But it's difficult to keep up with the mobile market, it's such a moving target !

As opposed to the "unbiased" generic computing press I suppose ?

It might not have done anything to further their propagation (although the fact that MS paid to have them removed at least indicated that they might have been worth a look), but I still find it very puzzling that in this day and age, someone actually thought "oh noes, our sekret filez are on the intarweb, I'll just pay to have them removed" (duh). Maybe he was from sales, or marketing.

Removing stuff that's on the network works fine for the media publishers after all, so Microsoft shouldn't have any problems doing it.

Mopeds sold fairly well back in the 70s - 80s when we had the oil/fuel price hikes. After the prices dropped way down, they stopped selling as well. Today those cheap 50cc scooters with no pretense of pedaling are fairly common. Technically not a moped, but I see a lot of them, and I live in pickup/suv country so I know they must be way more common in the cities now.

I've had both kinds of "moped", the motor assist real bicycle (Aquabug/Tanaka/Sears) and the "you can sort of pedal it, too, but it is stupid" small motorcycle kind (Puch/Sears), and I think the assisted bicycle route was a better idea for this sort of transportation, way more of a true "hybrid" human-engine. The one I used to have was a front mounted (on about any bicycle at all, had mine on an older steel framed 10 speed) small engine that was easy to bump start on and off so you really could pedal most of the time and just bump it for like hill climbing or serious cargo hauling, etc. It was light weight enough so you could still hoist your bike on your shoulders and bring it inside upstairs say if you lived in an apartment and had no garage, etc. That was dang spiffy and helped with "moped retention security". Those things were great and got 200 MPG. That was a gas engine two stroke I believe around 22cc. I tried some electric assist versions back then as well (talking 70s again) but the battery tech just wasn't there to make them useful, they were neither fast enough nor had any sort of credible range, they used like sealed lead acid battery tech, like the original bagphones had or like you see in home UPS systems still. Just not enough oomph there.

I think a true three way multi-hybrid (fuel engine/electric assist to the drive train/batteries/still a normal bicycle you could pedal) could be built today and come in even more efficient because of lighter weight materials, etc., and even make use of regen braking, or perhaps even hydraulic/pneumatic regen tech for take off boost using in-the-frame compressed air storage.

Since I first heard of this strange setup, I too have wondered why nobody has played with the cams, the potential for harmless shenanigans making fun of the security loonies is limitless.

I kept deferring my plan for another vacation in the US until the security theatre calmed down, looks like I'll have to wait for another few years. That is if they ultimately allow anybody in at all by then.

But isn't the first rule of flight club that you don't...
Oh, wait, never mind.

You don't actually expect the US to take notice, or care, of what happens in the "here be dragons"* areas of the world, do you ?

(*) as seen by a large portion of its population

That's fine for generic fine but not for media files. If you dabble a bit in photography, you absolutely want preview view, not a list. 300 files named _IGP* aren't very helpful when you're quickly looking for something and you don't want to be bothered with a dedicated app.

I'm pretty sure he's still stuck in an interrogation room at a US border somewhere...

TSA : So tell me again what you're doing with all those kid's name and addresses while we finish checking all those laptops
Santa : Look, I just explained it all for the fifth time to that other government guy just a couple hours ago !

....the commercial works. It makes you want one...of each....

I bet a lot of folks said similar to that when it went from live theater to silent film, then from visual film plus audio, the "talkies". And so on. Whether it is good or bad, meh, it just becomes different.

A real movie with no effects at all would be shot entirely live, like videoing a theater presentation. Shoot, just use a static camera that covers the whole stage, that would be "more pure".

I haven't seen Avatar yet, holding out for the feelies with sensurround smellovision.

Deep cycle lead acid can last a lot longer than that with shallow cycling, intelligent charging and the use of a desulphator. Mine are over ten years old now, work fine. They've lasted that long because I never beat on them.

    Telco exchanges had/have big aquarium looking lead acid backup batteries that lasted twenty years then tons got sold off cheap to enthusiasts where they were put into service for the earlier adopter off grid solar guys. This is *old* mother earth news and home power magazine info, and the battery subject has been looked at in depth by literally hundreds of people, and year after decade lead acid still rules for the cash involved for large applications, until you get to utility scale, where it is pumped water storage and turbines, etc.

Lead acid is still the king for stationary storage purposes when it comes to amp hours/dollars, for home use. I seriously doubt that lithium ion will come close for a long time, I mean, look at what replacement cellphone and laptop batteries cost.

  And how many just car starter batteries do we see at whatever*mart or the auto parts stores that use lithium tech yet? Yep, about zilch, people don't want to spend a thousand bucks for a starter battery. There are still some advances in lead acid out there, the most common you see for cars is the spiral system from Optima http://www.optimabatteries.com/home.php , and the Firefly company http://www.fireflyenergy.com/ is allegedly going to start having more fleet sales "soon" with their lead "sponge" tech, and perhaps eventually normal retail.

The cheapest locally sourced way to get lead acid today that I have found is to look around at forklift stores and get an electric traction battery pack @ 12 to 48 VDC (probably other voltages as well, haven't looked for awhile now).

They are *heavy* and come in steel cases with lifting points and welded bus bars.

Here is the real sandia labs press release with more detail

http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/glitter-sized-solar-photovoltaics-produce-competitive-results/

They suggest using an industrial "pick and place" machine to assemble the tiny cells onto a substrate for making the panel, at a cost of 1/10th a penny a "glitter", and you can also add a concentrator above each cell

So I don't know with government work like this, do they license patents, is it automatically open (it should be) or what? Seems like a nice breakthrough, but it still just adds to the list of other incredible breakthroughs that have lead to not much at all for reducing watts per dollar at the retail level with solar PV in general. If some one company gets it and it is locked up in a for profit patent for years and years, they will just reduce their own costs then charge the normal global prices we have seen for the past long time, around ~ five bucks per watt. None of these dozens of breakthroughs we have seen are going to be all that useful until that situation changes.

Energy independence is a national security and economic recovery issue, (along with all this climate change jazz they keep going on about) so maybe this tech will be freely licensed to drop prices and actually get this stuff to the end consumer in mass quantities.

Those defortunate wooshers must have disirregarded all previal sarcatically full replitations yoused hear. I agreed, be-shortened bus haul of flaim.