joshedwards.com

02:47 pm - So I've moved ...

I'm not dead, just in Dubai. Yep. Middle East Dubai. Persian Gulf Dubai.

Read all about it here: www.newlywedindubai.com

Peace!

12:05 pm - What the next day brings

One of my favorite bands is this little Orange County (CA) ska band called Suburban Legends. When I lived out in California we used to go see them repeatedly when they played these free shows at Downtown Disney.

They have this one song "Bring Spring Morning" that was on my list of banned songs after my last horrible breakup. Then I wrote about it again last year when the song kept popping up on my iPod. Like I said at the time, the song was one of the larger impetuses for me to escape Southern California.

So the band has a new album this spring, and the last song is a new rendition of "Bright Spring Morning". I guess this new arrangement was from a benefit show they did after their trombone player was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Bright Spring Morning




The time is right to begin


Let's get going once again


For once in your life just let go.



I'm getting sick of everything


Scared of what the next day brings


What I need is for you to follow my lead



The sun is shinning bright outside


I think I'll go for a ride


I plan not to ever return



Let's run away from here for good


Forget this dusty neighborhood


The open road is calling and begging for us.



Go roll down the window


Go crank up that radio


Let's drive until we hit the sky


It's not about where we will go


Let's start living life before we die.



If you want you can stay


But you'll regret the day


That you didn't follow your dreams


Imagine the wind in your hair


Blowing away all of your cares


So take my hand lets plan never to look back.



The sun is shinning bright outside


I think I'll go for a ride


I plan not to ever return



Let's run away from here for good


Forget this dusty neighborhood


The open road is calling and begging for us.



Go roll down the window


Go crank up that radio


Let's drive until we hit the sky


It's not about where we will go


Let's start living life before we die.

08:30 am - ... And Justice for All. Finally.

Well I got quite a surprise today when I logged into the iTunes Music Store.

08:20 am - LEGO Factory

Wow, check out the LEGO Factory over at the LEGO website.

They've developed software that lets you design a custom LEGO set in 3D, then send it to LEGO and they'll make the set for you.

When I have a little more free time and free money on my hands, I'm all over this.

11:16 pm - $100 Laptop progress

It looks like they've made some sweet progress on that $100 laptop that I've been following.

Here's a photo of the first working prototype:

Monday, July 24, 2006
Powering the $100 Laptop
An efficient handheld generator could help bring computing to the world's poor.

By Kevin Bullis

As the One Laptop per Child project, a nonprofit effort based in Cambridge, MA, nears the completion of its rugged and versatile laptop designed for school children in poor countries, a key component has fallen into place: an efficient, human-powered generator that could make the computer practical for children living in areas without reliable, affordable electricity.

The new generators, which will be field-tested beginning this October, abandon the bulky and inefficient hand-crank design featured on an early mock-up of the laptop in favor of a more compact off-laptop design that uses a pull string to spin a small generator. It was developed by Squid Labs, Emeryville, CA, a design and engineering group whose co-founders include several graduates of MIT's Media Lab, where the laptop project originated.

The $100 dollar laptop will include a 7.5-inch screen, a 500 megahertz processor, 500 megabytes of Flash memory, and wireless broadband for forming impromptu networks with other laptops. It will also be a multimedia workstation, supporting the playing and composing of music, for example.

The new generator will make the laptop much easier to power than it would be with a hand crank, in part, because the users will be able to operate the generator in a variety of ways, including holding the device (the size of two hockey pucks) in one hand and pulling the string with the other, or clamping the generator to a desk, attaching the string to one foot, and using leg power. "We wanted something that could take advantage of other muscle groups in the human body that can put out a lot more energy than the muscles that you get when you're just turning a crank," says Colin Bulthaup, a co-founder of Squid Labs.

To reach the project's goal of one minute of power generation for every ten minutes of laptop use, the generator would need to produce 20 watts (the laptop will require less than two watts in a primary application as an electronic textbook replacement). "With a hand-crank system, if you're gung-ho about it, you can get about five watts out of it. But you get tired after about a minute or so," says Geo Homsy, a partner and designer at Squid Labs. With the new system, generating 20 watts is comfortable, and it's possible to generate 10 watts for "as long as you want," the developers say.

The new generator is also quiet -- one of the key design requirements. "If you imagine an entire school room full of kids using this thing, it needs to be as quiet as possible. Otherwise it will drive everyone insane," Homsy says. Typical generators work best at high revolutions per minute, requiring noisy gears to step up the speed. The developers have done away with gears by custom-designing a generator that runs most efficiently at lower RPMs, a move that also makes possible a smaller device.

To customize the generator for children with varying strengths, or so that users can decide how hard they want to work, the design includes a computer chip that continuously adapts to how much resistance users feel. This electronic "variable motor loading" is like changing gears on a bicycle to go up a hill, Bulthaup says. "Each person pedals at the same speed, but a stronger person can push harder with each stroke. Our device automatically adjusts the loading to reach that optimum comfort/power point."

The device meets other key criteria, too, including durability and ease of use. If the string breaks, for instance, it can be easily replaced with a shoe string, or a similar object. And the generators should cost less than $10 apiece, Bulthaup says.

In an e-mail, Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the One Laptop per Child project, says the device is the best-performing of the many they've looked at so far, and that they intend to use the design with their laptops -- if it continues to perform well in tests and another, better design does not appear. Other human-power options may also be used, however, depending on the situation, says Mark Foster, the project's vice president of engineering and chief architect.

The $100 laptop developers are also working with several firms on an ambitious, related project: developing a long-lasting battery system to be paired with the generator (or to charge off AC power). This battery system will include "custom chemistry, unique electronics, and complex charge and discharge monitoring algorithms to deliver 2,000 battery cycles -- four times more than normal PCs," Foster says. A long charging session in the morning, for instance, would allow kids to use the laptop throughout the day, with the batteries storing enough energy for eight hours of work -- with enough left over for the computer to serve as a wireless mesh network router for another 16 hours.

The $100 laptop, which the developers expect to start shipping to interested countries next year, will actually cost $135 to manufacture at first, before it drops to a projected $100 by 2008.

The project is making steady progress, moving forward on its integrated circuit, software, and industrial designs, Foster says. Once everything is ready, the group plans to conduct extensive testing: they've set aside 500 laptops to be tested until they're destroyed -- to make sure they're rugged enough for rough environments.

11:05 pm - Apple iPhone soon?

The rumors of a completely Apple designed phone have been around for years. And now Engadget is reporting an August launch.

This would, in fact, coincide nicely with the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference which runs August 7-11.

This also would coincide nicely with the fact that I need a new cell phone. But hey, if there's no new Apple phone, I'm more than happy to get the Motorola SLVR.

08:58 am - Sell all of that Disney Stock before November 3rd ...

Holy Christ on a crutch, look what they've done now:

08:46 am - Lohan is in Trouble ...

As I've said before, I really don't hate Lindsey Lohan. But in the last few days I've seen these two tidbits on the internet, and they're just too awesome to not share.

The first is a column by Mice Age's Al Lutz about her 20th birthday party at Disneyland. I guess Disney kept Disneyland and California Adventure open late for her and her people, and they were drunk and high and rude to the Cast Members working there. Now, Lutz is a rabble-rouser and likes to create drama, that's for sure. But I can totally see this happening.

The second is even better, though. Check this letter out:

08:45 am - Hair Story

So I paid for a haircut yesterday. Which, to most people, wouldn't be news. But this was the first haircut I've paid for in over five years. Seriously.

The best part is that I actually wrote about my last paid-for haircut back on my brother's birthday in 2001. See, my barber had just left the ... well, read it. I think it's still pretty funny.

For the last five years I've been weilding the clippers myself, which has turned out some horrid hair and some totally passable hair. But yesterday I upgraded. Looks pretty sweet, too ...

08:43 am - New plates

So yesterday I took a drive down to Westborough, MA to meet up with my former Los Angeleno roommate who just moved home. And maybe it's just that I don't get out much anymore, or haven't been paying attention, but I saw two new license plates on the drive.

The first was Discover Florida's Oceans. It's a pretty cool looking plate. (Or "tag" as the Southerners would call it.)