Steve Jobs: “More Affordable” = “An extra $15/month”
posted on June 17th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
If you were offered a one-time gift of $200 all at once or a gift of $360 spread out over two years, which would you pick? Even if, for some reason, you needed the $200 right now, you’d know you were giving up $160, right? Well, Steve Jobs is hoping you don’t notice. The rant continues…
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Solar Thermal: Weapon of Choice in the War Against Coal?
posted on March 27th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Clean Technica just posted a great article clearly explaining why solar thermal power is an important part of the new energy equation. Perhaps the most common coal mindset complaint about anything solar is the idea that you might have no power on a cloudy day, or at night. The article points out two important factors:
- Every day during summer, natural gas and oil powered plants come online for the day to meet the tremendous demand of the nation’s air conditioners, and then shut down again at night. All kinds of solar solutions, including photovoltaic and solar thermal, can be used to help meet this peak power.
- Unlike photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight directly into electrical current, solar thermal plants focus sunlight to create heat, and use the heat to spin turbines, just like almost every other conventional power plant. And as the Thermos people can tell you, it’s a lot easier to store heat than it is to store electricity.
Solar thermal builder Ausra claims that 90% of America’s energy needs could be met with Solar Thermal; I think that sounds a bit ambitious, but it’s becoming very clear that solar thermal energy can and should take a leading roll in the decades to come.
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posted on March 17th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Wired’s Threat Level blog is reporting that the gubmint is developing a program to detect terrorists in “virtual worlds and large-scale online games”; as revealed in a larger report on data mining from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The rant continues…
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“Yes Mr. Jobs. Thank you, Mr. Jobs.”
posted on March 10th, 2008 by Lawrence Miller
Okay, Apple Fanboyz. Defend your boy Steve Jobs.
Apple’s pioneering spirit in the field of product lock-in has brought us many innovations in inflexibility for the customer in the name of perceived convenience. But as the details of Apple’s new SDK for the iPhone begin to appear in PCWorld, Wired, and elsewhere, it becomes clear that Apple has brought lock-in to a new and exciting level. The rant continues…
