OYBike - The most portable bike in the world?: "
The OYBike System is a street-based rental station network that allows you to hire and return a bicycle 24/7 via your mobile phone. The OYBike system is based on the availability of rental bicycles at key locations:

* Tube stations
* Public buildings
* Key transport interchanges
* Car Parks

These bicycles are secured to their bike stands using cables that are attached to the bicycle and which double as security locking cables when the bicycles are on hire. Each bike stand is equipped with a specially developed electronic lock operated through a keyboard and LCD display. This lock holds the cable secure until that bicycle is rented out. An OYBike registered user select an available bicycle and the locks display a code, the user then calls the OYBike call centre and gives them that code.

A unique pin code is then read out to the user and sent back by text messaging. This pin code is entered into the lock to release the bicycle. After use the bicycle is locked into any empty port on an available OYBike station. A unique pin will appear on the lock display that must be sent back to OYBike to end the hire period."

posted by Kaushik at 4:15 PM Comment (0)

memeorandum
Saw this linked off Scobleizer. Interesting newsbot - top news with associated views/comments off blogs.

posted by Farookh at 11:54 AM Comment (0)

Koders.com: Find (open) source code fast
A search engine to find code in one of many languages - Perl, C#, etc. in one of many licenses.

http://www.koders.com

posted by Farookh at 11:33 AM Comment (0)

India bugs trees in high-tech crackdown on illegal logging: The state of Kerala is resorting to drastic measures to defend its dwindling forests of rare sandalwood trees from illegal logging. Its Forest Department is planning to use satellite tracking to protect the trees. Under the plan, microchips will be embedded inside the trees.

-K


posted by Kaushik at 9:09 AM Comment (0)

"musicplasma helps you identify all the artists fitting your musical tastes"

You enter an artist, say, "Def Leppard" and it gives you a graphical representation of similar artists.

posted by Farookh at 2:06 PM Comment (0)

Flower pot IM: Flower blooms when your buddy signs in.

posted by Kaushik at 7:51 PM Comment (0)

You buy just the pod and attach standard hang-glider wings.
75 pounds in weight. Costs around $5000.

http://www.fly-seagull.com/

-K


posted by Kaushik at 7:43 PM Comment (0)

Hard drives that vibrate rather than spin

-K

posted by Kaushik at 12:45 PM Comment (0)

Ten things that China does far better than the US.

-K

posted by Kaushik at 9:37 AM Comment (0)

A Time Lapse Lunar Eclipse

Nice time-elapse of last week's eclipse from Astronomy Picture of the Day.

posted by Kaushik at 11:14 AM Comment (0)

India's latest pesticide: Coca Cola

Indian farmers have come up with a new special pesticide, Coca-Cola, which they think is the real thing to keep crops free of bugs.

Instead of paying hefty fees to international chemical companies for patented pesticides, they are reportedly spraying their cotton and chilly fields with Coke. One liter of highly concentrated Avant, Tracer and Nuvocron, three popular Indian pesticides, costs around 10,000 rupees ($220), but one-and-a-half liters of locally made Coca-Cola is 30 rupees (60 cents). To spray an acre would be a mere $6.

Here's are some theories as to why it works:

"He says the drinks are effectively sugar syrups and when they are poured on crops they attract ants which in turn feed on the larva of insects."

"All that is happening is that plants get a direct supply of carbohydrates and sugar which in turn boosts the plants' immunity and the plantation on the whole ends up yielding a better crop."


posted by Kaushik at 10:52 AM Comment (0)

Blendie 2000

Blendie is an interactive, sensitive, intelligent, voice controlled blender with a mind of its own.


People induce the blender to spin by sounding the sounds of its motor in action. A person may growl low pitch blender-like sounds to get it to spin slow and the person can growl blender-style at higher pitches to speed it up.


Check out the video clip, it's brilliant!

-K

posted by Kaushik at 12:07 PM Comment (0)

New Images of Titan Baffle Astronomers: "Instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft have sent back the most detailed images ever captured of the surface of Saturn's giant moon, Titan. They've also presented scientists with a major mystery.

There's a huge cloud formation over the moon's south pole, spanning 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) at its widest. That's no surprise; scientists expected it to be there. But they also expected it to be made of methane. And it isn't."

-K

posted by Kaushik at 3:34 PM Comment (0)

Mobile phones overtake landlines in India

This is a very significant event indeed.

-K


posted by Kaushik at 5:17 PM Comment (0)

Giant squid are taking over the world

Well at least the oceans, and they are getting bigger. According to scientists, squid have overtaken humans in terms of total bio-mass.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4811363%5E13762,00.html

Funny, I don't even know what one looks like, and here they are taking up more space than people.

-K


posted by Kaushik at 1:54 AM Comment (1)