WHEN a Greek sponge diver called
Elias Stadiatos discovered the wreck of a cargo ship
off the tiny island of Antikythera in 1900, it was
the statues lying on the seabed that made the greatest
impression on him. But the most important finds proved
to be a few green, corroded lumps—the last remnants
of an elaborate mechanical device.
The Antikythera mechanism, as it
is now known, was originally housed in a wooden box
about the size of a shoebox, with dials on the outside
and a complex assembly of bronze gear wheels within. September
30, 2005
Free
Energy, 'there's no such thing' I hear you cry.
Well to all sense and purpose, there is, and
news of some of it, is listed here. For example;
how about the invention of wind up computers!
That is computer laptops that use the same clockwork
mechinism that was developed over ten years ago
in Britain for the clockwork radio. There are
a number of companies who have produced such
a device.
The
Namibian
manufacturer
NamibPow
reports it
is unable
to keep up
with demand
for its wind-up
computers.
NamibPow
has already
sold and received
advance orders
for upwards
of 80 million
units, even
though the
first machines
designed for
the consumer
market only
left the company's
Windhoek factories
six months
ago. At present
the assembly
lines are capable
of turning
out approximately
12 million
machines a
year. The great
majority of
orders for
the new computer
have come from
Third World
countries.
NamibPow
has announced
plans for expansion
at the plants
in order to
raise production
to 30 million
units annually
by June 2005.
CEO Joseph
Mubala commented
to journalists
that even with
this expansion
programme it
will be necessary
for the company
to distribute
manufacturing
licences to
certain other
countries.
He said that
licences would
be granted
only to nationalized
companies operating
in underdeveloped
countries,
since "the
intention is
not that the
international
corporate moguls
would simply
have another
chance to reap
profits at
the cost of
the developing
world."
June
29, 2003
The
$100 clockwork
laptop
that helps
the poor
to learn
From Chris
Ayres in
Los Angeles
THE world’s least sophisticated laptop computer was announced
yesterday — and it runs by clockwork. The machine, which will
cost less than $100 (£56), is not aimed at the cutting edge
of corporate calculation but instead is destined for the poor of
the planet.
The inventor of the robust laptop hopes to distribute it to tens
of millions of children throughout the developing world, helping
to bridge the information gap between rich and poor.
One
of its most
useful features,
the clockwork
hand-crank,
is based on
the wind-up
radio invented
in Britain
by Trevor Baylis
more than a
decade ago.
The
non-profit
One Laptop
per Child
group plans
to have up
to 15 million
of them in
production
over the
next year
and believes
as many as
150 million
could be
manufactured
every year
by 2007.
If the computer
becomes that
successful,
it will represent
a threat
to Microsoft,
which does
not use “open
source” software. September
30, 2005
Designed
by Media-fix.co.uk 