Author: Serkadis

Electric cars will be making their big debut later this year — but one of the biggest questions standing between their release and wide market adoption is charging infrastructure. It doesn’t make much sense to buy a car that you can only fuel up at home. Leading the pack of companies working to solve this problem, Better Place has just landed $350 million second round of equity led by the HSBC Group — a potential turning point for the electric car and support industries.

The deal pegs the Palo Alto, Calif. company’s valuation at $1.25 billion. Some critics say that setting up enough charging and battery-switching stations to rival their gas counterparts will be prohibitively expensive; others say that there won’t be enough EVs and plug-in hybrids on the road to support charging station development. It’s a classic chicken-and-the-egg scenario. But Better Place’s funding suggests that the powers that be believe in the feasibility of infrastructure for an electrified generation of vehicles.

It is also one of the largest investments HSBC has made in the cleantech space to date — contributing $125 million to the total and taking a 10 percent stake. It was backed up by Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Lazard Asset Management, Israel Corp., VantagePoint Venture Partners, Ofer Hi-Tech Holdings and Maniv Energy Capital. This is also a good sign that big, mainstream banks are getting in on the act, foreshadowing an avalanche of interest in making electric cars and other advanced vehicles a realistic option for consumers.

Recently, Better Place has shifted its focus to battery-switching stations over straightforward plug-in charging stations like those being developed by Coulomb Technologies. The company plan is to launch a chain of sites where drivers could trade in depleted batteries for fully-charged ones. Right now, it’s on target to do so by the end of 2011 when Renault brings its electric cars with switchable batteries to market, focusing first on Israel and Denmark, then North America and Australia.

Battery switching has become more popular as EV specs have been released. The average advanced vehicle to hit the market will have a driving range of 100 miles and a battery that takes five hours to charge. No one is going to want to wait even a fraction of this time on the side of a highway during a long-distance drive. To accomplish its goals, Better Place will need billions, not just millions, but this HSBC financing is a solid start.

Better Place has raised an impressive $700 million in capital to date — leading to IPO predictions, though perhaps prematurely. It banked $200 million of that in a first round in 2008. But the HSBC deal propels the company to the top-tier of cleantech contenders like Solyndra, Tesla Motors, Fisker Automotive and eSolar, all of which have received sizable chunks of money, mostly from the government.

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You know how Leica marks itself out with its typically subdued matte black finishes and old school designs? Well, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, the camera company has decided to go a bit crazy and punish reward us with this 24 carat gold-plated shooter. Limited to a run of 60, each hallmarked with a year between 1949 and 2009, the Golden Camera is encased in red calfskin, bears an inscription of Mao Zedong’s favorite slogan, and sports a Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 lens. To max out the gaudiness, you also get a wooden box to store your equipment in. Sold exclusively in mainland China, these will cost 199,900 Chinese Yuan ($29,300) each, though Leica is also bringing out limited edition M8.2 and D-Lux 4 models — sans any precious metals — for the more budget-conscious patriots out there. Check ‘em out after the break, or hit the source link for even more.

Continue reading Leica MP Golden Camera celebrates 60th anniversary of Chinese republic

Leica MP Golden Camera celebrates 60th anniversary of Chinese republic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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General Motors has just announced that Washington D.C. will be one of the lead retail markets for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, which means the USA capital will join California and Michigan in the first group to get the new electric vehicle with extended-range capability.

Additionally, Chevrolet confirmed that Washington D.C. will be the host of a new development and demonstration program backed by Pepco and Dominion. Chevrolet will thus deliver more than 100 Volts to several utilities across… (read more)

Pretty things always look prettier when they’re standing next to something not-so-pretty. Yikes…

Here’s an untouched shot from Madonna’s 2009 W Magazine spread — the fateful photoshoot where the Material Girl sank her cougar claws into Baby Jesus. Here we have Madonna, pre-airbrush, and and on the right, her Brazilian Buss Baby Jesus Luz, naked after taking a dip in the pool.

Click Here For The NSFW, Uncensored Shot…..

Polaris’ on-road division Victory Motorcycles recently kicked-off the True American Road Trip program at the International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in New York City, which collects short videos documenting a rider’s idea of the best motorcycle road trip in America. Entries for the program are being accepted until March 31, 2010.

There will be 10 riders selected to plan and execute monthly road trips on two new touring motorcycles, the Victory Cross Country or Victory Cross Roads, and document t… (read more)

Love Inks! Motley Crue rocker Nikki Sixx and TV tattoo artist Kat Von D have ended their nearly 3 year romance.

“I want to wish Katherine (Kat Von D) nothing but the best in her life. She has loved and inspired the hell outta me and I know I have done the same for her in these almost two years we ruled the earth together,” Sixx remarked in a statement on his website over the weekend. “We are taking a break from our relationship for reasons that we will choose to keep personal. You won’t find me saying a bad word about her and I don’t believe vice versa… we have too much wonderful history together to ever deface that.”

The pair began dating in 2007, following Von D’s split from fellow tattooist Oliver Peck.

From February 12th to the 28th, many of us will be glued to the tube for hours and hours of non-stop 2010 winter Olympic coverage in Vancouver. All watching and laughing at the Olympians as they slip and fall on the ice… I mean rooting for the US to take home the gold!!  But for those of us who are not athletic at all, you can still honor the Olympics in your own geeky way. The Official Store for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics has various wares on sale to get us all in the mood and show our support for the winter games. There are laptop stickers featuring the Vancouver Olympic mascots – Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk, a laptop bag, the Vancouver 2010 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Video Game for Wii and Nintendo DS, and even 2010 Olympic mousepads. All the items are relatively affordable and at the most will cost you $49.99. Overall, this is a great way for those of us who aren’t athletic to atleast participate even in a small way in the 2010 Olympics.

Electric vehicle charging stations provider Coulomb announced it has partnered with Carbon Day Automotive from Chicago, Illinois, to install the first green electric car charging station in the US. The Carbon Day Automotive ChargePoint Networked Charging Station, located in the parking lot directly adjacent to 440 Central Avenue, Highland Park is completely powered by the wind.

While the Carbon Day Automotive charging station in Highland Park is the first to be powered by energy derived from … (read more)

A recurrent debate in my life has been whether I should apply to become a tour guide.  On one hand, I have worked in an office providing directions all over campus, and given my sick historical fix/good sense of geography, I have a decent conception of this place.  However, there is no amount of money that could keep me on script when trying to describe Stanford to starry-eyed high school kids or Far East tourists.  For you Stanford partisans, however, I would like to invite you on the trademarked Zachary Warma’s Hidden History Stanford Tour™.

We begin not at MemAud, but rather the corner of Salvatierra and Santa Ynez.  In one of the several beautiful pockets of the unknown Faculty Ghetto (which excluding the Row Houses/Cowell, is the area bounded by Stanford Ave, Bowdoin St, Junipero Serra, and Campus Drive East), there stands several identical homes.  Unique in design and size, how these structures feature in the history of the Farm: early in the 20^th Century, it was both Salvatierra and Mayfield that formed the Greek Rows, and these houses now stand as vestiges of an architecturally stunning, Greekier past.

Walk along Santa Ynez to the corner of Mayfield Avenue.  You will see facing Phi Psi a small plaque honoring the location of the former Stanford Elementary School, which closed its doors mid-century.  Chuckle quietly when thinking about students doing the walk of shame Friday morning past chirpy third graders.

Sauntering down Mayfield towards White Plaza, pause at the corner of Mayfield and Mayfield (you know it makes sense), and glance first at Sigma Nu (located at 557 Mayfield since 2003) and then Sigma Chi (at 550 Mayfield since 1936).  Though currently viewed as having dissimilar dispositions, both chapters experienced major turmoil in the early 60s when each frat had the chutzpah to defy the racist policies of their national organizations and pledged African American students.

Continuing on Mayfield, passing Florence Moore Hall (a former all female dorm; a sad fact to mull on considering the lack of readily available water fountains), you ultimately run into what we now refer to as our glorified pond-Lake Lagunita.  Continuously filled unto the late 80s/early 90s, old photos portray a stunningly pastoral scene of sailboats and rowers.  However, Lake Lag holds a dark history, with a 20-year old Greek party-goer drowning in the Lake in 1986, helping to spark the modern alcohol policy we now live with.

Quickly move from Lomita to Lagunita to arrive at Tresidder Union, named after the former long serving President Donald Tresidder (see contact line for President Trivia Game!).  Enter the Treehouse, operated by the chieftain of non-Stanford Dining eateries, Ray Klein.  Now, picture this spot….25 years ago.  And picture a bowling alley.  Seriously.  This is not a joke.

Swing around the side of Tresidder, and walk between past the Axe and Palm.  Immediately after passing the Native American Community Center (a recent historical addition to campus after concerted student activism over many years), ascend the stair well to your left.  This brings you to the patio of the now-A3C Clubhouse.  Formerly the Women’s Clubhouse, and a witness to the turmoil of the late 1960s anti-Vietnam protests, this is arguably my favorite spot on campus.  Amazing view, great location for cigars, and potential scene of my finals week water balloon sneak attack.

Now we have a bit of a walk. Walking down Lasuen, we make a right after Green Library, which by the way, on the Second Floor, houses our Special Collections.  Coolest. Place. Ever (in the name of full disclosure I am now working there.  But I stand behind this statement).  Passing between Encina (the original male dorm) and Crothers (named after Stanford grad/Jane Stanford’s confidante) and then after cutting left around Toyon, you arrive at Vidalakis.  Not a Viking encampment, Vidalakis is the award-winning dining hall for the Schwab Residential Complex (the traditional GSB dorm).  Why I am taking you to a grad dining hall is that the outside courtyard is decorated with remnants of old columns that toppled during the 1906 Earthquake.  Pretty frickin awesome.

Get on Serra, swing a left, and pass Hoover Tower (Hi Condi!) and MemAud (MLK Jr. gave speech here!), and proceed onto the steps of the Quad.  Walk directly to the doorway of Memorial Church, but do not enter.  Proceed quickly to the left, and look down. You will find an old plaque, placed there on the 14^th of May, 1887.  It was here that a grief-stricken mother, coupled with her powerful husband’s ill-gotten assets, erected the cornerstone for the University that 123 years later, we now call home.

My mother went to UCSD, my father Western Illinois.  I saw Stanford for the first time four and a half years ago.  But this is my history just as anyone else’s, and we share this with those who have come before us.  Too infrequently do we realize that this collective past, however disassociated to our personal lives, still powerfully impacts this strange and wonderful place.

The Macally PowerGo 3 3-in-1 Battery Charger is the ultimate charger for those who are sick of carrying several different chargers to charge several different devices, in several different places. For starters, the PowerGo3 has a USB port for gadgets that can be charged through that method. The device also features a swappable AC Wall plug and DC car plug with a convenient LED indicator for checking power/ charging status, and this is located all in the same compact unit that resembles the size and shape of a standard Apple notebook power adapter. Finally, the PowerGo3 also comes with both a Mini-B USB and Micro USB cable for charging other  smartphones and portable devices. The device is not available yet, but when it i,s it will retail for $49.99 at Amazon.

Intacct Corp, maker of financial management and accounting software that competes with Intuit’s Quickbooks, announced that it has launched a cloud computing system that will be more consumer-friendly and cost effective for small to mid-size businesses looking to keep close tabs on their cashflow and budgets. The San Jose, Calif. company previously targeted its products primarily at CPA firms.

Called Intacct Winter 2010, this new edition allows companies of all sizes to record and view financial data as it changes in real time — making it easier to plan ahead. Because this system lives in the cloud, it can be accessed by more employees at any time to encourage better collaboration and compliance, Intacct says. Because more people will be able to use it more easily, the package comes with an application allowing employees to enter their purchases and expenses.

Just like previous products from Intacct, the system can be tailored to particular business sectors, like nonprofits, franchises, hospitality and consulting firms. The company will provide technical support and continuing training services for its clients as well. It now has a roster of 3,300, compared to 2,700 last year at this time.

Intacct says the revamped management system will not only be cheaper to deploy, but also save employee man-hours that might have otherwise been spent manually entering financial data into spreadsheets. Pricing for the package starts at $200 a month, with expense and purchase tracking features costing an extra $10 per user per month.

Intacct partners with accounting firms that use the software to manage their clients’ finances, companies like IBM and Oracle that help quickly implement its system across businesses, as well as makers of human resources, customer relations and payroll applications that complement its offerings. This holistic strategy seems to be working so far, with the company upping its customer acquisitions by 80 percent in its second quarter ended Dec. 31.

Intacct has raised $29 million to date from Sigma Partners, Sutter Hill Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Emergence Capital Partners. It hasn’t gone back to the well for a while, bringing in its last $15 million in April 2008.

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Don’t you sometimes wish legal squabbles like this actually delivered on their promises? There’s pretty much no way that Toshiba’s patent claim with the US International Trade Commission will lead to a ban on Wistron imports — the company builds laptops for Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and others, and will likely settle in cash long before any rulings against it — but it’s fun to imagine the mayhem that would result if such an eventuality were to materialize. A quick look at the rankings of global computer vendors shows that Toshiba is mostly trying to throw a banana skin in front of its direct competitors, claiming as it does that Wistron products infringe on its methodologies for touchpad production and file saving when the laptop loses power. The ITC, should it decide to investigate, will take up to 15 months on this matter, so no breath-holding is advised just yet, though if that settlement does eventuate it should be a pretty breathtaking number.

Toshiba seeks to prevent Wistron laptop imports to the US originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At deep-drawing expert C&K Johansen in the Danish town of Horsens, flexible production is key to being able to quickly provide service to customers, who come from a number of different production industries. Previously, the majority of production usually entailed manual operation of stand-alone press cells. But, when the company partnered with AP&T and set its sights on the future, many new possibilities for automated production came into view.

C&K Johansen has been a well-respected name in deep drawing for over 40 years and AP&T has been delivering sheet metal forming equipment to the company almost as long. Flexibility has always been an important aspect, with cycle time taking a back seat for the company since they work with small and medium-size series. For this reason, manual press operation was the right way to go.
“In the end, it’s our customers who decide what we need to produce. So, it’s important not to chain ourselves down with an automated solution that limits us,” says C&K Johansen President Peter Møller.

Many operations
But, when the company updated its machinery with two new manually-operated hydraulic presses from AP&T, they chose a new route. It was not uncommon to have 10-15 operations per part and the large amount of manual handling became a problem when it was hard to find skilled operators who could handle operations in many customer assignments. AP&T then suggested combining the two new presses with one of the existing hydraulic presses to form an automated press line that both increased quality and reduced handling cost per manufactured part.

Flexible mix
The press line had to provide a flexible production solution that made it possible to mix automated handling with manual operation if so desired. Three AP&T SpeedFeeder press robots were added to serve the three presses. Later, a fourth press was added to the line, which now can produce products with over 10 operations, including various installations, right from coil.

Faster with fewer operators
“The advantages are obvious. We only need one operator for four presses and the production rate is three to four times faster than with manual handling, if you count intermediate storage,” says Peter Møller. “This has a big impact on manufacturing cost and, in the end, the ability of our customers to become more competitive.”

The unit measures the refraction of light generated between the prism surface and a liquid sample. The PRM-100á is upgraded from the PRM-85 in the following aspects:
• Wider than ever 0.0 to 100.00% Brix range
• Improved measurement accuracy: Brix ±0.05%, nD ±0.00010
• Two options for setting the minimum indication decimal place
• Simple two-piece construction: detection section and operation display section
• Easy-to-read color display panel.
Simply attach the unit to a piping system to monitor food or beverage production, pharmaceutical production, industrial fluid, washing devices, dilution/mixing devices, etc. Continuously monitor water content and mixing ratio with successive measurements of refractive index, Brix, or concentration.
*The prism is specially designed to prevent solid materials from collecting on the surface, even after extended periods of use.

We would like to present the easiest way of fume capture and exhaust. Universal fume extraction set UZ0 consists of: model1630 Oskar fume arm, wall bracket and ZWR03 ventilator. Oskar fume arm is one of the most rigid, long lasting and maintenance free products in its class. There is nothing in the duct of the fume arm except for air flow damper. All fume arm adjustments are on the outside which makes maintenance short and easy. The reach of the whole set is 3M. The air is captured with the arm and transported with ZWR03 ventilator. 1000 m3/h performance is standard for one workplace (for example welding). The polluted air can be transported outside the working premises or o larger collection ducting system.

New Type 4520A… Basic Line provides a cost-effective torque sensor based upon strain gage technology. It extends Kistler’s wide spectrum of torque sensors for tasks requiring efficient torque measurement. Sensor Type 4520A… is suitable for use in production, quality control and the laboratory.

Transmission of power and data without contact makes the sensor robust and maintenance-free in continuous use. It measures torques in accuracy class 0,5 at speeds up to 10 000 revolutions per minute.

Type 4520A… is offered with rated torques of 1/2/5/10/20/50/100/200/500/1 000 N·m and, in addition to the ±10 V torque signal, features a speed output with 60 pulses/rev. (TTL) as standard plus an externally switchable 100 % control signal.

Evaluation instrument CoMo Torque (Type 4700A…) and PC software SensorTool (Type 4706A) are available for parameter configuration and evaluation.

R. STAHL has compiled a scaleable package of cameras and recording system for camera surveillance in hazardous areas on gas and oil rigs. In addition to making operations safer, it enables users to carry out a thorough study of causes and fix any problems in the case of incidents. The system supports both live monitoring at HMI stations as well as complete documentation of events: The standard package includes four cameras whose video signals can be recorded manipulation-proof for up to ten days. This network-compliant solution which also permits authorised remote access to images via the internet can, if necessary, be easily expanded to include twice or four times as many cameras. The recording capacity, which as a standard is covered by a 500 GB hard disk, can be easily expanded to meet a specific application’s requirements. Resolutions of up to 4 CIF as well as a full PAL format with 704 x 576 pixels can be selected for the H.264 compressed digital video files. A PTZ control module is available for the remote control of the pan/tilt/zoom functions of the cameras.

The standard package includes four spherical cameras type EC-710 for zones 1 and 2, which can also withstand the extremely rough ambient conditions on offshore platforms in extreme climates. Their steel housing can withstand ag-gressive chemical substances and protects the cameras from substantial me-chanical stress. It can be installed in ambient temperatures ranging from -30 °C to +75 °C. A heater is used to prevent condensation or frost forming on the surface. With a diameter of only 55 mm and a mere 435 grams, the cameras can be fitted even into the smallest of spaces. The fixed viewing angle of the hardened lens is +/- 90° horizontally and 68° vertically. In addition to the EC-710 and other camera types, video server and recording technology, different HMI stations for local surveillance and suitable software solutions, R. STAHL can also provide any peripherals as part of the system solution. A broad range of cables, switches, explosion-proof terminal boxes as well as additional input devices such as keyboard or joystick for remotely controllable camera models are available.

Low-cost rewinding measuring machine for rolls of fabrics, conceived to be used only from front side to save space.

Fabrics width up to 1800mm Maximum roll diameter 300mm
One person operation Accurate length measurement system with mecanical 1 cm précision counter

Varispeed rewinding system 0 till 30m/mn Machine dimensions 2100x 600 x 1500
Power supply 230V, 50/60Hz, 0.3kW

Pneumatic arm, completely manufactured in stainless steel, for cold meat and salami producing factory.
The handling attachment allows to catch several moulds at the same time by the cover edge.
To allow to cover the work height, also in case of low headroom, the manipulator is equipped with a lifting device, for the forks used to catch the moulds, added to the normal lifting capacity of the manipulator,
Max capacity 80 kg.
Max work radius up to 2,6 m.
Max vertical stroke up to 1,2 m.
Other dimensions on request.