Smart Car Sales Driven by Novelty Not Gas Milage: The two-seater Smart Car gets surprisingly poor gas milage, and initial sales appear to be based foremost on the novelty of owning such a cute little car. Looks like people are buying it for a 2nd (or 3rd? or 4th?) car for short hops around town or to pull behind their RV. Considering it's size, the Bear asks why oh why does it not get significantly better milage than other "normal" subcompacts? Reading the comments at end of the article confirms others are wondering exactly the same thing. [Wired]
5:50:49 PM
This compelling 7-minute video suggests our search for life elsewhere in the universe should focus on microbes instead of on civilizations. Modern technological civilization on our own planet is a brief moment in time, a mere millenium. Meanwhile life has existed here on Earth for most of the planet's existance (3 out of the 4 billion years since our planet first formed). [European Space Agency/NASA via The Speculist]
11:06:40 AM
Friday, September 21, 2007
Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Record Low: Scientists who know are saying there's 22 percent less ice covering the earth's surface than the last recorded low in September 2005. The Bear thinks that's gotta be a serious change in environment for all our friends and wild things out there at the poles. If we're not out to drown the polar bears, I hope everyone can do a little something more to reduce our impact on the planet. [Bloomberg News via TameBear Radio]
8:42:38 PM
Monday, September 17, 2007
Microsoft's Bad Eurotrip: An evenhanded commentary on the European Union's highest court of commercial law puts the smack-down in perspective. Microsoft was (again) found guilty of using it's monopoly operating system to leverage a further monopoly in media players. The European Court of First Instance (ECI) upholds the previous penalty of $600 million agains Microsoft, and requires the company to offer a version of Windows OS without Windows Media Player. So far several thousand consumers have opted for the unencumbered version. [Motley Fool via TameBear Radio]
12:30:22 PM
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Word Processing on iWork 08: The Bear has made the transition to the clean Blank Page of Apple's "Pages" word processor. It's purity and simplicity is enchanting, and yet it's a talented container for all other media, including spreadsheet tables, drawings, bitmap images, movies and audio. "Pages feels right." [Various and Sundry via MyAppleMenu]
8:31:25 AM
Texas Startup Says It Has Batteries Beat: The patent application from EEStor of Austin Texas claims "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," and if so, they're onto something big. Many in the industry view their claims with great cynicism... but that has not dissuaded Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers from investing $3 million in the little company. [Yahoo News]
8:14:02 AM
500 Miles on a Few Minutes Charge: Finally it looks like the all-electric vehicle is just around the corner. The Toronto Ontario Zenn Motor Company has teamed up with EEStor, developer of a novel energy storage product. The 100lb capacitor can be fully charged in just a few minutes, and delivers up to 500 miles of electric power travel between charges.
Reducing the weight of battery storage and shortening the recharge time is a formula for success, if Zenn can actually deliver. They plan to do so later this year, or early 2008. [TameBear Radio]
7:57:40 AM
Friday, August 24, 2007
Is Everyone Buying A Mac?: Steve Borsch thinks so, and writes about what he's seeing, including this telling bit from his daughter: "My 18 year old daughter works at a local Apple Store and we talk often about how busy the place is all the time... She's indicated that this back-to-school season is 'awesome' with sales." Especially worth reading the comments (following the story) from switchers who agree their new Macs make their work more productive, fun and hassle-free. [Connect the Dots via MyAppleMenu]
12:10:10 PM
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Heavenly Bodies: Whenever the Bear comes across such atronomical comparisons as these, it inspires awe, tinged with a great humility at our smallness in the celestial void, and gratitude and wonder that we even exist at all.
Dick Cheney's Quagmire: The Bear does not usually comment on politics, but this truth-telling from our 2nd in command -- Dick Cheney -- was just too significant to pass up. Here is the Vice President, nine years prior to our invading Iraq, on why such an imperial conquest would be a bad, BAD idea...
