Photo via Kickstock The smart grid industry can’t move forward very quickly if everyone working on it is designing with different standards in mind. The whole point of the new grid is to have everything functioning as a complete whole, with the ability to grow and expand without compatibility issues. That’s why identifying standards has been a primary topic of concern for years. And yet, the standards are only just being identified. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has pinpointed five foundational standards, or rather families of standa… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Police say they are shifting to a homicide investigation in the case of a missing 10-year-old North Carolina girl whose bone cancer left her with a prosthetic leg and hearing aids. Police say that the girl’s stepmother confessed to writing a ransom note f
Continue reading …Hardcore hobbyists have been controlling their Mindstorms NXT creations with all sorts of paraphernalia for years, but now Lego itself is stepping in to lend a hand. The new MINDroid app just splashed down in the Android Market, and it enables Android 2.1 (or greater) handsets to dictate Mindstorms NXT robots over Bluetooth. According to Lego, tilting / turning the phone can make the robot move forward, turn to the sides, and by pressing an action button on the phone’s screen, activate the ‘Action’ motor. Given that the download will cost you absolutely nothing, what are you waiting for? Your robot army awaits your commands. Lego’s MINDroid Android app remotely controls Mindstorms NXT robots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Photo: Andjohan, Flickr , Creative Commons Today, Google announced that it’s getting into the wind power game in a big way — according to the New York Times , the search engine giant is taking 37.5% of the equity for a $5 billion project to create a 350 mile transmission ‘backbone’ for future offshore wind farms on the East Coast. The backbone would span New York City to southern Virginia, and support a capacity of 6,000… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Near the end of Monday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith interviewed actress Naomi Watts about her latest role as former CIA agent Valerie Plame in the movie 'Fair Game': “…a ripped from the headlines true story of espionage and betrayal. Naomi Watts plays former CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose life was torn apart when her cover was blown by the U.S. government.” After playing a clip from the new film, Smith briefly summarized the controversy this way: “Joe Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger to determine whether or not yellow-cake uranium was being exported to Iraq….when [he] said no, the Bush administration said somebody's got to pay and that was Valerie Plame.” Smith went on to proclaim: “…it is not only this very public story but it is also sort of the private anguish of this family….That is almost torn asunder by this.” read more
Continue reading …Those Obama voters are a fickle bunch : Hope has turned to doubt and disenchantment for almost half of President Barack Obama’s supporters. More than 4 of 10 likely voters who say they once considered themselves Obama backers now are either less supportive or say they no longer support him at all, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted Oct. 7-10. Three weeks before the Nov. 2 congressional elections that Republicans are trying to make a referendum on Obama, fewer than half of likely voters approve of the president’s job performance. Likely voters are more apt to say Obama’s policies have harmed rather than helped the economy. Among those who say they are most enthusiastic about voting this year, 6 of 10 say the Democrat has damaged the economy. “He’s made compromises that have hurt the middle class,” says poll respondent Alan Graham, 55, a surgeon in London, Kentucky, who supported Obama in 2008 and now is on the fence about the president. “I think the lobbyists for the big businesses are having their way with him.” Some of them aren’t all that bright, either. If the lobbyists for the the big businesses are having their way with him, why is he going after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with bogus charges that they’re spending foreign money on campaigns ? If there’s one thing even the dumbest Obama voter should know by now it’s that Obama hates businesses of all types. If it makes a profit, it’s evil. These disaffected Obama voters are the very people he needed to motivate to get to the polls this year to save his Dem majorities.
Continue reading …A woman accused of abusing teenagers at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa is acquitted of the charges, and Winfrey says she is “profoundly disappointed” by the trial’s outcome. (Oct. 12)
Continue reading …I’ll be going live on KHND radio at about 8:35 am PDT.
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Continue reading …All Photos: Nau Having arrived in staggered releases, the Nau Fall 2010 line appears to now be complete. Unlike the heady days, four years ago, when the chic outdoor/urban brand of eco-clothing launched with more industry innovations than a porcupine has spikes, the ground-breaking is, these days, a tad more subdued. But is still quite evident in garments such as the women’s Splendor Trench and men’s Rheostat Jacket (both pictured above), which do have something unique going for them…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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