run

Find and Run Robot keeps your hands right where you want them, if you're a keyboard addict. This launcher seems to have been designed for people who want to keep their digits pounding the plastic, so every step of the program has been keyed for those with quick fingers.

Hit the Pause/Break key to bring up the launching window, and as you type FARR narrows down your choices. Search results are numbered and automatically sorted using built-in scoring systems unique to the program. If you want returned result number 9, for example, simply type ALT-9 and hit enter--there'… Read more

Small and swift, Find and Run Robot makes searching files and launching programs go faster than a Black Friday deal. Also known as FARR, the program is great for those who love options. If you're the indecisive type, you may want to stay clear.

Running in your system tray, FARR is innocuous and uses little RAM. Hit the Pause/Break key to bring up the launching window; as you type, FARR narrows down your choices. In that sense, FARR functions like many other launchers. Search results are numbered and automatically sorted using built-in scoring systems unique to the program. … Read more

SunRun has secured financing from U.S. Bancorp to expand its solar power purchasing program to 2,000 more homes in the next year, the San Francisco start-up said Thursday.

U.S. Bancorp, the parent of U.S. Bank, has committed $105 million in tax equity, a fund that will allow the bank and SunRun to take advantage of the federal solar subsidy, which is a tax credit.

SunRun's business model--one being pursued by a handful of new solar installers--is to provide financing to homeowners and small businesses interested in installing solar panels.

Rather than pay the up-front … Read more

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Wausau, Wis., company have come up with a 37-inch, bullet and bomb-proof Humvee tire based on a polymeric web so cool looking there's no need for hub caps.

Resilient Technologies and Wisconsin-Madison's Polymer Engineering Center are creating a "non-pneumatic tire" (no air required) that will support the weight of add-on armor, survive an IED attack, and still make a 50 mph getaway. It's basically a round honeycomb wrapped with a thick, black tread.

The military wants an alternative to the current Humvee "run flat" tires, which despite … Read more

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, a surprise choice on the eve of the National Republican Convention.

Palin, a little-known first-term governor with a reputation for being fiscally conservative, is the first woman named to the Republican presidential ticket. McCain officially introduced Palin as his vice presidential candidate during a rally Friday in Dayton, Ohio.

The selection of Palin, 44, surprised many GOP observers. Palin's name had not even been mentioned among prospective running mates. In making this choice, McCain passed over contenders with higher national profiles, including Minnesota … Read more

If you're familiar with Windows application launchers (aside from the "Run" button), you probably already know about Launchy, a simple utility that finds and runs/opens programs, file, music, Web searches, and bookmarks. Launchy has earned a big fan base because of its simplicity and efficiency. However, two new free launchers have their sights set on Launchy's user base.

Yesterday, the tech site Lifehacker featured Executor, a free release from Martin Bressman that expands upon Launchy's run functionality. Executor has a slick interface and is a no-brainer for keyboard maniacs. All of your favorite software, … Read more

Update at 10:40 a.m. with background about why Nvidia licensed Transmeta's technology

Transmeta has licensed its LongRun and low-power chip technologies to graphics chip giant Nvidia for a one-time fee of $25 million. Nvidia is hoping tackle power consumption issues that dog its high-performance chips.

Transmeta, an erstwhile chip vendor turned intellectual property supplier, said Nvidia was granted a nonexclusive license to Transmeta's Long Run and LongRun2 technologies "and other intellectual property for use in connection with Nvidia products."

The agreement grants to Nvidia a license to all of Transmeta's patents and patent … Read more

Exercise enthusiasts will love Run Keeper, an upcoming fitness tracker for the iPhone. It centers on a really simple tracker that follows your location as you run via GPS, then puts that information into a personal database.

Every time you complete a run you can see how far you went (to the best of the phone's tracking capabilities), along with the time spent and how it compares with previous runs, all on a Google Map.

Developer Jason Jacobs of FitnessKeeper tells us it's just the tip of the iceberg for planned development and that much bigger things are on the way. For people too cheap to shell out for Nike's iPod nano-centric run tracker this makes a viable alternative albeit with less integration with iTunes. Nice, however, is the option to check out your data from any computer since the maps and runs are stored in the cloud.

While Jacobs has designed the application for tracking runs, another viable use for this is tracking trips in vehicles. Businesses looking to keep an eye on their employees' short-haul trips could use such a system to make sure they're going where they said they did.

A video of the application in action is embedded after the break. No word on when this should be available in the app store.… Read more

Sportswear maker Nike looks set to steal the limelight at this year's summer Beijing Olympics with its latest innovation, the Flywire track shoes. The company will supply the U.S. track and field team with two pieces of Flywire footwear--the Zoom Victory Spikes and Zoom Matumbo.

Already creating quite a buzz in the industry with its revolutionary lightweight construction, the Flywire design is said to be inspired by the cables from a suspension bridge. It basically makes use of a strong Vectran thread arranged in a fan-shaped pattern at anchor points around the shoe. The result is a shoe … Read more