Blog

Google has a lot of work ahead of it trying to convince more users to switch to its fledgling web browser Chrome. The browser is definitely a lot more polished and feature-rich than it was a year ago and its user numbers are growing at a healthy pace according to Google. But there is another crowd which the company has to win over, a significantly smaller but very important one, web developers. Without support from the web development community it
will be a lot harder for the browser to reach a wider audience so Google is working on giving developers reasons to use Chrome as well by offering a set of Developer Tools, to make their life easier.

“First, our tools benefited from improvements that the WebKit team made to Web Inspector (our developer tools are partially based on Web Inspector). Second, from our end, we recently released the heap profiler and the timeline tab in Google Chrome’s Developer Channel,” Pavel Feldman, software engineer, and Anders Sandholm, product manager at Google, write about the updates to the dev tools.

The first new tool, the heap profiler, allows developers to take a ‘snapshot’ of the JavaScript heap at any point in time. This can be useful for tracking memory usage over time or with different code and should come in handy for the more… (read more)

In theory, government stimulus is supposed to rev the economy up. You pull on the string with the hand of Uncle Sam a few times, you watch it whirr to life, and then let go, and watch the economy go on its merry way. Or something like that.

But it appears that’s not the reality of what’s happening. Instead we’re getting the sugar rush version of the stimulus. The economy is tired. Uncle Sam feeds it some sugar. It goes gaga running around the house, and then it crashes.

WSJ: Tim Word, vice president of Dean Word Co., a heavy-construction company in New Braunfels, Texas, said his income is now coming mostly from projects that are winding up. He said that in normal times he has about $100 million of signed contracts in hand. But that number has fallen to $30 million, and the pipeline is empty. In the past two years, his work force has shrunk nearly 40% to 260 from 420.

“Having something to bid on is the lifeblood of the industry, and it’s running out,” said Mr. Word. He isn’t sure what will happen next year without new projects. “There’s no pavement fairy that’s going to help.”

The good news for folks like Tim Word and his employees is, ironically, high unemployment!

Earlier this year the Obama administration was opposed to pushing a big highway bill, deterred in part by the prospect of raising gasoline taxes to pay for it. Faced with a 10.2% jobless rate, however, officials here are rethinking their stance. Thursday, the White House will hold a “jobs summit” to discuss ideas, which are likely to include shifting some spending to transportation projects.

Without an infusion of federal funding, state transportation departments say they can’t develop long-term roadway projects, which are critical to the industry. About half of states’ funding for such projects comes from the federal highway trust fund, which is funded by the gasoline tax.

Basically, there’s still to “pavement fairy” but there is another sugar hit coming.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Recovery.gov Says Nonexistent Congressional District Got Jobs From Stimulus
• The Second Stimulus Is Now A Done Deal
• 10%+ Unemployment Through 2015, Says Mish

Whether we’re craving a handful of gingersnaps or just want to perk up a lemon-whiskey toddy, ginger is our spice of choice when the weather turns chilly outside. It’s spicy-sweet flavor refreshes us after a long day and warms us to our toes! What’s your favorite way to use ginger this time of year?

Read Full Post

As commodities continue to soar, gold is starting to show its golden halos, as believers in the metal fan out to see what else is out there.

While it may not act as “government insurance” in the same way, gold fans are drawn to uranium for similar reasons.

The latest Casey Research letter explains:

As gold pushes US$1,170 and potentially even higher over the next few months, many investors have turned their attention towards the metal. At the energy department, however, we are more focused on the other yellow metal, the one that has been forgotten by the mainstream media and languishing since its bull market of 2007/2008. Currently, companies looking for this metal are still trading at lows and the sector has never really recovered since the drop in late 2008.

I’m talking about uranium – the metal used to power nuclear reactors across the world. From the period of 2005 to mid-2007, the price of uranium went from US$20 to a high of almost US$140 per pound, a shocking 700% increase.

What are some factors potentially pushing it higher, if not the weak USD?

So, why do we like uranium? Several reasons:

1. The world must go nuclear – Nuclear has been an unpopular option for the world ever since the Three Mile Island incident in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986. However, as the world looks to cut back carbon emissions, even former opponents of nuclear are beginning to embrace it as a lesser evil. Consider the words from the co-founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore: “Nuclear energy is a key technology for the future and [there] should be a resurgence of this technology happening now.”
2. The ending of the HEU Agreement between the U.S. and Russia in 2013 – The HEU Agreement between the U.S. and Russia, also dubbed the Megatons-to-Megawatts program, converted Russian nuclear warheads to useable fuel for American nuclear reactors. This has supplied a large percentage of the American uranium needs for the past decade. The program is ending in 2013, and the uranium to replace this source will need to come from somewhere else.
3. The China factor – China currently generates about 3% of its energy from nuclear. If it reaches the regional average of 25%, it will need 8 times more reactors than it has now, putting further pressure on global uranium stocks.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Uranium Demand Could Outstrip Supply For Three Years Straight (CCJ)
• Bill Clinton Travelling The World On His Uranium Pal’s Private Jet
• Bill Clinton Linked To Uranium Scandal (UUU)

Back in September, reader Theresa showed us her DIY over-the-door pot rack. We decided to make a similar version in our own kitchen, and while our pots are nowhere near as nice and shiny as Theresa’s and our rack is slightly crooked at the moment, it’s already made a big space-saving difference.

Read Full Post

Morgan Stanley’s head of European research Teun Draaisma is out with a market outlook for 2010, and it’s not pretty.

After an easy 2009, characterized by a sharp rebound in expectations and a river of cheap money, 2010 will be a slog.

For one thing, you can expect tighter monetary policy in the very near future, along with other cycles that bode ill for stocks.

See how it’s going to go down here >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Five Reasons A Sell-Off Is Coming
• Rosenberg: This Isn’t A Recession, It’s A Depression
• Goldman: This Is What A Sub-Par Recovery Looks Like

December is just beginning and we’re already starting to get flooded with round-ups, tops, and the likes, all trying to sum up 2009 in a nice orderly and succinct fashion. Bing came out with its top searches of 2009 yesterday, and now Yahoo is doing the same. Normally, you’d expect some differences but for the most part things should look pretty much the same, right? Wrong, as it turns out, apart from the top search topic which was Michael Jackson on both search engines, the top 10 is completely different with not one search term shared between the two.

The top, and the major differences between the Bing one, paints a very clear picture of the ones using Yahoo Search, currently the number two search engine in the world by market share. All searches are very much media-related and many are for celebrities. This can be easily explained by the audiences of the two search engines. Bing is more popular with the tech-savvy crowd while Yahoo is more appealing to the mainstream.

[tablec][row][col]Top 10 Overall Searches for 2009

1. Michael Jackson
2. Twilight
3. WWE
4. Megan Fox
5. Britney Spears
6. Naruto
7. American Idol
8. Kim Kardashian
9. NASCAR
10. Runescape
[/col][col] – [/col][col] Top 10 Mobile Searches for 2009

… (read more)

Here we go again. Look at the move in gold today.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• John Paulson Hoarding More Gold Than Several Countries Combined
• Got Balls And A Gold Fetish? Head To Afghanistan, And Start Smuggling To Iran (GLD)
• Rosenberg: Gold Will Take A Breather, Before Surging To $3,000

Gource – Software Version Control Visualization [code.google.com] is a tool that represents the evolution over time of a software’s version control. The file structure behind common software projects are displayed as an animated tree using a force-directed layout. The root directory of the project at its center. Directories appear as branches with files as leaves. The names of individual developers can be seen working on the tree with the exact times they contributed to the project.

Examples include Website Traffic, Fotowall, MPlayer CE and Fiji

You can watch a best-of selection of the visualization tool in action below.

See also Software Development Bloom, SchemaBall, Code Profiles, Linux Kernel Graph, History of Programming Languages, Computer Virus Visualization, Malwarez Cyber Threats and Code Swarm and Virus and Spam Visualization. Thnkx Andrew.

Last year, there were early reports that ISP Virgin Media in the UK would become a copyright cop for the entertainment industry and start kicking file sharers offline if they were accused of infringement. While Virgin later denied this, the company did send letters threatening to kick users offline anyway. And, now, reports are coming out that Virgin Media is starting to use controversial deep packet inspection technology to spy on users to see if they’re sharing any copyrighted works. As the article notes: “It’s the equivalent of the Royal Mail opening every parcel to see if there’s a CD inside, and making a note if there isn’t a receipt in there too.”

While this is just a test, and the information is being aggregated in a supposedly anonymous way just to judge the extent of the problem, there are a bunch of issues with such claims. First, there is no such thing as an anonomyzed dataset. Second, there are some pretty serious privacy questions raised by this. In the US, the use of Deep Packet Inspection for looking at what users do has been frowned upon, but in the UK it’s been deemed not so bad by the legal system (however, the wider EU doesn’t agree with the UK on this position). No matter how you look at it, it does seem quite extreme for your ISP to carefully look at everything you do online. In the end, of course, this will only serve to drive up the demand for encryption technology.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

IES-3073GC is one of the latest models of ORing’s Fiber Ethernet managed combo switch products. The device is an industrial 10-port managed Ethernet switch features 7 x 10/100Base T(X) ports and 3 x Gigabit combo SFP ports.

IES-3073GC supports Ethernet redundancy protocol O-Ring, O-Ring is ORing’s proprietary redundant ring technology, which enables less than 10ms recovery time over 250 units of connection, hence it can protect your mission-critical applications from network interruptions or temporary malfunctions with its fast recovery time. In addition, the devices also support Open-Ring technology. Open-Ring is an enhanced redundancy technology that makes ORing’s switches compatible with any proprietary redundant ring technologies from other vendors, and failed switches can be replaced by ORing switches with fast recovery time.

Being a qualified industrial grade networking devices, IES-3073GC equipped with rigid IP-30 housing design and can operate under harsh environment. From -40 to 70°C wide operating temperature range enables the device to operate smoothly in various harsh environments, thus IES-3073GC can satisfy all your requirements and are suitable for various kinds of applications.

As for more advanced feature, IES-3073GC supports new DDM (Digital Diagnostic Monitoring) function, which can monitor instantly the status of electronic voltage, current and temperature. The redundant DC power inputs guarantee a non-stop operation. The backup power input will take over immediately when the primary DC power input fails.

IES-3073GC can be used in connecting several Ethernet devices such as Ethernet I/O, IP-camera, Ethernet switches … etc. It is also worth noticing that IES-3073GC equipped with three SFP ports.

Key Features :
•World’s fastest Redundant Ethernet Ring : O-Ring (recovery time < 10ms over 250 units of connection) •Open-Ring support the other vendor's ring technology in open architecture •Supports 5 LAN ports 10/100Base-T(X) •SNMP v1/v2c/v3 ,http server, telnet server support •Web-based interface,telnet server and Windows utility (Open-Vision) configuration •Very wide operating temperature range from -40 to 70°C •Warning system by relay output •Provide Web / Windows Utility / DIP-Switch function to set Ring •Rigid IP-30 housing design •DIN-Rail and panel mounting enabled •Supports DDM ( Digital Diagnostic Monitoring ) function

Ovoid style gearbox design uses combined spur and planetary gear stages in advanced ultra polymers for increased application power and/or miniaturisation.
Rotalink has combined spur and planetary gear stages within the industry standard ovoid gearbox for a potential output torque increase of at least 400%. The new gearboxes, available in three model sizes, are the result of an intensive and ongoing design initiative carried out by the Crewkerne based manufacturer that takes its lead from advances in ultra polymer materials technology and production techniques, and offers further benefits of higher power-to-weight ratio, reduced installation volume and quieter operation.
All three new gearboxes will enable higher torque or reduced gearbox size for existing customer applications and pave the way for next generation miniature transmission systems across all industries.
The new Rotalink gearboxes are the 330 – a form-fit mounting replacement for the conventional ‘standard’ industrial ovoid gearbox with a vastly improved 13 Nm peak holding torque; the 360 – a slightly larger model with a massive 28 Nm peak torque in gearbox case that measures just 95 mm x 60 mm x 31.5 mm deep and the 310 Rotalink’s smallest ovoid design which mounts within a volume of just 45 mm x 29 mm x 20 mm deep but boasts a 2.6 Nm holding torque for a 10000 hour life.
A wide range of ratios are available, typically from 24:1 to 3200:1 depending upon the model size with maximum output speeds between 300 to 400 rpm. All include a zinc plated pressed steel gearbox case and cover with 4-point mounting for maximum durability.
All gearboxes interface with Rotalink’s comprehensive range of DC, AC and stepping motors along with single and dual channel feedback encoders. Their Red Drive controller with an easy-to-use graphical programming language brings servo assemblies within reach.

Magnetic chucks are a high speed alternative to clamps and vices.

The Eclipse Magnetics Power Matrix offers exceptional power, with 150 ton / m² of magnetic pull, enabling huge holding forces to be generated on even modest-sized workpieces. Stepped or shaped workpieces can be easily and effectively clamped with optional pole extensions.

This matrix format means a tight magnetic field is generated around each pole and means clamping force is equally high in every direction, and it allows thinner materials to be clamped than is possible on parallel pole chucks. An added benefit is that swarf retention is reduced.

The chuck is only 68mm in height.

Customers will also benefit from low chatter, which means a better finish and improved tool life, as well as the speed, ease and convenience of the ability to load multiple parts in a single set-up.”

Power Matrix drastically reduces clamping time because it provides on/off clamping at the touch of a button. The chuck is also failsafe, meaning that if electric power is lost while a workpiece is clamped, it remains held in place.

Power Matrix is available in two sizes, with either 50mm or 75mm square poles, both of which are offered with standard or high power magnets. The high power version, which is created by having a longer internal magnet length, is suitable for rougher/scaled, alloy or other work where there may not be a smooth surface contact. The standard Power Matrix is suitable for use with flatter materials.

Power Matrix is suitable for most machine shop operations where work is carried out on dies and molds, or tool room environments where there is a large variety of workpiece shapes and sizes. The fact that multiple parts can also be loaded simultaneously onto Power Matrix means that it can also become a key part of the main production process.

Power Matrix is available with a full range of standard tooling options, including angle plates that transfer the magnetism through 90Ú and moving pole extensions which allow uneven or distorted components to be clamped without further distortion. Power Matrix can also be supplied with specialised configurations including tombstones, bolsters and others to suite specific needs.

Sizes of chuck available on Power Matrix range from 400 x 250 to 1000 x 600mm (L x W), all of which are 68mm in height.

The product is offered with a 12 month manufacturing guarantee and is available for ordering now.

The high-performance STREAMLINE PRO-I 125 ultra high pressure pump from KMT Waterjet is
now available. The unit generates a cutting pressure of 6,200 bar. With a motor power of 125 HP
(93kW), the pump produces a maximum volumetric flow of 5.4 litres per minute. This makes it
for example possible to simultaneously operate two cutting heads with 0.25 mm nozzles at a
pressure of 6,200 bar. Alternatively, the unit can be run with a single cutting head and a nozzle
diameter of 0.38 mm to cut extremely thick materials.

The cutting pressure of 6,200 bar is produced with the help of two pressure intensifiers operated with a phase shift that pump the cutting water through a 1.6 l pressure accumulator to the cutting heads. The standard machine comes with proportional pressure control system for the stepless adjustment of the cutting pressure. It is also equipped with a pressure transducer monitoring the cutting pressure in the high pressure line. This control circuit ensures equal utilisation of the two pressure intensifiers and optimises the pressure signal which significantly affects the cutting edge quality at the workpiece.

Maximum level of flexibility for all waterjet applications
The Ultra High-Pressure Pump STREAMLINE™ PRO is yet another top-range addition to KMT Waterjet’s unique range of high-pressure pumps. KMT Waterjet’s STREAMLINE™ series comprises a range of waterjet systems that is guaranteed to meet all needs – no matter whether you are looking for high flow rates, extremely high pressure or just a basic model simply featuring no more than essential water cutting equipment.

The new PRO – High-Pressure series
At KMT Waterjet, PRO is synonymous with turnkey waterjet cutting systems using pressures of up to 6,200 bar and that are supplied with all of the components required for waterjet cutting – from the high-pressure generator to the nozzle from which the cutting jet is aimed at the material requiring cutting. The 6,200 bar of pressure represent a nearly 50 % increase of the pressure conventionally used!
The advantages presented by this leap in technological progress include:
• Higher cutting speeds
• Improved cutting quality
• Less abrasive wear

The KR 1000 titan is the strongest and biggest 6-axis robot available on the market. With a payload of up to 1000 kg, it is used primarily in the glass, foundry, building materials and automotive industries.

Loads
Payload 1000 kg
Supplementary load 50 kg

Working envelope
Max. reach 3202 mm

Other data and variants
Number of axes 6
Repeatability <±0,2 mm Weight 4950 kg Mounting positions Floor

Omlat has planned and realized a new line of electrospindles for wood and aluminium working.
It is possible to have 3 different power rangers each range at 2 different speed.

– Length: L=504 mm
– Max Speed: n 24.000 – 30.000 min-1
– Max Power (S1/100%): 7.5/12/15 kW
– Lubrication of the Bearings: Grease
– Tool Clamping: HSK-F 63 or ISO 40 with pneumatic clamping

Google is always looking for new challenges, and this can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. It means that the company is always launching new projects and entering new markets, but it also means that it can drop a project just as fast as it picked it up if it gets bored with it. This seems to be happening with Google Gears, a utility and technology designed to enhance websites with features normally found in native applications which may be living its final days at the company.

Google Chrome has really shaped up recently and the company is getting close to launching a beta version for Mac. Unfortunately, Mac users will have to do without the Gears technology which is built into the browser on the other operating systems it supports. Google says this wasn’t a design decision but a technological one, Gears doesn’t work in the latest version of Apple’s operating system, Snow Leopard, and it’s impractical to adapt the technology to the changes. Instead, Google is betting big on HTML 5, the proposed standard which should be nearing completion after years of development.

“We are excited that much of the technology in Gears, including offline support and geolocation APIs, are being incorporated into the HTML5 spec as an open standard supported across browsers, and see that as… (read more)

Croteam and Devolver Digital has announced that the next installment of the Serious Sam franchise is already in development and is scheduled to releas…

Black Friday (tags/black-friday/11286) mad rush definitely gave those sales a big leg up for the holidays and those new releases

 With Sony’s and Microsoft’s Thanksgiving numbers already revealed, now is the time for the big N. According to numbers gathered by Nintendo, the…