End the War on Freedom - Gadgets

New Hand Drill

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:51:25 -0600

I bought a hand drill at Sears nearly thirty years ago. It still works, but it's gotten a little loose over the years. I decided to get a new one. The new one is bigger, tougher, has two gears instead of one, and is screwed, not riveted, together. Haven't drilled any holes with it yet, but I think it will work well. $15. Made in China by Great Neck Saw Mfrs, Inc. of Mineola, NY. Click the "read more" link for photos.

Samsung S730 Camera

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:14:15 -0600

I bought a Samsung S730 digital camera at Target the other day. Was there looking for a birthday gift for my daughter to give to a friend of hers, and it jumped out and grabbed me. $100. There were hundred dollar cameras from HP, Nikon, and Kodak there, but they were out of stock, and this one has more pixels. Haven't played with it enough to know how good its lens is, but it takes movies, audio, and still photos. Comes with very little memory, but $25 got me a gigabyte SD card, which holds over 700 full-resolution (7.2 megapixel) images. Nice to have a better camera than the one in my iPhone.

Self-portrait, no flash

Denali camera case

Coke machine at laundromat

Sony® Portable Reader System PRS-500

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:39:20 -0500

Sony - the electronic book is born. E-Paper screen. 20 gig hard drive. Windows, unfortunately. $350. Available at the end of October. Me want one. [/.]

How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the World? One. And You're Looking At It.

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 06:41:29 -0500

Charles Fishman at Fast Company - compact flourescent lightbulbs (CFLs) have gotten cheaper and better. If you use them to replace your incandescent bulbs, not only will you save energy, you'll save money. Lots of it. [cafe]

Quote:

Last year, conversations started in Wal-Mart around the potential of swirls to save customers money on utility bills. "Somebody asked, 'What difference would it make if we changed the bulbs in the ceiling-fan display to CFLs?'" says Kerby. A typical Wal-Mart has 10 models of ceiling fans on display, each with four bulbs. Forty bulbs per store, 3,230 stores.

"Someone went off and did the math," says Kerby. "They told me we could save $6 million in electric bills by changing the incandescents to CFLs in more than 3,000 Wal-Marts. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know I was paying $6 million to light those fixtures. I said, that can't be right, go back and do the math again." The numbers came out the same the second time: savings of $6 million a year. "That, for me, was an 'I got it' moment."

Broken Axle

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:23:31 -0500

We knew that the right front axle on my wife's car needed replacing. It was scheduled for repair on Thursday. What we didn't know is that it was so near failing and that it would fail so spectacularly. Fortunately, it happened 100 yards from our house and she was driving very slowly. Looks like big bucks to me. Sigh... We'll find out tomorrow.

Battery-Fueled Car Will Smoke You

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 06:47:44 -0500

Joshua Davis at Wired - Martin Eberhard has created the Tesla Roadster, a no-excuses electric sports car that does zero to sixty in under four seconds. Wouldn't want to pay for regularly replacing its battery pack, however. [/.]

Quote:

He releases the brake and my head snaps back. One-one-thousand: I get a floating feeling, like going over the falls in a roller coaster. Two-one-thousand: The world tunnels, the trees blur. Three-one-thousand: We hit 60 miles per hour. Eberhard brakes. We're at a standstill again -- elapsed time, nine seconds. When potential buyers get a look at the vehicle this summer, it will be among the quickest production cars in the world. And, compared to other supercars like the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo, and Lamborghini Diablo, it's a bargain. More intriguing: It has no combustion engine.

The trick? The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries -- the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile. Top speed: more than 130 mph. The first cars will be built at a factory in England and are slated to hit the market next summer. And Tesla Motors, Eberhard's company, is already gearing up for a four-door battery-powered sedan.

From Slashdot discussion:

Quote:

Re:Global "Dependencies" (Score:5, Insightful)
by rainman_bc (735332) on Wednesday July 19, @09:49PM (#15747391)
(http://costas.dyndns.ws/)

I consider our reliance on oil much more "evil" than our reliance on electronics. PDA's aren't killing the earth quite as fast as cars are ^_^

Until something replaces Coal power plants as the main method of generating electricity, you're just replacing one evil for the other.

Yes, I'm aware of Nucular, Hydro, Wind, Tidal, Natrual Gas. Doesn't matter. Coal is the most popular choice today.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]

* Re:Global "Dependencies" by bman08 (Score:3) Wednesday July 19, @09:57PM
*
Re:Global "Dependencies" (Score:5, Funny)
by kypper (446750) on Wednesday July 19, @10:29PM (#15747552)
(http://slashdot.org/)

Nucular

George? Is that you?

Pontiac's Roadster

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 08:07:54 -0500

I saw a Pontiac Solstice on the way to work this morning. Nice-looking convertible roadster. $20,490.

Magnetic Power Modules(tm) and Quantum Dynamos(tm) - Update

Wed, 03 May 2006 06:20:04 -0500

overtone at zpenergy.com - Magnetic Power, Inc, expects to have commercial zero-point energy devices by the end of next year. Hype? Don't know. Their life expectancy if true? Short. [jomama]

Quote:

We now see commercial products emerging from our prototype program during the last half of next year.

First will be Demonstration Devices. These will provide irrefutable evidence that the Quantum Dynamos can be a practical source for the conversion of an inexhaustible supply of energy. The target time frame for pre-manufacturing prototypes is the Summer of 2006.

By the end of 2006, prototype 1 kW Magnetic Power Modules are expected to be available to the first few potential licensees.

During 2007, one of these modules will replace the need to plug-in, a plug-in hybrid, -- in order to herald the end of dependence on fossil fuels.

Hydrogen Fuel Systems

Tue, 02 May 2006 04:51:44 -0500

United Nuclear, besides selling chemicals, was building a hydrogen fuel system for automobiles. Their conversion allowed the engine to automatically switch between hydrogen fuel, from a metal hydride tank, and gasoline. They were near commercialization, with systems planned for sale for $7,000 - $10,000, when they had to switch their efforts to fighting the feds, which I blogged last Friday. Part of their system is a solar hydrolysis machine, allowing you to make your own hydrogen, from water and sunlight, for nearly free. Unfortunately, the machine isn't very efficient yet, so it takes two days to fill one tank with hydrogen. Read details about their system on the Hydrogen Fuel Basics page. [clairefiles]

Teeny Reactor Pumps Out Biodiesel

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 06:43:56 -0500

Associated Press via Wired - Goran Jovanovic of Oregon State University has created a device that greatly simplifies the conversion of vegetable oil and alcohol into biosiesel fuel. [wired]

50th Birthday Present

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 21:13:30 -0500

I pass my first half century on the planet tomorrow. My mom gave me some money. I bought a toy tonight. Click for hi-res version (1161x327, 51K).

It came with two books:

The Russians do like their stamps:

SA solar research eclipses rest of the world

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 09:52:33 -0500

Willem Steenkamp at IOL - 10 years of research have led to a new, more efficient, solar panel, based on a thin film of Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide (CIGS), instead of silicon, the conventional solar cell material. More articles and links here. Useful Google Search. The new solar panels are being mass produced by IFE Solar Systems (German language web site). Watch for the oil companies to buy the patent and shut down production. Or maybe we'll get lucky... [clairefiles]

Quote:

The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies.

The panels are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers - in short all the mod-cons of the modern house.

The new technology should be available in South Africa within a year and through a special converter, energy can be fed directly into the wiring of existing houses. New powerful storage units will allow energy storage to meet demands even in winter. The panels are so efficient they can operate through a Cape Town winter. while direct sunlight is ideal for high-energy generation, other daytime light also generates energy via the panels.

Jell-O Fix for Spinal Cords

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 05:41:53 -0600

Elizabeth Svoboda at Wired - they've restored function to injured spinal cords in rats by inserting a gel impregnated with stem cells. No tests on humans yet. Hope it works for us. Another reason not to block stem cell research. [wired]

Encyclopodia – the encyclopedia on your iPod

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 13:30:00 -0600

Wikipedia on your ipod! Installs an iPod Linux as a dual boot on your iPod, enabling browsing of Wikipedia on its tiny screen. I haven't tried it. [picks]

Super Battery

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 09:37:25 -0600

Spencer Reiss at Wired - the M1 battery, from A123 Systems, will greatly increase the power and time between charges of portable electric tools. It will be good for automobiles, too. They're safer, more environmentally friendly, provide five times the peak power (more than a typical 110 volt electrical socket), and have over twice the power density of existing Lithium Ion batteries. And they recharge to 90% in five minutes. [wired]