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Education

Khan Academy Delivers 100,000 Lectures Daily 213

Posted by kdawson from the soup-to-nuts-to-linear-algebra dept.
eldavojohn writes "Working from the comfort of his home, Salman Khan has made available more than 1,500 mini-lectures to educate the world. Subjects range from math and physics to finance, biology, and current economics. Kahn Academy amounts to little more than a YouTube channel and one very devoted man. He is trying to provide education in the way he wished he had been taught. With more than 100,000 video views a day, the man is making a difference for many students. In his FAQ he explains how he knows he is being effective. What will probably ensure his popularity (and provide a legacy surpassing that of most highly paid educators) is that everything is licensed under Creative Commons 3.0. He only needs his time, a $200 Camtasia Recorder, an $80 Wacom Bamboo Tablet, and a free copy of SmoothDraw3. While the lecturing may not be quite up to the Feynman level, it's a great augmenter for advanced learners, and a lifeline for those without much access to learning resources."
Power

Germany Fired Up Over Clean Coal 385

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the breathe-easier dept.
MIT's Technology Review is reporting on the world's first coal-driven power plant designed to capture and store C02 emissions. "Vattenfall's small 30-megawatt plant burns the lignite in air from which nitrogen has been removed. Combustion in the resulting oxygen-rich atmosphere produces a waste stream of carbon dioxide and water vapor, three-quarters of which is recycled back into the boiler. By repeating this process, known as oxyfuel, it is possible to greatly concentrate the carbon dioxide. After particles and sulfur have been removed, and water vapor has been condensed out, the waste gas can be 98 percent carbon dioxide, according to Vattenfall. The separated carbon dioxide will be cooled down to -28 C and liquefied. Starting next year, the plan is to transport it by truck 150 miles northwest, to be injected 3,000 meters underground into a depleted inland gas field in Altmark. Ideally, in the future, the gas will be carried by pipeline to underground storage, says Vattenfall. "

Comment Agreement with resellers (Score 1) 935

by Mr. Spleen (#24004623) Attached to: Apple Laptop Upgrades Costing 200% More Than Dells

Long ago, when Apple's retail channel partners were much more important than they are now (what with the Apple retail stores and online store being so successful), there was concern among them that Apple would be able to buy upgrade parts in bulk, get lower prices, and undercut the pricing that the resellers offered, thus negatively impacting the resllers' business.

Apple made an agreement not to compete with its resellers on pricing of these upgrade items. This agreement is still in place, which is why the pricing on upgrades purchased directly from Apple are so high. The same is true of service parts; replacement hard drives and RAM are wildly expensive when purchased through Apple for repair purposes.

I am fairly certain this agreement affected other parts such as video cards, logic boards, and power supplies, which is why getting Macs repaired can be so bloody expensive -- Apple is the only real source for all of these proprietary parts.

I know all this because I work at an Apple reseller, as a technician. I deal with this every day.
Science

Ceiling Height May Affect Problem-Solving Skills 279

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the how-low-can-you-go dept.
An anonymous reader writes to mention that a recent University of Minnesota study suggests that ceiling height may affect problem-solving skills. "'When people are in a room with a high ceiling, they activate the idea of freedom. In a low-ceilinged room, they activate more constrained, confined concepts.' Either can be good. The concept of freedom promotes information processing that encourages greater variation in the kinds of thoughts one has, said Meyers-Levy, professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota. The concept of confinement promotes more detail-oriented processing."

Mercury Contamination Vs. Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs 801

Posted by CmdrTaco from the why-can't-it-just-be-easy dept.
phyrebyrd writes "How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labor — unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health."

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