Topics of interest today

Topics of interest today:

Bowing to pressure from veterans, Hagel cancels the drone medal.

Two months after the military rolled out the Distinguished Warfare Medal for troops who don’t set foot on the battlefield, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded it was a bad idea. [Duh. - Aaron] Some veterans and some lawmakers spoke out against the award, arguing that it was unfair to make the medal a higher honor than some issued for valor on the battlefield.

Trying to win re-election by attacking the law you helped write? Sounds like a politician.

A senior Democratic senator who helped write President Barack Obama's health care law stunned administration officials Wednesday, saying openly he thinks it's headed for a "train wreck" because of bumbling implementation.

"I just see a huge train wreck coming down," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., told Obama's health care chief during a routine budget hearing that suddenly turned tense.

Baucus is the first top Democrat to publicly voice fears about the rollout of the new health care law, designed to bring coverage to some 30 million uninsured Americans through a mix of government programs and tax credits for private insurance that start next year. Polls show the public remains confused by the complexity of the law, and even many uninsured people are skeptical that they will be helped.

This, sufficiently developed, could actually change the game.  I really thought this would be decades out, but it may only be a few years.

A new type of battery has been developed that, its creators say, could revolutionise the way we power consumer electronics and vehicles.

The University of Illinois team says its use of 3D-electrodes allows it to build "microbatteries" that are many times smaller than commercially available options, or the same size and many times more powerful.

It adds they can be recharged 1,000 times faster than competing tech.

However, safety issues still remain.

Fuggetaboudit.  There's no way I would buy a product whose manufacturer forbids me from lending it to someone or reselling it.  After buying a gadget, that's almost the first thing I do.  "Hey man, check this out!  I just got it!"  Fuck Google if they think they can control people like that.

Google is barring anyone deemed worthy of a pair of its $1,500 Google Glass computer eyewear from selling or even loaning out the highly coveted gadget.

The company’s terms of service on the limited-edition wearable computer specifically states, “you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google’s authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty.”

Welcome to the New World, one in which companies are retaining control of their products even after consumers purchase them.

Mandating increases in demand always yields increases in price.  That's the way it is.  So what could possibly go wrong?  Who needs market forces or improved efficiency anyway?  We'll just sell another bond to the voters.

A bill that would require prisons, schools and other public institutions to give preference to California farm products handily cleared a committee Wednesday.

The Choose California Act, sponsored by Assemblyman Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), cleared the Assembly Agriculture Committee on a 7-0 vote.

The proposed law, AB 199, would mandate public institutions to buy California agriculture products if the price is within 5% of the lowest out-of-state competitor.