A Bit on Linux and Railways

First of all I read a magazine which was an old edition of Linux Format and found a story. Apparently Ubuntu who make a version of Linux have written an operating system for the next generation of televisions called Ubuntu One. It seems the dividing line between televisions and computers is set to become a bit hazy. Another story this time from an old edition of Stuff magazine is that there is technology to charge things without plugging them in. It seems the electro magnetic current will just travel through air. Another story is in around 2020 in either China or India they plan on building underground tunnels which will contain a vacuum and an environmentally controlled pod will travel through it at upto 4,000 mph. Eventually it will be possible to travel under the pacific from America to China in an hour. It's interesting that if you go to Dawlish in Devon in the 19th century there was a system to propel a train by creating a vacuum and as they pumped out the air the train travelled along. The pumping station is still there.
Apparently electric trains which are fed electric from underneath can't go at much more than 100 mph because when they reach the points the cable underneath hits the rails and part of it could break off. Also the rail providing the current isn't continuos so they need a second locomotive attached to the train. A single rail provides the current and the earth is via the wheels to the ground. Underground trains have a separate earth rail in addition to the strip or rail that provides the positive current. Apparently one strip is +400 v roughly and the other is approx -200 v. Finally the IRSE or Institute of Railway Signal Engineers is celebrating its centenary at the moment but with railways in China growing rapidly and there membership being worldwide they are expecting a lot more chinese members in the next few years. It could maybe have to relocate in China at some point.