New Solar Technology - Holographic Tuning

With the renewed emphasis on renewable energy, new technologies are emerging. Holographic tuning is one such technology and could revolutionize solar cells.

Holographic Tuning

Traditional solar panel systems are not particularly efficient and can be more than a bit of an eyesore. Since the panel systems only convert a small amount of the sunlight that hits them, there really isnt any alternative to placing the bulky beasts on your roof. Or is there?

Holographic tuning, also known as Holographic Planar Concentrator, is a new technology with one goal in mind cheaper and small solar cell collectors. The technology is based on a unique theory in which solar cells are holographically tuned to attract and focus different spectrums of sunlight on solar cells. The cells are tuned to attract certain spectrums that can be converted without excessive heat production. This allows the cells to make the maximum amount of energy while maintaining a very small size.

Current silicon cell technology is restricted to only a few spectrums and is highly inefficient as it fails to covert up to 85 percent of the sunlight into power. To make things even better, the process is being designed to tune the solar light onto both sides of each cell, thus doubling the energy output.

The primary advantage of holographic tuning is it will revolutionize the solar panel as we know it. Instead of large, bulky panels that arent particularly attractive, holographic tuning panels will look similar to regular bedroom windows, but with five or six horizontal rows of black rectangles, the cells. The prototypes are actually very striking and are a major improvement over current solar panel systems.

Prism Solar Technologies is the leading company in the holographic tuning field. The company is a subsidiary of Direct Global Power, and is pursuing the advancement of the technology through an exclusive rights license from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Prism Solar Technologies intends to begin manufacturing of the new holographic tuning solar panels this year. Keep an eye out for these attractive, efficient solar panels.

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit us to read more articles on solar power and renewable energy.

AP - The astronaut who lost her tool bag on a spacewalk admitted Wednesday that she made a mistake by not checking to see if the sack was tied down, and said she's still smarting over the whole thing.

Postman Pat for DS - Review

First impression: The first thing that attracted me to this game was that it was for ages 3+. What 3 year old can handle playing video games on a Nintendo DS? They don't have the motor skills yet!

The game: That being said.. this is a British game for younger children. The music was actually good for once! I had some hope that the game would be good as well. And it was actually pretty good! I didn't play too far into it (I failed at the 4th or 5th task somehow.. ) but I can tell that children would really like it. It has cute cartoon characters and little animals and such.

You do little tasks for Postman Pat like finding his missing kitty in the house by touching on places that he could be hiding, and stamping letters for him at the post office.

The directions aren't the best. I got confused during the letter stamping part. Having an adult there to help the child might be a good idea. Also for American children, some of the language is a bit different than what we're used to. He uses terms like "franking" the envelopes. I can guess what that means... but a child probably won't be able to figure it out.

I went back and played the game again, having failed so early on the first time. This time I finished easily, I just had to read the instructions better.

Pros of the game: It is a good children's game overall. You can do story mode where you go through the story and play the games in a row, and it saves your progress which is nice. So you can play a couple and go back and start where you stopped before. It reads like a children's book, with Postman Pat reading the text to you. Very well produced in that way. You can also play practice mode where you go directly to the different games separately.

Cons of the game: There are only 10 games in the story. I went through the entire game in less than 45 minutes, and I had to restart a couple of the games a few times. A smart kid could get through that entire game in an hour and probably wouldn't want to go back to it again.

Conclusion: This is still a good game for children. If you child gets through things quickly and then gets bored you may not want to get this one, but try renting it or borrowing it from someone.

Good music and graphics (for a children's game) and an actual storyline that they might be interested in made this game worthwhile for kids. Still not sure about thee 3+ part, but maybe for 6 or 7 year olds. I'll give Postman Pat a 5!

DSmaster is a blog on Wordpress that gives all kinds of reviews on all kinds of Nintendo DS games. If you are looking for more reviews like Postman Pat, then visit DSmaster

AP - California's highest court agreed Wednesday to hear several legal challenges to the state's new ban on same-sex marriage but refused to allow gay couples to resume marrying before it rules.

Discover the Key Ingredient to Cure Sweating Hands!

The other day I was over at YouTube and I happened upon a clip of a young guy playing the game "Guitar Hero". He had a guitar hooked up to the system and began playing it. However, after mere minutes his hands were sweating profusely, sweat was dripping off his hands and running down onto his guitar. He was suffering from palmar hyperhidrosis, a condition which affects over 6 million people worldwide. It can be difficult dealing with sweating hands. If you are in social situations where you need to shake another person's hand or even worse, dance with someone hand-in-hand! It's for reasons like this that people so desperately seek out a cure for this condition, but is there an effective way of handling this condition?

One of the main ways of dealing with sweating hands is through using "Iontophoresis". What happens in this process is you place your hands in shallow trays filled with water and have an electrical current sent through it. Not too strong that you'll be electrocuted, but strong enough to react with the minerals in the water and cause a protective, hardened layer to form on the outside of your hand, preventing sweat from escaping.

Iontophoresis has a success rate of over 80% and is quite effective in dealing with sweating hands, however it is missing one key ingredient which can make it a far more effective treatment. Hard to believe that things can get much better than 80%? They can, the secret ingredient is an oral anticholinergic! Now usually when you take these orally they result in side effects like blurred vision, memory loss, dry mouth and a host of other issues, however when you break it up into a powder and place that in the water used in Iontophoresis, the electrical current reacts with the minerals in the water plus the anticholinergic. This results in an even more effective barrier to help prevent your sweating hands from getting excessively sweaty. It's something to consider if you currently use Iontophoresis or have ever considered it.

Did you know there is a way to Stop Sweating So Much, easily and in less than two weeks? To learn how to end your embarrassment, visit: Stop Sweating Start Living

E! Online - Tween girls weren't the only ones bawling their eyes out at tonight's elimination show for Dancing With the Stars.

Beat Super Mario World in 12 Stages

First start a new game of Super Mario World. Then from the start go to the right to Yoshi Island #2. The Yoshi Island stages should be a cake walk. Then proceed to Yoshi Island #3. Then Yoshi Island #4. Then beat the first castle (Iggy's). That takes care of the easy part.

Here is when things get a little more complicated. Proceed north from the castle to Donut Plains #1. Make sure you get a cape from one of the Caped Koopas in the beginning. Now Go right before the end of this stage and fly up to reveal a key and secret door.

This will take you to Donut Secrets #1 (underwater stage). Go through the stage until you reach a POW box. Do not hit it yet. Pick it up and carry it until you see a key. Then hit it and proceed to Donut Secret House.

Go normally through Donut Secret House #1 until you reach a room with a circular formation of ghost. Go past them to a platform. Hit the Pow box you find and fly above the platform to reveal a secret door/boss fight. The Big Boo can be defeated by throwing the blocks up at him. Congratulations you reached Star World.

Go through the key exits in Star World #1, #2, #3, and #4. They are all easy to find except the one in Star World #4. This requires the baby red Yoshi at the beginning of the stage. Feed him until he turns into an adult Yoshi then find a blue koopa and eat him without swallowing him. Fly up to find a secret area/key exit.

After Star World #4 take the star exit under it on the map. This will take you to the front door of Bowser's Castle. Complete this last stage and congratulate yourself on beating the game in record time/in 12 stages.

To reiterate the 12 stages are

1.) Yoshi's Island 2
2.) Yoshi's Island 3
3.) Yoshi's Island 4
4.) Iggy's Castle
5.) Donut Plain 1
6.) Donut Secret 1
7.) Donut Secret House 1
8.) Star World 1
9.) Star World 2
10.) Star World 3
11.) Star World 4
12.) Bowser's Castle (front door)

This is the fastest way of beating Super Mario World (snes).

Play NES Games Online Free at http://www.originalnintendo.net

World Record Speed Run for Mario Bros. 1 at http://www.originalnintendo.net/mario-bros-1-online/2008/05/mario-bros-1-speed-run.html

AP - Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.