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Powertrekk powers your portable with pee (or water)

LAS VEGAS--During a demo of the PowerTrekk fuel cell smartphone recharger, the liquid reservoir sprang open, splashing me with water. No big deal. It was just water. It could have been worse.

The Powertrekk system uses sodium silicide cartridges from SiGNa Chemistry, whose execs I met with here, plus the water-based liquid of your choice (tap water, pond water, even urine) to make hydrogen, which the Powertrekk runs through a fuel cell to generate electricity. One cartridge will charge up an iPhone about one and a half times, I'm told, with charging taking an hour or so.

The system isn't for everyone. It's $200 plus about $4 a cartridge. Wisely, it will be sold at outdoor outfitters like REI. The pitch is that if you need reliable recharging for your mobile device, like a GPS receiver or radio, the Powertrekk will ultimately be less expensive and more reliable than battery-based rechargers or solar systems. … Read more

Flickr puts hold on PhotoShelter tool

Earlier today I wrote about a new tool that PhotoShelter announced to let its customers migrate images from Flickr accounts to their PhotoShelter Personal Archives. Since then, Flickr has disabled the tool. A company spokesperson for Flickr said, "Photoshelter did not follow the guidelines outlined by Flickr around API usage. We are currently working with them to correct the issue."

My contact at PhotoShelter said that the company is working on the problem and a message on the new tool's page notes that, "Flickr has temporarily disabled this feature. We are working to address it and … Read more

Google and the wrongly jailed Indian Net surfer

On August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K. was arrested in Bangalore, India, and charged with posting insulting images of a revered historical figure on the Internet. The police claimed that he had uploaded disrespectful images of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the Indian equivalent of George Washington. Free speech, it seems, does not extend to that sort of thing in India.

Normally, this wouldn't be a press-worthy story. After all, India is not the first country to take a hard line against Internet free speech. The Thai military regime blocked the entire YouTube Web site earlier this year after a single video posted … Read more