We’re not going to report every instance of a famous writer agreeing to distribute via e-book, but someone like Grisham is big enough to indicate a trend that others will follow. I’m not up to date on who is and who isn’t e-book-ready; there are contracts and stuff to be worked out for the majors and I’m guessing best sellers aren’t losing too much sleep over the alleged e-book revolution.

Grisham has spoken out against e-books before, or rather spoken skeptically of them; he is concerned that it will be difficult for smaller authors to get published, but I simply don’t agree with him there. Without the bulk of distribution and publishing houses looking to take a piece, book production can start off in a new direction and maybe even adopt an iTunes model.

A group of nine mechanical engineering majors at Yale have manufactured a spoke-less bike; the rear wheel lacks any center, and it draws power from the pedals through teething embedded into the wheel’s frame. Informal picture gallery below!

As you can see, the product is a prototype, made out of passion and a desire to be different—not to make money. Here’s the description as found on Reddit:

There were nine seniors total (all mechanical engineering majors). Our professor was actually a working full time senior mechanical engineer at Sikorsky.

As you’ve probably noticed, only the back wheel is spokeless. This was done for several reasons: Manufacturing the rear wheel/rim was very expensive, so we only had one machined to see if it would work. We knew that if we could get it working for the rear wheel, it would definitely work for the front. But in the end, we ran out of time (class was only one semester long).

Edit: Hey guys thanks so much for all the comments! I just wanted to elaborate on why we went for the spokeless bike. First, it looks cool. Second, we only had a semester so we wanted to pick something that was both feasible and challenging. Also, you can do a lot of things with the space that opens up where the spokes use to be. You can stick an electric motor in there. You can install some sort of gyro balanced storage basket. Finally, the fact that we couldn’t find pictures of a real spokeless bicycle online really sealed the deal.

2nd edit: Also, this is the first prototype! We weren’t even thinking about suspension and all that stuff. If you notice, we only have one brake installed. All we wanted to do was prove the concept of a human powered spokeless bike.

3rd edit: Anyone got a job for an almost newly grad?

Post from: The Gadget Blog

Nine mechanical engineering majors had a dilemma: what do you do for your mechanical design class when you only have a semester? Well, this guys decided to build a spokeless bicycle. Admittedly, only the back wheel is spokeless, but there are reasons for that.

The students that posted this up were in a mechanical engineering class at Yale, and wanted to prove that you could build a human powered spokeless bicycle. It’s a very impressive project, and make sense when you think about it. The design allows for the possibilities of an electric motor, or even (as the student put it) “some sort of gyro balanced storage basket”. Keep in mind, this is a prototype so it’s a little rough around the edges, but the concept is sound. Also, the design originally called for both wheels to be spokeless, however due to budget and time restraints they stuck to just the back wheel.

There’s been some minor speculation that the Apple Tablet will be one of the greenest devices on the market. Why? Because after a patent surfaced describing an iPod with a solar panel on the front, there were some rumors suggesting that this patent would become active in the tablet, perhaps in the form of a solar panel behind the glass screen.

Sorry, ecology majors, but that was all hot air. We have confirmation that it won’t have solar panels. It may sound silly, but this could have been a big differentiator for the device. Sorry that we’re chasing these rumors, but every little bit that comes in you’ll know about.

Unboxing: The Verizon Droid by Motorola
$6500 “Labyrinth Aquarium”: awesome, difficult to clean
The Bearable Lightness of Droid: How the iPhone aesthetic has finally hit the majors
Shirt features playable guitar, flames
Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Giant squid robot Ikabo (video)
MyCE Sees Room For Another Social Network For Consumer Electronics Fans

One thing that that struck me when I first slid open the Motorola Droid is that the software must have been a non-shipping copy. Historically, when Verizon ships a phone, the stuff in the VCast Music Center, VCast Video, VCast Navigation, and VCast Electo Pet Shop – essentially bloatware that masquerades as value added software. Swiping through the Droid menus I found none of that. No widgets offering NFL sports scores, no Apps offering downloadable videos from Lady GaGa, just a clean, clear interface. I know most Android phones don’t ship with much extraneous software (MyTouch, for example) but for Verizon this is a real first.

What does this mean? It means carriers are finally resisting the urge to bling out their phones like NASCAR racers. Without massive branding you get a cleaner experience and although I love the Hero’s Sense UI, the Droid in this pristine state shows us that carriers, and Verizon in particular, has grown up.


None of this, please. Thank you.

If you’ll recall, the first iPhone had little, if any, AT&T branding. It was a phone with a few apps – a calculator, a stock app – and that was it. All of the extraneous junk was taken out.

This gives the buyer a sense that they are buying a standalone experience, not just another feature phone. The Android Market is front and center if you want to improve things, but Verizon clearly thinks this phone can stand on its own without polluting the deck with their dreck.

Other phones that did this include the Sidekick, another popular phone. I think Droid is, interestingly enough, Motorola’s savior. Whether they meant to make it as clean and attractive as they did is unclear but I’m glad they took a stand against mobile bloatware.