They're set up to have articles on various aspects of local life... to allow people to create pages about whatever they want... and with forums for discussion on each page. However, there don't seem to be too many people there yet!
I guess it's mostly a case of good publicity and luck...
Hmm... you can get a patent on anything, really... it doesn't mean it's right... or even sane... if the patent office had to check all the claims, it'd take a whole lot longer and cost a whole lot more...
They just check that there aren't any existing patents on the same thing, as far as I'm aware...
I've read that somebody patented attaching wind-turbine type generators to the top of your car to gain back energy and make the car more efficient.
I think you'll find operating in the infra-red range was the point - it absorbs what's in the infra-red range, which is good, because that's what you want to get rid of.
The absorbed energy can then be re-emitted at visible wavelengths...
AT&T are working on systems that track everything in an office so you desktop can follow you around, phone calls can be routed to the nearest phone to you, etc:
Slashdot Mirror
The BBC is trying this idea out in the UK with three new websites:
They're set up to have articles on various aspects of local life... to allow people to create pages about whatever they want... and with forums for discussion on each page. However, there don't seem to be too many people there yet!
I guess it's mostly a case of good publicity and luck...
Hmm... you can get a patent on anything, really... it doesn't mean it's right... or even sane... if the patent office had to check all the claims, it'd take a whole lot longer and cost a whole lot more...
They just check that there aren't any existing patents on the same thing, as far as I'm aware...
I've read that somebody patented attaching wind-turbine type generators to the top of your car to gain back energy and make the car more efficient.
I think you'll find operating in the infra-red range was the point - it absorbs what's in the infra-red range, which is good, because that's what you want to get rid of.
The absorbed energy can then be re-emitted at visible wavelengths...
AT&T are working on systems that track everything in an office so you desktop can follow you around, phone calls can be routed to the nearest phone to you, etc:
AT&T - Location Systems
They have some videos to watch on the topic... a few years old, but still interesting:
AT&T - The Video Collection
They have a nice away around objections to the system knowing where you are... if someone looks you up, you get their name and details...
It's is a pretty specialised system, though - I can't see it exactly being any use in your average family household...
I mean, who wants that kind of thing in their home?