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We figured that the pressure on the Spanish gov’t to change copyright laws would be ratcheting up, so it should be no surprise to see a NY Times article suggesting that there’s “growing pressure” on Spain to change its copyright law. As you may recall, Spain actually has quite reasonable copyright laws. It recognizes that non-commercial copyright infringement isn’t the same thing as commercial scale infringement. It recognizes that creating a search engine for files is not the same as actually distributing those files. It also recognizes that people have a right to privacy. These are all reasonable findings… unless you happen to have an increasingly obsolete business model and you don’t want to adapt. So when Spain finds that a file sharing network doesn’t violate copyright laws because it only points to infringing files, but doesn’t do any of the distribution, the industry spins it as Spain being weak on copyright, rather than just accurate in applying liability.

Of course, childish threats from Hollywood to leave the market (yeah, that’ll stop file sharing…) has convinced some to put forth new copyright laws that mirror those elsewhere. This, despite the fact that an economic analysis of the new law suggests it would do more harm than good.

The NY Times piece is pretty one-sided, never expressing any skepticism about the industry-provided numbers. It quotes three people in favor of changing the laws, and only one against it. And the one against it focuses on the privacy and consumer rights issues, but doesn’t mention the basic liability issue. Either way, I’m sure we’ll start seeing more articles like this until Spain feels it has no choice but to capitulate, and one more set of copyright laws will be adjusted in favor of the entertainment industry, and against net progress yet again.

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Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is offering $68.2 million to buy up publicly-traded Global IP Solutions, a San Francisco-based company which sells technology used to deliver voice and video over IP networks. The company describes Google in letter to its clients as being a “valued customer … for many years.” Other customers include include Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), which licenses the technology to power voice chat on Yahoo Messenger, as well as Nortel, Samsung and AOL (NYSE: AOL). In a release, Global IP Solutions says it expects to continue to support its current customers but doesn’t offer specific details about where it will fit at Google, saying simply that it will “continue to enhance and extend our products and technology.”

One big hint: Last month, Global IP Solutions said it was introducing new technology that makes it simple for Android developers to integrate video conferencing and chat into their apps.

The deal needs to be approved by the owners of 90 percent of the company’s stock, but the companies say they already have the support of shareholders who own more than 50 percent of Global IP Solutions’ stock, including backer Kistefos Venture Capital. Google is offering a 142 percent premium to Global IP Solutions’ stock price in January, when the company disclosed there had been “strategic interest from a potential buyer” and a 27.5 percent premium to its price last week.

This is the second acquisition in Google’s recent 15 company shopping spree that is related to VOIP. In November, Google bought up VOIP provider Gizmo5 for a reported $30 million in order to improve Google Voice.

Related

• Google’s Acquisition Tab: $145 Million For Nine Startups
• Google Confirms Purchase Of VOIP Provider Gizmo5

While out for a camping trip what bothers most is the unavailability of power sockets which our gadgets need after a few hours of use. The market seems to be countering the problem with clean energy chargers that can be used anywhere. For those who often forget to carry chargers in their bags, designers are coming up with cool bags that double as renewable energy chargers. Here is a list of 10 such bags that can keep your gadgets juiced up at any place where there is ample sunlight.

• Infinit Solar Bag:

Featuring a 2000mAh battery and a 2.4W solar panel, this sustainable backpack from Infinit will be able to charge with natural light and comes with nine different adapters for your gadgetry needs. The bag ships with connectors for mobile phones and mini-USB connectors for GPS devices.

• Neuber’s Energy Sun-Bags:

The Neuber Energy Sun Bag weighs just 500gm and includes a 1.4W solar panel supplied by Konarka Technologies. The bag can charge almost all devices that need about 5V, including cellphones, MP3 players and cameras.

• Eclipse Solar Gear Bag:

This camera bag from Eclipse Solar is ideal for any photography enthusiast. The bag abodes a lightweight flexible solar charging module that can be connected using the existing 12V auto adapter, and the adjustable customizable foam protects the items inside at all times. Managing an output of 1.5W, this bag can charge mobile phones and MP3 players as well.

• Solestrom Solar Bag:

This bag from popular swimwear brand, Solestrom, uses a water resistant solar panel with a rated output of 1.5W. The solar panel charges a 3.6V/1200mAh Ni-MH battery and comes with 6 standard adapters for common cellphones and USB for your iPod and other USB charging devices.

• Voltaic Systems’ Solar Bag:

This solar powered generator bag uses a single solar panel to produce 14.7W of renewable electric power. The panel charges an internally located battery and can charge portable electronic devices such as iPods and cellphones simultaneously.

• Sakku’s Buddy Solar Bag:

Crafted in rainbow colors, the Sakku Buddy Solar Bag has been made entirely from recycled materials. To better its eco-friendly credentials, this bag includes a 2.5W solar panel. The bag has been made available in two variants – the “direct,” which charges portable devices directly from the flexible solar panel and the “akku,” which comes with an integrated rechargeable battery and stores the solar energy continuously.

• O-Range Portable Backpack:

The O-Range travel bag was designed to really help out that outdoor lad who still is crazy about his modern gadgets with the eternal problem of “Low Battery.” The O-Range travel bag is an ideal backpack solar charger for devices like cellphones, MP3/MP4 players, digital cameras, PDA, DVD players, GPS and that other new gadget that hit the market while I was typing this.

• SunnyBag:

The SunnyBag features integrated solar panels with an output of 3W. The solar panel fuels an integrated 1600mAh Li-ion battery and includes connectors for more than 400 different mobile phones, including the iPhone.

• Solarri:

The Solarri solar bag includes a 12W solar panel that recharges a 13,200mAh battery. This bag includes compatible chargers for a wide range of cellphones, PMPs and laptops.

• HSI Equipment Bags:

The HIS equipment bags include dye-sensitized solar cell and can power electronic devices such as mobile phones, e-books, cameras and portable LED lighting systems.

You know the drill by now: Once a week or so, I tell you that if you need a place to gossip about shiny gadgets or have some off-topic talk with fellow Gizmodo readers you should head to #whitenoise and join the conversation. More »










Gossip – People – Celebrities – Arts – Humor

by Chris Borgen

There’s a post that’s been making the rounds in the science fiction blogosphere that warrants note by those interested in international law, especially in regards to issues of international trade, development, and regulation. The piece is by Ghanaian writer Jonathan Dotse and it concerns the rise of African cyberpunk.

Before getting to Dotse’s post, though, a couple of words on cyberpunk itself. Cyberpunk is a sci-fi style that arose primarily among U.S. and Canadian writersin the 1980’s. Setting aside the optimistic science fiction of earlier generations (think Star Trek) and the grand themes of “space operas” like Dune, cyberpunk instead focused on the street-level effects of technological change and imagined a gritty, dystopian, future. Good-bye Star Wars, hello Blade Runner!

This original iteration of cyberpunk reflected the concerns of the U.S. of the 1980’s: the development of computer networks (and especially of hacker culture), the rise of corporate power (and especially Japanese corporate power), the relative decline of the United States, the rise of crime and gang culture, and so on.  Science fiction is not really a crystal ball for peering into the future; it’s more like a funhouse mirror reflecting the present. Nonetheless, science fiction writers, in extrapolating from the present, can sometimes spot important trends earlier than many other writers.

Fast forward from the 1980’s to today. Cyberpunk is no longer the hip new style; it is well-known and pretty well-worn. Some of its images of the future now seem as fanciful as Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.  But, more importantly, many of its then-revolutionary themes (hacking, cyberwar, illicit genetic engineering, private military contractors run amok) are no longer revolutionary but rather common. And note– I don’t mean these topics are commonplace in sci-fi literature (though they are) but rather that they are (or are becoming) commonplace in serious policy discourse. We’ve got a drone war in Pakistan, debates over “cybersecurity,” and marketbots gone wild. Yesterday’s avant-garde is today’s daily brief. (But see this cautionary note.)

So now we get to Dotse’s post. Dotse is focused on how the literature of cyberpunk, which pre-figured some aspects of life today (but mis-analyzed others), may be especially relevant in Africa (and, I would add, in the developing world more broadly). Dotse writes:

 The Internet counterculture of the West went mainstream faster than anyone could have predicted and the grim forecast of the cyberpunk movement became a self-defeating prophecy…. [snip] …

However, this power didn’t come without regulation. The surveillance capabilities of the West have been well orchestrated to secure a significant degree of control over its citizens’ virtual lives. Its law enforcement continually strives to gain jurisdiction over the ever-expanding boundaries of Net, making it a far stretch from the lawless frontier cyberpunk predicted.

But here in Africa, development has been dangerously asymmetrical. By the time any product hits our soil it’s already fully-developed and ready to be abused by the imagination. Technology designed for vastly different societies invariably trickles down to our streets, re-sprayed, re-labeled, and hacked to fit whatever market will take it. Regulation? You can forget about regulation.

Whatever rules the creators imagined fly out of the window as freighters are crammed to bursting with the second-hand remains of their creations, damn wherever they’re heading as long as they can be cleared from port.

What Dotse describes is familiar to anyone who’s read some William Gibson (the Neuromancer William Gibson, not the Miracle Worker one): tech innovation hits the street and then it is hacked and re-hacked. Or just re-purposed. Turntables become musical instruments. Text messaging gives rise to flash mobs. Street tech.

Consider a recent Wall Street Journal article on the rise of do-it-yourself genetic engineering. The WSJ article begins:

In Massachusetts, a young woman makes genetically modified E. coli in a closet she converted into a home lab. A part-time DJ in Berkeley, Calif., works in his attic to cultivate viruses extracted from sewage. In Seattle, a grad-school dropout wants to breed algae in a personal biology lab.

These hobbyists represent a growing strain of geekdom known as biohacking, in which do-it-yourselfers tinker with the building blocks of life in the comfort of their own homes. Some of them buy DNA online, then fiddle with it in hopes of curing diseases or finding new biofuels.

But are biohackers a threat to national security?

Exciting and frightening stuff, all at once. And, when we internationalize this phenomenon, we map the frayed edge of regulation. Twisted programs, ripped DVDs, knock-off pharmaceuticals, and biohacked DNA are the bane of corporations from the relatively rich countries. They are also thriving in the poor places of the world (well, maybe not the hacked DNA). Dotse writes:

It’s no surprise then that lawlessness is the rule on our end of the networks, ‘do what thou wilt’ the full extent of cyber-regulation. This will remain the case as long as Africa continues to wear hand-me-down systems; until she acquires her own truly tailor-made networks. With the huge logistical frameworks that need to be implemented, spanning vast swathes of geographical terrain, political regimes, and language barriers, a cyberpunk future for Africa seems all but inevitable.

Larry Lessig has written about the rise of remix culture and the challenge that it poses for copyright rules in the U.S. But what Dotse and others are pointing to goes beyond the remixing of culture in the U.S. to the reworking of technology on a global scale. It implicates not only copyright but patent, trade regulation, and a variety of regulatory schemes. While we as international lawyers focus (and generally laud) the rise of transnational regulatory networks, cyberpunk reminds us that innovation in areas of desperation will probably far outpace the work of bureaucrat. Necessity is the mother of invention. And necessity is especially sharp in lesser developed countries.

In thinking about the future of regulation, we need to keep in mind the interests, needs, and motivations of this new generation of innovators, hackers, and remixers in the global South. Science fiction writers are increasingly framing their stories in this landscape.  Ian MacDonald has River of Gods in India and Brasyl in, well, Brazil.  Paolo Bacigalupi’s award-winning The Windup Girlimagines Thailand in a world were the oil economy has collapsed and errant biotech has decimated populations. And there are others.

However, I am especially interested, as is Dotse, in what writers from the developing world imagine their futures may be like. What the the threas that they see? What gives hope? What should we try to regulate and where should we let things grow wild? It is a staple of cyberpunk (borrowing from William Burroughs) that every society needs its interzone, its night town where regulation isn’t quite so strict and innovation– to good and bad ends–flourishes. But, in our globalized economy, the new interzones may be the bloc flats of Lagos or the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Whether or not the visions of the future of the African cyberpunks prove to be prescient or as inaccurate as a Hugo Gernsback pulp fiction remains to be seen. (Most likely by our children or grandchildren.) But, as an inspiration to break out of rote thinking about technology, trade, economics, and the role of law, you could do a lot worse. 

Hat tip: Futurismic

What if all of your friends are the same age as you, have similar driving records and credit reports, and own vehicles like yours?

Believe it or not, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will have the same auto insurance premiums. Wouldn’t you like to be the one who gets the same policy, but gets it cheap?

All it takes is some know-how, and realizing what to look for when shopping online for your auto insurance.

Shop around—and online
Consumer groups tell us that the primary reason people don’t get cheap auto insurance is because they don’t comparison shop. It is the simple truth that there are so many auto insurance companies out there, you’ll never find the same insurance quote twice. That’s why shopping online is the single best way to find cheap auto insurance.

Online services offer quotes from multiple insurance companies, often within minutes. You can then choose the carrier that offers you the same policy at the cheapest rate.

Your neighbor may be sticking with the same auto insurance company out of habit, but his failure to shop online for a cheaper rate is his first mistake.

Get all the discounts
When you are shopping online for a cheap auto quote, make sure and read about the discounts that are offered. Most insurance companies offer, for example, a multi-car discount. In addition, there may be a good student discount that makes the policy cheaper for youthful drivers.

Don’t think you or your kid will qualify? Read the fine print. Often, the good student discount isn’t as hard to get as you may think.

Have you had insurance for the past six months? By providing the online service with proof of prior insurance, you may also qualify for a cheap rate with your new insurance company. What about your house—do you own it?

If so, many auto insurance carriers also offer homeowner insurance, or even insurance for your boat or other property, and that discount can bring that rate down to a level cheap enough to make even your brainy brother jealous.

Check your driving record
Many people pay the pricey amount that shows up on their bill, never realizing that an error in their driving record is the culprit.

Your insurance company usually gets an electronic copy of your driver history and applies any auto accidents and tickets toward your premiums.

If you take the time to get a copy of your record and find an error, you can easily have it removed, bringing you closer to your dream of cheap auto insurance. Additionally, make sure that you have gotten credit for any safe driver courses you have taken in the past.

Ditch the spouse and kids
No, you don’t have to leave your family to get cheap insurance. But your auto insurance company may allow a split policy, which could get you a cheaper premium. If there is a “certain someone” on your auto policy that has a bad driving record, the rates may be higher for everyone.

Additionally, if there are any youthful drivers on the policy, they may be keeping the more experienced drivers from qualifying for the best rate. In many cases, it is just a matter of moving the offending driver to their own policy, and presto, cheap insurance!

Make sure you know your options and check them all out when you’re shopping online for auto insurance. Even if you’ve got the best car on the block, the smartest kids, and the biggest house, there’s just something about buying cheap auto insurance that can make you feel superior.

Author: Codrut Turcanu

Black & Decker has a tool that fits comfortably between a chainsaw and a branch lopper. It’s the Alligator Lopper LP1000 and can cut through branches and logs up to four inches thick. It uses its patented scissor action to grab the offending piece of wood, clamps it tight and then powers through it with a 4.5Amp motor driven chainsaw…
Continue Reading Alligator Lopper chows down on trees

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Nattawut Saikua, one of the “red shirt” leaders, told a news conference that they have agreed to take a new round of talks proposed by the Senate because if they allow things to go on like this, they will not know how many more lives will be lost.

According to Reuters, there was a group of 64 senators in the 150-member Senate who proposed that talk and offered to reconcile with the protesters. How ever, analysts stated that while the proposal is positive, it is unlikely to lead to a peace deal.

Kavee Chukitkasem the head of Research, Kasikorn Securities, doubts that the proposed talks will end the political crisis. He stated that it was just a tactic to buy time and the rise in the stock market was just because of short-term speculation about talks. On the other hand, Somjai Phagaphasvivat, a political scientist at Thammasat University in Bangkok stated that the mediator gives hope that there may be a group that coordinates a process for each side to take one step back but if it were that easy, it would have been done long ago and it would not have come to this.

Even though the analysts had a bad impression about the peace talks proposed by both parties, it is a good thing that the war in Bangkok is finally advancing into the resolution of the problem. Communication between both parties is necessary in order to resolve the issue that caused the war. It is advisable for both parties to give an answer to their problem and avoid fighting with the use of violence. Many lives were lost and both parties must think of what they had lost and try to end this war as soon as possible.

No related posts.

Yes, today (the 18th). Sorry for the short notice, I almost forgot. The Official BlackBerry Developer’s Blog has posted the next Developer Webcast and it will have some great information, and if you are developing applications, or want to develop BlackBerry applications, this Webcast will be in your best interest.

When?
May 18th, 2010

What Time?
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EST

With Who?
Sarim Aziz, Sr. Application Development

Panelists:
Sarim Aziz, Sr. Application Development
Brian Zubert, Sr. Application Development

How?

Register Here Today!

[via: The Official BlackBerry Developer’s Blog]

You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…

This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.

Attention All BlackBerry Developers And Aspiring Developers: Don’t Miss The Developer Webcast

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Skoda is working on a minivan based on the Volkswagen Touran and that would debut in 2013. The MPV model fills a gap in the Skoda line-up and would be priced below the Touran. It’s part of a move that sees Skoda return to making more pared-back and economic models, of which we will also see a low-cost sedan that would compete with the Dacia Logan.

The future Skoda MPV will hit a competitive segment and should prove a tough adversary to models such as the Renault Scenic and Ford C-Max. It will also be able to avail itself of the latest fuel and diesel engines of the VAG group, making it a strong offering. The recent restyling of the Fabia and Octavia, with larger headlights and front grille, should also make an appearance on the Skoda MPV.

Source | Automobile-Magazine.fr

Hotmail, that filthy webmail service we’d secretly use for our throwaway accounts is about to turn into something we might want to use regularly. The service is getting a thorough overhaul and plenty of new features: More »










Microsoft – Hotmail – Business – Allegedly Unethical Firms – Google

PDA 24/7 have reviewed Sony Ericsson’s latest, if not greatest Windows Mobile 6.5.3 handset. They note the handset is likely one of the last touch screen Windows Mobile devices with a front-facing QWERTY keyboard and while the device was speedy, and had reasonable call quality,  it had little multi-media potential, and unfortunately the keyboard was nothing worth writing home about.

A bit tragically, Shaun concludes:

This hasn’t gone well has it? I have no idea why Sony Ericsson has made the Aspen. I do not understand why it has persevered with Windows Mobile, but mostly I do not understand how and why it was designed the way it has been. It could make a usable business smartphone, but there are MUCH better phones out there for this purpose and it excels in no areas at all.

Read his full review here.

Who says only Project Natal can have all the fun? Sony throws us a little something for PlayStation Move, way out from the left field, and it’s turning some major heads their way.
 
 
 
 

Eco Factor: Using technology to convert arid land into farmable land.

Most nations in the Gulf have rich sources of oil, but when it comes to farming, these nations look to buy land in developing nations and rely on food imports. Abu Dhabi has now conducted a survey to identify areas with underground water supply and soil quality that can be enhanced for farming.

The survey has identified over 200,000 hectares of land that can be used for agriculture provided the right investment is made. The project is expected to cost tens of millions of dirhams but is expected to be worth the effort because with this land vegetable and fodder production can be increased by up to 70 percent.

This farmable land is not expected to guarantee 100 percent food security for the UAE, but will make sure that these nations aren’t as dependent on foreign soil as they are today. The team is looking to mix soil with selected types of fungus that enhances the growth of plant roots in arid areas. Dubbed mycorrhiza, these microbes allow plant roots to absorb nutrients from the soil, which in the current condition isn’t possible.

Via: Reuters

Cleveland catching prospect Carlos Santana(notes) has three official at-bats over the past two days, and he’s hit three home runs. His other plate appearances have resulted in four walks and a sacrifice fly. Here’s video of Sunday’s bomb, via MiLB.com. It’s not every day that you get to hear an announcer say, "It hit the protective netting on the backside of the hamburger balcony!"

Santana hit two more homers on Monday. The first was a grand slam to right-center and the second was reportedly a roof shot to right (presumably clearing the ‘burger balcony altogether). He’s now up to nine home runs and 37 RBIs on the season for Triple-A Columbus, and he’s batting .333 with an on-base percentage of .461. He’s ready for the big leagues — perhaps as ready as any non-Strasburg in the minors.

By now, you should have at least a vague understanding of the economic weirdness that keeps these guys on the farm during the early weeks. (Terrible official explanation here; much better explanation here). The switch-hitting Santana will arrive soon, and he’ll immediately take over full-time backstop duties from Lou Marson(notes) (.553 OPS). He’s just four percent owned.

Make the add, then please join us in the fellowship room for additional fantasy content…

• OK, so maybe you weren’t awed by Johnny Cueto’s(notes) one-hit shutout of the Pirates due to quality-of-opponent issues. But he followed it up with a one-run, seven-strikeout win over the Brewers on Monday, and he beat Yovani Gallardo(notes) in the process. Over his last four appearances, Cueto is 3-0 with a 0.89 WHIP and 26 Ks in 27.0 innings. And yes, they’re still the first-place Cincinnati Reds, despite Corey Hart’s(notes) best efforts (3-for-4, 2 HRs).

• Entering Monday’s game, Marlins hitters ranked fourth in baseball in total team strikeouts, so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see Edwin Jackson(notes) piling up Ks. Still, no one could have possibly expected a four-hit, 12-strikeout effort. Jackson was excellent, but as Florida outfielder Chris Coghlan(notes) mentioned in his postgame comments, "I think he was a little erratic in the beginning of the game and sometimes we were helping him out." Coghlan added, "Toward the end, [Jackson] was throwing everything for strikes." That’s a new single-game career high in Ks for Edwin. He’ll get the Jays next.

• Hanley Ramirez(notes) owners got a scare when the Florida shortstop fouled a pitch off his left shin in the first inning, but he stayed in the game … just long enough to get kicked out. By his manager.

The image over on the right is a snapshot of the brief exchange between Ramirez and Fredi Gonzalez in the Florida dugout, not long after Hanley’s second inning fielding error. After booting a ball into left field, Ramirez jogged after it halfheartedly, allowing two runs to score. Gonzalez, understandably, was not happy. These were his comments via the AP:

"Hanley left the game because we felt — he got smoked in the ankle — but we felt whether he was hurt or not hurt or whatever it was, we felt that the effort wasn’t there that we wanted," Gonzalez said. "There are some injuries there, but we expect an effort from 25 guys on this team and when that doesn’t happen, we have got to do something."

And so they did. On behalf of Hanley owners everywhere, I’d like to state unequivocally that he’s learned his lesson and this will never happen again, so he needs to play tomorrow. 

• There’s rarely anything worth saying in this space about a Yankees-Red Sox tilt, because all of the players involved are widely owned and/or much-discussed. But it’s also tough to ignore a 20-run, 26-hit contest. The 51 percent-owned JD Drew(notes) homered, as did five other players. Jonathan Papelbon(notes) recorded his first regular season blown save since July 28, as Alex Rodriguez(notes) hit a game-tying blast in the ninth and Marcus Thames(notes) walked off. Video here. 

• Derek Holland(notes) beat the Angels on Monday, giving him two wins in as many starts since being recalled. His final stat line doesn’t quite jump off the page (5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K), but the W helps, and we know he’s capable of serious strikeout totals. The lefty will get the Cubs on Saturday.

• Corey Patterson(notes) scored three runs and stole two bases on Monday, and if you’ve just awakened from a three-year coma then you probably can’t believe he’s still a free agent in your league. Check the career rate stats before adding; know what you’re signing up for.

• Asdrubal Cabrera(notes) suffered a broken left forearm in Cleveland’s loss to Tampa Bay, and surgery is reportedly a possibility. Details here via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The injury took place in the first inning when Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta(notes) collided on a Hank Blalock(notes) single over second base.

Cabrera was shifted to second base and Peralta was shifted to shortstop against the left-handed-hitting Blalock. Cabrera stopped Blalock’s hit with a dive, but Peralta tumbled over him. Cabrera, face down behind second base, kicked his feet in pain as trainers from both teams rushed to his assistance.

Cabrera was eventually carted off the field. The Tribe is expected to promote shortstop Jason Donald(notes) from Columbus. He was hitting .277/.396/.423 at Triple-A with 10 doubles, two homers and 10 steals, and he’s worth a look in deeper formats that require you to fill a MI spot. 

• First the Cubs reduced the number of innings that Carlos Zambrano(notes) was supposed to throw (thereby negating his best trait: endurance). Now they’ve reduced the importance of the very few innings that they want him to toss, shifting him to long relief. Here’s manager Lou Piniella, as quoted by the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan:

"Look, we thought the outcome would be a little different, and he’s not as comfortable in the bullpen pitching short," Piniella said. "So we’re going to use him in a different role, give him some stamina, build up his arm."

Perhaps they intend to return the $18 million pitcher to the rotation, which would of course be his best shot at regaining fantasy value. Zambrano himself said, "If they want to send me to the minor leagues to work, I will work in the
minor leagues." The Cubs managed to beat Colorado in extra innings on Monday, thanks to Aramis Ramirez’s(notes) first meaningful hit in forever. Highlight here. 

• Drew Storen(notes) had a successful major league debut, pitching two-thirds of an inning with his team trailing. He hit a batter, but that was the only baserunner he allowed, and he K’d Matt Holliday(notes) to end the seventh inning. You’ll find a longer look at Storen here. 

• Here’s a rather incredible fact from the AP recap of San Diego’s 3-1 win: "The Padres haven’t trailed against the Giants once this season." They obviously didn’t trail tonight, as Clayton Richard(notes) earned his third win and reduced his season ERA to 2.94. (Note the 1.41 WHIP, however). 

• Dodgers starter John Ely(notes) earned his second straight win on Monday, and he hasn’t allowed a walk in any of his last three starts dating back to May 6. Over the past 19.2 innings, he’s struck out 21 hitters. His WHIP is now 0.94, and his next start will be on Saturday against Detroit. For what it’s worth, Houston’s Jeff Keppinger(notes) was not particularly impressed by Ely’s stuff:

"To be honest, I don’t think he was that difficult to hit. I know that’s
hard to say after the game he threw, but we’re struggling as an offense
right
now."

Ely isn’t a hard-thrower, but he’s mixing four pitches well, and everything is a strike. His minor league numbers don’t suggest the kind of control we’re seeing at the moment, but you can’t argue with the recent results (unless you’re Keppinger).

Back with an injury blurb in a moment. Please stay tuned…

—

Photos via Getty Images (Santana) and AP Images (Cabrera) 

Eco Factor: Eco-friendly airplanes designed to consume less fuel and emit less NOx.

A team at MIT has designed fuel-efficient airplanes that are expected to consume 70 percent less fuel than conventional models and also reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. The team presented the designs to NASA to develop environmental and performance concepts that will help guide the agency’s aeronautics research over the next 25 years.

MIT was the only university to lead one of the six U.S. teams that won the contract from NASA in October 2008. The MIT team studies concepts for subsonic commercial airplanes. Apart from consuming less fuel, the aircrafts will also be able to take off from shorter runways.

MIT team has come up with two designs – the 180-passenger D “Double Bubble” series to replace the Boeing 737 class aircraft and the 350-passenger H “Hybrid Wing Body” series to replace the 777 class aircrafts used for international flights.

Not only does the D series meet NASA’s long-term fuel burn, emissions reduction and runway length objectives, but it could also offers large benefits in the near future because the MIT team designed two versions: a higher technology version with 70 percent fuel-burn reduction, and a version that could be built with conventional aluminum and current jet technology that would burn 50 percent less fuel and might be more attractive as a lower risk, near-term alternative.

Via: MIT

Earlier this year we looked at a technique to grow 3D cell cultures using magnetic forces to levitate cells while they divided and grew, forming tissues that more closely resemble those inside the human body. Now researchers at the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) have devised a new way to achieve the same goal by using “biological Legos”…
Continue Reading Building artificial organs using ‘biological Legos’

Tags: Bioscience,
Cells,
Harvard,
Medical,
MIT

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