Category: News

by Jonathan Hiskes

This is bad: The oil rig
that has been burning in the Gulf of Mexico since an explosion on Tuesday has
sunk, CNN
reports.

The human cost: 17 workers injured (3 critically) and 11 missing.
The Coast Guard is searching for them.

The ecological cost: Crude oil is leaking from at a rate of about
8,000 barrels per day, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler told CNN. The
Coast Guard expects possible leaks of up to 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel “but
can do little to protect the environment until the fire is out.”

(Decommissioned oil
rigs are sometimes deliberately sunk and become fish habits, but this one
obviously wasn’t decommissioned.)

The financial cost to Transocean, the Houston company that owns the
rig, and BP, which leases it: Don’t care. The hell with them.

The political cost: This makes President Obama’s recent decision to
significantly
ramp up offshore drilling, appear, well, more stupid. The real test is
still whether
his concession wins enough Senate votes for a clean energy bill.

The timing: Happy Earth Day, Gulf of Mexico!

To repeat,
the costs of fossil fuel-related disasters need to be part of our national
energy conversation. They’re all the more reason to kick our fossil-fuel
addiction. They’re all the more reason to replace fuels that come from hell-below- ground
drilling and mining-with fuels that come from the heavens-wind and sun rays and
tides.

 

 

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brian williams alerts us to the news that the punk band The Vandals was recently sued by publishing giant Reed Elsevier because back in 2004, the band put out an album that used the font used by Hollywood trade publication Daily Variety for its own name on the album cover:

After the album was released, the band and its record label were sent a cease-and-desist over the logo. Rather than fight it (and they had a strong parody case), the band and the label complied with the C&D and stopped using the logo, replacing it with the one you see at the bottom of the image above. The Vandals seems quite confused over the nature of the lawsuit, seeing as they complied with the C&D more than five years ago:

The Daily Variety claims that our old logo for Hollywood Potato Chip, which is a parody of the Daily Variety logo commenting on the materialistic culture of Hollywood, is still on the Internet and they are suing us for this. We agreed not to use this logo anymore and we have no product for sale with this logo so their claims that we are intentionally using it and harming the Daily Variety are ludicrous.

We do not have this logo, or any other of their logos on any of our sites under our control. They are telling us that it is still on the Internet but they wont tell us where it is. Instead, they have demanded a HUGE sum of money. I mean HUGE, OUTRAGEOUS, and IMPOSSIBLE TO RAISE; and $25,000 for their attorneys to cover all the damages they have suffered from what they call a breach of our settlement agreement.

We have breached nothing. We are just a punk band and a small insolvent record label trying to keep stuff on the shelves and pay royalties to other artists.

Website The Wrap asked Reed Elsevier for comment and got the following message, which doesn’t address any of the actual issues:

“The stylized VARIETY mark is a very well known and valuable trademark which the Vandals misused,” Henry Horbaczewski, counsel for Reed Elsevier, wrote in an e-mail message to TheWrap. “We sued them, and they accepted a settlement agreement in which they promised to stop misusing our mark, because we wanted to stop the misuse, not their money. They then ignored their agreement.”

Horbaczewski added: “[Vandals drummer Joe] Escalante is a lawyer. He should have known the consequences of his actions.”

It’s difficult to see how they have much of a case unless there’s a lot more going on here. First of all, the use of the logo here is almost certainly protected as a parody use — and it’s difficult to believe that anyone (moron in a hurry or not) would face a likelihood of confusion and believe somehow that the album was endorsed or supported by Daily Variety. Even so, if it’s true that The Vandals are not selling anything with this logo, then it’s difficult to see how Reed Elsevier can claim that this is “use in commerce.” This whole thing seems like a pointless lawsuit for no reason whatsoever. Perhaps Reed Elsevier’s lawyers would be better served making sure that the company isn’t publishing fake, ghost-written journals at the behest of industry interests, rather than suing a random punk band for a parody…

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Yesterday, McAfee pushed out a DAT file for its Enterprise virus-scanning software that tracked down a core Windows XP system file and quarantined it as malware.  Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of computer systems were damaged as a result.  Windows XP cannot run without the quarantined file, SVCHOST.EXE, and as a result, automatically shut itself down.  Other weird settings and symptoms were evident, such as taskbars disappearing, blue-screens-of-death, and other crash-related symptoms.

On one hand, relief simply did not come fast enough.  On the other…what more could McAfee have done to repair the damage?  McAfee rolled back the virus definition as quickly as it found out, and released an addendum file that could be manually applied to infected PCs.  The servers hosting the offered file were strained by the demand, resulting in disconnect errors and failures to update the McAfee software.

“We believe that this incident has impacted less than one half of one percent of our enterprise accounts globally, and a fraction of that within the consumer base,” said Barry McPherson, on McAfee’s blog Wednesday.  He goes on to identify the error in the update, stating that it was an attempt to detect a potentially damaging virus, and the update “clearly did more harm than good.”

“Having talked to literally hundreds of my colleagues around the world and emailed thousands to try and find the best way to correct these issues, let me say this has not been my favorite day. Not for me, or for McAfee. Not by a long shot.”

Continue reading McAfee pushes bad update, takes down Windows XP computers

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Assuming the next generation Kindle and Nook stick with E Ink as their display provider, this video highlights what’ll be new: Animation and nearly double the contrast ratio. More »

On Grist, David Roberts advocates for a “diverse climate policy portfolio”. He explains that a “portfolio approach to climate change, which couples a carbon price with complementary policies, could yield a net benefit to the economy, and to most voters, from day one.”

Gernot Wagner, EDF economist, had this to say on David Robert’s piece:

“ Absolutely. Diversify the portfolio. Our strategy ought to be one of all-of-the-above. We need utility and grid reform, removal of subsidies, an emphasis on efficiency, etc. etc. etc.

However. We also ought to keep our eyes on the ball. The goal is not to reform utilities for the sake of reforming utilities (although there might be other benefits to that as well). The goal is to avoid sending $1 billion a day abroad for our oil. This kind of large-scale transformation depends on a comprehensive approach, and that can’t be achieved piecemeal. We ought to limit global warming pollution to right the incentives and take the market path to a healthy planet and economy.”

Green Inc. argues that the solar technology market is gaining momentum and points to the $129.4 million investment by a SiliconValley venture capital firm in solar company Amonix as proof.

For some reason, the ad sales peeps at ABC and Fox don’t think this TV ad for some sort of new lingerie from Lane Bryant is appropriate for airing in prime time.

According to a post on the Lane Bryant blog, they had tried to get this ad played during the ratings bonanza that is Dancing With the stars, but they were told it would have to be aired only during the final moments of the show.

Similarly, they claim that Fox “demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of “American Idol,” but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy.”

Take the mic, Lane Bryant:

We knew the ads were sexy, but they are not salacious. Our new commercials represent the sensuality of the curvy woman who has more to show the world than the typical waif-like lingerie model. What we didn’t know was that the networks, which regularly run Victoria’s Secret and Playtex advertising on the very shows from which we’re restricted, would object to a different view of beauty. If Victoria’s Secret and Playtex can run ads at any time during the 9pm to 10pm hour, why is Lane Bryant restricted only to the final 10 minutes?

While it’s no secret that Victoria’s Secret “The Nakeds” ads are prancing around on major networks leaving little to the imagination, steaming up t.v. screens and baring nearly everything but their souls, our sultry siren who shows sophisticated sass is somehow deemed inappropriate. The network exclaimed, she has “too much cleavage” Gasp!

By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

Every teen has probably heard his or her parent tell them to ‘Do Something!’– and the U.S. EPA agrees. They should.

On Wednesday, the agency announced that it is joining forces with DoSomething.org to help empower teens to take environmental actions.

DoSomething, started by actor Andrew Shue in 1993,  “uses the power of online to get teens to do good stuff offline.” Their mantra is that they believe in teens’ power to improve their communities.

This new joint program with the EPA’s Energy Star program will help teens get involved.

For instance, the DoSomething/EnergyStar liaison will set up older youth with the “Change the World, Start with Energy Star” campaign and help leverage social media to engage teens on energy efficiency and climate change, said public affairs officer Denise Durrett.

Last Earth Day, Energy Star launched a joint project with the Boys and Girls Club, to teach American youth learn ways to help the environment in their communities.

The kids work with Energy Star staff doing home energy check ups in their neighborhoods. “Most of these are simple things that kids can do,” says Durrett, “such as switching out incandescent bulbs for CFLs.” The check list also covers thermostat temperature checks and sealing air leaks. The kids range in age from 7 to 18, with the older ones helping the younger ones.

The Energy Star/Boys and Girls Club project also works with PTAs and PTOs at neighborhood schools by sponsoring “Go Green Nights” in which families are invited to their school to learn about eco-friendly activities. Durrett says that by the end of this school year, there will have been more than 500,000 Go Green Nights.

In addition to its outreach program, Energy Star has developed a dynamic, colorful and interactive kids site that encourages kids to be “energy stars” and explains why the planet needs their involvement.

The site covers what energy is and where it comes from; discusses energy conservation and offers a slide show on global warming. It provides fun facts using bold graphics about where home energy and how kids can save energy starting in their own bedroom.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

My kids need some typing software. I remember a “Broderbund” “Mavis Beacon” product from eons past, so I started looking into the current state of the product. It took me a while to sort things out; and along the way I was reminded of how much was lost in the tech bubble of the 1990s.

It turns out there’s now a Mac-only “Mavis Beacon” product sold by “Software MacKiev” (Ukranian Mac contract software development) and another product (XP/Mac) sold by “Encore Software”. The Encore Mac product is buggy and unsupported, the MacKiev version sounds a bit more promising.

… Softkey …purchased The Learning Company for $606 million in cash and then adopted its name…Brøderbund was purchased by The Learning Company in 1998 for about US$420 million in stock…

In a move to rationalize costs, The Learning Company promptly terminated 500 employees at Brøderbund the same year,[16] representing 42% of the company’s workforce. 

Then in 1999 the combined company was bought by Mattel for $3.6 billion … Jill Barad, the [Mattel] CEO, ended up being forced out in a climate of investor outrage. 

Mattel then gave away The Learning Company in September 2000 to Gores Technology Group, a private acquisitions firm, for a share of whatever Gores could obtain by selling the company. In 2001, Gores sold The Learning Company’s entertainment holdings to Ubisoft, and most of the other holdings, including the Brøderbund name, to Irish company Riverdeep.[19] Currently, all of Brøderbund’s games, such as the Myst series, are published by Ubisoft…

This kind of churn is death to software. Software needs continuity to survive. The cycle of acquisition and ‘rationalization” creates zombie software that staggers on, brainless, for years … then dies.

The tech bubble made a few people rich, and it destroyed a lot of good products. Not to mention costing Mattel’s shareholders quite a few pennies.

After the tech bubble burst came 9/11, then the great asset bubble and, not least, the Bush administration. One, two, three, four. No wonder America is reeling.

[1] At one time Mavis Beacon was sold under the Broderbund name, but by that time Broderbund might have been owned by Riverdeep. I include this story as an example of all the things the tech bubble killed.

In 2007, James Randi took the stage at TED and apparently had a pretty good time (I still hear stories about it). The folks at TED just put the video up, and it’s a hoot.

I’ll note that Randi was 79 when this was filmed. Could you do this well now? There’s a reason his middle name is “Amazing”.

Aunque se les haya restado importancia por ser “móviles para adolescentes”, creo que los anunciados Microsoft Kin One y Microsoft Kin Two merecen una lectura por el cambio con el que desde Redmond se afronta el teléfono móvil. Tras muchos años jurando y perjurando que su rol era el de ofrecer el sistema operativo a todos los fabricantes que lo quieran, Microsoft decide seguir el camino de Apple otra vez (ya lo habían hecho con Zune) y apostar por teléfonos en los que controlan software y hardware. Con ello desarrolla una línea alternativa a su rol de proveedor de software para terceros que Windows Phone Series

Lo más importante es que Microsoft dejará de ser percibida como una empresa “no competidora” por parte de los fabricantes de terminales. Lanza teléfonos con su propia marca, lo que se podría equiparar al movimiento de Google con Nexus One con la diferencia de que el software con el que equipo los “Kin” lo mantiene en exclusiva, mientras que Nexus se basa en el mismo Android con el que cuentan los demás fabricantes. A esa lectura hay que añadir otra, para recuperarse del batacazo de los últimos años en el móvil, Microsoft quiere ir a por todo el mercado: no sólo el de los usuarios avanzados que quieren “lo último”, no sólo el de los profesionales… también el de perfiles que busca terminales más baratos y/o especializados como son Kin One y Kin Two en redes sociales.

Más información en Xataka, Kin, el teléfono social de Microsoft

Starting as early as this week, baseball-loving PlayStation 3 owners will be able to watch live streams of almost every Major League Baseball game through MLB.tv… for a price, of course.

For either $99.95 or $119.95 per year (depending on the package), users can subscribe to MLB.tv and get access to out of market games and an archive of all the games. The service is already available via your computer, iPad, some mobile phones and set top boxes. MLB is hoping to increase its subscriber base substantially by tapping into the 12 million PS3 owners in the U.S.

“It continues our path of making sure that our content is available to the fans,” said some guy with a long job title from MLB.

PlayStation to Stream Pro Baseball [NY Times]

Peter Misek at Canaccord Adams downgraded Nokia Corp. from Hold to Sell and slashed his price target from US$15 to US$10 after the company's first quarter results missed expectations across the board.

In a research note titled "Caught between an Apple and a BlackBerry," the analyst noted that while the earnings were only slightly below consensus expectations, Nokia continues to face intense competition in the high end of the smartphone market. It also faces average sales price erosion in the low end of the market.

"With gross margins compressing, we would expect that even with a rebound in revenue, earnings growth will be limited," Mr. Misek told clients.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue believes Nokia may have to spend aggressively in the near term to ready its new handset portfolio. He also suggests it might cut pricing on its existing portfolio to maintain unit market share.

“We expect a sharp dip in profitability,” Mr. Sue said in a note. “Nokia dominates with 33% unit market share, and its distribution network is solid. Yet catching up to competitors comes with costs and risks.

The analyst maintained an Outperform rating on Nokia shares but trimmed his target from US$16 to US$15.

Jonathan Ratner

Everyday the battle between iPhone and Android gets more intense. Even though Android is nowhere close to iPhone yet, but the growth rate is phenomenal. A recent proof of that comes from the fact that Android market now has over 38,000 apps. FierceMobileContent reports that this is a 70% increase from last quarter.

More interestingly, Google claims that they are now selling and activating around 60,000 new Android phones every day. There are now 34 different phones from a dozen different manufacturers that are powered by Android. With Google’s acquisition of adMob, Apple starting a rival mobile ad platform and the high growth rate of Android apps, the competition between iPhone and Android will just get more fierce.

However, it is clear that Google has its fair share of problems when it comes to mobile. For example, the FTC still doesn’t like Google’s acquisition of adMob for $750 Million and is trying to mount an anti-trust challenge. If Google cannot hold ground in this issue, it would be a huge below for Android. There are tens of other mobile ad networks out there and with so many new phones coming out each week, the market is getting quiet competitive.

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Pity the poor scientists–no matter how hard they try to convince the public that science is one of the few things you can trust in this crazy, mixed-up world, public faith in science is still tough to come by.

A new study (pdf) conducted at the University of Maryland examined people’s belief in extrasensory perception (ESP), the supposed paranormal phenomenon of mind-reading. The study not only found that people tend to disregard the views of the scientific community when it comes to paranormal activity, it also showed that they’re inclined to disagree with the scientists.

For the study, the researchers had 160 college students watch a video of a person performing brilliantly on a card-guessing exercise. What the students didn’t know is that the player was discreetly being fed all the answers. To the viewers, it appeared that she was either extremely lucky or had some sort of sixth sense, writes online magazine Miller McCune.

After watching the video, the students were asked a series of questions, including if they believed in ESP and if they thought that the woman in the video had extrasensory powers.

Miller McCune writes:

The participants were broken up into four groups. Those in Condition One were informed that 25 percent of the public believes in ESP, but the scientific community rejects the concept. Those in Condition Two were told that more than 90 percent of the public believes in ESP, but the scientific community considers it bogus.

Those in Condition Three were told that 25 percent of the public believes in ESP, and the scientific community is becoming more open to the idea. Those in Condition Four were informed that more than 90 percent of the public believes in ESP, and the scientific community is beginning to warm to the possibility it is real.

The scientists found that individuals were more likely to report belief in ESP when they were told that a greater percentage of the public believed in it. But, the researchers wrote, “We found no effects indicating that science rejecting a claim led individuals to be less likely to believe the claim.” In fact, those students who were told that scientists dismiss ESP were more likely to declare that the phenomenon is real.

The researchers say there are several possible explanations for this odd result. It might be, they say, that people see paranormal activity as a matter of belief and not evidence. Or it could be that when it comes to psychic coolness, people placed more faith in their peers’ opinions than in those of scientists. But there’s a final, more ominous interpretation, say the researchers: “The findings may result from a decreasing trust in the institution of science.”

Miller McCune writes that the news is particularly worrisome for climatologists–whose warnings about global warming’s dire effects are increasingly being pooh-poohed by a cynical public.

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Image: iStockphoto

It looks real to me. Our friend Rob from Phandroid has posted some pics of a T-Mobile myTouch 3G running a test version of the Android 2.2 firmware. Not a lot of new information was revealed, but image gives us a preview of a newer Android Market.

It appears the next update to the Market will allow for automatic updating of select apps. A check box is located on the app detail page which allows the user to toggle this feature on and off. This was a major gripe for many Android users, so it is nice to see Google address it.

We know Android 2.2 is coming and new versions of the Market have been tied with firmware upgrades in the past. Hopefully all will be revealed at next month’s Google I/O conference.

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Word around the web has pegged May 17^th as the rumored release date. The new rumored release date is June 2^nd. Neither of these days has been confirmed by T-Mobile or HTC so take this information with a few grains of salt.

Nobody knows exactly when this phone will be released or why it’s being delayed. Maybe it’s because T-Mobile doesn’t want it to interfere with the HD2 sales? Or maybe they don’t want to run out of them and have their customers wait for new shipments. Who knows, either way there are a bunch of people waiting on the release of this awesome Android handset.

[via tmonews]

[JURIST] Kyrgyzstan interim deputy leader Omurbek Tekebayev announced Thursday that the country would hold a referendum on a new constitution on July 27. Tekebayev, part of the interim government that took power two weeks ago amid an anti-government uprising, said the new constitution would guarantee a parliamentary republic and reduce the powers of the president in order to prevent authoritarianism. He said the new constitution will also try to prevent powerful parliamentary majorities by limiting any political party to only 50 seats out of a 90-seat parliament. The country’s last parliament was controlled by the ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s Ak-Zhol party. Tekebayev also announced that elections in the country will be held on October 10.
On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Kyrgyzstan’s interim government to begin a comprehensive investigation into the violence between April 6 and 8 that resulted in the overthrow of president Bakiyev. Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said last week that Bakiyev should stand trial for the recent violence. Despite the pledge to bring Bakiyev and his allies to justice, so far only former defense minister Baktybek Kaliyev has been arrested. The protests, prompted in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, led to at least 84 deaths and many more injuries. Earlier this month, Otunbayeva launched the interim government after the violence forced Bakiyev to flee the capital.

What’s that you say? Your Nexus One can’t hold a 3G signal worth a damn?

Bummer, dude! In a response to the angry masses demanding a OTA fix to rid them of their woes, Google employee Ry Guy has disclosed that they’re no longer “investigating further engineering improvements”.

The full text of the post:

I’ve seen some recent speculation on this thread about an OTA to improve 3G connectivity and I want to give you an update on the situation.

While we are continuing to monitor user feedback regarding the 3G performance on the Nexus One, we are no longer investigating further engineering improvements at this time.

If you are still experiencing 3G issues, we recommend that you try changing your location or even the orientation of your phone, as this may help in areas with weaker coverage.

-Ry Guy

Can’t get 3G where you’re standing? Well, then “[change] your location.” Duh.

It’s entirely possible — likely, even — that there’s simply no way to improve reception via a software update. They can only improve basebands and radio firmware so much; at a certain point, it’s like trying to improve your car’s mileage by changing the shape of the gas pedal.

by Grist

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Art: Nat Damm

Mike Mathieu

Founder, Front Seat
Seattle, Wash.

After working at Microsoft and founding an internet publishing firm,
Mike Mathieu, 41, decided to put his software smarts to work for the
greater social good. Seattle-based Front Seat, which he founded and chairs, has launched “civic software” projects like Walk Score,
which shows you how walkable any given U.S. address is (Grist HQ scores
a whopping 98 out of 100—a “Walkers’ Paradise”), and City-Go-Round, which spotlights innovative public transit apps, like Exit Strategy NYC, an app that shows you exactly where you should stand on the subway platform
to arrive directly in front of the exit at your destination
(brilliant). Walk Score has already started to change the way the real
estate industry thinks about walkability; its scores have been
incorporated into real-estate sites like Zillow.com as well as many agents’ individual listings, giving prospective
homebuyers more info about the kinds of neighborhoods and lifestyles
they might be buying into.

Follow Mathieu on Twitter.

Meet more people who are redefining green.

Next »    

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Tonight’s debate, some say, could have a dramatic effect on British politics.

This is the first election period in the United Kingdom with televised debates between the leaders of the main parties.

One debate down.  Two to go.  But already people are saying that the first debate alone has managed to shake up the campaign, to energize it, and has led to the wholly unexpected rise of the leader of the perennially third party.

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, previously the outsider, was seen as the winner of the first debate.  His relaxed style went down well with the audience.  The Brits are fed up with politics and politicians.  Or so they say.  Many feel their leaders lie to them.  The recent expenses scandal, in which Members of Parliament’s expense accounts have been leaked, scrutinized and deemed by many UK taxpayers to be excessive, has angered a lot of people.  The scandal centered on the ruling Labor Party and the Conservatives.

The pundits say Clegg really felt like the breath of fresh air an angry electorate is hankering for.  That said, being an outsider and never viewed as a possible Prime Minister, his policies have not been scrutinized. The incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative Party Leader David Cameron’s have been time and again.  Their performance in the debate was perceived by viewers as more restrained, more guarded.  They clearly had more to lose.  It’s not that they made any major gaffes.  The perception among viewers was that Clegg seemed more like the man for change.

Today the papers, particularly conservative ones, have been full of stories slamming Nick Clegg.  They involved party donations that allegedly went in to his personal account a few years back, but were actually used to pay a staffer.  Clegg denies anything unethical.  Also, a comment he made back in 2002 has been cited, and come back to bite.  Then he told a newspaper that the UK has “a more insidious cross to bear than Germany over the Second World War”, a reference to the British suffering delusions of grandeur over having defeated the horrors of Nazism.

Just last week, Clegg’s popularity was compared to that of Winston Churchill after his success in last week’s debate, said today “I must be the only politician who has, in a week, gone from Churchill to a Nazi.”

The British system is different from the American one.  The Brits vote for Members of Parliament.  If a party wins more than half the seats in Parliament, its leader forms a government, and becomes Prime Minister.  If no party gets more than half the seats, it’s called a hung Parliament, which is highly unusual and which either means a coalition is formed among parties or a new election is called.

Before the debate, the Conservatives were favored to win the requisite chunk of votes to be the part of power.  The Nick Clegg phenomenon has made the prospect of a hung Parliament seem more real.  No one expects the Liberal Democrats to win the election.  But their success after the first debate has changed the picture.  The latest YOUGOV poll puts Conservatives at 33 percent, Liberal Democrats at 31 percent and Labour at 27 percent.

People are saying it’s the first time in a generation the outcome of a British election is so uncertain.