The Future of Energy What is needed is a system that generates electrical power locally, uses resources that almost everybody has in their backyard, and operates with minimal emissions of pollutants. And, while we're at it, let's say it should be as quiet as a household air conditioner.

Figure This One Out Two triangles formed using the same "puzzle" pieces, but in different positions. The triangles have the same dimensions but one has a "bite" taken out of it.

Speech recognition leaders aim to give PDAs a voice and ears "Excuse me - are you talking to me or your PDA?" Coming soon from the technology world: another inanimate object to talk with. Two leaders in speech recognition, IBM and Belgian speech technology giant Lernout & Hauspie, have each built speech-enabled prototypes of handheld devices that could be commercially available as early as next year.

UC Santa Cruz Puts Human Genome Online/Programming wizard does job in 4 weeks The human genome has been called the Book of Life, but it's one tome few have ever seen. That started to change yesterday, after the University of California at Santa Cruz unveiled a Web site -- http://genome.ucsc.edu/ -- where people can download the only completely assembled version of the human genetic code for free.

Dave’s Page of Bogus Science Many of us now use this time to whine about the very things that made it possible. Sadly, the typical American acquires most of his or her “science” knowledge from TV and movie stars, politicians, and cartoon characters. The result is a lot of bad, dangerous, and sometimes funny science.

How Fireworks Really Work As you ooh and aah at the dazzling explosions of a fireworks display, there are three things going on that you probably wouldn’t guess: The chemists who made those pyrotechnics designed most of them so they wouldn’t explode, you’re actually seeing nature conserving energy, and most peculiar of all, when things are at their flashiest, you’re actually seeing the fireworks as they’re cooling down.

The Victorian Internet It's a familiar story: A new high-tech "web" materializes seemingly out of nowhere and takes the entire world by storm. Barriers to communication are obliterated as city after city becomes wired, allowing people to send nearly instant messages to one another—even to "chat" online. Vast fortunes are created and destroyed as entrepreneurs wage fierce competitive battles, and scam artists fleece gullible investors. Subcultures form their own communities, with private codes and customs. Buying and selling of goods online becomes commonplace, and governments try—and fail—to control the new network, as it proves a hotbed for criminal activity and other forms of "subversion."

GO NAPSTER! Embattled online music-swapping company Napster has a simple message for the courts and for the record industry: Downloading songs online without paying for them is legal.

Adding an IE Favorites Icon Every Web browser has unique characteristics that distinguish it from the others. One of the interesting features of Internet Explorer 5 is that it will add a custom icon to the favorites of readers who bookmark your site.

Giant Fish Net Snags Gamma Ray Bursts Jul 02, 2000 — A virtual net cast from here to beyond the sun and over to the asteroids is now harvesting its first fish, gamma-ray bursts big enough for keepers.

The Ten Commandments for HMOs If you're thinking of joining an HMO, or of changing from one HMO to another, send out the "TEN COMMANDMENTS for HMOs" . Ask the HMO to respond with answers. If they don't answer, or if you don't like the answers, DON'T JOIN that HMO. Do the same with another HMO until you find one that answers your consumer concerns.

Does your fridge know how much you weigh today? (2/26/2000) Dave Barry essay on "smart" appliances. ROTFL

Senate Passes New Patients' Rights Bill Excerpt: "The legislation passed yesterday contains the Ashcroft external review provisions ensuring that patients get care when they need it, and that medical decisions are made by independent physicians of the appropriate specialty, not by insurance claims adjusters. His provisions would also mandate that HMOs abide by strict timetables and face penalties for non-compliance with findings by independent physician reviewers." (Sen. John Ashcroft's Office, via US Newswire)

Extra fat means more happiness, better sex - One of the world's most revered scientists has developed a theory that fat people are happier than thin ones. James Watson, the Nobel prize-winning geneticist who was jointly responsible for discovering the structure of DNA, believes that plumper women are also likely to enjoy a better sex life than their thin counterparts. Watson, who directed the successful human genome project, has moved into the controversial science of body image. He recently told an audience at University College London that his research suggested extra pounds had the biological effect of making a woman well-rounded in character and better in bed.

Eye-Trek Product Overview Eye-Trek opens up a whole new world of entertainment to you. Although only the size of a pair of sunglasses, Eye-Trek presents video and TV-films impressively large, as if you were watching a 52" screen from 2m distance. Now you can see films, videos or concerts in cinema format. Accompanied by full-bodied stereo sound that you receive via the integrated headphones, you have the sensation of being part of the action. No matter where you may be at the time - lying on the sofa or sitting in the garden.

The History of the Web circa 1994. "The World-Wide Web (W3) is a way of viewing all the on-line information available on the Internet as a seamless, browsable continuum. Using hypertext jumps and searches, the user navigates through an information world partly hand-authored, partly computer-generated from existing databases and information systems. The Web today incorporates all information from information systems such as Gopher as WAIS, as well as sophisticated multimedia and hypertext information from many organizations.", Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, Ari Luotonen, Henrik Nielsen, Arthur Secret, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland.Here's a screenshot of TBL's browser editor.

XML for Beginners Have you wondered why everyone is talking about XML but been afraid to ask? Dick Baldwin provides a gentle introduction with his series of articles. First up, a discussion of structured documents, rendering, and why you should care about XML.

Banned Books On-Line Welcome to this special exhibit of books that have been the objects of censorship or censorship attempts. The books featured here, ranging from Ulysses to Little Red Riding Hood, have been selected from the indexes of the On-line Books Page. (See that page for over 10,000 more on-line books!)

Another day, another DoubleClick privacy PR disaster DoubleClick has been caught mucking around with personal privacy - again. The world's biggest online ad sales house has been caught gleaning email addresses and other personal information from Web site customers - without the knowledge of Web sites.

Fool.com: Planet Hollywood Will Change When Shaq Replaces Schwarzenegger (Top 5 List) June 29, 2000

Giving Amazon the Finger and othe technological tidbits from the New York PC Expo.

How does a yacht sail upwind? It's easy to understand how a yacht sails downwind, with the wind whistling from behind. The breeze pushes against the sails and the yacht surges ahead. But how is it that wind from abeam (the side), or off the bow, can propel a boat forward? You may never have seen it presented as simply as this.

Ananova - Da Vinci parachute design holds up in test A British daredevil has proved that a parachute designed by Leonardo da Vinci actually works by using it from a height of 10,000ft.

A List Apart: Rated XHTML Being a web developer is a tough job. Not only do you have to steer clear of the traps and pitfalls the popular browsers think up for you on a daily basis, you also have to keep at least half an eye on all kinds of developments that may (or may not) have an impact on your job. Having hardly mastered style sheets and DHTML, new techniques clamor for attention. Which ones are important right away? Which ones can you dismiss for now?

It's Not Your Father's IBM It goes without saying that this is not your father's IBM hosting this event. But the Geek Spa party, which is slated to cap IBM's relaunch of its WebSphere commerce development platform, is definitely a Big Blue event.

International Rectifier Interesting interview with the CEO of my current employer.

Interactive Genome Guide... COOL! As you are reading these words with the cells in your eyes, please pause and lift your right index finger and touch the tip of your nose. Notice the smoothness of operation. Millions of cells in your body participated smoothly in that motion. Each of us is an electrochemical machine -- animal -- being -- composed of cells. What gives life to our cells?

CNN.com - Health - Milestone in human genetics to be announced Monday - June 23, 2000 (CNN) -- In a major step toward a new era of gene-based medicine and disease treatment, two research centers are expected to announce on Monday that they separately have sketched a map detailing the secrets of human genetic structure.