Free Republic

Delcy Rodriguez told lawmakers that Caracas seeks commercially grounded oil and gas ties as Washington asserts oversight and U.S. firms eye investment.Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, said on Jan. 7 that the South American nation is open to establishing new energy relationships based on commercial agreements and mutual benefit, marking a potential shift in policy following the removal of former leader Nicolás Maduro. Rodriguez made the remarks during a meeting with members of Venezuela’s National Assembly of Venezuela in Caracas. “Venezuela is open to energy relations where all parties benefit, where economic cooperation is very clearly defined in commercial contracts....

A few years from now, bird-watchers may be in for a double take: that flapping creature in the distance? Nope, not a bird. Mutant dragon fly? Nope--it's Darpa's latest unmanned aerial robo-sentinel, inspired by the flight mechanics of birds. The tech company Aerovironment recently won a $2.1 million contract to further their work on the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV). One of many progressive projects from Darpa (the Pentagon's advanced-research unit), the NAV is the first-ever "controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle system with two flapping wings that carries its own energy source and uses only the flapping wings for...

A Fatal Blow to Shrinkwrap Licensing? By Ed Foster, Section Columns Posted on Mon Dec 20th, 2004 at 08:02:57 AM PDT In January 2003, California resident Cathy Baker walked into her local CompUSA store to return copies of Windows XP and Norton AntiVirus she'd purchased there. When trying to install the programs, she had of course been confronted by all the obnoxious terms in the Windows and NAV End User License Agreements. Instead of clicking OK, she took them back to the store for a refund, as the EULAs said she was supposed to do if she refused to...