Wind Turbines Inspired By Ancient Methods

We’re digging this eco-friendly goodness from the folks at Windation Energy Systems. If you couldn’t guess by the name, they deal with organic means of producing wind energy. The developer of Windation’s latest wind turbine, Mark Sheikhrezai, was inspired by wind catchers used by the Persians to keep their interiors cool.

The concept is simple: wind blows into the top, then it’s directed downward where the wind turns a turbine that generates up to five kilowatts of electricity. That’s almost as good as saving the environment while working out, but even better because you can sit on your ass all day. We approve.

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The Devil Inside: Comcast

Filed under: Internet, Software

Comcast is the first ISP to start ramping up use of bandwidth caps. P2PNet has a fantastic write-up that completely details all of Comcast’s shady doings. The piece mentions how Comcast has developed a “disconnect user” option. That’s right. Use too much bandwidth for it’s liking and the big C might kill your connection for good. Even scarier are the recommendations for pirates, P2P users and movie buffs:

If you’re a Comcast user and you do P2P all day and all night, to avoid exceeding 250 GB in a month, users should budget their activity properly.

If users want to dedicate all 250 GB to P2P use, then they should limit their P2P clients to about 90 KB/s (perhaps dividing this into 30 KB/s upload and 60 KB/s download).

If they want to save 100 GB for non-P2P, then the budget should be about 55 KB/s (20 KB/s upload, 35 KB/s upload).

It keeps going on and on. I believe the largest issue on hand is the issue of monitoring. Other utility companies allow you to self-measure your usage. Comcast at least needs to have a tool where you login and view your total bandwidth amount for the month, much like that of a web hosting company. Read on if you’re in the mood for a great write up. Don’t do it if you’re already pulling your hair out over Comcast’s practices. It’ll hurt quite badly.

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