Fire and Knowledge

From Engadget:

[A] startup called ExRo has developed turbines that it says are consistently 30% — and in some situations as much as 100% — more efficient than the standard kind. The traditionally-used mechanical transmissions have been replaced with an inexpensive electric alternative that can adapt to changes in wind speed more efficiently.

Sounds like good news to me.

For those who are into such things, I’m now on Twitter — and late to the party as usual.

There’s a new trailer out for the new Star Trek movie — watch it. J.J. Abrams is bringing a fresh eye to Star Trek, and it’s going to be better for it. It looks amazing.

If you haven’t heard, the weekly Presidential radio address will now be video recorded and put on youtube each week. Such a small thing, but smart. I mean, who listens to the President on the radio? I would have no idea when or where it was on. But youtube — that makes sense.

This is a great way for the President to bypass the media (and their inevitable lame commentary) and communicate directly to the people each week. My guess is this will only increase Obama’s image.

Here’s the first one:

Google can now “accurately estimate current flu levels one to two weeks faster than published CDC reports” based on search terms. Take a look at Google Flu Trends to see the results.

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

—An African proverb as quote in Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat (2005), p. 114.

From the what-a-waste-but-neat-idea department:

Target is offering gift cards with a built-in “disposable” digital camera. It doesn’t make much sense why a digital camera would be considered disposable until you hear it takes 1.2 megapixel images — yeah, I’d throw it in the trash, too.

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Matt Perman instructs us how to write better emails. In our email-dominant workplace, good email communication skills are essential. For the love of your co-workers, please read this.