Author: Serkadis

Swapping turtleneck for tuxedo, Steve Jobs made a rare public appearance when he took to the red carpet at the Academy Awards last night, spotted first by eagle-eyed social media maven Wayne Sutton who posted to his blog; OMG it’s Steve Jobs! I’m the only one yelling at him! #oscars #kodakredcarpet

Sutton doesn’t mention whether his yells went unnoticed by His Steveness, but he posted a fantastic snapshot of the event to his blog — take a look and see if you can spot El Jobso for yourself (it’s not immediately easy to find him in the crowd, but once you see him, he’s hard to miss!)

Image courtesy of Wayne Sutton

The Theme Begins (Prequel to The Oscar Theme)

Now why would the normally shy and retiring Steve Jobs be at the Academy Awards Oscar ceremony? Well, he is the largest individual shareholder in the Walt Disney Company, to whom he sold Pixar Animation Studios in 2006. Pixar is the legendary computer animation studio responsible for the box office hits Toy Story and Finding Nemo (to name only two of many others) and its latest CG offering, Up, was nominated for an impressive five Academy Awards (and was the first Pixar film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture).

On the night, Up received two of those Oscars; Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Steve didn’t take to the stage to receive the awards, but I’m sure he was grinning from ear to ear like a proud father at his child’s first music recital.

The Oscar Theme

If you’re interested in the mechanics of modern movie making, you’ll find this fascinating; Macworld UK reports that a staggering nine out of ten of the Oscar-nominated Documentaries (across both the Short and Feature Documentary categories) were edited on Macs using Final Cut Pro.

If you’re not a movie maker, you might not know that Final Cut Pro is Apple’s pro-level film editing software. Speaking from personal experience of many hours spent in many darkened editing suites all around the world, there are (broadly speaking) three dominant software editing tools; Avid, Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro. (There are others, of course, but they’re far less commonly used in the film and TV industry.)

Avid has traditionally been the editing platform of choice and still reigns supreme, though mostly because it has been around since the Stone Age and many long-established editing facilities using Avid suites have long-term service contracts tying them to that platform. But Final Cut Pro (and the Final Cut Studio suite of film making tools) has been gaining ground in recent years, due in part to its relative affordability and Apple’s amazingly progressive efforts to develop and promote new HD codecs and standards, such as the ProRes family. (For more on this, you can watch a video on Apple’s Final Cut product pages.)

That almost all the Award-nominated Short and Feature Documentaries were edited using Final Cut (and, therefore, made on Macs) speaks volumes about filmmakers’ faith in, and trust for, Apple’s technologies.

The Oscar Theme Part 2: The Theme Continues

The impressive numbers continue. I almost missed this one, but last week The Awl’s Abe Sauer penned Why Apple Deserves and Oscar Too, which started with this remarkable tidbit;

In the 44 films in 2009 that topped the box office for at least one weekend, an Apple logo or device could be seen in at least 18 of them. (That’s almost 41%.) In some, Apple products even eclipsed their human scene partners. This high appearance rate does not include the heap of mass-market films from 2009 that did not own a weekend but also featured Apple product placement.

Sauer has done his homework. He goes on to list a fair number of those movies (you can read the list for yourself here) and, if you’ve got the time to spare, (7 minutes and 25 seconds, to be precise) there’s even a Ken Burns-tastic video slideshow of screenshots from movies and TV shows through the years featuring Apple products. Sauer adds;

…Brandcameo shows that Apple has appeared in 102 of the 302 weekly number one U.S. box office films from 2001 to 2009—more than 33% of them. Apple’s number is actually higher when period and fantasy/scifi films, in which Apple could not appear, are removed (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars prequels 3:10 to Yuma, etc.).

Right then, don’t let it be said that Apple’s brand managers aren’t doing good work.

The Oscar Theme Part 3: Oscar’s Revenge

During the ad break (presumably while Oscar winners were busy phoning their Moms with the good news) the first ever iPad television commercial was broadcast. The ad itself is a bit “meh,” to be honest; it didn’t light the world on fire and teach us anything we didn’t already know. But that’s OK, because what really matters, I suppose, is that a very large audience not normally exposed to tech/gadget news saw the iPad for the first time. You can watch the ad on Apple’s website here.

I’m still wondering what Apple was up to in that diner back in August last year. At this rate, I think we’ll have to wait for next year’s Oscars to find out.

Maurizio Parlato, 47 and a 20-year Ferrari veteran, was let go after seven years as head of the company’s North American operations. His new replacement Marco Mattiacci took over Jan. 1 at a time where U.S. sales were faltering with volume falling 14 percent to 1,467 in 2009. Sales were down 7 percent last year and employees were dropped by 182 to 2,835.

Dealers said that Ferrari has stopped sending new cars to dealer stocks and will only build cars for customers with signed contracts.

Mattiacci, 39, said that he has confidence in the brand’s heritage and lineup and pledges to continue the company’s marketing motto, which he defines as “exclusivity, exclusivity, exclusivity.”

He said that Ferrari of North America will get two new models. He didn’t say what the two new models will be.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

By Kristin Palitza CAPE TOWN, Mar 8 (IPS) Decreasing or levelling HIV funding will destabilise developing countries’ health systems, a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) warned. They demand that governments worldwide own up to their promise of achieving universal access to HIV treatment.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expressed alarm over dwindling commitment to fund HIV programmes in poor countries.

They expressed their concerns on the eve of a high-level meeting on Mar. 9 in the United Kingdom that could determine whether the G20 – the Group of Twenty of finance ministers and central bank governors established in 1999 to stabilise the global financial market – will uphold a 2005 commitment to bolster HIV treatment.

Five years ago, the G8, the group of the world’s eight most powerful political leaders, committed to achieving universal access by 2010, a move that was then described as a "historic opportunity". "But now, this has become a historic disappointment, because we are less than half way to achieving those goals," said ARASA advocacy coordinator Paula Akugizibwe.

"Funders appear to have thrown in the towel and begun to shift their attention elsewhere, while 10 million people still need access to treatment [worldwide]," she added. "This has let to disappointment and anxiety."

Most African countries depend on external funding to sustain their national HIV treatment programmes, but leading funders, such as the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, have not increased funding over the past few years, representatives from the three NGOs stated.

They were also concerned about shifting donor priorities that have made uncertain support for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has thus far paid for two thirds of people on HIV treatment worldwide.

"Five years ago, the G8 countries set these targets. Why do they suddenly shift their attention elsewhere?" asked Akugizibwe. "The bottom line is money. HIV treatment is expensive. That’s why governments are backtracking."

Some politicians have argued that HIV has received a disproportionate amount of money over the years compared with other diseases, while others say too much money is going towards HIV treatment and not enough towards prevention.

But AIDS activists highlight the fact that HIV cannot be separated from other health needs. "The past decade of increased HIV funding has shown that treatment works. We have seen a decline in HIV infection and a reduction in infant and overall mortality. We have reduced TB cases and improved mother and child health," said MSF Khayelitsha HIV/TB medical coordinator Gilles Van Cutsem.

He also stressed the positive impact HIV treatment had on the Millennium Development Goals. "Research has shown that a one percent decrease in HIV prevalence equals an 80 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product or eight years of economic growth," Van Cutsem explained.

Apart from this, decreased funding is likely to lead to a major health crisis. "Lack of funding will cause drug stock-outs, which will interrupt treatment and lead to increased drug resistance. This will make HIV much more difficult to treat," warned Van Cutsem. "It will also mean slower access to treatment."

The activists warned that pulling funding away from HIV treatment will ultimately destabilise health systems in developing countries. "Governments and donors must continue what they started," demanded Van Cutsem. "Anything less will lead to poor quality programmes and a waste of the initial investment. Flat or decreased funding is not good enough."

TAC HIV educator Andile Madondile further noted that a decrease in funding will have detrimental effects on the four million people currently receiving treatment. "We must not undo this progress," he said.

Madondile further explained that unavailability of treatment is likely to have a negative impact on prevention, for example the number of people accessing voluntary counselling and testing: "Seven out of ten people need treatment urgently in South Africa, but if treatment cannot be guaranteed, it is hard to motivate others to get tested."

Apart from holding the G8 accountable to its commitment to achieve universal access, the activists also noted the responsibility of African countries to fight HIV, for example by upholding the Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases, which was signed by the heads of state of the African Union in Nigeria in April 2001. As part of the declaration, heads of state pledged to allocate at least 15 percent of their annual national budgets to the health sector.

"[Out of 53 African nations], only 16 spend more than ten percent of their budgets on health as promised," complained Akugizibwe. "It’s more rhetoric than resource commitments. We need to see more accountability and efficiency in the region."

TAC Ekurhuleni district coordinator Nokhwezi Hoboyi appealed for stronger political leadership in the response to HIV: "We need higher levels of investment in health as well as more transparency. But this cannot happen without stronger leadership."

According to the Global Fund, 20 billion dollars is needed in the next three years to sustain existing HIV, TB and malaria programmes and allow for a slight scale-up of these programmes. The Fund is currently facing a budget gap of at least 4 billion dollars.

"We call for the Global Fund to be replenished. Anything else would cause a tragic regression," said Akugizibwe.

The new Toyota FT-86 Concept recently hung out with its idols during a photo shoot including the Celica, MR2, Supra and the Corolla AE86.

“In creating the FT-86 (Future Toyota-86) Sports Concept, Toyota has directly referenced the excitement and fundamental fun-to-drive quality that characterised the Corolla AE-86,” Toyota said in a statement. “In its day the AE86 became a must-have model for rallying and circuit racing, with its front-engine, rear-wheel drive powertrain, compact dimensions, light weight, impeccable balance and strong power to weight ratio. Even more than 20 years on from the end of production, it remains a popular choice with privateer rally teams.”

The Toyota FT-86 will enter production in 2012.

Click here for more news on the Toyota FT-86 Concept.

Click through to see the updated high-res image gallery.

Refresher: Inspired by the sporty 1980s Corolla AE86, the production version of the FT-86 is reported to be powered by a 200-hp 2.0L boxer Subaru engine sending power to the rear-wheels. Prices are set to start above $20,000.

Toyota FT-86 Concept:

– By: Omar Rana

By Marshall Patsanza JOHANNESBURG, Mar 8 (IPS) A world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says in addition TB transmission will be halved by 2015 and malaria will be eliminated as a public health problem by 2020 if it increases funding for its programmes.

The fund’s results report was launched in Johannesburg on Mar. 8 by Professor Michel Kazatchkine, the organisation’s executive director. "A world where no children are born with HIV is truly possible by 2015," Kazatchkine said.

Programmes supported by the Global Fund in developing countries saved at least 3,600 lives per day in 2009 and an estimated 4.9 million since its creation in 2002.

By the end of 2009 programmes financed by the fund provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 2.5 million people and 790,000 HIV-positive pregnant women were on treatment to prevent mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in developing countries.

The report said that continued and substantial increases in long-term financial commitments by donors will be essential in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

"The Global Fund is about getting results. This report clearly shows the world’s investments are making a difference," said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.

South Africa is one of the countries that have stepped up a rapid expansion of HIV prevention, care and treatment services according to the report. South Africa receives 271.3 million dollars from the fund.

According to South African Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the fund has provided treatment for 400,000 of the 920,000 people who are on ART in the country. "This funding has gone a long way in helping South Africa’s progress in achieving the MDGs on time," Motsoaledi added.

"It is our hope as the South African government that donors use this report to see the work the Global Fund is doing in developing countries in assisting in the progress of the MDGs," Motsoaledi said.

The Global Fund has invested in 41 countries and territories in east, southern, west and central Africa with a focus on where there is the greatest need.

According to the report Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia are on track to meet the targets they set for universal access to ART.

In Malawi 37,000 HIV-positive pregnant mothers had received MTCT by the end of 2009 and within eight months of ART introduction overall adult mortality declined by 10 percent.

All these are indicators of good progress, especially on the African continent, said Sidibe.

Sidebe also highlighted the importance of the fund’s replenishment. He said that "a withdrawal of funding on Global Fund–supported projects would be a universal nightmare, as it will mean removing the people who are already on HIV treatment of the medication due to lack of funding."

But in order for this progress to be continuous international donors have to play their part, explained Kazatchkine.

The fund requires 20 billion dollars over the next three years.

Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show

After years of covering the world’s auto shows at Autoblog, the Geneva Motor Show never ceases to amaze. It’s in Switzerland, so by nature, it’s neutral, and since there’s no “home team” like in Detroit, Frankfurt or Paris, every automaker comes out to play. And play they did.

While this year’s showing wasn’t nearly as impressive as the end-of-the-recession shindig we endured in Germany last September, the shear number of reveals boggles the mind and cramps the fingers. But despite six pairs of aching feet, one broken laptop, countless espresso triple-shots and braved our fair share of sharp-elbowed shooters and clueless colleges, we survived (mostly) unscathed and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time in Switzerland.

After the jump we’ve assembled our favorite debuts from the show, but rather than creating another “Best and Worse” or “Top Picks” post, we’ve singled out two vehicles: One that embodies our no-cost, no-holds-barred, fantasy ride and another production-ready example that we could conceivably drive home tomorrow given our meager (or not-so-meager) means. Check out our picks after the break and let us know what your own choices are in ‘Comments.’

Continue reading Geneva 2010: Our top Fantasy and Reality vehicles of the show

Geneva 2010: Our top Fantasy and Reality vehicles of the show originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Corsale writes in to let us know about how popular electronics e-commerce site NewEgg apparently received 300 totally fake Intel processors and at least some of them were sold. They’re not processors at all. They’re just made to look like them from the outside. NewEgg’s initial response was to claim that its supplier shipped them demo boxes by accident — but Intel is claiming that’s not true, and the boxes are not official Intel demo boxes, but counterfeit demo boxes. Then, to make the story even odder, many publications reported that NewEgg’s supplier for these fake processors was a company called D&H — and D&H’s response to all of these stories is to send out legal nastygrams to anyone reporting on the story and mentioning D&H. Perhaps it’s worth giving D&H the benefit of the doubt, but why not just come out and say “hey, it wasn’t us,” and get NewEgg to confirm or deny who provided the fake processors before sending out a legal threat?

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Daimler AG is planning on offering a compact car and a small SUV under the Mercedes-Benz badge in the United States but has not decided on the timing. According to Mercedes-Benz sales and marketing chief Joachim Schmidt, the hatchback and the SUV will be both be based on the next-generation B-Class scheduled to debut in Europe at the end of next year.

He said that ”a very stylish sedan” that will be sold in Europe as part of the new four-vehicle B-Class family also is being considered for the United States.

Schmidt says that the U.S. launch schedule of the two models has not been determined due to uncertainty of the euro-dollar exchange rate. However, Schmidt admits that the United States appears to be ready for a premium small car. He said that the key to the B-Class’ success in the North American market will be alternative powertrains such as a plug-in electric or fuel-cell.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Ubisoft has been a firm believer in DRM. When it announced a new DRM system last month, it assumed people would be happy. After a day where that new system has already lead to a spectacular failing, it has to be asked if this is what sinks DRM for good.

Ubisoft and DRM have had a ‘colourful past’. 18 months ago, one of their customer support people had to resort to sending people scene cracks, because of DRM problems. They then released one of their Prince of Persia games without it, to see if that would induce people to buy it. Last month, though, they released info on their new DRM system, which was (at least partially) cracked within a day of Silent hunter 5’s release. That new DRM (“Online Services Platform” or OSP) system has now backfired on Ubisoft, as the authentication servers, needed to play the game, have been unreachable for the majority of March 7th, and are still unreachable at the time of publication, almost 36 hours after the initial reports.

There are many things that can be said about DRM, but there are two things that are inescapable. The first is that, if everything is done perfectly, the DRM is unnoticed; but if something goes wrong with it, people are left with nothing to show for their money. The second is that while it’s meant to prevent ‘piracy’, the first thing that ‘pirates’ do, is remove or circumvent the DRM, so the only people who end up dealing with it, are the legitimate customers.

Right now, the legitimate customers of Ubisoft – specifically those who have bought Assassins Creed 2, or Silent Hunter 5 – have been experiencing the inconvenience of that new DRM system first-hand. The online servers that purchasers are required to log onto in order to play have been unreachable, preventing any game-play at all. On the Ubisoft Forums, a community manager gave a brief description, saying

Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience.

Many players are, unsurprisingly, livid, or amazed that it has taken so little time for it to happen. Both OSP-based games were released within the last week (Silent hunter on March 2nd and Assassins Creed 2 had it’s EU release March 3rd). The system overload problem should never have happened, as Ubisoft supposedly monitors capacity 24/7 and has backup systems online to deal with surges. Worse, the US release of Assassins Creed is this coming Tuesday, and that is likely to lead to another huge surge, potentially knocking the servers out of reach again.

The fallout from this, so soon after the the Playstation outage, will certainly give many a reason to shy away from further Ubisoft purchases, meaning that the DRM, rather than boosting sales through inhibiting piracy, has instead put a large torpedo into those sales, followed by dropping them from a great height.

How long it will be until Ubisoft gets the message from it’s users is unclear, but the smartest thing Ubisoft can do at this point, is disable the system and put it down to a bad idea, and hope to regain consumer confidence. Instead, it’s more likely that worse-than-expected sales will be attributed to piracy, leading to more DRM, driving away more sales, and that cycle continuing. Meanwhile, the only people playing Assassins Creed 2 or Silent Hunter 5 during all this, are the ones that didn’t buy it.

Article from: FreakBits

Acura confirmed today that the new 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon will make its debut at the 2010 New York Auto Show on March 31.

“The TSX Sport Wagon will offer a new solution to modern utility needs with its balanced and efficient performance coupled with bold styling and versatile cargo capabilities,” Honda said in a statement.

Click here to get a price quote on the 2010 Acura TSX.

The 2011 TSX Sport Wagon will go on sale later this fall and will join the TSX lineup, which already includes the 4-cylinder and V6-powered sedans.

– By: Omar Rana

Article Tags: Headline Story, Stephen Wilde

Here I sit on March 8th 2010, looking out of my window with a bright sun, frost on the grass in the shade all day, no daffodils anywhere near flowering and the snowdrops (normally flowering by late January) the only sign of recovery from a four month cessation of all biosphere activity in my garden in a relatively mild, coastal, rain shadow affected, south facing portion of the UK.

Not quite what were led to expect from all those politically motivated, wild extrapolations from the run of increasingly early springs and nice warm summers and inoffensive winters which we in the UK did undoubtedly observe from the late 1970’s to around 2000.

What happened to all that potentially catastrophic warming that was supposed to be a consequence of my (and your) energy profligacy in enjoying the ability to move around freely and quickly, heat our homes adequately in cold weather, entertain and educate ourselves with the TV, reduce death and disease worldwide to an incredible extent, gain instant access to huge reserves of information about anything and everything and communicate with each to an extent previously unheard of in history via computer and internet?

Click PDF file to download latest essay from Stephen Wilde

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File attachment: Climate Sense by Stephen Wilde.pdf
  

Press Release: Pharos Science & Applications today announced the launch of the Pharos Traveler 137 Smartphone with Cincinnati Bell Inc.  Cincinnati Bell provides integrated communications solutions–including local, long distance, data, Internet, entertainment, and wireless services in Greater Cincinnati and Dayton and is the  first carrier in North America to offer the Pharos Traveler 137.

The Traveler 137 Smartphone represents Pharos’ third generation of Windows phones. Weighing 4.9 ounces and measuring 4.6 by 2.4 inches, it includes the following key features:

– Windows Mobile 6.5 Operating System

– Award-winning Pharos Smart Navigator GPS software and server-based travel information and navigation service

– Corporate and personal e-mail connectivity

– Quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G wireless network capabilities for improved roaming experience worldwide

– 480 x 800 megapixel touchscreen display with touch-and-sweep interface

– Dual camera with 3 megapixel for picture or video and 0.3 megapixel for video conferencing

– FM radio tuner

"We are delighted that Cincinnati Bell will be offering the Pharos Traveler 137 Smartphone to their customers," said Bob Serafini, VP Enterprise Sales for Pharos. "We are certain that the Cincinnati Bell customers will find the Traveler 137 to be the most capable and elegant Smartphone available."

The Pharos Traveler 137 was featured in the best Smartphone and best Mobile CE device categories of the "Hot for the Holidays" awards program sponsored by CTIA (Cellular Telephone Industry Association). It also was awarded a 2009 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Innovation award for the Smart Navigator software.

"We are constantly striving to bring the best technology to our wireless subscribers and excited to offer a 3G Windows Mobile Smartphone as advanced as the Pharos Traveler 137," said Eric Bernard, Senior Manager Wireless Product and Supply Chain for Cincinnati Bell Wireless. "Business customers in particular will find this device appealing. It offers a full suite of Windows applications, the new look and feel of Windows Mobile 6.5, and full 3G wireless network capabilities allowing for faster data connections when using the Cincinnati Bell Wireless network."

For more information about the Pharos Traveler 137 from Cincinnati Bell, go to www.cincinnatibell.com here.

Via Marketwatch.com

The 2011 Honda CR-Z is ready to go on sale later this year, however, the sporty hybrid is a car that nearly wasn’t, according to a report by Automotive News. The two-seater hatchback was almost dropped because engineers weren’t convinced it was unique and because U.S. bosses originally didn’t want the car in their showrooms.

A man by the name of Norio Tomboe was appointed chief engineer of the project in the summer of 2004 and he says the early working models had a traditional gasoline engine.

“We had serious doubts about whether this would bring new value,” Tomobe said. “I really struggled for a new idea, and we decided to start over from scratch. The hybrid finally gave us the wow factor.”

He said that going hybrid was the only problem and admits that at least one thing he wishes the CR-Z had: “more horsepower.”

Tomobe said he would like a Type R sporty version of the CR-Z someday with a more performance-tuned power-to-weight ratio.

Refresher: The 2011 Honda CR-Z is powered by a 1.5L i-VTEC mated to Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system. It produces a total of 122-hp and a maximum torque of 128 lb-ft when mated to manual transmission (123 lb-ft for CVT models). Fuel-economy is estimated at 31/37 mpg (city/highway) for the manual model and 36/38 mpg for the CVT model. Sales begin in the second half of 2010.

2010 Detroit: 2011 Honda CR-Z:

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Filed under: Sedan, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Hyundai

A couple weeks back, Hyundai put a stop-sale on its freshly minted 2011 Sonata sedan because a front door latch could malfunction after a rather labored series of steps. The stop-sale was lifted almost immediately, though, as the Korean automaker was able to quickly ship replacement parts to U.S. dealers, at which point the vehicles in stock were repaired. At that time, though, Hyundai promised to work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to put out a recall notice for the 1,300 vehicles that had already been sold; a promise that came to fruition this morning as NHTSA put out an official bulletin.

The NHTSA recall notice claims that the front inside door lock switches can remain in the unlatched position under certain conditions, making it possible for the front driver or passenger doors to open while the vehicle is in motion. Hyundai tells us that the latch may malfunction when a front inside door lock switch is held in the locked position while the inside door handle is pulled to open the door.

Sonata owners affected by the recall can bring their vehicle to the nearest Hyundai dealer for the no-cost repairs, which should take about an hour. Hit the jump to read over the NHTSA press release.

Photos by Michael Harley / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

Continue reading 2011 Hyundai Sonata door latch recall gets official

2011 Hyundai Sonata door latch recall gets official originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For Immediate Release: Contact:
Sam Haswell, 415-371-1700 x201
Amber Taylor, 703-201-4893
March 8, 2010

Green Job Skills in Demand As Clean Energy Industries Boom

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s surging clean-energy industry thrust new green jobs into the limelight today during a ceremony to certify the state’s first graduates of the Electrical Training Institute’s Indianapolis Electrical Apprenticeship program.

In receiving their certifications, the 14 “Green Technicians” displayed an array of solar panels and a wind turbine they recently installed at the Institute, examples of how their new skill-sets will be put to work in advancing the development of a clean energy economy. Among the featured guests at the ceremony, co-sponsored by the Apollo Alliance and IBEW Local 481, were U.S. Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler.

Shuler praised joint labor-management preparation of workers for a new generation of clean energy jobs. “It’s important that American workers stay at the cutting edge of green technology so they can access the high-quality jobs that are being created in the global clean energy economy,” she said. “The race is on to build a 21^st century clean energy infrastructure, and the AFL-CIO continues to push for it to be nurtured here in the U.S. and built by American workers.”

The Indianapolis Electrical Apprenticeship program is a joint partnership between the National Electrical Contractors Association of Central Indiana, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #481. In 2009, the Electrical Institute designed a program to train workers in alternative energies such as wind and solar.

“Each graduate of the Green Technician program will be an Industry Certified Technician, ready to work on anything from windmills to retrofits of existing buildings that need to become more energy efficient. We are incredibly proud of their achievement,” said Jim Patterson, director of the Electrical Training Institute.

The training is well timed, as Indiana is poised to become a leader in the clean energy field.  Clean energy jobs in the state grew by a stunning 17.9 percent from 1998 to 2007, while overall jobs declined by 1 percent, according to a 2009 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Today, Indiana has more than 1,200 clean energy companies, which employ more than 17,000 people across the state.

Indiana’s First Green Technicians Graduate
The Apollo Alliance has worked closely with 13 unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO to develop strategies for federal investment in job growth in the clean energy economy and the manufacture of green technologies in the United States.

By a 2-1 margin (54 percent to 26 percent), Hoosiers believe that public and private investment in the manufacture of clean energy technologies can help revive the state’s economy and create jobs, according to a Research 2000 poll commissioned by the Apollo Alliance in February.

“Here in Indiana, we have a workforce that is ready to take advantage of expanding opportunities in the clean energy sector,” said Andrea Bazemore, Indiana State Coordinator for the Apollo Alliance. “The Apollo Alliance continues to call on Congress to pass a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill that boosts demand for clean energy and for the types of quality, long-term jobs we are talking about here today.”

The American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, passed by the House in June 2009, would put a cap on carbon and establish a Renewable Energy Standard that will generate unprecedented demand for the components and systems of the clean energy economy.

Rep. Carson, a supporter of ACES, said clean energy is the key to renewed prosperity. “The type of training and work being celebrated here today is exactly what we had in mind when we passed clean energy legislation in the House,” he said. “If the Senate will join that effort, we can put clean energy on the fast track and rebuild America’s middle class on a foundation of new, well-paying green jobs.”

The American Clean Energy and Security Act would provide capital for small and mid-sized manufacturers to become more energy efficient and retool to expand into the clean energy supply chain. These investments will create or retain at least 680,000 direct manufacturing jobs and nearly 2 million more jobs in related industries over the next five years.

For more on the Apollo Alliance, visit apolloalliance.org. To learn more about the Electrical Training Institute’s Electrical Apprenticeship program, visit www.iejatc.com.

###

The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of labor, business, environmental, and community leaders  working to catalyze a clean energy revolution that will put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of high-quality, green-collar jobs

Article Tags: Book, Steve Goreham

“This is a serious book that carefully examines the issues that have been used to create the current climate change/global warming crisis… I endorse Climatism! for its easy-to-read, well-illustrated presentation of complex science.”–John Coleman, Meteorologist

Is Mankind Destroying Earth’s climate?

Why have we had eight years of global cooling when all the global climate models projected eight years of warming?

If polar bears are endangered by global warming, why have bear populations more than doubled in the last 50 years?

Minimum Arctic ice in 2007 was trumpeted by the press, but why was maximum Antarctic ice in 2007 hardly mentioned?

After building more than 20,000 wind turbine towers, why have Germany and Denmark been unable to close a single coal-fired power plant?

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Archaeology Magazine (Mark Rose)

Like any scientific research, the methods, data, and conclusions presented in JAMA can now be evaluated and debated. Right now, for example, I am working on a short piece about the results to go into our May/June issue. There’s something I’m checking about one point of the DNA analysis, and I wish that more of the CT scan-bone interpretation side of the study had been presented here. The implication of malaria as a cause in Tut’s death seems speculative—he might have had it earlier and survived. In places, what’s in the JAMA paper seems to have been overplayed in the media. Tut’s widely reported “cleft palette” is actually a partially cleft palette and within the normal range of variation.

But the point is that Hawass and colleagues have done the science and put the results out there for discussion. That’s how it should work. Interestingly, a week or two back I received in the mail a copy of Khufu’s Pyramid Revealed from architect Jean-Pierre Houdin, whose investigations into the possible use of an internal spiral ramp in the construction of the Great Pyramid were featured in Bob Brier’s article “How to Build a Pyramid” (May/June 2007) and update “Return to the Great Pyramid” (July/August 2009). Though I have only known Houdin for a few years, his passion and boundless energy for this topic strike me as quite similar to Hawass’s.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Heritage Key (Owen Jarus)

An update from Hawass about current research in Egypt.

The biggest piece of discovery news is that researchers appear to have come to the end of the tunnel in the tomb of Seti I. This tomb was discovered in the 19th century, but work clearing the tunnel hasn’t taken place until recently (partly because it’s difficult to do without collapsing the entire tomb).

Dr. Hawass showed a picture of the debris filled tunnel, with a sliver of an opening. They’ve found that there is a stone staircase leading down to it. Near the opening they found a hieroglyphic inscription, it’s nothing fancy – it looks like it had been scribbled on the wall. Unfortunately I don’t have a translation.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

Talking Pyramids (Vincent Brown)

With photos and diagrams.

Following on from Thursday’s post I’d like to focus a bit more on the Pyramid Texts found in Queen Behenu’s recently discovered burial chamber.

Offering texts on the north wall of the Unas sarcophagus chamber. Photo by Helmut Satzinger.

I’ve been investigating the particular way in which the Pyramid Texts are arranged in Behenu’s pyramid. Confining the analysis to just the one section of the north wall of Behenu’s sarcophagus chamber I began translating the middle section as it is the easiest to see.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the name ‘Behenu’ is the first word that is recognised. She has the title “Osiris Behenu”. Observe that Behenu’s name is not enclosed in a cartouche. This is because Behenu is a Queen. But she still takes the title of Osiris in death as all Kings do.

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes

News from the Valley of the Kings (Kate Phizackerley)

Egyptology News Blog, Andie Byrnes