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McCain v. Teleprompter
Senator John McCain was performing relatively smoothly as he unveiled his energy plan.
He managed to limit the mechanical hand chops and weirdly timed smiles that can often punctuate his speeches. He delivered his lines with an ease that suggested a momentary peace with his longtime nemesis, the teleprompter.
But when Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, came to the intended sound bite of his speech — the part about reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil — he hit a slick.
“I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lex-eegton Project,” Mr. McCain said, drawing a quick breath and correcting himself. “The Lex-ing-ton Proj-ect,” he said slowly. “The Lexington Project,” he repeated. “Remember that name.”
In a town meeting in Cincinnati the next day, Mr. McCain would again slip up on the name of the Massachusetts town, where, he noted, “Americans asserted their independence once before.” He called it “the Lexiggdon Project” and twice tried to fix his error before flipping the name (“Project Lexington”) in subsequent references. Mr. McCain’s battle of Lexington is part of a struggle he is engaged in every day.
Mr. McCain is working closely with aides like Brett O’Donnell, a former debate consultant for Mr. Bush, to improve his speech and performance. He is working to limit his verbal tangents and nonverbal tics. He is speaking less out of the sides of his mouth, which can produce a wiseguy twang reminiscent of the Penguin from the Batman stories, and he is relying less on his favorite semantic crutch — the phrase “my friends” — which he used repeatedly in his campaign appearances.
The more careful McCain, said by some to be overly scripted, has received some withering critiques. “His rhetorical style can best be described as ‘tired mayonnaise,’ ” the comedian Stephen Colbert declared on “The Colbert Report” before inviting viewers to enter the “Make McCain Exciting Challenge.”
Peter Spaulding, the chairman of Mr. McCain’s campaign in New Hampshire, said he recently saw a McCain speech on television that was “just atrocious.”
Mr. McCain and his surrogates appear to be taking a page from the primary campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, which made a point of praising Mr. Obama’s speaking skills both to erase any expectation that she could match them and to imply that Mr. Obama was more of a performer than a leader.
He shrugged when asked whether he is improving as a speaker. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” he said. “It’s coming along. I will continue to make mistakes,” he added.
He sheepishly volunteered that he received complaints after a recent Newsweek profile of his wife, Cindy, said that he sometimes referred to her alma mater, the University of Southern California, as the University of Spoiled Children.
Mr. Salter bemoans the current environment, in which, he said, “the press creates the expectation that you better not stumble on a word, or tell a joke that Mr. Rogers wouldn’t tell, or you’re going to be in trouble.”
There are any number of Web videos of Mr. McCain to prove the point. They include the moment he playfully called a young man a “jerk” at a town-hall-style meeting in New Hampshire last year after he asked Mr. McCain if his age made him a candidate for Alzheimer’s disease in the White House (Mr. McCain typically uses jerk as a term of affection), or when he suggested to Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” that he brought him a special gift from Iraq — an improvised explosive device.
Small misstatements become instant YouTube fodder — as when Mr. McCain vowed to “veto every single beer” that included lawmakers’ pet spending projects (he meant “bill”) or when he said the government should have been able to deliver “bottled hot water” to dehydrated babies in New Orleans. (It is fortunate for Mr. McCain that there was no YouTube in the 1980s when he jokingly referred to the retirement community Leisure World as “Seizure World.”)
Senator John McCain was performing relatively smoothly as he unveiled his energy plan. ... more -
Human-pig hybrid embryos given go ahead
A licence to create human-pig embryos to study heart disease has been issued by the fertility watchdog.
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Bavarian Police Can Legally Place Trojans On PCs
The Bavarian Parliament passed a law that allows Bavarian police to place 'Remote Forensic Software' (Google translation) on a suspect's computer as well as on the computers of a suspect's contacts. They may break into houses in secret to install the RFS if a remote installation is not possible; and while they are there a (physical) search is permitted too. The RFS may be used to read, delete, and alter data. The Bavarian Parliament passed a law that allows Bavarian police to place 'Remote Forensic Software' (Google translation) on a suspect... more
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New 'underwater snake' solution for energy crisis
Scientists are set to trial a new device that looks like a 600ft sea snake, which could prove to be a viable alternative energy source, harnessing the power of waves.
The device, which is currently being tested at Southampton University in the South of England, aims to be put in to production as early as 2012. Scientists are set to trial a new device that looks like a 600ft sea snake, which could prove to be a viable alternative energy source... more -
The floating cities that could one day house climate refugees
At first glance, they look like a couple of giant inflatable garden chairs that have washed out to sea
But they are, apparently, the ultimate solution to rapidly rising sea levels.
This computer-generated image shows two floating cities, each with enough room for 50,000 inhabitants.
Based on the design of a lilypad, they could be used as a permanent refuge for those whose homes have been covered in water. Major cities including London, New York and Tokyo are seen as being at huge risk from oceans which could rise by as much as 3ft by the end of this century.
This solution, by the award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, is designed to be a new place to live for those whose homelands have been wiped out.
The 'Lilypad City' would float around the world as an independent and fully self-sustainable home. With a lake at its centre to collect and purify rainwater, it would be accessed by three separate marinas and feature artificial mountains to offer the inhabitants a change of scenery from the seascape.
Power for the central accommodation hub is provided through a series of renewable energy sources including solar panels on the mountain sides, wind turbines and a power station to harness the energy of the waves.
Mr Callebaut said: 'The design of the city is inspired by the shape of the great Amazonia Victoria Regia lilypad. Some countries spend billions of pounds working on making their beaches and dams bigger and stronger.
'But the lilypad project is actually a long-term solution to the problem of the water rising.'
The architect, who has yet to estimate a cost for his design, added: 'It's an amphibious city without any roads or any cars. The whole city is covered by plants housed in suspended gardens.
'The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.'
'And it has the other objective of providing housing for refugees from islands that have been submerged.'
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Well, it certainly is innovative, but I would have many questions about them if it ever came to be. Firstly, only holding 50,000 people, who would get picked to go on them? Also, what about security and provisions? Let us hope it doesn't get this far, although islands like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and islands near Bangladesh are already dangerously close to getting there. Would you live on one?
At first glance, they look like a couple of giant inflatable garden chairs that have washed out to sea ... more -
"Tesla to supply Mercedes-Benz with lithium-ion batteries?"
"...in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk's promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the street is that the company's inked a deal with Daimler AG to supply it with lithium-ion batteries for upcoming electric cars. Daimler's CEO has said the company was open to leasing battery tech to get out an electric Smart by 2010 and it's rumored that the German marque is looking to ditch gas entirely by 2015, so going to Tesla, which has been working on battery tech for some time, isn't a totally out there proposition. Just a rumor for now -- given Tesla's generally-prickly relationships with others, we'd wait for an official announcement before getting too excited about a Roadster-powered SLR, but it's certainly intriguing."
written by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 11:34PM on Endgadget.com "...in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk's promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the stree... more -
Tesla building 225-mile electric sedan
"In that magical year for electric cars – 2010 – Tesla plans to have a 5-passenger electric Sedan out and on the road. The Model S is to have a 225 mile range on a single charge, not too shabby! But as is the case with Tesla vehicles, buyers had better have padded wallets as the price is expected to be around $60,000, and likely higher as the release date approaches."
By Jaymi Heimbuch, ecogeek.org
Thursday, 03 July 2008 "In that magical year for electric cars – 2010 – Tesla plans to have a 5-passenger electric Sedan out and on the road. The Model S is ... more -
Get Out Your Invisibility.. Carpet?
Scientists at Imperial College London have come up with a theory for how to create a carpet that would make anything under it seem to disappear. The carpet, says John Pendry, one of the researcher working on the project, would work by altering the path of light that hits it, much like a controlled mirage. If it works, the material would be the first to work across the whole spectrum of visible light, where previous attempts have only been able to isolate some very specific wavelengths or colours.
An actual 'invisibility carpet', however, is likely still to be a long way off, as the research would create a material with a highly reflective surface, rather like a mirror - not exactly inconspicuous.
Scientists at Imperial College London have come up with a theory for how to create a carpet that would make anything under it seem to ... more -
Virtual fencing for cattle being tested in New Mexico
The Ear-a-round consists of a small, light box that sits on top of a cow’s head, and a pair of earpieces made of fabric and plastic. The box contains a computer chip, a GPS tracking device and a transceiver that enables it to be programmed remotely. The earpieces serve both to keep the box upright and to supply command signals—either sonic or electric—to the animal wearing the device. For maximum working lifetime, the whole thing is powered by lithium-ion batteries that are topped up by solar cells. The Ear-a-round consists of a small, light box that sits on top of a cow’s head, and a pair of earpieces made of fabric and plastic. T... more
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This just in: Fuel from food is bad
The Bush administration says it ain't so, blaming high food prices on higher demand from India and China. Brazil's Lula blames record oil prices and rich countries' farm subsidies. John Laumer blames genetically modified crops, among other things. Now a leaked report from the World Bank claims that biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75%. The Guardian writes: "Senior development sources" say the report was spiked to avoid embarrassing President Bush. "It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House," said one yesterday.
The report contradicts Bush and says "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate."
From the Guardian: "Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. "It is imperative that we have the full picture. While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat." ::Guardian
Hate to say it but Obama needs to wise up on this issue.
The Bush administration says it ain't so, blaming high food prices on higher demand from India and China. Brazil's Lula blames record ... more -
How a giant solar tower could power the future
A new energy concept called a solar tower could generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. Looking like a giant smokestack, it would release no noxious fumes — just sun-heated air.
Demonstrated more than 20 years ago, the basic design calls for solar collectors to warm the air near Earth's surface and then channel it up the tall central tower. Turbines placed at the bottom make electricity from the updraft.
"It's a combination chimney, windmill, greenhouse," said Kim Forté of EnviroMission Limited in South Melbourne, Australia.
EnviroMission has designed a kilometer-high solar tower (0.62 miles) and is now looking at possible sites in the southwestern United States.
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Click on the tower for the full article. A new energy concept called a solar tower could generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. Looking like a giant smokestack, it wou... more -
World of Synth
How would you go about building a synthesizer? Nick Collier shows us his passion for creating his own sound machines made of slinkies.
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Virgin Media: "absolutely no possibility" of legal action or disconnection
After a few weeks of of bad publicity thanks to its policy of working with the music industry to warn file-sharers, Virgin Media has announced that there is “absolutely no possibility” that they will disconnect they users from the Internet or hand over their details to the music industry.
Virgin have said that it was a mistake that all of the warning letters came decorated with a "Important: If you don’t read this, your broadband could be disconnected” message and that they never had any such intentions.
Pretty spectacular U-turn or genuine mistake? After a few weeks of of bad publicity thanks to its policy of working with the music industry to warn file-sharers, Virgin Media has a... more -
Creepy Japanese Crawling Robot
A performance artist from Japan has built a weird crawling robot that looks like an elderly businessman.
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The barman of the future
The world's first robotic barman has been unveiled at Selfridges with the help of Asahi beer. Not only can he pour beer he can reply politely to customers and stays calm under pressure. Although it took 200 hours to assemble him, the makers claim he is quicker than a human barman and has the arms of a gladiator. The world's first robotic barman has been unveiled at Selfridges with the help of Asahi beer. Not only can he pour beer he can reply p... more
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Google’s User Records
A judge orders Google to turn over its user histories to Viacom in their on-going lawsuit. Every record of every video ever watched — listed by username and IP address — is in Google’s 12 tera-byte file. We’ll finally get to know who’s been clicking on those YouTube porn hack videos.
"Two rulings came down in Viacom's copyright infringement suit against Google and its video-sharing site YouTube yesterday. The first: Despite Viacom's wishes, Google will not have to turn over YouTube's source code. It will however, turn over to Viacom "every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses," reports Threat Level. Viacom's lawyers say they need to the information to prove that copyright-infringing content is more popular on the site than legally uploaded videos." A judge orders Google to turn over its user histories to Viacom in their on-going lawsuit. Every record of every video ever watched — ... more -
Copyright Prosecutions have gone too far
This week a judge ruled that Google must turn over a list of user activity from YouTube to Viacom.
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Garbage in, megawatts out
Ottawa will build the first gasification facility in North America to make energy from waste.
This week, city counselors in Ottawa, Ontario, unanimously approved a new waste-to-energy facility that will turn 400 metric tons of garbage per day into 21 megawatts of net electricity--enough to power about 19,000 homes. Rather than burning trash to generate heat, as with an incinerator, the facility proposed by Ottawa-based PlascoEnergy Group employs electric-plasma torches to gasify the municipal waste and enlist the gas to generate electricity.
A few waste-to-energy gasification plants have been built in Europe and Asia, where landfilling is more difficult and energy has historically been more costly. But PlascoEnergy's plant would be the first large facility of its kind in North America. The company's profitability hinges on its ability to use a cooler gasification process to lower costs, as well as on rising energy and tipping fees to ensure strong revenues.
PlascoEnergy's approval marked the latest in a string of positive developments for waste gasification projects in recent weeks. Last month, Hawaii okayed $100 million in bonds to finance a waste-to-energy plant using plasma-torch technology from Westinghouse Plasma, based in Madison, PA, that is already employed in two large Japanese waste processing plants. Meanwhile, Boston-based competitor Ze-gen reported the successful ramp-up of a 10-metric-ton-per-day pilot plant in New Bedford, MA, that uses molten iron to break down waste. Ottawa will build the first gasification facility in North America to make energy from waste. ... more -
Discovery-News.com: Saving Lives With Concrete
Every minute counts when trying to evacuate a burning building. MSU researchers are trying to extend the time it takes for a structure to collapse in a fire. James Williams gets the break down. Every minute counts when trying to evacuate a burning building. MSU researchers are trying to extend the time it takes for a structur... more
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Facebook video chat is here
Webcam girls and tecies rejoice! Facebook Video Chat is here!
TokBox has released a flash based video chat application for Facebook that will allow users with a webcam or microphone to video chat with friends.
The ToxBox application is very easy to install and doesn’t require any downloads. Once you load the application, and open Facebook Chat, you’ll see a ToxBox link below next to the names of users who have the capability to chat. Click the link, the ToxBox flash application loads and you are ready to go!
One thing, Facebook Video Chat is only availabe for Firefox but who still uses Safari or IE anyway? Webcam girls and tecies rejoice! Facebook Video Chat is here! ... more
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