The Fount of Useless Information
Your place for useless information that just might possibly be interesting.
Sun Plus Nanotechnology: Can Solar Energy Get Bigger by Thinking Small?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/04/130429-nanotechnology-solar-energy-efficiency/
It seems that there are now some ideas in the lab that might transform the photovoltaic industry in the next couple of decades. For a long time I …
Video game studio pirates its own game — with an ironic twist
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/29/technology/innovation/game-dev-tycoon-piracy/index.html?source=cnn_bin
Kinda amusing though it seems clear the best value was in the free publicity than in any increase in revenue. More ironic tome that Pirate Bay took …
While Wronged Homeowners Got $300 Apiece in Foreclosure Settlement, Consultants Who Helped Protect Banks Got $2 Billion
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/while-wronged-homeowners-got-300-apiece-in-foreclosure-settlement-consultants-who-helped-protect-banks-got-2-billion-20130426
This an interesting article and I recommend reading it to understand how corrupt our government is, but it is more or less …
In Virginia’s Fairfax County, Robbing Banks for the CIA
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-18/in-virginias-fairfax-county-robbing-banks-for-the-cia
The most amusing part is the last paragraph (no, don’t skip down to it!). Who could have guessed that the CIA was robbing banks? Oh wait, everyone!…
After 2 decades of tracking down world’s oldest trees, group ready to begin planting clones
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/22/after-2-decades-tracking-down-world-oldest-trees-group-ready-to-begin-planting/
If you assume, as I do, that trees that have lived long lives are simply lucky, meaning there wasn’t anything intrinsic in their DNA/…
Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries a boost for electronics
http://news.illinois.edu/news/13/0416microbatteries_WilliamKing.html
I haven’t looked at the paper so don’t have an opinion on the actual technology, but the idea is grand. One of the limiting factors in energy …
It’s not cool to like RUSH. That’s OK
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/showbiz/geek-out-rush/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
I was a major Rush fan when I was a late teenager and early tweenager (in addition to Pink Floyd) (I still enjoy listening, but have widened my tastes such they …
Who’s to blame for the middle class struggle?
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/18/news/economy/middle-class-poor/index.html?source=cnn_bin
I suspect one large reason is that what is ‘middle class‘ today is actually on the edge of being poor. Back when being middle class meant only one bread …
I lost $50,000 in Bitcoin crash, but I’m still a believer
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2013/04/18/bitcoin-investor/?source=cnn_bin
I have tried to make sense of the bitcoin (official source here) without much luck. The origins sound incredibly suspicious (can’t go into any details on my …
A New Idea to Fix the Retirement-Savings Crisis
http://business.time.com/2013/04/17/a-new-idea-to-fix-the-retirement-savings-crisis/?hpt=hp_t5
OK, since Social Security is now ‘broke’ (it is this way because of extended, concerted efforts by the people in charge) and we have too many poor people littering our streets …