Monday, February 22, 2010
ihop free pancake day 2010
Whooooah! ihop free pancake day 2010. It means that IHOP - International House of Pancakes - said that to celebrate the Free National Pancake Day 2010 on Tuesday Feb 23, 2010, IHOP will give each customer one free short stack (three) of its famous buttermilk pancakes from 7.am to 10 pm. It made this claim in its website at Ihoppancakeday.com so why not check it out? I will be looking for an IHOP near me! How about you?
Lincoln Tunnel Closed
Yes, Outbound Lanes Closed For Emergency Repairs. Potholes have to be fixed! City officials are advising motorists to use the Holland Tunnel or the George Washington Bridge instead. Traffic in New Jersey and New York is affected. Please drive carefully!
There is a cool video of the drive through Lincoln Tunnel here. How did they do that? It looks like the camera is gliding along the roof! They must have had a camera on a pole... ya think?
Traffic through this route to Manhattan and beyond should get back to normal soon. Let's hope!
There is a cool video of the drive through Lincoln Tunnel here. How did they do that? It looks like the camera is gliding along the roof! They must have had a camera on a pole... ya think?
Traffic through this route to Manhattan and beyond should get back to normal soon. Let's hope!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Bloom Box a clean energy breakthrough?
Bloom Energy has been touting the effectiveness of new technology it's been rolling out to large companies. Their Bloom Box fuel cell system was described tonight in a "60 Minutes" segment, and detractors claim that this may be fuel cell energy storage combined with conventional fossil fuel energy technology. The secretive nature of the Bloom Energy dealings with the public have not made it easy to arrive at valid conclusions. Many people are wondering, "exactly what is a bloombox"?
Bloom Energy claims that their Bloom Boxes could replace the existing electricity grid with clean, easy to maintain fuel cell systems that run on a variety of fuels, water, and oxygen, with no combustion. They say that smaller units could be deployed in homes to provide both electricity and heating.
They are developing new solid oxide fuel cells, or SOFCs, which use ceramic instead of platinum catalyst (lower cost).
Current Bloom Boxes cost between $700,000 and $800,000 but there appear to be multiple sources of subsidies that may bring the cost down for the large companies buying them now. The current units can power a large commercial building or about 100 homes.
More will likely be revealed at a Wednesday morning event by Bloom Energy. Looks like there are still questions on how the Bloom Boxes actually work, how they can save big companies big money, and how and when any scaled-down versions may be brought to the consumer market for individual residences.
What is the Bloom Energy Stock Symbol? Bloom Energy Corporation. It's a private company, that's how they can get away with being so secretive.
Bloom Energy claims that their Bloom Boxes could replace the existing electricity grid with clean, easy to maintain fuel cell systems that run on a variety of fuels, water, and oxygen, with no combustion. They say that smaller units could be deployed in homes to provide both electricity and heating.
They are developing new solid oxide fuel cells, or SOFCs, which use ceramic instead of platinum catalyst (lower cost).
Current Bloom Boxes cost between $700,000 and $800,000 but there appear to be multiple sources of subsidies that may bring the cost down for the large companies buying them now. The current units can power a large commercial building or about 100 homes.
More will likely be revealed at a Wednesday morning event by Bloom Energy. Looks like there are still questions on how the Bloom Boxes actually work, how they can save big companies big money, and how and when any scaled-down versions may be brought to the consumer market for individual residences.
What is the Bloom Energy Stock Symbol? Bloom Energy Corporation. It's a private company, that's how they can get away with being so secretive.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Shattered Horizon gives gamers a free trip to space
Reports are that Shattered Horizon will be free to play online this weekend on Steam, and the game will be offered at half price.
This all comes as Futuremark Games Studio released their Moonrise four level map pack for Shattered Horizon. The game is a multiplayer first person shooter that takes place entirely in zero gravity environments. You and up to 32 other players battle to control huge fragments of Moon rock, hollowed-out asteroids, and the ruined remains of the International Space Station. Lock and load!
Note: Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 or higher and Windows Vista or Windows 7. Get started here.
This all comes as Futuremark Games Studio released their Moonrise four level map pack for Shattered Horizon. The game is a multiplayer first person shooter that takes place entirely in zero gravity environments. You and up to 32 other players battle to control huge fragments of Moon rock, hollowed-out asteroids, and the ruined remains of the International Space Station. Lock and load!
Note: Shattered Horizon requires DirectX 10 or higher and Windows Vista or Windows 7. Get started here.
Ubisoft DRM Pisses off PC Gamers
New games from Uber-game-makers Ubisoft are requiring an Internet connection on their new games. No, we don't mean doing a quick online registration, then disconnecting. We mean requiring a persistent connection to be maintained DURING game play! Reports from PC Gamer and others say that if you get disconnected while playing, you're booted out of the game. All your progress since the last checkpoint or game "save" is lost. Your only options are to quit to Windows or wait until you're reconnected.
Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII and maybe all other future games (like Splinter Cell: Conviction) from Ubisoft will come with this, a-hem, feature. This DRM is creating quite a stir among PC gamers, and it's safe to say many of them are not happy campers.
How does this nice new system work? It requires users to create an Ubisoft account, and install a front end Ubisoft application that will run in the background everytime an Ubisoft game is launched. Continuing game play requires an ongoing connection with Ubisoft servers. Thank you Big Brother! If Ubisoft server connection goes down, through no fault of a gamer, game play is halted. More details are here, but it's not pretty. Let's hope this is not an indication of the future of PC games. Can anyone say "boycott"?
Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII and maybe all other future games (like Splinter Cell: Conviction) from Ubisoft will come with this, a-hem, feature. This DRM is creating quite a stir among PC gamers, and it's safe to say many of them are not happy campers.
How does this nice new system work? It requires users to create an Ubisoft account, and install a front end Ubisoft application that will run in the background everytime an Ubisoft game is launched. Continuing game play requires an ongoing connection with Ubisoft servers. Thank you Big Brother! If Ubisoft server connection goes down, through no fault of a gamer, game play is halted. More details are here, but it's not pretty. Let's hope this is not an indication of the future of PC games. Can anyone say "boycott"?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ash Wednesday
Today is Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday). Signifying the start of a festival called Carnival, Carnaval, Carnevale, Mardi Gras, or Winter Festival for many revelers, Fat Tuesday is also an occasion for the faithful to fuel up on pancakes or other good food. The 40-day season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, a time of reflection, personal denial, and repentance for Christians, in advance of Easter.
For those who want to learn more about the holiday celebrations, read about the events and see photos from various parts of the world here.
There is a planned Lenten Witness event for each Friday of the Lenten season at the White House!
A Christian tradition of Ash Wednesday includes worship services, and a practice of placing ashes on the forehead of believers as a sign of repentance and penitence for one’s sins, and an acknowledgment of our frailty. We were formed from dust (Genesis 2:7) and although our bodies return to the Earth (Genesis 3:19), our spirits return to our Maker (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
The ashes applied to foreheaads were traditionally made from the palms used at the previous Palm Sunday ceremonies.
The 40-day Lenten season is viewed by many as a time of spiritual cleansing and renewal, in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
It's interesting that there is no mandate from scripture to observe Ash Wednesday or Lent. Instead of varying our routines with the seasons, we should match our routines with the scripture:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)
For those who want to learn more about the holiday celebrations, read about the events and see photos from various parts of the world here.
There is a planned Lenten Witness event for each Friday of the Lenten season at the White House!
A Christian tradition of Ash Wednesday includes worship services, and a practice of placing ashes on the forehead of believers as a sign of repentance and penitence for one’s sins, and an acknowledgment of our frailty. We were formed from dust (Genesis 2:7) and although our bodies return to the Earth (Genesis 3:19), our spirits return to our Maker (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
The ashes applied to foreheaads were traditionally made from the palms used at the previous Palm Sunday ceremonies.
The 40-day Lenten season is viewed by many as a time of spiritual cleansing and renewal, in preparation for the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
It's interesting that there is no mandate from scripture to observe Ash Wednesday or Lent. Instead of varying our routines with the seasons, we should match our routines with the scripture:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)
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