Unveiled today at a theatrical product demo in Manhattan: the Bose SoundDock 10, a XXL version of its (apparently popular) SoundDock iPod speaker. The SoundDock 10 bumps up the size and power (and price) of the SoundDock while still keeping the footprint small. How much power? Bose is notorious for not releasing specs, but the demo was convincing: The SD10 managed to blast clear and room-filling sound into a sizable meeting space.

Worried all that sound might shake up your iPod Classic’s hard disk? Fear not — the base has a suspension system that keeps your iPod steady even when the speaker is at full boom. There’s an aux input for hooking up your Zune HD as well as a composite-video output for watching iPod video on a TV. Don’t get too excited about the USB port — it’s only for software upgrades (no syncing)… which the initial units might need since it’s not compatible with iPhone 3.1 yet (I checked), even though it’s said to be iPhone compatible. Its best trick, though, is the optional Bluetooth streamer, which you snap into the dock when you want to carry your iPhone but still stream music to the dock.

The SoundDock 10 is intended to stand in as your main sound system, and it’s priced to do just that: $599. The Bluetooth module sells for $149. This should suit you fine if you want something big-sounding and super-simple, and your musical life revolves around your iPod. I think I just described most music listeners in America. Too bad not many of them can probably afford this these days.

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New Guide to Cell Phone Radiation

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Air quality back to normal in L.A. Basin

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Don’t get me wrong: I’m into Volkswagen’s E-Up! concept car, which the company plans to turn into a reality in some shape or form by 2013. I just don’t know if it captures the spirit of the original Bug, aesthetically.

The vehicle itself is billed as a zero-emissions-mobile for four, with quick-charging batteries that can pump the vehicle up to 80% of its capacity after only an hour of being plugged in. A full charge would take five hours.

Still, you say “VW Bug” and one can’t help but compare it to that venerable car, which offered an affordable, rugged vehicle for families — if a little cramped — that was also undeniably charming. So, the question is: Is Volkswagen missing the mark trying to cash in on that legacy with the E-Up?

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Sweet Sumi is a cute 9 year old Westie who loves having a cuddle on the sofa or a stroll in the garden. He’s happy being around other dogs, provided they aren’t too bouncy with him, but he can’t live with cats. He’s a lovely, laid-back little fellow who will make someone very happy indeed.

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Ford to Convert Auto Plant to Clean Tech Manufacturing

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You might wonder why Iraq, one of the most oil-rich countries in the world, would want to invest in building up its biofuels sector. At first blush it seems like a stretch of resources for a country trying to recover after years of war.

However, In Iraq the agricultural sector has long been the dominant source of jobs. In fact, much of modern agriculture was developed in the Iraqi area over 7,000 years ago. With the recent devastation caused by the instability of war coupled with an extended drought, those jobs have disappeared. So, although Iraq does have the third largest oil reserves in the world, its agricultural sector is in many ways more important to its economic recovery.

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New Carbon Dioxide Data Helps Unlock The Secrets Of Antarctic Formation

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Study Finds Family Planning Cheapest Way to Prevent Climate Change

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California lawmakers pass tougher clean energy goals

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18/9/2009 Betty has been spotted on the Oldies and is going to a lovely foster home tomorrow. She is still looking for a permanent home, so please read her story – we hope to have more photos when she feels like facing the camera.

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Summer Temperatures Lower Than Normal Over Most of US

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Another Factor that Impacts our Climate

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Alfred is a very elderly little man who urgently needs some comfort and tlc in his old age. He is very stressed and bewildered in kennels and would be thankful to find a foster home or permanent home asap. If you can make this little chap’s life more bearable then please come forward and help him..

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If you hate needles when you need to have blood drawn by a doctor, something tells me that having a robot man the needle instead isn’t going to rid you of your phobia. Instead, it might just add a fear of robots on top of it.

But that’s just what might happens, thanks to the creation of the Bloodbot. It uses a needle and a probe to find a vein, although its accuracy rate is a mere 78%. And who knows what it does when it’s inaccurate. Does it miss by a millimeter, or does it tear your forearm off? For our sakes, I hope it’s the former.

Bloodbot via BotJunkie

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How often do you change lightbulbs? Every few months, maybe? Well, when Panasonic’s new LED bulbs hit shelves, change that time frame from months to decades.

Yes, these insanely efficient bulbs keep shining and shining, providing the brightness of a traditional 60-watt bulb. Of course, they won’t be cheap, with pricing set at about $40 a bulb in Japan when they hit stores in October. But seeing as they cost a mere $2 to run per year in energy costs and last 19 years, that seems like a good deal in the long run.

CNET via Inhabitat

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Poor Adolph. Didn’t get what he wanted at the big Apple to-do last week. He has a point: Why didn’t the iPod Touch get a camera? There’s a space for one in there. Hang on Hitler! Zee Touch mit camera might be on the way!

Maybe he’s right, might as well order a Zune HD. It doesn’t have a camera, either. Warning: For those of you who work in a church, there’s a bit of saucy language in the subtitles.

Via YouTube

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Bugatti’s latest concept car points the way forward for the brand most associated with excess: excessive wealth, excessive power, excessive luxury, and excessive performance… but the new Galibier signifies something more, as well, and it is nothing less than a turning of the tide in the way the world’s automakers see their flagship luxury cars.

More on Bugatti’s million-dollar flex-fuel Galibier — including video! — after the jump.

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Still reeling from the astonishing 1080p video playback of the NVIDIA Ion platform we tested inside that Echo 1 home theater PC, we snapped to attention when we saw the HP Mini 311. It’s also packing Ion inside, and our friend Matt Buchanan at Gizmodo says the 3.22-pound netbook “plays back 1080p awesomely.”

Even though it’s running a measly Atom N270 processor with a mere 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk, you could hook this baby up in your home theater and play back some crispy HD movies in between your road-warrior jaunts.

Oh yeah, it looks perfectly adequate for web browsing, document creating and other tasks you might do on the go, too. We’re especially impressed with its 11.6-inch 1366×768 display, bigger and higher-rez than most of its netbookish competitors.

Best of all, it’s available September 23 for a dirt-cheap $400, or if you can wait until October, it’ll be $475 with Windows 7 on board. This could be the zippy Ionesque netbook we’ve been waiting for. Continue reading for the tech specs.

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Yesterday we brought you news of the impending debut of Audi’s e-tron concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Today Audi released more details on the the eco-luxe electric car, and it’s a monster. The car has four electric motors which, together, produce an impressive 313 HP coupled with a jaw-dropping 3,319.03 lb-ft of torque (!!).

To give you an idea of how much torque that is: the not-yet-released, 6.7-liter, turbocharged, 400 HP, Ford Power Stroke Diesel truck engine only produces a wimpy (by comparison) 725 lb-ft. And the “world’s strongest truck” (according to Volvo) — the 700 HP Volvo FH16 semi — produces merely 2,323 lb-ft of torque. The Audi e-tron produces a full thousand more lb-ft of torque than the “world’s strongest” semi truck.

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This is curious: it’s a toilet paper roll holder that plays the sounds of the undead when you pull at the TP. OK! Not that I doubt the power of zombie moaning to help with any trouble making dookie, but is this a reference to anything in particular or just sheer randomness in action? Why zombie sounds, then? Why not, say, showtunes? Or the sound of airplanes taking off? Maybe those are being held for next year’s model.

Grim Reapers via NerdApproved

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