BBMF News around the web

[bbmf]

bbmf news began in my mind as a way to expand the focus
of VR forum readers to include technology, not only at the
level of the PC, but as a general approach to information,
education, communication, and integration of technical interests.

it has evolved,
the participation and contributions of the membership has moved me
to look harder, farther, for content and purpose, i cannot, even if i
wanted to compete with the brilliant contributions of my brothers
at VR-Zone, the original concept has been met with excellence
consistency
relevance
and timely posts, reflecting up-to-the-minute issues and pictures
all in a spirit of cooperation and forum unity...
i am proud to be a part of this
but for my part, i have seen a new goal...
for bbmf news i propose and intend to create a view of the future
as it happens in the present
posts including personal computing news, technology at the user level
but with a focus extending ahead to the next version...
the quad, the octa-core, the phase RAM, the LED projector...
technology at the research level;
swarm-bots, modular DNA technology, nanotech, biotech...
information technology including fiber-optics for the home, quantum computing,
x-ray imaging of the heavens and more
the next tech
and how it evolves from dream to desktop
from fiction to action, to fact
this is where i intend to go...and invite all to come along
please join me
and join in
here is a chance to see the world move
at a pace it has not ever known, and may never see again
have a front row seat
AND
something to say about it all
we can make it happen right now...
(to be continued)

[bbmf]

a human being can never know as much
as he(or she) does not know, true?
yet we have the unfortunate habit
of avoiding, dismissing, ignoring, rejecting...

that which convention has not set before us

i propose it would prove a much better course
for us to embrace the road less traveled,
to boldly seek out the undiscovered
and blaze brazen paths to wider knowledge

and besides,
those who decide to embrace the unknown
are less likely to be at a loss
for a deep embrace

[bbmf]

INTRODUCTION
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzenvgi2/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/AXP.LOGO.gif
The goal of the Automotive X PRIZE (AXP) is to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change.
AXP is a new prize that is currently under development by the X PRIZE Foundation. Prior to making a final decision on launching the prize, we are entering a sixty-day public comment period on the Guidelines contained in this document. Our goal in doing so is to obtain valuable feedback that will help us to create final, detailed prize rules and inform the launch decision.
To comment on these draft Competition Guidelines, please use this form on our website.
GUIDING PRICIPLES
Throughout the prize development process, we have been guided by the principles that the AXP must:

Achieve our main goals - inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change

Be simple to understand and easy to communicate

Benefit the world - this is a global challenge

Result in real cars available for purchase, not concept cars

Remain independent, fair, non-partisan, and technology-neutral

Provide clear technical boundaries (i.e., for fuel economy, emissions, safety, performance, cost, features, feasibility, etc.)

Offer a "level playing field" that attracts both existing automobile manufacturers and newcomers

Attract a balanced array of private investment, donors, sponsors, and partners to help competitors succeed (e.g., manufacturing assistance, testing resources, etc.)

Make heroes out of the competitors and winner(s) through unprecedented exposure, media coverage and a significant cash award

Educate the public on key issues

Simplicity is paramount. Every additional complexity makes the competition harder to understand, harder to manage, and harder to promote. Complexity also invites gaming by competitors. We must resist the tendency to over-engineer the AXP rules – this is a case where perfection is the enemy of the good.
Overall, we are looking for a balance that makes the AXP simple, fair, technology-neutral, and likely to result in a vehicle that is feasible to bring to market. We need this balance to attract strong teams and engage the public. Our principles will sometimes be in conflict, and we hope that all involved will understand the need for flexibility and compromise.
We hope that the public will keep these principles in mind when commenting on these Guidelines, as we will continue to be guided by them throughout the development and administration of the AXP.
OVERVIEW OF THE AUTOMOTIVE X PRIZE
Here we give an overall summary of the AXP. Details are covered elsewhere in this document.
The goal of the Automotive X PRIZE (AXP) is to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change.
A multi-million dollar1 cash purse will be awarded to the teams that win a long-distance stage race for clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 MPG equivalent (MPGe)2.
The AXP will encourage production-capable vehicles and products (not concept cars) through tough entrance requirements, judging criteria, and race courses that test and reward manufacturability, marketability, safety, durability and performance.
The AXP will devote considerable traditional and online media resources to public outreach, education, and involvement.
ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
AXP winners must achieve the following energy and emissions requirements:

Fuel economy (energy efficiency): at least 100 MPGe

Total (wells-to-wheels3) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions expressed as equivalent grams of CO2 per mile: no more than 200 g/mi

Criteria emissions: no worse than US EPA Tier II, bin 5 standards

GHG emissions from vehicle production no worse than typical vehicles in production today

PRODUCTION CAPABLE VEHICLES
Our goals require that AXP vehicles be designed to reach the market. Accordingly, all vehicles entered into the AXP competition must be “production capable” as judged by the following criteria:

• Safety: Vehicles must be designed to meet safety regulations in the U.S. and other markets

1 The size of the purse is still being determined and will be announced at a later time. It will likely be in excess of $10M.
2Pump-to-wheels energy efficiency in terms of petroleum-based gasoline MPG. Conversions will be based on energy equivalency.
3Total emissions including all contributions from fuel extraction, production, distribution, and consumption

• Cost: Vehicle cost at a production rate of 10,000 units per year must be within levels that the market is likely to bear

• Features: Vehicles must be desirable, addressing the most important features and factors consumers consider when purchasing an automobile

• Business Plan: Teams must articulate clear and viable business cases for bringing their vehicles to market

VEHICLE CLASSES
The AXP will offer two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative. The classes have the same requirements for fuel economy and emissions, but different design constraints.

Mainstream class – 4+ passenger vehicles with 4+ wheels that meet conventional expectations for size and capability

Alternative class – An outlet for innovative ideas that push forward today's conventions about automotive transportation (2+ passengers, no requirement on number of wheels)

RACE SERIES
The key AXP public events will be two dramatic, long-distance stage races to be held in 2009 – the Qualifying Race and the Grand Prize Final. The race courses will reflect typical consumer driving patterns during numerous stages, in varied terrain, communities, and weather conditions. The courses will enable fair, technology-neutral evaluation of competing vehicles while maximizing public impact. Vehicles will use AXP-supplied fuel.
To complete a race successfully, vehicles must complete all race stages with a minimum average speed (maximum allowable time) while meeting the AXP requirements for fuel economy and emissions averaged over all scoring stages. For those vehicles that successfully complete the race, race placement will be determined by the total race time averaged over all scoring stages. Thus, the fastest vehicle will be the winner. Vehicles that do not maintain the AXP requirements for MPGe fuel economy will be disqualified.
Winners of the Qualifying and the Grand Prize Final Races will share multi-million dollar purses. The purse for the Grand Prize Final will be significantly larger than the purse for the Qualifying Race. In both cases, the purse will be split 3:1 between the Mainstream and Alternative classes
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEAM RECOGNITION
Our long term vision is that many AXP Finalist vehicles and technologies go into production and become available to the general public, directly or indirectly. To this end, we will promote all AXP teams and provide many opportunities for team and vehicle recognition – not just recognition of the AXP Final Race winners.
All teams will receive significant public exposure and promotion to potential partners, sponsors, investors, manufacturers, distributors and customers.
Examples include:

The “AXP Certified” mark that is available for vehicles that successfully complete the AXP Final Race

“AXP Awards” for vehicles in various categories that demonstrate significant progress towards AXP goals
4 Timeline subject to change.

Special recognition for production-intent vehicles – production prototypes that will be brought to market within a year

Aggressive web-based and traditional media outreach promoting teams and vehicles, including documentary and live event coverage

In addition, we will sponsor a variety of networking and consumer marketing events to bring key constituents together, engage the public, and showcase vehicles.
PROPOSED TIMELINE4
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzenvgi2/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/prizetimeline.gif
Public Comments on Competition Guidelines [through June, 2007] We welcome questions and comments from prospective teams, from the general public, and from the media. Your feedback will help shape the final competition rules.


Letter of Intent Program [through September, 2007] We encourage prospective teams to sign our non-binding Letter of Intent. Teams that do so will have benefits as these Guidelines evolve into final rules.

Registration [mid-2007 through early 2008] Teams submit applications, a signed Master Team Agreement, and a registration fee (currently expected to be $5,000). Teams will be accepted for further consideration based on preliminary information about their vehicle design and business plan.

Formal Launch Event [late 2007] High-profile “let the games begin” event with key sponsors, partners, supporters, initial teams, and possibly vehicles on stage. The focus will shift from AXP prize development to the competing teams.

Plan Submissions [mid-2008] Accepted teams choose a vehicle class (Mainstream or Alternative) and submit material for judging production capability and expected performance.

Qualified Team Selection [late 2008] Expert judging panels will select teams to race vehicles in the AXP Qualifying Race.

Qualification Race [early 2009] To remain eligible for the Grand Prize Final, vehicles must prove at least 75 MPGe fuel economy and low emissions. The Mainstream and Alternative vehicles that successfully complete the race with the best overall time will be declared Qualifying Race Winners and will split a multi-million dollar purse in a 3:1 ratio.

Finalist Selection [mid-2009] Teams with vehicles that successfully complete the Qualifying Race can apply for the Grand Prize Final Race. Finalist selection will be based on revised team submissions. Selection standards will be more rigorous than for the Qualifying Race.

Grand Prize Final Race [late 2009] Vehicles must prove at least 100 MPGe fuel economy, less than 200 g/mi GHG emissions, and no worse than Tier II, bin 5 criteria emissions. The Mainstream and Alternative vehicles that successfully complete the Final Race with the best overall time will be declared AXP Grand Prize Winners and will split a multi-million dollar purse in a 3:1 ratio. The purse for the Grand Prize Final will be significantly larger than the purse for the Qualifying Race.

REGISTRATION
LETTER OF INTENT PROGRAM
Prior to the completion of the AXP final rules and Master Team Agreement (MTA), teams may join our Letter of Intent (LOI) program. The LOI gives teams that plan to enter the competition a way to officially announce their intent to do so, and provides them with additional insight into the AXP rules as they are refined.
Teams that sign a non-binding letter of intent and submit a refundable registration fee will receive:

Permission to use the official “Automotive X PRIZE Contender” logo on their website(s) and materials

Priority attention to comments and questions about AXP Guidelines and a guaranteed response to those comments from the AXP Team

Timely updates on competition developments

Invitations to competition kick-off and other special pre-competition events

To learn more about and participate in the Automotive X PRIZE Letter of Intent Program, please complete the form available on the AXP website here.
APPLICATIONS
The AXP application will be simple and open enough to encourage a wide range of entrants. However, registrants will be required to submit credible, initial plans for a production capable vehicle or product that could meet the performance criteria of the prize. Judging of these initial applications will be intentionally lenient, but review of additional submissions will increase in rigor as the competition progresses.
MASTER TEAM AGREEMENT (MTA)
In order to participate, all teams must sign the MTA. The MTA is a non-negotiable legal agreement between each participating team and the AXP. The MTA will govern all aspects of participation, including detailed rules, judging, insurance, liability and indemnification, confidential information, safety, AXP sponsor rights, team sponsorship constraints, logos, team obligations, etc.
FEES
The non-refundable registration fee is expected to be $5,000 USD per vehicle. For those vehicles that successfully complete the Qualifying Race, an additional fee (same amount) will be due with the Grand Prize Final Race Submissions
VEHICLE CLASSES AND DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
In order to encourage a wide range of realistic, production-capable vehicles and products, the AXP purse will be awarded in two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative.
The Mainstream Class has minimum design requirements based on the characteristics and combined city and highway driving profile typical of today's popular, mixed-use vehicles.
The Alternative Class is intended to encourage wider-ranging innovations in vehicle design, as well as alternative but realistic visions of how future vehicles will be used for personal and family transportation. Accordingly, the Alternative Class has fewer design constraints.
Vehicles that are designed to achieve AXP goals by modifying an existing popular vehicle may be entered in either class, provided that all AXP requirements are met.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL VEHICLES
All vehicles or products must be designed to achieve AXP energy and emissions requirements, i.e.:

Fuel economy: at least 100 MPGe

Total (wells-to-wheels) Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions expressed as equivalent grams of C02 per mile: no more than 200 g/mi

Criteria emissions: no worse than Tier II, bin 5

GHG emissions from vehicle production: no worse than typical vehicles in production today

All vehicles will be required to have a minimum set of features. Those features include but may not be limited to:

• Enclosed cabin (or convertible), with windshield and windows

• Windshield wipers and washers

• Seat belts and restraints

• Rear and side view mirrors

• Feedback mechanisms to provide essential data to the driver (speed, fuel remaining, range, etc.)

• Lamps, lighting, horn, indicators, brake lights and reflective devices consistent with safety regulations

Furthermore, the following features are required to accommodate AXP requirements for vehicle testing and monitoring:

Sufficient ground clearance, cooling and attachment points to facilitate dynamometer testing

Marmon flange for connection to emissions sampling equipment

A standard, AXP-supplied on-board data acquisition and telemetry package that captures and transmits at a minimum: fuel-flow (for liquid and gaseous fuels), amp-hours (for electrical fuels), GPS data (for location and speed)
5 A device that provides real-time and cumulative feedback to the driver concerning fuel-economy, drive-train efficiency, emissions, etc.
MAINSTREAM CLASS REQUIREMENTS

Capacity: 4 or more passengers (95th percentile adult male) and 10 cubic feet of useful cargo space

Wheels: 4 or more wheels

Performance: 0-60 mph acceleration in less than 12 seconds, minimum top speed 100 mph, minimum range 200 miles, 60 - 0 MPH braking in no more than 170 feet, lateral acceleration (300-ft-dia skidpad) 0.70 g, 600 ft slalom (Motor Trend) speed 55 MPH, gradeability 55 MPH on a 7.5% grade, noise levels within drive-by standards (74 decibels max)

Features: Heater, air-conditioner, audio system, real-time eco-feedback display5

ALTERNATIVE CLASS REQUIREMENTS

Seating Capacity: 2 or more passengers seated side-by-side (95th percentile adult male) and 5 cubic feet of useful cargo space

Wheels: No minimum requirement

Performance: 0-60 mph acceleration in less than 12 seconds, minimum top speed 80 mph, minimum range 100 miles, 60 - 0 MPH braking in no more than 170 feet, lateral acceleration (300-ft-dia skidpad) 0.70 g, 600 ft slalom (Motor Trend) speed 55 MPH, gradeability 45 MPH on a 7.5% grade, noise levels within drive-by standards (74 decibels max)

Features: Real-time eco-feedback display

The AXP reserves the right to modify and expand these requirements while preserving their basic intent.
TEAM SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
All registered teams will be required to submit the following materials for judging production capability. Based on these submissions, the AXP Judges will determine whether or not teams may enter their production-capable vehicles in the AXP Qualification Race and, later, the AXP Grand Prize Final Race.
The AXP will provide a submission template for teams to work from, or teams may choose to independently create their submissions.
The AXP will make industry resources available to teams to assist them throughout this process and to provide a standardized method of evaluation. However, the cost and onus of complying with AXP requirements will remain the sole responsibility of each team.
QUALIFYING RACE SUBMISSIONS
Teams that demonstrate reasonable, credible plans to meet the requirements of their vehicle’s class will be selected to race vehicles in the AXP Qualifying Race. Required submissions include:
PRODUCT

• Vehicle design renderings

• Preliminary systems-level bill of materials (BOM)

o A “checklist” template will be provided by the AXP

o Teams will need to provide detail where they deviate from industry norms; e.g. for the power train and body structure

• Data providing reasonable evidence that AXP safety, cost and feature requirements can be met

• Data providing reasonable evidence that AXP energy and emissions requirements can be met

• Description of critical characteristics or unique features of the entry

BUSINESS PLAN
A business plan template will be provided by the AXP. Teams should expect to submit:

• List of team members with biographies

• Financing sources

• Detailed design and engineering plan: timeline, activities, resources leading to first prototype, safety compliance

• Rough marketing plan: target market description, value proposition, sales and service strategy (including estimated costs of ownership), fit with existing fuel infrastructure

• Rough 3-year P&L: volumes, prices, variable and fixed cost, capital expenditures, margins

GRAND PRIZE FINAL RACE SUBMISSIONS
All vehicles that successfully complete the AXP Qualifying Race can apply to compete in the AXP Grand Prize Final Race. To apply, qualified teams must submit more detailed revisions of the initial requirements listed above, as well as the following additional materials:
PRODUCT

CAD drawings & 3D vehicle models in the Adobe Acrobat 3D file format

Simulated crash testing results, with resulting torsion and bending statistics

Detailed BOM (template will be provided by the AXP)

JUDGING TEAM SUBMISSIONS
While the AXP will not certify or represent that any competing vehicle is in fact production capable, and while the burden of proof to establish safety, cost, features and viable business plan lies with the entrants, our due diligence will determine that competing vehicles have a reasonable chance of being so, in the sense that they could be successfully manufactured and brought to market within a reasonable time frame. For additional background and information, see the relevant Frequently Asked Questions.
SAFETY
Occupant safety is perhaps the single characteristic consumers are not willing to sacrifice, and is essential for mass market adoption of super-efficient vehicles. All vehicles that qualify to compete in the AXP must be designed with the intent to meet current safety standards.
Ultimately, certifying the safety and legality of vehicles brought to market during or after the AXP competition will be sole responsibility of the vehicle manufacturers. We will not require physical crash-testing of vehicles, but teams are free to submit crash-testing data.
BROAD MARKET STANDARD
The AXP will impose a broad standard for vehicle safety. It will be consistent with the regulatory standards for the US and similar markets (such as the E.U.) but will be at a level above detailed homologation specifications. It will be informed by both UNECE regulations for Safety and US FMVSS Crashworthiness and Post Crash Standards, with a focus on:

• Protection of occupants in the event of a frontal collision

• Protection of occupants in the event of a lateral collision

• Fuel system integrity

Where new or unproven technologies are introduced, teams must submit a Failure Modes Effect Analysis (FMEA) demonstrating that all reasonable safety precautions have been taken to prevent injury or damage should the system malfunction or fail.
For vehicles that are legally classified as motorcycles, the AXP expects teams to demonstrate due care for occupant safety as outlined in the section Vehicle Classes and Design Requirements.
In addition to the broad standard for occupant safety, AXP expert judges will also make assessments of vehicle compliance with full UNECE or US FMVSS standards, red-flagging gross errors and omissions.
JUDGING SAFETY
For admission to the AXP Qualification Rally: AXP Judges will assess the general and occupant safety of vehicles on a Pass/Fail basis:

• Passing vehicle designs will be approved for entry into the AXP Qualification Race, provided they meet all other AXP qualification requirements

• Teams with failing vehicle designs will have one opportunity to re-submit designs for compliance

• Non-compliant vehicles will be eliminated from the competition

For admission to the AXP Grand Prize Final: Teams that successfully complete the AXP Qualification Race must submit software-based crash simulation results using 3D CAD models to become eligible for the AXP Grand Prize Final. Teams are welcome to provide crash-simulation data prior to the AXP Qualification Race, but it is not required. Teams will be judged on a Pass/Fail basis:

• Passing vehicles will be approved for entry into the AXP Grand Prize Final Race, provided they meet all other AXP requirements

• Teams with failing vehicle designs will have one opportunity to re-submit data

• Non-compliant vehicles will be eliminated from the competition
COST
The AXP will assess vehicle cost as one measure of market viability. In essence, vehicle cost must be reasonable enough to justify sales of 10,000 units per year in the intended market(s).
The AXP will rely on cost and pricing data about the historic success of similar vehicles in the market for judging what consumers may be willing to pay for vehicles.
Vehicle cost will be estimated via the BOM and investment costs from the business plan. All costs will be based on current market prices for materials and components. Teams that utilize advanced materials or components for which there is insufficient market history to judge current cost will be required to provide verifiable market pricing. Judges may also take into account extraordinary vehicle lifetime ownership costs.
JUDGING COST
AXP Judges will issue a Pass/Fail assessment:

• Vehicles that pass will be approved for entry into the AXP Qualifying Race, provided they meet all other AXP requirements

• Teams with plans that exceed reasonable costs will have one opportunity to re-submit revised plans for approval

• Rejected plans will be eliminated from the competition

FEATURES
Vehicle features must resonate with experts and the public in terms of desirability. By desirability we mean the most important factors that consumers consider when buying a vehicle.
Some key factors that influence desirability are already embedded throughout the AXP guidelines, including measuring fuel economy and assessing environmental impact. Safety review is outlined in the Vehicle Classes and Design Requirements section above. Performance, of course, will be validated and measured in both the AXP Qualifying and AXP Grand Prize Final Races.
The remaining factors that influence desirability guide this category, which we will judge in an attempt to forecast likely customer acceptance. These factors include but may not be limited to the following vehicle features:

Interior Comfort

Ingress / Egress

Interior Noise Levels

Quality of Workmanship

Exterior Styling & Vehicle Image

Passenger Capacity

Cargo Capacity

Advanced Technology

AWD/4WD Capacity

Because relevance with consumers and generating demand are so important to ensuring market adoption of super-efficient vehicles, all entries will be judged on features through a combination of public voting and review by opinion-leaders and design experts.
Often these factors mark the key differences between successful and unsuccessful vehicles in the marketplace and therefore represent the “price of entry” for releasing a vehicle into the market.
JUDGING FEATURES
The AXP Judges will issue a Pass/Fail assessment:

• Vehicles with passing designs will be approved for entry into the AXP Qualifying Race, provided they meet all other AXP requirements

• Failing designs will have one opportunity to re-submit designs for approval

• Rejected designs will be eliminated from the competition

BUSINESS PLAN
Teams must articulate clear and viable business cases for bringing their vehicles to market. While all teams must submit plans, it is essential for teams that do not have a proven history of bringing a vehicle to market in quantities of 10,000 units per year to prove that they understand what it takes to make, sell and service vehicles in quantity.
JUDGING PLANS
AXP Judges will issue a Pass/Fail assessment:

• Vehicles with sufficient business plans will be approved for entry into the AXP Qualifying Race, provided they meet all other AXP requirements

• Teams with insufficient business plans will have one opportunity to re-submit revised plans for approval

• Teams with rejected plans will be eliminated from the competition


• Business plans will be re-assessed for teams that successfully complete the AXP Qualification Race (additional requirements for admission into the AXP Grand Prize Final Race are outlined above in the section Team Submission Requirements)

FIGURES OF MERIT FOR ENERGY & EMISSIONS
Here we give details about how AXP will handle energy and emissions. For additional background and information, see the relevant Frequently Asked Questions.
ENERGY (FUEL ECONOMY) – 100 MILES PER GALLON OF GASOLINE ENERGY EQUIVALENT (MPGe)
The AXP figure of merit for fuel economy will be Miles per Gallon of Gasoline Equivalent (MPGe), a measure that expresses fuel economy in terms of the energy content of a gallon of petroleum-based gasoline. That is, vehicle fuel economy is expressed as miles-per-gallon of energy-equivalent gasoline.
Basically we ask: how much energy was delivered to the vehicle, and how far did it go? Thus, the fuel economy measure may be described as pump-to-wheels or plug-to-wheels.
AXP vehicles will be required to demonstrate a minimum of 100 MPGe fuel economy via a combination of fixed-cycle EPA (CAFE-based) dynamometer testing and actual performance in the AXP races. We believe that this is a difficult, but feasible goal. It is more difficult for the Mainstream vehicle class than for the Alternative class. For various fuels and drive trains, a detailed analysis of the AXP fuel economy and GHG emission requirements is available in a spreadsheet, described here, prepared by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) with assistance from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and data from ANL’s GREET Model.
In many cases – e.g., gasoline internal combustion engines (ICE) – pump-to-wheels is the same as tank-to-wheels. That is, essentially all of the energy delivered to the vehicle goes into the tank. In others – e.g. battery electric vehicles (BEV) – there is an energy loss between delivery to the vehicle (i.e., the wall plug) and the energy that ends up in the “tank” (the battery). To be clear, what counts is the energy in the fuel delivered to the vehicle (i.e., what the consumer pays for). We consider “fuel-plug-to-tank” energy conversion or storage losses (such as during battery charging via an onboard or offboard inductive charger) to be part of the drive train - i.e., they are accounted for in measuring how far the vehicle goes per unit energy from a pump nozzle or wall plug delivered to the vehicle.
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS – MAXIMUM 200 g/mi TOTAL CO2 EQUIVALENT (CO2E)
The AXP figure of merit for greenhouse gas emissions will be the total for all significant wells-to-wheels emissions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions – including tailpipe, HVAC, and upstream contributions,– expressed as equivalent grams of CO2 emitted per mile (CO2e). For the AXP, this figure must be less than 200 g/mi.
The upstream (wells-to-pump) contributions of GHG emissions will be estimated by using the DOE-Argonne GREET model using average default values that reflect fuel production today and in the near future. For vehicles that can be powered by more than one fuel, this estimate will be based on all of the vehicle’s possible fuels, weighted by their current mix in the marketplace. In the case of electricity, GHG emissions will be based on the current national grid – however, we will publicize in various ways how cleaner electricity production generally (and renewable energy sources in particular) can significantly reduce wells-to-wheels GHG emissions (for example, see the section Education Program).
Greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide will be expressed in terms of equivalent CO2 based on the IPCC’s 100-year Global Warming Potential measurements. Currently, the values are: 1 for CO2, 23 for CH4, and 296 for N2O.
As mentioned above, a detailed analysis of the AXP fuel economy and GHG emission requirements is available in a spreadsheet described here.
We also require that GHG emissions arising from vehicle production are no worse in this respect than typical vehicles in production today. The DOE-Argonne GREET 2 Series model is available for estimating this contribution.
CRITERIA EMISSIONS – Tier II, bin 5
All AXP vehicles must meet U.S. EPA Tier II, bin 5 standards to be legal in all 50 U.S. states. Vehicles will be tested for compliance prior to the AXP races and randomly during the races using remote emissions sensing technology. Although we will not require full 120K lifetime emissions confirmation, vehicles must be designed to achieve full 120K compliance. During the admissions process teams will be required to present evidence that their vehicle is likely to pass 120K testing. APRIL 2, 2007 HTTP://AUTO.XPRIZE.ORG
MEASURING FUEL ECONOMY
For details on how fuel economy and emissions will be measured, see the sub-section Fuel Economy and Emissions Requirements.
We recognize that holding entrants accountable to the basic AXP requirement of 100 MPGe presents difficulties, including:

For measurements on a fixed-test cycle, establishment of a fair and accurate test cycle

For measurements based on race performance, issues in course design and driving constraints

Gaming by competitors (whether in the fixed test cycle or during races)

These issues will be reviewed again after the public comment period.
To guard against unintended consequences, we are supplementing the 100 MPGe requirement with several "corralling" standards and features to ensure that the results are consistent with our goals. For example:

Maximum 200 g /mi wells-to-wheels GHG emissions

Course design requirements that normalize gross drivetrain advantages (pure ICE, pure electric, etc.)

Note also that we intend to provide additional energy and emissions data as part of the AXP Education Program, as mentioned below.
PERMITTED FUELS
Vehicles must use AXP-supplied fuel during performance tests and races. A limited number of representative fuels will be provided. This will neutralize fuel gaming, and allow us to focus on viable fuels that are available in the marketplace to a level of our satisfaction. At this point, we expect to provide gasoline, diesel, electricity, natural gas, bio-diesel, and E85; the final list will be determined after initial applications are reviewed (additional fuels will require a clear business case that a vehicle using a non-mainstream fuel can succeed in the marketplace within a few years).
However, since there is only a threshold requirement on GHG emissions (200 g/mi maximum), there would be no particular race scoring advantage to using a non-mainstream fuel just because it is low in CO2 emissions. We expect most AXP vehicles to use gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, electricity, and ethanol – because these will be the predominant available fuels in the near future.
Where the amount of fuel energy available after fueling depends on the fueling conditions and procedures (e.g., for recharging batteries), AXP will specify sufficient details to ensure a fair representation of energy consumption.
Because we do believe that alternative fuels are important for the future, but cannot predict which alternatives will emerge as the best choices (availability, GHG emission characteristics, etc.), the AXP will provide some sort of general incentive for vehicles that can optionally be powered by more than one fuel, whether or not those fuels are currently mainstream (for our purposes, examples of flex-fuel vehicles include plug-in hybrids, vehicles that can run on gasoline or ethanol, etc.). The form of this flex-fuel incentive is yet to be determined.

If you represent a team interested in joining the Automotive X PRIZE, check out our Letter of Intent (http://auto.xprize.org/auto/automotive-x-prize/letter-of-intent-program) program and review the reasons to compete (http://auto.xprize.org/auto/automotive-x-prize/why-compete).


http://auto.xprize.org/auto/automotive-x-prize

[bbmf]

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Button Maker (http://button.blogflux.com/) A quick and easy tool that automatically creates an 80x15 or 88x31 button by your specifications
Mycoolbutton (http://www.mycoolbutton.com/) a simple web 2.0 button maker
Button Maker :: Adam Kalsey (http://kalsey.com/tools/buttonmaker/) Create 80x15 stickers for your blog with any text or color you desire
Buttonator (http://www.buttonator.com/) online buttons generator
Brilliant Button Maker by LucaZappa.com (http://www.lucazappa.com/brilliantMaker/buttonImage.php) A web application to create customizable 80x15 brilliant buttons
PHP/SWF Charts (http://www.maani.us/charts/index.php?menu=Introduction) is a simple, yet powerful PHP tool to create attractive web charts and graphs from dynamic data
ACME Label Maker (http://www.acme.com/labelmaker/) Make a label
Create A Graph (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/Graphing/) Create Graphs and Charts
iGal (http://www.stanford.edu/%7Eepop/igal/) Online Image GALlery generator
Web 2.0 Logo Generator (http://www.simwebsol.com/ImageTool/), Web 2.0 Stylr (http://web2.0stylr.com/stylr.aspx), logocreator (http://creatr.cc/creatr/), Web2.0 Logo Creator (http://msig.info/web2.php), Cool Text (Logo Generator) (http://cooltext.com/) and Web 2.0 logo creatr (http://h-master.net/web2.0/): web 2.0 logo generators
Online SiGGy Maker (http://siggymaker.gfxedit.com/) Online Signature Maker
phpThumb() (http://phpthumb.sourceforge.net/) The PHP thumbnail creator
PixelButton (http://www.pixelbutton.com/eng) PixelButton is an Antipixel online generator, easy and fast to use.
Portrait Avatar Maker (http://avatarmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml)
Portrait Illustration Maker (http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml) Let's make an original icon
RSS Button Generator (http://www.rssbuttons.com/) 150 Fonts, 144 Colors - 80x15 Pixel Button Maker
Sparklines (http://bitworking.org/projects/sparklines/) You can start right away by dynamically creating a sparkline using the Sparkline Generator Web Application
Stripe Generator (http://www.stripegenerator.com/) the professional and popular web 2.0 stripe generator
StripGenerator (http://www.stripgenerator.com/) Make your own cartoon online
stripedesigner (http://www.stripedesigner.com/) web 2.0 stripe generator
Texture Maker (http://www.texturemaker.com/tour.php) Texture Maker is a seamless texture generator and designer
Thumbnail Generator (http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/thumbgenerator.asp#xx441049xx) An easy way to process thumbnails from a large amount of images
Tile Machine 1.0 (http://www.tilemachine.com/) A web generator for designing graphic tiles
Typogenerator (http://www.typogenerator.net/) typoGenerator is a random generator for "typoPosters". the user types some text; typoGenerator searches images.google for the text and creates a background from the found images
Wallpaper Generator (http://www.wallpapergenerator.com/)
Web Album Generator 1.8 (http://www.ornj.net/software/webalbum/) Create Online Photo AlbumsColor generators
ColorBlender.com (http://www.colorblender.com/) Your free online color matching toolbox
Color Calculator (http://dev.sessions.edu/ilu/ilu_1.html) Color calculator, with saturation and lightness adjustment
ColorCombos.com (http://www.colorcombos.com/combotester.html) Web colour combinations tool and library
ColorMixers (http://colormixers.com/mixers/cmr/) Remixing RGB since 2003
color palette creator v1.6 (http://slayeroffice.com/tools/color_palette/) A color swatch generator based on the tutorial located here (http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/archives/creating_colour_palettes.html)
Color Palette Generator (http://jrm.cc/color-palette-generator/) Generate a color palette based on an image
Color Palette Generator (http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/index.php) Enter the URL of an image to get a color palette that matches the image
Color Scheme Generator 2 (http://wellstyled.com/tools/) Color scheme generator for webpages and coding
Color Schemer (http://www.colorschemer.com/) Create matching color schemes at the click of a button
colr.org (http://www.colr.org/) It's a tool to let people fiddle around with colors and words
EasyRGB (http://www.easyrgb.com/) The first RGB and COLOR search engine on the Web
Gradient Image Maker (http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/gradient/) Web-based tool that makes a linear gradient image between any two colors
HTML Color Code Combination Chooser (http://www.siteprocentral.com/html_color_code.html) Choose the best HTML color combinations with this free tool. Easy to use color finder that generates HTML codes
I Like Your Colors! (http://www.redalt.com/Tools/ilyc.php) Use this tool to extract the colors from the HTML and CSS of any web site. Compare the colors easily using hue groups
Technicolor (http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/Technicolor/) Automatic color palette generator with realtime preview and CSS generator
Transparent PNG Generator (http://apps.everamber.com/alpha/) is a simple web application that lets you create transparent PNG images in any colorCSS generators
Clean CSS (http://www.cleancss.com/?lang=en) CSS Formatter and Optimiser
CSS Button Generator (http://www.devdude.com/tools/tool.pl?TID=11) CSS Button & Text Field Generator
CSS Creator (http://www.csscreator.com/version2/pagelayout.php) Live CSS Cascading Style Sheet Layout generator for your web site
CSS Font and Text Style Wizard (http://www.somacon.com/p334.php) Use this wizard to experiment with font and text styles and generate sample CSS style source code.
QrONE CSS Designer (http://www.qrone.org/cssdesigner.html) Online CSS Generator
Online CSS Optimiser/Optimizer (http://flumpcakes.co.uk/css/optimiser/) This tool is used to optimise CSS code. Enter either a URL or Copy & Paste the stylesheet into the box, and click Go
CSS Formatter and Optimiser (http://cdburnerxp.se/cssparse/css_optimiser.php?lang=en) CSS optimize
CSS Form Code Maker (http://www.maketemplate.com/form/) Generates "Colorful Box Layout" For Forms
CSS Menu Generator (http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/css-menu-generator.shtml) Our CSS Menu Generator will generate both the CSS and the HTML code required to produce a text-based yet appealing set of navigation buttons
Format CSS Online (http://www.lonniebest.com/FormatCSS/) Automatically format your CSS (cascading style sheets) so they are easy to read and edit
Online CSS Optimizer (http://www.cssoptimiser.com/) CSS Optimizer optimizes and reduces the file size of the Cascading Style Sheets
Colly's CSS rollover generator (http://www.collylogic.com/scripts/rollover.html) CollyLogic CSS Multi-element Rollover Generator
Cornershop (http://wigflip.com/cornershop/) Rounded Graphics for CSS Box Corners
CSS Rounded Box Generator (Beta) (http://www.neuroticweb.com/recursos/css-rounded-box/) Generates both the images and code you need for a rounded box.
Online CSS Scrollbar Color Changer (http://www.iconico.com/CSSScrollbar/) Change the scrollbar colors in an HTML page
CSS Tab Designer (http://www.highdots.com/css-list/index.php) CSS Tab Designer is a unique and easy to use software to help you design css-based lists and tabs visually and without any programming knowledge required
Free CSS Template Code Generator (http://www.ibdjohn.com/csstemplate/) Maker for 3 Column Layout (tableless)
HTML and CSS Table Border Style Wizard (http://www.somacon.com/p141.php) Use this wizard to experiment with table border styles and generate style source code
Layout-o-Matic (http://www.inknoise.com/experimental/layoutomatic.php) Generates tableless CSS layouts at the touch of a button
Listamatic (http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/) one list, many options - Using CSS and a simple list to create radically different list
Listamatic2 (http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic2/index.htm) nested list options
List-O-Matic (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/list-o-matic/) Generate CSS-styled navigation menus based on list items
List-u-Like CSS Generator (http://www.listulike.com/generator/) Create cross-browser list-based navigation bars with ease
S5Easy: Create S5 Slideshows Easy Online (http://www.s5easy.com/) Create your slideshow in only 3 steps
Scriptomizers (http://www.scriptomizers.com/css/stylesheet_generator) A CSS stylesheet generator
The Generator Form v2.90 (http://www.positioniseverything.net/articles/pie-maker/pagemaker_form.php) CSS Source Ordered Variable Border 1-3 Columned Page MakerDomain Name generators
Nameboy (http://www.nameboy.com/) free domain name generator, search and creation
Domain name generator (http://www.makewords.com/default.aspx) Intelligent random name generator that finds available domains and unique business names. The fastest online domain name generator available
Domain Name Generator (http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/domain-name-generator.shtml) Domain Name Generator will produce a list of possible domain name ideas based on the word or phrase you input
Namedroppers (http://www.namedroppers.com/) We provide a more efficient method for finding and generating domain names. Search for domain names using multiple keywords
Whoix? (http://www.whoix.com/wizard.html) Domain Name WizardEmail generators
Advanced Email Link Generator (http://www.willmaster.com/possibilities/demo/aelgwase.html) Advanced Email Link Generator with Anti-Spam Encoder
E-Mail Icon Generator (http://services.nexodyne.com/email/index.php) For GMail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and many more
Email Riddler (online tool) (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/emailriddler/) Email Riddler is an online tool that encrypts and transform your email address into a series of numbers when displaying it, making it virtually impossible for spam harvesters to crawl and add your email to their list
NeedASig (http://www.needasig.com/) Email and Forum Signature Icon GeneratorFavicons generators
Favicon Generator (http://www.favicongenerator.com/) Make Free Favicons - Create a Favicon.ico Design
FavIcon from Pics (http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/) How to create a favicon.ico for your website
Favicon.ico Maker (http://www.degraeve.com/favicon/) Upload a 16 x 16 pixel PNG and click "Faviconify!" to create a favicon for your website; this favicon maker supports alpha transparencyFlash generators
Flash Buttons Menu Generator (http://www.flashbuttons.com/) Free Animated Flash Buttons Menu Generator
FLASH EMBEDDER (http://www.echoecho.com/toolflashembedder.htm) This tool will let you easily embed flash movies into HTMLForm generators
Accessible Form Builder (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/form-builder/) Generate XHTML-compliant accessible forms quicky and easily
Accessible Form Creator (http://www.hisoftware.com/access/valueadd9.html) allows you to create forms for web sites containing all the additional markup required to make the forms accessible under Section 508 standards and the W3C WCAG 1.0 Priority 1-3 Guidelines
Contact Form Generator (http://www.tele-pro.co.uk/scripts/contact_form/) The free Website Contact Form Generator utility enables you to create form-to-email scripts for your ASP, PHP or Perl web site with no programming skills needed
CSS Form Code Maker (http://www.maketemplate.com/form/) Generates "Colorful Box Layout" For Forms
Form Element Generator (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/form-element-generator/) allows you to create forms for web sites containing all the additional markup required to make the forms accessible under Section 508 standards and the W3C WCAG 1.0 Priority 1-3 Guidelines
FormLogix (http://www.formlogix.com/) FormLogix is an online web database and form generator solution; free
JotForm (http://www.jotform.com/) Web Based WYSIWYG Form Builder
PHP FormMail Generator (http://phpfmg.sourceforge.net/home.php) A tool to create ready-to-use web forms in a flash. Once the form has been generated, you have a full functional web form. Including error checking of required fields, email address validation, credit card number & expiry date checking, multiple attachments sending, and email auto responding
Wufoo (http://www.wufoo.com/) Making forms easy + fast + fun
Web Form Factory (http://www.webformfactory.com/) Open Source Web Form GeneratorMETATAG generators
META builder (http://vancouver-webpages.com/META/mk-metas.html) This form will generate HTML META tags suitable for inclusion in your HTML document
Meta Tag Generator (http://www.123promotion.co.uk/tools/meta_tag_creator.php) Use this tool to generate a search engine friendly Head Tag for your web site
Title & Meta Tags Generator (http://www.searchbliss.com/free_scripts_metatag.htm) his code generator will build the title and meta tags for your site to help improve your website's search engine ranking using our Meta Tag Generator
META Tag Generator (http://www.submitcorner.com/Tools/Meta/) Fast track creating your META tags with our advanced META tag generator. Just select the META tags you would like and let our META tag generator spit out the code for you
META Tag Generator (http://www.anybrowser.com/MetaTagGenerator.html) Here's an easy to way to generate your META tags. Fill in the form and hit "submit"Password generators
Free Password Generator (http://www.freepasswordgenerator.com/) Free passwords for all purposes
hashapass (http://www.hashapass.com/) Hashapass automatically generates strong passwords from a master password and a parameter
Perfect Passwords (https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm) GRC's Ultra High Security Password Generator
Phonetic Password Generator (http://tools.arantius.com/password)
PASSWORD GENERATOR (http://www.scriptfx.com/generators/password/password_generator.htm) online Password Generator
Password generator (http://angel.net/%7Enic/passwd.html) this is a little Javascript program that will concatenate two fields and MD5 them
Password Generator (http://labs.zarate.org/passwd/) This tool lets you use one "master" password to create unique, complex passwords for each website you visit
Perfect Passwords (https://www.grc.com/passwords) Ultra High Security Password GeneratorPopUp generators
Accessible Pop-up Window Generator (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/pop-up-window-generator/) Create pop-ups that are accessible and search engine-friendly
Popup Window Generator (http://hsguides.homestead.com/files/popup_generator.html) This code generator will make a script that you can add to your page using the Insert HTML Element which will pop up a window for you
Popup Window Generator (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex8/popwin.htm) Use Eric's Popup window Generator to easily add popup windows to your site
Popup Window Maker (http://javascript.internet.com/generators/popup-window.html) Fill out the specifications of the popup window you would like to use, including the URL and the various options such as menubars, toolbars, scrollbars, etc, and click the generate buttonrobots.txt generators
Robots.txt Generator (http://www.mcanerin.com/EN/search-engine/robots-txt.asp) Robot Control Code Generation Tool
Robots Txt Generator (http://www.123promotion.co.uk/tools/robotstxtgenerator.php) Use this tool to generate a simple robots file for your website
Robots.txt syntax checker (http://www.sxw.org.uk/computing/robots/check.html) This robots.txt syntax checker checks the contents of a site's robots.txtRSS generators
amazonbox (http://www.edazzle.net/amazon/) Create RSS or Atom feeds for Amazon wishlists
ListGarden (http://softwaregarden.com/products/listgarden/) RSS Feed Generator Program
RSS Button Generator (http://www.rssbuttons.com/) 150 Fonts, 144 Colors - 80x15 Pixel Button Maker
RSS 2 PDF (Beta) (http://rss2pdf.com/) Free Online RSS, Atom or OPML to PDF Generator
RSSxl Beta - RSS Generator (http://www.wotzwot.com/rssxl.php) Convert an HTML Web Page to RSSSiteMap generators
Free Sitemap Generator (http://www.freesitemapgenerator.com/) Our tool creates a sitemap as defined by Google for your site.
Google Sitemap Generator for WordPress v2 Final (http://www.arnebrachhold.de/2005/06/05/google-sitemaps-generator-v2-final) This plugin generates a Google Sitemaps compliant sitemap of your WordPress blog.
Google Sitemaps beta (https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/sitemap-generator.html) Google sitemap generator
ROR Sitemap Generator (http://www.addme.com/ror-sitemap-generator.htm) This free tool will crawl your website and generate a ROR Sitemap with up to 1,000 URLs for ALL search engines, not just Google
Sitemap Generator (http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/) Free Online Sitemap Generator - Build your Site Map online (XML, ROR, Text, HTML)Text generators
Lorem Ipsum Generator (http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/generator3) Generator for randomized typographic filler text
Lorem Ipsum (http://www.lipsum.com/) All the facts - Lipsum generator
Malevole - Text Generator (http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/text/) This text generator has been developed based on years of careful research and is guaranteed to improve even the most lacklustre of designs
Typetester (http://typetester.maratz.com/) The Typetester is an online application for comparison of the fonts for the screenASCII generators
ASCII Artist (http://www.glassgiant.com/ascii/) This little program converts your picture to ASCII text art
ASCII Generator (http://www.network-science.de/ascii/) Generate a ASCII graphic from a word or text. Over 130 fonts.
ASCII-O-Matic (http://www.typorganism.com/asciiomatic/) is a web application that can convert an image into ASCII Art dynamicallyPDF generators
html2pdf (http://html2pdf.seven49.net/) Type the URL of a Webpage of your Choice to generate a PDF file
Notepad Generator - 1.0.0a (http://www.botsko.net/Demos/notepad_generator/) This tool allows you to customize a PDF notepad
PDFCreator (http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator) PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application
PDF Online (http://www.pdfonline.com/) Quickly and easily convert your documents into PDF from anywhere in the world
RSS 2 PDF (Beta) (http://rss2pdf.com/) Free Online RSS, Atom or OPML to PDF GeneratorTooltip generators
DHTML Tooltip Generator (http://host-biz.com/tooltips.html) Sometimes the HTML "alt=" isn't enough to relay the detail you'd like it to. Here is a tool that will allow you to give your users more interactive tooltips
Flash Tooltip Generator (http://www.hypergurl.com/flashtooltip.html) Free online flash generator create a flash tooltipXML Forms generators
XMLBuddy (http://www.xmlbuddy.com/) Supports XML and DTDs. Generates DTD from XML instance. Validates and provides code assist based on DTDs or document contents (no DTD)
XML Forms Generator (http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/xfg) A standards-based, data-driven Eclipse plug-in that generates functional forms with XForms mark-up embedded within an XHTML document from a XML data instance or a WSDL document
XML Generator (http://www.codeproject.com/soap/xmlgenerator.asp) To Generate XML from any data sourceHTACCESS generators
Htaccess Disable Hotlinking Code Generator (http://www.htmlbasix.com/disablehotlinking.shtml) If people are "hotlinking" to your image files, they are using your bandwidth which you will ultimately pay for. You can stop this from happening by placing a ".htaccess" file in the folder where your images are stored
.htaccess File Generator (http://cooletips.de/htaccess/) Apache htaccess file generator
.htaccess Generator (http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/htaccess-generator.shtml) .htaccess generator - will generate the files you need (.htaccess and .htpasswd) to password protect a directory of your website
.htaccess Generator (http://developers.evrsoft.com/tools-htaccess-generator.shtml) Create Encrypted Passwords in seconds
mod_rewrite RewriteRule Generator (http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/mod_rewrite-rewriterule-generator.shtml) Our mod_rewrite RewriteRule generator will take a dynamic url given to it, and generate the correct syntax to place in a .htaccess file to allow the url to be rewritten in a spiderable format
URL Rewrite (mod_rewrite) (http://www.linkvendor.com/seo-tools/url-rewrite.html) With this tool you can generate dynamic urls to search engine friendly urlsFun & Humor
Web 2.0 Generator (http://www.web20generator.com/) It's Not Too Late! Quick! The Web 2.0 bandwagon is leaving and you are not on it! Don't worry, there is still time if you act fast. Luckily web20generator.com is here to save the day
Avatar Maker (http://www.avatargenerator.org/) free Web 2.0 Emoticon/Avatar Generator
Concert Ticket Generator (http://www.says-it.com/concertticket/) Make your own virtual concert ticket
Dreamlines (http://www.solaas.com.ar/dreamlines/) A non-linear, interactive visual experience. The user enters one or more words that define the subject of a dream he would like to dream
Free Online Barcode Generator (http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php) Completely free online barcode generator outputs many different symbologies in JPEG or PNG format
Error Message Generator (http://atom.smasher.org/error/) Create your own error message
The Metaverse Excuse-O-Mat (http://www.zompist.com/excuse.html) Passende Entschuldigungen auf Knopfdruck
Magazine Cover Generator (http://flagrantdisregard.com/flickr/magazine.php) Magazine:Create a customized magazine from your digital photographs
Mondrian Machine (http://www.ptank.com/mondrian/) Mondrian art generator
MONDRIMAT (http://www.stephen.com/mondrimat/) The MONDRIMAT is a simple system which lets you experiment with space, color and visual rhythm in accordance with the theories of Piet Mondrian
Ribbon Image Generator (http://www.signgenerator.org/ribbons/)
StripGenerator (http://www.stripgenerator.com/) Make your own cartoon online
Vinyl Record Generator (http://www.says-it.com/record/) Make your very own simulated stacks of wax! Just enter some text and click the "Go" button. A picture of a record will be generated for you
Warning Label Generator (http://www.warninglabelgenerator.com/) The Warning Label Generator is a fun way to generate your own warning labels
Web Economy Bullshit Generator (http://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html)Misc. generators
amazonbox (http://www.edazzle.net/amazon/) Create RSS or Atom feeds for Amazon wishlists
Backlink Builder (http://www.webconfs.com/backlink-builder.php) Building Quality backlinks is one of the most important factors in Search Engine Optimization
FontEditor BitfontMaker (http://www.pentacom.jp/soft/ex/font/edit.html) Online bitmap font editor
HTML to JavaScript Convertor (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/html-javascript-convertor/) This tool takes your markup and converts it to a series of document.write() statements that you can use in a block of JavaScript
Insta-Select (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/insta-select/) Insta-Select - An easy "select" list generator
Pretty Printer for PHP, Java, C++, C, Perl, JavaScript, CSS (http://www.prettyprinter.de/) This is a source code beautifier (source code formatter), similiar to indent. Please make a backup before you replace your code!
Quick Escape (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/quick-escape/) It's a tool that lets you quickly paste in HTML and for that to be converted to escaped characters which can be pasted back in to your HTML source code so that it renders on screen
Response.Right (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/response.right/) Response.Right converts text/HTML to server-side write statements in PHP, ASP, JavaScript and Perl
Screenshot Generator (http://www.fundisom.com/g5/) Screenshot generator to see your site on a Macintosh G5 in Safari, MacIE or Mozilla
XFN (XHTML Friends Network) Link Creator (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/xfn/default.php) Create XFN-friendly links at the press of a few buttons
Yes No Now! (http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/developer-tools/yes-no-now/) It's a tool for quickly generating accessible, XHTML-compliant yes/no radio button choices from a list, that's what
Browsershots (http://browsershots.org/) Free screenshots of your web design in different browsers
iCapture (http://www.danvine.com/icapture/) Safari Screenshots
Screenshot Generator (http://www.fundisom.com/g5/) Screenshot generator to see your site on a Macintosh G5 in Safari, MacIE or Mozillainclusion of the above links does not verify or validate usefulness, accuracy, or safety of materials published or downloads available at link locations



http://www.ifxplus.com/post/More-than-100-Web-20-Online-Generators.aspx

[bbmf]

Imagine the day when you and your doctor sit down to review a copy of your own personal genome. This vital information about your biology will enable your physician to inform you of your disease susceptibilities, the best ways to keep yourself healthy and how to avoid or lessen the impact of future illness.
This is a very exciting time in Genomics. Scientists are on the brink of discovering the genetic factors in diabetes, heart disease, common cancers, high blood pressure, asthma, mental illness — virtually any disease that tends to run in families.
In the past, the diagnostic classification of a cancer was based on the organ or tissue location, such as liver or breast cancer. But now, the many forms of cancer can be characterized by their molecular profile. These molecular characteristics provide new information on how rapidly the cancer might spread or how it might respond to specific treatments.
The use of personal genetic information to predict disease susceptibility and guide proactive care has the power to transform our entire healthcare system.
Advocates of personalized medicine have stressed its potential to:
Provide advanced screening for disease
In the future, knowing one's genetic code will allow a person to make lifestyle and environmental changes at an early age to avoid or lessen the severity of a genetic disease. Advance knowledge of susceptibility will allow for careful monitoring and early intervention.
Select safer, more effective medications and dosages
Knowledge of a patient's genetic profile will allow a doctor to prescribe the most effective medication with least amount of side effects. The profile will also show how well the body metabolizes allowing doctors to determine the safest and most effective dosage. Prescribing drugs with little or no side effects will increase patient compliance.
Create better vaccines
Vaccines made of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, promise the benefits of existing vaccines without the risks. They will activate the immune system but will be unable to cause infections. They will be inexpensive, stable, easy to store, and engineered to carry several strains of a pathogen at once.
Lower health care costs
Proactive lifestyle changes, early detection and treatment, decreasing adverse drug reactions, the number of medications patients must take to find an effective therapy, and the length of time patients are on medication are all expected to promote a net decrease in the cost of health care.
Are We There Yet?
The field of personalized medicine is still in its infancy and the day when everyone has access to their own personal genome is still a long way off.
Finding the genetic factors that predispose someone to disease, and how they are likely to respond to different treatments may be determined not by one gene but by many genes interacting with each other. Combing through this complicated genetic map is expensive and time consuming.
It currently costs millions of dollars and takes many months to sequence an individual genome. It is imperative that we greatly reduce the cost and increase the speed of human genome sequencing; then, and only then, can the promise of personalized medicine be realized.
This is the goal of the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics.

http://genomics.xprize.org/genomics/archon-x-prize-for-genomics/the-promise-of-personalized-medicine ***


Archon X PRIZE FAQ
Q. What is genetics? What is genomics?
Genetics is the study of inheritance, or the way traits are passed down from one generation to another. Genes carry the instructions for making proteins, which in turn direct the activities of cells and functions of the body that influence traits such as hair and eye color.
Genomics is a newer term that describes the study of all the genes in a person, as well as interactions of those genes with each other and with that person’s environment.
Q. What's a genome and why is it important?
A genome is the entire DNA in an organism, including its genes. Genes carry information for making all the proteins required by all organisms. These proteins determine, among other things, how the organism looks, how well its body metabolizes food or fights infection and sometimes even how it behaves.
DNA is made up of four similar chemicals (called bases and abbreviated A, T, C, and G) that are repeated millions or billions of times throughout a genome. The human genome, for example, has three billion pairs of bases.
The particular order of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs is extremely important. The order underlies all of life's diversity, dictating whether an organism is human or another. Because all organisms are related through similarities in DNA sequences, insights gained from non-human genomes often lead to new knowledge about human biology.
Q. How big is the human genome?
The human genome is made up of DNA, which has four different chemical building blocks. These are called bases and abbreviated A, T, C, and G. In the human genome, about 3 billion bases are arranged along the chromosomes in a particular order for each unique individual. To get an idea of the size of the human genome present in each of our cells, consider the following analogy: If the DNA sequence of the human genome were compiled in books, the equivalent of 200 volumes the size of a Manhattan telephone book (at 1000 pages each) would be needed to hold it all.
It would take about 9.5 years to read out loud (without stopping) the 3 billion bases in a person's genome sequence. This is calculated on a reading rate of 10 bases per second, equaling 600 bases/minute, 36,000 bases/hour, 864,000 bases/day, 315,360,000 bases/year.
Storing all this information is a great challenge to computer experts known as bioinformatics specialists. One million bases (called a megabase and abbreviated Mb) of DNA sequence data is roughly equivalent to 1 megabyte of computer data storage space. Since the human genome is 3 billion base pairs long, 3 gigabytes of computer data storage space are needed to store the entire genome. This includes nucleotide sequence data only and does not include data annotations and other information that can be associated with sequence data.
As time goes on, more annotations will be entered as a result of laboratory findings, literature searches, data analyses, personal communications, automated data-analysis programs, and auto annotators. These annotations associated with the sequence data will likely dwarf the amount of storage space actually taken up by the initial 3 billion nucleotide sequence. Of course, that's not much of a surprise because the sequence is merely one starting point for much deeper biological understanding!
Contributions to this answer were made by Morey Parang and Richard Mural formerly of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Mark Adams formerly of The Institute of Genome Research.
Q. How many genes are in the human genome?
The current consensus predicts about 20,000-25,000 genes, but not all genome scientists agree.
Q. What is DNA sequencing?
DNA sequencing, the process of determining the exact order of the 3 billion chemical building blocks (called bases and abbreviated A, T, C, and G) that make up the DNA of the 24 different human chromosomes, was the greatest technical challenge in the Human Genome Project. Achieving this goal has helped reveal the estimated 20,000-25,000 human genes within our DNA as well as the regions controlling them. The resulting DNA sequence maps are being used by 21st century scientists to explore human biology and other complex phenomena.
Meeting Human Genome Project sequencing goals by 2003 required continual improvements in sequencing speed, reliability, and costs. Previously, standard methods were based on separating DNA fragments by gel electrophoresis, which was extremely labor intensive and expensive. Total sequencing output in the community was about 200 Mb for 1998. In January 2003, the DOE Joint Genome Institute alone sequenced 1.5 billion bases for the month.
Gel-based sequencers use multiple tiny (capillary) tubes to run standard electrophoretic separations. These separations are much faster because the tubes dissipate heat well and allow the use of much higher electric fields to complete sequencing in shorter times.
Q. Whose genome was sequenced in the public (HGP) and private projects?
The human genome reference sequences do not represent any one person’s genome. Rather, they serve as a starting point for broad comparisons across humanity. The knowledge obtained is applicable to everyone because all humans share the same basic set of genes and genomic regulatory regions that control the development and maintenance of their biological structures and processes.
In the international public-sector Human Genome Project (HGP), researchers collected blood (female) or sperm (male) samples from a large number of donors. Only a few of many collected samples were processed as DNA resources. Thus the donor identities were protected so neither donors nor scientists could know whose DNA was sequenced. DNA clones from many different libraries were used in the overall project.
Technically, it is much easier to prepare DNA cleanly from sperm than from other cell types because of the much higher ratio of DNA to protein in sperm and the much smaller volume in which purifications can be done. Using sperm does provide all chromosomes for study, including equal numbers of sperm with the X (female) or Y (male) sex chromosomes. However, HGP scientists also used white cells from the blood of female donors so as to include female-originated samples.
In the Celera Genomics private-sector project, DNAs from a few different genomes were mixed up and processed for sequencing. The DNA resources used for these studies came from anonymous donors of European, African, American (North, Central, South), and Asian ancestry. The lead scientist of Celera Genomics at that time, Craig Venter, has since acknowledged that his DNA was one of those in the pool.
Many small regions of DNA that vary among individuals (called polymorphisms) also were identified during the HGP, mostly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Most SNPs are without physiological effect, although a minority contribute to the delightful and beneficial diversity of humanity. A much smaller minority of polymorphisms affect an individual’s susceptibility to disease and response to medical treatments.
Although the HGP has been completed, SNP studies continue in the International HapMap Project, whose goal is to identify patterns of SNP groups (called haplotypes, or "haps"). The DNA samples for the HapMap came from a total of 270 individuals: Yoruba people in Ibadan, Nigeria; Japanese in Tokyo; Han Chinese in Beijing; and the French Centre d’Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) resource.
Q. Who sequenced the human genome?
Human Genome Project research was funded at many laboratories around the U.S. by the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or both. A list of the major U.S. Human Genome Project research sites can be found here.
Other researchers at numerous colleges, universities, and laboratories throughout the United States have also received DOE and NIH funding for human genome research. At any given time, the DOE Human Genome Program has funded about 100 separate principal investigators. For DOE-funded projects, see Research. To see a list of NIH-funded projects, visit their grants database.
In addition, many large and small private U.S. companies are conducting genome research. For more on the genomics research partnership between the public and private sectors, see the Human Genome Project and the Private Sector Fact Sheet. At least 18 other countries have participated in the Human Genome Project. See the list.
Q. What does genomics have to do with my health?
Genomics plays a part in nine of the Ten Leading Causes of Death in the United States. All human beings are 99.9 percent identical in genetic makeup, but differences in the remaining 0.1 percent may hold important clues about the causes of disease.
We hope that the study of genomics will help us learn why some people get sick from certain infections, environmental factors, and behaviors, while others do not. Better understanding of the interactions between genes and the environment will help us find better ways to improve health and prevent diseases.
Q. What is gene therapy?
Gene therapy is a technique for correcting faulty genes responsible for disease development. To learn more about gene therapy visit the Human Genome Project Web site.
Q.What will the next 50 years of medical science look like?
Having the essentially complete sequence of the human genome is similar to having all the pages of a manual needed to make the human body. The challenge to researchers and scientists now is to determine how to read the contents of all these pages and then understand how the parts work together and to discover the genetic basis for health and the pathology of human disease. In this respect, genome-based research will eventually enable medical science to develop highly effective diagnostic tools, to better understand the health needs of people based on their individual genetic make-ups, and to design new and highly effective treatments for disease.
Individualized analysis based on each person's genome will lead to a very powerful form of preventive medicine. We'll be able to learn about risks of future illness based on DNA analysis. Physicians, nurses, genetic counselors and other health-care professionals will be able to work with individuals to focus efforts on the things that are most likely to maintain health for a particular individual. That might mean diet or lifestyle changes, or it might mean medical surveillance. But there will be a personalized aspect to what we do to keep ourselves healthy. Then, through our understanding at the molecular level of how things like diabetes or heart disease or schizophrenia come about, we should see a whole new generation of interventions, many of which will be drugs that are much more effective and precise than those available today.
Q. When can we expect new and better drugs?
It's important to be careful about raising expectations. Most new drugs based on the completed genome are still perhaps 10 to 15 years in the future, although more than 350 biotech products - many based on genetic research - are currently in clinical trials, according to the Biotechnology Industry Organization. It usually takes more than a decade for a company to conduct the kinds of clinical studies needed to win marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Testing, however, will arrive more quickly, especially the ability to predict individual future health risks, and the ability to implement an enhanced approach to preventive medicine. In the next decade, we may also be better able to determine which drugs work best for individuals, based on their genetic make-up.
For more detailed information on NHGRI, the Human Genome Project and the future of genomics, go to:
The NHGRI Web site: www.genome.gov
The Human Genome Project: www.genome.gov/10001772
The ENCODE Project: www.genome.gov/ENCODE
The HapMap Project: www.genome.gov/HapMap
Sequencing Projects: www.genome.gov/Sequencing
The Celebration of the Genome: www.genome.gov/About/April2003
Genetic Terms and Definitions: www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm
Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Research: www.genome.gov/10001618
For more detailed information on DOE's Human Genome Program and the future of genomics, go to:
DOE's Human Genome Program: www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/
Genomes to Life: www.genomestolife.org

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About the Google Lunar X PRIZE
The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.

Rules & Guidelines
COMPETITION GUIDELINES: To win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a team must successfully land a privately funded craft on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a “Mooncast”, back to Earth.

PRIZES: The total purse of the Google Lunar X PRIZE is $30 million (USD).
• GRAND PRIZE: A $20 million Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that can soft land a craft on the Moon that roams for at least 500 meters and transmits a Mooncast back to Earth. The Grand Prize is $20M until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15M until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation
• SECOND PRIZE: A $5 million Second Prize will be offered as well, providing an extra incentive for teams to continue to compete, and increasing the possibility that multiple teams will succeed. Second place will be available until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation
• BONUSES: An additional $5 million in bonus prizes can be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft will be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and will send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website.

MOONCAST: The Mooncast consists of digital data that must be collected and transmitted to the Earth composed of the following:
• High resolution 360º panoramic photographs taken on the surface of the Moon;
• Self portraits of the rover taken on the surface of the Moon;
• Near-real time videos showing the craft’s journey along the lunar surface;
• High Definition (HD) video;
• Transmission of a cached set of data, loaded on the craft before launch (e.g. first email from the Moon).
Teams will be required to send a Mooncast detailing their arrival on the lunar surface, and a second Mooncast that provides imagery and video of their journey roaming the lunar surface. All told, the Mooncasts will represent approximately a Gigabyte of stunning content returned to the Earth.

Official Questions and Answers
The following are questions posed by potential Teams, Letter of Intent signatories, and Registered Teams in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, along with their official answers as provided by the X PRIZE Foundation. These Questions and Answers are meant to provide further clarification to the requirements discussed in the Official Guidelines for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.
The X PRIZE Foundation considers all questions regarding the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Those questions that might be relevant to multiple Teams are collected, rewritten into standard language, and answered in this common document. The Foundation expects to issue updated versions of this Official Questions and Answers document approximately once a month until such point as the Official Guidelines are finalized in the Official Rules of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, at which point a new document will be created.

Further questions may be submitted by sending an email to glxp-team -AT- xprize -DOT- org



Q1) What provisions do you have for confidentiality? How do we keep our innovations from being revealed to other teams?

A1) The X PRIZE Foundation treats confidentiality very seriously. The Registration package for the Google Lunar X PRIZE contains a lengthy mutual non-disclosure agreement--that way, teams can feel confident sharing their data with us before they even become an official team.


Prizes are effective in no small part due to public promotion of both the competition and the teams. Some public disclosure of your operational and mission plans will be required, as shown in the Registration package and Guidelines. However, the Foundation will attempt to guard each team's competitive advantage while still fulfilling the educational and public outreach goals of the X PRIZE Foundation. While each team can and should protect its intellectual property, we will require our teams to explain their systems in general terms understandable to the general public, without giving away strategic advantage.
Many fields in the Registration Package are marked with asterisks as a way to note material that “shall not be publicly listed, except in aggregate form using data from all registered competitors.” Applicants should assume that information not clearly marked as proprietary may be released to the general public. Date: December 14, 2007


Q2) Does the X PRIZE Foundation have a strategy for dealing with ITAR and other similar regulations?

A2) The USA's International Traffic in Arms Regulations and similar regulations in other nations are important, binding policies that all Google Lunar X PRIZE Teams must follow. It is up to each team to comply with these and other national laws, policies, and regulations. For the specific mission required by the Google Lunar X PRIZE, however, this may not be as daunting as it first seems.


Many ITAR and similar restrictions for a Google Lunar X PRIZE-winning effort will involve the launch of the spacecraft, particularly if the launch takes place in a country other than where the spacecraft was built. Most launch companies worldwide, however, are familiar with these restrictions and have established processes for dealing with the requirements these laws impose. Notably, our Preferred Launch Partner, SpaceX, has offered to work in good faith with teams from any nation or set of nations, and may offer a practical, ITAR-compliant launch solution from a variety of launch sites at a variety of latitudes. For this and other technology transfer issues, approval can be obtained for international collaboration by working with the applicable agencies, such as the U.S. State Department. We encourage teams to begin this process early in order to ensure it is not a limiting factor in the competition.
Dating back to the Ansari X PRIZE, the X PRIZE Foundation has a proud legacy of working with regulatory agencies to identify regulatory vacuums or to help the agencies proactively accommodate upcoming requests from industry. The Foundation will once again educate and advise the appropriate government agencies in the U.S. and internationally and act as an advocate for all of our teams for this prize. However, the burden of proof of compliance ultimately rests with each of our teams. Date: December 14, 2007


Q3) The Guidelines state in Section 7.2 (“Intellectual Property”) that Teams own all of the intellectual property “associated with the design, manufacture, and operation of CRAFT, secondary vehicles, and subsystems.” Does this extend to any results of the mission that go beyond the requirements of the Prize, such as scientific or commercial information?

A3) Yes. The X PRIZE Foundation will make no claim on any data or other intellectual properties that are not part of the Mooncast or other prize requirements and are derived or delivered by instruments or payloads on the CRAFT or secondary vehicles.
If the team intends to include this data in a data package that also contains data relevant to claiming the Prize, the Team must make prior arrangements with XPF regarding this data to allow for its protection. Date: December 14, 2007


Q4) Section 5.3.2 (“Blogging and Video”) requires that teams provide updates to an XPF-designated website. What limits are placed on teams in terms of their use of individual or corporate non-XPF websites? What restrictions, if any, do you place on the blogging activities of individual team members?

A4) The XPF-designated website should be the official venue for all updates specifically related to your prize entry. We encourage heavy use of the Foundation designated web site for blogs, videos, and other updates, as increased traffic there means more exposure for the team and the prize
However, we expect that many of our teams will maintain active websites for other projects, day-to-day business, personal use, et cetera. These will realistically include blogs, and that is certainly fine with us. Promotion of posts on the X PRIZE site, including posts that quote from and link to other posts on the X PRIZE site, may be carried on these external sites. Date: December 14, 2007


Q5) Section 7 of the Guidelines gives the X PRIZE Foundation exclusive licensing to a great deal of imagery and video, including much of the imagery and video taken on the surface of the Moon. Can teams also make deals such as reality TV shows, documentaries, et cetera?

A5) The X PRIZE Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 educational foundation, has existing and pending media deals that are fundamentally critical to the Foundation’s ability to conduct competitions such as the Google Lunar X PRIZE. If we allowed teams to undercut these with their own deals, we would not have prizes to offer. The Foundation's position as the owner of media rights for all of its competitions allows us to negotiate deals for much more media exposure than any team on its own could reasonably expect to achieve.
If a Team has a concept for a media property it would like to sell, they should contact the X PRIZE Foundation immediately. Where the X PRIZE Foundation determines that such products do not interfere with Foundation obligations and responsibilities, Teams will be allowed to pursue them. Date: December 14, 2007


Q6) Section 5.6 states that "TEAMs shall provide notice of pending sponsorships no later than 15 days prior to the execution of any sponsorship agreement..." Will this be kept confidential?

A6) Yes. XPF may discuss potential sponsorships with Google and other Google Lunar X PRIZE sponsors in the event of a possible conflict. However, XPF will not publicly disclose any sponsorships not publicly acknowledged by the Team. Date: December 14, 2007


Q7) Section 5.6 (“Sponsorships”) prevents teams from entering “into sponsorship agreements with any entity that interferes with Google or XPF.” Does this mean, for example, that a team could not enter into a collaborative relationship or sponsorship with Microsoft, Yahoo, or any other Google competitor?

A7) Teams may indeed enter into collaborative relationships or sponsorships with Google’s competitors. However, the Foundation may prevent relationships with entities that conflict with the Foundation’s role as a not-for-profit educational Foundation. Examples include, but are not limited to, hate groups or tobacco companies. Date: December 14, 2007


Q8) Section 8.2 states that "XPF reserves the right for any reason to reject the application of any potential TEAM, TEAM Leader, or TEAM Member..." What is meant by “any reason”?

A8) The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an independent competition with no political, technological, bureaucratic or industrial bias. The X PRIZE Foundation is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to education and to the benefit of all humanity, and as such will not reject any team application based on nationality, age, gender, or other such characteristics of a team or team members. The XPF reserves the right to reject the application of any team that actively opposes the XPF mission or any team whose actions would conflict with the Foundation’s role as a not-for-profit educational Foundation. Additionally, X PRIZE Foundation employees and their families may not participate in nor have a financial interest in Google Lunar X PRIZE teams or vehicles. Any team whose application is rejected has 45 days to appeal the decision. Date: December 14, 2007


Q9) Regarding Section 4.3 (“Approval”): If an application is not approved, are all Registration fees refunded?

A9) Yes. Any fee accompanying an application that is denied will be refunded to the Team without interest, and minus any applicable bank transfer fees. Date: December 14, 2007


Q10) Are there limits on team members, such as age limits or a limit on how many people can be on a team?

A10) No, so long as the other requirements are all met. Date: December 14, 2007


Q11) The Guidelines clearly allow for "a secondary vehicle carried by the CRAFT." Can there be multiple secondary vehicles?

A11) Yes, there can be multiple secondary (or tertiary, et cetera) vehicles. Date: December 14, 2007


Q12) Does the CRAFT have to be robotic? Could a vehicle carrying humans win the prize?

A12) The Google Lunar X PRIZE is intended to be a competition among robotic vehicles. Given the added cost and complexity associated with human lunar missions, none are anticipated. However, a vehicle could theoretically carry humans while attempting to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE. If a Team were to propose a human mission, additional requirements would be levied to guarantee appropriate safety and survivability concerns. Any and all registration applications signaling an intention to carry humans on the mission will receive a further set of guidelines and rules as additional provisions to the eventual Master Team Agreement. Date: December 14, 2007


Q13) Are there any restrictions on the mass or volume of a team’s craft?

A13) No. As long as the craft can complete the mission and fulfill all of the requirements of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, it can be any size. Date: December 14, 2007


Q14) Section 5.10 (“Launch”) notes that launch attempts will be disclosed to the public three months prior to the window. Why is this much time given?

A14) Incentive-based prize competitions are dependent on public involvement. Keeping the public informed helps increase the X PRIZE Foundation’s ability to educate and transform how people think about the issues involved. It increases the likelihood of future prizes and generates more income for teams and their sponsors. Three months notice prior to a launch will allow members of the public, including educators and members of the media, to make plans to cover and/or “participate” in the mission in a more highly involved way. As all teams must deliver this 3 month notice, no team could use this window to reschedule a launch to come before another team. Date: December 14, 2007


Q15) Who pays for the launch?

A15) Teams are responsible for funding all phases of their missions, including launch. The Google Lunar X PRIZE Grand Prize, Second Place Prize, and Bonus Prizes will only be paid out after the completion of a successful mission that meets the requirements of each Prize. Date: December 14, 2007


Q16) Section 2.5 (“Payload Requirements”) requires that all or part of the X PRIZE Foundation’s payload must be affixed to the exterior of the craft. This may impact vehicle design, both by driving the center of gravity of the vehicle and by requiring a surface or surfaces large enough to affix the payload. Can this be avoided?

A16) One major goal of the Google Lunar X PRIZE is to lead to the development of vehicles that can be used for further exploration (both governmental and private)--and the ability to deliver payloads will be a critical component of any such capability. Additionally, the Payload will be used to fulfill a wide variety of public outreach and educational goals. As such, this requirement will not be waived unless alternative means of compliance can be demonstrated. The X PRIZE Foundation will work with the Teams to minimize delays and design impact based on the design specifications of the payload. Date: December 14, 2007


Q17) Section 2.1 requires teams to "obtain prior approval ... of the proposed lunar landing site." What accuracy will be required? What happens if, through a miscalculation or operational error, a team misses the targeted landing area?

A17) This rule exists to ensure that teams exercise appropriate caution with regard to the possibility of landing on or near sites of historic or scientific interest. The Guidelines place no actual requirements on landing accuracy. They merely require the submission and approval of a landing site plan.
The X PRIZE Foundation acknowledges that many sites on the lunar surface are of profound historical and emotional value to all humanity. Therefore, the X PRIZE Foundation will take an active role in encouraging public debate as to how to best treat these important sites. The Foundation will hold a session on this topic at an upcoming conference. Date: December 14, 2007


Q18) Does the craft have to “soft land?” If so, what is the definition of “soft land?”

A18) The vehicle landing must only be soft enough that the craft and any necessary secondary vehicles can meet all of the other prize requirements. Date: December 14, 2007


Q19) Section 2.2 (“Mobility”) requires teams to move "along the surface of the Moon in a deliberate manner." Is flying under rocket power an acceptable way to move? Is deliberately moving downhill with gravity considered a "deliberate manner" in keeping with the requirements?

A19) As the intent of this rule is to show that a vehicle like the prize entrant could be used for future missions, mobility under a “gravity tumble” or slide would not be considered deliberate. Though controlled motion downhill would be accepted, we would expect the craft to demonstrate that it could, for example, have moved uphill if there were a site of particular interest. Flying under rocket power would be acceptable, so long as all other prize requirements are met. Date: December 14, 2007


Q20) Section 2.2 (“Mobility”) states that the 500m mobility requirement may be met by "a journey connecting a series of waypoints approved by the Google Lunar X PRIZE Judging Panel." When is the approval granted? What will the Judging Panel expect for waypoints as part of the “Mobility Mission Requirement”?

A20) All teams will be required to submit a notification of launch attempt that will include a great deal of information, including an early notional mobility plan. However, accommodations will be made to adjust this plan after landing to reflect information about the landing site and nearby points of interest.
Though the decisions about waypoints will ultimately be made on a case-by-case basis, the Judging Panel will be looking for mobility that both shows an interesting path and shows the ability to move a distance of 500m across the lunar surface in a deliberate manner about its environment. Notionally, a craft that moves back and forth over a 1 meter track 500 times would not be accepted (fails to be an interesting path), nor would something that simply slides down a slope for 500 meters (fails to demonstrate the ability to purposefully move 500m), but something that follows the perimeter of a semicircle for 500m to observe a nearby point of interest from multiple angles, resulting in a endpoint less than 500m away from the starting point, probably would be accepted. Date: December 14, 2007


Q21) If a team does bring multiple mobile vehicles (e.g. the CRAFT, a secondary vehicle, et cetera), do all of them have to move 500 meters? Or can they move a cumulative 500 meters?

A21) The intent of the 500 meter requirement is to ensure that a vehicle like the prize entrant could be used for future missions. In order to conduct useful science, exploration, or commercial activity, the ability to roam about the lunar surface is helpful. Therefore, the intent of the 500 meter rule was that a single craft show an ability to move at least 500 meters away from the landing site. Date: December 14, 2007


Q22) Section 2.3.1 (“Mooncast Minimum Size”) states that the "Mooncast requirements are designed around the expectation of successful delivery of at least 500 Megabytes (MB) of useful data per Mooncast." Is this "useful data" compressed, or may it be compressed to a smaller size, transmitted, and uncompressed on earth?

A22) As noted, this is just designed around an expectation. Generally speaking, if you add up the amount of photography, video, and other data described in the Mooncast content list, you are talking about roughly 500 MB of data using industry standard compression. However, Teams are certainly welcome to develop new compression algorithms that allow the same content to be transmitted in fewer megabytes, provided that it meets the quality and content standards and that X PRIZE Foundation is provided the data in widely viewable standards for public dissemination. Additionally, the X PRIZE Foundation and the Google Lunar X PRIZE Judging Panel must be given any tools and training necessary to convert the raw data into usable formats directly. Date: December 14, 2007


Q23) Do the video, email, and text messages described in Section 2.3.5.1 have to be in a specific format?

A23) The video can be in any format provided that it meets the quality and content standards and that the X PRIZE Foundation is provided the data in widely viewable standards for public dissemination. Additionally, the X PRIZE Foundation and the Google Lunar X PRIZE Judging Panel must be given any tools and training necessary to convert the raw data into usable formats directly.
Email, text messages, et cetera will be provided to Teams by XPF in the exact format in which they should be transmitted from the Moon back to Earth. Date: December 14, 2007


Q24) If a Team uses both a Landing Craft and a Secondary Vehicle, is there a requirement as to which one must record the first Departure Video, as described in Section 2.3.3.1? Can the Landing Craft record the Secondary Vehicle departing, or must the Secondary Vehicle record itself departing?

A24) The Departure Video can be recorded from either craft/vehicle. Multiple views will be gladly accepted. Date: December 14, 2007


Q25) The “Looking Back Detail Image” described in Section 2.3.3.3 must “clearly show tracks”. If there is no secondary vehicle, and the primary vehicle does not roam, but instead "flies" above the surface or otherwise does not leave tracks, there are no "tracks" other than that of the original landing site impact. What are the requirements of tracks to be shown in this instance?

A25) If any Team expects to move in a way that will not leave visible tracks, accommodations to this requirement will be made based on the specifics of that vehicle. If no equivalent shot can be identified, a replacement shot may be included to keep the Mooncast total data volume and content approximately equivalent. Date: December 14, 2007


Q26) The "Looking Back Detail Image” described in Section 2.3.3.3 must contain at least 40% of the CRAFT's surface area." Does “surface area” include all external surfaces of the craft—including top and bottom?

A26) Yes, “surface area” includes all external surfaces of the craft. The 40% requirement takes into account likely vehicle geometries and orientation. It is assumed that most teams will not image the underside of the vehicle.
Teams may need to mosaic multiple pictures, take pictures from a fish eye lens, or utilize other creative means to achieve this picture. For reference, this requirement has been met and exceeded on rovers such as NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers. Date: December 14, 2007


Q27) In Sections 2.4.3.5 through 2.4.3.11, could a mobile secondary vehicle image a stationary Landing Craft?

A27) This is spelled out in the individual requirements. For example, the description of the Mid-Journey Self Portrait (Section 2.3.3.5) reads “CRAFT or secondary vehicle … after it has roamed approximately 250 meters,” indicating that the imaged object must be the object that has moved. Later subsections have similar wording. Date: December 14, 2007


Q28) The definition of “Near Real Time Video” requirements (Section 2.3.4.3) refer to a “frame rate appropriate to the action in the frame, with a maximum requirement of 15 frames per second?” Why is there a maximum frames per second measurement, rather than a minimum. Is that a typo?

A28) The intent of this Section of the Guidelines is to ensure that videos delivered to the Earth convey motion when viewed. If the CRAFT or secondary vehicle is moving very slowly, the video may be required to capture much fewer than fifteen frames per second, so that the final video display would convey significant motion. Date: December 14, 2007


Q29) The definition of “Near Real Time Video” (Section 2.3.4.3) also refers to a bitrate requirement of 256kbps. Can teams exceed this?

A29) Yes. Date: December 14, 2007


Q30) Section 2.3 states "The CRAFT or secondary vehicle video camera system shall have pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities..." Are the capabilities themselves important, or simply the kind of images or movies that could be taken with these types of systems?

A30) If a Team can show alternate means of compliance with all Mooncast requirements without displaying one of those capabilities, this should be presented well in advance of the mission to assure competition requirements will be met. Date: December 14, 2007


Q31) In the Mooncast Content section (Sections 2.3.2 and 2.3.3), the format shows that things like the Departure Video are to be sent twice: once in low resolution and the same video again in HD. The two transmissions are shown in sub-bullets a) and b) below the sections. However, the parts of the both Mooncast Content sections that deal with additional video (Sections 2.3.2.7, 2.3.2.8, 2.3.3.10, and 2.3.3.11) don't follow this format. Are these intended to be duplicate transmissions as required in other sections, or distinct videos?

A31) These videos may be duplicate transmissions. Future versions of the Guidelines will emulate the format used for other Mooncast Content sections. Date: December 14, 2007


Q32) How soon after an event does “Near Real Time Video” have to be transmitted in order to be accepted?

A32) As the name “Near Real Time Video” implies, the intent of this video is to provide something close to a “live” viewing experience for audiences around the world. No specific requirement will be levied on all teams, but each team will be expected to find a way to deliver data down relatively quickly. Each Team will work with XPF to create a plan for returning these videos. Date: December 14, 2007


Q33) Must any videos (Near Real Time Video or High Definition) be transmitted while the rover is moving?

A34) Some of the videos may need to be recorded while the rover is moving, but the Guidelines do not require transmission while the craft is moving. Date: December 14, 2007


Q34) Are there any Guidelines for compression of the Mooncasts?

A34) No, apart from the requirement that the X PRIZE Foundation is provided the data in useful standards for review and/or for public dissemination. Additionally, the X PRIZE Foundation and the Google Lunar X PRIZE Judging Panel must be given any tools and training necessary to convert the raw data into usable formats directly. Date: December 14, 2007


Q35) Will teams attempting an airbag-assisted landing still be required to deliver a Descent Video, as described in Section 2.3.2.1?

A35)If a similar video, as determined by XPF, cannot be taken, the team must work with XPF prior to launch of the spacecraft to come up with an alternative means of compliance. This may involve augmentation of other sections of the Mooncast requirements in order to preserve an equivalent data volume. Date: December 14, 2007


Q36) Section 1.3 states that "this document, as revised, will become the Official Rules of the Google Lunar X PRIZE no later than January 1, 2009." This seems to be a little late to set down the official rules. Similarly, the Guidelines list several places where information will be provided to teams “no later than July 20, 2009” (for example, Section 2.5, 3.3, 6.2, 6.3, et cetera). What if Teams are ready to launch before then? Can this deadline be moved forward?

A36) Having an adequate review period is important to allow us to design the absolute best rule set possible. While we do not expect the guidelines to change drastically as we finalize them into rules, we do expect to identify and improve gray areas that need clarification, loopholes that need closing, and inadvertently burdensome requirements that can be removed without detracting from the competition. Keeping the rules flexible is therefore of very real benefit to the teams.
The Guidelines note these changes will be made “no later than” 2009. If any team were to be ready to attempt a launch prior to that time, we would react accordingly; however, given the difficulty of getting on to a launch manifest (much less fundraising, building a lander, and planning a mission), there seems to be a low probability of launch before January of 2009. Date: December 14, 2007


Q37) Regarding Section 8.4 (“Waiver of Requirements”): How will this be apply if a Team has already won the Grand Prize by completing the full prize requirements?

A37) This ability to waive requirements will be used to award prizes when the intent of the prize rules have been met but a technical requirement has not. It is not likely that a different standard would be applied for the Grand Prize versus the Second Place prize. Date: December 14, 2007


Q38) Can you provide more information about the Bonus Prizes?

A38) Full detail on the Bonus requirements, including related Mooncast requirements, will be revealed at a later date. Date: December 14, 2007

http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/forum-glxp/templates/subSilver/images/logo_phpBB.gif (http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/forum-glxp/)

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Building on ultraviolet LED technology

We recently reported on NTT Basic Research Laboratories' announcement of the world's first ultraviolet light emitting diode with the ability to emit a 210nm wavelength beam of light. Some of the uses for this diode stated were for environmentally positive applications but they have also brought on the idea of using it in optical storage applications to reach higher densities.
Compared to traditional DVD players/recorders which use lasers, LED beams do not use harmful gases or require as much energy. Another advantage is that the Japanese scientists have gotten the wavelength of the LED beam down to 210nm which is roughly 1/3 the wavelength of lasers used in DVD applications and almost 1/4 the wavelength of lasers used for Compact Discs.
The narrow wavelength will allow the beam to read/write to pits packed much closer to each other compared to the older optical storage mediums. This could also lead to higher density media than the current next-generation optical media, Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
There are many benefits of LEDs over lasers including lower energy consumption, tighter wavelength, and even quicker response times between on/off states. The popularity of LEDs is growing as they are used in applications from DLP TVs to automobile lighting systems and optical storage seems like the right path to take.

Article:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2410

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We've seen transparent OLEDs before, but researchers at the University of Southern California and Princeton University have taken things one step further, developing white-light organic light emitting diodes that can cover just about any surface and act as a light source. The new OLEDs are the result of 13 years of research by Mark Thompson of USC and Stephen Forrest of Princeton, who previously invented single-color OLEDs but, until now, have been unable to overcome the fast burnout time of the white-light types.
http://smarteconomy.typepad.com/./photos/uncategorized/flexible_oled.jpg
The trick, as it turned out, was to use a fluorescent dye for the blue component of the OLED instead of a phosphorescence one, which consumed too much energy. Don't start redesigning your place to accomodate glowing surfaces just yet though, they still need to come up with a way of making a plastic backing that'll cover a large area and not allow any humidity to pass through, which degrades the OLED.

Related Article:http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/01/german-researchers-develop-another-transparent-oled-technique/


Source Article:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/28/researchers-develop-oled-illuminated-surfaces/

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http://www.i4u.com/images/2006/mvix-wireless-hdd-av-media-enclosure.jpg

http://www.i4u.com/images/2006/mvix-wireless-hdd-media.jpg

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LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd (LG Malaysia) is confident of doubling sales from its mobile phone business this year.
The company sold 70,000 units of mobile phones in the country last year.
According to LG Malaysia, a strong contributor to this year’s sales will be its newly launched LG Chocolate Phone.
The company has targeted 5,000 units per month for the new phone, said managing director and chief executive officer I.G. Kim at a press conference following the product launch in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He said the stylish mobile phone, the latest from South Korea-based LG Electronics, is much more than a fashion phone.
“Modern buying trends are governed as much by emotion as by product specifications and the LG Chocolate Phone connects on both levels. It is totally unique and desirable but yet affordable,” he added.
The phone, according to Kim, has already proven to be popular with rising sales in South Korea and the United Kingdom, and over 400,000 units had been sold since it was launched last November.
The new phone will retail for RM1,499 and is available from dealers of LG Malaysia’s distributor Zitron. — Bernama

Source Article: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Tuesday/Nation/20060529212241/Article/

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NVIDIA's most recent MCP roadmap revealed more details about MCP61 and also added a new graphics core to its desktop lineup: the GeForce 6150LE. GeForce 6150LE (C51PVG) falls between the GeForce 6100 and GeForce 6150 series IGP chipsets. The specifications of 6150LE are actually identical to 6150, but the core GPU clock has been reduced from 475MHz to 425MHz. All versions of GeForce 6150 and 6100 are Vista Premium certified.

GeForce 6150 and GeForce 6100 are unified memory architectures, meaning the GPU uses system memory as its graphics memory. 6150LE will be an AM2-only product, which means it will be able to take advantage of the greater headroom of DDR2. Performance of these UMA chipsets is usually fairly weak compared to other desktop components, but NVIDIA's current series is much more powerful than Intel's best-of-breed GMA950 solutions. Intel is expected to announce a new integrated graphics chipset next month at Computex Taiwan.
MCP61S is a single-core IGP chipset. NVIDIA's most recent roadmap has this chip ready to ship in "August/September" of this year. MCP61P, the mainstream single-core core logic, has been slated for Q1'07. The chip supports x8 PCIe graphics, dual x1 PCIe expansion and analog output. Although this is a newer core logic, it is scheduled to be the absolute bottom tier as far as pricing and features. Previous roadmaps have indicated this is a 90nm component.

Source Article: http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=2555

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The Buzz: So your digital camera didn't come with built-in Wi-Fi? That's probably a good thing, since the Wi-Fi cameras we've tested haven't impressed. Plus, soon you'll be able to easily add Wi-Fi to any camera that uses SD Cards. A start-up called Eye-Fi is behind the technology, which packs a Wi-Fi adapter into a standard-size SD Card along with 1GB of storage. Eye-Fi's $100 Eye-Film card can even automatically upload images to your computer or an online photo sharing service.

PCWORLD.COM

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Amulaire Thermal Technology Introduces Liquid-Cooled Cold Plates for Desktop PC and IGBT Markets

Unique Metal Injection Molding Manufacturing Capabilities Enable Unprecedented Design Flexibility, for Size, Weight, Thermal Performance and Cost Advantages

Amulaire Thermal Technology, a thermal management company, has announced liquid-cooled cold plate products for two major markets: desktop PCs and power semiconductors such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), devices that switch power in power supplies and motor control applications. Taking advantage of Amulaire's proprietary metal injection molding manufacturing technologies, the company can mold cold plates out of copper in essentially any shape conceivable, without machining, and produce them in high volume.
As a result, Amulaire's cold plates offer significant advantages for the two markets:
-- For desktop PCs: Amulaire enables copper cold plates with complex shapes and fin designs, with no penalty for the designer, that deliver increased thermal performance while helping to reduce the overall cost of the liquid cooling system.
-- For IGBTs and other power semiconductors: Amulaire enables cold plates of optimal design shape and size, in copper, that can be manufactured quickly and cost-effectively for greater efficiency, better thermal performance and high reliability.
Thermal Issues & Liquid Cooling Gaining Importance
As high-performance semiconductors generate more heat, and as shrinking circuit sizes accelerate an increase in power density, designers are challenged to develop heat dissipation solutions that are effective, practical and affordable. For some applications -- e.g., desktop PCs pushed to run even faster than their designs allow, or systems that need to be cooled quietly for use in living or family rooms, or high-power IGBT modules that might produce 3000W each or more -- liquid cooling becomes the heat dissipation method of choice, for its high thermal performance and low noise.
Cold plates are a crucial part of liquid cooling systems, transferring heat from the heat source (CPU or IGBT, for example) into liquid circulating in tubes to a heat exchanger, where a small attached fan blows excess heat outside the system. Current cold plates are designed to be machined and are therefore restricted to very simple fin or channel patterns while also suffering the high costs of machining. In addition, cost pressures sometimes dictate machining cold plates out of aluminum, which is less expensive than copper but is a much worse conductor of heat.
"Amulaire is taking liquid-cooled cold plates to a new generation because we can injection mold in copper, in high volume, essentially any shape or design that can be created in plastic -- without machining or soldering," said Paul Hoffman, Amulaire's CEO. "By increasing both the fin density and the complexity of the cold plate design, Amulaire enables even higher thermal performance from liquid cooling systems. Designers can now choose cold plates with the optimal shapes, pin and fin configurations, materials and thermal performance to achieve their specific design goals."
Amulaire's highly flexible metal injection molding processes enable the company to make cold plates with features such as the following:

-- Fins that go in multiple directions on a single cold plate

-- Fins at any angle, curved or in any pattern required

-- More pin fins (to increase the surface area of the cold plate and enhance thermal performance)

-- Microchannels -- with fins as small as 0.15mm wide and 0.7mm high, with 0.15mm spacing -- for very precise liquid cooling solutions

Pricing

With Amulaire's customized products, prices vary widely. As an example, Amulaire's cold plates for high-power IGBTs start at $30 per part for volumes of 5,000. In the PC market, Amulaire will enable the highest-performing cold plate solutions for liquid cooling at retail price points of approximately $50, which is about half the price of comparable solutions available today.

Source Article: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/05/31/1665024.htm

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Data Transfer Rate between the Cores in Dual-Core Processors

The year 2005 marked the beginning of use of dual-core processors in desktop computers. On the single silicon wafer of such a processor two normal processor cores are located with all their resources, including L1 cache. L2 cache memory may be independent for each core or shared between them. A memory bus controller, inter-core communication controller, crossbar switch, etc. can also be located on the same wafer. Numerous tests prove the advantages of dual-core processors over single-core ones in a number of applications that support multi-threading. But there seem to have been no tests to show at what speed the cores can exchange data.

How Processors Communicate in Multiprocessor Systems

To better understand what this review is all about, you should be aware of the problems arising in communication between processors of a multiprocessor system.
The processors are working with data that are read from system memory to be modified and then written back. Data are cached in the CPU for faster processing, but more than one processor may request the same data in a multiprocessor system. This is not a problem if both the processors are just reading data, because they are both provided the most recent valid copy from system RAM. But if one of the processors modifies the data, the data are first changed in the cache memory and it is only after a while that they are written into system RAM. So, there is a potential conflict when one processor is trying to read data that have been modified and are currently stored in another processor’s cache.
Methods to solve conflicts of this kind are referred to as protocols of cache coherency maintenance. There exist multiple varieties of such protocols, but describing them is beyond the reach of this review (you can refer to documentation available on the CPU manufacturers’ web