This "sustainable urban farm," powered by wind, biofuels and solar energy, opens to the public in Manhattan.

Pay no attention to Reg stating otherwise

The Army is downplaying its own regulations requiring soldiers to get their commander's approval before blogging or sending email after the restrictions raised concerns about free speech on the net.

For a long time, Dell's direct sales approach was considered to be far superior to its competitors' retail strategy, as the company was able to tightly manage its inventory and keep costs low. But as laptop sales started to grow in importance, the direct sales model started to lose its luster. Suddenly, it became a disadvantage that Dell customers couldn't go into a store and and actually see and touch a product before they bought it. Thus, companies like HP and Apple, which had considerable retail presence, were able to take market share away from the onetime leader. For the most part, Dell has stuck to its guns, but it has made a few timid attempts to sell through retail channels. These efforts haven't accomplished a whole lot though, so there continues to be a lot of pressure on the company to come up with a serious retail strategy. An article in BusinessWeek suggests that Dell could solve its problems by buying tired electronics retailer Radio Shack, which it could use as as a direct outlet. While this would, in theory, give the company an instant retail presence, it would create a lot of new headaches for the company. The obvious problem is that the company has no experience running a nationwide retail chain, and it's safe to assume that the integration would create some major problems. Also, it's important to consider the customer experience. Radio Shacks are nice when you're in a pinch and need some new cable, but the small, dingy stores don't make for a nice environment for more serious electronics shopping; on this measure, it's easy to see why Best Buy has done a lot better over the years. At this point, making a purchase like this and becoming a big, vertically integrated distributor would be the equivalent of a premature Hail Mary. For some history on this, they should take a look at Gateway's frustrating experience as a retailer. At this point, more incremental changes, like improving its product image and getting more shelf space at big retailers, would make more sense. As for Radio Shack, when even The Onion sees you as a target, you know things have gotten ugly.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Just last month we witnessed a gigantic skyscraper / solar tower hybrid that generates a whopping 390-kilowatts of energy, but even that looks like child's play compared to the 40-story solar power plant that resides in Spain. The expansive system consists of a towering concrete building, a field of 600 (and growing) sun-tracking mirrors that are each 120-square meters in size, and a receiver that converts concentrated solar energy from the heliostats into steam that eventually drives the turbines. Currently, only one field of mirrors is up and running, but even that produces enough power to energize 6,000 homes, and the creators are hoping to see the entire population of Seville (600,000 folks) taken care of solely from sunlight. So if you're eager to see what's likely the greenest solar power plant currently operating, be sure to slip on some shades, tag the read link, and peep the video.

[Via Wired]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Whippets are bred for speed. These dogs have the appearance of a small greyhound and have been clocked sprinting to speeds approaching 40 miles per hour over a 200-yard racing course. Recently scientists discovered a genetic mutation that helps to explain why some whippets run even faster than others.