] Economically, hydrogen devices remain highly
] unattractive: "Fuel cells are very expensive," Romm said.
] "The demonstration vehicles all cost hundreds of
] thousands of dollars."

So do concept cars which eventually get made into production cars. Hell, so do Ferraris and Aston Martins, both of which are hitting peak production numbers and generating record profits for both companies.

Next?

Road to hydrogen cars may not be so clean

] QuantumSphere, one of several companies investigating
] materials that could become alternatives to platinum, has
] developed a nano nickel material that costs only a
] quarter as much as platinum, according to the company's
] chief scientific officer, Douglas Carpenter. Platinum
] costs about $10,000 per pound, while nano nickel can be
] mass-produced for a fraction of that, according to
] Carpenter.
]
] Carpenter said the nano nickel can be created by boiling
] nickel and then re-condensing it into droplets smaller
] than 20 nanometers. "Nano nickel acts more like platinum
] than nickel," Carpenter said, in describing the
] material's physical properties. Carpenter said the
] company has applied for three patents for its production
] technology. "Nano nickel has the potential to replace
] platinum as the main catalytic material in a variety of
] hydrogen fuel cells," Carpenter said. "In 10 years, (nano
] nickel) will become commoditized."

I don't understand how nano nickel will become commoditized any faster or better than platinum membrane production. True, you could say that there's much more nickel production capacity than platinum, but we also figured out how to make synthetic diamonds too, so what's the big deal about platinum?

Fuel-Cell Vehicles Close the Gap

] A default can also be a sort of endorsement. Employees
] see the forms that are presented to them by authority
] figures and then infer that someone with more expertise
] has concluded that the default - whether to save, or not
] to save - is a good idea.
]
] Beyond simple inertia and deference, opting in to a
] 401(k) also sets off a series of complicated decisions -
] about investment allocation and long-term planning.
] Complexity turns people off.

disease management for financial technique?

Economic View: Building a Nation of Savers

] Schmitt said the donations help pay for the venues,
] vendors, parade-route bleachers, entertainment and other
] costs associated with staging the Jan. 20 inauguration,
] as well as lead-up events beginning Jan. 18.
]
] The inauguration is estimated to cost $30 million to $40
] million, which private donations will cover. The estimate
] includes security costs not covered by the federal and
] local government. Security is expected to be tight for
] the first inauguration since the Sept. 11, 2001,
] terrorist attacks.

WTF? Why does a second term president need to even do this? Why not give this money to No Child Left Behind? Or, y'know... feed DC's hungry and sick? Hell, feed Austin's hungry and sick.

14 Give Inaugural Planners $250,000

] The NHL's biggest flaw seems to be that it was beginning
] to think of itself as being on a par with football and
] basketball in the national sports consciousness. Big
] mistake. That's dangerous thinking in a competitive
] environment where people have many other places to take
] their entertainment dollar and enthusiasm.

There's no byline on this editorial, but whoever wrote this is dead on.

Thin ice: NHL dispute could wreck the sport

] At least one senator hopes Congress will let the new rule
] stand. "The issuance of FASB's new rule marks a victory
] in the decade-long battle to reform an egregious
] accounting practice that contributed to the worst
] corporate accounting scandals in our nation's history,"
] Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald said in a statement
] Thursday. "In the aftermath of Enron, WorldCom, Global
] Crossing, Tyco, Adelphia and other corporate scandals,
] Congress should be trying to ensure that corporate
] earnings reports are more, not less, reliable."

You sir, are an idiot. The Enron, Worldcom, Global Crossing, Tyco, and Adelphia scandals are NOT the result of lacking stock option reporting. They are ALL the result of rampant corporate greed and misuse of company funds WITHIN the company. It had nothing to do with stock options in any of these cases.

Thank you FASB for setting the US back 30 years in its ability to compete, innovate, recruit and retain supreme talent, and generate wealth for those willing to work hard for it. Now we'll just have a system where the top execs get ALL the wealth created in an enterprise. Good job.

Stock option expensing required next year

] A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has
] published a scholarly paper deconstructing and
] deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more
] than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters,
] slackers and teenagers.

Dude.

CNN.com - Dude -- professor studies 'dude' - Dec 8, 2004

] To lead in the global economy, the United States must
] create a highly skilled and flexible work force and spur
] more innovation, or else risk being outpaced by such
] creative "hot spots" as Israel, Taiwan and South Korea.

Well well well. The US is finally getting some competition in the world and we're starting to wake up to the reality that nukes and SUVs in every driveway aren't enough to lead the global workforce anymore. Maybe this will start crystalizing our policy makers and force them to stop wasting time on pet projects and irrelevant pursuits. Looming debt? Jeopardized healthcare? Swelling elderly demographics? Eroding job base? Better get crankin!

U.S. needs skilled work force

funny and creepy at the same time. the occular cavitiy of a powerpuff girl is the size of a buick.

What Cartoon Skeletons Look Like

I was just looking for math books, I swear. (I can only guess that female mathematicians just have difficulty achieving "it"?)

Math Books and Sexual Self-Help