New Florence. New Renaissance.

The Revolutionary New Speedo

"The governing body of world swimming will review swimsuit design next month, as concerns grow about the growing influence of technology within the sport. 

Since its global launch less than six weeks ago, Speedo's new LZR Racer swimsuit has been at the forefront of an incredible sequence of performances, with the likes of Australian trio Eamon Sullivan, Stephanie Rice and Libby Trickett, United States competitors Natalie Coughlin and Hayley McGregory, and France's rising star, Alain Bernard, achieving 16 world records, eight of which have been posted in the last week."

The Herald

 

"LZR Racer is Speedo’s sixth suit in the past 16 years to shave crucial hundredths and tenths of seconds. In key locations on the suit, the woven fabric used in previous designs has been replaced by polyurethane membranes with 24 percent lower drag (it’s too stiff to use everywhere). The suit has eliminated stitching and instead relies on ultrasonic welding to further reduce drag. A new core stabilizer provides additional support to help the athlete maintain good form throughout the race."

Popular Science

Loic Le Meur's Social Map

Loic Le Meur, definitely one of the pioneers in the social computing space shares his social map.

It is a full time job keeping up with all the tools and services in the social space (and broadly in mail, search and other tools which increasingly help us with social activities)

...click on graphic for a larger perspective, and you will notice there is plenty of white space waiting to be filled -)

 

Gadgets to spice up work-at-home

Popular Science has a gallery of gadgets to make working from home much more productive and enjoyable.

Green Design at new Nationals Park

 

The stadium opening today was designed to be "green" with high efficiency field lighting and building materials with 10%+ recycled content. Much of landscape flora is drought resistant and needs less irrigation, roof materials are high-reflective, there's plenty of car pool parking, the stadium is accessible to public transportation etc. And there is an elaborate filtering system to prevent contaminants from entering the nearby Anacostia River.

More coverage at USA Today.

Earth Hour

Google turned its "lights off" today as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour.

As to why Google does not do this every day...well its research has found black backgrounds do not reduce energy consumption. Read more here. But plenty of other ways to reduce energy consumption - check out Energy Star for one.

Mobiles on European planes

As US airlines get ready to launch Wi-Fly, but not mobiles on planes, word that the UK regulator Ofcom has authorized their use in European airspace.

Read more at BBC News

Thanks to reader Alan Buxton for the tip

San Francisco Green

Solar rebates, wave energy, carbon tax - the mayor of San Francisco talks about various green initiatives in this video

45Mbps at less than $ 30 a month!

WebPass offers 1 to 1000 Megabits per second (Mbps) Dedicated Internet Access for business customers or 45 Mbps residential broadband service. If you sign up for a year it is $ 350. Webpass only offers service at properties that are capable of supporting Ethernet. This data cable allows Webpass to operate completely independently of the local phone and television companies. Only in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to start with.

The Physics of Superheroes

Popular Science has a gallery which makes you think about how Superman flies, how Storm in the X-files can generate electricity and more.

If those questions are too taxing, just go see Leslie Nielsen and Pamela Anderson in the spoof movie to be released this week -)

A Zagat book on Doctors

WellPoint, the Indianapolis-based health insurer, has teamed up with Zagat, the publisher of rating guides on restaurants, hotels, and travel destinations worldwide, to judge and rate physicians. WellPoint allows its 35 million insured to post online reviews of their doctors. After visiting a physician, the patient can log on to the website of WellPoint and “grade” the healthcare provider on a 4-point scale, including availability, communication, office environment, and trustworthiness. Following a 10 patient-feedback, WellPoint compiles and analyzes the info and assigns a rating of the physician, or over-all score from 1 to 30.

Read more here