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Submission + - Electric Vehicles? No. How about a better engine? (xconomy.com)

hlovy writes: Don Runkle has a bit of news for everyone. It’s engines, not batteries, that will make automobiles cleaner and more efficient. “We unabashedly say that we have the best solution,” says Runkle, the CEO of Allen Park, MI-based engine developer EcoMotors International.

The startup, which brought in $23 million in Series B financing this summer from Menlo Park, CA-based Khosla Ventures and Seattle billionaire Bill Gates, has designed an opposing piston, opposing cylinder engine that users fewer parts than traditional motors do and generates more power from each stroke of the engine, CEO Runkle says. He says the “opoc” engine is smaller, lighter, and less expensive than the motors already out there, and a more viable option than switching automobile fleets over to electrical power.

Comment Re:Fuck You (Score 2, Insightful) 474

The amount of IT knowledge it takes to get a job in most help desk positions is minimal. Most companies cycle through so many people frustrated with their unrewarding careers that the management is happy as long as the first tier can clear browser cache. Hell, they're happy if someone is answering the phone in a friendly manner... all of the troubleshooting steps these days are put into "Knowledge Bases" in which their 'trained' technicians follow the step by step procedures to try and fix the issue. The REAL Tech support isn't reached until the 2nd or 3rd level normally... and still at that point some of the idiots sneak through the filters and make it into the upper tiers

Comment Re:Squeegee kid (Score 1) 269

It was a martian. You see about a billion years ago, the Martian civilization discovered the secret of consiousness. Eventually the robots they created displaced them, and then when the planet's resources were depleted, they left for the stars leaving behind some curators. These curators are not really consious, their robotic creators ensured this so that they would be reliable in their task of preserving their martian heritage, but sometimes they do act in ways that are, almost uncannily lifelike.

This was the case here. The Martian curator bots find the rovers interesting, or rather, they find their controllers interesting. They periodically dust the solar panels so that they will be able to keep roving. They are curious as to what they are doing, maybe even appreciative that someone has visited to appreciate what they have devoted the past eon to preserving. For them, watching us look is most gratifying. They really ache to communicate with us and show us all the Martian history in their underground vaults, but because of their programming to remain inconspicuous, they can't. Still, they are helpful when they can be and not give themselves away.

+1 Awesome

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