Yeah, qyn and civiliz are right, Inflight Power isn't exactly harvesting leftover energy but, rather, finding a use for energy that isn't being offered in a useful form. As qyn says, "If nothing is plugged into the headphone jack, then there is no energy delivered, thus no energy is wasted or 'leftover.'"

I should have been more explicit that the green uses concern other sorts of energy conversions, especially from vibrations. The vibrations created by your car engine truly are leftover energy (just like the heat created by your lightbulbs). Harvesting energy from these things -- using the same tech in Inflight Power -- is a novel thing.

Yup, that's the recommendation -- crank it up to max.

Re ethics of hacking: I pretty much feel how jamartinjr puts it -- you drop $600 on a computer, you should be able to do what you want with it. But ethics are not the same as contracts, and according to AT&T, using the iPhone in a non-approved manner breaks the license agreement. More on these things on the blog tonight....

Hey, I appreciate you guys not wanting to read any of it. But as you'll notice, I didn't post any of it, nor did I give away anything that happens. I didn't even link to the site where you can get it. So there is nothing to take down -- and if you don't want the book spoiled, you're in luck, because all you have to do is nothing.

If you read my piece carefully, you'll see I didn't have to use BT to get it. I got a PDF from a Web site that was linked on The Pirate Bay.

My article contains no DMCA-prohibited circumvention device.

Maybe you're reading the wrong fanfic, and consequently don't appreciate its potential? Let me direct you to a recent interview with Michael Chabon from Details:

Q: You’re very open about your influences. Some writers try to hide them. Is that something you do consciously?

A: The first thing I ever wrote -- when I worked on something for a sustained period when I was about 10 or 11 years old -- was a Sherlock Holmes story in the voice of Dr. Watson. I came to realize that everything I do is fan fiction. I think everything that we all do, all fiction, is fan fiction in that you are always inspired to write by things that you love. So much of writing for me is about finding a way to convey my own love of other writers’ work. When it comes to "The Yiddish Policemen’s Union," as soon as I allowed myself to step into the room with Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and Ross Macdonald—who I guess are my favorites in that school of writing—I was honored, thrilled to be there.

http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_5477

Your serious programmer friends knew me 10 years ago? (can you e-mail your response? farhad@salon.com)

The $4.6 billion meets Martin's reserve price for the spectrum; I should have clarified -- and will now -- that Google says it'll put in at least that amount.

What was I wrong about that you were right about that prefigured Pearl Jam censorship?

Where have I said there's "no evidence electronic voting has been any less than perfect"? On the contrary:

Voting into the Void (2002)

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/11/05/voting_machines/index.html

Hacking Democracy (2003)

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/11/05/voting_machines/index.html

Will the Election be Hacked? (2004)

http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/11/05/voting_machines/index.html

Third World Democracy (2004)

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/11/18/voting_problems/index.html

Voting Machine Showdown (On Diebold's attempts to shut down critics) (2004)

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/10/diebold_copyright/index.html

"Hacking Democracy" (2006)

http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2006/11/02/hacking/

Congress puts off fixing touch-screen voting (2007)

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/21/voting_machines/

Voting Systems in Cal fail hack test (2007)

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/07/31/voting_failure/

More voting machine problems: Florida, again (2007)

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/08/02/voting_machines_florida/index.html

I'm pretty sure you're referring to my criticism of those who argue that John Kerry actually won the 2004 race. And of course you're entitled to disagree with me on that. But -- especially in the comments thread of a piece about organizations playing fast and loose with the facts -- it'd be nice if you did so honestly.

Hey Spike,

Diebold's touch-screens weren't in wide use in Ohio in 2004, the state where I've defended Bush's win (and where activists like RFK Jr. say the theft occurred).

Moreover, as Cornell's Walter Mebane proved in his study for the DNC: "Kerry's support across precincts also increased with the support for Eric Fingerhut, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, and decreased with the support for Issue 1 (ballot initiative opposing same-sex marriage) and increased with the proportion of African American votes. Again this is the pattern that would be expected and is not consistent with claims of widespread fraud that misallocated votes from Kerry to Bush."

You're right, I should have mentioned Hotmail in there, even though its new service is still in beta. I've just updated it.