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Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) today introduced two new 1D barcode readers to its DataMan® line of industrial ID readers. The DataMan 100 QL and DataMan 200 QL fixed-mount readers offer best-in-class 1D barcode reading performance. The new readers offer the additional benefit of being easily field-upgraded to add 2D Data Matrix and QR code reading capability if application needs change at a future date.
“For roughly the same price as a laser scanner, users can get much more reliable code reading performance,” said Carl Gerst, Director of ID Products at Cognex. “The DataMan QL Series easily reads codes that laser barcode scanners fail to read, such as marks that are low contrast, damaged, or distorted by severe perspective. And even more important, the DataMan QL is future proof. A simple software upgrade enables users to read 2D Data Matrix codes as well as 1D barcodes.”
The DataMan QL Series features Cognex 1DMax™, a totally new 1D code reading algorithm which sets a new standard for 1D code reading performance. In addition to reading blurred or damaged codes, 1DMax successfully handles quiet zone violations that can occur when codes are printed close to the edge of a label. DataMan QL readers are very easy to deploy in any environment using the system’s Setup Tool. The Setup Tool also includes an image archiving feature which enables users to store images of read failures and download them to a PC in order to diagnose the root cause of a problem.

New DataMan 3.5 Software Release
Cognex has also released a new version of its DataMan Software. The new DataMan 3.5 Software adds 1DMax for best-in-class 1D barcode reading, leverages a new industrial USB driver for indestructible USB connections, and adds Ethernet/IP with Add-On-Profile support for DataMan 200 models. Cognex has also improved the IDQuick™ Data Matrix reading algorithm for consistent high speed reading of well printed codes, simple DPM codes and codes with smaller defects.

The DataMan 100 QL and 200 QL are available now.

Schönberg, Germany, March 2010
Nutrichem, a medium-sized company in the food industry with a domestic and international customer base, has been developing, producing, and packaging specialised dietary products for over 30 years. Production is primarily concentrated on liquids and powders.

Nutrichem and their specialised products demand the highest quality standards at every stage in the production process. High-performance, state-of-the-art production facilities help to guarantee the highest quality product. Forward planning, development and production, as well as attention to fault prevention are essential elements of Nutrichem’s quality policy. This attention to detail covers everything from product formulation and raw material selection and involves meticulous inspection at every stage of the operation. Nutrichem comply with all directives for medicinal products, GMP rules, and milk production and are an ISO 9001 certified company.

To satisfy the requirements of their quality management systems, Nutrichem already uses magnets and conventional metal detectors. In the search for the optimum technological solution for the inspection of products in aluminium foil packaging Nutrichem decided to install two RAYCON product inspection systems from S+S, with the ability to detect contaminants and other quality defects.

RAYCON product inspection systems utlise X-ray technology and are used for final inspection of packaged products. Aluminium packaging and metallised films are no problem for X-ray scanners. Even misaligned or misplaced products will not result in errors and with the S+S unit it is also possible to inspect two parallel product lines simultaneously. For rejection of out of specification product a pusher is used for cartons and a reject flap for bags.

RAYCON product inspection systems guarantee optimal image processing at a very high throughput rate of up to 600 products per minute. Operating with a low X-ray power of only 50 KeV, RAYCON is certified for food and food ingredients in compliance with EC directive 1999/2/EC, and requires no special installation provisions.

Lantech IPES-2208F-67 is a 8 10/100 Base-TX + 2 100FX Managed Industrial Switch with 8 PoE injectors. The full SNMP management features are including QoS for 4 queues, 801.q VLAN, IGMP snooping and query mode as well as SNTP and SMTP.

Equipped with DC 48V redundant input power, Lantech IPES-2208F-67 is able to feed each PoE port up to 15.4Watts with IEEE 802.3af PoE standard. It also supports relay contact to connect with alarm system, which can immediately notify of power failure and/or port down events. In case of events, Lantech IPES-2208F-67 will immediately send an email to pre-defined addresses and send trap to stations.

Lantech IPES-2208F-67 supports our Pro-Ring system including X-Ring, which is able to find an auto-recovery-path within 10ms up to 250 Lantech Industrial Switches and Dual-Homing feature ensures two X-Ring groups with redundant back up when connected to a backbone switch. Pro-Ring also provides Couple Ring, which is to ensure network recovery protection between two X-Ring groups. Furthermore, it can set back-up masters in X-Ring to ensure the most secure network.

IPES-2208F-67 is designed to meet with critical network environment with IP67 enclosure and M12 connectors for protection against immersion in water. It passed several tests under extensive Industrial EMI and Safety standards. Besides 1.2KVA Hi-Pot abnormal test, it also passed stability testing such as Free fall, Shock, and Vibration. For more usage flexibilities, IPES-2208F-67 supports wide operating temperature from -40°C to 75°C.
Lantech IPES-2208F-67 is the best to be used in any critical industrial environment where needs PoE functionality.

VISIT us at Hannover Messe and register:
http://www.hannovermesse.de/ticketregistration?Rxr3u4yf8x4b3y

Less than one week ago, Zillow launched Zillow on iPad, a brand-new photo-driven home shopping experience built specifically for the iPad’s interactive multi-touch canvas. We think it’s pretty sweet, and a few other people do too, including Steve Jobs.

Today, on stage at the OS4 demo event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA, Steve Jobs showed off what he thought were some stellar iPad apps and Zillow was among them. Getting featured by the Apple CEO about our latest mobile baby just makes our day, so thanks for the props, Steve Jobs!

Here’s a video of the presentation; Zillow is mentioned at 5:00.

Want to see how Zillow on iPad works? Check out the demo video, or go see Zillow’s other mobile apps.

Filed under: Technology, Ford

Sure, you can install an iPad in your instrument panel if that’s your thing, but what if you want to keep it mobile and use the system you already paid to have in your car? In that case, Ford‘s SYNC won’t let you down, a fact that is anything other than surprising. Pairing an iPad through SYNC with Bluetooth audio, you can get your Pandora on behind the wheel. You can’t do voice commands yet, but that’s coming, as you’ll hear repeatedly in the video after the jump. Now about that mobile WiFi…

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Does Apple’s new iPad jibe with Ford’s SYNC?

Video: Does Apple’s new iPad jibe with Ford’s SYNC? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bruce Beresford-Redman is a successful reality TV show producer, and his wife, Monica, owned a popular Brazilian nightclub and restaurant on the Westside.

Over the weekend, the couple left Los Angeles for a trip to Cancun. Family members said they were trying to repair a marriage that had been fraying in recent months.

Then on Tuesday, Beresford-Redman reported his wife missing. He and Mexican authorities launched a search. On Wednesday night, he was optimistic in an interview with a Los Angeles television station. "I’m very hopeful someone will find my wife very soon,” he told KCAL-TV Channel 9. “She still hasn’t been located and we’re looking.”

On Thursday, police found her body in a sewer at the resort where they were staying. Mexican prosecutors said she appeared to have been strangled.

Beresford-Redman has been detained for questioning and is a suspect, authorities say.

Beresford-Redman, who grew up in New Jersey, found a great deal of success in reality TV in recent years.

He worked closely with Mark Burnett, the executive producer behind CBS’ hit "Survivor." Beresford-Redman helped produce the fourth season of the series, set in the Marquesas Islands, which premiered in 2002. For season 6, "Survivor: Amazon," he was promoted to a supervising producer, a senior role charged with overseeing a show’s creative direction and the work of lower-ranking producers. He performed the same task for an all-stars edition of "Survivor" in 2004.

With longtime friend Rick Hurvitz, Beresford-Redman went on to create "Pimp My Ride," a reality hit about car restoration that ran on MTV from 2004-07. The show was broadcast in more than 100 countries and at one time was the network’s highest-rated show internationally.

In 2007, Beresford-Redman and Hurvitz were selected to develop and produce unscripted TV shows for IMG Entertainment, a division of the sports and media conglomerate. More recently, they formed a production company called Mindcrime, which developed a stunt-driving show for ABC called "Crash Course." [Update, 3:54 p.m. The show aired four times] However, the series never aired.

Burnett’s office referred calls Thursday to CBS, which declined to comment. [Update, 3:54 p.m.: MTV declined to comment]. An MTV representative could not be reached for comment.

Monica Beresford-Redman is  the owner of Zabumba Bar & Restaurant on Venice Boulevard in Palms. The restaurant is known for serving Brazilian specialties like tri-tip steak and for hosting lively salsa, reggae and bossa nova nights.

–Kate Linthicum, Jeff Gottlieb and Scott Collins in Los Angeles, Ceclia Sanchez in Mexico City

Photo: Family photo

by Jonathan Hiskes

The American pet-food
industry spends more on research and development each year than the American
utility industry does, according to a mind-blowing line in Thomas Friedman’s Hot, Flat,
and Crowded. In most competitive industries, companies spend perhaps 8
to 10 percent of total revenues on R&D. Utilities, which don’t have to
compete with each other, spend a dismal 0.15 percent, writes Friedman.

So I think any sensible
experiments by utilities are worth applauding, including this one from the public
utility Seattle City Light:
The utility plans to use two historic company towns in the North Cascades in Washington state as a testing ground for
a handful of home energy-efficiency technologies.

Newhalem and Diablo, near
the Canadian border and the edge of North Cascades National Park, will
get high-efficiency heat pumps, lighting fixtures, water heaters, and
insulation. The utility intends to measure how effective such technologies are
when residents use them. It’s going to renovate 34 homes and up to 24
commercial buildings over the next several years, spending $700,000 on the
first phase. The utility built the
towns in the 1920s to house workers for its series
of dams on the Skagit River.

The improvements are
expected to save a good bit of electricity (2.5 million kilowatt-hours per
year), but the point is to learn how to scale up the best technologies to more
consumers. The ultimate goal, of course, is for these money-saving efficiency measures
to stop being “news” and become normal practices.

Related Links:

Nuclear arms reduction is better than nuclear warfare

Revkin wants to talk ‘energy quest’ not ‘climate crisis’

Major economies to hold climate talks in U.S. this month

This story has a happy ending, but its still somewhat baffling. Reader S. recently flew JetBlue with his wife and three small children. They had 4 tickets and 3 bags to check. JetBlue allows one checked bag per ticket. So, there should be no fees, right? Here’s where it gets complicated: S’s wife went through security with the children while he checked the bags. The agent said that despite the fact that he was traveling in a party of 4, the baggage agent had to personally see the family, toddler and all, or S. had to pay $105 in extra fees.

Here’s his story:

I recently had an odd problem flying JetBlue out of Boston and a complaint letter got the $105 fee refunded. In summary, I was flying to Florida with my wife and two small children. Between us we had 3 checked bags. I went to the bag dropoff to check the bags while my wife took the kids. I was hoping to avoid 2 cranky children at 6am in an airport.

However after getting to the bag drop the JetBlue agent stated the TSA requires everyone checking a bag to be physically present. So they needed to see my 2 yr old and presumably ask her if she was carrying any explosives. My other option was to state that I packed all 3 bags (which I actually did) and to charge my ticket for all 3 bags at a cost of an extra $105 bucks.

I was irritated that they were still charging me the a 2nd and 3rd checked bag fee but my party of 4 only had 3 bags. I sent letter to their customer service did get them to refund the fee but this may be a nice warning to others.

Letter sent to JetBlue Customer Service:

On my flight to Orlando I was traveling with my wife and two small children. We obtained our boarding passes online the day prior to our trip.

Our family was checking 3 bags one for the adults and each child had their own suitcase.

Upon arrival there was very long line at the bag drop and a decent line at the security checkpoint. So as not to have two cranky children at 6AM I sent my my wife/kids through the long security line and I would take the bags to the bag drop station.

When I finally got to the counter I was informed that this was not allowed. The person who owned the bag had to be present when dropping the bags off.

Personally it seems a little silly that the TSA cares about seeing a 2 yr old present but that is another issue. Since I was the only person present the Jetblue agent allowed me to check all 3 bags under my name.

Since I packed all 3 bags this wasn’t an invalid statement. However the agent required a $105 dollar fee for the 2nd and 3rd checked bag. As my family was already on the other side of security, and it is illegal to leave unattended baggage at the airport, I had no way of calling back my children to see your agent.

Now I am not asking you to try to change/circumvent the official TSA policy, however I think charging the 2nd and 3rd checked bag fee for a party of 4 that is only traveling with 3 bags is unwarranted. However the additional baggage fees are something that JetBlue can control. Certainly It may have been my mistake but I am disappointed that there was no way offered to correct the mistake. I would kindly request that these fees be refunded if possible.

Coincidentally our return trip from Orlando was also booked through JetBlue. On this trip we stayed at a Disney resort. You have arrangements with Disney to allow us to check into the flight while we are still at the hotel and check our bags there. The check-in agent there specifically stated that only one member of each party had to be present to check the bags for the flight. I had no problem checking all 4 bags for our return flight without incurring any additional fees.

S. included JetBlue’s response, which was an email announcing a full refund. Something to watch out for if you’re traveling with kids.

Thank you for contacting JetBlue Airways regarding your travel between Boston and Orlando.

We have extended the courtesy of refunding the $105 that was paid for additional baggage, to your credit card. Please allow the processing time required by your credit card company for the funds to appear available.

Thank you for your support of JetBlue. We wish you and your family our very best.

Sincerely,

Michael
Customer Commitment Crew
JetBlue Airways

Greetings !

The Economic Development Department at the Downtown Phoenix Partnership wants to get the word out about the good news from the neighborhood.  While the country endures continued economic uncertainty, Downtown is still growing with more success right around the corner. Downtown has seen an influx of coffee shops in recent months and the 200,000-square-foot retail portion of CityScape is set for a rolling open this summer and fall.

Downtown Phoenix’s restaurants and bars have some positive news, reporting a 16% increase in revenue in the last quarter of 2009 when compared with the same period of 2008. This is in contrast to the -7.6% drop in restaurant and bar revenues citywide over the same period. The 4th Quarter of 2009 also represented the 1-year anniversary of the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix and hotel & motel receipts are up 25% when compared with 4Q 2008 numbers. Keep in mind the Sheraton opened in 2008 with some of the highest booking numbers in the history of the industry and the continued growth is a testament to the success of the Phoenix Convention Center in drawing visitors Downtown.

We will be checking in regularly to give you the latest updates on Downtown Phoenix economic development. For more information, we invite you to visit the Business Development portion of the Downtown Phoenix Web site here. If you are interested in receiving Dateline Downtown Phoenix, our monthly economic development newsletter, you can sign up here.

Thanks!

JVC has announced a new addition to its ProHD line of camcorders and will be showing it off at the forthcoming NAB 2010 show in Las Vegas. Capable of shooting in high definition 1080p, the GY-HM790 ships with a 14x Canon HD lens, records to SDHC via dual slots and benefits from a host of modular possibilities…

Tags: camcorder,
High Definition,
JVC,
Video Camera

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• Canon announces new Hybrid Image Stablization technology
• Tough new compact among Panasonic’s 2009 camcorder offerings

Between their irritating ads and misleading name, FreeCreditReport.com has been a target of Consumerist’s derision for years. And now the “service,” which was never free to begin with, will actually cost you a dollar to use.

Now, when you go the site’s homepage you’re told, “Check your Report for $1 and get your Score Free! Plus, we’ll donate your dollar to charity.”

Aside from the Random CapitalizatioN in the first sentence, it doesn’t explain why they’re charging $1 for something you can get for free elsewhere. So in addition to signing up (perhaps unwittingly) for a 7-day free trial of Experian’s credit monitoring service that will cost you $14.95/month if you don’t cancel, you’ve now donated $1 to an unnamed charity.

And it gets better — that $1 donation isn’t actually a donation, at least not from you.
Explains the FAQ at FreeCreditReport:

The $1 fee that you’re charged to see your report is an actual fee and not itself a donation. We are taking the fee and as a gesture of goodwill, donating to charitable causes on your behalf. Because of this, no receipt is provided for tax purposes. Also, because it’s a fee we have to charge applicable sales taxes.

So… You have to pay a $1 fee, and possibly sales tax, that Experian then gets to write off on their own books as a charitable donation?

What a bargain!

I’m going to leave it to our kith and kin at Consumer Reports to have the last word:

You probably don’t need credit monitoring if you order the truly free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. Ordering one report from each of the three credit bureaus every 4 months should give you enough information without the need for a credit monitoring service’s monthly fees.

“Free” credit report now costs $1 [Consumer Reports]

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, Land Rover, Diesel, Luxury

It’s no secret that in recent years Land Rover has been itching to reduce the mass of its products. Even before Ford sold the brand to Tata it had been working on a variety of lighter weight concepts. It looks like the next generation Range Rover will be the first benefactor of those efforts when it debuts in 2012.

The new flagship SUV is expected to cast a similar shadow to the current model, but the roof won’t be nearly as tall. This should significantly reduce the frontal area and create less overall aerodynamic drag. Mass will be reduced by using a riveted aluminum chassis with the same type of construction as the Jaguar XJ. Land Rover is apparently targeting a cut of 450 kilograms (992 pounds), with composite materials in the body panels helping to achieve that goal.

The 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 now available in the Jaguar XF and XJ should bring CO2 emissions down from the the current 300+ grams / kilometer to under 200 g/km along with fuel economy of 33 mpg (U.S.) A diesel-hybrid is also expected in the lineup a couple of years after launch.

[Source: Autocar]

Report: Next Range Rover detailed, huge weight loss, 33 mpg! originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Democrat Ned Lamont is finally going up on the air with his first television commercial – which will start airing around the state on Friday.

The commercial begins by reminding voters that Lamont battled U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in the 2006 primary and then segues into Lamont’s business career that began with his founding of a company called Lamont Television Systems. The operation has changed names through the years and is now known as Lamont Digital.

“I’m a business guy,” Lamont says in the 60-second commercial. “I know that it’s business people that create jobs.”

The ad is at http://www.nedlamont.com/media?id=9
 
Lamont has been leading former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in the past three Quinnipiac University polls in the Democratic race for governor. Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, and former state Rep. Juan Figueroa of Meriden are trailing the two front-runners in the poll.

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), still riding high from a successful iPad launch, added another feather in to its cap today. By far the biggest consumer-facing new feature in the latest iteration of iPhone OS 4.0 is multi-tasking, but the game-changer is iAd, a mobile advertising platform that could result in bigger revenue streams to support developers and publishers that build applications for the iPhone, iPod or iPad. More below on how iAd will work.

On stage at today’s unveiling, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs was chipper and eager to poke fun at a bevy of companies from Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) to Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG). “We weren’t the first to this [multi-tasking], but we will be the best,” he said. About iAd, he declared: “We think most of the mobile advertising really sucks…We thought we might be able to make some contributions.”

For the first time since Jobs returned from sick leave, he took questions from the audience at a press event—and eagerly answered them. At one point, he took a swipe at the way other handset-makers handle multi-tasking. The iPhone will not have a task manager, where you can kill apps that are draining too much of the phone’s resources. Jobs: “The user doesn’t have to worry about it all. If you see a stylus, they blew it. If you see a task manager, they blew it. Users should never have to think about that stuff.”

He also spoke directly about Google’s acquisition of AdMob. “Google came in and snatched them from us. We bought a much smaller, but good company Quattro,” he said. With iAd, Apple directly targets Google. Jobs said people aren’t searching on their phone, which is how Google primarily sees ad revenue coming in in mobile—they are, instead, using apps. He thinks user behavior is different on the phone vs. the PC because the 185,000 apps currently available on the iPhone “get you into every corner of the internet…They don’t exist on PCs. This is a new phenomenon that is occurring on the iPhone for the first time in history.” Note: Jobs may be underplaying search’s relevance on mobile phones: Google often talks about the significant volume of searches that are done on the iPhone.

The prime difference between iAd and other mobile ad networks is that iAd is built into the OS. “We have figured out how to do interactivity and video content without ever taking you out of the app,” Jobs said. “People will be a lot more interested in clicking on these because they don’t have to find their way back to the app.” Apple will sell and host the ads, and developers will get a 60 percent split. (Apple did not mention whether it, like Google, will share any of the revenues with carriers.) Apple provided a couple of advertising examples, in which an advertisement is almost like a mini-app that opens when a user clicks on a banner. In a mock-up for Toy Story, Jobs shows how a user could watch a trailer, download wallpapers, play a free game, or buy a game.

He calculates that by summertime, the iPhone will be generating one billion ad impressions a day. On average, he said an iPhone user spends 30 minutes a day in applications. If they serve one ad every three minutes, and there’s 100 million iPhone and iTouches as of this summer, there will be one billion ad impressions a day. “It’s not the largest number but it’s a large number, and the demographics are one of the most desirable in all of advertising—not just in digital.”

The iPhone OS 4.0 is being released today to developers, so they can start integrating the features into their apps, but won’t be available to the public until summer. Only iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (third generation) owners will be able to multi-task, although iPhone 3G or iPod touch (second generation) will be able to upgrade to OS 4.0. The iPad will get the OS update this fall.

Related

• The Highlights Of iPhone OS 4.0: Multi-tasking, A New Mobile Ad Network, More
• The Latest iPad And iPhone Stats
• Five Things We’ll Be Watching For At Apple’s iPhone Announcement

A coalition of national and regional Tea Party groups has announced the formation of the National Tea Party Federation (NTPF). Its proclaimed goal is to send a unified message and media response on behalf of key leaders and its affiliates.

The NTPF will also act to promote the Tea Party movement’s objectives of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets, its founders have stated.

"The combination of the Tea Party leadership and a strong network of alliances brings together activists with the resources to get our message out while coordinating across many groups," said Mark A. Skoda of the Memphis Tea Party.

His counterpart from Richmond, Jamie Radtke, added that the new federation understands "the importance of standing together while enhancing the ability to frame the discussion and realize gains amongst this approach to collaboration."

Among the founding members of the National Tea Party Federation are the American Grassroots Coalition, the Tea Party Express and the organization called DC Works for US. Meanwhile, its broader alliance includes Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks and the Institute of Liberty.

Hey, kids. You know that myTouch Slide that’s all the rumor rage these days? There’s a good chance that it just showed up at the FCC, sporting T-Mobile’s radio bands. It’s a little odd that we actually get a pic of it at this point in the game, but we’re not going to be picky about that. When and for how much are still anybody’s guess. [FCC via Engadget]

Kerosene can be nasty stuff. Kerosene lanterns in particular can lead to fires, explosions, asphyxiation, and toxic fumes. In some of the world’s poorest regions, unfortunately, kerosene lanterns are the standard form of nighttime lighting. The folks over at England’s Plus Minus Solar tell us that every 20 seconds, someone is killed by such a device. That’s why Plus Minus has developed a solar-powered light called the Solar Pebble, that is targeted for humanitarian use in sub-Saharan Africa… or for patio use in suburban London…

Tags: LED,
Lighting,
Solar

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Before you assume that we are talking about KGB, the Russian Security Agency, the KGB we are talking about is a service which provides answers to your queries for $0.99.

Ken Hess form DaniWeb, asked KGB the question, “Which Linux distribution is the best for new users?”

The answer KGB gave is very interesting. This is the exact reply he got:

“The best one is the one that works best for you. Try something easy like Ubuntu or Fedora. Try different Distros. After all, Linux is free.”

Of course, the first, third and fourth sentences are nothing interesting and are what you would expect from just about anyone. What is interesting is the second sentence – “Try something easy like Ubuntu or Fedora”.

Ubuntu and Fedora are like completely opposite to each other. While Ubuntu focuses on stability, Fedora tries to stay at the bleeding edge of technology and implements countless many new technologies. This often results in various problem in Fedora. Of course Ubuntu is not without problems too. Because of its focus on stability, new technologies generally takes longer to come to Ubuntu. This might be frustating for power users but for newbies, in my opinion, Fedora is not a very good option.

What do you think is the best Linux for beginners? Let us know through the comments.

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• Ubuntu Claims 12 Million Users Even Before Lucid Lynx, But on What Basis?
• Installing KDE 4.4 in Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora And ArchLinux
• Get Opera 10 For Ubuntu [Linux]
• New Features added to Fedora 13
• Lucid Lynx includes manual for Beginners

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Niagara Falls Spanish Aerocar

Gliding over the Niagara Falls whirlpool since 1916

Visitors to Niagara Falls have the unusual opportunity to travel over the treacherous depths in a vintage 1913 “Aerocar” which, despite looking slightly terrifying, claims a perfect safety record.
The Aerocar was designed by Spanish engineer and inventor Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, who, in addition to other cable trams, also developed the first form of radio control unit, a famous chess playing automaton, non-rigid airships that were used by the French in WWI, and what may be the first mechanical computer (now on display at the Technical University of Madrid). He was also a vigorous supporter and user of the Esperanto. The son of a railway engineer, he built his first cable tram in Spain in 1887, the log seat was pulled by cows over a span of some 200 feet.
The Niagara Aerocar is a somewhat more sophisticated design. Suspended on six interlocking steel cables for safety, and powered by a small motor, the Aerocar holds 35 passengers for a 10 round-minute trip over the Niagara whirlpool. The whirlpool itself is a basin 1700 feet by 1200 feet, where the rushing waters create a counterclockwise vortex around the pool.
The tramway crossing over the whirlpool was the idea of J. Enoch Thompson (for whom the tram departure spot “Thompson Point” is named), a Niagara local, and it was designed and built by the all-Spanish team of the The Niagara Spanish Aerocar Co. Limited. The tram opened for service in 1916, spanning 1800 feet and riding at a height of 250 feet over the water at each end of the cables, with a low of 150 feet in the center.
Niagara Falls has long been associated with daredevil stunts of varying levels of bravery of lunacy. In the summer of 1975, a French high wire artist named Henri Rechatin arrived in the predawn hours with his wife, a specially modified motorcycle, and a moto-cross driver with no previous high-wire experience. At 6:30 am they set out across the Aerocar cable, Henri balanced above, his wife Janyck hanging below by her feet. When the wind picked up, Henri walked the final 15 feet to the northern terminal, pulled the motorcycle in, and waited in the Aerocar for the operator to arrive. The three were arrested, but never charged. Rechatin returned for other nearby high wire stunts in 1976, but stayed over land instead of the falls. His repeated requests for and encore performance were refused by the Niagara Commission.
That the separate 4 passenger rescue car has only ever been used in training is a testament to the remarkable safety record of the Aerocar, and the integrity of the turn of the century design. It has been in continuous operation since the opening in 1916 (except for occasional maintenance periods) and is the only tram like it in the world.

Read more about Niagara Falls Spanish Aerocar on Atlas Obscura…

Category: Retro-Tech
Location:
Edited by: Annetta

It would appear that Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg is in a bit of denial. While it’s true that there are many different ways to rank broadband by country — and pretty much all of them are flawed — in general the US tends to rank about 15th on a variety of different studies. But Seidenberg is hearing none of that. When asked about it, he insists that the US is clearly number one in broadband and that it’s “not even close.” Though, as you read the details, he sort of switches back and forth between wireless and wireline — and in wireless, it’s at least a little trickier. But, no matter what, the “not even close” statement is not even close to reality.

What may be even bigger, though, was Seidenberg’s separate claim that the company is going to throttle video users:

But when we now go after the very, very high users, the ones who camp on the network all day long every day doing things that — who knows what they’re doing — those are the —

MURRAY: It’s video, right? I mean, it’s video.

SEIDENBERG: But those are the people we will throttle and we will find them and we will charge them something else.

Now that’s a pretty questionable statement. Just as the government is having a big showdown over net neutrality, to have the CEO of one of the main telcos saying he’s planning to throttle video users — something that Verizon lobbyists have been saying would never happen — seems like a potentially damaging slip up.

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