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In Seville, Spain yesterday, the world’s largest solar tower came to life and started generating electricity. The PS20 plant has a capacity of 20 MW and will be able to power 10,000 homes.

The plant is made up of 1,255 mirrors, each taking up 1,291 square feet, that focus solar radiation on a 531-foot tower. The heat boils water in the tower which creates steam. The steam then turns a turbine, making electricity.

The PS20 is the second solar tower to go on-line in Spain, with the other capable of generating 10 MW. The solar towers are just part of a 300-MW solar-thermal complex planned by Abengoa that will also include four 50-MW plants that use parabolic troughs instead of towers. The entire complex should be up and running by 2013.

Spain became the world’s second largest producer of solar PV last year, with 3,000 MW installed and with these new projects, it seems they’re on their way to leading the world in concentrated solar power as well.

via Reuters

Chalk up one more exhibit for the case that Apple and its ecosystem refuse to participate in the global economic meltdown.

WWDC sold out Tuesday, the earliest date on record for which the annual conference devoted to Apple’s development community has reached capacity. Tickets went on sale just a month ago, and were no bargain — even the early-bird special was well over $1,000.

Interest in this year’s event is great for a number of reasons. Developers and presumably the audience at the keynote will get the first public glimpse of OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard.” The new OS has been in testing with developers for a while now, but many of the expected user interface changes remain under wraps. WWDC may be the first time anyone gets a real look at those.

Even bigger than Snow Leopard, however is the possibility that Apple could unveil a new version of the iPhone, even a touchscreen netbook or tablet. The rumor mill on all of these ideas has been active for months.

And of course there is the ever present shadow of Steve Jobs. Will he make an appearance, even tough he’s not scheduled to return from his sabbatical until the end of June? Could he possibly bear – health permitting – to let someone else introduce a major OS upgrade and potentially game-changing hardware?

The Jobs factor aside, the real takeaway from WWDC’s full house next month is the clear evidence that interest in Apple’s technology remains very strong. The idea that someone could found a career or hit the jackpot on the strength of learning how to develop applications that work with Apple technology seems to be one of the few – and one of the brightest – lights of hope on the economic horizon.

This article is copyright Cultomedia Corp.

Driven by the desire to explore the different way of moving a car, industrial designer Wesley Saikawa designed the Peugeot NJooy Concept. Conceptualized under the theme of “P.L.E.A.S.E. innovate!”, this concept car grabbed the first runner-up position at the 4th Peugeot Design Contest. The concept car stands apart from the crowd for its unusual make, where tires are replaced by balls and the silhouette reminds us of the old F1 cars. The vehicle shows an organic shape with vivid colors and a place for just one driver, in order to keep the focus on the pleasure of car driving. The renderings are simply outstanding, but I’m afraid this car with balls will ever see the day’s light.

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The Gonz, LAX Banks, 1987

Barely 19,  Muscovite Vera Uvarova landed herself in the hospital after a car crash that left her immobile, save for one arm.

Four days after the accident, a friend gave her an iPhone.  The device became Vera’s visual connection with her beaten body and the resulting pictures are showcased in an exhibition at Moscow Gallery Na Solyanke.

“This transformation was important to me…” Uvarova told the Moscow Times. “Unable to lift my head, the only way I could see my legs, for instance, was through the lens of my iPhone.”

She was restricted to hospital life for close to three months, but the exhibition focuses on the first transformative 800 hours, hence its title, “800 Hours on My Back with an iPhone in Hand. How I Was Born Again with the Help of Photography.”

You can view some of them online here.

Images courtesy, ©Vera Uvarova

Via Moscow Times

This article is copyright Cultomedia Corp.

Designed for Länsförsäkringar Gävleborg, a Swedish banking and insurance company, the “Swan” by Petrén Merom Architects and Scheiwiller Svensson Architects Office is going to be a landmark in the architectural heritage of Sweden. Standing tall at 150 meters, the tower will become the second highest building, after Malmo’s Turning Torso, in the nation. The Swan will be located around the technology park of the Gävle, the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Sweden’s Northern lands). Finished with steel glazing and white concrete, the building will feature numerous offices in the lower part and a hotel and residential spaces in the middle, together with a restaurant at the top, giving a mesmerizing view of the city.
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Right now, there’s a two-part trivia question on The Skateboard Mag’s Twitter feed about Dylan Rieder’s Gravis ad in issue #63.

Answer it correctly and you’ll be eligable to win a pair of Dylan’s new Gravis shoe.

Answer it incorrectly and you’ll win nothing.

Lots of people leave their PCs on overnight.  Often, this is for no good reason whatsoever, it’s just out of laziness.  But sometimes it’s a conscious decision: if you want your computer to continue receiving updates, or transmit/receive information of any kind during the wee hours of the night, you need to leave it on.  But even the lowest power settings generally burn more power than you need to do that minimal amount of computing.

Now, those people can use a system called Somniloquy.  Although this device may be hard to spell, it does offer a cool service.  Most computers have four levels of power consumption – regular use, standby, sleep/hibernate mode and completely shut down.  A lot of people, including myself, prefer to hibernate their PCs rather than shut them off, because it allows them to start up again more quickly.  With Somniloquy, you can hibernate your PC and still have it communicate with other PCs.  Check out more details on Phys.org.

As for those who are just leaving their computers on out of sheer laziness – they do not deserve a cool new Somniloquy.  They should just turn off your computers.

Via Treehugger
Image via System Surgeon

What it is: Think social media is a kick in the pants? Big twitter and Facebook fan, are you? Well, you may want to consider upping your game with Foursquare, a newish social media app/game for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Foursquare feeds the social, yet competitive spirit in users, who leverage the location-aware functionality of Apple’s mobile devices to let friends and others on the network know where they go, what they do and what they dig in 12 major US metropolitan areas (so far).

Why it’s good: The built-in gaming aspect of Foursquare lets users earn points for checking in at different places around the city and giving tips on what makes those places so cool (get the curry duck at Thep Phanom, for example). By hitting different spots and making combinations of recommendations, players can unlock “badges” and become a “Mayor” of their city.

By keeping up with and adding friends, users get to leverage the collective knowledge about a city into lists of cool things they have done and cool things they want to do.

Users can check in by logging on to accounts through a mobile browser, directly from within the app itself or by texting their location from a mobile phone.

Whare to get it: Foursquare is free and available for download now at the App Store.

This article is copyright Cultomedia Corp.

Born out of the desire to make the most out of the least available space, the I-lari from Domodinamica is a modular furniture unit for contemporary homes, or even public places, that the users may modify in different seating patterns according to their needs and availability of space in the place. Finished with polyurethane resins cold foamed in die on steel structure, the modular seating forming different designs seems to carry the users back in the past, from tribal African wood-carved seating to the twentieth century seat patterns, while maintaining the style as well comfort of modern era. You may choose between leather and fabric covers to match your liking and décor of your place. .
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In some happy Earth Day news, Wal-Mart announced today that they are doubling the amount of solar power installed at their facilities. In the next 18 months, the company will equip 10 to 20 locations with solar panels, adding to the 18 facilities already outfitted with solar arrays.

The chosen locations will received 20 to 30 percent of their electricity from solar power and when all the new panels are installed, Wal-Mart will reach a total solar energy capacity of 32 million kWh per year. The company claims that this will reduce their carbon emissions by 22,500 metric tons a year and create 130 new jobs.

As Wal-Mart’s long-term plan continues to be converting to 100 percent renewable energy, the company is looking at expanding solar installations to more facilities once this project is completed.

via Greentech Media

$118.23 from Limiteds.com
These are so great. I want to be drinking out of one right now. Playing off of the iconic plastic cup shape, these giant (34cm diameter) polyethylene cups are durable enough to function as stools or trash bins. That was actually their original intent… but oh no, I want to drink out of it. And I will. Someday.