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<title>Haaze.com / limmarwinon / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 07:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Human-powered helicopter gets off the ground]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=human-powered-helicopter-gets-off-the-ground</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=human-powered-helicopter-gets-off-the-ground</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 07:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>limmarwinon</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=human-powered-helicopter-gets-off-the-ground</guid>
<description><![CDATA[University of Maryland biology student Judy Wexler sits in the Gamera. It doesn&amp;39't look like a turtle.(Credit:Essential Eye Photographics, Earl Zubkoff)The history of flight is notoriously fickle. Orville Wright managed to stay aloft for just 12 seconds in his plane in 1903. Last week, Judy Wexler hovered a few inches above the ground for about 4 seconds in a human-powered helicopter, but it was enough to put a mark in the history books.The University of Maryland has played host to the creation of the Gamera helicopter, named for a giant flying turtle superhero that can give Godzilla a run for his money.Gamera is usually seen flying by spinning around rapidly like a big, scaly Frisbee. The helicopter version features four 42-foot-long rotors in an X pattern with the pilot at the center. Counting the 110-pound Wexler, a University of Maryland biology student, the whole contraption weighs in at a slim 210 pounds worth of balsa, mylar, carbon fiber, and foam. Hand and foot pedals provide the power.Gamera is chasing a lofty goal. The American Helicopter Society's Sikorsky Prize offers $250,000 for a human-powered helicopter that hovers for 60 seconds, stays within a 10-meter square space, and reaches a 3-meter altitude. That's a tall order. Just getting into the air nets the Maryland team a world record. There have been unofficial human-powered helicopter flights in the past, but Gamera is expecting to get the official record courtesy of the National Aeronautic Association.It has taken 50 students around two years to get a little hovering action going. It pays to be patient when chasing the Sikorsky Prize. It has been around since 1980 with no winners yet. At this rate, Sir Richard Branson could show up an any moment to turn human-powered helicopters into a major commercial venture. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[McDonald's hires 7,000 touch-screen cashiers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mcdonalds-hires-7000-touch-screen-cashiers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mcdonalds-hires-7000-touch-screen-cashiers</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>limmarwinon</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mcdonalds-hires-7000-touch-screen-cashiers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[McDonald&amp;39's shows off a touch-screen kiosk installed in France in 2009.(Credit:McDonald&amp;39's Europe)&quot;Welcome to McDonald's. My name is HAL 9000. May I take your order&quot;McDonalds recently went on a hiring binge in the U.S., adding 62,000 employees to its roster. The hiring picture doesn't look quite so rosy for Europe, where the fast food chain is drafting 7,000 touch-screen kiosks to handle cashiering duties. The move is designed to boost efficiency and make ordering more convenient for customers. In an interview with the Financial Times, McDonald's Europe President Steve Easterbrook notes that the new system will also open up a goldmine of data. McDonald's could potentially track every BigMac, McNugget, and large shake you order. A calorie account tally at the end of the year could be a real shocker.The touch screens will only accept debit or credit cards, adding to the slow death knell of cash and coins. This all goes along with an overall revamp of McDonald's restaurants worldwide aimed at projecting a modern image as opposed to the old-fashioned golden arches with a slightly creepy (to my taste anyway) clown guy hanging around the french fries.This puts McDonald's one step closer to opening up its first Alphaville location. At least our new computer overlords will be nice enough to serve us a Filet-o-Fish. Maybe they'll even throw in an iPad with the Happy Meal one of these days.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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