Yes – it is the Cal Poly Black Widow and they have tuned it to a mere 2700+ MPG. Wow. The best part is its not even a hybrid.
Archive for the ‘future’ Category
Smokin' hot solar
Posted by tom.altman on July 24th, 2008
Image via WikipediaOne of the biggest issues with solar today is the efficiency. But after checking out Treehugger’s post “Putting the Sun’s Temperature in a Tube: SEHC Labs Turns Up the Heat on Solar Thermal Energy” that may well change.
Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation Labs has announced that they have developed the world’s most efficient solar thermal energy technology. Though only at the prototype stage, SEHC has developed a way to concentrate sunlight to levels 5,000 that which normally fall on the Earth’s surface.
If this can work it’s way to the comsumer, then this is a huge breakthrough. Harnessing this much solar is hot, hot, hot!
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A handheld I would hold
Posted by tom.altman on June 3rd, 2008
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I found this post today “Qualcomm Mini Notebook” and this is one I would use.
Qualcomm is working on a miniature notebook and has two operating systems in mind for the end product – Linux and Windows Mobile 7.
So the real question is – is it smarter than a 5th grader can it beat a iPod Touch?
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Teenager finds a way to make plastic bags degrade faster – now how about radioactive waste.
Posted by tom.altman on May 30th, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
I love this story – “teenager has found a way to make plastic bags degrade faster“, what a great idea out of a great young mind.
Getting ordinary plastic bags to rot away like banana peels would be an environmental dream come true.
After all, we produce 500 billion a year worldwide and they take up to 1,000 years to decompose. They take up space in landfills, litter our streets and parks, pollute the oceans and kill the animals that eat them.
Now a Waterloo teenager has found a way to make plastic bags degrade faster — in three months, he figures.
So, if a teen can figure out how to make a bag degrade faster…what can scientist do to speed-up nuclear waste’s half-life. Now if we can speed that up, then nuclear energy seems better. It is so much cleaner and more powerful of this stuff we do today.
Now where did I put the flux-capacitor?
Think to talk
Posted by tom.altman on May 22nd, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
I ran across this post at gizmoto yesterday:
For the brain to send the right nerve impulses, it apparently requires the user to think about speaking in a particular way—one designer calls it “a level above thinking.” Despite the learning curve this causes, requiring users to go through lots of training, it brings another benefit: you can intersperse talking normally with voiceless speech.
Now – if you take that to the next level and in addition to thinking to create speech and you tap the inputs of the brain and mashup with the cell phone…we don’t have to talk anymore. People can carry on full convo’s with no speech.
My big question to the voiceless communication was if it was something I wanted to say? Like – would this thing say what I am thinking, or what I WANT to say.
Left Zune on the Plane – it may be time for the Touch
Posted by tom.altman on May 19th, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Man sometimes I feel so stupid. I don;t think I’m going to put anything in that silly seat pocket anymore. I even thought of it about 2 minutes before I got off the plane. Then, as I was getting buckled in the next one – i remembered it. It was left behind. I called the airlines but you know how that stuff works.
So I figure I need to get the iPod Touch as the replacement. It will give me a chance to look over the iPohine/Touch SDK and see what exciting things can be done. I tell you – it will be nice to have wifi and a browser available. I like the sounds of that too.
So I guess I have to decide whether I need a 16 or 32 – retail is $499 on the 32 Gig iPod Touch – that is really up there. I guess I will have to see what eBay has to offer. So if you get on a plane and in 12C you find a Zune, just give it to your kids…I’m going to see a man about a Touch. 
Posted in future, innovation 
Tags: airlines, ebay, IphoneSdk, iPod Touch, seat pocket, travel 
Comments Off200 mpg from a VW in 2010
Posted by tom.altman on May 8th, 2008
Image by SeanBalsiger via Flickr
This has to be the 10th time I’ve had to say awesome for VW – but I really hope this isn’t one of those times when I have to say…but the VW said no. (VW Will Sell a 200 MPG Car in 2010)
So you’re excited about the 2010 Prius, with its modest mileage gains. Or maybe you really want a Chevy Volt, with a 40 mile all-electric range. 2010, as we’ve noted, is going to be a good year for green cars. But, well, this is ridiculous.
So – save your money and let hope this one makes it!
Posted in future, innovation Tags: Automobile, Autos, Chevy Volt, Volkswagen, Wolfsburg Comments OffWeb 3.0 is like Ponoko
Posted by tom.altman on April 30th, 2008
Image by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³ via Flickr
No not pinocchio, this is Ponoko. What is Ponoko you ask? “…the world’s largest marketplace for product plans. Creators and consumers use these plans to share, buy, sell and make individualized goods.”
So people can make, share, sell and buy…well, stuff. Ponoko has started out making a framework, they have some guidelines (like materials, size restrictions and such) but you design it. When you tell the world via the Ponoko site. The you browse the site and buy stuff.
Now you may buy the plans, you may buy a kit. But it is all about collaboration and open sourced relationships. People can get what they want and others can sell what they have.
It’s a great model – sounds a lot like Web 3.0 – or as it has been called “The Semantic Web“. There are a number of frameworks being built. (Amazon’s Web Services, Google App Engine, Microsoft Mesh, Salesforece.com/Force.com)
It’s like some people are good designers and some have cash in hand, ready to buy. Let’s let the designers do that on an open system and then let the people with money jump in and buy.
Posted in future, web concepts Tags: Google, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Web, web 2.0, Web 3.0, Web Services, World Wide Web 2 Comments »VW one-ups Lexus
Posted by tom.altman on April 23rd, 2008
Image by Alessio.zz via FlickrI have posted about my love of Volkswagens before – but I had to spread the love here. Sure – you can buy a Lexus and have push button parking…but why not buy a Dub and park remotely.
The automatic parking system from Lexus is pretty impressive already, but Volkswagen is doing them one better. Under the VW system, the driver doesn’t even need to be in the car. Furthermore, the VW Park Assist Vision (PAV) parking system can park in perpendicular spots (like in a parking lot) as well as parallel spots on the street.
Free tuition at Stanford
Posted by tom.altman on February 27th, 2008
This is brilliant…how much great press can a university get – Standford is offering free tuition:
The university is making the change in the wake of published reports last month that its endowment had grown almost 22 percent last year, to $17.1 billion. That sum had begun to attract attention from lawmakers who want wealthy institutions to do more to reduce tuition costs.
Wow – this is huge…it will be very interesting to see how other colleges respond. All I ever hear from the state regents in Iowa is how much more they are increasing tuition.
