] Since 2001, I've conducted semiregular roundups of the
] latest digital cameras. (To prevent the FedEx boxes from
] burying my entire front yard, I limit the survey's
] entrants to those with a street price under $300.)
]
] Over the last four years, the cameras have blossomed.
] Crude point-and-shooters have become attractive, compact
] wonders with full manual controls and circuitry that's
] fast enough to capture full-TV-screen movies with sound.

State of the Art: All This, and They Take Pictures, Too

] The Bay Area tech industry has a tremendous amount of
] financial and human capital that can be directed toward
] developing and marketing green energy technology.

Bryan McConnell of O'Reilly Network espouses on how Silicon Valley can direct it's considerable expertise towards renewable energy development. Couldn't agree more - but the dynamic that McConnell misses is that this is much more of a marketing, development, and integration play for the Valley, not a creation or true innovation play. Big Oil and Detroit/Stuttgart were smart in the 90s. Flush with some cash, they bought most of the startups and promising technologies for renewable energy, high efficiency engines, and other techniques - essentially slaying David before he could slay Goliath. For a decade these things languished under their watch. But now that renewable energy is 'fashionable', it's clear that it's being viewed as a market differentiator. Think about it: would you rather sell another $13K car with little or no margin, or a $50K car with new technologies that has a huge marketing differential and higher margins?

Renewable Energy - The Next Opportunity for Silicon Valley

] G.M. is also teaming up with Shell Hydrogen to place four
] refueling "service hubs" around the country, plus a fifth
] that would be mounted on a mobile platform. A $2 million
] Shell station is already open and dispensing hydrogen in
] Washington.
]
] Fuel-cell cars still face daunting obstacles on the road
] to commercialization. Joseph Romm, a former Department of
] Energy official and the author of "The Hype About
] Hydrogen" (Island Press, 2004), is skeptical about G.M.'s
] announced target of developing a market-ready fuel-cell
] car by 2010. "I think all of the hurdles are immense, and
] the biggest is the infrastructure," he said. "We have
] 180,000 gas stations in the U.S., and 30,000 to 40,000 of
] them would have to be equipped to supply hydrogen."

Idiot. Since it's obvious that Shell can produce a working refueling station for the paltry price of $2M, then it's easily conceivable to see that gradually phasing in stations across the US would not be the economic disaster that everyone keeps talking about. Does anyone remember when Exxon replaced all their TigerMarts in the late 90's???

Fuel Cells in the Deep Freeze

] I had a press interview today with InformationWeek where
] they asked what I thought were some of the important
] trends for the future of software tools. It's an
] interesting question, with many facets, so I was not sure
] how to respond. After some thought, here are the five
] areas I chose to highlight from my context of design and
] construction tool strategy.

developerWorks

] Reliance on a single metrics is a major feature of
] Microsoft's Get the Facts campaign, and this is perhaps
] understandable if we consider what the campaign is.

A great redux of the MS marketing campaign which is touting better security metrics for MS's products, erroneously of course.

Windows v Linux security: the real facts

The home page for the ETech Club, makers of the first documented vehicle to run on sunshine and water.

Etech Club Home page from Central High School, Phoenix, AZ

] The truck is hydrogen-powered and creates its own fuel
] from solar energy and water, a technical feat that rivals
] the advanced technology being researched by major auto
] companies and universities.

Dammit. I've got my own project using this same process running in the back yard right now, but I'm not this far ahead. Good to see that my assumptions about scalability and efficiency are not too far off.

Powered by sunlight

] This morning, a California company, PolyFuel, plans to
] announce that it has achieved a breakthrough in fuel-cell
] membranes by using an alternative material: a hydrocarbon
] that it says costs only about half as much per square
] meter.

Membrane Breakthrough for Fuel Cells

] Stripe Snoop was showcased on G4TechTV's The Screen
] Savers. However, I have little beef with one of the
] hosts, Kevin Rose. Rose manages to do a 4 minute bit,
] using my software, my hardware, even my exact reader
] modification, and mentions Stripe Snoop once. Once! And
] for all my hard work on the matter, I am mentioned ...
] not at all. Yes, your humble author whose work Rose
] basicly jacks isn't even mentioned. Even Rose's
] introduction, "The other day I looked in my wallet and
] wondered...," was lifted directly from this site. He even
] uses a photo from my website in the production. While I
] enjoy the exposure, and indeed the web stats show I nice
] bump, Rose does not give credit where credit is due.
] Somehow I can't see Leo Laporte being a jackass like
] that.

Maybe instead of ranting about his miscue, you should send him a nice thank you email for featuring your work. Sometimes being a gentleman and giving the ole tip o the hat works wonders in the karma department!

btw - great tool!

Stripe Snoop on TSS: WMV Video clip

Nifty startups in the wireless/mobile arena showcase what's coming to a geek lover near you.

DEMOmobile 2004