Biofuel expansion would send cattle into the rain forest

Biofuel production in the US has met with fairly mixed success, as the cost and fossil fuel use of corn-based ethanol has severely cut into the benefits provided by avoiding the use of fossil fuels. It’s been a somewhat different story in Brazil, which has embraced ethanol derived from sugarcane and seen more promising results. The government has set aggressive targets for both ethanol and biodiesel production, but a study that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science later this week urges caution: unless the goals are met through an integrated agricultural strategy, they’ll drive deforestation that will offset most of the benefits. The study looked at the expansion of the two crops that are expected to drive biofuels growth in Brazil: sugarcane for ethanol, and soy beans for biodiesel.

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Biofuel expansion would send cattle into the rain forest

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From “Eraserhead” to MMS: David Lynch Goes Mobile

Award-winning director (and three-time Oscar nominee) David Lynch (of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks fame) and the David Lynch Foundation Television have teamed up with mobile video marketer Mogreet to bring video MMS messages to Lynch fans. We spoke with Mogreet and the David Lynch Foundation about the technology, the purpose of the campaign and how the DLF is using social media and technology to further its message. Spreading a Message With Mobile Video The ever-increasing pace of smartphone adoption only underscores the growing importance of mobility. As we’ve seen with everything from mobile app stores to the Red Cross’s text message for Haiti campaign, mobile is an extremely valuable platform for brands and nonprofits to get their messages across

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From “Eraserhead” to MMS: David Lynch Goes Mobile

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The Scale That Thinks It’s a Rug [Concepts]

This concept scale that doubles as a decorative rug might— might —be the thing to finally get me taking better care of myself. Designer Kwan Sunman’s Rug With Scale project does away with the cold, judgmental form factors of your average bathroom scale, ensconcing it instead in a warm and inviting rug. The readout from the scale shows up on a small red tag that illuminates its user’s current weight, previous weight, and goal weight to help chart progress.

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The Scale That Thinks It’s a Rug [Concepts]

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JXD V3 handheld is confused, confusing and altogether interesting

We won’t front — there’s little chance we’d actually use JXD ’s V3 handheld, but it’s not for lack of interest. This here PMP / game player hybrid isn’t apt to leave the shores of Asia, but for those in that neck of the woods, this unit offers up emulators for a slew of game consoles, a 4.3-inch display, a 5 megapixel camera and plenty of file format support to handle your favorite music and video. Reportedly, the device even features an FM radio tuner, and in case you’re curious as to why there are two D-pads on this thing, it’s because you’ll need ‘em to get through certain Game Boy / NES titles. Or so they say. We can’t say we’re stoked about the $112 price tag, but in a way, we’re kind of in love with the whole flip-top design

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JXD V3 handheld is confused, confusing and altogether interesting

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From the Tips Box: Backyard Igloos, Sink Mats, and Taskbar Arrangement [From The Tips Box]

Readers offer their best tips for making effective sink mats, rearranging your Windows taskbar for quick program switching, and writing important information on dried food containers. Don’t like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

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From the Tips Box: Backyard Igloos, Sink Mats, and Taskbar Arrangement [From The Tips Box]

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Google Wants To Control All Communication [Google]

Google’s two new announcements: integrating a Twitter-like service into Gmail and a goal of a real-time speech translation service shows what direction they’re taking the company: Into the space between you and every other human being on the planet. To be fair, these two developments are really far apart in their delivery dates. The Gmail status update could come as soon as tomorrow, whereas the the speech-to-text-to-speech translation system is still a ways out.

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Google Wants To Control All Communication [Google]

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Why Paint Your Room When You Can Get a Color-Changing Wall Instead [Concept]

See this wall of colorful squares? It’s actually a concept design consisting of a bunch of small triangular panels which can be spun ’round on whim to change the way your room looks. Or to spell out naughty things. Ok, so the concept photos only spell out “S-E-X” which won’t make too many people giggle and blush, but just imagine the potential ways you could satisfy your inner decorating perv

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Why Paint Your Room When You Can Get a Color-Changing Wall Instead [Concept]

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Netflix Instant Streaming Goes 1080p This Year [Updated]

Update: Netflix contacted CNET and retracted its statement regarding plans for 1080p streaming, saying it has no plans for 1080p this year. However, the company stood its ground on the 5.1 surround sound plans, so you can still keep your ears open for that upgrade. – Netflix plans to bump the video quality of its Watch Instantly streaming service up to 1080p on some devices, CNET claims. It will also roll out 5.1 surround sound support

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Netflix Instant Streaming Goes 1080p This Year [Updated]

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Mozilla dropping 10.4 support with next Firefox release

The next major release of Firefox will not be compatible with Macs running Mac OS X 10.4, also known as Tiger. This comes from a mozilla.dev.planing discussion on Google Groups started by Josh Aas, a Mozilla-employed developer working on the project. The change will go into effect later this year when the browser’s Gecko rendering engine makes the jump from 1.9.2 to 1.9.3.

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Mozilla dropping 10.4 support with next Firefox release

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NVIDIA pursuing external graphics accelerators for laptops?

It’s not everyday that we can say there’s external laptop GPU love in the air, but right on the heels the appearance of the Gigabyte M1405 with its GeForce GT220 dock, NVIDIA is expressing interest in external laptop GPUs as well. Manager of notebook GPUs Rene Haas told X-bit Labs that he thinks external graphics adapters for laptops are a “big opportunity” for NVIDIA, though he noted the drawback of their high price tags. We assume he is referring to AMD’s ATI XGP box (or Fujitsu Siemen’s Lasso ) which is the only one available — the ASUS XG station (pictured above) that seemed to vanish into thin air after its brief appearance at CES 2008. Either way, Haas very clearly states that the large market appeal of affordable external GPUs is just his opinion, though we’re going to assume his opinion holds a bit of water in Santa Clara. NVIDIA pursuing external graphics accelerators for laptops?

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NVIDIA pursuing external graphics accelerators for laptops?

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