NASA Orbiter Reveals Details of a Moister Mars

Posted by on under nasa orbiter, slashdot, anet, liquid water, new category, nasa, regis, minerals, dk |

Matt_dk writes "NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has observed a new category of minerals spread across large regions of Mars. This discovery suggests that liquid water remained on the planet's surface a billion years later than scientists believed, and it played an important role in shaping the planet's surface and possibly hosting life."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Tagi: nasa orbiter, slashdot, anet, liquid water, new category, nasa, regis, minerals, dk

How Shady You Are, Big Box Stores

Posted by on under wood blade, nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, sleep at night, locati, sand paper, anet, scraper, drywall, model number, margins, thief, columbus ohio, nb, all sorts, ace, amp, boxes, peoe, sleep |

 

Most people are aware the new Dremel Multi-Max tool is out and that you can buy it online but why bother everyone is selling it for around $100 might as well go to the local big box store and pick it up there for about the same price right? Ah but if you read the fine print the 6300-01 model which everyone else on the planet is selling is not the same as the box's 6300-02L (Wonder which store the L could indicate).

The regular 6300-01 kit is pretty lean on accessories in the first place, it comes with the MM610 Scraper, MM440 ¾” wood blade, MM450 3” round wood & drywall blade, MM11 sanding pad with several kinds of sand paper. This is just enough to get started and do a few projects. The 6300-02L looks identical in almost everyway to the 6300-01 except the different model number in the lower left corner. What’s the difference? The difference is the 6300-02L in missing the MM450 3” round blade, the most useful of the accessory in the original kit. The cost for this blade at a big box store $9.95 ($8.75 on OPT) that would make the kit 10% over everyone else price for the Multi-Max tool. I have no problem with the big box stores marking up their products and making bigger margins. They are convenient and you can go there for all sorts of junk and will pay a little more for things but don't lie to us. This is misleading and just plain old fashion shady. The intent from the start was to misrepresent this product as the same as everyone else and most people have no idea just as the box stores planed. If I went into all our 6300-01 kits and stole the MM450 blade then sold them as normal people would call me a thief right.

This happens all the time at the big box stores and nobody really says anything. I couldn’t sleep at night if I mislead and ripped off my customers like this. However that is probably why we have a single location in Columbus, Ohio and the Big Boxes are scouting new store locations on the moon.

                  


Tagi: wood blade, nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, sleep at night, locati, sand paper, anet, scraper, drywall, model number, margins, thief, columbus ohio, nb, all sorts, ace, amp, boxes, peoe, sleep

Techcrunch: Review: Zune HD

Posted by on under ugly duckling, beautiful swan, zune, gray bird, champis, clear stream, anet, techcrunch, growing pains, ipod touch, thin air, quirks, caliber, sy, hd, offerings, swan, samsung, bush, microsoft |

But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. —The Ugly Duckling
It's been a long, brown trip for the Zune: from its early days (mocked and abject) to its awkward years (deemed a dead end and money pit) it's been embattled and criticized, and rightly so. After all, here was an unpopular company with a frankly ridiculous brand it had pulled out of thin air, attempting to compete with the guys who defined the market. We've always been champions of the devices, despite their quirks, and of the service, despite its growing pains — and Microsoft occasionally made it pretty hard for us to stand by our favorite little misfit media player. Well, for once they just made it really easy. Let's not beat around the bush, now: this thing is going head-on with the iPod touch, one of the most versatile and well-liked devices on the planet. There are other PMPs, sure, but the caliber of these two devices is well beyond the best offerings from Creative, Samsung, or Sony. To make it easy on the Apple fans who are impatient to comment on this story, let me just state it right now for the record: the Zune HD is not an iPod-killer, but it is the only player out there that can go up against it and not be annihilated in the process. It's good enough that everyone owes it to themselves to give it a look — unless you're afraid of just how good it might be.
TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco

Tagi: ugly duckling, beautiful swan, zune, gray bird, champis, clear stream, anet, techcrunch, growing pains, ipod touch, thin air, quirks, caliber, sy, hd, offerings, swan, samsung, bush, microsoft

Digg: Underdog Planet: Why We Love Pluto

Posted by on under public outcry, anet, uto, solar system, underdog |

For such a small member of the solar system, about which relatively little is known, Pluto has an impressive following. When the news that the ninth planet had been stripped of its planethood got out, the public outcry was immediate.



Tagi: public outcry, anet, uto, solar system, underdog

Digg: Surviving the Giant Crystal Cave [Pics]

Posted by on under gypsum crystals, crystal cave, digg, anet, respirators, humidity, peoe, suits |

It's 50〫C, has a humidity of 100%, less than a hundred people have been inside and it's so deadly that even with respirators and suits of ice you can only survive for 20 minutes before your body starts to fail. It’s the nearest thing to visiting another planet. I was dwarfed by a forest of giant gypsum crystals, some up to 12 meters long...



Tagi: gypsum crystals, crystal cave, digg, anet, respirators, humidity, peoe, suits