petrol
Science
Coffee-Fueled Car Is Surprisingly Practical
9:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | Turns out you can make biofuel from just about any oily plant product. Corn may be the standard, but coffee works at least as well, and it makes your car smell like a Starbucks! AU: Old news. More »
Gadgets
Gas Gripper Rests Your Forearm Muscles At the Pump
9:45AM Jason Chen | It’s rare to find a pump that doesn’t have a latch to lock into the “on” position, but if you find one, the Gas Gripper will keep you from overexerting your forearms while filling up. More »
Software
Gas Pump Blue Screen of Death is Poo Poo Inducing
12:00PM Jason Chen | Seeing a Windows blue screen of death is fine, if annoying, if you’re just balancing your chequebook, but what if you see it in more…precarious situations? Like when you’re pumping gas? Reader Dave saw this at a San Diego Shell station, after which he bravely continued filling up—but not without hiding his face behind his arm to shield himself from the inevitable gas station explosions of death. You’re a ballsy man, Dave. See the close up after the jump. [Thanks Dave!] More »
Software
iPhone’s Gas Cubby Car Care Tracker Is Anal So You Don’t Have To Be
8:00AM Jason Chen | We played with Gas Cubby, the car maintenance tracking tool for iPhone, and can say that the $US5 is a pretty low price to pay if you really want to keep your ride in good condition. Among its many hardcore features are petrol price fill-up tracking and graphing, service tracking and data (insurance, VIN) storage. We all know that we’re supposed to get and document regular service on our cars, but who the hell remembers? By tracking your petrol purchases (which you get much more frequently), Gas Cubby will remind you of when those tires need rotating or when filters need replacement. Pretty damn good for $US5, I’d say. [Gas Cubby] More »
Online
6:12PM Nick Broughall | Google gets it. They understand. While they’re thinking about starting their own countries and creating a whole new mobile platform (and rolling around on rollerblades while doing it), they understand that regular folk are struggling, especially at the petrol pump.
That’s why they’ve launched a gadget for iGoogle which tells you the price of any petrol station in Australia. They update the information twice daily – so the information is going to be fairly accurate – and you can search either by suburb, price or brand.
You can download the gadget for your iGoogle homepage here. It’s a free download, so there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t use it, unless of course you prefer to walk or catch public transport. In which case – kudos to you for being better than the rest of us…
[Google Australia Blog via Lifehacker] More »
Google’s Petrol Price Tracker Gadget For iGoogle Tells You Where To Fill Up
6:12PM Nick Broughall | Google gets it. They understand. While they’re thinking about starting their own countries and creating a whole new mobile platform (and rolling around on rollerblades while doing it), they understand that regular folk are struggling, especially at the petrol pump.
That’s why they’ve launched a gadget for iGoogle which tells you the price of any petrol station in Australia. They update the information twice daily – so the information is going to be fairly accurate – and you can search either by suburb, price or brand.
You can download the gadget for your iGoogle homepage here. It’s a free download, so there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t use it, unless of course you prefer to walk or catch public transport. In which case – kudos to you for being better than the rest of us…
[Google Australia Blog via Lifehacker] More »
Science
New Tech Converts Heat into Electricity, Saves You Petrol
5:00AM Adam Frucci | Furukawa, a Tokyo-based tech company, has developed a thermoelectric conversion material that’s said to be able to boost the fuel efficiency of cars by 2% by converting about 7% of exhaust heat into electricity. Unlike conventional thermoelectric conversion materials, which warm up as a whole when one side is exposed to heat, this new material generates energy via the difference in temperature between its two sides. Apparently, that makes it much more efficient. They’re currently working to improve the system, but they hope to have it ready for mass production by 2011, at which point that 2% will solve the petrol crisis single-handedly. Just hang in there for a few more years! [Nikkei via CrunchGear] More »
Gadgets
Fuel Checker Gizmo Warns if You’re About to Screw Up Your Engine
9:22PM Kit Eaton | Pumping gas into a diesel engine, or vice versa, is a big no-no that may well screw up your engine. We all know that, don’t we? But for those, uh, “fuel-type challenged” people out there that get it wrong, there’s this new Fuel Checker gizmo. You install it inside your filler flap, and touch the pump nozzle to it before filling up: it’ll check the type and flash green for go, and red for no. No idea how it works, but it comes in gasoline or diesel versions. Or you could, you know… read the label on the pump and double check the colour of the nozzle you’re holding, and save yourself US$40. AU: Seriously? I drive a diesel, and I’ve never ever ever come close to putting unleaded in the tank. Is this a common occurrence? [Red Ferret]
Science
8:40AM Nick Broughall | If Hollywood has taught us anything at all, it’s that playing around with DNA leads to disaster. Wonderful, entertaining disaster. In the real world, things aren’t so clear cut, but the prospect of creating super-bugs that will either turn humans into zombies or just kill us outright hasn’t stopped some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs from LS9 from creating a bacteria that essentially just shits crude oil.
The bacteria start out as either industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli. They then have a little bit of DNA-grade surgery done to them, before being fed “feedstock” which is essentially any substance that can be broken down to sugars, like wheat, corn or woodchips. The bacteria have a mad party where they eat and drink too much, then spend the following day on a single-cell organism-sized toilet where they poop out crude oil, which is collected by people in white suits and sold for $150 a barrel. Or something like that, anyway.
More »
Scientists Create Bacteria That Poops Out Petrol
8:40AM Nick Broughall | If Hollywood has taught us anything at all, it’s that playing around with DNA leads to disaster. Wonderful, entertaining disaster. In the real world, things aren’t so clear cut, but the prospect of creating super-bugs that will either turn humans into zombies or just kill us outright hasn’t stopped some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs from LS9 from creating a bacteria that essentially just shits crude oil.
The bacteria start out as either industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli. They then have a little bit of DNA-grade surgery done to them, before being fed “feedstock” which is essentially any substance that can be broken down to sugars, like wheat, corn or woodchips. The bacteria have a mad party where they eat and drink too much, then spend the following day on a single-cell organism-sized toilet where they poop out crude oil, which is collected by people in white suits and sold for $150 a barrel. Or something like that, anyway.
More »
Deals
11:21AM Nick Broughall | Fuel’s expensive. I paid $1.80 per litre for diesel the other day – it was like mugging my own wallet. The only thing that left me with that same feeling of being financially raped was when I first held the LG Prada phone – and that didn’t even cost me any money.
Another thing that’s quite expensive is Microsoft Office, especially when you look at Google Docs and Open Office. To help ease the financial burden that Microsoft’s software package will create, they’ve decided to offer customers a $40 fuel voucher for anyone who purchases pretty much any of their Office suites.
The offer is valid for boxed copies purchased from May 1st 2008 up to 31st July 2008, and the fuel voucher is a StarCash Card redeemable at any Caltex or
Ampol outlet, where EFTPOS facilities are available and operational. To get your voucher, you just need to redeem it by going here.
[Microsoft - Thanks Jase!] More »
Dealzmodo: Microsoft Office Is Like… Putting Petrol In Your Tank?
11:21AM Nick Broughall | Fuel’s expensive. I paid $1.80 per litre for diesel the other day – it was like mugging my own wallet. The only thing that left me with that same feeling of being financially raped was when I first held the LG Prada phone – and that didn’t even cost me any money.
Another thing that’s quite expensive is Microsoft Office, especially when you look at Google Docs and Open Office. To help ease the financial burden that Microsoft’s software package will create, they’ve decided to offer customers a $40 fuel voucher for anyone who purchases pretty much any of their Office suites.
The offer is valid for boxed copies purchased from May 1st 2008 up to 31st July 2008, and the fuel voucher is a StarCash Card redeemable at any Caltex or
Ampol outlet, where EFTPOS facilities are available and operational. To get your voucher, you just need to redeem it by going here.
[Microsoft - Thanks Jase!] More »
Gadgets
