From Wired How-To Wiki
Arthur Benjamin is a wizard at math. Literally. At Hollywood's Magic Castle, the world-famous conjurer's club, he wows the crowd by multiplying big numbers — quick, what's 57,682 squared? — faster than you can use a calculator. Here he shares three cool tricks. (The answer, by the way: 3,327,213,124. See how easy it is?)
Square off
To square a number like 14, identify the closest round number — in this case, 10. Since you subtracted 4 to get 10, add 4 to 14 to ge…
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 16, 2009 at 7:26pm —
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The physician being investigated in Michael Jackson's death reached an agreement Monday in a separate child support case that kept him out of a Nevada jail.
Prosecutors in Las Vegas had sought an arrest warrant for Dr. Conrad Murray after he failed to appear for previous hearings before Family Court officers attempting to collect unpaid child support for a California woman and her 11-year-old son dating back to October 2008.
With Murray at his side, defense lawyer Christopher Aa
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Added by Dmitry on November 16, 2009 at 3:56pm —
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The Associated Press (as featured on NPR website), November 16, 2009
A group of businessmen on Monday launched a new coalition to urge the federal government to make a major investment in electric transportation, pointing to electric cars as the best way to confront the nation's dependence on imported oil.
Top executives with more than a dozen companies, including Nissan Motor Co., Fedex Corp., electric utility PG&E Corp. and battery developers A123 Systems Inc. and Johnson Controls-Saft,…
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 16, 2009 at 3:24pm —
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By Anton Caputo and Tracy Idell Hamilton - Express-News
With CPS Energy's nuclear expansion plans on shaky ground, San Antonio soon could be looking for other ways to meet future energy needs.
The nuclear option isn't dead yet — the utility's trustees will learn Monday whether last week's trip to Japan yielded an estimate low enough to win back City Council support. But its prospects have dimmed since news that a $4 billion cost estimate increase had been kept under wraps, leaking out just two…
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Added by Geoff Bailey on November 16, 2009 at 12:51pm —
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By Anton Caputo and Tracy Idell Hamilton - Express-News
With CPS Energy's nuclear expansion plans on shaky ground, San Antonio soon could be looking for other ways to meet future energy needs.
The nuclear option isn't dead yet — the utility's trustees will learn Monday whether last week's trip to Japan yielded an estimate low enough to win back City Council support. But its prospects have dimmed since news that a $4 billion cost estimate increase had been kept under wraps, leaking out just two…
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Added by Geoff Bailey on November 16, 2009 at 12:51pm —
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Palestinians have formally asked the European Union to urge the UN security council to recognise a fully independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in response to the current impasse in peace negotiations with Israel.
Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, confirmed that the request to the EU was made on Monday as Israeli ministers repeated warnings that any unilateral moves would trigger counter-measures that could include the annexation of more of the occupied West Ban
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Added by Dmitry on November 16, 2009 at 12:38pm —
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Lots of people today today think that I always exercise, therefore, I am very healthy. Lots of peole think in that way?
The fact is, if we are always exercise, it does not mean that we ahieve total health. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. After I read the whole statement, I thought that it is impossible to achieve physical, mental and social well-being at…
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Added by Gorden Telman on November 16, 2009 at 12:20pm —
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this is their standard form letter in response:
Dear Ms. Leggett:
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1835, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009. I appreciate hearing from you on this important, and I am pleased to tell you that I am a co-sponsor of this legislation.
As you know, H.R. 1835, or the NAT GAS Act, creates a new federal tax credit for automobile manufacturers who produce natural gas vehicles (NGVs). The bill also maximizes existing…
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Added by Dee on November 16, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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FORT COLLINS (Reuters) - The parents of a Colorado boy whose apparent brush with death in a helium balloon transfixed millions pleaded guilty on Friday to staging a publicity-seeking hoax and will be sentenced next month.
Richard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a felony and a misdemeanor and will be sentenced on December 23.
The case has sparked outrage over the amount of money spent on a rescue attempt for the six-year-old child, dubbed "balloon boy," after live television i
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Added by Dmitry on November 16, 2009 at 8:23am —
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I read this from MSN news link.
Most Scientists believe, climate change — the warming of oceans — has allowed some of the almost 2,000 jellyfish species to expand their ranges, appear earlier in the year and
increase overall numbers, much as warming has helped ticks, bark beetles and other pests to spread to new latitudes.
The gelatinous seaborne creatures (Jellyfish) are blamed for decimating fishing industries in the Bering and Black seas, forcing the shutdown of seaside power and desal…
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Added by Tom Bailey on November 16, 2009 at 6:13am —
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Everyone should start talking about water powered vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, and recycle all garbage.
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Added by John Jankovich on November 14, 2009 at 8:46pm —
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I am looking for people who know anything about monorail(electric driven) who live in North Texas.
I am also interested in talking to the Pickens people who made the offer to DART to supply the buses, gas if they chose natural gas engines for their new buses.
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Added by Robert L. Ward on November 14, 2009 at 6:31am —
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If we state that the use of fossil fuels are only bad and endanger our planet, we think rather one-dimensional. Probably more important is HOW we use our resources! For example, a big 'hidden' controversy between traditional and alternative energy is, that we could reduce CO2 emissions in the transport/automotive sector with 500%, while still using petrol!
LET ME EXPLAIN HOW:
If we drive our traditional cars and burn a gallon of petrol in a traditional combustion engine, we throw away about 90…
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Added by Kees Augustijn PMP on November 14, 2009 at 4:30am —
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Nick Chambers, Editor, Gas2.org, November 13th, 2009
In Los Angeles this morning, at the United States unveiling of the Nissan LEAF electric car—set to hit showrooms in late 2010—Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was enthusiastic and clearly proud of the position the Nissan-Renault Alliance has taken as a leader in the development of electric cars and charging infrastructure.
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 13, 2009 at 9:14pm —
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Nick Chambers, Editor, November 13th, 2009, Gas2.org

According to two unnamed sources
as reported in the Guardian—one current International Energy Agency (IEA) employee and one former—the IEA has been purposely painting an overly rosy picture of the remaining available world oil supplies to…
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 13, 2009 at 9:00pm —
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Solar Feeds, Nov 06, 2009
The current technology might have enabled us to install a solar plant right on our rooftops, but all that energy is of no use if there isn’t enough storage medium available. Currently most PV plants use batteries as a storage medium, which not only is an expensive way but the low-energy density of batteries makes them impractical for normal use.
Eco Factor: Storing solar energy in the form of hydrogen for fuel cells.
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 13, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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Added by Buz Scott on November 13, 2009 at 5:43pm —
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U.S. consumers pay much less for their energy, per kilowatt, than consumers in most industrialized nations. Yet electricity and fuel prices typically fail to reflect the full cost of energy production and consumption, especially in terms of health effects.
The U.S. Congress requested a clarification of "hidden" energy costs as part of its 2005 energy bill. The result, released on Monday, concluded that the external effects of burning fossil fuels cost the United States more than $120 billion in…
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Added by Renew_H2_Man on November 13, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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There is a Minnesota company that has been talking alot about a different way of processing coal (abundant) that creates energy/gas and I'm wondering what anyone knows about this company (Bixby Energy) and or the process. Has this actually been seen to work? Or is it still in the experimental stage.
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Added by Jeana Fox on November 13, 2009 at 1:48pm —
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GreentechMedia Weekly Newsletter, Thursday, November 12, 2009
Global demand for solar cells and panels is likely to drop 17 percent in 2009, says Navigant Consulting. Market recovery won’t come quickly.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Worldwide demand for solar energy equipment is set to drop about 17 percent in 2009, the first time the market has ever experienced a drop in demand, an analyst said Thursday.
Solar cell and panel makers are likely to sell about 4.6 gigawatts this year, compared with about 5.5…
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Added by W. Dan Chance on November 13, 2009 at 1:00pm —
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