I really like the concept behind this. This would make an excellent backup system for places in which “the cloud” has gone dark.
First solar-powered Linux laptop
Summary: A new kind of laptop, the SOL, is being designed for the great outdoors and it’s powered by sunlight and it will be running Linux.
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for Linux and Open Source | August 9, 2013 — 14:06 GMT (07:06 PDT)
WeWi Telecommunications, a Canadian telecommunications company, is better known for its disaster recovery services than it is as a Linux or PC company. But if Wewi have its way about it, the business will be the first to build a fully solar-powered, Linux laptop.
Say hello to the SOL: The first solar-powered laptop with Linux
The new laptop, which is still in development, will be named the SOL. WeWi hasn’t revealed any pricing but it’s rumored that it will list for $400.
To make the SOL capable of running on solar-powered batteries alone, it’s a relatively low-powered laptop.
The SOL’s specs are:
CPU: Intel Atom D2500 1.86 GHz Duo Core, Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
HDD: Seagate 2.5″ SATA HDD 320GB
RAM: Kingston 2-4GB DDRIII SDRAM
Graphics: 1080p HD Vide, Built-In Intel GMA3600 Graphics
Display: 13.3″ LCD, WXGA, 1366 x 768
Camera: 3MP
Audio: Realtek ALC661 HD Audio, Built-in 2 Speakers | Internal mic + 1/8″ input
3 USB2.0, Headphone jack, HDMI, LAN(10/100), Card reader (SD/MS/MMC)
Modem: 3G/4G World/multimode LTE
GPS: gpsOne Gen8A
Wi-Fi: MIMO 802.11b/gn (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth: Integrated Digital Core BT4.0
The company claims that with this configuration, and its built-in Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels with 16-percent efficiency, it will have a battery life of eight to ten hours.
For its operating system, it will run Ubuntu 12.04. Eventually, this will be upgraded to later versions of Ubuntu.
The Sol isn’t just about solar-power and Linux. Its real purpose, according to the company, is “With a rugged design, durability and a solar array that allows you to work wherever you are, you can take SOL with you to the most remote places on earth.”
The business means it. David M. Snir, WeWi’s founder, told me that “SOL is first going to be available in countries where it is needed most, starting with:”
1. Ghana
2. Kenya
3. Zimbabwe
4. Rest of Africa
Snir continued, “We are then going to introduce SOL in the European, US/Canadian market with both SOL and SOL-X (with higher specifications).”
This project sounds a lot to me like the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Linux laptop. I asked Snit about this and he replied, “Somewhat yes. People have asked us about OLPC. While we admire their effort and their initiative, SOL is somewhat different, in that it is a fully functioning laptop which young adults and professionals can use for work.”
He concluded:
“SOL is also very open and a user can install whatever OS they wish on it (We have a test unit running Windows for example, as well as others running different Linux distributions.) Having said that, we are working with several governments to introduce SOL into their One Laptop per Child program – where the machines will be either heavily subsidized or entirely given for free by these governments – for us this is a wonderful thing as this way those who need it most but can’t afford it will have access and future in computing.”
Alas for those of us in North America and the European Union, it’s going to be a while before the SOL is in our hands. No release date has been set yet for its arrival in either Africa or the rest of the world. I’m sure I’m not the only one who hopes that it will be soon.
Category: Uncategorized
how to shoot from a seated position
I highly recommend any of Dave Spaulding’s material.
Keep in mind that your method of carry needs to be one in which you can easily access the gun or other weapon fro a seated position under stress and in a short time frame. Practice it dry in your garage in the car to get good with it.
do you know why belts are an important part of your ccw rig
Great article!
From: Do you know why belts are an important part of your CCW rig?.
Whenever the topic of holsters comes up someone always says… “The belt is more important than the holster.”
Um… sort of. The holster is what retains the gun, it is what protects the trigger guard and its design can do a lot to help the belt, but I am getting ahead of myself.
How your belt fails
Bad belts fail in one or more of three different ways…
1) They sag. The weight of the pistol can cause the belt to bow down.
2) They list. The weight of the pistol can twist the belt.
3) They taco. The weight of the pistol actually causes the belt to fold length wise. If your belt is doing this it probably isn’t sufficient to hold up your pants… let alone a pistol.
1 & 2 often happen together and combine to have the gun pull the pants down on one side fall away from the body. This effectively makes the muzzle longer increasing the chance it to pokes out from under your coat or shirt. It makes the gun print more since it is falling away from your body. It increases the felt weight of the pistol because the center of mass is farther from your body. And the swaying increases the chance of it bumping into things and can be annoying.
How do you know when you have a bad belt?
You know you have a bad belt if you need to adjust your pistol back up onto your hip or that you need to cinch it tighter that you would if you weren’t carrying.
What should you look for in a belt?
There are a large number of good belts that are made from either leather or nylon webbing.
Leather belts should be double layered leather and designed for the purpose. Typically they will be 1.25” tall and a 0.25” thick. 1.5” belts are available, but they are often too big for normal pant belt loops. Your reversible black/brown dress belt isn’t going to cut it.
Webbing belts, often called instructor belts, are thinner but are also great choices because they don’t stretch… which is the reason for the thickness of the leather belt. Some companies market 3 or 5 stich models and for the extra $5 get the 5 stich. This serves to add a little more stiffness which is what you are after.
The other big advantage of the webbing belts is that they don’t have discrete adjustments so they can be set to the perfect tension.
How can the holster help the belt?
My favorite concealment holster is the Comp-tac MTAC and while it does benefit from a good belt, its design reduces the importance.
1) It is an inside the waistband (IWB) holster so the waistband of your pants acts as another layer keeping it from rotating away from your body. This eliminates the printing, the swinging and the increased felt weight issues.
2) It uses 2 clips separated by more than a couple of inches. This divides the weight each point on the belt is supporting reducing the chance of sagging or tacoing.
So yes, a good belt is definitely part of a well-designed CCW rig, but the right holster can minimize its importance.
We don’t stock any belts because the well known brands are all so good that there is little performance differentiation. However, I would love to know what your favorite belt is. Post it in the comments below.
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About Ron Larimer
Ron is the Founder and President of When the Balloon Goes Up! He competes regularly in IDPA as an ESP/Expert, his focus is on concealed carry, home defense and analyzing equipment to find “Gear that Just Works!”
getting google to spy on you a just a little bit less
From http://www.google.com/goodtoknow/online-safety/security-tools/
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Good to Know
How you can stay safe and secure online
Know your Google security and privacy tools
Know your Google security and privacy tools
With Google, you have a variety of tools that can help keep you safe and keep your information private and secure. Here are some of our most popular tools that help make Google work better for you.
Stay secure and private
2-step Verification
Once you’ve created a password for your Google Account, we encourage you to add an extra layer of security by enabling 2-step verification. 2-step verification requires you to have access to your phone, as well as your username and password, when you sign in. This means that if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential attacker still can’t sign in to your account because they don’t have your phone. Now you can protect yourself with something you know (your password) and something you have (your phone).
Incognito mode in Chrome
In incognito mode, pages you open and files you download aren’t recorded in Chrome’s browsing or download history. You can also use this feature in Chrome for Android – and Chrome is now the default browser for new Android products, letting you browse the web on your phone or tablet in private. Find out how to access incognito mode.
Google Talk
Google Talk, the chat feature in Gmail and other Google products, allows you to take chats off the record. Chats that have been taken off the record aren’t stored in your or your contact’s Gmail chat history. When you take a chat off the record, a message will appear to you and your contact confirming that future chats won’t be saved, unless one of you changes the setting.
Google+ Circles
Google+ circles help you manage your friends and contacts. You can put your friends in one circle, your family in another and your boss in a circle all by himself – just like real life. Then you can share relevant content, like Google+ posts, YouTube videos, or Local listings, with the right people anytime you choose.
Unlisted and private videos on YouTube
YouTube was created for people to share ideas with the entire world. But sometimes you might just rather share it with a small group of friends or keep it to yourself. You can do that by choosing either unlisted or private when you upload your video.
See and control your information
Google Account Settings
On your Account settings page, you can see services and information associated with your Google Account and change your security and privacy settings.
Google Dashboard
The Google Dashboard shows you what’s stored in your Google Account. From one central location, you can easily view and update your settings for services such as Blogger, Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Google+ and more.
Me on the Web
Me on the Web can help you understand and manage what people see when they search for you on Google. It helps you set up Google Alerts so you can monitor if information about you appears online, and it automatically suggests some search terms you may want to keep an eye on.
Account Activity
Account Activity makes it simple for you to review how you’re using Google services while signed in, and make sure only you have been using your account. If you sign up, you’ll get access to a monthly report where you can see things like how much email has been sent and received from your account, the countries from which your account has been accessed, and what the top Google searches from your account have been.
Google Takeout
Google Takeout provides you with an easy-to-use tool to download your personal data, like your documents or photos, so that you can always have a copy of it or easily be able to upload your information to another service.
Google Web History controls
If you’re signed in to a Google Account, Web History helps provide you with more relevant results and recommendations. If you choose, you can delete entries, pause collection or turn off the service altogether. You can do the same with YouTube History.
Manage what advertisers and websites see
Ads Preferences Manager
Ads help fund many of the free online services on the web you love and use every day. With Google’s Ads Preferences Manager, you can understand how ads are selected for you, control your information that is used to select ads, and block specific advertisers.
Google Analytics opt-out
Google Analytics generates statistics about visitors to websites, such as the number of page views or times of peak traffic to help website publishers improve their sites. If you don’t want your browser data to be shared with publishers when you visit sites that use Google Analytics, you can install an opt-out.
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Advice on safety issues from our partners
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protip drop the magazine first then pull the slide back to clear a pistol
Sooooooooooooooo dumb.
From http://gawker.com/man-tries-to-show-wife-gun-isnt-loaded-ends-up-shooti-1286035028
NEETZAN ZIMMERMAN
GUNS
Tuesday 3:12pm
Man Tries to Show Wife Gun Isn’t Loaded, Ends Up Shooting Her Instead
1
An attempt to show his wife that a gun brought into their home by a friend wasn’t loaded went terribly awry for one Vermont man who ended up shooting his wife in the legs.
Authorities in Windsor say Matthew Coleman, 37, had brought the 9mm handgun into the couple’s bedroom for safekeeping out of concern that children in the house might play with it.
When his wife, Dorthea, asked him if the gun was loaded, Coleman assured her it wasn’t, and demonstrated by pulling the trigger.
The gun went off, and a bullet struck Dorthea in one leg and exited through the other.
Emergency services were called to the scene, and Dorthea was rushed to a nearby hospital. She was conscious and alert at the time.
Police officers subsequently arrested Coleman and charged him with simple assault with a deadly weapon.
The county’s Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill said Coleman avoided a harsher charge of aggravated assault because he failed to demonstrate “extreme indifference to human life.”
“Simply put, the state has charged Mr. Coleman for making a tragic, easily avoidable mistake,” Cahill told reporters.
Coleman pleaded innocent just the same.
[screengrab via WCAX]
friends dont let friends wear cheap nylon holsters or carry a 25 auto
So what did this clown do wrong?
Carried a gun that was obviously not drop safe
The gun he was carrying was most likely an older design that is not safe to carry with a loaded chamber because a sharp impact can cause it to discharge.
Carried a .25 Auto
.25 ACP is notorious for being an low velocity and lightweight cartridge
He was wearing a holster that was most likely a cheap floppy nylon holster that was not molded to the gun.
Just about any serious handgun class will disallow floppy nylon holsters since they are simply unsafe and can easily foul a draw.
From http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2013/10/man_shot_after_holstered_gun_f.html
Man shot after holstered gun falls, fires, strikes him in the leg while shopping in Tuscaloosa
From http://blog.al.com/tuscaloosa/2013/10/man_shot_after_holstered_gun_f.html
Print
By Ben Flanagan | bflanaga@al.com | Follow on Twitter
on October 07, 2013 at 8:25 AM, updated October 07, 2013 at 8:29 AM
View full sizeA man suffered a gunshot wound Saturday after his holstered firearm accidentally went off and struck him in the leg while shopping at a Tuscaloosa store. (Joe Songer/al.com)
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – A Tuscaloosa man accidentally shot himself in the leg while shopping in a local store on Saturday after his holstered gun fell to the floor and fired, according to the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit.
On Saturday at approximately 9 p.m., homicide investigators responded to DCH Regional Medical Center Tuscaloosa in reference to a shooting that took place at 4201 East University Boulevard, according to Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit Commander Sgt. Dale Phillips.
Investigators spoke with the victim who said that while shopping in a local store, a 25-caliber handgun that he had in his waist fell to the floor and fired. The victim stated that he had the weapon in a holster, according to Phillips.
The projectile from the handgun struck the victim in the leg and traveled up to his hip. The projectile will have to be removed in surgery, according to Phillips. Police do not have information on the victim’s condition.
There were no other injuries or damage to report.