Word: silicones
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Half a world away, on the Indonesian island of Java, hundreds of rural families have mounted small, silvery panels on poles near their homes. Made of silicon semiconductor chips similar to the microprocessors found in computers, the solar cells convert the energy of sunshine into electricity. These almost magical devices make it possible for people living a day's walk from the nearest power lines to turn on light bulbs, radios and TV sets for the first time...
That prospect is stirring excitement around the globe. In Japan, housing companies have introduced a type of dwelling with silicon roof tiles that generate enough electricity to meet most of a family's needs. Spurred by government incentives, construction of some 70,000 of these houses is expected in the next several years. In Switzerland and Germany, dozens of office buildings have been built with solar cells integrated into the glass of southfacing walls, allowing the windows to produce power while transmitting filtered sunlight...
...want to live in places where the landscape is emptier, the housing costs lower, the culture more gentle--places where Martha Stewarts manque can slow down long enough to create the gilded topiaries they've dreamed about for years. In Wilmington, the emigres include a Boston doctor, a California silicon-chip engineer, a pharmaceutical-research scientist, a cop, a prosecutor, an artist looking for solitude and a carpet installer from suburban Dayton who chucked his job for one selling fertilizer in town...
Reasons to Move There: This old-time gold-mining town has drawn new prospectors: artists and craftsmen, telecommuters and Silicon Valley refugees who took pay cuts, hung out their shingles as consultants and hit the quality-of-life jackpot. Ornate homes are tucked away in the gorges, and Mayor Mark Johnson sells some mean orchids at his family's Foothill Flowers shop...
...hyped the digital revolution more unabashedly than the geeks at Wired Ventures. But even as Silicon Valley's high rollers were partying in Las Vegas, the way-new media upstart was laying off staff: 33 in all. There were also reports, denied by spokesfolks, that its cheeky Webzine Suck would be next, or that the whole company was on the block. It was, in Wired-speak, a reality check...