News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
The Amazon Kindle is picky about which e-book formats it accepts. So what do you do with an e-book in an unsupported format? The linked article tells how to convert it. The article also lists a couple non-Amazon sources of Kindle-compatible e-books, and explains how to prevent Amazon from deleting books retroactively.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
It started out in the mid-1700s with the discovery of the five Lagrange points, relatively stable areas in a rotational system with two bodies (e.g., Earth/Moon or Earth/Sun). But the solar system, with its multitude of planets and moons, is much more complex. The forces exerted by gravity are changing all the time, sometimes stronger or weaker, sometimes in one direction then in another.
These dynamic forces can be modeled, and it’s possible to generate a low-energy flight path for a spacecraft, where it could (theoretically) use no fuel but instead be propelled through the solar system by these changing gravitational forces. In the real world, of course, some fuel is necessary, but it’s a minimal amount.
This type of spaceflight would not be suitable for human beings, as the path meanders significantly, taking much, much longer to reach a destination than a direct flight. But the interplanetary superhighway is ideal for certain types of unmanned probes. And kudos to the people who first came up with the idea—this is definitely thinking outside the box.
Thanks to Josh for the Lagrange point link.
Link: http://www.nasa.gov/…
Update: Here is some more recent information on this topic.
Amazon was recently notified that two of the books in its Kindle catalog were pirated. The company responded by removing the books from the catalog and also deleting every purchased copy. The uproar was significant, with many people being surprised that retroactive deletion was even possible. Amazon has since apologized and promised it will never do this again. To Amazon’s credit, they did refund the purchase price. But this being the United States of America, there has to be a lawsuit involved.
Link: http://apnews.myway.com/…
(via Kim Komando)
Update: The lawsuit has been settled, and Amazon has agreed to legally binding terms on which it can retroactively delete content.
A nice Wendy’s coupon is making the rounds via email, but it’s a fake.
Link: http://consumerist.com/…
The Ford Motor Company has created a viable system that replaces spark plugs with lasers. According to the linked article, this technology is “more reliable and efficient than current spark plug technology and will enable cars to start more easily in cold and damp conditions.” As an added bonus, fuel usage is reduced because of the increased stability of the combustion. Expect to see this “in the wild” within a couple years.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…
(via Engadget)
Be careful when connecting to airport wireless networks, especially if they’re free or unsecured. Problems range from legitimate but poorly secured networks to fake networks designed to grab your login credentials. According to the linked article, this problem is very rampant, and you shouldn’t do anything sensitive or confidential on these networks. This would mean not entering any login information, even to check email.
Link: http://www.foxnews.com/…
(via Slashdot)
First diamonds, then buckyballs and carbon nanotubes, but now we have a viable way to manufacture graphene, the next miracle material made strictly from carbon. Graphene is strong, thin, and very good at conducting electricity, which makes it useful for quite a few things. It’s been around for a long time (think pencils), but the problem has been how to manufacture it in a useful form. Expect to see more of this technology in the future.
Link: http://www.freep.com/…
(via Neatorama)
Update: The linked article no longer exists, so use this one instead.
Some of the most promising new features in upcoming web standards are being sabotaged by licensing, copyright, and patent issues. About a month ago Chad’s News wrote about the HTML 5 <video> tag. Since then, it came to light that the major browser vendors have irreconcilable differences over which video codecs should be used, mainly because of licensing and patent problems. The editor of the HTML 5 specification has given up and decided to remove the portions of the document that identify standard audio and video codecs. This is a significant blow to the advantages of having a <video> tag, and make the tag much less useful.
Then there’s the @font-face attribute in CSS 3. Currently, web sites are very limited in regards to which fonts they can use, because the fonts must be installed on the user’s computer. Microsoft addressed this problem in 1996 by creating 10 core web fonts that could be freely used by all browsers. You may not realize this, but nearly every web site in the world uses these fonts.
CSS 3 adds the @font-face attribute, which allows the web site designer to specify a font that’s physically located elsewhere on the internet. The problem here is licensing and copyright. The people who create fonts don’t give them out for free—they want to be paid for their work. The potential for font piracy is huge. Fortunately there appears to be some potential solutions. But if this issue cannot be resolved, then we’re back to the 10 core fonts.
The <video> tag, the <audio> tag, and the @font-face attribute were all created to address deficiencies in the current HTML and CSS standards. Unfortunately, they may be crippled from the start by licensing, patent, and copyright issues.
If you have a smartphone plan that allows Internet usage but charges extra for outgoing text or multimedia messaging, there’s a way to circumvent the messaging charges. Many cell phone plans include an email address that turns incoming emails into SMS/MMS messages on the recipient’s phone. Chad’s News wrote about this back in 2006, but teleflip.com appears to have gone belly-up. In the place of one central service like teleflip.com, the linked article has the SMS/MMS email addresses for various cell phone vendors. It’s a bit complicated, and you’ll have to know your recipient’s provider, but it saves money.
Thanks to Josh for this topic.
Physicist Richard Feynman explains the special design of train wheels that automatically corrects to keep the train on the tracks. It’s a simple and elegant solution.
If you have an older, less fuel-efficient car and are thinking about buying a new one, then the US government’s CARS program may be for you. It effectively raises the trade-in value of your clunker to either $3500 or $4500, plus whatever you can negotiate for the scrap value. My 1996 S-10 pickup qualifies and is normally worth about $1200, so this program can save some serious money.
Link #1: http://www.cars.gov/
Link #2: http://www.abcactionnews.com/…
(via digg)
Update: The program has been suspended as of midnight on July 30th, because the government thinks it may have already run out of funds (based on pending sales).
Update #2: The US House of Representatives has allocated an additional $2 billion for the program. This still has to be approved by the Senate and signed into law. I’m not that impressed, however, considering that it took less than a week to burn through the initial $1 billion.
Update #3: An additional $2 billion has been added to the program. Note that CARS is popularly known as “Cash for Clunkers”.
Long time Chad’s News readers will recall this post, where we discussed the fate of Kodak in a world of digital photography. The next logical step has occurred, and Kodak is officially discontinuing its famous Kodachrome film.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Update: The last Kodachrome processing center stopped accepting film on December 30th, 2010, and shut down operations in mid-January 2011.
