Do you want fries with that?

CBC

A restaurant owner in Kingston, Ont., has created a hamburger big enough to feed about two dozen people, in the hopes of breaking a world record.

Ian Sarfin of Ian's Kitchen and Soda Shoppe said his burger took more than three hours to cook Thursday morning and weighs almost 10 kilograms. It's 38-centimetres across and five-centimetres high.

"There's a pound of cheese, there's a pound of onion ... a pound of pickles, there's two pounds of tomatoes and five cups of sauce," said Sarfin.

Sarfin wants to beat the Guinness World Record held currently by a Pennsylvania pub, which unveiled a 6.75-kilogram burger in early May.

Sarfin compared his gigantic hamburger to the equivalent of 100 Quarter Pounders from McDonald's.

He's sent off the paperwork to the publishers of the Guinness World Records book and expects to hear from them in a few weeks.

Hoping to cash in on his creation, Sarfin said he plans to make it an item on the menu for $99.99, with 48-hour's notice. It will also be available for delivery.

 

NB: 1 Kg = 2.2 lbs, 2.5 cm = 1 in.

See also: File Under "That's Attractive!"

 

Posted Thu Jun 30th, 2005 - 11:42pm by CPC  Top of page

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Putin walks off with Super Bowl ring

Hahahaha!

June 29, 2005|Associated Press

Boston — Russian President Vladimir Putin walked off with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's diamond-encrusted 2005 Super Bowl ring, but was it a generous gift or a very expensive international misunderstanding?

Following a meeting of Putin and American business executives at Konstantinovsky Palace near St. Petersburg on Saturday, Kraft showed the ring to Putin — who tried it on, put it in his pocket and left, according to Russian reports.

It isn't clear yet if Kraft, whose business interests also include paper and packaging companies and venture capital investments, intended that Putin keep the ring.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said Wednesday that Kraft was travelling and he hadn't talked to him in four or five days, despite e-mails and calls. "He's still overseas, I can't even tell you where. . . . He's not due back until next week."

"It's an incredible story. I just haven't been able to talk to Robert Kraft to confirm the story," James told The Associated Press.

However, a Kremlin official who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of compromising his position said the ring was a present. "Such a present

was made," the official said.

He said Putin had given the ring to the Kremlin library where other foreign gifts are kept.

James said the ring's worth was "substantially more" than $15,000 (U.S.), as the value had been reported. He refused to be specific, but noted that the ring has 124 diamonds.

Kraft handed out Super Bowl rings to players and coaches at his home two weeks ago.

The Patriots have won three of the last four Super Bowls.

 

Posted Wed Jun 29th, 2005 - 9:32pm by CPC  Top of page

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Vintage circus sideshow poster gallery

 

 

 

This is a spectacular gallery of vintage European circus posters -- dwarves, limbless people, hairy, tall, fat and thin people -- with gorgeous artwork and lettering. You can order prints, too. Link (via We Make Money Not Art)

 

 

 

gratuitously lifted from Boing Boing

 

 

 

 

 

Posted Tue Jun 28th, 2005 - 10:32am by CPC  Top of page

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Robo-Lobster and Packbot

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- A robotic lobster and an android that not only smiles, frowns and blinks but also recognizes people and talks back are two of the spookier entries on show at a high-tech carnival in Chicago.

Wired Magazine's annual "NextFest" showcases futuristic, sometimes uncannily lifelike technology.

"The difference between animals and robots is robots get stuck while animals squirm their way through," said inventor-engineer Joseph Ayers of Boston's Northeastern University.

His robo-lobsters, designed to roam the sea floor and find undersea mines, are equipped with "neurons" that allow them to work their way around clutter much as real lobsters would.

Employing sequenced mechanical muscles made from the same metal mesh material used to make the stents implanted in heart patients, Ayers said his work might some day lead to more lifelike prostheses. He hopes to shrink the mechanics behind the robot's movements onto a computer chip.

Also on display at "NextFest" were a combination submersible dolphin-like jet-ski (Full story), a virtual air hockey game, and corporate entries such as General Motors' hydrogen-powered vehicles and General Electric's technologies to generate energy and make drinking water out of sea water.

Another robot that resembles a small tank on its hind legs was admired by Maj. Jeff Stone, who was taking a break from the Army's nearby exhibit.

"Our soldiers love these things," Stone said, referring to iRobot's Packbot, a hundred of which are in Iraq defusing and exploding bombs. U.S. soldiers assigned to operate the $100,000 robots have even given them affectionate names.

"Drop some C-4 (plastic explosive) right on the weapon, and you don't have to worry about it" hurting anyone, Stone said.

Packbot manufacturer iRobot also promoted its automated vacuum cleaner line at NextFest. At $329, the costliest versions can be programmed to do their work while the homeowner is away.

Nearby, a black-clad soldier, Sgt. Robert Atkinson, explained the features of his future warrior's suit designed at the Army's workshop in Natick, Massachusetts.

"This right here," he said, motioning to the computer screen on his wrist, "is the concept of a flexible monitor that shows your heart rate and breathing rate, and projects images from a drone flying overhead."

The suit, which may hit the battlefield in 20 years, is also equipped with artificial muscles that contract to help a soldier pick up a wounded comrade.

The most lifelike robot on display was one depicting the late science fiction writer Philip K. Dick created by Dallas start-up Hanson Robotics. Founder David Hanson formerly worked at Disney.

 

Seated naturally on a sofa, the figure's face contorted into human expressions -- frowning, blinking, smiling -- and replied to visitors' comments using a software program that chose from among 10,000 pages of Dick's writings. Cameras behind its eyes could "recognize" acquaintances.

Initially a likely museum piece or fancy toy, the androids could one day become companions for the elderly, the company's Steve Prilliman said.

Genuine life was represented by a cloned Bengal cat and its "parent."

One man asked if a clone of the cloned cat could be possible, or if the clone could be bred. Told the answer was yes on both counts, he told a friend: "You're next, dude."

 

Posted Mon Jun 27th, 2005 - 5:47pm by CPC  Top of page

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New U.S. ambassador to Canada plays it safe

Sunday | Canadian Press

Washington — South Carolina politician David Wilkins, who starts this week as the new U.S. ambassador to Canada, seems determined to avoid the pitfalls of his predecessor.

Where Paul Cellucci fast developed a reputation as a blunt advocate for President George W. Bush, jumping smack in the middle of bilateral rifts like Canada's defence capabilities and its position on the Iraq war, Mr. Wilkins is playing it safe.

Keenly aware of his reputation for knowing little about Canada, a country he visited just once in the 1970s, Mr. Wilkins is steering clear for now.

“Listen — that's what I plan to do initially,” he said in a recent interview. “I plan to travel extensively and meet as many Canadians as possible. Then we'll formulate specific strategies.”

Mr. Wilkins, 58, presents his credentials Wednesday to Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson and meets with Prime Minister Paul Martin.

After two weeks of diplomatic training this month, he spent last week in briefings on key trade and security issues.

“Everything I've learned just reinforces the fact that I'm honoured to be going to Canada,” said Mr. Wilkins, who was sworn in at the State Department last week. “The more I learn, the more I'm impressed with it.”

Mr. Wilkins is facing a host of irritants like the mad cow crisis and Canada's attempts to delay a water diversion project in North Dakota for fear it will pollute Manitoba waters.

And although relations have been smoother of late under Martin, surveys suggest Canadians are becoming more negative about the United States and Americans.

“I hope I'll have a positive impact on the view Canadians have towards the United States, if it needs improving,” said Mr. Wilkins, who is close to Mr. Bush and ran both of his successful election campaigns in South Carolina.

“I represent the president. But part of my job is public diplomacy. I want to have a presence. I obviously want to have an impact.”

Mr. Wilkins, who served in the state legislature for about 25 years including more than a decade as speaker, is a religious conservative who raised some eyebrows in Canada when he noted in a farewell speech that God sent him a sign to take the Ottawa job.

“I did make reference to my faith,” he said. “I don't apologize for that. I don't wear it on my sleeve.”

Mr. Wilkins, with his folksy, thick southern drawl, careful public persona and a reputation for building consensus, has been praised by U.S. senators as just the kind of upbeat force required to ease strained relations.

He's named security and trade as his top priorities and carefully highlights Canada's hospitality toward American airline passengers stranded after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and Ottawa's continuing role in Afghanistan.

“I emphasize the positive,” he said. “Any trade disputes we have represent only five per cent of the total trade.”

Canadians, he said, are in for a dose of good old southern hospitality after he and wife Susan arrive in Ottawa.

“Susan and I will just be ourselves. I'm sure we'll develop a lot of friends there.”

 

Posted Sun Jun 26th, 2005 - 6:44pm by CPC  Top of page

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The Internet transforms modern life

 

By Steve Almasy | CNN

(CNN) -- In 1994, people had to call the bank to check their balances. Or inquire in person, or wait for a paper statement to arrive in the mail. Baseball box scores were found in the newspaper. Weather forecasts came over the phone from the weather bureau, or on TV.

Back then, most Americans still had to lick a stamp to send mail.

Then along came the Internet, and an experimental browser called Mosaic, followed by an improved browser from Netscape. And if you had a computer, you discovered a new way to this cool, new thing called the World Wide Web. Mosaic and Netscape were the first popular connection to what came to be called the information superhighway.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, less than one in five Americans were online in 1995. Today, the majority of Americans are surfing the Web, exchanging e-mail, reading bank statements and ball scores, checking the weather. Today, Pew says, two out of every three Americans spend time online.

The World Wide Web has transformed the way people live, work and play. People can play travel agent and book all the elements of a vacation online. They can arrange for their bills to be paid automatically while they are gone. They can put a hold on mail delivery, find directions to tourist attractions and get a long-term weather forecast before they pack.

Even on vacation, they can log onto the Web to keep up with news from their hometown paper or TV station, and stay connected with friends and family. In its first decade, the Internet altered the pace of popular culture. It made distance less daunting, rendered information instantly accessible and revolutionized communication.

Googling and blogging In the mid-1990s, the top three Web sites were AOL, Netscape and WebCrawler (which was owned by AOL) -- two Internet service providers and a search engine -- according to Internet research measurement company comScore Media Metrix. Each had an audience of 4 million to 6 million people per month.

Today, the audience numbers in the billions.

"People are being much more customized in the type of content that they want to see and consume [online]," said Peter Daboll, president of comScore Media Metrix. "Also, there are the communication advances where it is easier to communicate and stay online. And they are just having more of their needs filled, whether it's travel, shopping and all these other activities that didn't exist to the same degree in the early days of the Web."

The Web has added plenty of words to our lexicon, although some have yet to make the dictionary. If you had talked about Googling or blogging 10 years ago, you might have had a lot of listeners scratching their heads.

But like any youngster, the Web still has some growing to do. For all its uses, most people still go to the Internet primarily for e-mail. According to Pew surveys, 58 million Americans sent e-mail each day in December 2004, while 35 million used the Web to get news.

Many of those online users are irked by spam -- unsolicited offers for everything from lower mortgage rates to pornography, pharmaceuticals and pitches to help a Nigerian launder millions of dollars.

Congress passed an antispam law in November 2003, with the backing of several of the biggest Internet companies. Spammers seem undeterred and San Francisco-based Ferris Research estimates the time lost by employees dodging spam will cost U.S. businesses $17 billion in 2005.

Another e-mail problem is phishing, the fake e-mail that looks like it is from a legitimate source. The bogus e-mail is designed to get the reader to divulge personal information, often a credit card number.

Broadband 'has changed everything' E-mail is a one-way media; you send an e-mail and wait for a response. Steve Outing, a senior editor at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and an interactive media columnist for Editor and Publisher, says the Web has evolved into an interactive forum where users can converse through chat rooms and instant messaging. It has also become participatory through the advent of blogs -- online journals or columns -- he said.

"We've come a long ways, but we still have a ways to go," he said.

In the early days of the Web, many news sites were little more than a collection of links to stories by The Associated Press and a few pieces of content repurposed from the newspaper or TV station. If you were lucky, there might be a photo in the story. With so many people using the Web today for news, TV networks, newspapers and magazines have been increasing the types of content they make available on the Web.

"Rich media and multimedia content are much more popular," Outing said. "Media companies are more willing to put in the money to produce it. They recognize that people can now use it."

Some media companies have been slow embrace the Web, he said, and in the meantime, they have found themselves facing increased competition from entrepreneurial sites, like craigslist.com, which is a popular bulletin board featuring free classifieds.

The biggest change has been effected by broadband, Outing said.

"In the past four or five years, the penetration of broadband has changed everything," he said. "The computer is always on and the information is always there."

There are 10 times more broadband users today than there were in June 2000, according to Pew.

The Internet generation Daboll, of Media Matrix, said broadband outnumbers dial-up as the connection of choice among people who log on from home.

Just a few years ago, the move from a 28.8k modem to 56k was enough to make many users ecstatic. These days many DSL and cable connections are up to 70 times faster than the old dial-up. The faster Web makes it much easier for people to watch audio, listen to video and share files.

The Web is changing the way people communicate, Daboll said. He pointed to the "Internet generation," teenagers who have grown as the Web as grown. One of their favorite tools is instant messaging, he said.

But the Internet isn't an orderly environment for the person who wants to pay bills, watch the latest music or take a virtual college class. It also can be a tempest. There are bad people out there -- hackers, pedophiles and thieves.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 1 in 25 adults was a victim of identity theft in 2003 and the number of people affected online continues to increase.

But the Web can also help combat ID theft. An FTC booklet with tips to prevent or deal with ID theft is accessible on the department's Web site. The agency says it has received more than 1.8 million visits.

And there's plain old fraud. The FTC said slightly more than half of the fraud-related claims it received in 2004 were Internet related, and many of the deceptions involved individuals or companies that used e-mail or a Web site.

Internet users are also vulnerable to spyware, computer viruses and annoying forms of advertising.

Advertisers are changing, too, trying to figure out how to best use the Web. JupiterResearch projects that Internet advertising will grow 27 percent, to $10.7 billion, in 2005.

The increase in demands of the Web has even affected the way Media Matrix serves its clients, generally companies looking to best place their advertisements.

"The nature of what we do has changed from ratings and ranking to more broadly covering what goes on the Web," Daboll said. "Looking at actual number or searches and looking at actual expenditures by household by category -- for instance money spent on travel sites versus retail sites."

A decade from now, who knows what statistics and functions they'll be measuring.

After all, 10 years ago, few people imagined it wouldn't be long before you'd be able get a satellite picture of a city a continent away or read the local news from three time zones away or even order pizza without talking to the folks a few blocks away.

 

Posted Sat Jun 27th, 2005 - 9:57pm by CPC  Top of page

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The surprising spectrum of U.S. evangelicals

By Paul Nussbaum Staff Writer THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

PHILADELPHIA (June 19, 2005)--The only bumper sticker on the Rev. Ted Haggard's red pickup truck proclaims: Vote for Pedro.

Haggard, founder and senior minister of the 11,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, is president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Pedro is Pedro Sanchez, the inscrutable candidate for class president in the screwball comedy movie Napoleon Dynamite.

This is not the politics usually associated with evangelical Christians.

Frequently portrayed as uniformly reactionary or fundamentalist, evangelicals - drawing increased attention because of their pivotal role in the 2004 election - are actually an amalgam of unpredictable, sometimes contradictory, strains of Christianity across a broad spectrum of the nation.

And many evangelicals are interested in far more than the hot-button issues of abortion and homosexual marriage often used to define them. Evangelicals have been active in seeking increased aid for Africa, fighting poverty, battling the traffic in sex slaves, and supporting efforts to reduce global warming.

Evangelicals are not just Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and George W. Bush. They are also Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

And Haggard. And the Rev. Rick Warren, the California preacher who wrote The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold 23 million copies since 2002. And Ron Sider, founder of Evangelicals for Social Action in Wynnewood.

"Evangelical does not mean any specific political ideology," said Haggard, a conservative who talks regularly with President Bush and met earlier this month in Washington with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"I think the power base is shifting," said Haggard, who sees a new generation of leaders less bombastic and more socially active than televangelists such as Falwell and Robertson. "We think differently than the previous generation, the 1980s Moral Majority crowd."

Most Americans consider religion an important part of their lives (83 percent say it is "very" or "fairly" important). But there is no consensus, even among evangelicals, on how to translate faith into action.

"The vast majority in the evangelical center are regularly embarrassed by what Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson say, but they don't go around issuing press releases attacking them," said Sider, author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.

The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million evangelicals, last year adopted a new manifesto for social engagement, For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility, cowritten by Sider. In it, the group spells out a broad agenda: "To protect the vulnerable and poor, to guard the sanctity of human life, to further racial reconciliation and justice, to renew the family, to care for creation, and to promote justice, freedom and peace."

"God measures societies by how they treat the people at the bottom," the document states.

Broadly defined, evangelicals are Christians who have had a personal or "born-again" religious conversion, believe the Bible is the word of God, and believe in spreading their faith. (The term comes from Greek; to "evangelize" means to preach the gospel.) The term is typically applied to Protestants.

Millions of Americans fit the definition, although estimates vary on exactly how many. Forty-two percent of Americans described themselves as evangelical Christians in a Gallup poll in April, while 22 percent said they met all three measures in a Gallup survey in May. The National Association of Evangelicals says about 25 percent of adult Americans are evangelicals. Larry Eskridge, associate director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College, puts the figure about 33 percent.

"If you're talking about 33 percent of the population, they're not this 'other.' They're your next-door neighbor," Eskridge said.

And, like many neighbors, evangelicals can be maddeningly difficult to categorize.

They are Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and other mainline Protestants, as well as Southern Baptists and members of nondenominational mega-churches. Without a uniform theology, they vary widely in interpretations of the Bible and its application to their lives and nation.

With these and other strands of evangelical Christianity, "sometimes the most visible and those who shout the loudest are considered the core," said Bishop C. Milton Grannum, minister of New Covenant Church of Philadelphia, most of whose 3,000 members are African American. "But there are thousands of African American and Hispanic churches that are evangelical, and they should not feel threatened by the fact that they are not as visible."

Black evangelicals are often "charismatics," a trait shared with Pentecostals and many other evangelicals. Charismatics believe the active influence of the Holy Spirit is evident in such practices as faith healing and speaking in tongues.

Despite a common ground of Scripture and tradition, various evangelical congregations often inhabit parallel universes, with different priorities, experiences and politics.

"There's a difference in the way we identify politically because there is a difference in the way we identify, period," said Grannum of black evangelicals. "We have had totally different experiences... . The church reflects the larger community."

Edmund Gibbs, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., said the popularity of right-wing politics is overstated.

"Many of us who consider ourselves to be evangelical Christians would want to distance ourselves from that kind of alignment," said Gibbs, an Episcopalian. "And it is very much an American thing; most evangelicals in Europe would distance themselves from the politics associated with evangelicals in the United States."

Haggard said his mission is to broaden the movement's base and its vision.

"My role is to help the various members of the body to respect each other and work together... to make life better for everybody."

 

Many Faces of Evangelicalism

Fundamentalists: They reject the theory of evolution, believe in the literal accuracy of the Bible, regard Catholics as non-Christians, and believe in separating themselves from the secular world. They do not seek to change the culture through legislation. The number of fundamentalists "is very small," said Jonathan Pait, spokesman for Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist college in Greenville, S.C. Larry Eskridge, associate director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College, estimates the number at "several million."

Traditionalists: They are characterized by efforts to maintain traditional beliefs and practices in the face of a changing society. Predominantly Republican (70 percent, compared with 10 percent independent and 20 percent Democrat), this group of white Protestants, with well-developed conservative political connections and ambitions, is closest to the popular notion of the "religious right." They represent about 12.6 percent of the population, or about 28 million adults, according to last year's National Survey of Religion and Politics by the Bliss Institute of the University of Akron.

Centrists and modernists: They are less tradition-oriented and more willing to adapt their beliefs and practices. They are more likely to identify themselves as Democrats or independents than as Republicans. They represent about 13.7 percent of the population, according to the Bliss survey, about 30 million people.

Black evangelicals: Most of the nation's 21 million black Protestants fit the evangelical definition, but their politics are the reverse of the white traditionalists: 71 percent identify themselves as Democrats and 11 percent as Republicans, according to the Bliss survey.

Hispanic evangelicals: Many of the six million Hispanic Protestants are converts from Catholicism, and they skew slightly toward Democratic politics.

Catholic evangelicals: This counterintuitive term identifies Roman Catholics who embrace much of the public-witness style of evangelical Protestants. "They have the fire and zeal usually associated with evangelicals," said William Portier, a religious studies professor at the University of Dayton and the author of the recent essay, "Here Come the Evangelical Catholics." Portier estimates the number of evangelical Catholics at 10 percent to 20 percent of the under-40 Catholic population.

 

Posted Thu Jun 23rd, 2005 - 10:44am by CPC  Top of page

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Haute couture

PARIS From The Economist print edition

A new aeroplane has been designed entirely in virtual reality

THIS week, on a Paris runway, the latest designs were on display—of aircraft, that is, rather than clothes. Sleek models, such as Gulfstream's G450 business jet, jostled for attention alongside the latest in plus-size aviation fashion, the curvaceous Airbus A380. But when it comes to attention to detail, this year's most exceptional debut was the Falcon 7X, which made its first public flight. Designed and built by Dassault, a French aviation company based in Paris, the 7X lays claim to being the first fly-by-wire business jet, as well as the first aircraft to be designed entirely in a virtual environment. This latter claim bears some dissection as it hardly comes as a surprise to learn that a new aeroplane was developed using computer-aided design, or that its various possible wing shapes had been simulated to predict airflow and performance before the craft had so much as a sniff at a wind-tunnel test.

The makers of the 7X, however, say that its digital design process went beyond anything that has been done before. Every aspect of the aircraft was modelled in three dimensions, as you would expect, but everything from construction to refuelling and maintenance was also included in the simulation. A single database was used to define the aircraft's design, including all 40,000 of its parts and 200,000 fasteners. This database was shared between workers at the 30 or so firms which contributed different parts of the plane. Before a single piece of metal was cut, everyone involved, from hydraulics specialists to electrical engineers, could walk around the plane in virtual reality and iron out conflicts over what went where. The design extended to the robots that would create the tools to fit the parts of the plane together, and to the aeroplane's maintenance in later years. Can a mechanic actually reach a particular component to replace it, and is it physically possible to turn the spanner? Nothing was left to chance.

As a result, the first plane to be constructed was perfect: there was no physical prototype. All the parts were manufactured and put together, and then the plane was flown—its first, private flight took place just over a month ago. This also means that the first plane off the production line will be identical to the 100th. In aviation, the first few dozen aircraft of a particular design are normally tweaked as unanticipated problems arise. In the past, for example, wires would turn out not to be in quite the right place and would have to be moved, says Olivier Villa of Dassault. Although the design phase took longer than expected, Dassault found that manufacturing time and tool costs were cut in half. These costs can account for 25% of the overall cost of a new aircraft, says Mr Villa.

Another benefit is that Dassault can produce customised versions of the 7X in three months rather than six. Snazzy software will let prospective buyers of the eight-passenger corporate jet walk around their chosen design before they buy. The 7X is already selling well, even though it costs an eye-watering $40m and is still over a year away from being certified to fly. Virtual reality may be removing the art from aeroplane design, but Jean-Paul Gaultier would surely be impressed.

 

 

Posted Wed Jun 22nd, 2005 - 9:29am by CPC  Top of page

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Golden-Age Comic Book Covers

 

 

Ben's comic book cover collection.  Fun!

 

Excerpt and description that goes along with this cover from 1948:

 

An absolutely classic cover that's always a favorite with collectors! This one has it all: A beautiful bound girl, a robot, a spaceman with raygun... I guess the only thing missing is a tentacled alien. Without a doubt, this is one of Alex Schomburg's greatest airbrush covers. It's got beautiful composition, color and execution - and I just love the delicate pink mountain range in the background. I could go on and on, but I won't; Just enjoy the artwork!!!

 

 

 

 

Posted Tue Jun 21st, 2005 - 12:13am by CPC  Top of page

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A Wireless World, Bound To Sockets

Consumers Crave Better Batteries for Gadgets

By Yuki Noguchi | Washington Post Staff Writer

Here's the paradox of the portable age: The electronic devices that free people to go anywhere but never lose touch also keep them bound by cords and plugs to electric sockets. Sophisticated devices with color screens, video and gaming features demand more of the batteries that power them and, without steady recharging, their users plunge from being in touch to feeling impotent.

"I usually have to recharge it at two-hour intervals," salesman Joe Kammerer said of his laptop computer. "Then it starts complaining that it needs food. . . . It stresses me out."

Scientists are getting better at mixing the right chemicals to get more power out of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, but there are cost and physical limitations on how much energy can go into a small cell. Intel is testing battery technology and working with hardware manufacturers to introduce laptops usable for roughly eight hours without external power. Those computers could be on the market by 2008.

Today, people are still locked in a power struggle. David Wochner, a lawyer in Washington, last week called the tech department at his firm because his BlackBerry appeared not to be taking a charge. "I'm now down to two bars and I'm getting really nervous," he said. "The fact that you have to keep track of charging and making sure you're getting it done is a pain. The phone is driving me bananas."

In technology circles, experts sing about the promise of convergence -- phone, computing, e-mail, television, gaming and photography on one device -- yet most people still carry separate gadgets for each function. And that requires a host of different chargers.

"I have so many chargers, can I just tell you?" Kammerer said, rattling off the list: Two laptop chargers -- one at work, one in the briefcase. Another for the iPod, "although the cord is too short, so you can't plug it in and put it on the table, so it mostly stays on the floor."

He has more than a dozen chargers for his cell phone. There's one in the bedroom, where he puts his spare change, so that he won't forget to stick the phone in his pocket each morning. "I leave one in my suitcase in the front pocket. It kind of lives there" so he won't forget it when he travels. He remembers running to stores between meetings to replace forgotten chargers, or bumming one off of a client. Kammerer has "a charger graveyard" of a dozen or more spares he bought on business trips.

"If you switch [cell phone] brands, it won't work," Kammerer said of his many chargers. "I wish they were standardized. My briefcase gets heavy."

Manufacturers argue that providing their own chargers ensures the quality of the service, said Jeff Joseph, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. Also, at $30 to $50 for a charger, "it's an important revenue source."

There is a new universal power adapter called iGo that comes with specialized tips, each about the size of a bottle cap, that can be exchanged to fit different devices -- iPods, almost any cell phone, laptops, BlackBerrys. It can also charge several devices at once.

"The average consumer carries 5.5 power devices," said Charles R. Mollo, president and chief executive of Mobility Electronics Inc., which makes the iGo. "The key problem we solve is to make life easier."

All griping about battery power aside, many users agree that today's mobile devices are an improvement on what came before. Remember the days of 20-pound "portable" computers and breadbox-size boomboxes weighted down with D-size batteries?

"There's no way I'd ever be willing to go back to the way it used to be," Wochner said.

 

Posted Mon Jun 20th, 2005 - 8:13am by CPC  Top of page

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The Payphone Project

Here's a website I first came across more than 10 years ago -- it contains stories, pictures, phone numbers and news from payphones and public telephony. 

When's the last time you used a payphone?

 

Photo on left depicts a phone graveyard  in NYC.