"Cryptid" is a word coined by cryptozoologists (no surprise). It refers to any animal which is reported but not confirmed, including never-caught species and presumed-extinct ones. Michael Woodley here examines the use and misuse of the term. He rejects Dr. Charles Paxton's advice, which is that theorizing about cryptids is pointless, and we should use reports, not hypothesized creatures, as the basics for theorizing. COMMENT:...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Origin of the Chupacabra
I never thought the chupacabra (that is, the spiny-backed, blood-sucking animal, as opposed to the oddball canids tarred with the same name) was a real animal. It turned up in the 1990s, on an island of all places (Puerto Rico), and real creatures just don't pop out of the ground. There wasn't even any folklore about them before that. Ben Radford here traces the idea of the "goatsucker" to the creature in the movie Species. I'm...
Efficient battery-powered devices and alternate energy markets to drive power management growth in 2011
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Following a 41.6 percent boom in 2010, revenue growth in the global power management semiconductor market will slow significantly in 2011 but still will manage to increase at a double-digit pace, according to new IHS iSuppli research.Global power management semiconductor revenue will climb to $36.2 billion in 2011, up 13.9...
Google Finds It Hard to Reinvent Philanthropy - NYTimes.com
Google Finds It Hard to Reinvent Philanthropy - NYTimes.com: "Nearly five years later, however, the hyperbole looks more like hubris. DotOrg has narrowed to just one octave on the piano: engineering-related projects that often are the outgrowth of existing Google products. Dr. Brilliant was sidelined in early 2009 after his loose management style created much disenchantment in DotOrg’s ranks.The company’s top executives rarely...
LED Korea 2011: A success with new technology, latest products, and industry collaboration featured
SEOUL, KOREA: Amidst the backdrop of a growing global LED industry estimated at $100 billion and a local market projected to grow to 15 trillion Won by 2015, LED Korea 2011, held last week in Seoul, opened to increased attention and attendance. The event, organized by SEMI Korea and co-located with SEMICON Korea for the fifth time, is the largest exhibition in Korea focused on LED manufacturing and serving the solid state lighting...
Avnet Express launches EMEA-wide e-commerce site
PHOENIX, USA: Avnet Express, part of the Avnet Electronics Marketing operating group of Avnet Inc., is once again extending its online reach with the launch of a comprehensive e-Commerce website that now also encompasses Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The site, www.avnetexpress.eu, offers design engineers and purchasing executives at OEM and EMS firms access to inventory held in Europe. What’s more, they can also enjoy...
CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS: Planning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic Libraries
CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS: Planning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic Libraries Proposal Submission Deadline: February 28, 2011Planning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic Libraries A book edited by Mary Popp and Diane Dallis Indiana University Libraries Bloomington, IN U.S.A.To be published by IGI Global: http://igi-global.com/AuthorsEditors/AuthorEditorResources/CallForBookChapters/CallForChapterDetails.aspx?CallForContentId=4404826d-730e-4ae5-8b71-6ff92792f062Introduction:The...
CFP: Italian Journal of Library and Information Science
CFP: Italian Journal of Library and Information ScienceURL: http://leo.cilea.it/index.php/jlis/indexJLIS.it, the Italian Journal of Library and Information Science, is an academic journal of international scope that aims to valorize the Italian research in the LIS field, and it welcomes contributions from young students and scholars. The journal board encourages authors (students, researchers, librarians, archivists) to contribute...
CFP: Library Research Round Table (LRRT) - Graduate Students
CFP: Library Research Round Table (LRRT) - Graduate StudentsThe Library Research Round Table (LRRT) will sponsor a Research Forum at the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans (June 23-28) specifically for graduate students.New Minds, New ApproachesThis session will present three graduate students research papers discussing library-related research projects. Students in the library and information science...
If You Haven't Changed Your Amazon Password in a While... Do So Now!
It seems that Amazon has acknowledged some type of flaw with their password system that allows people to log into your account with variations of your password.Supposedly the flaw only affects those who haven't changed their password in years.Rather than repeat the whole post, I'll provide a link to the story I read at Wired. Check it out...
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Impressions from the Yankee Dental Congress
I returned home late last night from New England where I was honored to be asked to give 5 lectures at the Yankee Dental Congress. The weather didn't cooperate much this year with the opening day, Thursday, being dealt a 10 inch snowfall overnight. That meant schools were cancelled and many attendees were forced to stay home due to the school closings & driving conditions. As proof of that, I arrived at the convention center...
Continuous Feedback
Ich weiß nicht ob das richtig oder zweckmäßig ist, aber bei jeder neuen Technologie frage ich mich: was ist das essentiell Neue an dieser Technologie? Was macht die Technologie im Vergleich zu anderen aus? Die Beantwortung der Frage hilft mir die Idee hinter der neuen Technologie zu begreifen und dann auch in der Folge die Technologie richig anzuwenden.So bin ich auch zu der Fragestellung gekommen, was an agilen Methoden so neu...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
CAO Group Brings Years of Experience to Dental - Although You've Never Heard of Them
At the ADA in Orlando, I had a chance to meet and spend some time with folks from the CAO Group. While you may not have heard of CAO group you've almost certainly used at least some of their products. How you ask? Because over the years they've been making products for some pretty large dental manufacturers which were then...
Friday, January 28, 2011
A Skeptic Visits the Cryptozoology Museum
An enjoyable visit to Loren Coleman's museum by self-proclaimed skeptics who nevertheless think it was a great experience, recommend it to everyone, and even pitch for donations. Um... an important note. That is NOT a life-size replica of a yeti, it's a sasquatch. VERY few even among the cryptozoology community think sasquatch and yeti reports concern the same animal. Skeptics should be more careful about terminolo...
Meet the Science Cheerleaders
Is "science cheerleader" a contradiction in terms? Nope. On this site, NBA and NFL cheerleaders are cheering for science policy, science education, and greater involvement in science by students and adult citizens alike. And yes, there are videos of attractive women cheering for science, for those who like that sort of thing. GO TE...
Diodes Inc.'s HB LED driver supports off-line illumination
DALLAS, USA: Diodes Inc., a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, announced the release of the AL9910. Provided in standard SO-8 and high power dissipation exposed pad SO-8 packages, the AL9910 high brightness LED driver will support universal AC input voltages from 85V to as high as 265V. For interior and...
Kickstarter Creates Rustic iPad & KIndle Cases
This a really cool idea for those of you who own portable devices. The folks at Kickstarter are making these really cool products to help protect your gadgets.From their website: Rustic Case is a line of sleeve cases that are handmade in New England. We make them using 80% wool/ 20% polyester blend for extra durability. We hand...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The gorilla that walks like a man
All gorillas can walk bipedally a little if they need to. But in England's Kent Zoo, a male named Ambam apparently decided this bipedal thing was really cool. He has become a very popular exhibit because a human-like walk has become normal for him. With their short legs, gorillas are not going to do any long-distance running, but it's speculated that Ambam liked having the vantage point to see things before his fellow gorillas...
Cree releases revolutionary LED light bulb
DURHAM, USA: About 131 years ago, Thomas Alva Edison was granted US patent 223,898 for “Improvement in Electric Lamps and in the method of manufacturing.” Today’s LED lighting revolution heralds the demise of Edison’s 1880, horse-and-buggy era invention.In an industry first, Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) has demonstrated the brightest, most efficient, LED-based A-lamp that can meet ENERGY STAR performance requirements for a 60 watt...
Paging With SQL Server “Denali”
One of the more common tasks in a data-bound application is to display data in a “page-able” user interface – often some sort of data grid. So for example, you might want to create a Web application that shows a list of available products, but which limits the list to ten products at a time. The user then “pages” through the data by clicking “Next Page” or something similar. There are loads of user interface design and implementation...
New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship. Call for Papers
New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship. Call for PapersCall for PapersNew Review of Children’s Literature and LibrarianshipEditor: Dr Sally Maynard, Lecturer, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University.The editor is currently seeking articles for the next edition of the New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship.This is an international journal designed to explore the range of issues of...
New Hands-On Courses at Chicago’s CEE
Cosmedent’s Center for Esthetic Excellence (CEE) announces its new course schedule for 2011. The CEE features the most comprehensive courses in direct resin bonding and offers unique lecture/hands on programs designed to enhance your clinical skills and help you grow your practice in this economically challenging time. Increase your success...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
ROHM high-performance infrared LEDs ideal for proximity sensing
SAN DIEGO, USA: A new series of high-performance infrared LEDs ideally suited for proximity sensor applications is now available from ROHM Semiconductor. The SIM-030/031ST and SIM-040/041ST surface-mount IR LEDs feature breakthrough IR wavelength technology providing peak output of 850/870 nm, compared to 950 nm for comparable devices. The 850/870 nm level is much closer to the peak wave sensitivity of phototransistors (sensors),...
Avnet releases Nano-ITX/Spartan-6 FPGA development kit based on Intel Atom processor E640
PHOENIX, USA: Global electronic components and embedded solutions distributor Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet Inc., announced the availability of the Nano-ITX/Spartan-6 FPGA Development Kit, based on the Intel Atom E640 Processor and Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA. The new development kit is priced at $1,695.Avnet has combined an Emerson Network Power Nano-ITX motherboard that provides a complete Intel Atom processor...
A new chapter for philanthropy? | Culture | guardian.co.uk
A new chapter for philanthropy? | Culture | guardian.co.uk: "Today a new website, wedidthis.org.uk, opens for business. It's an intriguing idea: it hopes to support specific arts projects via donations, of any size, given online. If the project reaches its target funding, the donors will be given a small reward (in fact the bigger the donation, the heftier the reward – rising from acknowledgements on the website to, say, a champagne...
CFP: WikiSym 2011 (Mountain View, CA)
CFP: WikiSym 2011 (Mountain View, CA)URL: http://www.wikisym.org/ws2011/CFP URL: http://www.wikisym.org/ws2011/submitting:startWikisym is the International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, the premier conference on open collaboration and related technologies for researchers, industry, entrepreneurs and practitioners worldwide.WikiSym 2011 celebrates its 7th year of scholarly, technical and community innovation on October...
Verizon Offers Unlimited iPhone Data... For a Limited Time
It seems there is some hesitation at Verizon. The mobile phone company who just announced that they will be the second US carrier to get the iPhone, announced on Tuesday morning that unlike AT&T, they would be offering iPhone users on their network the $30 unlimited plan that they offer to all of their smartphone customers. That's...
Rubicon transcends LED industry with innovative 12-inch sapphire wafers
FRANKLIN PARK, USA: Rubicon Technology Inc., a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, announced the production of 12-inch polished wafers, the largest high-quality, sapphire wafer ready for production of LEDs (light emitting diodes). Rubicon now offers a complete range of high quality sapphire substrates including two-, three- and four-inch core, and six-,...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A one-fingered dinosaur?
Yep. A very small dino from China has stubby little arms (stubbier and littler, in proportion, than T. rex arms) with a single finger on each hand. It may have dug up terminite mounds with its long digits. Linhenykus monodactylus died out with the rest of the dinos at the end of the Cretaceous period - unless it died of embarassment amid the laughter of other dinosaurs first. COMMENT: Seriously, the thing looks ridiculous. The...
New jelly species: the "Pink Meanie?"
The jellies, or sea jellies (or jellyfish, a term marine biologists have tried to banish without success) include an astonishing variety of forms, from animals that can hardly be seen at all to species three meters across. The new species found off Florida, Drymonema larsoni, is so different from its nearest kin that a new family had to be created. (Different due to "allometric growth of the bell margin distal of the rhopalia,...
Puzzle: Hybrid minke whale
Sometimes closely related species (and even some non-closely related ones) hybridize successfully. But here's a puzzle: hybridization of species from opposite ends of the Earth. How does a northern minke whale even meet an Antarctic type? The two both venture to equatorial waters, but six months apart (their respective winter seasons). So someone's migration time was drastically off. We don;t know why. This article also asks whether...
New wafer shipper enhances LED manufacturing
BILLERICA, USA: Entegris Inc. introduced a wafer shipper that specifically meets the critical handling needs of thin silicon (Si) and compound semiconductor wafers. The new Ultrapak 100 mm Thin Wafer Shipper is designed to reduce damage and contamination in order to better protect thin substrates used in LED manufacturing and other applications. The new product is being featured with other LED solutions at the company's booth...
NASA Remembers
Tomorrow is NASA's Day of Remembrance, when the astronauts of Columbia, Challenger, And Apollo 1 are honored. I wrote this one year after Columbia:Columbia: Per Ardua ad AstraOne year ago…. Waking on a clear weekend morning here in Colorado, casually logging on to check my Email, seeing the AOL banner, "NASA Loses Contact With Columbia." Turning on CNN. Watching more CNN. Explaining it to my daughter, then 11. Wondering how it...
Call for Editors and Peer Reviewers (Journal of Learning Spaces)
Call for Editors and Peer Reviewers (Journal of Learning Spaces)The Journal of Learning Spaces is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that will begin publishing issues biannually in September 2011. We will provide a scholarly, multidisciplinary forum for research articles, case studies, book reviews, and position pieces related to all aspects of learning space design, operation, pedagogy, and assessment in higher education. We...
Opnext intros high power 404nm, 500mW violet laser diode for medical illumination systems
SPIE Photonics West 2011, Booth # 1837, SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Opnext Inc., a global leader offering one of the most comprehensive families of high power, low operating current red and infrared laser diodes, announced the introduction of the HL40023MG, a high power 404nm, 500mW violet laser diode for biomedical illumination applications, as well as direct imaging on PCB manufacturing surfaces. A demonstration of the violet laser...
Avago intros isolation amplifiers with increased accuracy for motor drivers and renewable energy power converters
SAN JOSE, USA & SINGAPORE: Avago Technologies, a leading supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, announced new precision optical isolation amplifiers for motor control and current sensing applications. The ACPL-790B, ACPL-790A and ACPL-7900 devices improve the accuracy and response times of the Avago isolation amplifier portfolio, while addressing compact applications...
Donate $US1 To Charity, See 99 Cents Get There | Gizmodo Australia
Donate $US1 To Charity, See 99 Cents Get There | Gizmodo Australia: "Philanthroper is a great idea for donations, one even a cheap person like me can appreciate. The base concept is this: You donate $US1, they make sure 99 per cent of that gets to the charity, not into their pockets.Disclosure: Philanthroper is run by Mark Wilson, who is also a Gizmodo Contributo...
Institute of Fundraising warns of reputational risk for charities in donate-while-you-invest website - Third Sector
Institute of Fundraising warns of reputational risk for charities in donate-while-you-invest website - Third Sector: "A director of the website says the IoF report has misunderstood how the scheme worksThe Institute of Fundraising says a new website that allows investors to donate money to charity while investing in funds might carry a reputational risk for the secto...
The History of Social Networking | Fast Company
The History of Social Networking | Fast Company: "n case you hadn't heard, social networking is big. Sites like Facebook and Twitter dominate the tech news sites with every move they make getting attention. How much are they worth? Who's using them now? What changes are coming? As with everything, social networking has a histor...
Opnext intros high power, 60mW in 445nm blue laser diode for embedded device mini projector apps
SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Opnext Inc., a global leader offering one of the most comprehensive families of high power, low operating current red and infrared laser diodes, announced the introduction of its high power, 60mW, 445nm blue laser diode. The first in a family of blue laser diodes being planned for development, Opnext’s HL45023TG blue laser diode is designed for accessory or mobile pico projector applications as well as embedded...
22 Ways Nonprofits Can Use QR Codes for Fundraising and Awareness Campaigns � Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog :: A Social Media Guide for Nonprofits
22 Ways Nonprofits Can Use QR Codes for Fundraising and Awareness Campaigns � Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog :: A Social Media Guide for Nonprof...
Position: Editor of the ALCTS Newsletter Online (ANO)
Position: Editor of the ALCTS Newsletter Online (ANO)The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) invites applications and nominations for the position of Editor of the ALCTS Newsletter Online (ANO), the association’s official newsletter. The Editor is expected to take a leading role in the delivery of news that ALCTS members need to know from the association and the library community beyond. Details...
STS CALL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS (Research Committee of the ACRL Science and Technology Section)
STS CALL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS (Research Committee of the ACRL Science and Technology Section)The Research Committee of the ACRL Science and Technology Section is hosting its Annual Research Forum at the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Research Forum provides an excellent opportunity to share recent research or research ideas addressing issues in science and technology librarianship. The...
Top 15 Free Android Medical Apps for Healthcare Professionals Top 15 Free Android Medical apps for Healthcare professionals
I can remember when the Android Operating System for mobile phones was announced. Sure, it was designed by Google, but still... a Google mobile phone? What does Google know about phones anyway? However, once Android phones hit the market, there was a steady stream of successful devices and users began to really like the...
Big and Small: SSL wins two TEC awards for Duality SE Large Format Console and X-Desk Small Format Console
Solid State Logic is pleased to announce that it has received two 2011 Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards: one for Duality SE in the Large Format Console Technology category and the other for X-Desk in the Small Format Console Technology category.“We are extremely pleased to have received these two TEC Awards for Duality SE...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Call for Chapters: Library Collection Development for Professional Programs: Trends and Best Practices
Call for Chapters: Library Collection Development for Professional Programs: Trends and Best PracticesEditor:Sara Holder, MLISHead LibrarianEducation Library & Curriculum Resources CentreMcGill UniversityMontréal, QuebecCall for Chapters:Proposals Submission Deadline: February 28, 2011Full Chapters Due: July 30, 2011IntroductionCollection development (also known as collection management) is the term used to describe the evaluative...
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