BlueWave Launches PipelineClaims 4.2
BlueWave Technology has introduced PipelineClaims 4.2, the latest version of its claims administration and BPM solution.
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Belleville touts technology grant
The Belleville school district held a press conference on Tuesday to talk about the recently obtained .33 million technology grant, which will provide a wireless Internet for four elementary schools, to update their computers.
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Salient Surgical Technologies Sues Bovie Medical for Patent Infringement
Salient Surgical Technologies, Inc., a privately held medical technology company that develops and markets advanced energy devices for use in surgical procedures, announced that Tuesday they filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against Bovie® Medical (NYSE Amex: BVX) for patent infringement. The complaint charges that Bovie’s manufacture, use, and sale of the …
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TerraCycle, the company that makes household items out of recycled bottles and other gear, is now making speakers made out of chip bags and candy wrappers. Their Universal Speakers won’t win any awards for clarity but they don’t require any batteries and connect straight to any music player.

TerraCycle transforms candy wrappers into music blasters with their newest upcycled product, Universal Speakers

Trenton, NJ – TerraCycle, the company that keeps your garden looking great with its organic worm poop fertilizer, has partnered with Merkury Innovations, a leader in the consumer electronics accessory business, to bring something new and exciting to its current line of eco-friendly products; upcycled universal speakers. These foldable speakers have a 3.5mm universal plug and they do not require any batteries so there is less hassle and, more importantly, less waste.

Additionally, as with all of TerraCycle’s products, the speakers will be made from waste, such as Frito Lay chip bags and Mars candy wrappers. Through upcycling, the process by which items typically seen as garbage are instead repurposed as valuable raw materials and transformed into new, useable consumer products, TerraCycle expects to help divert over 3,000 tons of candy wrapper waste from being dumped into landfills.

TerraCycle receives material for upcycling through its various Brigade programs in which different organizations, elementary schools, and individuals across the country collect their wrapper waste and then send it in to TerraCycle. Terracycle donates two cents to a charity of the collectors choice for each piece of waste. So far, over 5 million used chip bags have been collected in only one year.

Solar energy remains a hot topic (no pun intended) in Japan. As part of a huge economic stimulus plan, the government plans to convert all of the country’s 32,000 public elementary and middle schools to solar power by 2020. The aim: reduction of CO2 emissions and cutting long-term energy costs.

The government is expecting to pump between $650 and $980 million into the project. At the moment, just 1,200 of the schools in question use solar power. As an initial step, the government wants to increase this number by a factor of ten by 2012.

The schools will most likely be equipped with 20kw solar panels, which are enough to power lighting in between eight to ten classrooms daily. It’s estimated that if all of the 32,000 schools use solar power, the amount of electricity generated is the same of that consumed by 200,000 Japanese homes yearly.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subcription]