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HP collaborates with XE on improved solar power

With so many improvements already being shown in solar cell technology, the collaboration between Hewlett Packard (HP) and Xtreme Energetics (XE) to improve photo voltaic efficiency by 100% would appear to be bravado.

Not only do the companies expect to improve the efficiency but they also expect the improved solar cells to be more cost effective than current solar cells.  How do they plan on accomplishing this feat?

Well,  XE specializes in solar energy systems and HP has transparent transistor technology. XE will be licensing HP’s technology to create what XE calls “Solar with Style”.

Hp uses thin film technology in its transistors utilizing zinc and tin which are readily available and inexpensive.  XE is prepared to license that technology and use it in its concentration and tracking system.  The clear transistors will allow more light to get through thereby increasing the efficiency of the solar panels.

Participants invited to solve environmental issues

Written by Ian Williams

The government-funded Grid Computing Now network has kicked of a competition
which invites participants to help solve environmental issues through grid
computing.

Well known examples include the Folding@Home project which utilises the idle
power of PCs and PlayStation 3s to help with cancer research.

The ‘Grid Computing for a Greener Planet’ competition is supported by
Microsoft, Intellect, the British Computer Society, 451 Group, Memset, the
National e-Science Centre, Oxford e-Research Centre, WWF and The Technology
Strategy Board.

• A one-year membership to the BCS
• An industry mentor to help the winner progress their idea
• A week-long internship at the National e-Science Centre at the University of
  Edinburgh
• A Sony Vaio or Microsoft Xbox 360
• A one-year limited subscription to The 451 Group’s EcoEfficient and Grid
  services research

Coming Soon: Pirate TV Show

Jesse Alexander, the executive producer of the popular TV-shows ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lost’ and Matt Mason, author of ‘The Pirate’s Dilemma’, are working on a new TV-show about piracy. The show will be based on Matt’s book, and will show how important pirates are for today’s society.

Matt recently told us that he has been working on turning the book into a TV show with Jesse Alexander, the Executive Producer of the popular TV-shows Heroes and Lost. “It all happened a few months back when I was in LA talking to Disney, Matt told TorrentFreak, adding “We are trying to get this made into a 13-part TV show.”

You can find Matt’s articles on TorrentFreak here. Also, his book “The Pirate’s Dilemma” is now available as a free download, if you don’t want to pirate a copy.

Stop Internet Blocking and Censorship for Good

Big phone and cable companies like Comcast and Verizon want to tell the public when to stop and go on the Internet. But our online movements shouldn’t be controlled by gatekeepers.

Tell Congress to support the Internet
Freedom Preservation Act 2008 (HR 5353) to stop Internet blocking and protect Net Neutrality.

Get involved »

Last night’s House vote against an amendment that would make Net Neutrality enforceable is the result of swarming lobbyists and a multi-million-dollar media campaign by telephone companies that want Congress to hand them control of the Internet.

The fight now moves to the Senate, where there is stronger bi-partisan support for a bill — put forth by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) — that would protect our Internet freedom from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.

Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge:

BY: J.R.
PUBLISHED: Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Numbers

To get an idea of the energy costs associated with various
computer systems, readings were gathered from several machines. The systems fall along different points of
the performance spectrum. This is not
intended to be a comprehensive or even highly comparative analysis of computers,
merely an example to show real world use. Keep in mind that a computer’s power supply rating, and how much power
it uses, are two completely different things. The power supply in the Lenovo S10 is rated for 650W, but it doesn’t
come close to using that whole amount.