Hydrogen fuel-cell cars not viable, says Volkswagen CEO

Mercedes-Benz hydrogen fuel cell vehicle
Credit: Mercedes-Benz/ Green Car Reports

For some time, the idea of the "fuel cell miracles" has been circulating.  I.e. what would have to happen to make fuel cell cars viable:

• Reduce price — Nissan hopes to bring  a fuel cell vehicle to market in 2015 at a cost of $US50,000.  If achieved, this will be an enormous  reduction from the $US1 million indicated for the Honda Clarity fuel cell vehicle.  Auto manufacturers have shown with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that they are prepared to accept initial losses to establish a market.
• Storage — no way to store enough H2 for more than ~120 miles.  I.e. a range which can be equalled or exceeded by BEVs.
• H2 fuel is expensive — even using coal fired electricity, H2 is 3 times as expensive as petrol.
• Fueling infrastructure — doesn't exist.  Fueling infrastructure for BEVs is everywhere — including your home.
• Competing technologies must not improve.  In fact, alternatives such as BEVs, extended range BEVs (e.g. GM Volt) & even efficiency of fossil fuel vehicles, are improving, moving the bar for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles higher.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083046_hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-not-viable-says-volkswagen-ceo / service station petrol gas gasoline diesel fuel fossil hydrocarbon efficiency LiIon lithium ion battery charge range car automobile charge recharge refuel charger Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell vehicles Toyota Ford Nissan Hindenburg /

Apple patent describes a method to prevent your phone from falling display first

Credit: Apple/ übergizmo.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/03/apple-patent-describes-a-method-to-prevent-your-phone-from-falling-display-first/

While this would provide a degree of protection for the display, other parts of the phone would suffer anyway.  May be better to try something from Otterbox:

http://www.otterbox.com/ / phone mobile cell impact drop resistance centre center of gravity shift move drop land lands crunching cracking sound glass falling shift center of mass gravity sensor sensors gyroscopes accelerometers GPS imaging detect fall is taking place statistics falls height time to impact speed of the fall can be stored in the phone, allowing the system to compute the best solution in the event you drop your phone weighted mass lift foils extend from the device thrust mechanism /

Snapheal • Inexpensive alternative to Photoshop

It's not Photoshop, but it's not nearly as expensive either.

http://mashable.com/2012/11/02/snapheal-review/ / digital photograph photography image manipulation Photoshopped Adobe iconic photo editing software professional industry standard user-friendly image editing program a fraction of the price Mac Macintosh perform performs tasks erase eraser feature airbrush airbrushes unwanted objects out image application app include includes many standard editing features color light clarity adjustment erase clone stamp tools tool /