Interesting Reading…

China Makes, The World Takes - A long and fascinating article about China’s manufacturing infrastructure.

A Little Laptop With Big Ambitions - “In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte unveiled an idea for bridging the technology divide between rich nations and the developing world. It was captivating in its utter simplicity: design a $100 laptop and, within four years, get it into the hands of up to 150 million of the world’s poorest schoolchildren…”

Driving Honda’s Fuel-Cell FCXM - “Before hustling off to LAX for my flight home from the auto show last Sunday, I spent a morning driving what may be the most advanced road vehicle on the planet: the Honda FCX Clarity. This fuel-cell-powered car, unveiled in production-ready form at the convention center earlier in the week, will be built in small numbers and leased next summer to retail customers for their everyday use…”

Military deceptions - the lengths that military planners will go to to create deception.

BFTP, from 2001 - Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work - “Rather than unveil a Velveeta Mac, Jobs thinks he can do a better job than experienced retailers at moving the beluga. Problem is, the numbers don’t add up. Given the decision to set up shop in high-rent districts in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Jobs’s hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., the leases for Apple’s stores could cost $1.2 million a year each, says David A. Goldstein, president of researcher Channel Marketing Corp. Since PC retailing gross margins are normally 10% or less, Apple would have to sell $12 million a year per store to pay for the space. Gateway does about $8 million annually at each of its Country Stores. Then there’s the cost of construction, hiring experienced staff. “I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake,” says Goldstein.” [In this case, caviar beat velveeta.]

Astronauts Spacewalk, Finish ISS Project - “A pair of spacewalking astronauts wired the international space station’s newest room on Saturday, crossing the last major task off their to-do list before the next shuttle mission early next month…”

School officials unite in banning Wikipedia - “The Great Meadows (N.J.) Middle School librarian hasn’t been a fan of the online encyclopedia for years. This fall, she decided it was time to make others at her school aware of the Web site’s pitfalls. She put up a sign saying “Just Say ‘No’ to Wikipedia” over the computers in the school library…”

All the parts of a car

Six Ideas That Will Change the World - “They are making orange peel plastic and robots that can heal themselves. They are six researchers with six ideas that will one day change the world.”

SocioTown Trailer - “The trailer shows several aspects of SocioTown’s social system such as the Social Network interface and Inner Circle. The trailer also shows the music mode in action.”

Countdown to a Meltdown - “America’s coming economic crisis. A look back from the election of 2016…”