Clipmarks | Newfman's 'environment' clips

Say goodbye to the computer mouse

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:37:01 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

It's nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered.

A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

"The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over," declared analyst Steve Prentice.

He told BBC News that his prediction is driven by the efforts of consumer electronics firm which are making products with new interactive interfaces inspired by the world of gaming .

"You've got Panasonic showing forward facing video in the home entertainment environment. Instead of using a conventional remote control you hold up your hand and it recognises you have done that," he said.

"It also recognises your face and that you are you and it will display on your TV screen your menu. You can move your hand to move around and select what you want," he added.

"This" Mr Prentice said, "is all about using computer power to do things smarter."

Flat-Screen TV Gas 'a Climate Time Bomb'

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:45:10 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Booming demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world's largest coal-fired power stations, scientists warn.

A greenhouse gas called nitrogen trifluoride, used to make the TVs, is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, said Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine.

But no one yet knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by industry, a report in Britain's The Guardian said.

Prather's research shows production of the gas, which remains in the atmosphere for 550 years, is "exploding".

It is expected to double by next year, from the current 4,000 tons produced annually.

But unlike other key greenhouse gases — such as carbon dioxide, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) — emissions of the gas are not restricted under the Kyoto protocol or similar agreements, The Guardian report said.

Contamination of the deep sea food web

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:20:06 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: “Contamination of the deep sea food web is happening, and it is a real concern,” said Vecchione

Clip Source: scitech.blogs.cnn.com

Fire retardants in deep sea squids?

Marine scientists now have evidence that a whole range of chemical contaminants have found their way to the deepest and most remote parts of the ocean.

“Most people think the deep sea is so far away that humans don’t affect it,” said Michael Vecchione, a cephalopod biologist at NOAA Fisheries’ National Systematics Laboratory.

Cephalopods include octopods, squids, cuttlefishes and nautiluses. The toxic chemicals that Vecchione and colleagues from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found are a rogues gallery of scary initials: PCBs, TBTs, BDEs, and DDT* among them. Scientists classify all of them as POPs, or persistent organic pollutants. It means they don’t break down, and stay in the environment… pretty much forever.

It’s not yet clear what level of these chemicals could harm or kill these deep sea creatures.

Having fun on the cheap...Dad puts kids in dryer

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:16:37 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: WTF.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man is on trial this week on charges he put his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son in a hot clothes dryer.

In a videotaped interview with detectives shown in court Wednesday, Aron Pritchard said he put the children in the dryer to show them they could have a good time without much money. An hour later, the dryer had become hot and the boy had second-degree burns.

Pritchard told the detective that he didn't mean for the boy to get hurt.

Jurors also heard from a pediatrician who testified that the burns, combined with prior injuries including a twice-broken clavicle, could indicate an abusive environment.

Pritchard is charged with aggravated child endangerment and child abuse in the Nov. 28, 2006, incident.

What's Orange and White and Green all over?

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:09:52 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: scitech.blogs.cnn.com

This shoe may look orange and white but it’s really green all over! The shoe, dubbed the “Trash Talk,” is made out of manufacturing waste. The new concept was created in partnership with Steve Nash, the All-Star guard for the Phoenix Suns, who wore the shoe February 14^th in a game against the Dallas Mavericks. KeJuan Wilkins, who works in Nike Media Relations, told me that Nash is really into the environment and when the Nike designers pitched Nash this idea he absolutely loved it.

According to the Nike press release, the shoe’s upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste taken from the factory floor. The mid-sole uses scrap ground foam from factory production. The outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxins and incorporates material from footwear-outsole manufacturing waste. The laces and sockliners use environmentally-preferred materials, and the shoes are packaged in a fully recycled cardboard box.

Cutlery made from potatoes!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:24:22 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.zible.com

A British company has come up with an ingenious method of turning potatoes into plastic. Vegware uses the technology to create disposable items such as cutlery and tableware.

It’s cheap too - a mixed bag of 10 knives, forks and spooks is only £2.97. For mass caterers, a bag of 1,000 knives costs £29.90 +VAT and shipping.

The cutlery gets its strength from potato or corn starch and its actually stronger than standard plastic cutlery. Being made from vegetable matter, the products are totally biodegradable, so they are dramatically better for the environment than plastics made from oil.

Tags: odd

Train Your Mind To Have a Lucid Dream!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:14:35 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: 12 Free Software Programs for Lucid Dreaming

Clip Source: dreaminglife.org

“A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams, it is often possible to exert conscious control over the dream characters and environment, as well as to perform otherwise physically impossible feats.”

Have you ever wanted to lucid dream? Maybe you’ve always been curious but didn’t know where to start? Maybe you’ve done it before but are having a hard time getting back into it?

Whatever your situation, if you’d like to have a lucid dream, the time to start is now. Below you can learn about and download every FREE lucid dreaming software program there is to help you on your journey. Feel free to document your experience by leaving a comment on this post

Infinity
Paradiso
Lucid Dreaming Digibook
LucidWarp
Lucille 2.0
Reality Check
BrainWave Generator
You Are Dreaming
Lucid Weaver
Daldom
Discreet Reminder
Lucid Dreaming Assistant

Tags: the mind

Massive Wall of Water Expected to Slam East Coast of England

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:25:52 GMT

clipped by: Newfman
clipper's remarks: Heads Up, Mates!

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

LONDON — Thousands of people along the the eastern coast of England were told to evacuate their homes and move to higher ground Thursday ahead of a potentially devasting 10-foot wall of sea water predicted to slam the island nation Friday morning.

More than 10,000 homes and businesses are affected by the order, according to the British Environment Agency, which has issued seven severe flood warnings for people living on the Norfolk and Suffolk coast near Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn warned of potentially historic flooding in the next 48 hours.

In anticipation of the surge the Thames Barrier, which protects London from flooding, was to be closed Thursday night to cope with water levels four feet higher than usual.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown convened an emergency meeting of officials Thursday afternoon to coordinate potential mass evacuations and rescue efforts.

Tags: nature

Emission levels reach worst case scenario: experts

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:06:41 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.ctv.ca

Worldwide economic growth has accelerated the level of greenhouse gas emissions to a dangerous threshold scientists had not expected for another decade, according to a leading Australian climate change expert.

Tim Flannery told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that an upcoming report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will contain new data showing that the level of climate-changing gases in the atmosphere has already reached critical levels.

"What the report establishes is that the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate change,'' Flannery told the broadcaster late Monday.

"We are already at great risk of dangerous climate change. That's what these figures say. It's not next year or next decade. It's now.'

Tags: environment

. Inmates Caught Having Sex Put in Pink Jumpsuits

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:15:12 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's prisons director on Tuesday defended a policy of punishing inmates who perform sex acts by dressing them in pink, despite a lawsuit claiming the rule subjects prisoners to ridicule.

State Corrections Department John Ozmint said the two-year-old punishment deters inmates and protects female officers. His agency has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

Inmate Sherone Nealous, 31, filed the lawsuit in June 2006, claiming the Corrections Department "is placing inmates' lives and physical well-being in danger."

"The color 'pink' in an all male environment no doubt causes derision and verbal and physical attacks on a person's manhood. This policy also gives correctional officers an easy avenue to label an inmate," Nealous, who is serving a 10-year sentence for assault and battery with intent to kill, wrote in his lawsuit.

The lawsuit estimated about several hundred inmates had worn pink in the past two years.

Tags: odd

Free Online Documentaries

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:50:42 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: best.online.docus.googlepages.com

Documentaries

Anthropology

Biographies

Business

Environment

Foreign

(Geo)Politics

Health

History

Lifestyle/Society

Mystery

Religion

Science

Technology/Future

Tags: educatiion

Resolve Arguments Like a Pro with 7 Proven Techniques

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:18:32 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: johnplaceonline.com

Arguing with your spouse? Feuding with your boss? Fighting with your parents or teachers? Adopt a new frame of mind and try solving that dispute one more time.

Technique #1: The Observer

Technique #2: The Doppelganger

Technique #3: The Common Thread

Technique #4: Low Hanging Fruit

Technique #5: The Psychologist

Technique #6: The Robot

Technique #7: The Overflowing Cup

These 7 simple conflict resolution techniques cannot make the core components of an argument any simpler, but they do provide helpful frames of mind that can make it easier to find a solution.

The best technique to use will vary depending upon your own comfort level with the technique, the general environment, and the nature of the argument you’re trying to resolve.

Tags: people

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:59:59 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Walking does more than driving to cause global warming, a leading environmentalist has calculated.

Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. Provided, of course, they remembered to switch off the TV rather than leaving it on standby.

“The troubling fact is that taking a lot of exercise and then eating a bit more food is not good for the global atmosphere. Eating less and driving to save energy would be better.”

Mr Goodall, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford West & Abingdon, is the latest serious thinker to turn popular myths about the environment on their head.

Tags: science

A Latte Dough: Starbucks to Raise Coffee Prices

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:14:12 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

LOS ANGELES — Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) will raise U.S. prices on coffee, lattes and other drinks by an average of 9 cents a cup next week to help offset soaring costs for milk and other commodities, a spokesman said on Monday.

The widely anticipated move marks Starbucks' second price increase in less than a year and comes a month after the coffee shop chain's chief financial officer warned it would be "very challenging" for Starbucks to meet the high end of its 2007 earnings forecast, in part because of rising dairy prices.

U.S. milk prices have soared recently amid strong global demand for dairy products and higher production costs.

"We're always looking at the business costs, and given the rising cost environment in which we operate, we think this is an appropriate time," spokesman Brandon Borrman said.

Tags: society

Changes in rainfall man-made, Canadian scientists say

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:58:30 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

Human activity is changing rainfall patterns throughout the world, bringing more precipitation to temperate and northern regions while providing less to subtropical and tropical regions north of the equator, according to a study to be published Thursday in the journal Nature.

The study is the first to confirm a link between rainfall patterns and global warming, according to co-author Francis Zwiers, the director of the Climate Research Division of Environment Canada.

Previous studies haven't shown a positive link between human-induced changes and precipitation on a global scale because changes in precipitation in different regions cancel each other out, Zwiers told CBC News.

But by looking at each latitudinal region individually, larger trends were discovered that could not be accounted for by naturally occurring changes such as increased volcanic activity.

Instead, the burning of fossil fuels appears to a leading cause, the authors said.

Tags: science