Smorgasbord Archives - 10

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These items are an archive of past Smorgasbord topics that have appeared on the RF Cafe homepage.

1/2 the World's
New Buildings
are Built in China
(source: Popular Science, 8/07)

China has built the equivalent of the U.S. highway system in a decade, and has surpassed the U.S. to become the world's #1 emitter of green house gases. By 2025, 400M Chinese will move from the countryside to the cities - the largest migration in world history. China is seeing a 10% increase in GDP each year - 2x that of the U.S. during the DotCom boom. It adds the electricity use of Norway to its grid every year. China last year produced 2.3B tons of coal, more than the U.S. and Russia combined. China made 8% of world's emissions in 1980, up to 18% by 2004. It is home to 7 of the world's 10 dirtiest metropolises.

 

Top Countries for Cybercrime - 2007
(source: Forbes)

1United States
2China
3Brazil
4Russia
5Sweden
6Ukraine
7U.K.
8India
9Germany

 

Gadgets Taken on Vacation this Summer
(source: Electronics Design)

Cellphone31%
Laptop Computer17%
iPod/MP3 Player12%
GPS Device11%
BlackBerry2%
Portable DVD Player1%

Sorry folks, but Labor Day is here and summer is now over.

 

Science & Engineering Ph.Ds Awarded in 2005
(source: Popular Science)

26.5%

Biological / Agricultural

22.9%

Engineering

14.8%

Social Sciences

13.0%

Physical Sciences

11.9%

Psychology

8.4%

Mathematics / Computer Sciences

2.5%

Earth, Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences

 

Fly Nepal Airlines...
and Leave the Sacrificing to Us
(source: AirWise News)

Officials at Nepal Airlines, Nepal's state-run airline, have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft at Nepal's international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

Everybody wins here: They avoid costly  maintenance procedures and pass the savings on to you.

10-1-2007

 

Windows Up or Down?

A study published by Duke Energy purports to put to rest the debate over whether it is more efficient to drive with your car windows down w/o the AC on, or to roll them up and run the AC.

The verdict:

AC off = better mileage

AC on = worse mileage

As with most rules of thumb, there are exceptions, like for highly streamlined sports cars whose aerodynamic efficiency depends on the total body configuration.

 

Top Social Networking Site Growth June 06-07
(source: Nielsen//NetRatings)

YouTube162%
Facebook110%
Six Apart TypePad54%
Myspace30%
Blogger30%
Win. Live Spaces8%
Classmates-1%
Yahoo! Groups-8%
MSN Groups-18%
AOL Hometown-32%

 

Think Your Electric Utility Bills Are Shocking?
(source: USA Today)

Following deregulation and lifting of rate freezes, one couple in St. Louis, IL, got a bill for $1,024.31, up from $172 a few months earlier. This is happening all over the country. Here are some recent rate increases:

StateChange from 2002 to 2006
Texas57.7%
Mass.55.6%
Conn.53.2%
Rhode I.47.9%
Florida36.8%
Delaware33.6%
D.C.23.8%
U.S. Avg.23.3%
It is a good thing for the bureaucrats that this is not figured into inflation numbers.