Category Archives: Technology

BarCamp San Diego this weekend

I’ve been negligent in my event-reporting duties. This weekend (June 2-3) San Diego gets its very own BarCamp, and I’ll be there along with lots of awesome people. Topics so far include programming, photography, yoga, knitting, metal fabrication, and monkeys.  (Yes, the last one is mine.)

If you’re in the San Diego area and have a bit of spare time this weekend, stop on by! You’re guaranteed to have a great time.

A Greener Apple

Steve Jobs released a statement today (A Greener Apple) that thoughtfully and simply summarizes progress Apple has made in improving the environmental footprint of its products.  The letter covers everything from plans to phase out toxic chemicals to electronic waste recycling, and each step sounds more reasonable than the last.

I would post excerpts here, but I don’t think they would do the piece justice.  The entire statement is worth a read.  It made me happy to be an Apple customer.

TGV gets even faster (and maybe comes to California)

Oh, can we please order about a dozen of these?

A French high-speed train, with a souped-up engine and wheels, breaks the world speed record near Grigny, eastern France, Tuesday, April 3, 2007, reaching 574.8 kph (357.2 mph). The black and chrome train with three double-decker cars, named the V150, bettered the previous record of 515.3 (320.2 mph), set in 1990 by the French fast train. However, it fell short of the ultimate record set by Japan’s non-conventional magnetically levitated train, which sped to 581 kph (361 mph) in 2003.

More at the Houston Chronicle.  To save you the math, 350 mph gets one from San Diego to San Francisco in an hour and a half, an order of magnitude faster than Amtrak currently manages.   And that’s not just wishful thinking, either:

Hours before the run, Transport Minister Dominique Perben received a delegation from California, which is studying prospects for a high-speed line from Sacramento to San Diego, via San Francisco and Los Angeles.

There’s still a long way to go, but perhaps by the time Ben wants to explore California on his own, he’ll be able to go by (really fast) train.