The Nokia N800 runs Linux, uses the Opera browser, supports Skype and Google Talk, works via a stylus or finger-friendly keyboard, and is just 4″x6″. Reviewers say the wi-fi finds more hotspots than any other device they’ve used. Plus, you can get open source apps for it at Maemo.org, something fully supported by Nokia.

This is a major upgrade from the last version, the 770 which did not have a finger-friendly keyboard, just a stylus one. Now that it has a usable keyboard, it becomes useful for many things, not the least of which is blogging.

Live blogging from, say, a big antiwar protest using a laptop, even a small one, can be problematic. The Nokia N800, however, will fit into a large pocket.

Price is a quite reasonable US $399.

[tags]Nokia N800 Internet Tablet[/tags]

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image from Wikipedia of the Nor’easter blizzard of 2006. Looks like a hurricane, doesn’t it?

We’re having a Nor’easter here in New England. This does not mean, as is often thought, that the storm comes in from the northeast Atlantic (which indeed is notorious for producing ferocious storms) but rather because the storm sits offshore with the northeast quadrant pushing the storm inland.

Storms revolve counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere. The northeast quadrant is the most dangerous because it is pushing wind and waves in same direction, in this instance towards the shore, thus the potential for damage is greater.

Nor’easters are caused by a Gulf Stream low traveling up the coast and colliding with an Arctic high. The result is torrents of rain and high winds. Beach areas can get a storm surge, 60 mph winds, as well as serious erosion.

By the time this one is over, it will have rained hard for two days solid, with more over the next several days. It’s expected there will be flooding in some areas, as well as evacuations.

Update: It’s the right-front quadrant of the storm that is most dangerous, and that quadrant is determined by the direction of the storm. In New England, big storms generally come up the coast line, hence the northeast quadrant is what slams wind and storm surge towards the shore simultaneously.

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Seven fuel cell plants will be built in Connecticut soon, including some of the biggest such plants in the world, which will supply 70 megawatts, enough to power 60,000 homes. The state will buy the energy at 5.5 cents per kilowatt over wholesale to help boost fuel cell technology and make the state a showcase for it.

Two major fuel cell companies, Fuel Cell Energy and UTC Power, are based in Connecticut and will be building the plants.

Fuel cells are unobtrusive and are small, so they can be put anywhere. They output little pollution and create energy efficiently by a chemical reaction from hydrogen and oxygen. In this case, they will use natural gas as the feedstock, so it won’t be true renewal energy, but this is a huge step forward and one that will be widely watched to see if fuel cells can work on a mass level.

As an aside, the holy grail here is fuel cell energy from renewable sources, something that is quite possible using solar-powered fuel cells placed in deserts.

(Would it be that Connecticut was always so progressive - see the following post)

[tags]fuel cells[/tags]

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Byrant Wisemen died in a Connecticut prison while being restrained by guards. His mother is suing. If she collects, under an Orwellian statute, the state wants to collect $87,000 to pay for keeping him in prison.

Yessirree, the State of Connecticut is busily gouging as much as it can out of current and former inmates, going after inheritances, lottery winnings, and even judgments for illegal arrests. While some might call this approach cold-hearted in the extreme, we here at Polizeros think the policy needs to be expanded.

Henceforth, those receiving speeding tickets should be liable for the officer’s pay and expenses on his car for, say, the preceding four hours. This would give whole new meaning to those who say, I pay your salary, why aren’t you out chasing the real criminals.

Ditto for anyone using any public service. Bill them for it. You should pay a fee for paying your property tax and state income tax above and beyond whatever you owe. Call it a fee fee, it will cover the cost of the state billing you. Banks are already quite expert at this, perhaps the state could learn from them.

Of course, the cost of determining the amount of the fee fee needs to be factored in too. So, clearly, a fee fee fee will also be needed.

Those on welfare, like inmates, are having every penny they might have be examined so the State can grab it too. Absolutely, once they’re off welfare, let’s bill them for it, then they’ll be broke and back on welfare again. Sharp thinking there. And it’s important the State never allow someone to get back on their feet again, gouging the defenseless for money is a much better option.

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