LG.Philips announce 0.78-inch ultra-slim 42-inch LCD -- available March!
Update: Oops, major metric conversion snafu -- good thing we're not in charge of the Mars space program. It's fracking thin!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Update: Oops, major metric conversion snafu -- good thing we're not in charge of the Mars space program. It's fracking thin!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Nokia's N810 makes first appearance, drops jaws
We're still waiting for the press release, but that's Nokia N810 Internet Tablet in the fo' realz. Yeah, sexy is an understatement. We peeped this model in a spyshot back in July and appears to be the same lovely recently revealed by the FCC. The obvious improvement to the N800? The full QWERTY.
[Via InternetTabletTalk, thanks Noah]
Gallery: Nokia's N810 makes first appearance, drops jaws (hi-res)
[Via InternetTabletTalk, thanks Noah]
Amazon one-click patent struck down
Glyn sez, "The infamous one-click patent owned by Amazon has finally been proven invalid. The USPTO has rejected many of the broadest claims of the patent following the re-examination request by blogger Peter Calveley. You can track Peter's steps to make this happen on his blog, he sums up his efforts in his last blog post."
In a recent office action, the USPTO has rejected the claims of the Amazon.com one-click patent following the re-examination request that I filed on 16 February 2006.Link (Thanks, Glyn!)My review resulted in the broadest claims of the patent being ruled invalid.
In its Office Action released 9 October 2007, the Patent Office found that the prior art I found and submitted completely anticipated the broadest claims of the patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,960,411.
I had only requested the USPTO look at claims 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21 and 22 but the Office Action rejects claims 11-26 and claims 1-5 as well!
Amazon has the opportunity to respond to the Patent Office's rejection, but third party requests for reexamination, like the one I filed, result in having the subject patent either modified or completely revoked about 2/3 of the time.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
How to: make a carbon-negative fuel
Alex Steffen of Worldchanging says,
LinkMy colleague Jer Faludi has written up the best overview I've yet read about how biochar/gasification systems work. Given that there is at least the theoretical potential here to create a carbon-negative energy source (that is, an energy source that over the course of normal operation actually *removes* carbon dioxide from the atmosphere), the char/gas combo has a lot of people, um, fired up.
(Though it's important to remember that when dealing with complex systems like climate, topsoil and farm subsidies, no bullet is as silver as it looks from afar.)
Snip:
"We've mentioned terra preta before: it's a human-made soil or fertilizer. "Three times richer in nitrogen and phosphorous, and twenty times the carbon of normal soils, terra preta is the legacy of ancient Amazonians who predate Western civilization." Although we don't know how it was made back then, we do know how to make it now: burn biomass (preferably agricultural waste) in a special way that pyrolisizes it, breaking down long hydrocarbon chains like cellulose into shorter, simpler molecules. These simpler molecules are more easily broken down by microbes and plants as food, and bond more easily with key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. This is what makes terra preta such good fertilizer. Because terra preta locks so much carbon in the soil, it's also a form of carbon sequestration that doesn't involve bizarre heroics like pumping CO2 down old mine shafts."
mig33: Google Talk for Its 7 Million Members
In countries where international long-distance rates are high, mobile services like mig33's mobile instant messenger and VoIP calls are starting to gain a sizable user base. The Burlingame, Calif. startup, which was an eTel/GigaOM Launch Pad startup, says it has signed up more than 7 million users to date and has added several new features, including Google Talk (GOOG).
The startup's 7 million members and growing user base actually surprised me a bit — the company said it had 6 million members in July — given that its main approach is to use downloadable mobile software. Mobile clients can often be a barrier to entry when attempting to build a sizable amount of users, particularly for services that are supposed to save users money. For those that don't want to download, the company also recently added a WAP site. Other mobile callback/calling type services that offer lower-cost minutes include Jajah and Cellity.
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