Gnorb.NET

If you’re reading this through the RSS feed, then you already saw I dugg this. If you didn’t (or haven’t checked out the article yet), Ars Technica explores the power usage of devices such as TVs, phones, and even unused adapters, which have an “off” state in which the device is not actually off, but is instead in a low power mode. You’d be surprised to know that while some devices use very little power in this state, others can actually eat up quite a bit of energy, sometimes even more than their “on” usage. Read the full article here.

Here’s why that article really interested me: as of late, The Wife and I have started to become a bit more Earth-conscious. Monetary savings aside (and if you do it right, they can be substantial). We’ve started to recycle our paper, plastic and aluminum, and have began taking a close look at what wastes energy when we’re not around. (I’ve even started shutting off my computer during the day and when I’m out of the house.) It hasn’t been easy, but it hasn’t been hard, either. It’s simply been a matter of developing new habits.

By the way, here’s a little trick I learned from my dad which has saved us almost $20/month on eletricity. Turn of the water heater — via the fuse switch box — when you’re not at home. Turn it on 10 minutes before you’re about to bathe or use the dish washing machine, then switch it back off when you’re done. That’s it! Simple enough, so long as you don’t forget to turn it back on before you shower in the morning, unless you like cold showers.

One small step for Toshiba, one giant leap for fashion statements.

I hear it all the time: “I’m running out of money before I run out of month.” “I don’t have enought cash to do what I want to do.” “I don’t know where all my money goes…” If you’ve ever caught yourself saying any of that, then it might interest you to see the post 10 Tips to Slash Your Tech Bills by $1033.40 (per year), written by Mr. Cheap Stuff. (Seriously, that’s his online name.) The post basically shows where we tech-savvy netizens can save a bundle by doing simple things like unplugging your cell phone charger when you’re not using it, turning off your computer, or sharing your Internet connection (f your ISP allows that). Great tips in the spirit of “spare change between the couch cushins”.

For the first time in what seems like forever, this morning I was finally able to go through and read all my RSS feeds. It seems like today was one of those days when weird news just seemed to come out of nowhere, which means it’s time for another episode of Le Linkage! This one I’ll call the “Just Plain Weird” edition because a good number of the articles here are just plain weird. There are some, however, that make for spectacular reading, and one that will make every anime-lover reading this blog wet his/her pants in joy.

ScienceBlog.com — Drunks Don’t See the Monkey: “It’s pretty difficult to overlook the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, or even an average-size person dressed in a gorilla suit. But a new study indicates that people who were given a simple visual task while mildly intoxicated were twice as likely to have missed seeing the person in a gorilla suit than were people who were not under the influence of alcohol.” Lesson: never try to spot a man in a gorilla suit while tipsy. Because if you can’t spot the gorilla, what good are you?

Engadget — Korea to test 1,000 remote-controlled domestic robots: “The Ministry of Information and Communication … will begin placing 1,000 wheeled, cell-phone controlled automatons — dubbed URCs, or ubiquitous robotic companions — into households and kindergartens this fall as a trial run for new robot technologies. The URCs will do the usual handling of domestic tasks as we might expect (and some … like cleaning rooms and reading books to children), as well the usual hanging out, taking care of pets, [and more] … The only thing at all disconcerting about any of this is the fact that unlike normal household droids, these URCs will be operated wirelessly from a central computing center ala I, Robot.” Having just watched that movie agan, the thought of a remote controled robot companion isn’t one I’m at all too comfortable with.

Akihabara News — The Wonderbra powered USB keyboard: Ok, uhm… hmm. How do I… err… geez, oh man… heh… I mean… Hmm. So, like, anyways, I uhmm… hmm… How do I put this? Uhm… What?

USB powered keyboard bra with USB powered camera tail that can be switched out with other USB powered items, such a lights and memory sticks. You have to see this for yourself [Angelkitty.jp]. I guess what I’m wondering is where exactly that thing is supposed to be plugged.

KurzweilAI — Frozen Brains Awaiting Resurrection Day in Storage: (From St. Petersburg, Russia) “Kriorus, the world’s first cryonics company outside the United States, located in Alabushevo village in Russia, has two brains in cryonics storage so far. The price: $9,000.” Just what we need, Russian discount cryonics. “You want better brain? Lie down. We do operation, take out brain now. Give you new brain next week. We freeze brain now so if you want back later, you have. ”

My Heart’s in Accra — Book review: “Globalization and its Enemies”: “This is the basic question development economists try to answer. It’s a question with profound practical implications - if we could suggest strategies that consistently helped nations grow wealth, we could address a huge range of problems in education, public health and state stability. It’s also a question that both development economists and political commentators are surprisingly bad at answering.” A very thorough book review and critique by Ethan Zuckerman. Good reading for anyone involved in economics or business.

The New Yorker — How can someone live with only half a brain?: This week’s New Yorker features a particularly interesting article about the hemispherectomy operation. In this procedure, an entire side of the brain is removed as a treatment because of cancer or chronic seizures. The incredible thing is that if the hemispherectomy is done when a patient is very young, the remaining hemisphere does double duty and the child often develops normally. (This one also came by way of My Heart’s in Accra.)

Index of 1,000 Full Length Anime On YouTube: (via Digg) “There are no ads or garbage clips to weed through, just 1000 anime episodes and movies. This index includes The Animatrix, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Samurai Champloo, Serial Experiments Lain, Ultimate Avengers, and more.” Not weird and not news, but I’ll be damned if I don’t put this link up.

Man, I haven’t done a Le Linkage episode in a while. Way too long. I don’t know if that stops here, but for those of you too uninterested in surfing the Web to find interesting random stuff, here’s something to keep you entertained:

Jesus is Not a Republican: An article by professor Randall Balmer which explains the history of the Republican/Evangelist Christian partnership from the perspective of a Bible-belt evangelist, as well as the dangers that such a partnership poses to both the Church and the political climate in general. Great read for anyone tired of the whole “You’re either a Republican or are going to Hell” crowd. Kierkegaard must be rolling in his grave.

Free Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science Video Lectures: I’ll be the first one to admit that although I may not have the brains for higher level mathematics and theoretical CS, I certainly don’t have the patience for them, at least not enough to pay for a college course in them. Still, finding free video lectures like these is always a treat. After all, although I may not be crazy about mathematics, I can’t deny the simple beauty found in an equation.

Family Guy: The Best of Stewie Griffin, Part 1: This is self explanatory. If you like Family Guy, this is a great find. If you don’t like Family Guy, this is still a great find, since it’ll allow you to see what everyone else finds so funny without having to waste half an hour of your life.

BetterHumans: For a while now, I’ve had a deep interest in the field of cryonics, the practice of cryopreserving humans or animas that can no longer be sustained by current medical technology for possible later revival in the future. This eventually led me to information on a number of new philosophical ideas, such as transhumanism (the idea that new sciences and technologies should be used to enhance human physical and cognitive abilities). This site covers news and information regarding that movement. (I’ll very likely be discussing this in the future on Gnorb.NET, especially after some recent posts I’ve read across some of my favorite blogs.)

That’s all I’ve got for now. More later (whenever that may be).