Archive for October 20th, 2005

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Wired Articles on Power Technology

October 20, 2005

Lynne Kiesling

Wired has some interesting, short articles right now on power technologies: wireless power transmission by converting electricity to lasers or microwaves and then re-converting them to electricity, broadband over power lines (BPL) deployment, and the effect of wind farms on wildlife, particularly birds in the Altamont Pass in California.

Here’s one question I have about the wireless power technology: how much energy does it take to transform the power to microwaves and back? Is any lost in the transmission? Those two questions make a big difference in how energy efficient the technology is, as well as whether it’s likely to be economically feasible.

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Apology

October 20, 2005

Lynne Kiesling

Sorry for the radio silence on this end. Piles and piles of work, has felt like a virtual hamster wheel. Sadly, my exercise routine has suffered too, so I’m behind in writing here and I’m out of shape.

This, too, shall pass.

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Biometric Transactions Arrive in Chicago

October 20, 2005

Lynne Kiesling

According to Chicagoist, Cub Foods stores in Chicago will start using a biometric payment system in November. The Pay By Touch system will enable shoppers to debit their checking accounts through a device that scans your finger, and uses its unique measurements as identification.

The comments on the post are interesting, including melodramatic (and not serious) suggestions that thieves will chop off fingers, etc. The comments touch on the privacy concerns, and the extent to which stores will be able to protect the customer information in the resulting databases. Hopefully the biometric information will be considered similar to, say, ATM PIN and credit card number information.

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