TranslateIt! is a multilingual dictionary for Mac OS X which translates words on the fly by merely hovering with the cursor over them. The translation appears in a pop-up window, and draws from "most widely known online dictionary/translation services". It offers other methods, too: translation from clipboard, drag-and-drop translation, manual input of queries in the main window, double-click translation of words in dictionary entries displayed in the main window. It also offers a built-in utility for easy creation of custom dictionaries; a Words Quiz (a game for easy learning of new words); and a multilingual user interface (Russian, English, French, German). A companiion iPhone/iPod Touch version is also available. Pricing is licence-based, from $25 for one year through $100 for a lifetime licence.
(MacMegaSite) | Cost: 1 year ($25), 2 years ($35), 5 years ($50) and lifetime license ($100) | For further info...

SlideShare allows you to share a Powerpoint presentation with someone who doesn't have the program, or who would rather not have such a large file emailed to them. Once uploaded (which doesn't require opening an account), you send your recipients a web address, where visitors can flip through the slides in a scaled-down view, or in full screen mode as they would in PowerPoint. Alternatively, you can embed the presentation within your own website.
For new presentations, or the ability to edit online, consider Google Docs Presentation module.
(Macworld) | Cost: | Requires: Powerpoint or compatible software | For further info...

Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, near Seattle, offers books while you wait, using a new Espresso Book Machine and one of the million titles available through Google Books, Project Gutenberg, and other online storehouses of out-of-print books. Total time, from inception to completion: 15 minutes. Like all the other public-domain Google Books, the cover price is $8. The store is working on creating a widget for its website in the next few weeks that will enable customers to browse and order books. Authors who want to self-publish can also approach Third Place Books with digital copies of their books and basically treat the bookstore as a publisher.
(the Stranger) | Cost: $8.00 | For further info... and here

Hailed by its inventor, Ray Kurzweil, as the future of e-publishing, Blio is a new software platform specifically for e-books designed to run on any computing device, which unlike current e-book readers, replicates the appearance of the pages of original printed book as is, including colour and typography (unlike the E-Ink technology behind most ebook readers, which is black-and-white), while preserving the information as searchable text. In addition, it offers text-to-speech, ability to synchronize bookmarks, highlights, last page read) across different devices.
(Wired) | Cost: Free | Requires: Windows, iPhone or iPod Touch | For further info...

Battery University provides a wealth of information about batteries of all types, in English and in German. Sponsored by Cadex Electronics, the material is based on the book Batteries in a portable World - A handbook by Isidor Buchmann on rechargeable batteries for non-engineers. The site is divided into three parts, on the make-up, charging and storing of batteries; explanations on the different types of batteries; and the people behind Battery University, respectively.
(David Alison's Blog. Photo: Wikipedia) | Cost: Free | For further info...

Speaking of batteries, coconutBattery is a donationware utility that shows Mac laptop users the current charge of their battery – and its current maximum capacity of it in relation to its original capacity. In addition, it reports on the battery-loadcycles (how often did you fully load your battery), on the current charger (it will warn you if the wrong type of charger is being used) and last but not least information about the age of your Mac. coconutBattery is Universal Binary, so will run on PPC and Intel Macs.
(David Alison's Blog) | Cost: Free (donations welcome) | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

Wired's quick guide helps you select the perfect flat-panel for your room and personal preference, while Macworld has comprehensive buying advice to learn what features to consider, shopping tips to keep in mind when you're browsing the store aisles. Both give recommendations on the best ones to buy for each situation.
Finally, check out Green Irene’s tips to cut your HDTV’s energy use.
(Macworld, Wired, Green Irene)

Much of the objection to the use of wind and solar power generation is that it is erratic in its supply, rising and falling according to the available wind or sun. Batteries are one method of storage, but are expensive and impractical at large scales. Storing the energy in hydrogen is another option, but up to now usually required the use of platinum, which is also too expensive for large-scale application. However, a new, cheap method for making hydrogen and releasing energy from it has been developed at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, which doesn't require the use of platinum, potentially offering a single device both for converting energy into hydrogen and for converting that into electricity when needed. The next step is to optimise the process, so it can compete in its efficiency with platinum-based cells.
(New Scientist) | For further info...

Nemetschek has just announced that a Snow Leopard-compatible version of Vectorworks 2009 (Service Pack 5) has now been released. Versions prior to Vectorworks 2009 are not currently planned to be updated to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v.10.6).
(Source: Nemetschek Technical Bulletin) | Cost: | Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 | For further info...