Tobacco and E coli can wreak havoc on your body causing serious damage if not death. Some researchers from the University of California at Berkley have found a way to take these potentially dangerous organisms and make them do our bidding. By genetically engineering a virus they have shown that the two can be used to grow solar cells. Well, they grow some of the important bits that go into solar cells, reducing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process.

Once a tobacco plant is infected with the altered virus it begins producing artificial chromophores that turn sunlight into electricity. Fully grown plants are ground up, suspending the chromophores in a liquid which is sprayed onto glass panels to create the solar cells. This types of creative solar energy production make us wonder if Thunderdome and the apocalypse are further off than we thought.

[via hackaday]

With the ability to get root access to some of these new powerful pieces of hardware we call cell phones, we’re a bit surprised we haven’t seen more interfacing with external hardware. Here’s an example of some rudimentary connections between an Android G1 and an Arduino. To do this, you must have your G1 rooted, have the Android SDK installed, and then a custom python program running.  There is also a simple level shifter from 3.3v to 5v necessary for the connection to the Arduino.  You can get all the details from the instructable. They’ve documented the process quite well adn we’re excited to see what kinds of stuff people come up with.

[via hackaday]



“‘Apple’s going to put a lot of innovation, not just on the hardware, but also on the software of the new iPhone,’ said Taipei-based Chen, a member of Asia’s top-ranked technology hardware research team,” Culpan and Engle report. “The handset will feature a new plastic casing similar to that used for Apple’s touch-panel Magic Mouse released last year, he said.”

Culpan and Engle report, “Magic Mouse, a computer mouse released in October, has a touch-sensitive solid plastic shell that replaces mechanical buttons. The technology may be replicated in the new iPhone to offer touch-sensitive features on the rear of the handset, Chen said.”

[via MAcDailyNews]

The photo “is just the glass, which looks a lot like a large iPod,” Chaffin reports. “According to our source, the glass measures 10″ on the diagonal.”

Chaffin reports, “We weren’t able to double source the image, but we do trust the source that provided us with the image.”

[via theMacObserver]

“We don’t see any bigger hurdle to introduce 4G iPhones here, as legal issues were completely cleared. It’s possible to launch the devices within the first half,” a high-ranking KT executive told The Korea Times, asking not to be identified.
They said the coming 4G iPhones will be equipped with organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens on surface and live video chat functionalities, while removable battery is highly likely.

The new 4G iPhone is also going to be loaded with dual core processors and higher and powerful graphic chips that can deliver higher video resolutions and better “still” images when taking pictures.

[via The Korea Times]

“We were designing a product for a customer and we needed 10 inch screens, but we’ve been trying for months and can’t get one from any of the Asian suppliers,” an anonymous designer for a firm wishing to remain nameless told TG Daily.

“We were told that Apple pre-ordered them all. All 10 inch LCDs, and all 10 inch OLEDs too,” our source continued, redundantly adding “it’s for the Appletablet.”

Rumors about whether or not a version of theApple tablet will have an OLED screen have been flying back and forth for some times now, but if it is indeed true that other firms can’t get their hands on any of the expensive little screens, it may just give more credence to the claims.

Also, while we’re not entirely certain what the current supply of 10.1-inch LCDs and OLEDs is in Asia, if every manufacturer is claiming to be sold out, Apple must mean to shift rather a lot of tablets – perhaps even somewhere in the region of one to one and a half million units every quarter as analysts have predicted.

[via TGDaily]

Wilk, the founder of a startup company backed by the Y-Combinator incubator group, wrote on his blog that “My Dad plays golf with Cedas-Sanai hospital execs, who say they have been getting frequent visits from Apple about a new device in the last 6 weeks.”

In a phone call, Wilk said the number of visits was “three or four” and that his second-hand information suggested Apple wasn’t yet trying to close a sale, but rather probing for possible uses for the new device, which is almost certainly the tablet computer Apple plans to debut on January 27th.

It would be oversimplification to interpret the visits as proof that Apple plans to focus on medical professionals, rather than home consumers, as the tablet’s primary market.

Instead, the question is: Can Apple succeed where PC makers have failed?

We’ve been told for years that medical professionals were the guaranteed-to-succeed market for tablets. Bill Gates raved about his in 2006. But tablets like the Dell Latitude XT2 XFR, pictured above, have stiffed again and again, in part because of their ungainly laptop-with-a-backwards-facing-display design.

Wilk notes that the $2,000 Motion Computing C5 is one of the few successful devices on the clinician market, thanks to its one-piece, easily-carried form and lab-smock-white casing. A new generation of slimmer, cheaper tablets — analysts estimate Apple’s will list for $1,000 — might finally make sense for doctors and nurses to carry instead of a clipboard.

[via VentureBeat]

Schlock writing is bad. Schlock writing is bad because it is uninteresting. By uninteresting, I mean that writing in a schlocky manner is generic. Schlock writing is styleless and schlock is flat.

If you just read that introduction and didn’t jump off a bridge, you’re probably a schlock writer. Go hang yourself with some piano wire.

While those may be some harsh words, at least they take a position! The sentences vary in rhythm; the vocabulary radiates intensity and aims for precision. The verbs “being” (is/are/was) and having (has/have) only appear as necessary. They don’t burden every damn sentence.

Strunk and White’s book, The Elements of Style, codified grammar and certain key ideas of good writing. It demonstrates the concision it advocates, for example.

Recently, I borrowed a book entitled Spunk and Bite, a play on “Strunk and White,” as The Elements of Style is also known.

It’s a great value.

Schlock writers – at least, those who lacked wire, earlier – would double their pay rate instantly if they bought the book and integrated its lessons. Personally, while my grammar is strong, I admit that my writing’s usual degree of sizzle doesn’t excite many readers’ palates. Spunk and Bite’s helped me with:

• Creating original images (dismembered infants instead of puppy-killing or baby-eating);


• Explaining why certain jokes are funny;


• Using adverbs appropriately, which clarifies the success of many linkbait titles I’ve seen.


• Eliminating wishy-washy words like “can,” “may,” “might,” “should,” etc.


• Sending neutrality to hell and choosing a side. I’m not writing an encyclopedia, after all.

Compare that energetic writing with the tedious truism of this lead I read. “Every year, many people plan their vacations.” You don’t say? Well after that shocker, I’m compelled to read the rest of your written-for-search-engine squalor.

Style

When people complain about Demand Media being a ‘content factory / mill / sweatshop,’ a large part of that is in reference to the total absence of style found in its content. Read Write Web accurately calls it ‘fast food content’ because it fills you up without giving you the substantial quality you need.

Substance

Which leads to my next point: schlock shouts with superficiality. There’s no research that goes into it. That’s also why Demand Media and others focus on the long tail, since that’s where schlock is more likely to succeed. The short tail is more competitive, which leads serious businesses to invest in researched, deep articles penned with flair. eHow sticks out like a sore thumb when compared with that kind of content.

Note: Wire content is also superficial in this way, though it tends to have slightly more style. The point is that Made For Adsense (MFA) sites aren’t the only ones who skimp on research

If we’re honest about it, SEO drives demand for content of all varying degress of quality. At the absolute low-end is autogenerated blackhat content. Marginally above that is schlock, which includes most so-called “SEO copywriting,” (code for “I can include keywords in my title and content). And then you have linkbait in varying degrees of quality, which goes pretty high. It just depends if the intended audience is search engines or humans…

Subscriptions

If you haven’t been paying attention, more and more content is being excluded from search engines with subscription models. In internet marketing alone we have subscription products from Aaron Wall, SEOmoz, We Build Pages, PPC-Coach, SEL, SEW and Problogger, just to name a few.

This trend towards subscriptions for premium content illustrates that:

a) Producing high quality content can be profitable, so long as you don’t rely on ads.

b) Increasingly, the [commercially-created] information available online for free will be of mediocre quality. While Wikipedia’s contributors count thieves and fools amongst them, its noncommercial nature has resulted in lots of high quality, free articles.

c) If Wikipedia means substantial, free, short-tail articles (Wikipedia’s tail is no longer than stub…), and MFA factories mean superficial longtail, then I conclude that deep, commercial content is only going to be available for a fee. So don’t expect search engines to succeed at covering the deep web anytime soon, short of a new business model for it.

d) Developing style as a writer adds value to your work, and that value will grow over time as more schlock gets pumped out daily.

e) Non-authority based algorithms and other content middle men will rise up to channel attention towards worthy content.

Apple will report its earnings for the first quarter of its 2010 fiscal year on Monday, Jan. 25, two days before the Cupertino, Calif., company is expected to announce new products.

The Mac maker has revealed that its financial results will be reported at 5 p.m. in two weeks, on Jan. 25. Wall Street has lofty expectations for Apple’s sales during the holiday season.

Update: Analysts expect Apple to produce an average $2.04 earnings per share in the December quarter, with revenue estimated at $11.98 billion. That would represent a 17.8 percent increase in sales from a year prior. Wall Street also expects to see gross margin of 35.6 percent.

In October, Apple provided guidance with revenue ranging from $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion. The company also said it expects diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.70 to $1.78.

Last year, Apple had a then-record quarter with profit of $1.61 billion, or $1.78 per diluted share for the three-month period ended December 27, 2008. That figure readily beat consensus expectations of $1.39 per share. Apple started 2009 by selling 2.524 million Macs, 4.363 million iPhones, and 22.727 million iPods. With $10.17 billion in revenue, Q1 2009 was Apple’s first $10 billion quarter, and gross margins were low at 20.9 percent.

To start 2010, analyst Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray believes there is a chance Apple could sell as many as 3 million Macs in the three month span ending in December. Desktop Mac sales in particular are expected to be bolstered by the release of the new iMac, along with a new Mac mini and server edition. In the portable space, Apple also introduce the new unibody polycarbonate MacBook in October.

Piper Jaffray has predicted Apple will see $11.57 billion in revenue, $1.80 earnings per share, and a 35 percent gross margin. Officially they have predicted sales of 2.86 million Macs, 20.1 million iPods, and 9.3 million iPhones.

A strong holiday could push Apple into record territory for Mac sales. In September, the company had its best quarter ever, shipping 3.05 million Macs, representing a 17 percent year-over-year increase.

Demand for the iPhone has also been strong, with some projecting sales north of 10 million for the device during the holiday. Broadpoint.AmTech analyst Brian Marshall is even more bullish, predicting sales of 11.3 million iPhones in the three-month frame. Last quarter’s record-setting pace saw Apple sell 7.4 million handsets.

The Jan. 25 result falls just two days before Apple is rumored to host an event to introduce new products. Reports have said Apple has booked the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It is widely believed that Apple will officially introduce its touchscreen tablet device, a hotly anticipated piece of hardware that has been rumored for years.

While Apple’s still-unconfirmed tablet is expected to see its formal introduction this month, reports have said the hardware will not go on sale until March. Speculation in recent weeks has been rampant, with rumors of 3G connectivity, Web cam functionality, and a possible multi-touch version of the iWork productivity suite.

[via AppleInsider]

Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had “spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork,” Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s Office software suite. This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies. That could help justify a higher price. Apple has declined to discuss any plans for a tablet.

[via The New York Times]