Even in the areas that are on the periphery of the natural disaster areas, in north east Honshu, trash collection has come to a near stand still.
Temporary trash dumps have been set up in parks and baseball fields.
Category Archives: Technology
Radiation NOT an IMMEDIATE Threat? What do they mean?
The Japanese government has told people not to eat the vegetables, and not to drink the water, because of radiation contamination. At the same time they say “There is no immediate threat.”
What they mean by that is, that the levels, and types, of radiation contamination is such that you will not notice any bad effects “immediately”. However, if you continue to eat, drink, or expose yourself to even the lowest levels of contamination, over time you will suffer bad effects.
For example: Iodine-131 is a short life span radioactive isotope. It collects on your thyroid glands (just like iodide), and if it builds up will cause cancer. Even low levels of iodine-131 will build up on your thyroid if you keep eating, drinking, or exposing yourself to the contamination. This is why the Japanese government is telling people to stop eating the vegetables, and stop drinking the water, even though there is no “immediate” threat.
In other words, it’s still bad, bad, bad!
Tokyo Electric says power outages will continue into summer
TEPCo said that Japan needs to prepare for rolling blackouts well into summer 2011.
The power shortage is a direct result of the nuclear disaster.
TEPCo is warning Japanese industries to make plans for the power shortage, such as reducing production.
Iran unveils spy Flying Saucer drone
Farnas Aerospace Company, and Iranian Aviation and Space Industries Association, have unveiled an unmanned flying saucer.
The spy flying saucer, called Zohal, is equipped with an auto-pilot system, GPS (Global Positioning System), two separate imaging systems with full HD 10 mega-pixel picture quality, and is able to take and send images simultaneously.
People still can’t get their money out of Japanese banks
A week after the 9.0 quake, computer system problems continue for Japanese banks.
Mizuho Bank is unable to process salary payments for more than half a million people.
Also, Internet banking and ATMs would be offline over Japan’s upcoming three-day weekend.
On Thursday, Mizuho bank’s nationwide ATM network of more than 5,600 machines went offline until midday, then failed again in the evening, and more problems on Friday.
Like I said before, another good reason to keep your money under the mattress (unless you think it’ll float away in the flood).
Russia to Create Multi-Use Cards: ID, passport, debit, insurance all in one
President Medvedev has ordered the creation of a multi-use card, that will act as ID, passport, insurance, drivers license and debit card.
The cards will contain micro-chips. It’s part of a plan for a “…better digital culture…”. A new national payment system will be created, so people can use the IDs for bill payments.
The system could cost Russia $5 billion, and it’s hoped to get it up and running by January 2012.
How did the Soviets deal with Chernobyl Disaster? Sand, Lead, Concrete
17MAR2011
The situation in Japan, with Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is similar to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, in that nuclear fuel was exposed. The Japanese are trying to deal with the situation by dumping water onto the reactors and spent fuel pools. At this point only partial melting of fuel rods have occurred. How did the Soviets deal with Chernobyl, where full melt down of the entire reactor took place?
CNES SPOT/EOSAT satellite image, 1986.
After a series of attempts to restrain the nuclear melt down failed, resulting literally in melting of the reactor (in the U.S. it’s called China Syndrome, because jokingly it was said it would melt it’s way to China), the Soviets began to air drop sand, lead and boric acid. 5,000 metric tons worth in one week! The reactor was eventually sealed in a concrete coffin.
Most people working to fight the Chernobyl disaster died from radiation exposure. One firefighter said it felt like pins & needles on his face, and the air tasted like metal, then he died. Most of the vehicles used are still parked at the Chernobyl compound.
Soviet scientist were concerned with the melting reactor reaching ground water. They decided to pour huge amounts of concrete in the bottom of the reactor building, which seems to have worked.
For perspective: Chernobyl was ONE reactor, no spent fuel pools. Japan is dealing, officially, with SIX reactors & their spent fuel pools (1,000+ fuel rods).
Fukushima 2011: JAPAN DISASTER START OF GLOBAL GREAT DEPRESSION
IDAHO NATIONAL LABRATORY WATCHING EVENTS IN JAPAN, SEA WATER MAY NOT WORK
JAPAN QUAKE = NO ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Verizon’s 4G LTE Network to Hit 38 Markets by 2011, Rest of US in 2013
The first thing Verizon Wireless touts, is it’s contiguous 700 MHz spectrum across the continental U.S. and Hawaii, which will carry Verizon’s new LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G network. Verizon plans on deploying 4G to 38 markets by the end of 2010, however, does not currently have a 4G enabled phone, but is expecting one by mid-2011. The rest of the U.S.? Well, you will just have to wait until 2013 for Verizon’s 4G to be in your area.
As for speed, Verizon expects download speeds of 5-12 Mbps, and upload speeds of 2-5 Mbps. This is great speeds, exceeding most dsl and cable speeds. However, one of the larger issues that PC gamers experience on wireless networks, is slow latency. Here is the good news, Verizon’s LTE network will have 1/4 of the latency that their 3G network has. All of this is great news for people who use the Verizon network for surveillance, video streaming, or other bandwidth intensive applications.
Another benefit, is the ability to have multiple users per time slot, as opposed to only one user being able to communicate data in a single time slot. This leads to the faster latency times, and greater “always on” data connections. Also, the LTE network has better building penetration, providing better signals deep inside a building.
LTE has a theoretical download speed of 100 Mbps, while its rival, HSPA has a theoretical download speed of 14.4 Mbps, according to Verizon’s website.
Google TV has lots of Apps, Two Products Set for Fall Release.
We have all seen our fair share of DVRs, however, Google has released one set-top box OS that is sure to gain popularity. Google TV is not a set-top box, but more of an operating system, as on Google’s website, the products listed are a Sony TV with Google TV built in, or Logitech Revue set-top box with Google TV. Both of which have yet to be released.
Logitech Revue with Google TV
What sets Google TV apart from the rest are its freely accesible apps from the Android Market (starting next year). Google TV does come preloaded with apps such as Netflix, Twitter, Pandora, and more. Yes, of course Google TV comes with Chrome and Adobe Flash Player 10.1, which means you will be able to freely browse the internet, regardless of website requirements.
Other features include the ability to use your Android phone or iPhone as a remote, with unlimited remotes possible, the ability to “fling” video from your phone to your TV, and the ability to record TV from DISH Network (if you subscribe to DISH Network) right from the search bar.
As for a release date, its up in the air. Rumor had it at September 29th, now the release date is expected on October 17th, but all of this is could change. One thing is for sure, it will be released sometime this fall. If you would like to check out more on Google TV, you can go directly to Google’s website at www.google.com/tv.
Plastic Grocery Bags, Recycle Them!
Ok, I was watching a local East Idaho TV news program. They ran a national story about getting sick from reusable grocery bags. What got me was in their intro to the story they said that plastic grocery bags just ended up in the landfill. Well not if you recycle them!
When plastic grocery bags first went into use one of the main selling points is that they are recyclable, and therefore will not fill up landfills. The reason they end up in your local dump is because shoppers are not bringing them back to the stores to be recycled.
The Walmart in Chubbuck has bins for dropping off your old plastic grocery bags. So does the Fred Meyer in Pocatello. I believe you can recycle them at your local WINCO. If you’re not sure go ask someone at the Customer Service counter at your favorite store. Just make sure your bags aren’t covered in schmutz.
Why spend money on reusable grocery bags, that they now say may be germ factories, when you can use free plastic grocery bags THAT ARE 100% RECYCLABLE? Please don’t throw them in the trash!
And guess what, it’s not just plastic grocery bags you can recycle. Bread bags, cereal box liner bags & more. Here’s a website for more info on plastic bag recycling: www.plasticbagrecycling.org