Now that the weather is finally getting warmer in my area and I'm wearing shorts and short sleeves for my runs, I need to get back in the habit of applying sunscreen before runs. Although it's not summer yet, you can still get a bad sunburn when running in the spring. Follow these tips to make sure you're protecting your skin:
...Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lightning striking twice? Maybe not even once
Researchers discover mechanism that could convert certain cells into insulin-making cells
Kangbashi
The Kangbashi District of Ordos, Inner Mongolia is one of the wealthiest regions in China mainly due to vast reserves of coal and natural gas. Planned and built just in five years thanks to the massive investments by the PRC on building and infrastructure (160 Billion Dollars). Kangbashi was designed to be the showcase urban center of Ordos City, a relatively wealthy coal-mining hub thats home to 1.5 million people. A public-works project Kangbashi full of office towers, administrative centers, government buildings, museums, theaters and sports fields and filled with all the amenities that signal a prosperous and modern boom town, has only one thing missing in it: people . Foreign observers are concerned and worried that this is a reflection of yet another real estate bubble that is about to burst at some point. I was captivated by the idea of being alone in such a big newly build city in the middle of nowhere in Mongolia. This was an experiment for myself as I felt loneliness in overpopulated cities that is oppressive. In this case it was almost liberating.
A Trip To Salekhard
Testing Garden Soil for pH Using Inexpensive Methods
Opencaching on other Platforms
When opencaching.com was launched I figured it was a way for Garmin to create demand for their GPS receivers. Today’s announcement of iPhone and Android apps for opencaching leave me wondering what Garmin is up to. Gregory over at Toronto Geocaching has posted a first look at the opencaching application. The app looks good but why would Garmin give away a free application on other platforms? Garmin is investing heavily in the opencaching initiative.
So not only do we have competition in the listing space, now there is competition in the software space. More and more people are first being introduced to geocaching via smartphones. Why not get them acquainted with the brand early so that converting them will be easier later.
The idea that you can hide a cache using the app sounds like a good idea but I have my reservations. Ah ha …. now I get it. This is exactly what Garmin wants. Opencaching suffers from a lack of unique caches. Opencaching.com is a useful site but it is overshadowed by Groundspeak’s dominance in the quantity of listings. Garmin might be prepared to forgo some added revenue today in order to create greater value (eg more unique caches) for tomorrow. If Garmin can reduce the friction of getting caches placed that will be good for them long-term.
You know geocaching has gone mainstream when the largest device manufacturer is giving away software and services in order to protect it’s core market.
Related posts:
- Cache listed on Opencaching.us
- Virtuals Come to Opencaching.com
- Existing Opencaching Community Skeptical
Ever Heard Of The Endeavor Satellites?
In case you haven’t noticed (thanks a lot to non-stop William-Kate wedding news), the space shuttle Endeavour is supposed to have launched by now. Never mind that it’s been delayed a bit cos the important news we want to share are these fingernail sized satellites the crew have with them.
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Post tags: Technology News
ePowered Razor Scooters Are A Menace To Society
One of them shoots fire and the other is a sidewalk vandal’s dream. Since Razor Scoters he been taking a beating in the popularity department these last few years, the company has been at pains reinventing their iconic product for a new generation. To capture the hearts and minds of today’s younglings (and a few adults who don’t want to pay for gas), two new models were recently unveiled.
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Post tags: Geeky
Lego Replica Of District 9 ARC Pew Pew Gun
Unlike sappy alien movies of a bygone age (E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, etc.) District 9 climaxed at an awesome scale. The main characters raided an arsenal of prawn DIY weaponry—including this ARC rifle—and fled to the Prawn slum, only to come head to head with an army of private security. What ensued was a savage gun battle…
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Post tags: DIY, Geeky Toys
April 29, 2011: Hot Springs 5 oz. Uncirculated Coins, CSNS Convention, Royal Wedding Coins
Welcome to Coin Update!
We’re back with another round up of coin collecting news and articles from various sources around the internet! To start, the latest information on the pace of sales for the first numismatic America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coin. Also, two upcoming US Mint gold coin releases, several reports from the Central States Numismatic Society convention, two articles on silver, new coins and banknotes for Sweden, Royal Wedding coins, wild rose coin designer, money reader review, and notable auctions. On to the links…
So far, there’s still no sell out for the 2010-P Hot Springs National Park Five Ounce Silver coins. Through Thursday evening at 9:00 PM ET, the US Mint had accepted orders for more than 19,000 coins out of the 27,000 mintage.
Mint News Blog provides some preliminary information on the upcoming Eliza Johnson First Spouse Gold Coin and 2011-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle.
John Brush of David Lawrence Rare Coins provides a report from the Central States Numismatic Society Convention in Rosemont, Illinois.
A separate report from Dave Harper.
Heritage’s Platinum Night U.S. coin auction held for the CSNS convention achieved nearly $14 million in sales, with proof Liberty Double Eagles realizing some of the highest prices.
Numismatic News discusses the impact of soaring silver prices with a precious metals dealer. He is quoted in the story saying: “No investors are taking profits right now.”
Patrick Heller provides information on the tightening inventories and rising premiums for physical silver.
Sweden plans to introduce newly designed coins and banknotes. The coins will be smaller and lighter, while the notes will introduce more advanced security features.
Here are the two extremes of the Royal Wedding coins. The Royal Australian Mint has 20 cent coins available to swap for normal 20c pieces. The Royal British Mint has one kilo gold coins with a face value of £1,000 and issue price of £40,000!
An article on the Calgary botanical artist who designed the $20 coin from the Royal Canadian Mint featuring a wild rose.
A comparison of the performance of Presidential Dollars and First Spouse Gold Coins. The $1 coin is considered for its change in value against a basket of foreign currencies.
Coin Collector’s Blog reviews the LookTel Money Reader, which seems to work much better than the app developed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
And now for some notable auctions. First, the 2008-W Proof Gold Buffalo 4 Coin Set. The coins are in a PCGS multi-coin holder and all graded PR70DCAM.
Next, here is $300 face value in Silver Proof Quarters, consisting of mostly State Quarters. Since the rise in the price of silver, more of these coins have been selling based on their 90% silver content.
Last, a 1985 Lincoln Cent two planchet bonded pair. The error coin is authenticated by NGC and graded MS 64 RD.
That’s it for another update. Have a great weekend!
Decade of Delays: A Timeline of Alfa Romeo’s U.S. Relaunch
Fiat recently announced that the relaunch of the storied, sporting Alfa Romeo marque in the U.S. would be delayed—again—until roughly 2013. This postponement was attributed to Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, expressing dissatisfaction with the design of the upcoming Alfa Romeo models, including a new mid-size sedan.
Whether you’re an Alfista or not, though, you probably know that Alfa has been teasing, hinting at, implying, and outright confirming a return to the U.S. market ever since the brand left in 1995. That retreat was made in the face of horrendously low sales and a merited reputation for rotten quality, although, to be fair, Alfa sales have always been weak here, with the company’s high being just 8201 units in 1986.
To commemorate the latest delay, we’ve assembled a timeline of Alfa’s declarations of an American return; it begins in 2000, when the company entered into a partnership with General Motors. And for historical context, we’ve added some world events that occurred during the same time span.