and professional software solutions for
over 15 years. Our latest 11 version easily organizes your hard drive and
redistributes free space to enhance system performance.
[12/26/08 frwr-news] Unknown Device Identifier enables you to identify the yellow question mark labeled Unknown Devices in Device Manager. And reports you a detailed summary for the manufacturer name, OEM name, device type, device model and even the exact name of the unknown devices. With the collected information, you might contact your hardware manufacturer for support or search the Internet for the corresponding driver with a simple click.
[7/1/12 frwr-news] Undelete 360 v2.15 - 2697 KB
Powerful but easy to use data recovery software that can restore files and
folders lost due to virus attacks, human errors, software or hardware
failures.
Software supports recovery of files deleted from computers, flash drives,
cameras, and any other data storage. With an optimized algorithm and smart
built-in cache system, the tool has incredibly fast scan of hard drives.
Operating system: Windows 2000 / XP / VISTA / Windows 7 / 2003 or 2008
Server.
[12/22/07 frwr-news] Glary Undelete is a free and easy-to-use yet powerful file undelete solution for FAT and NTFS file systems. It will bring back files emptied from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down. It will even recover files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!
Glary Undelete works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32,NTFS/NTFS5 and image recovery from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards.
Absolute Uninstaller is similar to standard Windows Add/Remove program but more powerful.The standard Add/Remove program can't uninstall applications completely which often leaves broken registry keys ,unnecessary files on the hard disk.The more junk files your computer have ,the slower it runs. Uninstall Manager can wipe off all the junk files clearly in seconds.It offers a more user-friendly way to remove unneeded applications and to improve your computer efficiency.
[11/11/07 frwr-news] filehippo.com is a good source of freebie utilities
[10/7/07 frwr-news] Drive Rescue is a program for exploring your hard disk, and locating lost files on it. The idea for this program originated from processing a disk with Scandisk--which suddenly contained no data. Since off-the-shelf Windows methods could not recover any of it, this program was successfully created.
[9/14/07 frwr-news] Undeletion Wizard is a file undeletion program for windows. It can recover (undelete) deleted files from your hard disk. Currently Undeletion Wizard supports undeletion only from fat 32 partitions. It can search your hard disk for undeletable files. Advanced Search options allows you to search deleted files by specifying their file names (whole or part) or by their extensions. Undeletion Wizard can also undelete files from deleted directories. It can scan recursively your disk's directory structure.
[1/17/07 frwr-news] Slawdog AquiMem is a small utility for Windows 95-XP that allows you to defragment your system's physical memory. Have you ever noticed that it is nearly impossible to keep your computer running over a week without a crash or system slowdown occuring? Defragmenting RAM is necessary to keep the operating system stable and healthy without the constant need to reboot.
Slawdog AquiMem's purpose is to regain that lost memory and make it available to the application again. This is done by instructing the operating system to remove portions of unused memory and relocating it to the hard drive swap file.
[11/12/06 frwr-news] Ultimate Data Recovery will quickly and easily recover deleted files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin, or lost due to the format or corruption of a hard drive, virus or trojan infection, unexpected system shutdown or software failure
[11/12/06 frwr-news] Cute Partition Manager (CPM) is an advanced hard disk partition management utility. Using Cute Partition Manager, you can easily add, edit, delete and manage the partitions in your computer.
[11/1/06 frwr-news] Directory Lister will create a file listing the files in your directories. Or simply try
[10/31/06 frwr-news] Regular use of computer makes the registry fragmented and cluttered with obsolete and invalid data. Fix My Registry software keeps this critical part of your PC in perfect condition.Start --> Run --> cmd cd \your_directory_here tree /f > All_Files.txt
[10/27/06 frwr-news] DriverMax is a new program which allows you to easily reinstall all your Windows drivers. No more searching for rare drivers on discs or on the web or inserting one installation CD after the other. Simply export all your current drivers (or just the ones that work ok) to a folder or a compressed file. After reinstalling Windows you will have everything in one place! [for Vista and XP]
[9/27/06 frwr-news] SoftPerfect File Recovery is a free and useful tool to restore accidentally deleted files from hard and floppy disks, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media. It supports the popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption. If your important files disappeared and you can’t find them in the recycle bin, try this software product and get the files back to life. Easy to use, no installation is required.
[9/20/06 junk mail] Registry Defender is a complimentary and easy to use program that can scan for and correct problems in your computers registry. Correcting such problems can provide benefits such as:
- Faster Computer Speeds
- Faster Computer Startup (Boot)
- Fewer Computer Crashes and Internet Freezes
- Fewer Computer Crashes
- Fewer Trojans and Spyware
[9/10/06] What is gone is gone? Far from it! Avira UnErase recovers data that have been deleted from the hard drive – either accidentally or as a result of a virus infection, an uninstaller or defective software. The danger of important data being lost forever is averted with Avira UnErase.
[9/01/06 frwr-news] Floppy Image v1.5.2 - 135 KB. Creates image files of floppy disks and back (for backup, storage or transfer). You can choose to save the image file compressed, uncompressed or as a self-extracting exe file. You can also add descriptions to your image files.
Floppy Image Creator v1.4.1 - 244 KB
This program allows you to make an exact image of a floppy disk and save it to a file, and of course restore the image to disk when ever required. It is especially useful for making backups of system and/or boot disks.
[8/11/06 frwr-news] AntiCrash a system utility that’s designed to free memory and prevents Windows from crashing. Primarily, the program works by monitoring every application running in the background. It goes further by displaying processor threads, DLL files and other system items you won't ordinarily find in the Control-Alt-Delete menu.
Making Windows more stable must be one of the holy grails of programming. AntiCrash, its designed to spare you from countless boot-ups. Essentially, it provides access to several functions and tasks that tend not to crash the operating system. It controls memory threads and virtually forces commands to reach the system Kernel. AntiCrash is completely multi-threaded, allowing you to work with applications without the usual instabilities and grinding slowdowns.
This utility use an ‘Application Protection Engine’ that can potentially repair problem applications or system files. For example, it automatically fixes annoying memory links that slow your system.
[I'm using it now and it seems to have somewhat improved the slowdown of my system so far. But maybe it's coincidence because it did slow down the second day.]
[7/27/06 frwr-news] With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.
(Unfortunately, it found nothing on my Windows ME system)
[6/16/06] What Abexo Free Registry Cleaner? A.F. Registry Cleaner is a utility software to make your computer run smoother and faster. What is registry? Registry is a database where Windows and programs store their data. Why do I need to clean the registry? When data changes i.e. you delete a file, the registry doesn't remove the invalid data, thus in this case a reference to a non-existent file remains in the registry. As the registry gets filled with invalid data, Windows and programs consume more system resources to search the database for any data. Therefore your computer gets slower and slower. [haven't tried it yet, frwr-news, 6/11/06]
[6/16/06] ADRC Data Recovery Tools contains a collection of DIY recovery tools that supports a wide variety drives and file systems.
The software incorporates extremely simple GUI with novice users in mind. The software zooms in to do only critical recovery functions with minimum complexity. It gives you full control to undelete files, disk image back up, restore a backup image, copy files from hard disk with bad sectors, disk cloning, backup, edit and restore your boot parameters. [frwr-news, 6/13/06]
[6/1/06] Driver Magician Lite identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the "saved" drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands. [frwr-news, 2006-06-02]
[5/6/06] Apparently Partition Logic now supports resizing [frwr-news, 4/25/06]
[2/24/06] HDClone Free Edition enables you to move the content from an entire hard drive to another, larger one. The program installs itself on a bootable floppy or CD, and include it`s own operating system, so it runs completely independent from Windows. Once HDClone has created the bootable floppy or CD for you, you can use it to boot your computer and copy the drive content to the new (installed) drive, using a graphical interface. The free version is perfectly suitable to upgrade your existing drive to a larger one. It supports IDE/ATA/SATA hard disks and is able to copy up to 300 MB/min. The software does not recognize a USB mouse or keyboard (after boot), so you need to connect a non-USB mouse and keyboard to operate the copy interface. License: Freeware Windows: 98/ME/2000/XP [from frwr-news]
[11/6/05] Partition Logic is a free alternative to Partition Magic. One big drawback is that it doesn't look like it supports resizing. - frwr-news, 11/5/05
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