MobMov: Flashmobs meet the drive-in

Using new technologies and combining with the “flash mob” phenomenon, the movies have gone mobile. Basically, an individual uses a portable projector and projects the movie on the wall somewhere in town. A small FM transmitter in the same car, transmits the sound for the movie. This allows others to drive up, tune in to the channel on their radio, and you have a dirve-in movie. These events almost never happen in the same place twice. The place and time of the MobMov event will be announced using the Internet and will happen at a random place and time.

“We are a grassroots movement aimed at bringing back the forgotten joy of the great American drive-in. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, what used to be a dark and decrepit warehouse wall springs to life with the sublime sights and sounds of a big screen movie. Best of all, the MobMov is free. “

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Magnetic Fridge

Researchers have created a new type of refigerator that uses magnetism to chill the refrigerator.

“Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered a material that gives a whole new complexion to the term ‘fridge magnet’. When this alloy is placed in a magnetic field, it gets colder. Karl Sandeman and his co-workers think that their material – a blend of cobalt, manganese, silicon and germanium – could help to usher in a new type of refrigerator that is up to 40 percent more energy-efficient than conventional models. “

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Long distance over the web – from your regular old phone

This new website/ business, Jajah, allows you to call long distance over IP – from your home phone.

This is how it works: You enter your “from” and “to” phone numbers on the website. Your phone will ring. You pick up. Your phone will ring through to the callee.

The IP phone connection has been made.

Then you will be charged the low-cost charge of the call from Jajah.

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Use spare change to load up on iTunes

Coinstar is a machine that turns your spare change into dollars (for a fee). You may have seen them in grocery stores.

They now allow you to get a gift certificate for iTunes or Amazon. If you get the gift certificates, you will not be charge the extra fee.

“Self-service coin counter Coinstar now lets you cash in all your spare change for a gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store, in addition to their previously-announced coin to Amazon gift certificate option.
Unlike the plain ol‚Äô ‚Äújust give me the cash‚Äù option, Coinstar does NOT take 8.9% of your couch-cushion quarters and dimes but gives you back the entire amount in your gift certificate. Their press release includes some ‚Äúfun coin facts‚Äù:”

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The end of bifocal glasses

Researchers at the University of Arizona have created glasses that can adjust the perscription in the glass dynamically as your eyes move.

“A team of researchers at the University of Arizona said Tuesday that they have developed a liquid-crystal eyeglass lens that can automatically change focus depending on the line of sight of the wearer.
Guoqiang Li, assistant research professor of Optical Sciences of the University of Arizona and member of the team of scientists, said the technology could help provide a viable alternative to bifocals, glasses often associated with grocery stores and old age.

“The lens is ‘switchable’ between two states. The wearer has a whole picture for viewing,” Li said in a telephone interview.”

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DNA gene vaccine protects against harmful protein of Alzheimer's disease

Doses of DNA-gene-coated gold particles protect mice against a protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

By pressure-injecting the gene responsible for producing the specific protein called amyloid-beta 42 the researchers caused the mice to make antibodies and greatly reduce the protein’s build-up in the brain. Accumulation of amyloid-beta 42 in humans is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The whole point of the study is to determine whether the antibody is therapeutically effective as a means to inhibit the formation of amyloid-beta storage in the brain, and it is,” said Dr. Roger Rosenberg, the study’s senior author and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Roger Rosenberg (right), director of the Alzheimers Disease Center, led a research team including Dr. Bao-Xi Qu, assistant professor of neurology, that investigated in mice whether a specific antibody is therapeutically effective as a means to inhibit the formation of amyloid-beta storage in the brain. Accumulation of amyloid-beta 42 in humans is a hallmark of Alzheimers disease.

Fly for free

Ryanair, an airliner in Ireland, lets some fly for free. And, if all goes well, they will be able to allow more people to fly for free. How is the business model for a free airline supposed to work? Since the revenue does not come from the ticket sale, the revenue comes from:
1. Refreshments: No free peanuts here, any food or drink will cost you (sales: $61 million)
2. $3.50 to check your bag ($36 million)
3. Online links: Most flights are booked online, and by providing links to hotel and other partners, they earn money ($100 million)
4. NASCAR style: They sell space on the sides of planes to advertisers to display ads

"Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ireland’s Ryanair, Europe’s most profitable airline, wants to make air travel free. Not free as in free from regulation, but free as in zero cost. By the end of the decade, he promises, "more than half of our passengers will fly free."

The remarkable thing is, few analysts think his prediction is far-fetched: Ryanair already offers free fares to a quarter of its customers."

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