Author: Serkadis

  • Anulan fecha para presentar metas de Copenhague

    BBC

    La Convención de Naciones Unidas para el cambio climático abandonó el plazo que había establecido para que los países adopten formalmente el acuerdo de Copenhague y presenten sus metas de reducción de emisiones de dióxido de carbono, así como sus planes para combatir el cambio climático.

    Yvo de Boer, secretario de la Convención, anuló la fecha original del 31 de enero, acordada durante la Cumbre de Copenhague celebrada en diciembre del año pasado en Dinamarca, y dijo que ahora el plazo será flexible.

    Poco aporte
    “No espero que todos cumplan con el plazo. Es un límite flexible. No les estamos preguntando a los países si quieren adherirse, sino que indiquen si quieren estar asociados al acuerdo”, dijo de Boer durante una rueda de prensa en Bonn, Alemania.

    El objetivo del plazo era poner a prueba el acuerdo alcanzado en diciembre, que no cumplió con las expectativas iniciales y que se propone limitar el aumento de la temperatura a 2ºC por encima de los niveles preindustriales y establece la creación de un fondo de 100 mil millones anuales de dólares para después de 2020 con el fin de ayudar a los países pobres a reducir sus emisiones.

    A pocos días de que finalice el plazo original, sólo 20 países de los 192 que participaron en la Cumbre han firmado. Entre ellos Rusia, México, Australia, Francia y Noruega.

    Fuente Bibliografica

  • Puppy rescued from well in Gorman; firefighters complete the operation unharmed

    Crews that rescued a puppy trapped in a well in Gorman said today that the dog did not try to bite anyone as it was carried to safety.

    Unlike the German shepherd that bit a firefighter who fished it out of the Los Angeles River last week in pouring rain, the puppy in Gorman was cooperative Sunday and patiently waited for a team of about a dozen firefighters to set it free, said Inspector Frederic Stowers of the L.A. County Fire Department.

    “The hole the dog was trapped in was about 3- by 5-feet wide and about 24 feet deep,” Stowers said. “The dog was in good condition after being rescued and has been turned over to animal control.”

    Authorities do not know exactly when or how the dog fell into the hole at North 300 Street and West Aqueduct Service Road. When rescuers arrived about 2:15 p.m. Sunday, the animal did not appear to be under distress, Stowers said.

    A 24-foot-long ground ladder was used to reach into the well to retrieve the dog. Television news footage showed the puppy licking the firefighter on the face and arm as he was being placed in a duffle bag to be carried away.

    So far, no one has come forward to claim the puppy, Stowers said.

    — Ching-Ching Ni

  • Analyst: iPhone will soon be available on all US wireless carriers

    Verizon iPhoneGotta love those analysts, as they’re always good for stirring the rumor mill – this time it’s BusinessWeek reporting claims that will likely be ending it’s exclusive relationship with AT&T in order to bring the iPhone to all major US carriers. According to Tim Horan, telecommunications analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., T-Mobile USA should have the iPhone available this summer (whatever the follow-up to the iPhone 3GS turns out to be,) with Verizon and Sprint getting the goods this fall. Even Clearwire will be able to get in on the action, as they are expected to get the iPhone sometime in 2011. Of course, AT&T has been the exclusive carrier of the iPhone since it launched in June 2007.

    Of course, Apple has the perfect opportunity to announce changes like this if they’d like, as they’ve got what many are predicting to be a colossal Apple event on January 27th, just two days from now. We’ll keep you posted.


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    Analyst: iPhone will soon be available on all US wireless carriers originally appeared on Gear Live on Mon, January 25, 2010 – 12:14:00


  • Jane Lynch, “Glee’s” Sue Sylvester, Getting Married

    Golden Globe-nominated actress Jane Lynch — best known as hard-driving fitness fanatic Sue Sylvester on the award-winning series Glee — is set to wed her longtime girlfriend, Dr. Lara Embry.

    The 49-year-old actress, who has appeared in sitcoms Two And A Half Men and Best In Show, will tie the knot with Embry, a noted sex therapist, in May, according to new reports.


  • Llantas usadas, un problema en Ecuador

    Uno de los desperdicios más difíciles de manejar son las llantas, que al terminar su ciclo de vida útil son eliminadas. El primer inconveniente que representan es que ocupan mucho espacio, por lo que las personas las botan para evitarse molestias.

    Así, el país tiene un grave problema con el correcto uso que se les da cuando ya son basura, como explicó Xavier Bustamante, director ejecutivo de Fundación Natura.

    Bustamante comentó que en el Ecuador “sólo 30% de los municipios tienen rellenos sanitarios”, de los cuales no muchos tienen un lugar adecuado para la disposición de dichos desperdicios y, lo que es peor, no saben qué hacer con estos para evitar que se sigan acumulando.

    El Ministerio del Ambiente, por su parte, dijo a Diario La Hora que no tienen un protocolo establecido para que los municipios realicen el manejo de llantas en sus botaderos. Sin embargo, esta entidad se encarga de controlar que los proyectos presentados por los gobiernos locales para la creación de rellenos sanitarios se cumplan.

    Serio agravanteLa acumulación de neumáticos a la intemperie representa un importante inconveniente para la salud, ya que en su interior se acumula agua proveniente de la lluvia, lo que se convierte en un ‘foco’ de reproducción de mosquitos que pueden causar enfermedades.

    Además, “una llanta tarda para degradarse unos 600 millones de años”, dijo Bustamante, quien recalcó que éste es uno de los daños que causa al ambiente.

    Otra repercusión del inadecuado desecho de estos elementos es que existen personas que compran las llantas usadas para el comercio del reencauche, pero hay quienes para evitar la acumulación de esta basura prefieren quemarlas, con lo cual polucionan el aire.

    Es así que el experto de Fundación Natura manifestó que deben impulsarse políticas nacionales de reciclaje de este tipo de desechos.

    Una idea

    Fundación Natura está trabajando en una propuesta, avalada por el Ministerio Electricidad y Energías Renovables, para obtener diésel sintético de las llantas, con menos concentración de azufre. Es una iniciativa que está pensada para ser lanzada para mediados del próximo año y que desea trabajar con este tipo de desechos en la Región Andina del país.

    Fuente Bibliogràfica

  • Survey for diabetics age 45-64; please help us with our research project! 🙂

    Hello, all!

    I am doing research on ways to help diabetics manage their health for a consulting project.

    We have an online survey (probably would take about 15 mins., possibly less, to complete) that I would LOVE for anyone here who is 45-64 to take if they have time in their schedule. It does not ask any personally identifiable information, it’s just to get a sense of what needs that age group might have.

    Thanks so much in advance! 🙂

  • Do We Want Brangelina To Fail?

    Unless you have been under a rock or sleeping off a massive hangover since yesterday (or woke up from a night of partying under a rock….), news has been stirring about the fate of Brangelina. But contrary to what we’re all used to, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have finally broken the tabloids with a story that is not about their decision to adopt another child.  In fact, it is to end their decisions together as a couple all together.

    Rumor has it that Brad and Angie are breaking up.

    While the couple has not officially said anything just yet, the media world is buzzing. Not surprisingly (it is Brangelina, after all) every tabloid, gossip site and news source has covered the story.  What is surprising, though, is the fact that no one really seems to care.

    Unlike Brad’s last relationship fail with Jennifer Aniston, (and many other celebrity marriages) the world isn’t approaching this story with a “OMG, not THEM!” sort of feeling, but rather with an an “It’s about time” attitude. We were all devastated when the perfection of Brad and Jen was no more, but it seems we feel no remorse when chewing on the thought of the farewell of Brad and Angie (and, hopefully, that awful beard Brad’s been sportin’).

    Why is this particular break-up not hitting the tabloids with headlines, like “OMG We Can’t Believe It!?” And why does everyone want this relationship to fail?

    Two words: Angelina Jolie.

    Angelina may be a spectacular and successful actress, but she’s been rubbing many of us the wrong way since she announced she’d had sex with Billy Bob on the way to the Oscars. And it only got worse when she stabbed America’s sweetheart, Jen Aniston, in the back by stealing her man from under her nose. We all felt the sting. Basking in the pleasure of a broken-hearted Angelina Jolie, then, is a guilty pleasure I think everyone subconsciously craves.

    And who doesn’t feel a bit threatened by her perfection? Maybe it’s because we are all jealous she can wear a $20 thrifted dress on the red carpet and looking absolutely stunning. Or how flawless her acting career is. Or how she is saving the world, one person at a time.  Or how she goes to bed with Brad Pitt every night. She is Angelina Jolie. She is perfect. And now it’s our chance to strike back a little bit; to savor the moment as Angelina’s perfect facade cracks a little and her world comes crumbling down.

    Is it bad that I just smiled at the thought?

    I feel bad saying it, but I think I’d be pleased if this break-up were official. And besides worrying about the fate of the litter children, I think the world agrees.

    What about you? Would you care if the Brangelina empire unraveled?

  • Pics Aplenty: 265-hp 2011 Volkswagen Golf R plays in the snow

    Filed under: , , ,

    2011 Volkswagen Golf R – Click above for high-res image gallery

    Yes, we’re still bitter about the Scirocco not making it to the States, but some manner of consolation may be on the way in the form of the 2011 Volkswagen Golf R.

    Although VW has yet to confirm that the fastest ever Golf is headed to the U.S., the word on the street is that the 265-hp, all-wheel drive hatch is on its way to the Colonies later this year, with a choice of either a six-speed manual or dual-clutch gearbox.

    The turbocharged 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder’s performance stats are almost enough to make us forget about the Scirocco, if just for a moment, with a 155 mph top speed and a 5.5-second run to 60 mph (5.7 seconds with the manual gearbox). While it’s hardly a lightweight hatch (coming in at around 3,400 pounds with the DSG), the massive brakes, bi-xenon headlamps, 18- or 19-inch wheels and beautifully bolstered thrones have us champing at the bit for some seat time. Here’s hoping VW sees fit to send over a few examples after the R20’s launch in Ellmau, Austria.

    Pics Aplenty: 265-hp 2011 Volkswagen Golf R plays in the snow originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Nancy Kerrigan’s Brother, Mark Kerrigan, Charged In Dad’s Death

    The ex-con brother of Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan plead guilty Monday to attacking their dad, 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan, and leaving him to die on a bloody kitchen floor.

    Mark Kerrigan – a convicted petty thief, who had been living in his parents’ basement in Stoneham, Massachusetts – told cops he attacked his father in an angry rage because the elder Kerrigan wouldn’t let him use the phone, a newly-released police report reveals.


    According to The Boston Herald, Daniel and Mark began yelling and shoving one another. The police report states that Mark Kerrigan put his “hands around his father’s neck” and the man fell to the floor. Mark told authorities that he believed his father was “faking it.” Daniel Kerrigan was taken to nearby Winchester Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Mark was reportedly intoxicated when authorities arrived on the scene and had to be subdued with pepper spray.

    Mark, 45, has entered a Not Guilty plea to a charge of assault on battery on an elderly person. If convicted, he could spend up to 10 years behind bars.


  • Non-BCS Conferences to Receive Record Revenue From Last Year’s Bowls

    In an announcement that is likely to impress squat outside the BCS conferences, the AP is reporting that the BCS will pay out a record $24M to the non-BCS conferences in shared revenue from the BCS bowls earlier this month, up from $19.3M a year ago. The bump is primarily due to for the very first time, two teams from these conferences–TCU and Boise State–went to BCS bowl games. Approximately $9.8M will go to the MWC and $7.8M to the WAC. $6.4M will be divided by the MAC, C-USA, and Sun-Belt conferences.

    Naturally, these amounts pale in comparison to what was paid out to the BCS conferences–The SEC and Big 10(11) got $22.2M each and the other four got $17.7 a piece. The difference being that the former conferences sent two teams each into BCS bowl games: Florida to the Sugar, Alabama to the CG, Iowa to the Orange and Ohio State to the Rose. BCS executive director Bill Hancock says that these disbursements prove that the BCS is “fair and appropriate”.

    Not so fast, my friend. Grumbling can still be heard, most notably from those who were upset that the two upstart teams were forced to play each other as opposed to tackling some of the more traditional powers slated for BCS bowls. And Congress is once again entering the fray. Joe Barton, R-TX, a representative from the aggrieved state of Texas (for TCU, not for the Longhorns. Okay, maybe both.) showed once again that no one from conference can accurately define just what in the hell the BCS is supposed to do.

    “What is the BCS theoretically about? I thought it was about the best teams playing the best teams. This simply acknowledges the reality that’s it’s not about that, but about revenue sharing. It’s an economic cartel.”

    Once again, class, we will tell you what the BCS is about. Not just theoretically, but actually: It is designed to match the #1 and #2 teams in the country in a championship game. It’s as simple as that. It’s very ad hoc, but others want to dress it up and make it into something that it just isn’t. IT IS NOT A PLAYOFF SYSTEM. If you want a playoff system, then install one. But don’t try and bash the BCS in it’s current state for not being something you want it to be. And maybe all that money can go into an escrow account until you’ve finished your bitching.

    Okay, last I looked, it’s the end of the season, so playoff talk may commence. Fire when ready and at will!

    © fanblogs.com

    View the original post or comment on Non-BCS Conferences to Receive Record Revenue From Last Year’s Bowls…


  • Dr. Copper Says The Bull Is Alive!

    (This guest post originally appeared at the author’s blog)

    While the major averages break their 50 day moving averages and technical analysts turn bearish, one commodity continues to show strength.  Copper, the metal with a PhD due to its ability to accurately portray economic trends, continues to show strength.  Copper futures are just a few percentage points from their highs despite the recent global downturn in markets.  Of course, this has been a persistent trend throughout the bull market. Domestic and global sell-offs have been largely ignored by copper traders as demand remains strong.   Does Dr. Copper know something about global strength that the equity markets are currently overlooking?

    copper

    Join the conversation about this story »

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  • In the field: KV-63 update

    KV-63 (Otto Schaden)

    19 January 2010

    “Dig” Diary may not be the most suitable term for this season’s reports, for “Dig-less” is more fitting, as we are in “study season” mode — there is no further “digging” necessary for KV-63 as of last season, even all of the storage jars have been cleared and examined.

    On January 6-7, we had a small work crew led by Reis Nubi clean the floors and other things in KV-10, for the north wind brings much dust into the tomb all year long. Every season begins with a cleaning and a general inspection. The inspection checks for any breaks, rock falls or changes in some of the crack monitors we still have in place in KV-10. For many years now, the KV-10 structure has been quite stable.

    On January 8th, botanist Dr. Ahmed Fahmy (Helwan University) and Heather Alexander arrived. We had a trunk of botanical items set aside for Dr. Fahmy and so he was able to get started immediately. Heather photographed all the materials.

    The SCA Inspector assigned to us for the next couple months is Ayman Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil. Two SCA conservators joined us January 10th. Ahmed Baghdady (worked with us in 2006) and Mohammed Mahmoud arrived and began work on Coffin B. Zaref Basili, who worked with us in 2009, came out yesterday. Cracks in Coffin B’s facemask have been repaired and will be placed back into position on the lid of the coffin. Two large pieces of the lid have been cleaned of resin but there is no trace of paint or incised decoration, thus the intended owner of Coffin B will remain anonymous. It is very likely, the coffin was never finished.

    See the above page for more.

  • Japan Hates TLAM-N [6]

    Well, well, well.

    Japanese Foreign Minister Okada sent a letter, dated December 24, the explicitly denies Japan wants the United States to retain the archaic Nuclear Tomahawk. (Regular readers know that I find the Nuclear Tomahawk to be largely irrelevant to extended deterrence and useless and therefore not credible.)

    Okada’s letter is in Japanese, but Philip White at the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center — which, along with UCS, has done more to bring this issue to light in Japan than any other group — made an unofficial translation (full text in the comments).

    Here is the relevant passage regarding TLAM-N:

    It was reported in some sections of the Japanese media that, during the production of the report of the “Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States” released in May this year, Japanese officials of the responsible diplomatic section lobbied your government not to reduce the number of its nuclear weapons, or, more specifically, opposed the retirement of the United States’ Tomahawk Land Attack Missile – Nuclear (TLAM/N) and requested that the United States maintain a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP).

    However, the Japanese Government is not in a position to judge whether it is necessary or desirable for your government to possess particular [weapons] systems. Hence, although the discussions were held under the previous Cabinet, it is my understanding that, in the course of exchanges between our countries, including the deliberations of the above mentioned Commission, the Japanese Government has expressed no view concerning whether or not your government should possess particular [weapons] systems such as TLAM/N and RNEP. If, hypothetically, such a view was expressed, it would clearly be at variance with my views, which are in favor of nuclear disarmament.

    Nevertheless, if TLAM/N is retired, we hope to receive ongoing explanations of your government’s extended deterrence policy, including any impact this might have on extended deterrence for Japan and how this could be supplemented.

    “Some sections of the Japanese media” almost certainly refers to Masa Ota’s excellent story, Japan lobbied for robust nuclear umbrella before power shift, in Kyodo News (November 24, 2009). Ota reported that senior Japanese diplomats told the Commission that the United States should retain the TLAM-N and develop low-yield nuclear options.

    Although Okada seems to deny that Japan lobbied the Commission, it looks to be the classic non-denial denial. (It would be helpful to parse the original Japanese, but Okada admits to the exchanges, which in any event are listed at the back of the Posture Commission Report, denying only the expression of a “view concerning whether or not [the US] should possess particular [weapons] systems.”)

    In any event, everyone in Washington knows that Mr. Akiba and Mr. Kanai expressed precisely such a view, even if it would be inconvenient, not to mention career-ending, for them to admit it now. (The documents will come out, sooner or later, however.)

    It is hard to imagine, at this point, that the Pentagon will insist on over-ruling the Navy and keeping the TLAM-N now that FM Okada has pulled the rug out from under those arguing that “extended deterrence relies heavily on the deployment of nuclear cruise missiles on some Los Angeles class attack submarines.”

  • In the field: More re temple of the cat goddess

    Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref)

    During routine excavations near the Roman theatre at Kom El-Dikka in Alexandria, an archaeological mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has discovered the remains of a temple built by Queen Berenike, wife of Ptolemy III (246-222 BC), along with a cachette of 600 Ptolemaic statues. The temple is believed to measure 60 metres by 15 metres and extends underneath the present Ismail Fahmi Street.

    Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA, says the temple was much destroyed in later centuries when it was used as a source of worked stone, which led to the disappearance of many of its components.

    Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the antiquities of Lower Egypt, said the team, which comprises 18 skilled excavators and restorers, unearthed a large collection of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet, the goddess of protection and motherhood, which indicates that the temple was dedicated to this popular Delta goddess.

    National Geographic (photos)

    Thanks to Andrew Bossone for forwarding the above link which has six good photos of finds from the site. Here’s the accompanyint text:

    This limestone feline is among some 600 cat statues from a newfound temple dedicated to the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet. The ancient temple was recently discovered under the streets of modern-day Alexandria, Egypt.

    Egyptian archaeologists who found the temple say it was built by Queen Berenike II, wife of Greek King Ptolemy III, who ruled Egypt from 246 to 221 B.C.

    Cats were important house pets in ancient Egypt and were often depicted in private tombs. In some cases, cats were mummified in the same way as humans and buried at temples.

    “This is one of the most important discoveries in Alexandria in the last hundred years,” said Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of antiquities of Lower Egypt for the Supreme Council of Antiquities and lead archaeologist for the find.

  • Jessica Simpson Snuggles Up With Sammy The Dog

    Jessica Simpson may not have a man in her life, but singledom doesn’t doom a girl to a life of sleeping alone. Jessica has a new “snuggle companion” — an sweetfaced new pooch!

    Early Monday, the singer/actress, 29, posted a photo of herself curled up with a pup on her Twitter page, writing, “Sammy and I are falling asleep. Sweet snuggle companion.”

    Jessica was careful to not that Sammy is not a replacement for Daisy, Jessica’s carmel-colored Maltipoo that was tragically snatched by a coyote last year.

    “Just to clear things up… Sammy isn’t my new pup,” Jess Tweeted. “I borrowed her for the night from my friends :)”

  • Unsubstantiated Claim: iTunes Success Makes It Harder To Discover New Music

    Michael Manning points us to a writeup of a new study by Harvard professor Anita Elberse (who has long been a critic of things like “the long tail” concept) concerning the “iTunes effect” on music sales. Most of the article focuses on the fact that (*gasp!*) given the opportunity to just buy the songs people like, rather than an entire album, many will do just that. Shocking. But the writeup seems to suggest that this is the fault of iTunes, rather than the fault of the recording industry for putting out album after album where only a couple of songs are worth buying. There’s no cosmic law that says people need to buy albums, and to blame iTunes for it, rather than the industry for not creating products worth buying seems incredibly backwards.

    Of course, it then gets even more ridiculous:


    Not all of that lost revenue was profit. That album revenue was partly subsidizing the discovery and publishing of new music, which in turn created new buyers of music, tour tickets, posters, t-shirts, and so on. That revenue in turn helped develop that artist’s next venture, and discover yet other artists. Significantly decreased revenues breaks the cycle that helps find new talent that will generate more revenue.

    And yet, as we’ve seen more new music is being made today than ever before in history, so it’s not like this is really harming the production of new music. And this totally ignores how the internet has totally changed the economics of discovering, publishing and distributing new music — such that you don’t need to rely on the major record labels to seek out new music for you. And, even if you do rely on major labels to “discover” the next big thing, new technologies have made that much cheaper for the industry as well. They now have the internet to help them find bands and judge their buzz and sound even without having first found them at a club as was often done in the past. To ignore all of those other impacts seems highly questionable, and puts a cloud over the research as a whole. Besides, just thinking about it logically makes it ridiculous to think that iTunes has somehow limited new music discovery. For many, many, many people, it seems likely that it has increased new music discovery, and done so by taking the record labels somewhat (not entirely) out of that loop.

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  • In the field: Evidence for Relations with Egypt’s First Dynasty at Tel Bet Yerah

    Archaeology Excavation Blog

    A fragment of a carved stone plaque bearing archaic Egyptian signs was the highlight of the second season of excavations at Tel Bet Yerah (Khirbet el-Kerak). The site lies in northern Israel, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, along an ancient highway which connected Egypt to the wider world of the ancient Near East. Work was completed there last week by a joint team from Tel Aviv University and University College London.

    Excavation director Raphael Greenberg of Tel Aviv and David Wengrow, who headed the UCL contingent, noted that the four cm long fragment was the first artifact of its type ever found in an archaeological context outside Egypt. It depicts an arm and hand grasping a scepter and an early form of the ‘ankh sign, and can be attributed to the period of Egypt’s First Dynasty, at around 3000 BCE or shortly after.

  • Teaching Physical Science With Children’s Literature: Wired

     

    15994.jpg

    Wired

    Author: Anastasia Suen

    Illustrator: Paul Carrick

    Wired by Anastasia Suen is a physical science book for students related to electricity.  The book starts out explaining the importance of electrons and describing how electricity is made at the power plant.  It then goes on to explain the different types of vehicles used to transport electricity to surrounding areas and cities (transformer towers, feeder lines, secondary wires, etc.).  As one reads the book, he or she can see that the author is explaining the process of how electricity is created and moved to other places step by step.  The pictures start out showing the power plant, and end up illustrating the ways electricity is used around the house in lamps, computers, breakers, and more.  The book ends with a few tips for children on how to “Be Smart About Power!” and lists some websites and other book resources where children can find out more about electricity.

    Curriculum ConnectionsWired is a great resource to help upper elementary school students learn about an important part of physical science, electricity, because its describes in great detail about the electricity is created and how it is transports to different places, while still being fun with its illustrations and catchy subtitles throughout (”Lamps glow, heaters blow” ]p. 24], “Clocks tick, computers click [p.26]).  I feel that this book might be difficult for some lower elementary school students to understand as some of the words might be difficult for them to read, and some of the concepts might still be a bit advanced for them as well.

    Additional Resources

    • This experiment could be fun to do with students during a unit on electricity; the students can make their own simple generators in the classroom using a cardboard box, magnets, a nail, wire, and a tiny light bulb.
    • This is an example of a science fair project elementary students can do using magnets and static electricity.
    • This is a link to several interactive games students can play to learn more about electricity.

    Book: Wired
    Author: Anastasia Suen
    Illustrators: Paul Carrick
    Publisher:
    Charlesbridge
    Publication Date: 2007
    Pages:  32 pages
    Grade Range: 3-5
    ISBN-10:
    978-141778381-6

  • Product Blog update: New features in Highrise, send real time updates from Wufoo, etc.

    Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:

    Highrise
    New in Highrise: Email Notifications, Daily Digests, Dropbox vCards
    We launched a collection of really useful new features for Highrise: email notifications on notes and comments, daily digests via email for Deals and Cases, Dropbox vCards, and email shortcuts.

    New in Highrise: Merge companies
    Highrise has always allowed you to merge two people into one person. This is handy if you have duplicates or someone spelled someone’s name wrong and there are two separate entries in your Highrise contacts. Today we launch a long requested feature: Merge companies. You can now merge two companies into one company just like you can merge two people into one person.

    Using tags in Highrise to organize your customer lists
    “We spend a lot of time segmenting our customer and prospect lists so that we can pull different groups out for specific marketing campaigns. We created five priority tags—keywords you attach to contacts to categorize them…We prefix them with ‘@’ to keep these heavily used tags together and sorted at the top of the list. We also create tags to track how prospects and customers have interacted with us—ie. did they download a free resource, attend a teleseminar, buy a particular product or service.”

    Highrise tags in action

    Basecamp
    Linnea’s Baby Room project managed from start to finish with Basecamp
    “I created a Basecamp project for the room design, which really made it easy for Gail, Aga and I to share ideas and links in messages, to create to do lists and manage the milestones of the project from start to finish. Basecamp was especially handy for accessing information (e.g. paint color, product URLs) when we needed it most.”

    Backpack
    An unofficial Backpack Tips page and Twitter account

    “It catalogues the tips and tricks I have learnt over the last two years or so since I became a 37signals product user and general fan.”

    Multiple products
    Send real time updates from Wufoo to Highrise or Campfire
    “We’re constantly hearing stories about how your teams and businesses depend on the ability to react quickly to the leads and registrations gathered with Wufoo. Because of this, we are excited to be releasing a new notification platform to help you send real time updates about the entries you’re collecting in Wufoo to your favorite web applications.”

    New on the Launchpad: Deep links
    We added a really useful, click-saving-and-time-saving new feature to the 37signals Launchpad (part of the new 37signals ID system). We call this new feature “deep links”.



    37signals tools top the list at “100 Apps for Tech–Savvy Teachers”
    “More than three million people use this application for a reason — it’s extremely effective for businesses and educators. 37 Signals makes it easier to collaborate, share, discuss and get work done through its programs.”

    Subscribe to the Product Blog RSS feed.

  • U.S. military now wants 3D surveillance cameras. Avatar invented 3D, you know.

    usmd

    In a sense, the following story can be summed up thus: the US military wants new, hi-tech equipment. That’s not exactly breaking news, no, but there’s an Avatar connection, so if the world could stop rotating on its axis for a moment… It’s called Fine Detail Optical Surveillance, and the military wants Darpa to develop it. Think 3D spy cameras. Attach one to a Predator-type device and the boots on the ground—fresh-faced kids from the corn fields of Iowa—will be able to see the bad guys long before they know what’s going on. Woo!

    Now, that’s what the Pentagon wants. Whether or not Darpa, made famous by Metal Gear Solid, can actually deliver it is another matter entirely.

    It sorta sounds like the system that scans ports and other at-risk locations, and churns out “Doom-like graphics.

    There’s really not too much more to this. I will say this, though: the next time you see stories touting Avatar as the highest grossing movie ever, please keep in mind that these stories don’t take inflation into account. Also, the average ticket price for 3D Avatar is $18, quite a bit more than plain ol’ 2D movies. Not taking inflation into account is like baking an apple pie, then saying the apple part is optional. It’s like, what?


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