roclar on Worldwide Travel Adapter
roclar on Worldwide Travel Adapter
Tommy on The World's 18 Strangest Bridges
roclar on Complex Highway Interchanges
roclar on Sun's Project Blackbox
Jabberwock on Complex Highway Interchanges
roclar on Vacu Vin Pineapple Slicer
DrFaulken on Microplane Cut Resistant Glove
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With the increasing number of USB powered devices, it isn’t hard to have more devices then you have powered USB ports in your house or especially on the road. This USB AC Adapter from Thanko could help alleviate these sorts of problems. Compact at 2cm x 4cm x 6cm and cheap at roughly $11, this could be a rather handy device if it can be found outside of .jp. |
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The Mobcharger is an emergency power source for mobile phones with models in the works for all the popular cell phone brands. It is designed to provide an extra 60 minutes of talk time or 480 minutes of power for the phone in standby. Unlike the Lithium Ion battery that is in my E815 which produces hazardous waste, the Mobcharger is a zinc-carbon battery that is does not leak toxic materials. Though I imagine if you used too many of these any environmental savings would be off set by the amount of waste. Available in the UK at least from CCL Computers for about $6. |
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The folks at Moxia Energy Ltd. came up with a novel twist to USB power. Instead of producing USB powered devices, why not recharge the batteries for all the non-USB powered devices? Enter their USBCell AA batteries which have USB connectors to suck power out of the plethora of USB sockets on computers around the home/office or on the road. Their thinking is that rechargeable batteries have not caught on as much as you then have to lug a bulky charging device around whereas USB ports are more prevalent. At present only the AA battery size is in production and they are available only in the UK at present for a cost of $25 for a pair. |
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The Powersquid 3000 series previously mentioned here back in November are now shipping. Unlike the Powersquid Outlet Multiplier also previously mentioned here, the Calamari SQ3K and Surge 3000 models both provide surge protection and have more LEDs. For a more thorough comparison, visit the handy comparison sheet. The Calamari SQ3K costs $80 and the Surge 3000 runs $70 and are available from the PowerSquid.net store. |
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I cannot think of any self-respecting computer geek who does like to find new and innovative ways of daisy-chainning and otherwise creating extra power outlets. The AC Adapter Spliter provides yet another means of doing so and is available for $16. |
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After being built in 1976, the Trojan Nuclear Plant in Kalama, Oregon only operated for a total of 3,300 days. It was discovered in 1980 by its operating company that it was built on a fault line and close permanently in 1992 when it started leaking radiation. The 500 foot tower was reduced to ruble by 2,800 pounds of dynamite in ten seconds. |
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The current energy initiative of America focuses on the use of corn to produce ethanol. Business Week has put together a good FAQ on the current situation of ethanol in the US. |
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Using various light bulb socket adapters, Sean Michael Regan created a light fixture with mathmatical properties that more importantly (to me) looks cool. He also used the same idea for a lamp. Either idea could be fun to try. |
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As machine rack density (being able to squeeze more machine in less space) increases, the need to provide adequate cooling for data centers is becoming quite a headache. Solutions ranging from creative to zany have been coming out of the woodwork. Which end of that spectrum utilizing DC power in the data center falls still seems to be a topic for discussion. Rackable Systems contends that utilizind AC-DC power rectifiers in the top of the rack or elsewhere in the data center and using servers with DC power supplies, power costs can drop by 30% and heat can be reduced 20-40%. According to one of their press releases University of Florida just installed a 400 dual-core cluster utilizing this technology. |
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This article was a better read then I expected. While not being able to hear a car when its already in motion, such as one coming down the street is one thing (look both ways before crossing the street), cars just silently firing up and moving in a parking I could see catching people off guard. Curious side effects as the nation slowly moves towards the use of hybrid vehicles. |
